Abstract:
Sulfur is one of the major non-hydrocarbon compounds in petroleum
which is released as sulfurdioxide into the atmosphere during combustion. It is also the
major cause of acid rain and air pollution. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is the
technology presently used in refineries for the pre-combustion desulfurization of fuel.
However, it cannot completely remove organosulfur compounds. Therefore, the
application of a biodesulfurization process to achieve more efficient desulfurization
using desulfurizing bacteria following HDS has attracted attention. The objectives of
this study were to study the optimal condition of biodesulfurization (temperature,
initial concentration of DBT and two phase ratio) using mesophilic bacteria.
In this study, three of the selected strains (MS2, MS4 and R3) of bacteria
were used. DBT desulfurization activities and conducting the growth of the selected
strains on DBT substrate were also investigated. These selected strains were further
studied for their optimal conditions (temperature, initial concentration of DBT and two
phase ratio) of biodesulfurization using resting cells.
Based on the data of the growth studies, strain R3 grew the fastest and also
had a better ability to desulfurize the substrates than MS4 and MS2. Biodesulfurization
of selected strains in various temperatures were investigated. All selected strains
decreased desulfurizing ability after and increase in temperature of more than 40 C°
and a decrease in temperature of less than 20 C°. The result of biodesulfurization in
the various initial concentrations of DBT the results showed that 0.5, 1, and 2.5mM
could not find residual substrate of DBT in the reactions by selected strains. At various
initial concentrations of 5mM and 10mM, the results showed that R3 had less residual
DBT concentration than MS4 and MS2, respectively. Biodesulfurization of selected
strains in various two phase ratio were investigated. All selected strains decreased
desulfurizing ability after a decrease in percent two phase more than 40 percent of oil
per water.