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Employment of the geo-tubes for the sustainable water management in the

excavation waste processing

Conference Paper · November 2007

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 255

Employment of the geo-tubes for the sustainable water management in the excavation

waste processing

E. Garbarinoa, * and M. Cardua, b

a
Politecnico di Torino, DITAG, Torino, Italy - b C.N.R. IGAG, Torino, Italy

The paper deals with the applications of particular geo-textiles, so called geo-tubes, which,

thanks to their high tensile strength, good durability and high permeability, are able to retain the

solid part of a pulp. The employment of geo-tubes, aimed to dewatering the fine marble

chippings produced by cutting machines, is studied and the results of some experimental tests,

performed both at the Politecnico di Torino Laboratories and in a marble quarry of the Carrara

Basin (Italy), on hanging bags will be presented. Moreover, the question related to the small

and variable productions, especially made by construction and demolition (C&D) waste or

excavation muck pile, will be underlined and the necessity to employ small mobile processing

plants, that operate discontinuously, will be analysed. The problems posed by the use of wet

processes in small mobile plants, implying the respect of space constraints in the water

recycling and sludge disposal systems, will be dealt with in detail and the introduction of the

geo-tubes for the process water clarification will be considered.

Keywords: Geo-tubes; Tailing disposal; Dewatering; Water clarifying; Mobile processing plant.

1. Introduction

In the extractive industry, the application of good practices, especially by means of the

improvement of treatment and dewatering technologies, will permit to increase the

recycling of the process water and to minimize the environmental impact related to the

tailing disposal and to the waste water discharging.

*Corresponding author. Email: elena.garbarino@polito.it

 256

The paper deals with the applications of geo-tubes, special geo-textiles which, thanks to

a high tensile strength, together with good properties of durability and permeability, can

retain the solid part and let seep the liquid part of a pulp. Geo-tubes can be employed either

to recover the solid particles or to clarify the water at different rates, according to the

intended use and to the properties of the pulp.

In the first part, an experimental study on the possible use of geo-tubes, aimed to

dewatering the fine marble chippings produced by cutting machines and stone slicing

plants, is developed. Experimental tests, performed both at the Laboratories of the

Politecnico di Torino and at the GIOIA quarry in the Carrara Basin (Italy), have been

developed, aimed to analyse the efficiency of different typologies of geo-textiles as the

dewatering properties and capability to retain the solid part concerns. Moreover, the results

of some in-situ filtration tests have been compared to those obtained in laboratory.

In the second part, the paper deals with aggregate processing, in order to improve their

performances, and takes into consideration the wet separation process in a mobile

processing plant, as a mean to remove unwanted materials. In particular, low grade sources,

both natural and artificial (rock excavation muck pile, C&D waste), are the main subject of

the analysed processes.

2. Recycling of excavation muck and C&D waste

In demolition rubble and excavation muck recycling, the source of the material to be

processed (which could be termed the “orebody”) is represented, in most cases, by a

succession of separate operations, each one providing an amount of raw material in the
 257

1000-5000 t range, as a rule. Production comes mostly from small, variable and mobile

orebodies, which has not counterpart in natural rock bodies exploitation.

Processing facilities can concentrate in large stationary plants fed by a multitude of

sources, but a valid option is too represented by compact mobile plants, processing the

“small mobile orebodies”.

When low grade, usually neglected, sources, such as C&D waste and excavation muck

pile, are to be exploited, recycling is mainly made by dumping problems rather than by the

scarcity and/or cost of the natural source, and the mineral dressing technique is compared

with two conditions, having no counterpart in natural sources exploitation:

ƒ a variable, low grade orebody, which poses a practical limit to the process

optimisation concept and to long term planning;

ƒ a “mobile orebody”, which strongly supports the mobile plant option.

