Ferrous Sulphate Oxidation Using Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans Cells Immobilized in Ceramic Beads

Y. Junfeng, L. Guoliang and C. Wei

Abstract
The immobilization of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans cells on ceramic beads as carrier is described. The effects of ferrous ion concentration and dilution on the kinetics of ferrous ion oxidation in a packed-bed bioreactor were studied. In a medium containing 13.91 g of ferrous ion per litre, the fastest oxidation rate was 4.21 g L–1 at a dilution rate of 0.8 h–1. The corresponding conversion was X = 70 %. At ferrous ion mass concentrations greater than γ = 8.34 g L–1 and dilution rates greater than D = 0.8 h–1, the rate of ferrous-iron-oxidation reached a plateau or decreased, depending on how much the ferrous ion mass concentration or dilution rate was in excess.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Keywords
Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, biooxidation of ferrous ion, ceramic beads, immobilization, packed-bed bioreactor