Biohidrometalurgija - tehnologija zaštite životne sredine

Abstract

Procesi koji se inače spontano dešavaju u prirodi, kada su favorizovani od strane čoveka mogu da ugroze biosferu, i često je neophodno staviti ih pod kontrolu u cilju sprečavanja daljeg zagađivanja. Kada tip rude i geološke karakteristike zemljišta dozvoljavaju, pomoću mikrobioloških lužnih rastvora, moguće je vršiti recikliranje metala sa minimalnim ulaganjima i minimalnim narušavanjem okoline. Sa jedne strane sprečava se kontaminacija podzemnih voda i zemljišta teškim metalima, a sa druge strane vrši se ekstrakcija dragocenih metala iz odlagališta i iz ruda koje imaju nizak sadržaj ovih metala (na primer bakar, zlato, olovo, nikl i cink). Dobijanje ovih metala nekom drugom tehnologijom nije ekonomski isplativo. Danas se značajan broj postrojenja za mikrobiološko luženje, nalazi ne samo u razvijenim zemljama, već zahvaljujući samim karakteristikama ove tehnologije i u zemljama u razvoju. Ovaj rad predstavlja pregled dosadašnjih saznanja u vezi biohidrometalurgije, ali i podsećanje da se ova tehnologija uspešno primenjivala kratko vreme i u našoj zemlji.

When processes that are spontaneous in nature are accelerated by man, they can endanger biosphere, therefore it is necessary to put them under control to prevent further environmental pollution. By the means of microbial leaching solutions, in the case when the type of ore and the geological characteristics of the soil are suitable, it is possible to recover certain metals with minimum investment and threats to environment. It is usually utilized when conventional mining procedures are too expensive or ineffective in recovering a metal such as copper, gold, lead, nickel and zinc. On the one hand, contamination of ground water and soil by heavy metals is prevented, on the other hand extraction of precious metals from ore dumps and from low-grade ore are occurring. At present, numerous facilities for microbial leaching are in use not only in developed countries, but also in developing countries. This paper presents overview of present achievements in biohydrometallurgy, as well a reminder that this technology was successfully used in our country for short period of time.