Open AccessMicrobial stabilization of sulfur-landen sorbents; Technical report, September 1--November 30, 1993
Author(s) -
Kathleen W. Miller
Publication year - 1993
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/142552
Subject(s) - sulfur , flue gas desulfurization , chemistry , sulfide , sulfate , sulfur dioxide , thiobacillus , tetrathionate , gypsum , sulfite , lime , oxidizing agent , environmental chemistry , scrubber , thiosulfate , inorganic chemistry , metallurgy , organic chemistry , materials science
Clean coal technologies that involve limestone for sulfur capture generate lime/limestone products laden with sulfur at various oxidation states. If sulfur is completely stabilized as sulfate, the spent sorbent is ready for commercial utilization as gypsum. However, the presence of reduced sulfur species requires additional processing. Thermal oxidation of reduced sulfur can result in undesirable release of SO{sub 2}. Microbial oxidation might provide an inexpensive and effective alternative. Sorbents laden with reduced forms of sulfur such as sulfide, sulfite, or various polythionate species serve as growth substrates for sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, which have the potential to convert all sulfur to sulfate. This quarter, efforts focused on determining the combined effects of dibasic acids (DBA) and Ca{sup +2} concentration on several strains of neutrophilic thiobacilli, including Thiobacillus neapolitanus ATCC 23639 and ATCC 23641, and an isolate, TQ1, which was obtained from a commercial sulfur dioxide scrubber that utilizes DBA