Membrane electrolysis - a promising technology for mine water treatment, radionuclide separation, and extraction of valuable metals

Membrane electrolysis processes can be appealing alternatives to other mine water treatment processes, especially for the selective separation and recovery of pollutants. The RODOSAN (R) process was developed for the simultaneous separation of sulfate and heavy metals and generation of buffering capacity. The process has been tested on a pilot scale and currently allows for sulfate separation at efficiencies of 40% to 60% with quantitative elimination of heavy metals. Sulfate is converted to ammonium sulfate, which can be used as a fertilizer. The regeneration processes have been optimized to allow more highly mineralized water to be treated in industrial membrane electrolysis cells without any process disruptions. Separation of radionuclides and valuable chemical elements from mine water, deep geothermal water and formation water is also possible using this process platform.