Integration of microbial and chemical processing for a sustainable metallurgy

Bioprocessing for the recovery of metal from divergent resources using the microbial strategy has emerged as a green technology in metallurgical operations. The limitations to maintain the ideal condition for bacterial growth with slow kinetics, however, have been considered as major obstacles to bioprocessing being implemented more widely. This can be overcome by integrating the microbes with a chemical processing route. The available reports on recent developments in hybrid bio-chemical processing of both primary and secondary resources have presented promising results, exhibiting the potential for use in large-scale metallurgy. In this context, reviewing the factors of the hybrid process would benefit from knowledge acquired in fundamental studies. The present review focuses on bio-chemical process integration using eco-friendly design tools for treating the difficult to extract resources and complex spent materials as well. Furthermore, the potential of hybrid technology has been evaluated by establishing an economic model as a case study which encompasses features of economic development, environmental consideration and societal matters to achieve process sustainability. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry