Sulphate Reduction Processes in Biological Permeable Reactive Barriers: Column Experimentation and Modeling

摘要

In this work a mathematical model for simulating biological sulphate reductionrnprocesses was developed and validated by experimental data in fixed bed columns asrnlab-scale representations of permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). The model takes inrnconsideration transport and adsorption of sulphate and heavy metals, sulphaternbioreduction, bioprecipitation and chemical precipitation of metals. Firstly, the effect ofrnsorption capacity of solid phase of column filling versus the effect of active biologicalrnmechanisms on solute removal was isolated denoting the significant contribution ofrnsorption versus bioprecipitation of heavy metals. Subsequently, the mathematical modelrnwas validated using experimental data from laboratory column experiments and a goodrnagreement between experimental data and simulation results was obtained. Sensitivityrnanalysis of dynamic model showed that, after steady state was reached, parameterrnrelated to biological sulphate reduction affected the model output in the most significantrnway.