Removal of Heavy Elements from Aqueous Processes

摘要

Mining is essential to our standard way of life. Whether it is mining for energy (oil, uranium, and coal) or mining for construction and development (metals and minerals), mining affects us all. Mining is also potentially a source of devastation to life because during the mining processes, contamination of the most important and vital fluid, water, is a high probability. Such contamination has become an increasing concern as governmental restrictions begin to tighten, which has made the treatment of such water critical and mandatory. There are methods in practice today for treatment of contaminants such as toxic oxyanions and heavy metals. These methods can often involve many expensive processing steps that may also be limited by variables such as the total dissolved solids, presence of other ions, or the ability to maintain microbial growth. A technology has been developed to successfully reduce cadmium and selenium to a level below the EPA recommendations without the above mentioned limitations on a lab scale.