Heavy metals biological removal

Heavy Metals Removal. Heavy metals should be removed prior to biological treatment or use of other technologies which generate sludges to avoid comingling metal sludges with other, nonhazardous sludges. 

Biosorption is a process that utilizes biological materials as adsorbents [Volesky, 1994], and this method has been studied by several researchers as an alternative technique to conventional methods for heavy metal removal from wastewater. 

Biological activity can be used in two ways for the bioremediation of metal-contaminated soils to immobilize the contaminants in situ or to remove them permanently from the soil matrix, depending on the properties of the reduced elements. Chromium and uranium are typical candidates for in situ immobilization processes. The bioreduction of Cr(VI) and Ur(VI) transforms highly soluble ions such as CrO and UO + to insoluble solid compounds, such as Cr(OH)3 and U02. The selenate anions SeO are also reduced to insoluble elemental selenium Se°. Bioprecipitation of heavy metals, such as Pb, Cd, and Zn, in the form of sulfides, is another in situ immobilization option that exploits the metabolic activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria without altering the valence state of metals. The removal of contaminants from the soil matrix is the most appropriate remediation strategy when bioreduction results in species that are more soluble compared to the initial oxidized element. This is the case for As(V) and Pu(IV), which are transformed to the more soluble As(III) and Pu(III) forms. This treatment option presupposes an installation for the efficient recovery and treatment of the aqueous phase containing the solubilized contaminants. 

Cryptands of the type (217)-(220) tend to form stable complexes with a number of heavy metal ions. Of particular interest is the selectivity of (219) for Cd(n) the complex of this metal is approximately 106-107 times more stable than its complexes with either Zn(n) or Ca(n). This reagent may prove useful for removing toxic Cd(n) from biological systems as well as for other applications involving sequestration of this ion (for example, in antipollution systems). The selectivity observed in the above case appears to arise because (i) the nitrogen sites favour coordination to Zn(n) and Cd(n) relative to Ca(n) and (ii) the cavity size favours coordination of Cd(n) relative to Zn(n). 

Alternative 1 consists of preliminary treatment for heavy metals removal with the primary concern being iron removal (Figure 8.3). The levels of iron observed in the groundwater at this site would be very detrimental to the downstream treatment processes. This pretreated water would then be used for cooling tower makeup water followed by biological treatment. This approach would be the easiest and cheapest alternative. This combined process should provide effective removal of BTEX. 

There are six primary in-plant control methods for removal of priority pollutants and pesticides in pesticide manufacturing plants. These methods include steam-stripping, activated carbon adsorption, chemical oxidation, resin adsorption, hydrolysis, and heavy metals separation. Steam-stripping can remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) activated carbon can remove semi volatile organic compounds and many pesticides and resin adsorption, chemical oxidation, and hydrolysis can treat selected pesticides [7]. Heavy metals separation can reduce toxicity to downstream biological treatment systems. Discussion of each of these methods follows. 

The considerable biochemical interest which attaches to mt/o-inositol has made necessary the devising of ways for isolating it from all kinds of biological material. The older procedures87 often involved cumbersome precipitations with heavy metals. In the improved methods which have more recently been described,44,103 most of the constituents of the tissue (except the polyhydric alcohols) are converted to ionic substances by heating with strong acid and are then removed with ion-exchange resins. The inositol is crystallized from the effluent, after concentration. 

The use of acid solutions (mainly hydrochloric, nitric, and sulfuric acids) offers quite high removal yields because metal ions tend to be more soluble at low pH values. A drawback is that the soil becomes acidified—this can introduce major alterations in its chemical, physical, and biological properties in addition, carbonate-rich soils strongly interact with the acids and produce CO2. As discussed in Chapter 3, metal complexes with natural or synthetic chelating agents tend to be soluble and stable. Then, heavy metals in soils can also be solubilized by chelation and extraction followed by an ex situ treatment. 

---