化工技术在生物冶金过程强化中的研究进展

随着高品位矿物的消耗枯竭，生产成本高、环境污染严重的传统火法冶炼技术已不能适应我国经济社会可持续发展的需要。以生物堆浸和生物槽浸为代表的生物冶金技术具有操作简单、成本低廉、环境友好等特点，可用于低品位、复杂矿物的处理，目前已广泛应用于铜、金等有价金属的回收利用。但是，生物冶金过程中相对较慢的反应速度是限制其应用范围进一步扩大的主要原因。生物冶金技术的基本过程与化工过程紧密相关，化工技术的发展在历史上曾极大地促进生物冶金技术的推广应用，通过化工技术强化生物冶金过程仍是未来生物冶金研究的主要方向之一。因此，本工作综述了近年来与生物冶金有关的化工过程研究进展，主要从工业应用角度分析了生物堆浸和生物槽浸过程的影响因素，以期帮助研究者更好地了解相关领域的发展现状，正确把握研究方向。要点：(1)介绍了矿石粒度及堆体孔隙、溶浸液条件和化工分离技术对生物堆浸的影响。(2)介绍了搅拌槽式生物冶金反应器中溶解氧浓度、温度和内构件的影响。(3)展望了进一步提高生物浸出效率、扩大生物冶金应用范围的研究方向。

Research progress of chemical engineering technology in the process intensification of biohydrometallurgy

With the depletion of high-grade minerals, traditional pyrometallurgy with high cost and serious environmental contamination is no longer suitable for the sustainable development of the economy and society of China. Biohydrometallurgy is a bacterial-assisted leaching process to solubilize or expose the metals contained in different minerals, and the main role of the bacteria is to regenerate ferric ions and protons. Since the 1980s, biohydrometallurgy including heap bioleaching and tank bioleaching has been widely used for the recovery of metals such as copper and gold from low-grade and complex minerals because of its easy operation, low cost, and environmental advantages. Up to now, about 15% of the world's copper production can be attributed to the heap bioleaching of copper ore and about 5% of the world's gold production can be attributed to the biooxidation of refractory gold ore in continuous stirred tank reactors. However, the relatively slow reaction velocity of biohydrometallurgy is the main limitation to its further development. The application of biohydrometallurgy has been promoted remarkedly by the development of chemical engineering technology in history such as chemical reaction engineering and chemical separation technology. The process intensification of biohydrometallurgy based on chemical engineering technology is still one of the most important research interests in the future. Therefore, the research progress of chemical engineering technology in the process intensification of biohydrometallurgy was reviewed in this paper to help a better understanding. The influencing factors of efficiency in heap bioleaching and tank bioleaching were discussed mainly from an industrial point of view, and future research prospects were also put forward.