The effect of moderate coal cleaning on microbial removal of organic sulfur

Technical Report · Sun Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5902469

Srivastava, V J ^[1]

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1. Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago, IL (USA)

The possibilities of developing an integrated physical/chemical/microbial process for the pre-combustion removal of sulfur from coal were investigated. An effective pre-combustion coal desulfurization process should ideally be capable of removing both organic and inorganic sulfur. A variety of techniques exist for the removal of inorganic sulfur from coal, but there is currently no cost-effective method for the pre-combustion removal of organic sulfur. Recent developments have demonstrated that microorganisms are capable of specifically cleaving carbon-sulfur bonds and removing substantial amounts of organic sulfur from coal. However, lengthy treatment times are required. Moreover, the removal of organic sulfur from coal by microorganisms is hampered by the fact that, as a solid substrate, it is difficult to bring microorganisms in contact with the entirety of a coal sample. This study will examine the suitability of physically/chemically treated coal samples for subsequent biodesulfurization. Physical/chemical processes primarily designed for the removal of pyritic sulfur may also cause substantial increases in the porosity and surface area of the coal which may facilitate the subsequent removal of organic sulfur by microorganisms. During the current quarter, coal samples that have been pretreated for the removal of pyritic sulfur by several processes (microbial depyritization, molten caustic desulfurization, and explosion-type comminution) were obtained and characterized as regards sulfur content, porosity and surface area. Microbially depyritized IBC-101 coal was examined for the removal of organic sulfur by the microbial culture IGTS8. The removal of approximately 20% of the organic sulfur was demonstrated with a treatment time of three weeks and a consequent change in the pore size distribution of the biotreated coal was observed. 1 fig., 4 tabs.

• Research Organization: Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-90PC90176
• OSTI ID: 5902469
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/90176-T3; ON: DE91010502
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010300* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Preparation-- (1987-)
010402 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Purification & Upgrading
BIODEGRADATION
BITUMINOUS COAL
BLACK COAL
CARBON
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL BONDS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLEAVAGE
COAL
COAL PREPARATION
COMMINUTION
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DECOMPOSITION
DESULFURIZATION
DISSOLUTION
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GRAVIMELT PROCESS
IRON COMPOUNDS
IRON SULFIDES
LEACHING
MATERIALS
MICROBIAL LEACHING
MICROORGANISMS
MICROSTRUCTURE
MINERALS
NONMETALS
OPTIMIZATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
POROSITY
PROGRESS REPORT
PYRITE
REMOVAL
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SULFIDE MINERALS
SULFIDES
SULFUR
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR CONTENT
SURFACE AREA
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS