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Removal of Chromium, Copper, and Nickel from an Electroplating Effluent Using a Flocculent Brewer’s Yeast Strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Abstract

The release of heavy metals in aquatic systems due to the discharge of industrial wastewaters is a matter of environmental concern. Heat-inactivated cells of a flocculent strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used in the bioremediation, in a batch mode, of a real electroplating effluent containing Cu, Ni, and Cr. In this approach, no previous reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) was required. Cr(VI) was selectively removed (98%) by yeast biomass at pH 2.3. At this pH, Cr(VI) is mainly in the form of HCrO −4 and yeast surface is surrounded by H+ ions, which enhance the Cr(VI) interaction with biomass binding sites by electrostatic forces. Subsequently, pH of the effluent was raised up to 6.0; this pH maximizes the efficiency of cations removal since at this pH the main binding groups of yeast cells are totally or partially deprotonated. The passage of effluent through a series of sequential batches, at pH 6.0, allowed, after the third batch, the removal of Cu(II), Ni (II), Cr total, and Cr(VI) in the effluent to values below the legal limit of discharge. The strategy proposed in the present work can be used in plants for the treatment of heavy metals rich industrial effluents containing simultaneously Cr(VI) and Cr(III).

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank to the “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” (FCT) from Portuguese Government for the financial support of this work with FEDER founds, by the Project POCTI/CTA/47875/2002. Manuela D. Machado is also gratefully acknowledged for a grant scholarship financed under the same project and another grant from FCT (SFRH/BD/31755/2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioengineering Laboratory, Chemical Engineering Department, Superior Institute of Engineering from Porto Polytechnic Institute, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal

    Manuela D. Machado & Eduardo V. Soares

  2. REQUIMTE–Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering of Porto University, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Manuela D. Machado & Helena M. V. M. Soares

  3. IBB–Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre for Biological Engineering, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Eduardo V. Soares

Authors
  1. Manuela D. Machado
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  2. Helena M. V. M. Soares
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  3. Eduardo V. Soares
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Helena M. V. M. Soares or Eduardo V. Soares.

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Machado, M.D., Soares, H.M.V.M. & Soares, E.V. Removal of Chromium, Copper, and Nickel from an Electroplating Effluent Using a Flocculent Brewer’s Yeast Strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Water Air Soil Pollut 212, 199–204 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-010-0332-1

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