Coupled bioprocess to treat acid mine drainage and decontamination of biogas to elemental sulfur production in bench scale

• Grant number: 16/01299-8
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Denise Bevilaqua
• Grantee: Samir Prioto Tayar
• Home Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/23494-7 - Study and optimization of hidrogen sulfide production using upflow anaerobic packed bed biorreactor, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Acid mine dreinage (AMD) is an effluent which has low pH and high sulfate concentrations and is generated from metal sulfide oxidation in mining regions. Cases where AMD contacts water bodies may cause serious environmental damages, as happened in the Tinto river in Spain, which has a pH value close to 2.3, therefore is considered dead.Due to the severity of these problems, many chemical and biotechnological treatments have been proposed to remove sulfate from wastewater like AMD. The chemical treatment generally produce residues or are costly, so it had increased the use of treatments where micro-organisms reduces sulfate and consequently raise the pH of the solution.However one of the products of this process is the H2S which is a pollutant and toxic gas that demands posterior treatment, that can be chemical or biotechnological, where the chemical usually use alkaline solution to neutralize the sulfidic acid, generating another residue. Among the biotechnological treatments, the trickling biofilters has been gaining ground for presenting easy and inexpensive operation process. This work aims to develop a coupled bioprocess to treat acid mine drainage using sulfate reducing micro-organisms for production of H2S which is sequentially treated in a trickling biofilter to obtain elemental sulfur that is a less toxic form of sulfur and has considerable economic value.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

TAYAR, Samir Prioto. Estudo de bioprocessos redutivos de sulfato e oxidativos de sulfeto visando tratamento de resíduos líquidos e gasosos. 2018. 78 f. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" Instituto de Química..