LIFE Brine-Mining was presented by Prof. Loizidou from NTUA during the 10th International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management, held from June 21st to 24th, 2023, on Crete, Greece. The results of the pilot system performance exceeded expectations, demonstrating the successful recovery of clean water and high-purity salts from the treatment of highly saline coal mine wastewater.

Part of the LIFE Brine-Mining project results was presented by Dr. Krzysztof Mitko, Assistant Professor at the Silesian University of Technology, during the 14th Conference “Membranes and Membrane Processes in Environmental Protection” (MEMPEP 2023), held from June 21st to 24th, 2023. Dr. Mitko shared the results obtained from the combination of two membrane technologies, Electrodialysis and Reverse Osmosis, which are part of the Brine-Mining pilot system.

Watch our project video to find out how LIFE BRINE MINING is transforming brines into resources and eliminates coal mining waste water discharge in circular economy context. Coal mines generate vast amounts of saline wastewaters. The direct drainage of these streams to surface water bodies results in their salinization, having a negative impact on their ecosystems. A surface water body exposed to excessive salinity is unsuitable for use in agricultural, municipal or industrial sectors, with adverse effects on the regional economy. LIFE Brine-Mining project aims in developing an innovative pilot system, which will treat coal mine brines and directly recover

Representatives from PGG S.A. and JSW S.A., Poland’s two largest mining companies, visited the LIFE Brine-Mining site. During the meeting, the project pilot system was showcased, followed by a productive discussion to address any questions the representatives may have had by Dr. Krzysztof Mitko, Assistant Professor in SUT, who guided the group of representatives at the site.

NTUA holded a stand at VerdeTec 2023, between the 17th to 19th of March, in MEC Exhibition Centre, Athens, Greece. Verde Tec is an international annual exhibition on environmental technologies attracting visitors from all sectors of the economy. NTUA team showcased the project’s innovative solution for extracting valuable resources from brine waste and answered enquiries of all those who visited NTUA stand and showed interest to the project. The project monitor, member of the external monitoring team, Mr Elias Demian visited NTUA stand and contributed to fruitful discussions held in the framework of dedicated workshops organised within VerdeTec 2023. Prof.

Students have visited the site as a part of the “Odzysk wody i innych surowców ze ścieków” (Recovery of water and other raw materials from waste water) class, which is part of the “Gospodarka obiegu zamkniętego” (Circular Economy) course offered by the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering of SUT. The students were introduced to the environmental issues related to the coal mining waste water and the opportunities that the LIFE BRINE-MINING project offers in implementing the principles of circular economy. They received a short training in the unit operations available at the site. Related sub-action: D.2.5

The LIFE BRINE-MINING 3rd Consortium meeting took place at the National Technical University of Athens library. The progress of the partner’s actions is being presented and co-organised (achievements, challenges, deliverables, milestones, future planning). Extensive discussion between NTUA, GIG and LENNTECH partners on existing transferability and replicabity potential of the BRINE MINING innovative technology.

On June 23, 2022, the 2nd Stakeholder Consultation Event of the project took place in Poland. Representatives from all the polish coal mine companies, public sector (ministries, water supply companies), and universities visited the LIFE Brine-Mining demonstration plant and got updated on the project progress, results, and benefits, such as the recovery of clean water from coal mine brines (environmental), the increase of a coal mine revenues from the exploitation of its coal mine wastewater (economic) and the creation of new job opportunities (social) from the project implementation. In total, 55 participants joined the event. Figure 1: The LIFE Brine-Mining

On May 5, 2022, one more part of the innovative system for the treatment of mining procedures saline effluents was transported to the LIFE Brine-Mining plant. The Multi Effect Distillation Evaporator was added to the project’s process train, in the town of Lędziny, in southern Poland, to recover clean water and concentrate NaCl solution. The Evaporator was connected to the other technologies and the first trials of the system’s operation were conducted! Technicians and members of the companies participating in the project (LENNTECH, THERMOSSOL, TITANSALT) and representatives of other project beneficiaries (GIG, SUT, NTUA, SEALEAU) were gathered at the site

At the beginning of May 2022, representatives of Photonwater, a well-known company in the water treatment field in the Czech Republic, of TAURON, an energy holding company in Poland, and of PGG, Poland’s biggest coal mining company, visited the LIFE Brine-Mining pilot system installation and attended the placement and connection of the MED evaporator technology with the rest technologies of the system. Members of the project consortium guided the visitors in the pilot plant and informed them on the proposed innovative technologies by the project, its expected results, and the feasibility of transferability in other sectors, besides coal mining. More