Acid mine drainage: electrochemical approaches to prevention and remediation of acidity and toxic metals

Bejan, Dorin; Bunce, Nigel J.

doi:10.1007/s10800-015-0884-2

Cited by 45 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 177 publications

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“…Mining waste streams can have the dual challenge of being acidic (due to oxidation of sulphide minerals), and containing metal ions such as copper, nickel, iron, lead, zinc, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and many others . One example of mining tailing waste water from the Sudbury region of Ontario (Canada) contains 10 ppm copper, 20 ppm nickel, and an average calcium concentration of 250 ppm at a pH of approximately 4.0 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective separation of copper and nickel ions from aqueous solutions containing calcium by emulsion liquid membranes using central composite design

Kökkılıç

Langlois

et al. 2019

Can J Chem Eng

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The emulsion liquid membrane technique was utilized to selectively extract copper and nickel from a synthetic aqueous solution containing calcium, which was used to mimic a tailings stream found in the Sudbury region of Canada. The results showed copper and nickel ions were successively extracted from the synthetic solution. Two central composite designs and an analysis of the experiments were used to optimize the process and determine the main effects and interactions of experimental factors. In the first stage, copper was extracted with a minimum removal of nickel and calcium. It was found that under optimum conditions 98 % of the copper was extracted, with only 0.9 % of the nickel and 1.3 % of the calcium being extracted. The subsequent copper stripping efficiency was 95.7 %. In the second stage, the remaining aqueous solution was treated to remove nickel with minimum calcium removal. During this stage, the corresponding nickel and calcium removal percentages were 99.0 and 0.55 %, respectively, with a nickel stripping efficiency of 84.1 %. Laboratory bench‐scale tests using a two‐stage mixer‐settler showed a good correlation with these results when moving to a semi‐continuous process, which extracted 99.7 % of the copper and 98.2 % of the nickel, with only 2.2 % calcium extraction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selective separation of copper and nickel ions from aqueous solutions containing calcium by emulsion liquid membranes using central composite design

Kökkılıç

Langlois

et al. 2019

Can J Chem Eng

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“…Unfortunately, conventional treatment technologies for AMD remediation have several limitations, both economic and operational [6]. Nevertheless, new bioremediation systems based on microbial fuel cells (MFC) might appear as a new and sustainable alternative [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acid Water Neutralization Using Microbial Fuel Cells: An Alternative for Acid Mine Drainage Treatment

Leiva

Leiva-Aravena

Vargas

2016

Water

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Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a complex environmental problem, which has adverse effects on surface and ground waters due to low pH, high toxic metals, and dissolved salts. New bioremediation approach based on microbial fuel cells (MFC) can be a novel and sustainable alternative for AMD treatment. We studied the potential of MFC for acidic synthetic water treatment through pH neutralization in batch-mode and continuous-flow operation. We observed a marked pH increase, from~3.7 to~7.9 under batch conditions and to~5.8 under continuous-flow operation. Likewise, batch reactors (non-MFC) inoculated with different MFC-enriched biofilms showed a very similar pH increase, suggesting that the neutralization observed for batch operation was due to a synergistic influence of these communities. These preliminary results support the idea of using MFC technologies for AMD remediation, which could help to reduce costs associated with conventional technologies. Advances in this configuration could even be extrapolated to the recovery of heavy metals by precipitation or adsorption processes due to the acid neutralization.

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“…Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in electrochemical treatment of AMD by manipulating the driving electric potential gradient without chemicals addition (Park et al 2015;Bejan & Bunce 2015). The modular design which can be powered from renewable energy sources makes electrochemical treatment technologies ideal for AMD treatment in abandoned and remote areas (Radjenovic & Sedlak 2015).…”

Section: Mining Wastewater Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the main drawbacks of EC are the high cost of the sacrificial metal anodes (Bejan & Bunce 2015). While these studies provide an understanding of the effects of operational variables on process performance, the relatively high costs, a short life expectancy of electrodes and concerns about the more restricted discharge limits of sulfate have slowed down progress towards full-scale application.…”

Section: Mining Wastewater Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bio-Electrochemical process for Metal and Sulfur Recovery from Acid Mine Drainage

Zamora¹,

Alonso²

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Water recycling and resource recovery from acid mine drainage (AMD) are increasingly being regarded as desirable practices with direct benefits for the environment and the operational and economic viability of the resources sector.This thesis proves the concept of a novel bioelectrochemical system (BES) for the direct electrode-driven resource recovery and practically permanent AMD treatment. The technology consists of a two-cell bioelectrochemical setup to enable the removal of sulfate from the ongoing reduction-oxidation sulfur cycle, thereby also reducing salinity, without external addition of chemicals.In particular, the goals of this thesis are: (i) to enrich a sulfate reducing bacterial community capable of directly utilising a carbon based cathode as electron donor for autotrophic sulfate reduction, or via bioelectrochemically-produced H 2 ; (ii) to elucidate the electron flux pathways of autotrophic sulfate reduction and microbial interactions in cathodic mixed cultures; (iii) to develop a high-rate sulfate reducing bioelectrochemical reactor based on high surface area electrode materials; (iv) to design and implement a combined chemical-free bioelectrochemical process that enables the sulfur, metal and water recovery from AMD.In order to elucidate whether cathodes can effectively release electrons and act as the only electron donor to support sulfate reduction process, the effect of cathode potential and inoculum source were evaluated using electrochemical tools, including the recording of chronoamperometry and cyclic/linear sweep voltammetry (Chapter 5). Electrochemical and off-gas analysis coupled to liquid phase sampling was carried out to determine the electron fluxes from the electrode to the final electron acceptor (sulfate) during autotrophic sulfate reduction (Chapter 6). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and digital image analysis (DAIME) of the microbial communities in z-stack confirmed the microbial stratification. After obtaining a well-functioning biocathode for autotrophic sulfate reduction, its performance was experimentally optimised in terms of high-surface area electrode materials, like multi-wall carbon nanotubes on reticulated vitreous carbon (MWCNT-RVC) and carbon granules (CG) (Chapter 7). Finally, a novel BES was tested for AMD treatment , outcompeting methanogens and homoacetogens for the hydrogen without the need to add chemical inhibitors.The findings of this thesis show that inexpensive CG can achieve higher current-tosulfide efficiencies at lower power consumption than the nano-modified three-dimensional MWCNT-RVC. Sequencing analysis of the 16S rRNA gene on day 58 revealed that MWCNT-RVC retained the bacteria and archaea population from the inoculum, while CG electrode surface was able to select for bacteria over archaea.The feasibility to integrate a two-stage BES was proven with a lab-scale setup for AMD treatment. Using AMD, the BES operation enhanced the sulfate reduction rate ( The solid metal-sludge was 2 times less voluminous and 9 times more readily s...

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Acid mine drainage: electrochemical approaches to prevention and remediation of acidity and toxic metals

Cited by 45 publications

References 177 publications

Selective separation of copper and nickel ions from aqueous solutions containing calcium by emulsion liquid membranes using central composite design

Selective separation of copper and nickel ions from aqueous solutions containing calcium by emulsion liquid membranes using central composite design

Acid Water Neutralization Using Microbial Fuel Cells: An Alternative for Acid Mine Drainage Treatment

Bio-Electrochemical process for Metal and Sulfur Recovery from Acid Mine Drainage

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