A study of aeration treatment of uranium-contained wastewater by saccharomyces cerevisiae-activated sludge

Experiments of the aeration treatment of uranium-contained wastewater by saccharomyces cerevisiae-activated sludge were carried out. The experimental results indicate that, saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.C) can accumulate UO22+ effectively from aqueous solution: the removal ratio of 100 mg·L-1 UO22+ is 78.2% when S.C dosage is 10 g·L-1, while with 8 g·L-1 activated sludge (A.S.) added in the solution the ratio has increased to 96.3%; then, 5-10 min effluent settling is clarified as a result of sludge flocculation; the optimum conditions of biosorption of U from wastewater by S.C.-A.S. are at pH 5, A.S concentration=8 g·L-1, added dry weight of S.C.=10 g·L-1, granularity of S.C=100-120 mesh; the quantity of U increases with the enhanced initial concentration of UO22+ in the process of biosorption by S.C.-A.S., but the removal ratio decreases. The uptake of U could be described by the Freundlich and the Langmuir adsorption isotherms, which demonstrated that the adsorption was regarded as a physical adsorption. (authors)