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

Leiva, Eduardo; Leiva-Aravena, Enzo; Vargas, Ignacio T.

doi:10.3390/w8110536

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a major problem all over the world. AMD is produced when sulfide-bearing material, from mine sites or natural sources, is exposed to water and oxygen [1,2]. The main problem caused by AMD is pollution due to low pH, high concentrations of dissolved metals (i.e., iron, aluminum, copper, lead, zinc and silver, among others), metalloids (e.g., arsenic) and sulfate [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence and Removal of Copper and Aluminum in a Stream Confluence Affected by Acid Mine Drainage

Rodríguez

Leiva-Aravena

Serrano

et al. 2018

Water

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Acid mine drainage (AMD) is an environmental concern characterized by low pH and high concentrations of dissolved metals and sulfate. Yerba Loca Creek in Santiago, Chile, is an AMD-affected water stream that originates in a glacier and, therefore, has a season-dependent flow. This water course is characterized by low pH (3.75 ± 0.13) and high concentrations of aluminum (2.2-2.6 mg/L) and copper (4.8-6.5 mg/L). A field campaign was carried out to study the geochemical behavior around the confluence of the Yerba Loca Creek with the San Francisco River, which has a neutral pH and low concentration of dissolved metals. The results show that the geochemical parameters after the confluence are very similar to those registered for the Yerba Loca Creek, due to its great flow in relation to the San Francisco River. The pH after the mixing zone was controlled by the geochemical conditions and flow of the Yerba Loca Creek; however, the turbidity decreases and stabilizes downstream. We found that, despite the low impact of pH on the precipitation of aluminum and copper phases due to poor neutralization, the dissolved aluminum and copper concentrations are slightly decreased after the mixing zone by natural microscale removal processes or suspended solids formation. Scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analysis of suspended solids indicates the presence of various oxides, hydroxy-sulfates and aluminosilicates, which have a great affinity for adsorption and co-precipitation with dissolved metals (i.e., Al and Cu). A pH-neutralization would favor the formation of more minerals and, therefore, the immobilization of the heavy metals found in these waters. These results contribute to a better understanding of the effect of the confluence of water courses related to pollution by AMD. It is possible that the seasonal variation of the flows has an impact on the composition of water and minerals formed. River (pH~7.2) [4]. At high elevations of the Yerba Loca Basin, there is a large deposit of copper porphyry, which have long influenced the surface water quality of the area, particularly in terms of pH, sulfate content and mineral concentrations [5]. In particular, in the Yerba Loca Creek acidic conditions and metal content, mainly copper (Cu) and aluminum (Al) [6], have a substantial impact on the vegetation of the area since these waters are highly toxic for most plant species [5]. Furthermore, the presence of Cu in excessive concentrations is harmful to a variety of living organisms such as microorganisms, fish and humans [7]. In the environment, Cu is commonly presented as a divalent cation and is generally more mobile in acidic conditions, while at pH above 7, it tends to form minerals like Cu carbonates and hydroxyl-carbonates [8,9]. Al is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust and is commonly present as Al oxide and Al silicate [10,11]. At pH less than 6, Al can be leached from the soil and sediments in the water [10], but the solubility increases when pH is less than 4.5 [12...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence and Removal of Copper and Aluminum in a Stream Confluence Affected by Acid Mine Drainage

Rodríguez

Leiva-Aravena

Serrano

et al. 2018

Water

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“…SRB grow optimally under circum-neutral conditions, therefore the AMD treatment that is mediated by SRB requires pH neutralization. However, many researchers have studied acid-tolerant and acidophilic SRB [21,[36][37][38][39][40]. Kimura, et al [41] have reported a reduction of sulfate at pH 3.8, and Bijmans, et al [42] reported a high rate of sulfate reduction at pH 4.0 and 4.5 using H 2 and formate as electron donors in laboratory experiments.…”

Section: Metal-tolerant Sulfate Reducing Bacteria Are Tolerant To Low Phmentioning

confidence: 99%

Removal of Arsenic Using Acid/Metal-Tolerant Sulfate Reducing Bacteria: A New Approach for Bioremediation of High-Arsenic Acid Mine Waters

