Sulfur recovery in the sulfide-oxidizing membrane aerated biofilm reactor: experimental investigation and model simulation

ABSTRACT

The production of sulfur (S) from the biological oxidization of sulfide (S²⁻) by SOB (sulfide-oxidizing bacteria) allows for resource recovery. Past researches have indicated that S recovery from S²⁻ oxidation MABR (the membrane aerated biofilm reactor) was feasible. The process was complicated by the requirement of maintaining appropriate oxygen supply to prevent the produced S from being further oxidized into sulfate (${\text{SO}}_4^{2-}$) and by the presence of heterotrophic biomass. In this study, a multispecies biofilm model was developed and experimentally validated to gain insight for the S recovery process in MABR. The developed model was capable of predicting the S recovery performance in the MABR. The optimal conditions involved in maintaining the appropriate oxygen flux and the biofilm thickness according to the hydraulic and S²⁻ loading rate. The low anoxic heterotrophic growth rate using ${\text{SO}}_4^{2-}$ and S as electron donors could explain why the impact of heterotrophic growth was insignificant.

KEYWORDS:

• Biofilm model
• diffusion-reaction
• sulfur recovery
• membrane biofilm reactor
• oxygen flux

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number: 51478410].