Abstract:The development of mineral resources will produce a large amount of acid mine drainage (AMD), which will cause serious harm to the ecological environment of mining area. Permeable reactive barrier (PRB) can effectively neutralize acidic wastewater and remove harmful metal ions from waste drainage. The experiment of PRB chamber was carried out to study the potential of limestone as a filling medium to neutralize acidity and treat pollutants and the mechanism of chemical blockage in PRB operation. The results show that the limestone filler has good neutralization and heavy metal removal ability. At the end of experiment, pH value of effluent water is maintained at 6.29, and the removal rate of heavy metal ions is close to 100%. In the process of PRB treatment, iron mineral precipitation is the main reason of chemical blockage, and the degree of blockage is shown as the inlet area > the middle area > the outlet area. The blockage of PRB device has an obvious effect on hydraulic characteristics. The relative permeability of influent reaction area is reduced by 56.1%, and that of the outlet is reduced by 27.6%.