Enhancing Metal Removal by Coaddition of and as Substrates of Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans for Sewage Sludge Bioleaching
Publication: Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management
Volume 12, Issue 3
Abstract
Bioleaching of heavy metals from sewage sludge has been shown to be a promising technique for sludge decontamination in such a complex matrix. The effect of two types of substrates ( and ) and their combination on metal removal efficiencies was studied in a batch system using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. The results showed that the inoculation of A. ferrooxidans and coaddition of and accelerated pH reduction and metal solubilization. After 4–10 days of bioleaching, the following removal efficiencies were obtained: Cr 80%; Cu 100%; and Zn 100%, which were the maximum that have been reported. The time required for Cr to reach the maximum was 10 days, whereas for Cu and Zn the time needed was only 4–6 days. Three different patterns of solubilization for Cr, Cu, and Zn were established as a function of pH and concentration. Cr required a threshold pH of around 2.0 to initiate its solubilization, whereas Cu solubilization was controlled simultaneously by pH and concentration. The pH appeared to be the sole factor responsible for the solubilization of Zn that was initiated at 4.0–4.5. Fundamental strategy for enhancing metal removal efficiencies is to lower the pH and to sustain high concentration, which can be achieved by increasing sulfate concentration, facilitating biooxidation, and decreasing the precipitation of jarosite and schwermannite.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported jointly by The 863 Program of China (2006AA06Z314) and International Scientific Foundation (C/2669-2).
References
Angelidis, M. (1989). “Chemistry of metals in anaerobically treated sludge.” Water Res., 23(1), 29–33.
Blais, J. F., Tyagi, R. D., and Auclair, J. C. (1992). “Bioleaching of metals from sewage sludge by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.” J. Environ. Eng., 118(5), 690–707.
Blais, J. F., Tyagi, R. D., and Auclair, J. C. (1993). “Bioleaching of metal from sewage sludge: Microorganisms and growth kinetics.” Water Res., 27(1), 101–110.
Chen, S. Y., Lin, J. G., and Lee, C. Y. (2003). “Effects of ferric ion on bioleaching of heavy metals from contaminated sediment.” Water Sci. Technol., 48(8), 151–158.
Couillard, D., and Mercier, G. (1993). “Removal of metals and fate of N and P in the bacterial leaching of aerobically digested sewage sludge.” Water Res., 27(7), 1227–1235.
Couillard, D., and Zhu, S. (1992). “Bacterial leaching of heavy metals from sewage sludge for agricultural application.” Water, Air, Soil Pollut., 63(1–2), 67–80.
Ivarson, K. C., Ross, G. J., and Miles, N. M. (1979). “The microbiological formation of basic ferric sulfates. II: Crystallization in presence of potassium-, ammonium-, and sodium-salts.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 43(5), 908–912.
Lake, D. L., Kirk, P. W. W., and Lester, J. N. (1984). “Fractionation, characterization, and speciation of heavy metals in sewage sludge and sludge-amended soils: A review.” J. Environ. Qual., 13(2), 175–183.
Lazaroff, N. (1977). “The specificity of the anionic requirement for iron oxidation by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.” J. Gen. Microbiol., 101(1), 85–91.
Lazaroff, N., Sigal, W., and Wasserman, A. (1982). “Iron oxidation and precipitation of ferric hydroxysulfates by resting Thiobacillus ferrooxidans cells.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 43(4), 924–938.
Lombardi, A. T., and Garcia, O. (1999). “An evaluation into the potential of biological processing for the removal of metals from sewage sludges.” Crit. Rev. Microbiol., 25(4), 275–288.
Ludwig, B., Khanna, P., Balkenhol, R., Friedrich, G., and Dohrmann, R. (1999). “Pyrite oxidation in a sediment sample of an open-cut brown coal mine: mineral formation, buffering of acidity and modeling of cations and sulfate.” J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci., 162(5), 499–509.
Nakano, Y., Takeshita, K., and Tsutsumi, T. (2001). “Adsorption mechanism of hexavalent chrominum by redox within condensed-tannin gel.” Water Res., 35(2), 496–500.
Pesic, B. D., Oliver, J., and Wichlacz, P. (1989). “An electrochemical method of measuring rate of ferrous to ferric iron with oxygen in the presence of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.” Biotechnol. Bioeng., 33(4), 428–435.
Renoux, A. Y., Tyagi, R. D., and Samson, R. (2001). “Assessment of toxicity reduction after metal removal in bioleached sewage sludge.” Water Res., 35(6), 1415–1424.
Sreekrishnan, T. R., Tyagi, R. D., and Blais, J. F. (1993). “Kinetics of heavy metal bioleaching from sewage sludge: Effects of process parameters.” Water Res., 27(11), 1641–1651.
Steiner, M. R., and Lazaroff, N. (1974). “Direct method for continuous determination of iron oxidation by autotrophic bacteria.” Appl. Microbiol., 28(5), 872–880.
Tyagi, R. D., Blais, J. F., Meunier, N., and Benmoussa, H. (1997). “Simultaneous sewage sludge digestion and metal leaching.” Water Res., 31(1), 105–118.
Tyagi, R. D., Meunier, J., and Blais, J. F. (1996). “Simultaneous sewage sludge and metal leaching: Effect of temperature.” Earthquake Eng. Eng. Vib., 46(4), 422–431.
Tyagi, R. D., Sreekrishnan, T. R., Blais, J. F., and Campbell, P. G. C. (1994). “Kinetics of heavy metal bioleaching from sewage sludge: temperature effects.” Water Res., 28(11), 2367–2375.
Tyagi, R. D., and Tran, F. T. (1993). “Bacterial leaching of metal from digested sewage sludge by indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria.” Environ. Pollut., 82(1), 9–12.
Xiang, L., Chan, L. C., and Wong, J. W. C. (2000). “Removal of heavy metals from anaerobically digested sewage sludge by isolated indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria.” Chemosphere, 41(1–2), 283–287.
Yates, J. R., and Holmes, D. S. (1987). “Two families of repeated DNA sequences in Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.” J. Bacteriol., 169(5), 1861–1670.
Zhou, S. G., Wang, S. M., and Zhou, L. X. (2003). “Isolation of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and its application on heavy metal bioleaching from sewage sludge.” Environ. Sci. Manage. Kexue, 24(1), 51–56.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 31, 2007
Accepted: Sep 11, 2007
Published online: Jul 1, 2008
Published in print: Jul 2008
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.