Biodesulfurization of model compounds and de-asphalted bunker oil by mixed culture

Biodesulfurization of Fossil Fuels: Analysis and Prospective

Biodesulfurization (BDS) of fossil fuels is a promising method for treating the high content of sulfur in crude oils and their derivatives in the future, attributed to its environmental-friendly nature and the technical efficient ability to desulfurize the organosulfur compounds recalcitrant on other techniques. It was found that the bioreaction rate depends on the treated fluid, targeting sulfur compounds, and the microorganism applied. Also, many studies investigated the operation conditions, specificity, and biocatalysts modification to develop BDS efficiency. Furthermore, mathematical kinetics models were formulated to represent the process. In this review, the previous studies are analyzed and discussed. This review article is characterized by a clear picture of all BDS's experimental, industrial, procedural, theoretical, and hypothetical points.

Investigations in enhancement biodesulfurization of model compounds by ultrasound pre-oxidation

In this study, complicated model sulfur compounds in crude oil were biodesulfurized in a batch process by microbial consortium enriched from oil contaminated soil. Dibenzothiophene (DBT) was selected as model sulfur compounds. Ultrasonic radiation was used to pre-oxidize the model sulfur compounds before the biodesulfurization (BDS) process. The enhancement mechanism of ultrasound pre-oxidation (UPO) on the biodesulfurization of DBT was investigated. The effects of initial conditions on the biodesulfurization of DBT in UPO/BDS system such as solution initial pH, DBT initial concentration, sulfur source, biocatalyst initial concentration, and incubation temperature were discussed. The results show that the application of UPO before BDS procedure significantly improved the efficiency of the biodesulfurization and allowed sulfur removal in shorter time through oxidizing DBT to DBT sulfone, resulting in shortening the "4S" pathway for biodesulfurization from 4 steps to 2 steps, enhancement in reaction velocity and enzyme-substrate affinity as well as reduction in substrate inhibition. The concentration of 2-HBP increased fast with the use of ultrasound pre-oxidation, which was dependent on solution initial pH, DBT initial concentration, sulfur source, biocatalyst initial concentration, and incubation temperature.

Biocatalytic Desulfurization Capabilities of a Mixed Culture during Non-Destructive Utilization of Recalcitrant Organosulfur Compounds

We investigated the biodesulfurization potential of a mixed culture AK6 enriched from petroleum hydrocarbons-polluted soil with dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a sulfur source. In addition to DBT, AK6 utilized the following compounds as sulfur sources: 4-methyldibenzothiophene (4-MDBT), benzothiophene (BT), and 4,6- dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DM-DBT). None of these compounds supported the growth of AK6 as the sole carbon and sulfur source. AK6 could not grow on dibenzylsulfide (DBS) as a sulfur source. The AK6 community structure changed according to the provided sulfur source. The major DGGE bands represented members of the genera Sphingobacterium, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Arthrobacter, Mycobacterium, and Rhodococcus. Sphingobacterium sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were abundant across all cultures utilizing any of the tested thiophenic S-compounds. Mycobacterium/Rhodococcus spp. were restricted to the 4-MDBT culture. The 4-MDBT culture had the highest species richness and diversity. Biodesulfurization of DBT by resting cells of AK6 produced 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2-HBP) in addition to trace amounts of phenylacetate. AK6 transformed DBT to 2-hydroxybiphenyl with a specific activity of 9 ± 0.6 μM 2-HBP g dry cell weight⁻¹ h⁻¹. PCR confirmed the presence in the AK6 community of the sulfur-specific (4S) pathway genes dszB and dszC. Mixed cultures hold a better potential than axenic ones for the development of a biodesulfurization technology.