Evaluation of the Effective Parameters on Fe3+ Precipitation in the Bioleaching Process

Ferric ion is a strength oxidant and its precipitation is an undesired phenomenon in the bioleaching process. Previous studies showed that it considerably occurs in bioleaching operations even at optimum conditions. Although there have been many reports on the Fe3 precipitation, no study has made a mathematical modeling of the affecting parameters. The aim of the present work is the development of a model that represents the impact of some parameters on the Fe3 precipitation.The polynomial model was developed. The resulted model presents the positive effect of all parameters on minimization of Fe3 precipitation; particularly, the effects of pH and iron concentration, which are more significant. The validation of model was confirmed using F-test(P temperature> pulp density.