EU Recommendations make an effort to counteract the tendency of employing the

recycled products in less demanding applications than the original natural raw material, by

setting objectives represented by desired percentages of substitution of natural aggregates

with recycled aggregates. But, even to attain such an (apparently) modest objective, the

conventional process (crushing and sieving) falls short: in most cases, the grade of a simply

crushed and sieved sample of processed rubble or excavation muck is much lower than the

natural aggregate one and this condition implies a decrease of the performances of the end

product to unacceptable levels for the different uses (concrete, embankment, road paving

layer). As a consequence, unwanted components separation stages must be added to the

process and, though being the principles of mineral separation the same both for natural and

for man made substances, machinery has often to be purposely redesigned.

 258

As to the separation stage concerns, the paper mainly deals with researches underway at

the DITAG Department of the Politecnico of Torino on wet processing of recycled

aggregates. Wet processing, which could give rise to acceptable recycled aggregates for

concrete and road construction, is actually only effected in stationary plants, endowed with

the necessary large waste water and sludge disposal systems. The problem, posed by the

wet processes introduction in small mobile plants, implies the respect of space constraints

in the water recycling and sludge disposal systems. The principles of compact mobile plant

performing wet processing are dealt with too.

3. The geo-tubes technology

Geo-tubes are big bags made by geo-textiles, characterised, in the most common

applications, by a diameter of 1-5 m and lenghts which can reach above one hundred

meters. In the literature, geo-tubes of smaller dimensions, placed on a caisson of a truck, are

depicted. As to geo-tubes manufacturing concerns, depending on applications, different

polymeric materials are employable: the choice of polymer depends on the pulp viscosity,

on the backfilling pressure, on the mechanical properties and permeability of the geotextile

and, finally, on the costs. Moreover, the geotechnical employments of the geo-tubes can be

different, even though only structures in contact with water are taken into consideration.

A very fluid pulp is required to fill geo-tubes, to obtain a good distribution of the solid

inside (Figure 1). During the filling, the exceeding water escapes, thanks to the pores of the

geotextile. Dewatering occurs under a hydrostatic field and shear stresses between the

filling material and the geotextile are generally absent.

 259

Figure 1. Dewatering principle and example of a geo-tube (Miratech, 2004).

4. Case study 1: dewatering of fine marble chippings

Marble sawing plants and marble quarries using sawing machines to obtain the raw blocks

usually are neither “big” production units, when compared to other mining activities, nor

“big” producers of tailings, but, when collectively considered, they are important sources of

water pollution. It has to be considered that, for each ton of marketed finished product, 200

to 300 kg of marble have to be reduced to a fine powder, which is washed away by the

cooling water of the sawing machines. In the past, the dirty water, being the marble powder

non toxic, was directly discharged in the rivers, causing damage to water life and

vegetation. Moreover, carstic conducts allow the polluting particles to reach the

groundwater aquifers, causing long term damage.

The Carrara marble basin

In the Carrara marble Basin, in which a myriad of quarries and plants are located, a

production of perhaps 2300 t of marble dust is daily estimated. The fine dust is mainly
 260

produced by the diamond saws of different types (wire, reciprocating, chain, disc): each

diamond cuts a very shallow (seldom deeper than 0.1 mm) kerf, hence all the marble

removed by this “abrasion” mechanism is represented by very fine grains.

Marble sawing and, to a minor extent, marble extraction activity, face the problem of

getting rid of the pulp charged with extremely fine marble debris produced by the sawing

machines in an environmentally acceptable way. Conventional solutions are offered by

settling ponds, or by continuous settling-filtering plants. An alternative solution, quite

simple and suitable also for small units, can be provided by the geo-tubes technology, in

order to minimize water presently used during the marble exploitation and to plan a closed

loop water circuit. In particular, the characteristics of some geo-textiles materials, shaped as

“hanging bags”, have been studied: they consist in static filters, which increase the

sedimentation velocity of the slurry fine particles, together with a good clarification of the

water. In the experimental research, some laboratory on different geo-textiles are been

carried out, then in-situ tests on hanging bags were realised at the GIOIA quarry, located in

the Carrara Basin (Figure 2).

