Montana Tech's Zodrow and Hull Publish Paper

Montana Tech Environmental Engineering assistant professor, Katherine R. Zodrow, and Eric J. Hull, a graduate student in environmental engineering (class of 2017), published a paper in the Environmental Science & Technology Journal entitled Acid Rock Drainage Treatment Using Membrane Distillation: Impacts of Chemical-Free Pretreatment on Scale Formation, Pore Wetting, and Product Water Quality. The paper describes a new process for treating mine waste, membrane distillation, which can use low-grade heat sources like geothermal energy to distill water, removing nearly all water contaminants. Zodrow and Hull showed that a chemical-free thermal pretreatment can improve product water quality and prolong the useful life of the membranes used. The process described could prove useful in treating mine wastes in Montana and around the world.