Use of propionic acid additions to enhance zinc removal from mine drainage in short residence time, flow-through sulfate-reducing bioreactors

Gandy, Catherine J., Gray, Neil D., Mejehab, Obioma K., Sherry, Angela and Jarvis, Adam P. (2023) Use of propionic acid additions to enhance zinc removal from mine drainage in short residence time, flow-through sulfate-reducing bioreactors. Journal of Environmental Management, 327. p. 116862. ISSN 0301-4797

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116862

Abstract

The effectiveness of liquid carbon additions to enhance zinc removal in laboratory-scale short hydraulic residence time (19 hours) compost bioreactors receiving synthetic mine water with a high influent zinc concentration (45 mg/L) was investigated. Effective removal of such elevated zinc concentrations could not be sustained by sulfate reduction and / or other attenuation processes without carbon supplementation. Propionic acid addition resulted in improved and sustained performance by promoting the activities of sulfate reducing bacteria, leading to efficient zinc removal (mean 99) via bacterial sulfate reduction. In contrast, cessation of propionic acid addition led to carbon limitation and the growth of sulfur oxidising bacteria, compromising zinc removal by bacterial sulfate reduction. These research findings demonstrate the potential for modest liquid carbon additions to compost-based passive treatment systems to engineer microbial responses which enhance rates of zinc attenuation in a short hydraulic residence time, enabling remediation of highly polluting mine drainage at sites with limited land availability.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding information: The research was funded by the UK Coal Authority (Contract references CA18/2377 and CA18/2349), as part of the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines (WAMM) Programme, a partnership with the Environment Agency and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Zinc, Mine drainage, Compost bioreactor, Carbon addition, Sulfate reducing, Residence time
Subjects: H800 Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Applied Sciences
Depositing User: John Coen
Date Deposited: 24 Nov 2022 11:43
Last Modified: 30 Nov 2023 03:31
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/50727

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