Revisión de tecnologías de tratamiento para metales pesados provenientes de drenaje ácido de mina

Abstract

The mining activity generates acid drainages that cause a dispersion of heavy metals in the water and soils. Water pollution by heavy metals is a problem in mining areas. Heavy metals have serious effects on the environment and health exposed in various toxicological studies. Over the years, several technologies have been developed to reduce and eliminate heavy metal from acid mine drainages, among others: ion exchange, electrochemical reduction, reverse osmosis, precipitation chemistry, membrane filtration, coagulation and flocculation, adsorption and biosorption. Besides these methods allow the minimization or elimination of the contaminant, they also have disadvantages such as high requirements for reagents and / or energy, generation of toxic sludge and other waste products. This study makes a bibliographic analysis of the most relevant studies on these methods and evaluates the different technologies for heavy metal removal in the particularities of mine drainage.