Biological regeneration of ferric (Fe3+) solution during desulphurisation of gaseous streams: effect of nutrients and support material.

Abstract

This paper evaluates the biological regeneration of ferric Fe3+ solution during desulphurisation of gaseous streams. Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is absorbed into aqueous ferric sulphate solution and oxidised to elemental sulphur, while ferric ions Fe3+ are reduced to ferrous ions Fe2+. During the industrial regeneration of Fe3+, nutrients and trace minerals usually provided in a laboratory setup are not present and this depletion of nutrients may have a negative impact on the bacteria responsible for ferrous iron oxidation and may probably affect the oxidation rate. In this study, the effect of nutrients and trace minerals on ferrous iron oxidation have been investigated and the results showed that the presence of nutrients and trace minerals affects the efficiency of bacterial Fe2+oxidation. The scanning electron microscopy analysis of the geotextile support material was also conducted and the results showed that the iron precipitate deposits appear to play a direct role on the bacterial biofilm formation.