Extremely acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria applied in biotechnological processes for gas purification

Abstract

Extreme acidophilic (pH ∼ 0.25) microorganisms have been studied and applied to treat volatile sulfur emissions like carbon disulfide. These microorganisms provide opportunities for biomass control and recycling of sulfuric acid using extremely low pH operating conditions as shown in 70 L bench-scale bioreactors. Applying the extreme acidophilic bacteria in full-scale bioreactors treating carbon disulfide in combination with hydrogen sulfide emissions from industrial processes like the viscose industry was shown to be effective with average total sulfur removal efficiency above 90%.

Keywords:

• Biofiltration
• acidophiles
• sulfur-oxidising bacteria
• biomass control
• carbon disulfide

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the “Stichting Toegepaste Wetenschappen” (STW, NBC.6353) and Bioway, The Netherlands. The authors would like to acknowledge Stefan de Vries, Bart Lomans and Irina Barbolina for their contribution.