Sugarcane Bagasse as a Microbial Host Media for the Passive Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 10
Abstract
Anoxic microcosms and flow-through experiments were used to evaluate the ability of sugarcane bagasse to support biogenic sulfide production that can mitigate pH and immobilize heavy metals commonly found in acid mine drainage (AMD). The study was organized in three phases. Phases I and II used mine tailings to generate AMD solutions having a pH near 2, with total metals concentrations in excess of . Fresh sugarcane bagasse was placed in AMD solutions contained in microcosms at various liquid:solid ratios, under controlled environmental conditions. Within 30 days, significant reductions () in dissolved As, Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations were achieved and pH was elevated to circumneutral conditions. Phase III used fresh AMD to challenge flow-through columns packed with bagasse. Reductions in dissolved Cd, Cu, U, and Zn concentrations between 1.5 to 2 orders of magnitude were observed and sustained for more than one year. Column performance was not significantly impacted by temperature fluctuations in the range between 5 and 22°C. Nucleic acid probes confirmed that sulfate reducing bacteria (SRBs) were active and present in the bagasse-containing microcosms. The relative abundance of SRBs suggests they were associated with the sulfide and alkalinity production and that biogenic sulfide was likely responsible for metal removal.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This project was funded in part by Compania Minera Nor Peru, S.A (CMNP), the Peru Mission of the US Agency for International Development (Project No. 527-0368-O-00-7283-00), and two US National Science Foundation CAREER Awards (Nos. BES-9702165 and CMS-9703367), as well as research grants provided by CETCO and CH2M HILL Inc. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Mr. Alan Davis (Program Officer, USAID) and Ings. Jose Pacora and Antonio Mendoza both of CMNP for their help and cooperation. Dr. Lisa Detter-Hoskin and Mr. Gautam Patel of the Georgia Tech Research Institute are thanked for their assistance with the XRD and SEM analyses of the San Felipe Tailings. Resource Materials Testing Inc. (Clermont, Georgia) completed the XRF analyses on the San Felipe Tailings. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, CMNP, NSF, CETCO, or CH2M HILL.
References
Amann, R. I., L. Krumholz, and D. A. Stahl. 1990. “Fluorescent-Oligonucleotide probing of whole cells for phylogenetic and environmental studies in microbiology.” J. Bacteriol. 172 (2): 762–770. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.172.2.762-770.1990.
Amann, R. I., J. Stromley, R. Devereux, R. Key, and D. A. Stahl. 1992. “Molecular and microscopic identification of sulfate-reducing bacteria in multispecies biofilms.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58 (2): 614–623.
Bechard, G., H. Yamazaki, W. D. Gould, and P. Bedard. 1994. “Use of cellulosic substrates for the microbial treatment of acid mine drainage.” J. Environ. Quality 23 (1): 111–116.
CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment). 2012. “Fact sheet, central city/clear creek superfund site.” Accessed April 7, 2013. http://www.colorado.gov.
CESEL, S. T. E. S., Inc. 1997. Estudio de Evaluación Ambiental Territorial y de Planteamiento Para La Reducción o Eliminación de la Contaminación de Origen Minero en la Cuenca Rio Moche. [In Spanish.] Lima, Peru: Prepared for Ministerio de Energía y Minas—MEM.
Chang, I. S., P. K. Shin, and B. H. Kim. 2000. “Biological treatment of acid mine drainage under sulphate-reducing conditions with solid waste materials as substrate.” Water Res. 34 (4): 1269–1277. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(99)00268-7.
CMNP (Corporación Minera Nor Perú). 1996. Programa de Adecuacion y Manejo Ambiental. [In Spanish.] Lima, Peru: Unidad Minera Quiruvilca.
CMNP (Corporación Minera Nor Perú). 1997. Acid mine drainage data for 1995-1997 from Quiruvilca Mine. Lima, Peru: CMNP.
Debroy, M., and S. S. Dara. 2008. “Immobilization of zinc and lead from wastes using simple and fibre-reinforced lime-pozzolana admixtures.” J. Environ. Sci. Health Part A: Environ. Sci. Eng. Toxicol. 29 (2): 339–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/10934529409376040.
Devereux, R., M. D. Kane, J. Winfrey, and D. A. Stahl. 1992. “Genus-specific and group-specific hybridization probes for determinative and environmental studies of sulfate reducing bacteria.” Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 15 (4): 601–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0723-2020(11)80122-0.
Dunlap, C. E., and L. C. Chiang. 1980. “Cellulose degradation: A common link.” In Utilization and recycle of agricultural wastes and residues, edited by M. L. Shuler, 19–65. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Elliott, P., S. Ragusa, and D. Catcheside. 1998. “Growth of sulfate-reducing bacteria under acidic conditions in an upflow anaerobic bioreactor as a treatment system for acid mine drainage.” Water Res. 32 (12), 3724–3730. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(98)00144-4.
