Premium
Pilot‐Plant Study of Wastewater Sludge Decontamination Using a Ferrous Sulfate Bioleaching Process
Author(s) -
Mercier Guy,
Drogui Patrick,
Blais JeanFrançois,
Chartier Myriam
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143005x73118
Subject(s) - bioleaching , ferrous , cadmium , chemistry , human decontamination , sulfate , wastewater , zinc , pulp and paper industry , manganese , environmental chemistry , waste management , copper , environmental engineering , environmental science , organic chemistry , engineering
The objective of this research was to investigate the performance of the ferrous sulfate bioleaching (FSBL) process in a pilot plant for decontamination and stabilization of wastewater sludge. Batch and continuous experiments, conducted with two 4‐m 3 bioreactors using indigenous iron‐oxidizing bacteria (20% v/v of inoculum) with addition of 4.0 g ferrous sulfate heptahydrate per liter of sludge initially acidified to pH 4.0, were sufficient for effective heavy metal (cadmium, copper, manganese, zinc, and lead) removal yields. The average metal removal yields during the FSBL process were as follows: cadmium (69 to 75%), copper (68 to 70%), manganese (72 to 73%), zinc (65 to 66%), and lead (16%). The FSBL process was also found to be effective in removing both fecal and total coliforms (abatement >5 to 6 log units). The nutrients content (nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium) were also preserved in decontaminated sludge.