Biotreatment of acidic zinc- and copper-containing wastewater using ethanol-fed sulfidogenic anaerobic baffled reactor.

The treatment of acidic (pH 6.5-3), sulfate- (2-3 g/L), Zn- and Cu- (total metal 0-500 mg/L) containing wastewater was studied in a four-stage anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) at 35 °C for 250 days. Ethanol was supplemented (COD/SO4(2-) = 0.67) as carbon and electron source for sulfate reducing bacteria. Sulfate reduction, COD oxidation and metal precipitation efficiencies were 70-92, 80-94 and >99%, respectively. The alkalinity produced from sulfidogenic ethanol oxidation increased the wastewater pH from 3.0 to 7.0-8.0. The electron flow from organic oxidation to sulfate averaged 87%. Decreasing feed pH to 3 and increasing total metal concentrations to 500 mg/L did not adversely affect the performance of ABR and sufficient alkalinity was produced to increase the effluent pH to neutral values. More than 99% of metals were precipitated in the form of metal-sulfides. Accumulation of precipitated metals in the first compartment allowed metal recovery without disturbing reactor performance seriously.

Separate recovery of copper and zinc from acid mine drainage using biogenic sulfide.

Precipitation of metals from acid mine drainage (AMD) using sulfide gives the possibility of selective recovery due to different solubility product of each metal. Using sulfate reducing bacteria to produce sulfide for that purpose is advantageous due to in situ and on-demand sulfide production. In this study, separate precipitation of Cu and Zn was studied using sulfide produced in anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR). ABR fed with ethanol (1340 mg/L chemical oxygen demand (COD)) and sulfate (2000 mg/L) gave a stable performance with 65% sulfate reduction, 85% COD removal and around 320 mg/L sulfide production. Cu was separately precipitated at low pH (pH<2) using sulfide transported from ABR effluent via N(2) gas. Cu precipitation was complete within 45-60 min and Zn did not precipitate during Cu removal. The Cu precipitation rate increased with initial Cu concentration. After selective Cu precipitation, Zn recovery was studied using ABR effluent containing sulfide and alkalinity. Depending on initial sulfide/Zn ratio, removal efficiency varied between 84 and 98%. The low pH of Zn bearing AMD was also increased to neutral values using alkalinity produced by sulfate reducing bacteria in ABR. The mode of particle size distribution of ZnS and CuS precipitates was around 17 and 46 microm, respectively.