Electrodialytic utilization of coal-mine brines

In order to decrease the environmental footprint of the coal mining industry, which produces vast amounts of saline wastewaters, desalination is required. In this work, a batch-mode electrodialysis of two coal-mine waters, having total dissolved salt content of 56.3 and 97 g/L, was performed using a module (MEGA EDR-Z) equipped with 10 pairs of Ralex CMH/AMH membranes and 0.8 mm thick spacers. The influence of the applied current density (100-400 A/m(2)) on the energy consumption and the ionic composition of the diluate and concentrate was investigated. Based on the results, an integrated system for coal-mine water treatment was designed.