Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Biological Coal Desulfurization, Ming Le

Theses

Sulfur removal from coal before combustion is of considerable interest to avoid emission of oxides of sulfur(SO_x). Chemical and physical methods have been developed for removing the inorganic sulfur component in coal. This component is generally associated with pyrites(FeS2). However, no commerical methods have been developed for the removal of the organic sulfur conponent. This study describes microbial methods for removing organically bound sulfur from coal. The specific goals of this study were to ascertain whether a robust biologically active population such as activated sludge biomass can remove organic sulfur from coal and to devise sulfur analytical methods …