Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Using Mycobacterium smegmatis as a Bioindicator for Zinc-Limited Growth Conditions in Mycobacteria
Published on: September 20, 2024
A growth model for the continuous microbiological leaching of a zinc sulfide concentrate by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans
V Sanmugasunderam1, R M Branion, D W Duncan
1Department of Chemical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1W5.
Abstract:
The leaching of a zinc sulfide concentrate by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans was investigated in continuous stirred tank reactors. A mathematical model for the growth of T. ferrooxidans on this solid substrate is presented and tested. Experimental leaching studies were done using two reactors in series with and without recycle of solids from the outlet of the first reactor back to its inlet. The proposed model fits the authors' experimental data well. However, comparison of the parameters calculated with those calculated from the data of others showed that a wide variation can exist; thus, the parameters seem to depend on the nature of the substrate. The area occupied on the sulfide surface by a bacterium was found to be 5.4 mum(2). The calculated maximum specific growth rates ranged from 0.20 to 0.31 h(-1), and these values were dependent on whether they were observed in the first or second of the two reactors in series.
More Related Videos
15:19Development of Sulfidogenic Sludge from Marine Sediments and Trichloroethylene Reduction in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor
Published on: October 15, 2015
13:11Using Flexible Gold-Titanium Reaction Cells to Simulate Pressure-Dependent Microbial Activity in the Context of Subsurface Biomining
Published on: October 5, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Microbial Leaching
Acid Mine Drainage
Microbes and Other Elemental Cycles
Microbes and the Sulfur Cycle
Microbial Corrosion
Scale-Up Processes