Biological sulphate removal in acid mine drainage using anaerobic fixed bed reactors with cheese whey as a carbon source

Abstract

The effect of the hydraulic retention time and the sulphate-total COD ratio on the performance of an anaerobic biological process applied to acid mine drainage water (AMD) was evaluated using cheese whey as a carbon source. Laboratoryscale fixed bed bioreactors operating at 25 ± 2 ºC were used in the experiments. Maximum sulphate reduction and hydrogen sulphide production were achieved at a hydraulic retention time of 8 days and at a sulphate-total COD ratio of 0.5. Under these conditions, the sulphate removal was found to be 68.1% while the hydrogen sulphide production was 0.27 L/day. At the same time, the total COD removal obtained was 55.4%.