Enhanced Biodesulfurization with a Microbubble Strategy in an Airlift Bioreactor with Haloalkaliphilic Bacterium Thioalkalivibrio versutus D306

Abstract

Biodesulfurization under haloalkaline conditions requires limiting oxygen and additional energy in the system to deliver high mixing quality control. This study considers biodesulfurization in an airlift bioreactor with uniform microbubbles generated by a fluidic oscillation aeration system to enhance the biological desulfurization process and its hydrodynamics. Fluidic oscillation aeration in an airlift bioreactor requires minimal energy input for microbubble generation. This aeration system produced 81.87% smaller average microbubble size than the direct aeration system in a bubble column bioreactor. The biodesulfurization phase achieved a yield of 94.94% biological sulfur, 84.91% biological sulfur selectivity, and 5.06% sulfur oxidation performance in the airlift bioreactor with the microbubble strategy. The biodesulfurization conditions of thiosulfate via Thioalkalivibrio versutus D306 are revealed in this study. The biodesulfurization conditions in the airlift bioreactor with the fluidic oscillation aeration system resulted in the complete conversion of thiosulfate with 27.64% less sulfate production and 10.34% more biological sulfur production than in the bubble column bioreactor. Therefore, pleasant hydrodynamics via an airlift bioreactor mechanism with microbubbles is favored for biodesulfurization under haloalkaline conditions.

Biodesulfurizing Microbes in the Petroleum Refinery Areas of Saudi Arabia

“…Thermophilic bacteria have also been reported showing the 4S pathways. [7][8][9] In 4S pathway, phenolic products are formed as the product [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] as shown in Scheme 1. As the accumulation of product increases, the activities of this pathway enzyme get decreased/ceased.…”

Alginate Production of Azotobacter vinelandii Using Sugar Cane Juice as the Main Carbon Source in an Airlift Bioreactor

“…An airlift bioreactor is a gas–liquid bioreactor or a bubble column with a draft tube to circulate the fluid in the bioreactor. However, an airlift bioreactor is more widely used than a bubble column in chemical and biochemical processes because of its beneficial advantages such as better mixing and higher capacity handling. , Advantages of this bioreactor type include a reduction of cost associated with agitation and aeration, ease of scale-up, and low shear force. , Compared with a conventional stirred bioreactor, an airlift bioreactor shows advantages in specific power consumption and mass transfer efficiency . Therefore, an airlift-type bioreactor is suggested to cultivate microorganisms, particularly shear-sensitive cells in a viscous medium, because of a low shear environment and a reasonable oxygen transfer rate with a low power consumption .…”

“…However, an airlift bioreactor is more widely used than a bubble column in chemical and biochemical processes because of its beneficial advantages such as better mixing and higher capacity handling. 31,32 Advantages of this bioreactor type include a reduction of cost associated with agitation and aeration, ease of scale-up, and low shear force. 33,34 Compared with a conventional stirred bioreactor, an airlift bioreactor shows advantages in specific power consumption and mass transfer efficiency.…”