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Kinetics of the liquid‐phase oxidation of acid ferrous sulfate by the bacterium Thiobacillus ferrooxidens
Author(s) -
Lacey D. T.,
Lawson F.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.260120104
Subject(s) - ferrous , chemistry , saturation (graph theory) , reaction rate constant , kinetics , bacteria , yield (engineering) , population , sulfate , inorganic chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , nuclear chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry , metallurgy , materials science , biology , physics , mathematics , demography , combinatorics , quantum mechanics , sociology , genetics
The kinetics of the batch‐wise liquid‐phase oxidation of ferrous sulfate by the organism Thiobacillus ferrooxidans has been studied over a range of temperatures from 20°C to 31°C and in the presence of an abundant supply of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other nutrients. The rate of oxidation was found to be accurately described by the equation\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$$ \frac{{dS}}{{dt}} = \frac{{\mu _m SX}}{{Y(K + S)}} $$\end{document}where t = time hr, S = concentration of ferrous ions g Fe ++ /1., μ m = maximum specific growth rate of bacteria, hr −1 . Y = mass of bacteria produced per gram of iron oxidized g/g, K = saturation constant, g Fe ++ /l., and X = concentration of bacteria g/1. The value for the maximum specific growth rate, μ m , was found to vary from 0.12 hr −1 at 20°C to 0.20 hr −1 at 31°C, while the value for the saturation constant K varied randomly between 1 and 2 g/1. A method has also been described which permitted evaluation of the relevant rate constants μ m and K without direct knowledge of the bacterial population. This method was found to yield values of μ m and K which agreed with values determined accurately by a statistical regression analysis of the experimental data.