Bioleaching of Metals from Industrial Contaminated Soil Using Sulphuric Acid Produced by Bacterial Activity: A Feasibility Study

Gourdon, Rémy; Funtowicz, N.

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-0421-0_31

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Sulfur oxidation in the piles and leaching of sulfuric acid may induce the acidi®cation of the surrounding soils and even the groundwater when leachate collection systems are inadequate. In a previous study, a process was investigated in which microbial production of sulfuric acid from sulfur oxidation was coupled to the leaching of metals from an industrially contaminated soil [4,6]. The purpose of the work was to develop an indirect bioleaching process for the treatment of metal-laden contaminated soils, based on the bacterial oxidation of sulfur and the leaching properties of sulfuric acid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kinetic model of elemental sulfur oxidation by Thiobacillus thiooxidans in batch slurry reactors

Gourdon¹,

Funtowicz²

1998

Bioprocess Engineering

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The kinetics of sulfur oxidation by T. thiooxidans has been studied in a batch well-mixed reactor and in shaker¯asks. A mathematical model is proposed, which considers the attachment of the cells onto the sulfur particles' surface following Freundlich isotherm, growth of the attached bacteria, and growth inhibition by sulfates accumulation. Best-®t values of the model parameters have been calculated from the experimental data. Results show that the addition of dimethyl-dichloro-silane in the aerated reactor to prevent the formation of foam reduces the maximum speci®c growth rate of attached bacteria, probably because of the resulting changes in surface properties of the sulfur particles. The other model parameters are not signi®cantly affected. The formation of clusters of sulfur particles has been observed at an initial sulfur concentration of 5% . This phenomenon reduces the rate of sulfur conversion due to the reduction of the total surface area of the particles, and the model therefore overestimates the formation of sulfates. At lower initial sulfur concentration, the phenomenon has not been observed and the model simulations are then satisfactory. List of symbols aProjected surface area of one cell (10 À12 m 2 acell) A Total surface area of the sulfur particles at time t m 2 A 0 Initial total surface area of the sulfur particles m 2 C SO 2À 4 Sulfate concentration in solution kg/m 3 C i Inhibitory sulfate concentration in solution kg/m 3 K c Equilibrium constant for cell adsorption to sulfur particles m 3 acellule K i Inhibition constant m 3 akg m S Mass of sulfur in the reaction medium at time t (kg) m S 0 Initial mass of sulfur in the reaction medium (kg) m SO 2À 4 Mass of sulfates in solution at time t (kg) N Number of sulfur particles in the reaction medium r Equivalent radius of the sulfur particles at time t (m) r 0 Initial equivalent radius of the sulfur particles (60 Â 10 À6 m) t Incubation time (days) V Reaction volume m 3 X l Free cells concentration at time t cells/m 3 X lo Initial free cells concentration cells/m 3 X f Concentration of cells attached to the sulfur particles at time t cells/m 2 X f max Maximum concentration of cells attached to the sulfur particles at time tr cells/m 2 Y Sulfur to cells proportionality constant (cells/kg sulfur converted) lSpeci®c growth rate d À1 l m Maximum speci®c growth rate d À1 hFraction of the sulfur particles' surface occupied by cells at time t q S Volumetric mass of sulfur particles 1960 kg/m 3

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strains of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans were used to convert sulfur into sulfuric acid. T. thiooxidans exhibited rates of metal leaching slightly higher than T. ferrooxidans [6]. The present study focuses on the kinetics of sulfur oxidation by T. thiooxidans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetic model of elemental sulfur oxidation by Thiobacillus thiooxidans in batch slurry reactors

Gourdon¹,

Funtowicz²

1998

Bioprocess Engineering

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“…However, the shear forces do not prevail in heap leaching conditions. Possible applications benefiting from the VS2-like cultures include sulfur-oxidation and/or acid requiring processes, such as metal recovery from mineral deposits, incineration slag, or waste water sludge [44], acid generation to overcome high acid demand of marginal ore deposits [39], and bioremediation (e.g., sulfur rich sediments or metal contaminated soils or sludge) [10]. Sulfur oxidizers could also be used to scavenge the sulfur-rich layers formed on top of the chalcopyrite surfaces to prevent the formation of the diffusion hindrance [7] that has been observed in many leaching experiments [e.g., [45][46][47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of a thermophilic sulfur oxidizing enrichment culture dominated by a Sulfolobus sp. obtained from an underground hot spring for use in extreme bioleaching conditions

Salo-Zieman

Sivonen

Plumb

et al. 2006

J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol

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A thermoacidophilic elemental sulfur and chalcopyrite oxidizing enrichment culture VS2 was obtained from hot spring run-off sediments of an underground mine. It contained only archaeal species, namely a Sulfolobus metallicus-related organism (96% similarity in partial 16S rRNA gene) and Thermoplasma acidophilum (98% similarity in partial 16S rRNA gene). The VS2 culture grew in a temperature range of 35-76 degrees C. Sulfur oxidation by VS2 was optimal at 70 degrees C, with the highest oxidation rate being 99 mg S(0 )l(-1 )day(-1). At 50 degrees C, the highest sulfur oxidation rate was 89 mg l(-1 )day(-1 )(in the presence of 5 g Cl(-) l(-1)). Sulfur oxidation was not significantly affected by 0.02-0.1 g l(-1) yeast extract or saline water (total salinity of 0.6 M) that simulated mine water at field application sites with availability of only saline water. Chloride ions at a concentration above 10 g l(-1) inhibited sulfur oxidation. Both granular and powdered forms of sulfur were bioavailable, but the oxidation rate of granular sulfur was less than 50% of the powdered form. Chalcopyrite concentrate oxidation (1% w/v) by the VS2 resulted in a 90% Cu yield in 30 days.

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“…4), and if found in really extreme conditions, reports about such environments find their way into popular journals (e.g. Due to their ability to catalyze the dissolution of metal sulphides, they are commonly used in bioleaching processes to extract metals from the host or mother rocks of low grade deposits or waste rock dumps (Ebner and Schwarz 1973;Bosecker 1980;Lundgren and Silver 1980;Beyer 1986;Duarte et al 1990;Brunner et al 1993;Ahonen and Tuovinen 1995;Gourdon and Funtowicz 1995;Modak et al 1996;Cassity and Pesic 1999;Vasan et al 2001;Rawlings 2002;Rohwerder et al 2003;Sand and Gehrke 2006). Some microorganisms prefer extremely acidic conditions (Robbins et al 2000) whereas others like to live under extremely alkaline environments (Takai et al 2001), and are called extremophiles because they live in conditions which are considered to be extraordinarily unusual for normal organisms (Madigan et al 2003;Hallberg and Johnson 2005).…”

Section: Introduction and Metabolismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Management at Abandoned Flooded Underground Mines

2008

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Bioleaching of Metals from Industrial Contaminated Soil Using Sulphuric Acid Produced by Bacterial Activity: A Feasibility Study

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

Kinetic model of elemental sulfur oxidation by Thiobacillus thiooxidans in batch slurry reactors

Kinetic model of elemental sulfur oxidation by Thiobacillus thiooxidans in batch slurry reactors

Characterization of a thermophilic sulfur oxidizing enrichment culture dominated by a Sulfolobus sp. obtained from an underground hot spring for use in extreme bioleaching conditions

Water Management at Abandoned Flooded Underground Mines

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