Establishing a green biodesulfurization process for iron ore concentrates in stirred tank and leaching column bioreactors using Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans

Evaluation of functional characteristics of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans microencapsulated in gum arabic by spray-drying as biotechnological tool in the mining industry

The mining and metallurgical industry represents one of the leading causes of environmental pollution. In this context, the optimization of mineral waste management and the efficient extraction of metals of interest becomes an imperative priority for a sustainable future. Microorganisms such as Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans have represented a sustainable and economical alternative in recent years due to their capacity for environmental remediation in bioleaching processes because of their sulfur-oxidizing capacity and sulfuric acid generation. However, its use has been limited due to the reluctance of mine operators because of the constant reproduction of the bacterial culture in suitable media and the care that this entails. In this work, the central objective was to evaluate the functional characteristics of A. thiooxidans, microencapsulated and stored at room temperature for three years in vacuum bags, using a spray drying process with gum arabic as a wall vector. Growth kinetics showed a survival of 80 ± 0.52% after this long period of storage. Also, a qualitative fluorescence technique with a 5-cyano-2-3 ditolyl tetrazolium (CTC) marker was used to determine the respiratory activity of the microorganisms as soon as it was resuspended. On the other hand, the consumption of resuspended sulfur was evaluated to corroborate the correct metabolic functioning of the bacteria, with results of up to 50% sulfur reduction in 16 days and sulfate generation of 513.85 ± 0.4387 ppm and 524.15 ± 0.567 ppm for microencapsulated and non-microencapsulated cultures, respectively. These results demonstrate the success after three years of the microencapsulation process and give guidelines for its possible application in the mining-metallurgical industry.