Fk. Crundwell, MATHEMATICAL-MODELING OF BATCH AND CONTINUOUS BACTERIAL LEACHING, Chemical engineering journal and the biochemical engineering journal, 54(3), 1994, pp. 207-220
A mathematical model of bacterial leaching reactors is presented. The
model incorporates the population (number) balance approach for the mo
deling of particulate leaching, the balance for the bacterial cell num
ber, which includes populations of bacteria on the mineral surface and
in solution, and material balances describing solution reactants and
products. The effects of particle-size distribution, particle kinetics
, and the residence-time distribution are accounted for in the populat
ion balance. The bacterial balances account for the growth of bacteria
in solution and on the mineral surface, and for the attachment to and
detachment from the mineral surface. The model is solved for the case
of batch leaching and for the case of continuous leaching. The batch
model is shown to be a good description of batch leaching. Parameters
obtained from batch data for the leaching of a pyritic ore are used to
predict the performance of a continuous pilot plant. The model predic
ts results which compare very favourably with data from the continuous
pilot plant.