Bioleaching of Sulfide Mineral in Stirred Tank Reactors Operated in a Variety of Modes

Abstract

This paper reviews analysis and modeling for the bioleaching of pyrite in stirred tank reactors operated in a variety of modes: batch, repeated-batch and continuous flow. In a batch reactor, rate data were consistent with a kinetic model assuming that the growth rate of adsorbed bacteria on the mineral surface is proportional to the product of the concentration of adsorbed cells and the fraction of adsorption sites unoccupied by cells. In this modeling, the adsorbed cell concentration was related to the free cell concentration in liquid medium through the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The reactor model for batch operation is used to investigate the effect of solution replacement on bioleaching rate in repeated-batch reactor. Moreover, the batch model is extended to analyze and model the bioleaching in a continuous-flow tank reactor.