Biodesulfurization: a mini review about the immediate search for the future technology

Boniek, Douglas; Figueiredo, Débora Nascimento; Santos, António; Stoianoff, Maria Aparecida de Resende

doi:10.1007/s10098-014-0812-x

Cited by 120 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…It has been shown that bacteria harboring identical dsz genes provide different BDS rates due to the influence of the host metabolism (Kilbane, 2006 (Kilbane, 2006;Li et al, 2008;Ma et al, 2006;Shavandi et al, 2009; Wang et al, 2011). Despite all these successful trials to produce genetically improved biocatalysts, so far, none of the deployed gene manipulation techniques has resulted in a BDS rate meeting the industrial requirement for the development of a commercial BDS process (Boniek et al, 2015;Kilbane, 2006). Moreover, no real efforts have been taken to solve HBPS and 2HBP-related feedback inhibition of the BDS process (Abin-Fuentes et al, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering synthetic bacterial consortia for enhanced desulfurization and revalorization of oil sulfur compounds

Martínez

Mohamed

Rozas

et al. 2016

Metabolic Engineering

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The 4S pathway is the most studied bioprocess for the removal of the recalcitrant sulfur of aromatic heterocycles present in fuels. It consists of three sequential functional units, encoded by the dszABCD genes, through which the model compound dibenzothiophene (DBT) is transformed into the sulfur-free 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2HBP) molecule. In this work, a set of synthetic dsz cassettes were implanted in Pseudomonas putida KT2440, a model bacterial "chassis" for metabolic engineering studies. The complete dszB1A1C1-D1 cassette behaved as an attractive alternative -to the previously constructed recombinant dsz cassettes -for the conversion of DBT into 2HBP. Refactoring the 4S pathway by the use of synthetic dsz modules encoding individual 4S pathway reactions revealed unanticipated traits, e.g., the 4S intermediate 2HBP-sulfinate (HBPS) behaves as an inhibitor of the Dsz monooxygenases, and oncesecreted from the cells it cannot be further taken up. That issue should be addressed for the rational design of more efficient biocatalysts for DBT bioconversions. In this sense, the construction of synthetic bacterial consortia to compartmentalize the 4S pathway into different cell factories for individual optimization was shown to enhance the conversion of DBT into 2HBP, overcome the inhibition of the Dsz enzymes by the 4S intermediates, and enable efficient production of unattainable high added value intermediates, e.g., HBPS, that are difficult to obtain using the current monocultures. IntroductionCrude oils contain undesirable contaminant molecules, such as thiophenic aromatics compounds, which have a negative impact on oil processing and pose serious environmental threats (Soleimani et al., 2007). A wide spectrum of desulfurization technologies have been developed to remove sulfur mainly from finished refinery products (Stanislaus et al., 2010). Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) treatment has proved to be the common technology of choice to reduce the level of sulfur in crude oil products.Significant environmental, technical and economic limitations have been reported in applying the HDS process (Babich and Moulijn, 2003).During the past 30 years, research to develop alternative desulfurization technologies resulted in a biotechnological strategy to eliminate sulfur from thiophenic compounds (biodesulfurization (BDS)) via serial reactions known as the 4S pathway (Gray et al., 2003;Gupta et al., 2005;Kilbane, 2006;Monticello, 2000;Nuhu, 2013; Xu et al., 2009). This pathway was firstly reported in the gram-positive bacteriumRhodococcus erythropolis IGTS8 (Gallagher et al., 1993), but the 4S pathway has been also found in other bacteria (Duarte et al., 2001;Kilbane, 2006;Mohebali and Ball, 2008).The 4S pathway provides a nondestructive oxidative process used by the cells to obtain the sulfur required for growth, which involves the transformation of dibenzothiophene (DBT), the model compound for sulfur heterocycles present in oil and refractory to HDS, into 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2HBP) and sulfite ( Fig. 1A) (Gallagher et al...

