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Heavy gas oil biodesulfurization using a low‐cost bacterial consortium
Author(s) -
Porto Bruna,
Maass Danielle,
Oliveira José V,
de Oliveira Débora,
Yamamoto Carlos Itsuo,
Ulson de Souza Antônio A,
Ulson de Souza Selene M A Guelli
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.5580
Subject(s) - flue gas desulfurization , sulfur , chemistry , dibenzothiophene , hydrodesulfurization , sulfur dioxide , pollutant , refinery , oil refinery , waste management , fossil fuel , petroleum , pulp and paper industry , environmental chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
BACKGROUND Petroleum and its derivatives usually contain large amounts of sulfur. During the combustion of fossil fuels, sulfur is liberated to the atmosphere in the form of one of the most noxious pollutants: sulfur dioxide (SO x ). The removal of sulfur content to the ultralow levels demanded by worldwide legislation has been a challenge to the refinery industry, principally due to the inefficiency of conventional processes, such as hydrodesulfurization, which are not capable of removing the recalcitrant sulfur compounds. Biodesulfurization is a biological process that removes these sulfur compound pollutants from hydrocarbons. However, there are several unsolved technological difficulties associated with this procedure, including the development of a stable and efficient biocatalyst, and a low‐cost culture medium. Thus, the use of a bacterial consortium (BC) as a substitute for both biocatalyst and nutritional medium was studied in order to improve the biodesulfurization process. RESULTS The desulfurization activity was determined at different temperatures and BC concentrations. An efficient desulfurization capacity (71.2%) was observed using only 5% (w/w) of BC at 45 °C. At this temperature, the total time required for biodesulfurization was substantially reduced; only 2 h was required to achieve the highest desulfurization capacity. CONCLUSION The BC can be used as a substitute for biocatalysts and nutritional media for heavy gas oil desulfurization. Desulfurization capacity using the BC was similar to that achieved using other pure bacterial strains and culture media, and the process time was diminished. BC use represents an important improvement in biodesulfurization technology. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry