Enhancing mine drainage treatment by sulfate reducing bacteria using nutrient additives

摘要

The metabolism of sulfate reducing bacteria provides a useful pathway for treatment of mine influenced water (MIW) in passive sulfate reducing bioreactor treatment systems. However, the performance of these bioreactors can be unpredictable, with full scale systems often not reaching their design specifications. In this experiment, traditional sulfate reducing bioreactors have been fed additional nutrients, and the effect on effluent sulfate concentrations has been measured as an indication of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) activity. Nutrient addition led to a more than 15 fold improvement to the amount of sulfate removed from mine influenced water relative to the control systems. This extends the capacity of SRB technologies to treat MIW discharges.