New Insights into Ion Adsorption Type Rare-Earths Mining—Bacterial Adsorption of Yttrium Integrated with Ammonia Nitrogen Removal by a Fungus

Weiying Wang, Yanqiong Xu, Riming Yan and Zhibin Zhang
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Weiying Wang: Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Subtropical Plant Resources of Jiangxi Province, College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
Yanqiong Xu: Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Subtropical Plant Resources of Jiangxi Province, College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
Riming Yan: Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Subtropical Plant Resources of Jiangxi Province, College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
Zhibin Zhang: Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Subtropical Plant Resources of Jiangxi Province, College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: Ion adsorption-type heavy rare earths found in southern China are important ore resources, whose yttrium(Y)-group rare-earth elements account for 90% of the total mass of rare earths known on the planet. At present, ammonia-nitrogen wastewater from extraction of rare earths pose threats to the environment. A bacterial strain ( Bacillus sp. ZD 1) isolated from the “Foot Cave” mining area was used for adsorption of Y 3+ . Its adsorption capacity reached 428 μmol/g when the initial concentration of Y 3+ was 1.13 mM. Moreover, 50 mg of Bacillus sp. ZD 1 (converted to dry mass) could completely adsorb Y 3+ in the mother solution of mixed rare earths from the rare-earth mining area. Ammonia nitrogen in the remaining solution after adsorption was removed through denitrification using a fungus named Galactomyces sp. ZD 27. The final concentration of ammonia nitrogen in wastewater was lower than Indirect Emission Standard of Pollutants for Rare-earth Industry (GB 26451-2011). Furthermore, the resulting fungal cells of Galactomyces sp. ZD 27 could be used to produce single cell proteins, whose content accounted for 70.75% of the dry mass of cells. This study offers a new idea for integrated environmentally-friendly extraction and ecological restoration of the mining area in southern China.

Keywords: rare-earth yttrium ion; biosorption; removal of ammonia-nitrogen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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