Removal of copper in an integrated sulfate reducing bioreactor-crystallization reactor system.

Removal of copper was investigated using an innovative water treatment system integrating a sulfidogenic bioreactor with a fluidized-bed crystallization reactor containing fine sand to facilitate the recovery of copper as a purified copper-sulfide mineral. The performance of the system was tested using a simulated semiconductor manufacturing wastewater containing high levels of Cu2+ (4-66 mg/L), sulfate, and a mixture of citrate, isopropanol, and polyethylene glycol (Mn 300). Soluble copper removal efficiencies exceeding 99% and effluent copper concentrations averaging 89 micog/L were demonstrated in the two-stage system, with near complete metal removal occurring in the crystallizer.

Molecular characterization of mesophilic and thermophilic sulfate reducing microbial communities in expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactors.

The microbial communities established in mesophilic and thermophilic expanded granular sludge bed reactors operated with sulfate as the electron acceptor were analyzed using 16S rRNA targeted molecular methods, including denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, cloning, and phylogenetic analysis. Bacterial and archaeal communities were examined over 450 days of operation treating ethanol (thermophilic reactor) or ethanol and later a simulated semiconductor manufacturing wastewater containing citrate, isopropanol, and polyethylene glycol 300 (mesophilic reactor), with and without the addition of copper(II). Analysis, of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed a defined shift in microbial diversity in both reactors following a change in substrate composition (mesophilic reactor) and in temperature of operation from 30 degrees C to 55 degrees C (thermophilic reactor).

Anaerobic biodegradability and methanogenic toxicity of key constituents in copper chemical mechanical planarization effluents of the semiconductor industry.

Copper chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) effluents can account for 30-40% of the water discharge in semiconductor manufacturing. CMP effluents contain high concentrations of soluble copper and a complex mixture of organic constituents. The aim of this study is to perform a preliminary assessment of the treatability of CMP effluents in anaerobic sulfidogenic bioreactors inoculated with anaerobic granular sludge by testing individual compounds expected in the CMP effluents.