Copper,zinc,and iron bioleaching from polymetallic sulphide concentrate

Bioleaching of low-grade complex Cu&ndash;Zn&ndash;Pb&ndash;Fe&ndash;Ag&ndash;Au sulphide concentrate (of Majdanpek ore body, RTB Bor, Serbia) was carried out in an aerated bioleach reactor in the presence of mesophilic mixed bacterial culture of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans. A mesophilic acidophiles culture was isolated from the acidic solution of the underground copper mine of Bor, Serbia. The nutrient medium was 9K at pH 1.6. 87% of the particles were <10 &micro;m in size, with a pulp density of 8% (w/v). Bioleaching efficiencies of 89% for zinc, 83% for copper, and 68% for iron can be achieved in the examined conditions. Kinetic analysis shows that the change in leaching corresponds to the Spencer-Topley kinetic model for diffusion-controlled topochemical reactions.

Identification and characterization of single crystal Bi_(2)Te_(3-x)Se_(x) alloy

The results of experimental investigation of n-type semiconductor based on Bi2Te3 alloy were presented. This material is used in manufacture of thermoelectric coolers and electrical power generation devices. BizTe2.88Se0.12 solid solution single crystal has been grown using the Czochralski method. Monitoring of structure changes of the sample was carried out by electron microscope. The elemental composition of the studied alloy was obtained by energy dispersive spectrometry （EDS） analysis and empirical formula of the compound was established. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the Bi2Te2.88Se0.12 sample was a single phase with rhombohedral structure. The behavior upon heating was studied using differential thermal analysis （DTA） technique. Changes in physical and chemical properties of materials were measured as a function of increasing temperature by thermogravimetric analysis （TGA）. The lattice parameters values obtained by X-ray powder diffraction analyses of Bi2Te2.88Se0.12 are very similar to BizTe3 lattice constants, indicating that a small portion of tellurium is replaced with selenium. The obtained values for specific electrical and thermal conductivities are in correlation with available literature data. The Vickers microhardness values are in range between HV 187 and HV 39.02 and decrease with load increasing. It is shown that very complex process of infrared thermography can be applied for characterization of thermoelectric elements and modules.

Theoretical and experimental assessment of a novel method to establish the complete measurement range of the calorimeter and its limit of detection and quantification

For determining the accuracy of a calorimeter over the instrument’s entire measuring range,a novel method has been established.For this new approach,(a)benzoic acid(C_(6)H_(5)CO_(2)H) as a certified reference material(CRM),(b)SiO_(2) and(c)a mixture of CRM benzoic acid and SiO_(2) have been used.To illustrate the essential difference between 1)the novel analytical method for control of the entire measurement range and 2)the calorimeter calibration,both applications of benzoic acid(BA)have been demonstrated.An experimental result showed that BA was successfully used to check the whole calorimeter measurement range.The results also showed that the same new method was successfully applied to determine the limit of detection and quantification.A new instrument testing process and a new measurement technique have thus been established.In this way,the cost of using CRM to control the accuracy of measuring the entire measuring range of the calorimeter,as shown in this paper,is minimized.The requirements of the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard are satisfied.ISO/IEC 17025:2017,together with ISO 9001:2015(quality management systems),ISO 14001:2015(relate to environmental protection)and ISO45001:2018(occupational safety),constitute an integrated quality system by which a testing laboratory may also accredit.

Leaching of chalcopyrite with hydrogen peroxide in hydrochloric acid solution

The aim of this work was to investigate the leaching of chalcopyrite concentrate in hydrochloric acid with hydrogen peroxide as a strong oxidizing agent. The effects of the leaching variables on metal extraction, such as stirring speed, solid-to-liquid ratio, temperature and HCl and H2O2 concentrations, were studied. The maximum final copper extraction of 33% was attained with 3.0 mol/L H2O2 in 0.5 mol/L HCl at room temperature after 180 min of the reaction. The results showed that the copper extraction was increased in the first 60 min of reaction, after which it essentially ceased due to the fast catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. Further, solid-to-liquid ratio affected the copper extraction significantly and the highest copper extraction was obtained in the most dilute suspension（i.e., S/L ratio of 1：100）. The dissolution process was described by the first order kinetics equation. The apparent activation energy of 19.6 k J/mol suggested that the dissolution process was under diffusion control. The reaction orders for HCl and H2O2 were established to be 0.30 and 0.53, respectively. The results of the XRD and SEM/EDS analysis of the leaching residue indicated the generation of the elemental sulphur on mineral surfaces which tended to inhibit the leaching rate.