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confidence: 99%

Engineering synthetic bacterial consortia for enhanced desulfurization and revalorization of oil sulfur compounds

Martínez

Mohamed

Rozas

et al. 2016

Metabolic Engineering

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“…In this sense, the regulations increasingly require lower levels of sulfur [2,3]. One of the main challenges of modern refineries is to achieve the demanded regulations since the existing process, called hydrodesulfurization, is not capable to remove sulfur to such low levels [1,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rhodococcus erythropolis sp. is one of the most promising biocatalysts [4,6,7] principally due to its capacity to convert dibenzothiophene (DBT) [8,9], a model of the recalcitrant compounds present in oil, into 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2-HBP) and sulfate through the 4S metabolic pathway [10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of Kinetic Models in the Biodesulfurization of Synthetic Oil by Rhodococcus erythropolis ATCC 4277

Maass

Mayer

Moritz

et al. 2015

Appl Biochem Biotechnol

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Biodesulfurization is an eco-friendly technology applied in the removal of sulfur from fossil fuels. This technology is based on the use of microorganisms as biocatalysts to convert the recalcitrant sulfur compounds into others easily treatable, as sulfides. Despite it has been studied during the last decades, there are some unsolved questions, as per example the kinetic model which appropriately describes the biodesulfurization globally. In this work, different kinetic models were tested to a batch desulfurization process using dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a model compound, n-dodecane as organic solvent, and Rhodococcus erythropolis ATCC 4277 as biocatalyst. The models were solved by ODE45 function in the MATLAB. Monod model was capable to describe the biodesulfurization process predicting all experimental data with a very good fitting. The coefficients of determination achieved to organic phase concentrations of 20, 80, and 100 % (v/v) were 0.988, 0.995, and 0.990, respectively. R. erythropolis ATCC 4277 presented a good affinity with the substrate (DBT) since the coefficients of saturation obtained to reaction medium containing 20, 80, and 100 % (v/v) were 0.034, 0.07, and 0.116, respectively. This kinetic evaluation provides an improvement in the development of biodesulfurization technology because it showed that a simple model is capable to describe the throughout process.

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“…However, studies to improve the cost-effectiveness of the process are on-going. BDS technology is the future focus of most researchers throughout the world today because it employs microbes as bio-catalysts to remove sulphur from compounds that are recalcitrant to HDS [66]. Although, BDS has showed lower capital cost of desulphurization over the HDS process, however its low rate of conversion coupled with difficulties encountered in monitoring the operating conditions of bacteria growth and desulfurization capabilities hinder its commercial utilization [71].…”

Section: Existing Technologies For Desulphurizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, new cost effective methods are sought throughout the world. Attention has been shifted to biodesulfurization (BDS) as an alternative method or a complementary process of removing sulphur containing compounds from fuels [65][66][67][68][69][70]. However, studies to improve the cost-effectiveness of the process are on-going.…”

Section: Existing Technologies For Desulphurizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodesulfurization of Petroleum Distillates—Current Status, Opportunities and Future Challenges

2017

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Sulfur oxide (SO 2 ) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) are considered as one of the major air pollutants in the world today. In addition, high sulfur levels in petroleum distillates can promote the deactivation of catalysts through poisoning in fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) during hydrocracking of the heavy distillates to lighter ones. The presence of high sulfur-containing compounds in the process streams could cause corrosion of piping and fittings and equipment, thereby damaging the pipelines and leading to air emissions of sulfur-containing compounds, which are undesirable for mankind and his environment. In many cases, a large quantity of SO x is released into the atmosphere when petroleum distillates that contain substantial amount of sulphur-containing compounds are used as fuel and combust. In this article, a short overview of different desulfurization methods that are employed to remove sulfur from petroleum distillates is provided. In particular, the review concentrates on biodesulfurization technique. In addition, this article intends to provide its readers current status of biodesulfurization (BDS). It critically analyses the trend in the development of the technology to showcase its strength and weakness that could pave a way for future opportunities. Approaches that are suitable to remediate sulfur-contaminated environment are discussed as well. Lastly, speculations on future directions or opportunities that require exploration are provided as a way of provoking the thoughts of researchers in this field.

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Biodesulfurization: a mini review about the immediate search for the future technology

Cited by 120 publications

References 63 publications

Engineering synthetic bacterial consortia for enhanced desulfurization and revalorization of oil sulfur compounds

Engineering synthetic bacterial consortia for enhanced desulfurization and revalorization of oil sulfur compounds

An Evaluation of Kinetic Models in the Biodesulfurization of Synthetic Oil by Rhodococcus erythropolis ATCC 4277

Biodesulfurization of Petroleum Distillates—Current Status, Opportunities and Future Challenges

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