Abstract Reactor hydrodynamics is important for sulfidogenesis because sulfate reduction bacteria (SRB) do not granulate easily. In this work, the sulfate reduction performance of two continuous anaerobic bioreactors was investigated: (i) an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and (ii) a fluidized bed reactor (FBR). Organic loading, sulfate reduction, and COD removal were the main parameters monitored during lactate and glycerol degradation. The UASB reactor with biomass recirculation showed a specific sulfate reduction rate of 0.089±0.014 g.gSSV-1.d-1 (89% reduction), whereas values twice as high were achieved in the FBR treating either lactate (0.200±0.017 g.gSSV-1.d-1) or glycerol (0.178±0.010 g.gSSV-1.d-1). Sulfate reduction with pure glycerol produced a smaller residual COD (1700 mg.L-1) than that produced with lactate (2500 mg.L-1) at the same COD.sulfate-1 mass ratio. It was estimated that 50% of glycerol degradation was due to sulfate reduction and 50% to fermentation, which was supported by the presence of butyrate in the FBR effluent. The UASB reactor was unable to produce effluents with sulfate concentrations below 250 mg.L-1 due to poor mixing conditions, whereas the FBR consistently ensured residual sulfate concentrations below such a value.

The present study investigated batch kinetics and the batch equilibrium of manganese removal from acid mine drainage (AMD) using bone char as an adsorbent. Equilibrium tests revealed that the Langmuir-based maximum manganese uptake capacity was 22 mg g-1 for AMD effluents and 20 mg g-1 for laboratory solutions at a pH ranging from 5.5 to 5.7. The pseudo-second order model best described the manganese kinetics within bone char. Manganese removal was mainly influenced by the operating variables of the solid/liquid ratio and the pH of the aqueous phase. In fact, metal uptake was favored at nearly neutral pH values. The effect of particle size and temperature proved to be insignificant for the investigated operating range. This work also evaluated the mechanism for manganese removal using bone char. Results showed that intraparticle diffusion is the main rate-limiting step; however, additional contributions from boundary layer diffusion may well affect this removal when particles of smaller sizes are used. The final concentration of fluoride and other metals present in the AMD effluent was in agreement with the concentration limit set forth by Brazilian legislation. The present study demonstrated that bone char is a suitable material to be used for the removal of manganese from AMD effluents.

Ion exchange resins can potentially be applied in cyanide recycling to address growing environmental concerns over the use of cyanide during gold extraction. In the present work the elution of copper-, iron-, and zinc-cyanocomplexes from polyacrylic- and polystyrene-based resins was studied. It was found that iron and copper cyanides are easily eluted from polyacrylic- and polystyrene-based ion exchange resins using either SCN- or NO3-. However, elution of the zinc cyanide complex from polystyrene-based resins was poor when using nitrate solution as eluant. Besides, an increase in elution temperature from 25 °C to 50 °C improved the elution of iron and zinc cyanides from polystyrene-based resins using a nitrate eluant; however temperature did not have any significant effect on other metal cyanocomplexes or for elution using thiocyanate. It was therefore proposed that the optimal combination of resin-eluant was site-specific, and depends on the features of the effluent, processing temperature, eluant concentration, and ion exchange resin under consideration.