An integrated method incorporating sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and electrokinetics to enhance removal of copper from contaminated soil

The combination of bioleaching and electrokinetics for the remediation of metal contaminated land has been investigated, in bioleaching, bacteria convert reduced sulfur compounds to sulfuric acid, acidifying soil and mobilizing metal ions. In electrokinetics, DC current acidifies soil, and mobilized metals are transported to the cathode by electromigration. When bioleaching was applied to silt soil artificially contaminated with seven metals and amended with sulfur, bacterial activity was partially inhibited and limited acidification occurred. Electrokinetic treatment of silt soil contaminated solely with 1000 mg/kg copper nitrate showed 89% removal of copper from the soil within 15 days. To combine bioleaching and electrokinetics sequentially, preliminary partial acidification was performed by amending copper-contaminated soil with sulfur (to 5% w/w) and incubating at constant moisture (30% w/w) and temperature (20 degrees C) for 90 days. Indigenous sulfur-oxidizing bacteria partially acidified the soil from pH 8.1 to 5.4. This soil was then treated by electrokinetics yielding 86% copper removal in 16 days, in the combined process, electrokinetics stimulated sulfur oxidation, by removing inhibitory factors, yielding a 5.1-fold increase in soil sulfate concentration. Preacidification by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria increased the cost-effectiveness of the electrokinetic treatment by reducing the power requirement by 66%.