Desulfurization of coal by bacterial means

✍ Scribed by D. Chandra; A.K. Mishra

• Book ID: 103934463
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 622 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-3449
• DOI: 10.1016/0921-3449(88)90023-7

✦ Synopsis

An attempt was made to desulfurize coals by bacterial means. A strain of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans has been found effective in removing pyritic sulfur and sulfate sulfur from coal. The removal of organic sulfur depends on the sulfur containing organic compounds present in coal. Assuming presence of thiophene in coal, a mixed bacterial culture was isolated from soil using dibenzothiophene as the sole source of carbon. These strains proved effective in removing organic sulfur from coal in addition to some pyritic and sulfate sulfur.

Coal treated with bacteria shows an improvement in quality. Apart from the reduction of the sulfur contents, the ash contents of the bacteria treated coals are substantially reduced. The coking property remains unaffected by the bacterial treatment.