Abstract
The treatment of simulated acidic wastewater (pH 2.5–5)containing sulfate (1.0–2.2 g l-1), zinc (15–340 mg l -1) and iron (57 mg l -1) was studied in a sulfate-reducing fluidized-bed reactor (FBR) at 35 °C.The original lactate feed for enrichment and maintenance of the FBRculture was replaced stepwise with ethanol over 50 days. The robustnessof the process was studied by increasing stepwise the Zn, sulfate andethanol feed concentrations and decreasing the feed pH. The following precipitation rates were obtained: 360 mg l -1 d -1 for Zn and 86 mg l -1 d -1 for Fe, with over 99.8% Zn and Fe removal, with a hydraulic retention time of 16 h. Under these conditions, 77–95% of the electrons were accepted by sulfate reduction. The alkalinity produced from ethanol oxidation increased the wastewater pH from 2.5 to 7.5–8.5. Michaelis–Menten constants (Km) determined in batch FBR experiments, were 4.3–7.1 mg l -1 and 2.7–3.5 mg l -1 for ethanol and acetateoxidation, respectively. The maximum oxidation velocities (Vmax)were 0.19–0.22 mg gVS -1 min -1 and0.033–0.035 mg gVS -1 min -1, for ethanol and acetate, respectively. In summary, the FBR process produced a good quality effluent as indicated by its low organic content and Zn and Fe concentrations below0.1 mg l -1.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnes LJ, Sherren J, Janssen FJ, Scheeren PJH, Versteegh JH & Koch RO (1991) Simultaneous microbial removal of sulphate and heavy metals from wastewater. 1st European Metals Conference, EMC'91: Non-ferrous metallurgy — present and future (pp 391–401). Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd. England
Castro HF, Williams NH & Ogram A (2000) Minireview: Phylogeny of sulfate-reducing bacteria. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 31: 1–9
Christensen B, Laake M & Lien T (1996) Treatment of acid mine water by sulfate-reducing bacteria: Results from a bench scale experiment. Water Res. 30: 1617–1624
Conner JR (1990) Chemical fixation and solidification of hazardous wastes. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York
Cord-Ruwisch R (1985) A quick method for the determination of dissolved and precipitated sulfides in cultures of sulfate-reducing bacteria. JMM 4: 33–36
Cornish-Bowden A (1995) Fundamentals of enzyme kinetics. Revised edition. Portland Press Ltd, London
Dvorak DH, Hedin RS, Edenborn HM & McIntire PE (1992) Treatment of metal-contaminated water using bacterial sulfatereduction: Results from pilot-scale reactors. Biotech. Bioeng. 40: 609–616
Foucher S, Battaglia-Brunet F, Ignatiadis I & Morin D (2001) Treatment by sulfate-reducing bacteria of Chessy acid-mine drainage and metals recovery. Chem. Eng. Sci. 56: 1639–1645
García C, Moreno DA, Ballester A, Blázquez ML & González F (2001) Bioremediation of an industrial acid mine water by metaltolerant sulphate-reducing bacteria. Min. Eng. 14(9): 997–1008
Hulshoff Pol LW, Lens PNL, Weijma J & Stams AJM (2001) New developments in reactor and process technology for sulfate reduction. Water Sci & Technol 44(8): 67–76
Ingvorsen K, Zehnder AJB & Jørgensen BB (1984) Kinetics of sulfate and acetate uptake by Desulfobacter postgatei. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 47: 403–408
Jalali K & Baldwin SA (2000) The role of sulphate reducing bacteria in copper removal from aqueous sulphate solutions. Water Res. 34: 797–806
Kaksonen AH, Riekkola-Vanhanen M-L & Puhakka JA (in press) Optimization of metal sulfide precipitation in fluidized-bed treatment of acidic wastewater. Water Res
Kolmert Å & Johnson DB (2001) Remediation of acidic waste waters using immobilised, acidophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 76: 836–843
Kuş F & Wiesmann U (1995) Degradation kinetics of acetate and propionate by immobilized anaerobic mixed cultures. Water Res. 29: 1437–1443
Laanbroek HJ, Geerligs HJ, Sijtsma L & Veldkamp H (1984) Competition for sulfate and ethanol among Desulfobacter, Desulfobulbus, and Desulfovibrio species isolated from intertidal sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 47: 329–334
Ma X & Hua Y (1997) Cd2+ removal from wastewater by sulfate reducing bacteria with an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor. J. Environ. Sci. 9: 366–371
Middleton AG & Lawrence AW(1977) Kinetics of microbial sulfate reduction. J. Water Pollut. Contr. Fed. 299: 1659–1670
Morton RL, Yanko WA, Graham DW & Arnold RG (1991) Relationships between metal concentration and crown corrosion in Los Angeles country sewers. Res. J. Water Pollut. Contr. Fed. 63: 789–798
Nagpal S, Chuichulcherm S, Livingston A & Peeva L (2000a) Ethanol utilization by sulfate-reducing bacteria: an experimental and modelling study. Biotech. Bioeng. 70: 533–543
Nagpal S, Chuichulcherm S, Peeva L & Livingston A (2000b) Microbial sulfate-reduction in a liquid-solid fluidized bed reactor. Biotech. Bioeng. 70: 370–380
Omil F, Lens P, Hulshoff Pol L & Lettinga G (1996) Effects of upward velocity and sulfide concentration on volatile fatty acid degradation in a sulfidogenic granular sludge reactor. Process. Biochem. 31: 699–710
Oude Elferink SJWH (1998) Sulfate-reducing bacteria in anaerobic bioreactors. Ph.D. thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands
Postgate JR (1979) The sulphate-reducing bacteria. 1st edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Schönheit P, Kristjansson JK & Thauer RK (1982) Kinetic mechanism for the ability of sulfate reducers to out-compete methanogens for acetate. Arch. Microbiol. 132: 285–288
SFS (1980a) SFS 3044: Metal content of water, sludge and sediment determined by atomic adsorption spectroscopy, atomisation in flame. General principles and guidelines. Finnish Standards Association, SFS. 8 pp
SFS (1980b) SFS 3047: Metal content of water, sludge and sediment determined by atomic adsorption spectroscopy, atomisation in flame. Special guidelines for lead, iron, cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc. Finnish Standards Association, SFS. 6 pp
SFS (1990) SFS 3008: Determination of total residue and total fixed residue in water, sludge and sediment. Finnish Standards Association, SFS. 3 pp
SFS (1996) SFS-EN ISO 9963-1: Water quality. Determination of alkalinity. Part 1: Determination of total and composite alkalinity. Finnish Standards Association, SFS. 16 pp
Trüper HG & Schlegel HG (1964) Sulphur metabolism in Thiorhodaceae: 1. Quantitative measurements on growing cells of Chromatium okenii. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 30: 225–238
Ueki K, Ueki A, Itoh K, Tanaka T & Satoh A (1991) Removal of sulfate and heavy metals from acid mine water by anaerobic treatment with cattle waste: Effects of heavy metals on sulfate reduction. J. Environ. Sci. Health A26: 1471–1489
de Vegt AL & Buisman CJN (1995) Full scale biological treatment of groundwater contaminated with heavy metals and sulfate. In: Lortie L, Gould WD & Rajan S (Eds) Proceedings of the 11th Annual general meeting of BIOMINET (pp 31–43). January 16, 1995, Ottawa, Canada. CANMET Special Publication SP 95-1, Ottawa
Visser A (1995) The anaerobic treatment of sulfate containing wastewater. Ph.D. thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands
Widdel F (1988) Microbiology and ecology of sulfate-and sulfur-reducing bacteria. In: Zehnder AJB (Ed) Biology of anaerobic microorganisms (pp 469–585). John Wiley & Sons, New York
Yoda M, Kitagawa M & Miyayii Y (1987) Long term competition between sulfate reducing and methane producing bacteria in anaerobic biofilm. Water Res. 21: 1547–1556
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kaksonen, A.H., Franzmann, P.D. & Puhakka, J.A. Performance and Ethanol Oxidation Kinetics of a Sulfate-Reducing Fluidized-Bed Reactor Treating Acidic Metal-Containing Wastewater. Biodegradation 14, 207–217 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024262607099
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024262607099