Ballor Nicholas R, Nesbitt Carl C, Lueking Donald R
Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, 49931, USA.
Biotechnol Bioeng. 2006 Apr 20;93(6):1089-94. doi: 10.1002/bit.20821.
The utility of employing biogenerated ferric iron as an oxidant for the recycling of scrap metal has been demonstrated using continuously growing cells of the extremophilic organism Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. A ferric iron rich (70 mol%) lixiviant resulting from bioreactor based growth of A. ferrooxidans readily solubilized target scrap metal with the resultant generation of a leachate containing elevated ferrous iron levels and solubilized copper previously resident in the scrap metal. Recovery of the copper value was easily accomplished via a cementation reaction and the clarified leachate containing a replenished level of ferrous iron as growth substrate was shown to support the growth of A. ferrooxidans and be fully recyclable. The described process for scrap metal recycling and copper recovery was shown to be efficient and economically attractive. Additionally, the utility of employing the E(h) of the growth medium as a means for monitoring fluctuations in cell density in cultures of A. ferrooxidans is demonstrated.
利用嗜极端微生物氧化亚铁硫杆菌持续生长的细胞，已证明将生物生成的三价铁用作废金属回收的氧化剂的效用。基于生物反应器培养氧化亚铁硫杆菌产生的富含三价铁（70摩尔%）的浸出剂能轻易溶解目标废金属，从而产生一种含有升高的亚铁离子水平以及先前存在于废金属中的溶解铜的浸出液。通过置换反应可轻松实现铜的回收，并且含有补充亚铁离子水平作为生长底物的澄清浸出液被证明能够支持氧化亚铁硫杆菌的生长且可完全循环利用。所描述的废金属回收和铜回收过程被证明是高效且具有经济吸引力的。此外，还证明了利用生长培养基的E(h)作为监测氧化亚铁硫杆菌培养物中细胞密度波动的一种手段的效用。