The GIOIA quarry is an opencast marble quarry, with a surface of 50.000 m2 and a

production of 100.000 t/y. The blocks are cut by means of diamond wire and chain saws; in

particular, 41 cutting and drilling machines, each of them working 6h/d for 200 days/y, are

employed. Considering a machine’s capacity factor of 0.8, the total daily water

consumption is settled into 207 m3. In the quarry under study, as well as in the whole

Colonnata Basin, the water consumption and its management are not systematically carried

out. An annual consumption of water is approximately estimated in 33.000 m3 and a

 261

percentage of about 30% of this water is nowadays recycled through rough systems that

perform the marble sludge dewatering.

As to the possible employment of the marble dust as by-products, it has to be

considered that if the sludge is recovered with a low cost process and at least partly

dewatered, some use of it can be found in the cement industry and in the de-sulfuration of

fumes from thermal plants.

Figure 2. The GIOIA quarry.

Experimental tests on geo-tubes

Characterization of marble dust

Laboratory tests have been carried out with the 3 samples of marble dust (labelled C1, C2,

C3): the granulometric distributions are shown in Figure 3, while in Table 1 the results of

the chemical analysis and microscopic examination are reported.

 262

100
C1
90
80
Passing weight (%)

C2
70
60
C3
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 10 100 1000
Grain size (μm)
Figure 3. Granulometric distributions of the samples C1, C2 and C3.

Table 1. Physical properties of the samples C1, C2 and C3.

Sample C1 C2 C3
2
Specific surface (m /kg) 26.22 29.58 58.02
D50 (μm) 140 155 80
Solid matter in the pulp (g/l) 671-31
Specific gravity of the solids (kg/dm3) 2.74
Shape of the grains equidimensional, sub-polygonal or tabular
Bulk specific gravity (kg/dm3) 1.75 ÷ 1.85

Results of laboratory tests

Three types of geotextiles have been tested in laboratory for their ability to retain the solid

matter from the pulp, allowing a sufficient flow rate of cleaned water: GA (trade name

ProPex 2004® (AMOCO), tensile strength 70.1 kN/m, pore opening 0.600 mm); GB (trade

name Geotex 46T (Synthetic Industries), tensile strength 70 – 150 kN/m, pore opening

0.425 mm); GS (trade name Geotex 1016T (Synthetic Industries), tensile strength 175

kN/m, pore opening 0.250 mm).

 263

Laboratory tests were performed on discs of the geotextile to be tested, with a diameter

of 16 cm, placed on a laboratory Buckner filter. The pulp was prepared with 1.5 l of water

and 800 g of solids for each test, filtered under a constant head of 103 cm of water.

Filtration was stopped as soon as the air started to seep through the cake. In each test, the

filtered water volume was plotted against elapsed time (Figure 4), showing a roughly linear

trend starting 10 ÷ 20 s, after the beginning of the filtration (to be credited, to the build-up

of the cake), and a filtration rate flow depending more significantly on the specific surface

of the powder than on the geotextile features. The most significant data recorded for each

marble dust-geotextile couple were: duration of the filtration, final cake thickness, final

cake solids % by weight, loss of solids through the filter; they are shown in Table 2.

1600

1400

1200

1000
Filtered water volume (ml)

C1-GA
800 C1-GB
C1-GS
600 C3-GA
C3-GB
C3-GS
400
C2-GA
C2-GB
200 C2-GS

0
0 100 200 Time (s) 300 400 500

Figure 4. Filtered water volume plotted against elapsed time through the three samples of pulp, using

G-A, G-B and G-S geotextiles.

 264

Table 2. Results from the laboratory tests.

