Identification and Sulfide Removal Characteristics of a Desulfurizing Strain

Abstract:

A desulfurizing chemoautotroph strain TL-1 was isolated and further identified in this study. Moreover a phylogenetic tree was constructed by comparing with the published 16S rDNA sequences of the relative bacteria species. Based on the colony and cell morphology, this strain was identified to be the strain of Thiobacillus neapolitanus. The effect of different temperature and pH on the strain was studied in shake flask. In the airlift reactor, the desulfurizing efficiency and the characteristics of the sulfur particles were investigated using Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) as the control factor. The results indicated that the optimal condition for desulfurizing in shake flask was 30°C and initial pH of 7.5. In the airlift reactor, the optimal ORP was at -370 mv, under this condition, sulfide removal rate was over 95% and over 85% sulfide was transferred into sulfur. Moreover the sulfur particles size was enlarged with the increase of ORP.

Key words:Desulfurization, Identification, Influencing factors, ORP, Sulfur particles