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Design, application, and microbiome of sulfate-reducing bioreactors for treatment of mining-influenced water

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Abstract

Sulfate-reducing bioreactors, also called biochemical reactors, represent a promising option for passive treatment of mining-influenced water (MIW) based on similar technology to aerobic/anaerobic-constructed wetlands and vertical-flow wetlands. MIW from each mine site has a variety of site-specific properties related to its treatment; therefore, design factors, including the organic substrates and inorganic materials packed into the bioreactor, must be tested and evaluated before installation of full-scale sulfate-reducing bioreactors. Several full-scale sulfate-reducing bioreactors operating at mine sites provide examples, but holistic understanding of the complex treatment processes occurring inside the bioreactors is lacking. With the recent introduction of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies, microbial processes within bioreactors may be clarified based on the relationships between operational parameters and key microorganisms identified using high-resolution microbiome data. In this review, the test design procedures and precedents of full-scale bioreactor application for MIW treatment are briefly summarized, and recent knowledge on the sulfate-reducing microbial communities of field-based bioreactors from fine-scale monitoring is presented.Key points

• Sulfate-reducing bioreactors are promising for treatment of mining-influenced water.

• Various design factors should be tested for application of full-scale bioreactors.

• Introduction of several full-scale passive bioreactor systems at mine sites.

• Desulfosporosinus spp. can be one of the key bacteria within field-based bioreactors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Management Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8569, Japan

    Hiroshi Habe, Yuya Sato, Tomo Aoyagi, Tomohiro Inaba & Tomoyuki Hori

  2. Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), 2-10-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan

    Takaya Hamai, Mikio Kobayashi & Naoki Sato

  3. JOGMEC Metals Technology Center, 9-3 Furudate, Kosakakozan, Kosaka, Akita, 017-0202, Japan

    Kentaro Hayashi & Takeshi Sakata

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  1. Hiroshi Habe
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  2. Yuya Sato
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  3. Tomo Aoyagi
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  4. Tomohiro Inaba
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  5. Tomoyuki Hori
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  10. Naoki Sato
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Contributions

All authors conceived the manuscript scope and contents. HH and YS prepared the first draft of the manuscript. TA, TI, and TH performed the literature search for microbiome. TH, KH, and MK performed the literature search for precedents of full-scale bioreactors. TS and NS performed the literature search for design factors. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hiroshi Habe or Takaya Hamai.

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Habe, H., Sato, Y., Aoyagi, T. et al. Design, application, and microbiome of sulfate-reducing bioreactors for treatment of mining-influenced water. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 104, 6893–6903 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10737-2

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