Serrano

Leiva

2017

Water

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Fluvial sediments, soils, and natural waters in northern Chile are characterized by high arsenic (As) content. Mining operations in this area are potential sources of As and other metal contaminants, due to acid mine drainage (AMD) generation. Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) has been used for the treatment of AMD, as they allow for the reduction of sulfate, the generation of alkalinity, and the removal of dissolved heavy metals and metalloids by precipitation as insoluble metal sulfides. Thus, SRB could be used to remove As and other heavy metals from AMD, however the tolerance of SRB to high metal concentrations and low pH is limited. The present study aimed to quantify the impact of SRB in As removal under acidic and As-Fe-rich conditions. Our results show that SRB tolerate low pH (up to 3.5) and high concentrations of As (~3.6 mg·L −1 ). Batch experiments showed As removal of up to 73%, Iron (Fe) removal higher than 78% and a neutralization of pH from acidic to circum-neutral conditions (pH 6-8). In addition, XRD analysis showed the dominance of amorphous minerals, while Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analysis showed associations between As, Fe, and sulfur, indicating the presence of Fe-S-As compounds or interaction of As species with amorphous and/or nanocrystalline phases by sorption processes. These results indicate that the As removal was mediated by acid/metal-tolerant SRB and open the potential for the application of new strains of acid/metal-tolerant SRB for the remediation of high-As acid mine waters.

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“…Several approaches for heavy metal removal have been employed, such as ion exchange, precipitation, reverse osmosis, adsorption, membrane separation, bioremediation and phytoremediation [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Likewise, the removal of metallic pollutants and the degradation of persistent organic pollutants has also been explored by different technologies based on photocatalyst applications [ 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Removal of Mn(II) from Acidic Wastewaters Using Graphene Oxide–ZnO Nanocomposites

2021

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Pollution due to acidic and metal-enriched waters affects the quality of surface and groundwater resources, limiting their uses for various purposes. Particularly, manganese pollution has attracted attention due to its impact on human health and its negative effects on ecosystems. Applications of nanomaterials such as graphene oxide (GO) have emerged as potential candidates for removing complex contaminants. In this study, we present the preliminary results of the removal of Mn(II) ions from acidic waters by using GO functionalized with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO). Batch adsorption experiments were performed under two different acidity conditions (pH1 = 5.0 and pH2 = 4.0), in order to evaluate the impact of acid pH on the adsorption capacity. We observed that the adsorption of Mn(II) was independent of the pHPZC value of the nanoadsorbents. The qmax with GO/ZnO nanocomposites was 5.6 mg/g (34.1% removal) at pH = 5.0, while with more acidic conditions (pH = 4.0) it reached 12.6 mg/g (61.2% removal). In turn, the results show that GO/ZnO nanocomposites were more efficient to remove Mn(II) compared with non-functionalized GO under the pH2 condition (pH2 = 4.0). Both Langmuir and Freundlich models fit well with the adsorption process, suggesting that both mechanisms are involved in the removal of Mn(II) with GO and GO/ZnO nanocomposites. Furthermore, adsorption isotherms were efficiently modeled with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. These results indicate that the removal of Mn(II) by GO/ZnO is strongly influenced by the pH of the solution, and the decoration with ZnO significantly increases the adsorption capacity of Mn(II) ions. These findings can provide valuable information for optimizing the design and configuration of wastewater treatment technologies based on GO nanomaterials for the removal of Mn(II) from natural and industrial waters.

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

Cited by 15 publications

References 30 publications

Occurrence and Removal of Copper and Aluminum in a Stream Confluence Affected by Acid Mine Drainage

Occurrence and Removal of Copper and Aluminum in a Stream Confluence Affected by Acid Mine Drainage

Removal of Arsenic Using Acid/Metal-Tolerant Sulfate Reducing Bacteria: A New Approach for Bioremediation of High-Arsenic Acid Mine Waters

Removal of Mn(II) from Acidic Wastewaters Using Graphene Oxide–ZnO Nanocomposites

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