Bioprocessing of lignite coals using reductive microorganisms

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7271283· OSTI ID:7271283

Crawford, D. L.

Depolymerization of lignite is being investigated. Research objectives include: isolate and characterize microbial strains that carry out chemical transformations of lignite coal that would cause its depolymerization, reduction, and/or liquefaction; characterize desirable reactions by growing selected of the microbial isolates on coal model compounds, and determine if the reactions occur when the microbial strains are growing on coal; and characterize several newly isolated coal-depolymerizing bacteria to determine their mechanisms of coal depolymerization, and utilize the depolymerized coal as a substrate for the isolation of additional strictly anaerobic bacteria that reductively transform the depolymerized coal. Since the last report we have made a significant breakthrough in our characterizations of the coal depolymerization mechanism. Not only have we characterized several additional bacterial strains that are superior to P. cepacia DLC-07 in their coal depolymerization abilities, but we have confirmed that depolymerization is catalyzed by a highly active extracellular enzymatic activity in several Pseudomonas and Flavobacterium strains. Our breakthrough discovery of a coal-depolymerizing enzyme system opens the way for elucidating the mechanism by which bacteria attack the macromolecular structure of lignite coals. 8 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Idaho Univ., Moscow, ID (USA). Dept. of Bacteriology and Biochemistry
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/FE
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-88PC88919
• OSTI ID: 7271283
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/88919-T3; ON: DE90007228
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
LIGNITE
DEPOLYMERIZATION
AEROBIC CONDITIONS
ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS
BIOCONVERSION
CULTURE MEDIA
ENZYMES
LIQUID COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY
MICROORGANISMS
MOLECULAR WEIGHT
PROGRESS REPORT
PSEUDOMONAS
REDUCTION
BACTERIA
BROWN COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COAL
DECOMPOSITION
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATERIALS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
010405* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Hydrogenation & Liquefaction
550700 - Microbiology