Hindawi Advances in Civil Engineering Volume 2018, Article ID 9671371, 6 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9671371 Research Article Experimental Study on Bioclogging in Porous Media during the Radioactive Effluent Percolation Rong Gui ,1,2,3 Yu-xiang Pan ,2,3 De-xin Ding ,1,2,3 Yong Liu,2,3 and Zhi-jun Zhang 2,3 1School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 420083, China 2Key Discipline Laboratory for National Defense for Biotechnology in Uranium Mining and Hydrometallurgy, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan 421001, China 3Nuclear Resource Engineering College, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan 421001, China Correspondence should be addressed to De-xin Ding;
[email protected] and Zhi-jun Zhang;
[email protected] Received 8 June 2018; Revised 22 September 2018; Accepted 3 October 2018; Published 8 November 2018 Guest Editor: Zhongwei Chen Copyright © 2018 Rong Gui et al. .is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. .e sand columns inoculated with the indigenous microorganism (Aspergillus niger) were used to investigate the effect of bioclogging during the radioactive effluent percolation. .e hydraulic gradient, volumetric flow rate, and uranyl ions con- centration were monitored over time. .e sand columns were operated with continuous radioactive effluent of uranium tailings reservoir. After 68 days, the hydraulic conductivity of the sand columns decreased more than 72%, and the adsorption rate of uranyl ions by Aspergillus niger reached more than 90%. Environmental scanning electron microscope imaging confirmed the biofilm covering the surface of sand particles and connecting sand particles together, which resulted in a reduction of hydraulic conductivity.