Modification of Water-Soluble Coal-Derived Products by Dibenzothiophene-Degrading Microorganisms

Abstract

To study mechanisms by which microorganisms oxidize thiophenic sulfur in coal, we tested bacterial cultures for the ability to degrade dibenzothiophene (DBT), DBT-5-oxide, and DBT-sulfone and to modify water-soluble coal products derived from Illinois no. 6 and Ugljevik coals. In yeast extract medium, the majority of selected isolates degraded DBT and accumulated DBT-5-oxide in culture fluids; all but one of the cultures degraded DBT-5-oxide, and none of them degraded DBT-sulfone. Elemental analysis data indicated that the microbial cultures were able to decrease the amount of sulfur in soluble coal products derived from Illinois no. 6 and Ugijevik coals. However, these data suggested that microbially mediated sulfur removal from soluble Ugljevik coal occurred by nonspecific mechanisms. That is, extensive degradation of the carbon structure was concurrent with the loss of sulfur. This conclusion was supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic data which indicated that the reduced sulfur forms in the soluble Ugljevik coal product was not oxidized by microbial treatment.

Biodesulfurization of water‐soluble coal‐derived material by Rhodococcus rhodochrous IGTS8

“…Acinetobacter, l3 Arthrobacter, Brevibacterium, l6 Pseudomonas, and Rhi~obium'~ cultures have been reported to be capable of using DBT as carbon, energy, and sulfur sources for growth. An even larger number of microorganisms, *To whom all correspondence should be addressed chiefly Pseudomonas cultures, have been reported capable of cometabolizing DBT.1,3-S,'0,", 14,15 The vast majority of these microorganisms metabolize DBT via the carbon-destructive pathway originally established by Kodama et a1.l' The desired reaction for the biodesulfurization of coal, however, is the removal of sulfur with the retention of carbon-and hence the calorific/ fuel value. Microorganisms that metabolize DBT via a carbon-destructive pathway would be predicted to be incapable of selectively removing sulfur from coal.…”

Evaluation of sulfur-reducing microorganisms for organic desulfurization. Final technical report, September 1, 1990--August 31, 1991

“…Experiments. The culture, BDSA2 produced up to 0.5 mg i-i sulfide on IBC-101 ( This coal has been employed by others in previous experiments (Stoner et al, 1990). Because the organic sulfur content is very high, approximately 6.4%, decreases can be measured with accuracy.…”

Facultative-anaerobic microbial digestion of coal preparation waste and use of effluent solids to enhance plant growth in a sandy soil

“…It has long been known that microorganisms can digest coal compounds and this capability has been exploited and enhanced for processes such as biogasification (bioenergy), biodesulfurization, and production of other potentially beneficial substances (Stoner et al 1990;Faison 1991;Isbister and Barik 1993;Gupta and Birendra 2000;Gokcay et al 2001;Jin 2007;Fallgren et al 2013a, b;Gupta and Gupta 2014;Sudheer et al 2016;David et al 2017). Microbial coal digestion is conducted by a consortium of facultative and anaerobic microorganisms, where Fig.…”