GE wastewater treatment technology selected for Canadian coal mine

GE’s advanced biological metals removal process (ABMet) technology has been selected by Anglo American to remove nitrate and selenium from wastewater discharge at the Peace River coal trend mine in Canada.

New regulations prompted Anglo American to build the wastewater treatment plant for heavy metal removal. The plant is currently under construction, expected to enter commercial operation this summer.

When complete, it will be capable of treating 24l/sec of flow and meet targets to reduce nitrates from 85mg/l to 3 mg/l and selenium from 130µg/l to 5µg/l. The system is designed to achieve these limits at temperatures of 4.4°C and warmer, without the need for any post-treatment.

Anglo American Peace River operations specialist project engineer Brendan Crisp said that the company commissioned a pilot study and competitive tender with multiple vendors before selecting GE’s ABMet technology.

"Ultimately, GE presented a turnkey water treatment solution, allowing the company to achieve compliance with nitrate and selenium discharge limits."

GE teamed up with Stantec for construction and engineering on the project, which represents the first installation of ABMet in Canada.

GE Power & Water water and process technologies general manager Yuvbir Singh said that ABMet technology is ideal for tough-to-treat water and is a perfect fit for Anglo American’s Peace River coal mine.

"We are committed to creating solutions for mine water discharge applications where the removal of key contaminants, such as selenium, nitrate, sulphate and heavy metals, is necessary to meet environmental regulations," Singh added.

Located in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, the coal mine has been operating since 2006.