TITLE:
Application of Aquatic Plants for the Treatment of Selenium-Rich Mining Wastewater and Production of Renewable Fuels and Petrochemicals
AUTHORS:
Ana F. Miranda, Nazim Muradov, Amit Gujar, Trevor Stevenson, Dayanthi Nugegoda, Andrew S. Ball, Aidyn Mouradov
KEYWORDS:
Biofuel; Bioremediation; Pyrolysis; Mining Wastewater; Thermochemical Conversion
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems,
Vol.4 No.1,
March
28,
2014
ABSTRACT: Aquatic plants
aggressively colonising wetlands are widely used for the biosorption of the
soluble contaminants from wastewater and represent an attractive feedstock for
biofuel production. Three common Australian aquatic plants, duckweed (Landoltia punctata), elodea, (Elodea canadensis) and water clover (Marsilea quadrifolia), colonizing
different depths of wetlands were tested for their ability to treat the
selenium-rich mining wastewater and for their potential for production of
petrochemicals. The results showed that these plants could be effective at
biofiltration of selenium and
heavy metals from mining wastewater accumulating them in their fast growing biomass. Along with production of bio-gas
and bio-solid components, pyrolysis of these plants produced a range of liquid
petrochemicals including straight-chain C14-C20 alkanes, which can be directly
used as a diesel fuel supplement or as a glycerine-free component of biodiesel. Other
identified bio-oil components can be converted into petrochemicals using
existing techniques such as catalytic hydrodeoxygenation. A dual application of
aquatic plants for wastewater treatment and production
of value-added chemicals offers an ecologically friendly and cost-effective solution
for water pollution problems and renewable energy production.