Sample C1 C2 C3
Geotextile GA GB GS GA GB GS GA GB GS
Filtration duration (s) 186.3 223.1 240.0 130.8 113.5 117.5 510.1 388.9 504.0
Final cake thickness (cm) 2.6 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.7 2.1 2.5 2.3 2.1
Final cake % solids (%) wt 76.9 85.1 87.4 80.9 78.6 83.0 75.9 76.5 81.0
Dry solid lost
(g) 1.1 2.8 3.0 2.5 2.7 1.5 1.4 3.1 1.8
through the filter
Solids in 1 l of
(g) 0.8 2.0 2.1 1.7 1.9 1.0 1.0 2.2 1.3
filtered water

Results of the experimental in-situ tests

In the field tests, the marble dust (labelled C4) contained in the pulp had physical-chemical

characteristics similar to the ones of the C2 sample (see Figure 3 and Table 1). Geo-textiles

were tested in the form of “hanging bags”, which are more practical than conventional geo-

tube for testing purposes, and directly fed at measured rate with the pulp flowing from the

quarry yard. A picture of the testing apparatus is shown in Figure 5; the capacity of the bags

was 175 l, the surface 1.9 m2. Bags were filled in the first part of the working shift and let

to drain, periodically checking the amount of water seeped through, until the end of the

shift. They were let to continue to drain during the night, but only the cumulated amount of

water filtered in the unattended hours was measured.

Figure 5. Big bags used in the field experimental tests (Cardu et al., 2005).
 265

An example of flow record is shown in Figure 6, referring to a test on the GB

geotextile. The main purpose of the tests being the control of the ability to retain fines, all

the seeping water was collected and the solid matter recovered. Moreover, the solid content

of the sludge, retained by the bag, was measured and the results are reported in Table 3.

Residual water contents in the sludge agrees with the values expected from laboratory

tests; the loss of fines entrained by the seeping water is noticeably higher, which has to be

credited to the less quiet formation of the filtering cake layer in the in situ test with respect

to the laboratory conditions. The loss of fines through the geotextile occurs mostly in the

filling stage and immediately after filling; in the test on GA, filling took 2 minutes, in the

test on GB, 44 s, in laboratory, 0 s (no filtration occurs during filling of the Buckner).

60

50
Filtered volume [l]

40

30 Test on GB
20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Time [h]

Figure 6. Filtered water volume vs elapsed time through the sample C4.

Table 3. Results from in-situ tests.

GA GB
Initial contents of solids of the pulp (%) 47 47
Specific gravity of the pulp (kg/dm3) 1.42 1.42
Solids contents of the sludge upon 20 hours drainage (%) 70 65
Average solids contents in the water seeped through (g/l) 39.4 2.88
Solids retention (%) 97 99
 266

5. Case study 2: employment of the geo-tubes in a compact mobile plant.

Introduction.

Wet mobile plant can only become a practicable option through the development of

compact water clarifying system, and of a movable sludge disposal system: the

employment of the geo-tubes has been, to this purpose, studied. After having performed

crushing and magnetic separation (Figure 7), wet separation allows to remove noxious

substances and lightweight materials, and to obtain 2-3 recycled coarse fractions, 1 recycled

fine fraction and process water recycling, with the minimization of fresh water addition.

water addition feed metal waste fine fraction

WATER BASIN CRUSHING MAGNETIC SIEVING

SEPARATION

fresh water
fresh
water LIGHTWEIGHT
pulp DEWATERING AND
MATERIALS
WATER RECOVERY
SEPARATION AND
WASHING

lightweight dewatered
materials sludge
coarse
beneficiated
fractions

Figure 7. Mobile processing plant flowsheet.

Wet processing in a mobile plant.

