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Abstract
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This article presents a model-based evaluation
of ferrous iron oxidation in chemostat and biofilm airlift
reactors inoculated with a mixed culture of Acidithiobacillus
ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans bacteria.
The competition between the two types of bacteria in the
chemostat and in the biofilm airlift reactors together with
the distribution of both bacteria along the biofilm thickness
at different time sections has been studied. The bacterial
distribution profiles along the biofilm in the airlift reactor
at different time scales show that in the beginning A. ferrooxidans
bacteria are dominant, but when the reactor operates
for a long time the desirable L. ferrooxidans species
outcompete A. ferrooxidans as a result of the low Fe2+ and
high Fe3+ concentrations. The results obtained from the
simulation were compared with the experimental data of
continuously operated internal loop airlift biofilm reactor.
The model results are in good agreement with the experimental
results.
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