Title: Biosorption study in a mining wastewater reservoir

Authors: Ghinwa Naja, Christian Mustin, Bohumil Volesky, Jacques Berthelin

Addresses: Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2B2, Canada. ' Faculte des Sciences, LIMOS, UHP Nancy 1, Domaine Victor Grignard, BP 239, F 54506 Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France. ' Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2B2, Canada. ' Faculte des Sciences, LIMOS, UHP Nancy 1, Domaine Victor Grignard, BP 239, F 54506 Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France

Abstract: An in situ sorption was conducted to assess the behaviour of cations in a mining wastewater reservoir. Sorption experiments on test materials showed that biomass mainly bound uranium, copper, lead, zinc, and nickel, whereas goethite bound arsenic and chromium. Clay minerals bound both barium and rare earth elements. The lacustrine sediments mainly contained iron oxy-hydroxides. Desorption experiments using potentiometric titration were conducted to investigate the effect of pH variations on the stability of the test sorbents after immersion in the lake. Results indicated the presence of weak to very weak acidic functional groups in the sediments attributed to their high content of organic matter affecting the mobility and the behaviour of metals in the lake deposits.

Keywords: mining wastewater; metal sorption; cations; potentiometric titration; metal desorption; biosorption; lake deposits.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2008.020779

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2008 Vol.34 No.1/2/3/4, pp.14 - 27

Published online: 16 Oct 2008 *

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