A Fundamental Research On The Microbial Desulfurization Of High Sulfur Coal From Shanxi

Microbial desulfurization technology has become the research focus and the trend of desulfurization of high sulfur coal for its clean, efficient, and moderate process in recent years. At the same time, it has the advantages of simple technological process, low energy consumption and so on. In this article, the related research progress of desulphurization of high sulfur coal both in China and abroad has been introduced and summarized in recent years. A series of microbiological experiments have been carried out for the high sulfur coal in Shanxi Province and some useful research results were obtained.Firstly, three kinds of coal sample were used in this paper. And the total sulfur, various forms of sulfur, existent state of sulfur in the three samples was also analyzed. Then the experiments on biological desulphurization of these samples were carried out using typical ore leaching microorganisms, such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Leptospirillum ferriphilum, Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans, Acidithiobacillus caldus, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, Ferroplasma thermophilium L1, Acidiphilium cryptum DX1-1. After a series of experiments, the mixed microbe group and its optimum conditions of desulfurization has been determined, and the desulfurization rate can reach50.78%within7days. The changes of microbial community structure in desulfurization process have also been studied.Secondly, the study of microbial diversity in a high sulfur coal mining area in Shanxi have been conducted in order to explore microbial resources which can be used for desulfurization of high sulfur coal. Studies have revealed that more than40different types of microorganisms were detected in the high sulfur coal mining area of Shanxi province, which contain three mainly functions, metabolism of ferrous ion and sulfur, epoxidation of carbon chain and cycle and nitrogen metabolism. There are more than20microbes with coal desulfurization potential, what’s more, it provides a method of guidance in enrichment of these bacteria.By the selective enrichment, the local microbe group has been obtained from environmental samples which has the desulfurization effect. With the local microbes, under the optimized condition of desulfurization, one third of the total sulfur can be removed in3days, desulfurization rate reaches44.15%in7days, respectively. Meanwhile, the local microbial community structure was studied in the process of desulfurization.