In the planned small mobile plant, process water is used in a close circuit, but unavoidable

losses, due to the final products humidity (at maximum, 20% of the solid contents), have to

be considered. Consequently, a fresh water addition has to be always computed, even if the
 267

characteristics of existing plants, with a recycling percentage of the process water greater

than 90%, are reported in the literature. Moreover, it is necessary to consider the build–up,

that is the progressive increase of suspended and ultra-fine solid particles in the process

water. Without sedimentation basins facility, a periodical discharging of process water is

indispensable and, so, the effective process water consumption is greater than the

theoretical forecasts. A consumption of 0.5 m3 of process water for each washed ton

appears a realistic value.

The equipment suitable to the use in a compact mobile plant is in the following indicated:

ƒ log washer (S), which separates the feed from silty and clayey materials (Figure 8);

ƒ vibrating screen (V) with water spraying (Figure 9);

ƒ hydro-classifier (R), for the sand recovery;

ƒ hydro-disc (H), made by a disc rotating around a not vertical axis (Figure 10);

ƒ aquamator (A), which separates the feed into a heavy fraction, that sinks on a

conveyor and is discarded at one side, and a lightweight fraction, which is carried

out to the opposite side by the process water (Figure 11);

ƒ sieve bends (GC), which separate the particles greater than 0.1 mm (Figure 12);

ƒ pulsating jig (J), which allows to set the separation specific gravity at any desired

value and to remove platy fragments (Figure 13). According to their density,

particles stratisfy in a pulsating bed generated by the movement of process water;

ƒ lamella clarifier (L), which permits to clarify the process water, discarding the solid

fraction of the pulp as a thickened sludge (Figure 14);

ƒ hydro-cyclone (C);

ƒ geo-tubes (GT), which retain the products up to 10-30 μm.

 268

Figure 8. Log washer (Terex Finlay, 2006). Figure 9. Vibrating screen (Siebtechnik, 2004).

Figure 10. Scheme of an hydro-disc (Hanisch, 1998).

Figure 11. Aquamator scheme (Schütze, 1987) Figure 12. Sieve bend scheme(Garbarino et al. 2007).
 269

Figure 13. Scheme of a jig (Allmineral, 2006). Figure 14. Lamella clarifier (Garbarino et al., 2007).

In the compact mobile plant, 1 or 2 modules, according to the impurity content which is

tolerable in the products, have been planned. If the aim of the wet processing is the

production of recycled aggregates for road construction, washing equipments can be

included in a single module by means of treatment equipment, as hydrodisc or aquamator.

If the aim is the production of recycled aggregates for concrete manufacturing, the

materials with specific gravity lighter than 2 kg/dm3 have to be discarded: this can be

gained through the employment of machines such as pulsating jig. In particular, jig has to

be fed by a quite narrow and clean granulometric class (for example 4-40 mm) and all the

necessary equipments could be improbably hold in a single module. So, the compact

mobile plant can be built up through 2 modules: in the first one, sorting and lightweight

materials desliming is performed by a log-washer, in the second one, jigging and sieving

system allow to obtain the recycled coarse fractions employable for concrete

manufacturing.
 270

Mobile plant with single wet separation module and dewatering through geo-tubes

Wet separation module with a hydro-disc

In this module, wet separation is performed through a hydro-disc (H) and a vibrating screen

with water spraying (V) (Figure 15). From the literature it can be deduced that, for treating

50 t/h of feeding raw materials, a hydro-disc needs in average 20 t/h of process water.

Considering the mass flow balance, the addition of fresh water (6 m3/h) is foreseen on the

screening unit and represents a percentage of 21% of the total process water amount.

