Control of sulphide during anaerobic treatment of S-containing wastewaters by adding limited amounts of oxygen or nitrate

Sulphide generated during anaerobic treatment of S-containing wastewaters represents an environmental problem. Adding limited amounts of oxygen or nitrate (or nitrite) to biologically (or chemically) oxidise sulphide forms a simple process level strategy to control this problem. This short review evaluates the feasibility and limitations of this strategy on the basis of the results of bioreactor studies.Sulphide generated during anaerobic treatment of S-containing wastewaters represents an environmental problem. Adding limited amounts of oxygen or nitrate (or nitrite) to biologically (or chemically) oxidise sulphide forms a simple process level strategy to control this problem. This short review evaluates the feasibility and limitations of this strategy on the basis of the results of bioreactor studies.Spanish Ministry of Education and Science; AEA Technology Environment; Nova Energie; The Swedish Gas Centre; University of Southern Denmark

Use of organic substrates as electron donors for biological sulfate reduction in gypsiferous mine soils from Nakhon Si Thammarat (Thailand)

Soils in some mining areas contain a high gypsum content, which can give adverse effects to the environment and may cause many cultivation problems, such as a low water retention capacity and low fertility. The quality of such mine soils can be improved by reducing the soil's gypsum content. This study aims to develop an appropriate in situ bioremediation technology for abbreviating the gypsum content of mine soils by using sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). The technology was applied to a mine soil from a gypsum mine in the southern part of Thailand which contains a high sulfate content (150gkg-1). Cheap organic substrates with low or no cost, such as rice husk, pig farm wastewater treatment sludge and coconut husk chips were mixed (60:20:20 by volume) and supplied to the soil as electron donors for the SRB. The highest sulfate removal efficiency of 59% was achieved in the soil mixed with 40% organic mixture, corresponding to a reduction of the soil gypsum content from 25% to 7.5%. For economic gains, this treated soil can be further used for agriculture and the produced sulfide can be recovered as the fertilizer elemental sulfur

Spontaneous electrochemical treatment for sulfur recovery by a sulfide oxidation/vanadium(V) reduction galvanic cell

Sulfide is the product of the biological sulfate reduction process which gives toxicity and odor problems. Wastewaters or bioreactor effluents containing sulfide can cause severe environmental impacts. Electrochemical treatment can be an alternative approach for sulfide removal and sulfur recovery from such sulfide rich solutions. This study aims to develop a spontaneous electrochemical sulfide oxidation/vanadium(V) reduction cell with a graphite electrode system to recover sulfide as elemental sulfur. The effects of the internal and external resistance on the sulfide removal efficiency and electrical current produced were investigated at different pH. A high surface area of the graphite electrode is required in order to have as less internal resistance as possible. In this study, graphite powder was added (contact area >633 cm(2)) in order to reduce the internal resistance. A sulfide removal efficiency up to 91% and electrical charge of more than 400 C were achieved when using five graphite rods supplemented with graphite powder as the electrode at an external resistance of 30 Omega and a sulfide concentration of 250 mg L-1

Biological sulfate removal from gypsum contaminated construction and demolition debris

Construction and demolition debris (CDD) contains high levels of sulfate that can cause detrimental environmental impacts when disposed without adequate treatment. In landfills, sulfate can be converted to hydrogen sulfide under anaerobic conditions. CDD can thus cause health impacts or odor problems to landfill employees and surrounding residents. Reduction of the sulfate content of CDD is an option to overcome these problems. This study aimed at developing a biological sulfate removal system to reduce the sulfate content of gypsum contaminated CDD in order to decrease the amount of solid waste, to improve the quality of CDD waste for recycling purposes and to recover sulfur from CDD. The treatment leached out the gypsum contained in CDD by water in a leaching column. The sulfate loaded leachate was then treated in a biological sulfate reducing Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor to convert the sulfate to sulfide. The UASB reactor was operated at 23±3°C with a hydraulic retention time and upflow velocity of 15.5h and 0.1mh-1, respectively while ethanol was added as electron donor at a final organic loading rate of 3.46gCODL-1reactord-1. The CDD leachate had a pH of 8-9 and sulfate dissolution rates of 526.4 and 609.8mgL-1d-1 were achieved in CDD gypsum and CDD sand, respectively. Besides, it was observed that the gypsum dissolution was the rate limiting step for the biological treatment of CDD. The sulfate removal efficiency of the system stabilized at around 85%, enabling the reuse of the UASB effluent for the leaching step, proving the versatility of the bioreactor for practical applications

Biological sulfate removal from construction and demolition debris leachate: Effect of bioreactor configuration

Due to the contamination of construction and demolition debris (CDD) by gypsum drywall, especially, its sand fraction (CDD sand, CDDS), the sulfate content in CDDS exceeds the posed limit of the maximum amount of sulfate present in building sand (1.73g sulfate per kg of sand for the Netherlands). Therefore, the CDDS cannot be reused for construction. The CDDS has to be washed in order to remove most of the impurities and to obtain the right sulfate content, thus generating a leachate, containing high sulfate and calcium concentrations. This study aimed at developing a biological sulfate reduction system for CDDS leachate treatment and compared three different reactor configurations for the sulfate reduction step: the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, inverse fluidized bed (IFB) reactor and gas lift anaerobic membrane bioreactor (GL-AnMBR). This investigation demonstrated that all three systems can be applied for the treatment of CDDS leachate. The highest sulfate removal efficiency of 75-85% was achieved at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 15.5h. A high calcium concentration up to 1000mgL-1 did not give any adverse effect on the sulfate removal efficiency of the IFB and GL-AnMBR systems