Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.1002/elsc.200520142 |
| Title (Primary) | Bioleaching of heavy metal polluted sediment: influence of sediment properties (Part 2) |
| Author | Löser, C.; Zehnsdorf, A.; Hoffmann, P.; Seidel, H. |
| Source Titel | Engineering in Life Sciences |
| Year | 2006 |
| Department | UBT; UBZ |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Page From | 364 |
| Page To | 371 |
| Language | englisch |
| Keywords | Bioremediation; Heavy metals; Modeling; Sediments |
| Abstract | A remediation process for heavy metal polluted sediment has previously been developed, in which the heavy metals are removed from the sediment by solid-bed bioleaching using sulfuric acid as a leaching agent arising from added elemental sulfur (S0). This process has been engineered with Weiße Elster River sediment (dredged near Leipzig, Germany), as an example. Here, six heavy metal polluted sediments originating from various bodies of water in Germany were subjected to bioleaching to evaluate the applicability of the developed process on sediment of different nature: each sediment was mixed with 2 % S0, suspended in water and then leached under identical conditions. The buffer characteristics of each sediment were mainly governed by its carbonate and Ca content, i.e., by its geological background, the redox potential and oxidation state depended on its pre-treatment (e.g., on land disposal), while the pH value was influenced by both. The added S0 was quickly oxidized by the indigenous microbes even in slightly alkaline sediment. The microbially generated H2SO4 accumulated in the aqueous phase and was in part precipitated as gypsum. Significant acidification and heavy metal solubilization only occurred with sediment poor in buffer substances. With the exception of one sediment, the behavior in bioleaching correlated well with the behavior in titration with H2SO4. Since the content in carbonate seemed to be the most important factor deciding on the leachability of a sediment, oxic Weiße Elster River sediment was mixed with 2 % S0 and 0 to 100 g/kg of ground limestone to simulate various buffer capacities, suspended in water and then leached. The lime did not inhibit microbial S0 oxidation but generated a delay in acidification due to neutralization of formed H2SO4, where the pH only started to decrease when the lime was completely consumed. The more lime the sediment contained, the longer this lag period lasted, and the higher the pH and the lower the fraction of the solubilized heavy metals finally was. Since Cu requires stronger acidic conditions for its solubilization, it responded more sensitively to lime addition than Zn, Ni, and Cd. Heavy metal polluted sediment containing large amounts of carbonate may, in principle, also be remediated by bioleaching, but metal solubilization requires excessive amounts of the leaching agent and is thus uneconomical. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=2833 |
| Löser, C., Zehnsdorf, A., Hoffmann, P., Seidel, H. (2006): Bioleaching of heavy metal polluted sediment: influence of sediment properties (Part 2) Eng. Life Sci. 6 (4), 364 - 371 10.1002/elsc.200520142 |
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