Removal of sulphur from coal by Thiobacillus ferroxidans and by mixed acidophilic bacteria present in coal

✍ Scribed by Debabrata Chandra; Pradosh Roy; Ajit K. Mishra; Jitendra N. Chakrabarti; Nawal K. Prasad; Swapan G. Chaudhuri

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1980
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 401 KB
• Volume: 59
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-2361
• DOI: 10.1016/0016-2361(80)90143-x

✦ Synopsis

Pyritic sulphur has effectively been removed from three coal samples by treating with a strain of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. The acidophilic bacteria present in coals have also been found to efficiently leach pyrite from coal. Addition of an essential bacterial nutrient and a surfactant together with the removal of calcite from coal, favoured the leaching process. Besides pyritic sulphur, significant amount of sulphate sulphur, and a small amount of organic sulphur were removed by the process.