Evangelou, V. P. 1995. Pyrite oxidation and control. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Gámez, S., J. J. González-Cabriales, J. A. Ramírez, G. Garrote, and M. Vázquez. 2006. “Study of the hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse using phosphoric acid.” J. Food Eng. 74 (1): 78–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2005.02.005.
Gazea, B., K. Adam, and A. Kontopoulos. 1996. “A review of passive systems for the treatment of acid mine drainage.” Minerals Eng. 9 (1): 23–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/0892-6875(95)00129-8.
Gibert, O., J. de Pablo, J. L. Cortina, and C. Ayora. 2002. “Treatment of acid mine drainage by sulphate-reducing bacteria using permeable reactive barriers: A review from laboratory to full-scale experiments.” Rev. Environ. Sci. Biotechnol. 1 (4): 327–333. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023227616422.
Gibert, O., J. de Pablo, J. L. Cortina, and C. Ayora. 2004. “Chemical characterisation of natural organic substrates for biological mitigation of acid mine drainage.” Water Res. 38 (19): 4186–4196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2004.06.023.
Grubb, D. G., M. S. Guimaraes, and D. G. Landers. 1999. “Properties of sugarcane bagasse and bagasse ash.” In Vol. 1 of Proc., XI Panamerican Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 335–342. Iguassu Falls, Brazil.
Hedin, R. S., R. W. Naim, and R. L. P. Kleinmann. 1994. Passive treatment of coal mine drainage. Pittsburgh: US Bureau of Mines.
Heidelberg, J. F., K. R. O’Neill, D. Jacobs, and R. R. Colwell. 1993. “Enumeration of Vibrio vulnificus on membrane filters with a fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide probe specific for kingdom-level 16S rRNA sequences.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59 (10): 3474–3476.
Helfgott, S., A. Vásquez, E. Paz-Vergara, J. Castillo, and M. Pollack. 1997. El cultivo de la caña de azúcar en la costa peruana. [In Spanish.] 495. Lima, Peru: UNALM.
Hernandez, M., E. A. Marchand, D. Roberts, and J. Peccia. 2002. “In situ assessment of active Thiobacillus species in corroding concrete sewers using fluorescent. RNA probes.” Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad. 49 (4): 271–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0964-8305(02)00054-9.
ICIDCA (Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de los Derivados de la Caña de Azúcar). 1988. Handbook of sugarcane derivatives. Mexico: United Nations Development Program.
Jain, R. M., K. H. Mody, J. Keshri, and B. Jha. 2011. “Biological neutralization of chlor-alkali industry wastewater.” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62 (11): 2377–2383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.08.034.
Jain, R. M., K. H. Mody, J. Keshri, and B. Jha. 2014. “Biological neutralization and biosorption of dyes of alkaline textile industry wastewater.” Mar. Pollut. Bull. 84 (1–2): 83–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.05.033.
Johns, M. M., W. E. Marshall, and C. A. Toles. 1998. “Agricultural by-products as granular activated carbons for adsorbing dissolved metals and organics.” J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 71 (2): 131–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4660(199802)71:2%3C131::AID-JCTB821%3E3.0.CO;2-K.
Kalin, M., J. Cairns, and R. McCready. 1991. “Ecological engineering methods for acid mine drainage treatment of coal wastes.” Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 5 (2–3): 265–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-3449(91)90030-R.
Khalak, A., and A. S. Kumaraswamy. 1993. “Weed bio-mass in relation to irrigation and mulching, and economics of mulching potato crop under conditions of acute water scarcity.” J. Indian Potato Assoc. 20 (2): 162–164.
Laszlo, J. A. 1996. “Preparing an ion exchange resin from sugarcane bagasse to remove reactive dye from wastewater.” Text. Chem. Color. 28 (5): 13–17.
Lucker, S., D. Steger, K. U. Kjeldsen, B. J. MacGregor, M. Wagner, and A. Loy. 2007. “Improved 16S rRNA-targeted probe set for analysis of sulfate-reducing bacteria by fluorescence in situ hybridization.” J. Microbiol. Methods 69 (3): 523–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2007.02.009.
Maidak, B. L., et al. 2000. “The RDP (Ribosomal Database Project) continues.” Nucl. Acids Res. 28 (1): 173–174. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/28.1.173.
Marshall, W. E., and E. T. Champagne. 1995. “Agricultural by-products as adsorbents for metal ions in laboratory prepared solutions and in manufacturing wastewater.” J. Environ. Sci. Health Part A: Environ. Sci. Eng. Toxic Hazard. Subst. Control 30 (2): 242–261.
McKay, G., M. Elgeundi, and M. M. Nassar. 1987. “Equilibrium studies during the removal of dyestuffs from aqueous solutions using bagasse pith.” Water Res. 21 (12): 1513–1520. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(87)90135-7.
Meade, G. P., and J. Chen. 1977. Cane sugar handbook. New York: Wiley.
Moubarik, A., and N. Grimi. 2015. “Valorization of olive stone and sugarcane bagasse by-products as biosorbents for the removal of cadmium from aqueous solution.” Food Res. Int. 73: 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2014.07.050.
Mukherjee, K., R. Saha, A. Ghosh, S. K. Ghosh, P. K. Maji, and B. Saha. 2014. “Surfactant-assisted bioremediation of hexavalent chromium by use of an aqueous extract of sugarcane bagasse.” Res. Chem. Intermed. 40 (4): 1727–1734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-013-1077-4.
Neculita, C. M., and G. J. Zagury. 2008. “Biological treatment of highly contaminated acid mine drainage in batch reactors: Long-term treatment and reactive mixture characterization.” J. Hazard. Mater. 157 (2–3): 358–366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.01.002.
Neculita, C. M., G. J. Zagury, and B. Bussiere. 2007. “Passive treatment of acid mine drainage in bioreactors using sulfate-reducing bacteria: Critical review and research needs.” J. Environ. Quality 36 (1): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2006.0066.
Neculita, C. M., G. J. Zagury, and B. Bussiere. 2008a. “Effectiveness of sulfate-reducing passive bioreactors for treating highly contaminated acid mine drainage: I. Effect of hydraulic retention time.” Appl. Geochem. 23 (12): 3442–3451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.08.004.
Neculita, C. M., G. J. Zagury, and B. Bussiere. 2008b. “Effectiveness of sulfate-reducing passive bioreactors for treating highly contaminated acid mine drainage. II: Metal removal mechanisms and potential mobility.” Appl. Geochem. 23 (12): 3545–3560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.08.014.
Okabe, S., T. Itoh, H. Satoh, and Y. Watanabe. 1999. “Analyses of spatial distributions of sulfate-reducing bacteria and their activity in aerobic wastewater biofilms.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65 (11): 5107–5116.
Paturau, J. M. 1982. By-products of the cane sugar industry. New York: Elsevier.
Rezende, C. A., M. A. de Lima, P. Maziero, E. R. deAzevedo, W. Garcia, and I. Polikarpov. 2011. “Chemical and morphological characterization of sugarcane bagasse submitted to a delignification process for enhanced enzymatic digestibility.” Biotechnol. Biofuels 4 (1): 54. https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-4-54.
Ritcey, G. M. 1989. “Tailings management.” In Problems and solutions in the mining industry, 518–529. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
Rydholm, S. A. 1985a. Pulping chemistry. Malabar, FL: RE Krieger Publishing Company.
Rydholm, S. A. 1985b. “Chemical pulping.” In Pulping processes. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company.
Rydholm, S. A. 1985c. Pulping processes book 1. Malabar, FL: RE Krieger Publishing Company.
Shashikanth, R. M., and G. M. Shantha. 1993. “Adsorption studies of chromium (VI) from synthetic aqueous solution by activated carbon derived from bagasse.” J. Environ. Sci. Health Part A Environ. Sci. Eng. Toxicol. 28 (10): 2263–2280. https://doi.org/10.1080/10934529309376008.
Skousen, J., C. E. Zipper, A. Rose, P. F. Ziemkiewicz, R. Nairn, L. M. McDonald, and R. L. Kleinmann. 2017. “Review of passive systems for acid mine drainage treatment.” Mine Water Environ. 36 (1): 133–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-016-0417-1.
Sousa, F. W., M. J. Sousa, I. R. N. Oliveira, A. G. Oliveira, R. M. Cavalcante, P. B. A. Fechine, V. O. S. Neto, D. de Keukeleire, and R. F. Nascimento. 2009. “Evaluation of a low-cost adsorbent for removal of toxic metal ions from wastewater of an electroplating factory.” J. Environ. Manage. 90 (11): 3340–3344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.05.016.
Tuttle, J. H., P. R. Dugan, and C. I. Randles. 1969. “Microbial sulfate reduction and its potential utility as an acid mine water pollution abatement procedure.” Appl. Microbiol. 17 (2): 297–302.
USEPA (US Environmental Protection Agency). 1982. Development document for final effluent limitation guidelines. New source performance standards and pretreatment standards for the coal mining points sources category. Washington, DC: USEPA.
Wewerka, E. M., J. M. Williams, P. L. Wanek, and J. D. Olsen. 1978. “Trace contaminants from coal preparation waste and ash disposal.” In Trace contaminants, edited by Coal S. Torrey, 229–292. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Data Corporation.
Zagury, G. J., V. I. Kulnieks, and C. M. Neculita. 2006. “Characterization and reactivity assessment of organic substrates for sulphate-reducing bacteria in acid mine drainage treatment.” Chemosphere 64 (6): 944–954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.01.001.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 10 • October 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 28, 2017
Accepted: Feb 9, 2018
Published online: Aug 10, 2018
Published in print: Oct 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Jan 10, 2019
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.