Advances in bioleaching for recovery of metals and bioremediation of fuel ash and sewage sludge

•Bioleaching is commercially used to mine metals such as copper.•Bioleaching relies mostly on chemolithotrophic microbes that produce acids.•Bioleaching has been investigated to remediate many different solid wastes.•Bioleaching has the potential to recover valuable metals during bioremediation.•Mec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioresource technology 2018-08, Vol.261, p.428-440
Main Authors: Gu, Tingyue, Rastegar, Seyed Omid, Mousavi, Seyyed Mohammad, Li, Ming, Zhou, Minghua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodegradation, Environmental
Biofilm
Bioleaching
Bioreactors
Bioremediation
Heavy metal
Metals, Heavy
Sewage
Solid Waste
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Summary:•Bioleaching is commercially used to mine metals such as copper.•Bioleaching relies mostly on chemolithotrophic microbes that produce acids.•Bioleaching has been investigated to remediate many different solid wastes.•Bioleaching has the potential to recover valuable metals during bioremediation.•Mechanisms, applications, new developments and challenges are reviewed. Bioleaching has been successfully used in commercial metal mining for decades. It uses microbes to biosolubilize metal-containing inorganic compounds such as metal oxides and sulfides. There is a growing interest in using bioleaching for bioremediation of solid wastes by removing heavy metals from ash and sewage sludge. This review presents the state of the art in bioleaching research for recovery of metals and bioremediation of solid wastes. Various process parameters such as reaction time, pH, temperature, mass transfer rate, nutrient requirement, pulp density and particle size are discussed. Selections of more effective microbes are assessed. Pretreatment methods that enhance bioleaching are also discussed. Critical issues in bioreactor scale-up are analyzed. The potential impact of advances in biofilm and microbiome is explained.
ISSN:0960-8524
1873-2976
DOI:10.1016/j.biortech.2018.04.033