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Bioleaching of chalcopyrite concentrate using Leptospirillum ferriphilum, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in a continuous bubble column reactor

  • Original Paper
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Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

To estimate the bioleaching performance of chalcopyrite for various hydraulic residence times (HRTs), laboratory-scale bioleaching of chalcopyrite concentrate was carried out in a continuous bubble column reactor with three different HRTs of 120, 80 and 40 h, respectively. An extraction rate and ratio of 0.578 g Cu l−1 h−1 and 39.7%, respectively, were achieved for an HRT of 80 h at a solids concentration of 10% (w/v). Lower bioleaching performances than this were obtained for a longer HRT of 120 h and a shorter HRT of 40 h. In addition, there was obvious competition between Leptospirillum ferriphilum and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans to oxidize ferrous iron, causing large compositional differences between the microbial communitys obtained for the different HRTs. Leptospirillum ferriphilum and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans were found to be the dominant microbes for the longer HRT (120 h). Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans became the dominant species when the HRT was decreased. The proportion of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans was comparatively constant in the microbial community throughout the three process stages.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (20803094) and the Postdoctoral Foundation of Central South University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biohydrometallurgy of Ministry of Education, School of Resources Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, 410083, Changsha, People’s Republic of China

    Lexian Xia, Xinhua Chen & Jianshe Liu

  2. Department of Bioengineering, School of Resources Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, 410083, Changsha, People’s Republic of China

    Chu Yin & Guanzhou Qiu

  3. Dongguan Institute of Environmental Sciences, 523011, Dongguan, People’s Republic of China

    Songlin Dai

Authors
  1. Lexian Xia
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  2. Chu Yin
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  3. Songlin Dai
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  4. Guanzhou Qiu
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  5. Xinhua Chen
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  6. Jianshe Liu
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Correspondence to Guanzhou Qiu or Jianshe Liu.

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Xia, L., Yin, C., Dai, S. et al. Bioleaching of chalcopyrite concentrate using Leptospirillum ferriphilum, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in a continuous bubble column reactor. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 37, 289–295 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-009-0672-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-009-0672-2

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