FEED 50 0 0 20 FRESH
WATER
7 15
H 0 6

43 5 5 1

40 4 0 8 GC
V 2 14
LIGHTWEIGHT
MATERIALS

COARSE
FRACTIONS 3 9
(for road 3 22.5 PULP
construction)
0.5 20
R C
2 0.5 1 8.5
FINE PULP 2.5 2.5
FRACTION

GT
0 2

X X Solids amount (t/h) Water amount (t/h)

H Hydro-disc R Hydro-classifier

GC Sieve bend C Hydro-cyclone

V Vibrating screen + water sprays GT Geo-tube

Figure 15. Solids and water flows in the wet separation module with a hydro-disc.
 271

Wet separation module with an aquamator

As alternative to the hydro-disc, wet separation is performed through an aquamator (A) and

a vibrating screen with water spraying (V) (Figure 16). From the literature it can be

deduced that, for treating 50 t/h of feeding raw materials, an aquamator needs in average 50

t/h of process water, so the pulp results more diluted and a tank, before the hydro-cyclone

(C), could be necessary to equalize the water throughput. Considering the mass flow

balance, the addition of fresh water (6 m3/h) is foreseen on the screening unit and represents

a percentage of 12% of the total process water amount.

FEED 50 0 0 50 FRESH
WATER
7 45
A 0 6

43 5 5 1

40 4 0 8 GC
V 2 44
LIGHTWEIGHT
MATERIALS

COARSE
FRACTIONS 3 9
(for road 3 52.5 PULP
construction)
0.5 50
R C
2 0.5 1 8.5
FINE PULP 2.5 2.5
FRACTION

GT
0 2

X X Solids amount (t/h) Water amount (t/h)

A Aquamator R Hydro-classifier

GC Sieve bend C Hydro-cyclone

V Vibrating screen + water sprays GT Geo-tube

Figure 16. Solids and water flows in the wet separation module with an aquamator.
 272

Hydro-disc is more compact than aquamator, which requires a greater amount of

process water, being able, on the other hand, of producing cleaner washed recycled

fractions.

Sludge dewatering through the geo-tubes employment

For both the compact mobile plants with a single or two modules, sludge dewatering could

be reached through the employment of geo-tubes (GT) (Figures 15 and 16), horizontally

placed on a caisson of a truck, thanks to it the static filters are transported to the landfill

(Figure 17). According to their characteristics, geo-tubes can remove more than 95% of the

solid particles from the pulp. Dewatering and consolidation times, of about some days,

depend on the nature and on the granulometric class of the materials. In an initial stage of

the experimental research, the employment of vertical geo-tubes was studied, but this

solution was ab andoned, implying containment and deformability problems.

Figure 17. Geo-tubes on a caisson of a truck (Miratech, 2004).

 273

Mobile plant with two wet separation modules and dewatering through geo-tubes

First module: preliminary wet separation through a log-washer

The process water entering into the log-washer (S) arises from the hydro-classifier (R) of

the second module, which, being the pulp very diluted, is dimensionally greater than the

classifier used for the compact mobile plant with a single module (Figure 18). Fresh water

is added at the water spraying units on the vibrating screen (V).

FROM THE HYDRO-

FEED 50 0 0 56 CLASSIFIER OF THE JIG FROM THE
SIEVE BEND
5 50
S 0 6 FRESH
WATER

45 6 3 1 0 9

40 4
0 8 GC

COARSE
V 2 49
LIGHTWEIGHT
MATERIALS

FINE MATERIALS
FRACTION

LIGTHWEIGHT
4-40 mm
to JIG
5 10
3 58 0.5 55.5

R T C GC
4 1 1 9
FINE PULP 2.5 2.5 ~0.5 55.5
FRACTION

0 2 GT L
0 64
J TO JIG 0.5 0.5

X X Solids amount (t/h) Water amount (t/h)

S Log-washer T Water tank

GC Sieve bend C Hydro-cyclone

V Vibrating screen + water sprays L Lamella clarifier

R Hydro-classifier GT Geo-tube

J Jig

Figure 18. Solids and water flows in the first module with a log-washer.
 274

In order to equalize the water throughput, a tank (T) is foreseen before the hydro-

cyclone (C). The underflow of the cyclone (C) is sent to a lamella clarifier (L), which also

treats the process water, discarded from the sieve bend (GC) in the second module. The

thickened sludge is fed to the geotube (GT) and the water that filters from the geo-textile

surfaces is partially recovered and recycled, as spraying water, on the screening unit (V).

