Improving passive bioreactors for treatment of mine drainage

这项研究是由Bralorne Gold Mines Ltd， Clear Coast consulting和UBC合作完成的。Avino Silver and Gold Mines Ltd.在BC省Bralorne拥有并经营Bralorne金矿。矿井产生的污水必须处理。Clear Coast咨询公司开发了一种新型的被动生物反应器系统，该系统已被证明在常规流动过程中非常成功地从矿山排水中去除砷，使Bralorne金矿能够继续采矿作业并满足排放许可证的要求。然而，被动系统在处理来自春季淡水的大流量时就不那么成功了。Clear Coast咨询公司提出了在反应器中添加可溶性碳源的想法，以刺激反应器中生物的活性。以往的经验表明，这将使反应器在高流量条件下表现良好。当该计划提交给不列颠哥伦比亚省矿业部时，他们回答了一些具体的问题，这些问题必须得到回答，才能允许全面实施该系统。该项目旨在通过检查发生的一些基本反应以及确定实际操作参数来回答这些问题。我们将确定添加的最佳化学物质作为碳源，何时添加碳以实现我们的目标，以及不同的碳源如何影响反应器中沉淀的砷的形式。该项目将为硕士生提供宝贵的培训经验，包括基础微生物和化学研究，以及在工业系统中处理实际情况的方法。结果将立即受益Bralorne金矿，随后BC采矿业和超越。无源生物反应器能够在不需要人工关注的情况下运行，因此将降低劳动力成本，以及与采矿、运输和储存进行常规排水处理所需的大量化学品相关的成本。环境效益将是更稳定和可靠的处理系统，利用自然微生物过程来控制采矿作业中污染物的释放。************

This research is a collaboration between Bralorne Gold Mines Ltd., Clear Coast consulting and UBC. Avino Silver and Gold Mines Ltd. owns and operates the Bralorne Gold Mine in Bralorne BC. The mine, produces drainage that must be treated. Clear Coast Consulting has developed a novel passive bioreactor system that has been demonstrated to be quite successful in removing arsenic from the mine drainage during regular flows, allowing Bralorne Gold Mines to continue mining operations and meet discharge permit requirements. The passive system, however, was not as successful when treating the large flows that stem from spring freshet. Clear Coast Consulting has developed the idea of adding a soluble carbon source to the reactor during the freshet to stimulate the activity of the organisms in the reactor. Previous experience suggests that this will allow the reactor to perform well under the high flow conditions. When the plan was put to the BC Ministry of Mines, they responded with some specific questions that must be answered before a full scale system can be allowed. This project has been designed to answer those questions by examining some of the fundamental reactions occurring as well as determining practical operating parameters. We will determine the best chemical to be added as a carbon source and when to add the carbon to achieve our goals and how different carbon sources will affect the form of arsenic precipitated in the reactor. The project will provide a valuable training experience to a master's student in both fundamental microbiological and chemical investigations as well as in methods to deal with real-world scenarios in an industrial system. The results will immediately benefit Bralorne Gold Mines and subsequently the BC mining industry and beyond. Passive bioreactors are able to operate with low requirements for human attention and so will reduce labor costs and also the costs associated with mining, transporting and storing the large amounts of chemicals necessary to perform conventional treatment of drainage water. The environmental benefit will be more stable and reliable treatment systems that take advantage of natural microbial processes to control release of pollutants from mining operations.************