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Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment

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

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Other Authors: Chirwa, Evans M.N.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2015
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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 © 2015 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 (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:57.392Z
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
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/46237 Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment Chirwa, Evans M.N. Alesia, Francine D. UCTD Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2014. The South African mining industry is a major contributor to South Africa’s Gross Domestic product (GDP). The negative consequences of mining include toxic effluents from mineral processing and decanting streams, even after mine closure. Large volumes of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) are expected to increase as the mining industry grows. Currently, biological treatment of mine waters are preferred to chemical methods, due to various advantages offered such as low operational cost and small environmental footprint. Biological treatment of AMD primarily rely on the activity of sulphate reducing bacteria which reduce sulphate to sulphide in the presence of organic matter thus allowing the precipitation of the metals and increase in pH. However, excess of sulphide remains in the system and if not removed, can be oxidized to sulphate. A sustainable AMD management plan could entail development of treatment technologies to remove total sulphur (sum of sulphur species) from the system. Production of elemental sulphur, which involves partial oxidation of sulphide, has been a recent subject of interest. The use of colourless sulphide oxidizing bacteria, especially Thiobacillus species has been widely reported. Six isolates of sulphide oxidizing microorganisms, of which 4 bacterial and 2 filamentous fungal species from a gold mine (Johannesburg, South Africa) were tested in this study to achieve partial oxidation of sulphide to sulphur. The microbial species were selected for high sulphide oxidation in the presence of carbon sources (glucose and lactate). Lysinicibacillus fusiformis was observed to be the most suitable microorganism for sulphide oxidation. In iiorder to investigate optimal conditions for sulphur recovery, L. fusiformis bacterial activity was tested under different conditions of pH and redox potential. It resulted that at a pH of 8 and Eh of -80mV up to 95% of sulphur was recovered. tm2015 Chemical Engineering MEng Unrestricted 2015-07-02T11:08:23Z 2015-07-02T11:08:23Z 2015/04/15 2014 Dissertation Alesia, FD 2014, Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment, MEng Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46237> A2015 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46237 en © 2015 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 UCTD
Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment
title Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment
title_full Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment
title_fullStr Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment
title_full_unstemmed Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment
title_short Optimization of Elemental Sulphur Recovery during an Acid Mine Water Treatment
title_sort optimization of elemental sulphur recovery during an acid mine water treatment
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46237