Engineering, 2012, 4, 83-89 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/eng.2012.42011 Published Online February 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/eng) Ecological Problems Related to Mining-Metallurgical Industries and Innovatory, Energy-Efficient Ways of Solving Them Guranda Jishkariani, Gigo Jandieri, David Sakhvadze, Giorgi Tavadze, Garegin Zakharov Giorgi Oniashvili, Zurab Aslamazishvili LEPL Ferdinand Tavadze Institute of Metallurgy and Material Sciences, Tbilisi, Georgia Email: gigo.jandieri@yahoo.com Received October 27, 2011; revised December 10, 2011; accepted December 17, 2011 ABSTRACT The below stated work scrutinizes ecological risks that are related to mining and metallurgical industries. It analyzes problems caused by pollution of air, soil and water and suggests new possible ways of resolving those problems. Namely, such innovative and energy-efficient technologies are argued as phytoremediation and exothermic self-propagating high-temperature synthesis of solid-phase recovery of metals (SHS). Visual arguments in support of the efficiency of the selected methods are provided. Keywords: Ecology; Industrial Wastes; Phytoremediation; Metallothermic Recovery; Green Metallurgy 1. Introduction The scale of anthropogenic impact onto the environment has become so immense that the life is about to face ca- tastrophe. Presently there are approximately 2000 types of gases diffused in the atmosphere; hundreds of millions tones of liquid and solid industrial wastes are produced, that harm soil, water and atmospheric climate and have a negative impact on the health of the mankind. Metallurgy, thermoelectric power, production of ce- ment and concrete are one of the most hazardous produc- tions for the world’s ecology by being heavy-duty power industries. In any of the cases, products are made at the expense of carbon thermal oxidation inducing high tem- perature chemical reactions or burning of carbon-con- taining energy sources. Solid, liquid and gaseous energy sources are used as carbon-containing agents (Carbon, Cox, oil, natural gas). The average annual ratio of con- sumption of metallurgical Cox only amounts to 250 mil- lion tones. Therefore, emission of green house gases (such as CO; CO 2 ; NO 2 ) in a present world, considering current state of industrial technologies and their capacity remains unsolved problem and an inevitable fact at a time. In this regard, another issue related to the metallur- gical processing cycle of minerals which is accompanied by production of slag and its evacuation is also problem- atic. The share of slag in proportion to a net product equals to 200% - 300%. To give an example, in one of the industrial parts of the Georgia, Zestaphoni, where a plant produces ap- proximately 150,000 tones of silico-manganum annually (FeMnSi 17), 400,000 tones of slag is also being produced [1]. Together with other components, slag contains 10% - 15% manganum and 2% of sulphur. About 60% of slag turns into granules by being poured into water tanks. What happens next is that, sulphur containing in the slag liberates as an anhydride (SO 2 ), which aerates in form of a dense cloud from the steam created as a result of granulation, then interfuses with a steam present in an atmospheric clouds and then, at the stage of condensation sulfuric acid is produced. Furthermore, precipitations containning sulphur acid pollute the environment for many kilometers ahead including lands for farming. This phenomenon is known as “Acid Stress” and amongst others is considered to be as yet another anthropogenic aggression turned against the ecology of nature. It is known that acid rains result in devastation of forests and agriculture [2]. Together with that, the number of babies who are born with inborn pathologies has increased dra- matically. It also should be considered that territories, formerly occupied by the Russian military forces in different re- gions of Georgia as well as numerous small and medium scale industrial objects that pollute soils, water and air with heavy metals, toxic organic substances, petroleum slag and radioactive substances create a threat not only to the health of Georgian population and ecosystem but also to the entire world. The biological peculiarities of the Copyright © 2012 SciRes. ENG