Biodesulfurization of Sour Crude Oil

Abstract

Crude oil is one of the most important types of fossil fuel in the world. It is an economically important commodity that is massively used in many industrial activities. The poor quality of crude oil is related to high sulfur content, which translates to lower profit margins and negatively impacts air quality standards. Polyaromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASHs) that exist in crude oil requires an efficient reduction method to achieve significant desulfurization levels. Recently, biodesulfurization (BDS) is gaining greater attention attributed to its environmentally benign bioprocess; possible benefits of BDS include lower capital and processing costs. Studies have reported that BDS is urgently needed for desulfurization of recalcitrant organic sulfur relative to traditional approach, hydrodesulfurization (HDS). The establishment of commercial scale biorefining technology relies on major advancement with respect to less expensive and sufficient production of highly active and stable biocatalysts that can be adapted to intense conditions encountered in petroleum refineries. In this paper, a review on BDS processes for removing recalcitrant thoiphenic components from sour crude oil is conducted, covering the aim of most studies concerning desulfurizing bacteria, which enables a deep desulfurization of organosulfur compounds by 4S pathway, maintaining the caloric value of fuel.

Science and Technology Progress on the Desulfurization Process of Crude Oil

“…Moreover, the sulfur element is widely found in the amino acids and enzyme cofactors giving insight that the living organisms require sulfur as the essential element for their life 135 . Because of that, biologists and chemists are putting their attention on the biological‐based desulfurization process, called biodesulfurization 136,137 . A schematic flow scheme of the biodesulfurization process is shown in Figure 9.…”

“…The 1,2‐dihydroxy dibenzothiophene is oxidized again to form cis ‐4‐[2‐(3‐hydroxy)‐thionaphthenyl]‐2‐oxo‐3‐butenoic acid and then oxidized to 3‐hydroxy‐2‐formylbenzothiophene and pyruvic acid. Both 3‐hydroxy‐2‐formylbenzothiophene and pyruvic acid compounds are water soluble and thus are automatically ejected from the crude oil phase 137 …”

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“…Crude oil is unrefined petroleum which plays a vital role in the industry as it can be refined into many valuable products. The demand for the crude oil kept on increasing as it plays a major role in most of leading industries [1]. It is normally the accumulation of hydrocarbon consisting of waxes, asphaltenes, resins, aromatics and naphthenic [2].…”

Bacterial Desulfurization of Dibenzothiophene by Pseudomonas Sp. Strain Kwn5 Immobilized in Alginate Beads

“…Crude oil has a high aromatic sulfur content, consist of benzothiophene (BT), dibenzothiophene (DBT), and its derivatives [10]. It is difficult to remove aromatic sulfur in crude oil through the process of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) because it was harder to desulfurize heterocyclic aromatic sulfur compounds (Polyaromatic Sulfur Heterocycles; PASHs) found in larger fractions [11,12]. This system uses a chemical catalyst consisting of metal at high temperatures and pressures therefore, this technique requires high investment and high operating costs.…”