From the literature it can be foreseen that, for treating 50 t/h of feeding raw materials, a

log-washer needs in average 56 t/h of process water. As to the mass flow balance concerns,

the addition of fresh water (6 m3/h) is foreseen on the screening unit, and it represents a

percentage of 11% of the total process water amount in the first module.

Second module: wet beneficiation through a pulsating jig

Wet separation with a pulsating jig (J) could be obtained through the re-use of the process

water treated by the lamella clarifier (L) in the first module, which can be considered as

fresh water, with a very narrow addition of fresh water (Figure 19). So, considering the

mass flow balance, for treating 40 t/h of coarse fractions (4-40 mm), the jig needs 66 t/h of

process water and the addition of fresh water (2 m3/h), on the jigging tank, represents a

percentage of 3% of the total process water amount in the second module.

The vibrating screen (V) has not, in the second module, the spraying units, being the

recycled aggregate, coming out from the jig, sufficiently washed and clean.

Sludge dewatering through the geo-tubes employment

The same considerations made for the geo-tubes employment in a mobile plant with a

single wet separation module, can be applied to the mobile plant with 2 modules.
 275

FROM LAMELLA CLARIFIER

10 1 10 10 0 64
SFRIDO
GC J
0 2 40 4
LIGHTWEIGHT 0 9
MATERIALS
FRESH
29 30 WATER
L TO LAMELLA CLARIFIER

28 3
COARSE
1 30 FRACTION
COARSE V 4-40 mm
FRACTIONS
FOR CONCRETE
1 27
2 57

FINE R S
FRACTION 2 1 0 56
TO LOG-
WASHER

X X Solids amount (t/h) Water amount (t/h)

J Jig R Hydro-classifier

GC Sieve bend S Log-washer

V Vibrating screen L Lamella clarifier

Figure 19. Solids and water flows in the second module with a pulsating jig.

6. Conclusions

Solutions obtained by means of geo-tubes are ecologically acceptable, allowing to

minimize impacts on environment. The performances of a mobile processing plant, which

can operate continuously in a close circuit, will be, of course, even more satisfactory than

the results deduced by batch tests on small (laboratory) or large (in-situ) samples.

As to the economical feasibility aspects of tailing disposal, a thickener-filter press,

though it warrants excellent results, is probably out of reach for small or very small

production units, discontinuously operating, which provide a relevant part of the overall
 276

production in the muck pile and in excavation or C&D waste sectors. So, wet processing

mobile plant could find suitable applications in civil works.

A constraint to the use of geo-tubes is represented by their cost (150 €/m): according to

some rough evaluations, 0.1-0.3 € per ton of treated sludge in the case of filter press, and

0.6-0.8 € per ton for geo-tubes, are required. The mentioned data are referred to the

employment of big geo-tubes, and the optimisation of smaller mobile filters is needed for

the development of these sludge dewatering systems.

Acknowledgement

Authors would like to thank SEIC and OM S.p.A. for their technical contribution.

References

[1] Allmineral, “Alljig, allflux, allair”, 2006, available at http://www.allmineral.com

[2] Cardu M., Del Greco O. and Parrinello M., “Experimental research on the geo-tubes

technology”, MPES 2005, Banff, Canada, 2005, pp. 1633-1651

[3] Garbarino E., Cardu M. and Mancini R., “New developments of the separation equipments for

aggregate beneficiation”, IMCET 2007, Ankara, Turkey, 2007, pp. 67-78

[4] Hanisch J., “Current developments in the sorting of building waste”, Aufbereitungs Technik,

vol. 39, n°10, 1998, pp. 485-492

[5] Miratech, “Containment and dewatering. Geotubes”, 2004, available at http://www.geotube.com

[6] Schutze H.J., “Wet processing of building rubble in the aquamator”, Aufbereitungs Technik,

n°8, 1987, pp. 463-469

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