Optimal parameters for bioleaching of realgar using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans under different growth conditions and mathematical analysis

Abstract

Bioleaching, a long-standing technology in hydrometallurgy, has been applied to the field of pharmaceuticals. Here, the bacterial leaching of realgar as a novel preparation method was investigated using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans BY-3 (A. ferrooxidans BY-3). We evaluated the effects of a range of crucial operational parameters, including temperature, pH, bacterial population, ferrous iron concentration, and pulp density, on the efficiency of the bioleaching process. Moreover, a conversion algorithm based on linear regression was developed for analyzing the extraction of arsenic. The optimized bioleaching parameters obtained by mathematical analysis were in good agreement with the experimental data, indicating that the model was suitable for design of a realgar bioleaching process.

Keywords::

• Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
• bioleaching
• mathematical models
• optimum conditions
• realgar

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Qiong Li, Zheng Hu (Lanzhou University, China) for their support and advice.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This work was supported by the Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education (Grant No. 107108), the Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province (Grant No. 2GS035-A52-008-01, 2GS064-A43-019-02, 0912TCYA025, 098TTCA013, 1004TCYA041), the International Cooperation Project (Grant No. 0708WCGA150), and Open Project of Key Laboratory for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University (Grant No. LZUMMM2010016).