Güven, Elif Duyuşen Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi - Çevre Mühendisliği Bölümü, Turkey , Akıncı, Görkem Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi - Çevre Mühendisliği Bölümü, Turkey

The Effect of Sulfur Concentration on Heavy Metals Bioleaching from Contaminated Sediments.

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The effects of sulfur amount on the performance of Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn bioleaching from contaminated sediment by using Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans were evaluated with this study. The remediation of metal-contaminated sediment was conducted in 1 liter bioleaching flasks with 0.5% (w/v) solid content. The sulfur contents of 0.25%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% were added to the flasks in order to find out the optimum dose. In addition to total metal solubilization, the changes of metal concentrations in chemical binding fractions were also detected after the experiments. At the end of 48 days of bioleaching period which the pH values were almost stable, the highest metal solubilization efficiencies were detected with 0.5% sulfur content. Higher concentrations of sulfur were found to be inhibitory to the bioleaching process and 0.25% sulfur content was not sufficient to support the microbial activity. The efficiency of metal solubilization from contaminated sediment in the decreasing order was found as: Zn Cu Cr Pb.

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heavy metal , bioleaching , sediment , Acidithiobacillius thiooxidans , sulfur.

Ege Journal Of Fisheries an‎d Aquatic Sciences

78