Kinetics of coal desulphurization by <i>Acidianus brierleyi</i>

Abstract

Abstract Acidianus brierleyi was demonstrated to remove pyritic sulphur from coal. A. brierleyi was also found capable of catalyzing the removal of what is normally reported as organic sulphur from coal 171US34. A kinetic analysis was performed by assuming a first order reaction. The first order kinetics allowed a comparison with literature data for Thiobacillus ferrooxidans . Also, formation of jarosite was taken into account in the analysis. The simple first order kinetics was observed to fit the data on removal of sulphur satisfactorily.