Abstract
Bio-removal of heavy metals, using microbial biomass, increasingly attracting scientific attention due to their significant role in purification of different types of wastewaters making it reusable. Heavy metals were reported to have a significant hazardous effect on human health, and while the conventional methods of removal were found to be insufficient; microbial biosorption was found to be the most suitable alternative. In this work, an immobilized microbial consortium was generated using Statistical Design of Experiment (DOE) as a robust method to screen the efficiency of the microbial isolates in heavy metal removal process. This is the first report of applying Statistical DOE to screen the efficacy of microbial isolates to remove heavy metals instead of screening normal variables. A mixture of bacterial biomass and fungal spores was used both in batch and continuous modes to remove Chromium and Iron ions from industrial effluents. Bakery yeast was applied as a positive control, and all the obtained biosorbent isolates showed more significant efficiency in heavy metal removal. In batch mode, the immobilized biomass was enclosed in a hanged tea bag-like cellulose membrane to facilitate the separation of the biosorbent from the treated solutions, which is one of the main challenges in applying microbial biosorption at large scale. The continuous flow removal was performed using fixed bed mini-bioreactor, and the process was optimized in terms of pH (6) and flow rates (1 ml/min) using Response Surface Methodology. The most potential biosorbent microbes were identified and characterized. The generated microbial consortia and process succeeded in the total removal of Chromium ions and more than half of Iron ions both from standard solutions and industrial effluents.
Highlights
Importance and pollution of River NileDue to its vital values for life, water is required in a cleaner form where plants, animals and humans cannot survive if it is loaded with high metal concentration, pathogenic microorganisms and/or hazard chemicals (Frick et al 1999).The River Nile is the crucial life artery of Egypt, as it is the main source of freshwater for irrigation, industry, domestic uses, a source of power from the hydroelectric generation facility at Aswan, and a mean of transportation for goods and people (Afifi et al 2016)
An immobilized microbial consortium was generated using Statistical Design of Experiment (DOE) as a robust method to screen the efficiency of the microbial isolates in heavy metal removal process
Water samples were collected from the industrial effluents discharge pipe of four different factories in Al Dakhliya governorate, Egypt; these are: Delta Fertilizer Factory (DFF), Talkha Electric Power Plant (TEP), Marble and Granite Factory (MGF) and Sandoup Oil and Soup Factory (SOSF)
Summary
The River Nile is the crucial life artery of Egypt, as it is the main source of freshwater for irrigation, industry, domestic uses, a source of power from the hydroelectric generation facility at Aswan, and a mean of transportation for goods and people (Afifi et al 2016). The River Nile enters Egypt at Adindan village of Nubia (where lake Nasser started) and runs northward till Cairo for about 1188 km. From Cairo, it streams northwestward for a distance of about 23 km where Nile delta begins and the river splits into Damietta (eastern) branch (about 242 km) and Rosetta (western) branch (about 236 km) (Cumberlidge 2009; Rzoska 2012). Technol. (2017) 14:1169–1180 the year 2025 due to the rapidly increasing population and limited resources of water (Engelman and LeRoy 1993)
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More From: International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology
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