Factors affecting the performance of microbial fuel cells for sulfur pollutants removal.

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed for removal of sulfur-based pollutants and can be used for simultaneous wastewater treatment and electricity generation. This fuel cell uses an activated carbon cloth+carbon fibre veil composite anode, air-breathing dual cathodes and the sulfate-reducing species Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. 1.16gdm(-3) sulfite and 0.97gdm(-3) thiosulfate were removed from the wastewater at 22 degrees C, representing sulfite and thiosulfate removal conversions of 91% and 86%, respectively. The anode potential was controlled by the concentration of sulfide in the compartment. The performance of the cathode assembly was affected by the concentration of protons in the cation-exchanging ionomer with which the electrocatalyst is co-bound at the three-phase (air, catalyst and support) boundary.

Activated carbon cloth as anode for sulfate removal in a microbial fuel cell.

By employing the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans we demonstrate the possibility of electricity generation in a microbialfuel cell (MFC) with concomitant sulfate removal. This approach is based on an in situ anodic oxidative depletion of sulfide produced by D. desulfuricans. Three different electrode materials, graphite foil (GF), carbon fiber veil (CFV), and high surface area activated carbon cloth (ACC), were evaluated for sulfide electrochemical oxidation. In comparison to CFV and GF electrodes, ACC was a superior materialfor sulfide adsorption and oxidation and showed significant potential for harvesting energy from sulfate-rich solutions in the form of electricity. Sulfate (3.03 g dm(-3)) was removed from a bacterial suspension, which represented 99% removal. A maximum power density of 0.51 mW cm(-2) (normalized to geometric electrode area) was obtained with a one-chamber, air-breathing cathode and continuous flow MFC operated in batch mode at 22 degrees C.

Silicate mineral dissolution during heap bioleaching.

Silicate minerals are present in association with metal sulfides in ores and their dissolution occurs when the sulfide minerals are bioleached in heaps for metal recovery. It has previously been suggested that silicate mineral dissolution can affect mineral bioleaching by acid consumption, release of trace elements, and increasing the viscosity of the leach solution. In this study, the effect of silicates present in three separate samples in conjunction with chalcopyrite and a complex multi-metal sulfide ore on heap bioleaching was evaluated in column bioreactors. Fe(2+) oxidation was inhibited in columns containing chalcopyrite samples A and C that leached 1.79 and 1.11 mM fluoride, respectively but not in sample B that contained 0.14 mM fluoride. Microbial Fe(2+) oxidation inhibition experiments containing elevated fluoride concentrations and measurements of fluoride release from the chalcopyrite ores supported that inhibition of Fe(2+) oxidation during column leaching of two of the chalcopyrite ores was due to fluoride toxicity. Column bioleaching of the complex sulfide ore was carried out at various temperatures (7-50 degrees C) and pH values (1.5-3.0). Column leaching at pH 1.5 and 2.0 resulted in increased acid consumption rates and silicate dissolution such that it became difficult to filter the leach solutions and for the leach liquor to percolate through the column. However, column temperature (at pH 2.5) only had a minor effect on the acid consumption and silicate dissolution rates. This study demonstrates the potential negative impact of silicate mineral dissolution on heap bioleaching by microbial inhibition and liquid flow.

Mineral and iron oxidation at low temperatures by pure and mixed cultures of acidophilic microorganisms.

An enrichment culture from a boreal sulfide mine environment containing a low-grade polymetallic ore was tested in column bioreactors for simulation of low temperature heap leaching. PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed the enrichment culture contained an Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain with high 16S rRNA gene similarity to the psychrotolerant strain SS3 and a mesophilic Leptospirillum ferrooxidans strain. As the mixed culture contained a strain that was within a clade with SS3, we used the SS3 pure culture to compare leaching rates with the At. ferrooxidans type strain in stirred tank reactors for mineral sulfide dissolution at various temperatures. The psychrotolerant strain SS3 catalyzed pyrite, pyrite/arsenopyrite, and chalcopyrite concentrate leaching. The rates were lower at 5 degrees C than at 30 degrees C, despite that all the available iron was in the oxidized form in the presence of At. ferrooxidans SS3. This suggests that although efficient At. ferrooxidans SS3 mediated biological oxidation of ferrous iron occurred, chemical oxidation of the sulfide minerals by ferric iron was rate limiting. In the column reactors, the leaching rates were much less affected by low temperatures than in the stirred tank reactors. A factor for the relatively high rates of mineral oxidation at 7 degrees C is that ferric iron remained in the soluble phase whereas, at 21 degrees C the ferric iron precipitated. Temperature gradient analysis of ferrous iron oxidation by this enrichment culture demonstrated two temperature optima for ferrous iron oxidation and that the mixed culture was capable of ferrous iron oxidation at 5 degrees C.