Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Chirwa, Evans M.N.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2015
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613576214085632
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Chirwa, Evans M.N.
author_browse Chirwa, Evans M.N.
author_facet Chirwa, Evans M.N.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/43365
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:20.548Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/43365 Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation Chirwa, Evans M.N. Kaimbi_lapaka@yahoo.com Kaimbi, L.A. (Lapaka Albertina) Hexavalent chromium Microbial chromate reduction Trivalent chromium Permeable reactive barriers in situ remediation Remobilization UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. Chromium exists largely in two oxidation states, namely hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) which is carcinogenic, mutagenic to living organisms including humans and trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) which is known to be 1000 times less toxic than Cr(VI). It is therefore desirable in most cases to reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III). Various studies have been conducted on the Cr(VI) reduction process either in situ or ex situ. However in situ bioremediation using permeable reactive barrier system appears as a potential and attractive technology compared to other in situ technologies. This study was conducted to evaluate the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in the short term and regeneration of the biological reactive barrier to achieve continuous long term operation. It was observed from the study that the chromium hydroxide Cr(OH)3(s) precipitated and thus affected the porosity and hydraulic conductivity of the barrier system. It was therefore proposed to implement a regeneration process involving remobilization of precipitated Cr(OH)3 using a dilute acid (0.1% HCl) and recover Cr(III) by electrokinetics. Lowering the pH in the reactor introduced harsh conditions which necessitated the evaluation of a possible culture shift during the regeneration phase. Microbial culture composition during bioremediation and after soil washing was evaluated using a 16S rRNA finger printing method. The microbial barrier was initially inoculated with indigenous bacterial species from dried sludge. The results presented in the phylogenic tree diagrams confirm that, after microbial barrier system operation, the well-known Cr(VI) reducers Bacillus mycoides, Lysinibacillus fusiformis and Micrococcus lylae were the predominant species in the microbial community of the barrier. The microbial barrier system successfully achieved near complete removal of Cr(VI), whereby approximately 75% Cr(VI) removal was achieved within 63 days of operation. The formation of Cr(OH)3(s) was observed in the second week of operation. After 4 weeks of operating the mesocosm under soil washing with 0.1% HCl and electrokinetics remediation with a DC voltage of 50-150 V an increase in total chromium (73%) was observed suggesting that the trapped chromium species in the mesocosm was effectively remobilized with the assumption that Cr(III) had attached to the cathode forming a white-yellow precipitate layer around the cathode. Additionally more than 95% Cr(VI) was transformed to lower toxicity Cr(III) during electrokinetics and soil washing remediation. However, one of the limitations of electrokinetics is near anode focusing effect whereby a layer of precipitate is formed around the anode that lead to the reduction of efficiency of the technology. lk2014 Chemical Engineering MSc Unrestricted 2015-01-19T12:13:35Z 2015-01-19T12:13:35Z 2014/12/12 2014 Dissertation Kaimbi, LA 2014, Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation, MSc Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43365> M14/9/433 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43365 en © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Hexavalent chromium
Microbial chromate reduction
Trivalent chromium
Permeable reactive barriers in situ remediation
Remobilization
UCTD
Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation
title Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation
title_full Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation
title_fullStr Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation
title_full_unstemmed Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation
title_short Remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation
title_sort remobilization of trivalent chromium and the regeneration of in situ permeable reactive barriers during operation
topic Hexavalent chromium
Microbial chromate reduction
Trivalent chromium
Permeable reactive barriers in situ remediation
Remobilization
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43365