Removal of nickel from plating rinsing water with a moving-bed sand filter inoculated with metal sorbing and precipitating bacteria

摘要

The MERESAFIN (MEtal REmoval by SAnd Filter INoculation) process presented here was designed to combine the optimum conditions for more than one of the well-known processes of biological metal immobilisation like biosorption and bioprecipitation. The approach makes use of a continuously operated moving-bed AntraSand filter which has been inoculated with a mixed population of metal biosorbing and bioprecipitating bacteria A pilot plant operating at 1 m~3/h has been erected at a metal plating company in Vienna to treat waste water from an electroless nickel plating line. In addition to several mg/L of nickel the rinsing water also contains some organic acids and inorganic phosphates, which make conventional treatment difficult. The main laboratory experiments as well as preliminary results from the pilot installation are presented.