
Cyanide Biodegradation
In my previous research, I worked on developing an eco-friendly solution to remove toxic free cyanide (achieving 96.3% removal) from gold mine wastewater using bacteria growing as biofilms. I designed and conducted experiments using a bench-scale rotating biological contactor (RBC), where I monitored biofilm growth and cyanide degradation over time. Based on the experimental data, I developed and simulated mathematical models in Wolfram Mathematica to describe both biofilm growth and cyanide biodegradation.
Publication
Belen Sotomayor, Sanchez, A., & Nieto, D. “Un-steady state modeling for free cyanide removal and biofilm growth in a RBC batch process”. Journal of Hazardous Materials. (2020)