#33, Servicing and Fine Tuning a new Metal Removal Unit

Hi All, Colin [with EcoIslands] and Butch here with King Coal. We are going to fine tune Butch’s new Metal Removal Unit by doing a bubbler flush out today, the first one this system has had. It hasn’t really needed it [to date].

[To Butch] Its been what, two months now? Maybe a bit over that [7 weeks]. We are pulling Aluminum and Manganese. Now, you can see we probably wanted to do it [the bubble and flush] a week or two ago. You can tell there is a little aluminum floc getting by and going to the limestone bed [easy to see with 1080 def].

This systems will need a flush every five or six weeks. We’re going to get set up. I’m going to bring the truck back with the compressor and generator and get started. 15-20 minutes, bc [the mru] needs a little extra work today, but that’s not too bad. [we also added a few fittings and adjusted the weir plates, which is not normally needed]. We’ve got Butch set up, and just a real easy squeeze with the first one [when testing new compression fittings. Always use caution when operating pressurized gasses].

Yup, and then go ahead, full blast. There is zip tie over the handle and let it run, let it go for a minute and we’ll drain it. [Text on screen: inject anything you want, water, liquids, atmospheric air, co2, nitrogen gas to bubble reducing units with obligate anaerobes, leaving the ORP/Redox stable and the biodiversity constant and working]. The single bubbler line takes a little longer to build, but adds redundancies and is easier to use. This [sludge] is going out to a sludge pond, could be a dewatering bag if you want. I like dewatering bags obviously.

[Text: for rare earth capture from low pH iron oxides, high quality manganese oxides, get it [the sludge] out of ponds and drying! Tiny volumes of high solids sludge are easily dewatered with small bags (3x MRU total volume) which last 2-5 years before requiring disposal. If sediment has value, pull often as efficient for a return on investment (ROI).

There is a 4” manifold in this system and its a pretty long pipe going all the way out to just over that little rise [Text: about 80-100 feet long] so its a little slower in its drop [draining]. It mentioned in that last video that the 2020’s have the baffle reinforcements in the delivery vault in cell number two. And look at how clean that hemp is.

Butch, have you done any manganese pulls? Ok, so we are still waiting on [lab] data. The one data set we had, the system had been running for a week and the Mn was 1.6 [mg/L] in and coming out at a 1 [mg/l]. Water temp is probably about 40 [F]. [Text: “Warm” groundwater increases microbial metabolism. 45-50F water is a lot better than 33F. Dissolved 02 saturation is still near max [at 45F]. Please keep watching for more on fine tuning your metal removal unit! Cheers! Colin