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Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation

Thesis (MScEng (Process Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shumba, Trust
Other Authors: Lorenzen, L.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2008
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access_status_str Open Access
author Shumba, Trust
author2 Lorenzen, L.
author_browse Lorenzen, L.
Shumba, Trust
author_facet Lorenzen, L.
Shumba, Trust
author_sort Shumba, Trust
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (MScEng (Process Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1807
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:43:31.605Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1807 Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation Shumba, Trust Lorenzen, L. Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Process Engineering. Metals -- Toxicology Soil washing Bioremediation Dissertations -- Process engineering Theses -- Process engineering Soil remediation Contaminated sediments Thesis (MScEng (Process Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. A substance called CRUD (Chalk River Unidentified Deposit) was deposited together with gold tailings to the East Paydam tailings dam. Previous research conducted on the material has shown that the crud leaches Mn and Ni at concentrations that are above their acceptable risks limits as well as Zn which leaches at concentration slightly below its acceptable limits thereby posing an environmental risk. The main objective of the research was to test the hypothesis stating that soil washing in series with bioremediation can be used to remove the heavy metals from the material from the East Paydam tailings dam. Various laboratory and pilot scale tests were conducted to investigate critical soil washing and bioremediation parameters and their respective influence on the treatment process. Laboratory work involved column tests and batch tests. These tests were crucial in determining the critical parameters for the pilot scale tests such as the selection of the suitable lixiviant from the four that were investigated. The optimal concentration of the lixiviant was also determined together with the optimum soil: liquid ratio. These parameters were employed in the pilot scale tests. Pilot scale tests involved soil washing in series with bioremediation. The bacterial growth over the bioremediation period was also determined. Precipitation of the heavy metals from leachate was investigated by varying the pH and temperature. Results showed that the soil from the East Paydam can effectively be treated by soil washing in series with bioremediation. Oxalic acid was selected for soil washing of the payable slimes at a concentration of 0.001M. However, material that contains high amount of CRUD (deeper down the slime dam) required the relatively concentrated 0.1M oxalic acid and mechanical agitation. Bioremediation was determined to increase the amount of heavy metals that was leached from the material from the East Paydam slimes dam. Precipitation of the heavy metals at a pH of 12 achieved up to 98% removal of heavy metals from leachate. Masters 2008-10-17T09:49:50Z 2010-06-01T08:33:53Z 2008-10-17T09:49:50Z 2010-06-01T08:33:53Z 2008-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1807 en Stellenbosch University application/octet-stream application/octet-stream application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle Metals -- Toxicology
Soil washing
Bioremediation
Dissertations -- Process engineering
Theses -- Process engineering
Soil remediation
Contaminated sediments
Shumba, Trust
Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation
title Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation
title_full Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation
title_fullStr Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation
title_full_unstemmed Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation
title_short Removal of heavy metals from CRUD and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation
title_sort removal of heavy metals from crud and slime dam material using soil washing and bioremediation
topic Metals -- Toxicology
Soil washing
Bioremediation
Dissertations -- Process engineering
Theses -- Process engineering
Soil remediation
Contaminated sediments
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1807
work_keys_str_mv AT shumbatrust removalofheavymetalsfromcrudandslimedammaterialusingsoilwashingandbioremediation