Reduction of sulfur levels in kerosene by Pseudomonas sp strain in an airlift reactor

Combustion of organic sulfur from fossil fuels can produce acid rain that deteriorates the environment and infrastructure. Sulfur removal by microorganism has appeared as an alternative for this challenge. In this work, bio desulfurization of 50:50 water-kerosene emulsions were carried out at 100 mL scale and in a 0.01 m³ airlift reactor with resting cells of the reference strain ATCC 39327 and Pseudomonas native strains N° 02, 05 and 06. The reactor conditions were 30°C, pH 8.0 and 0.34 m³ h^-1 air flow. After 7 culture days, the mean sulfur removal for the strains N° 06 and ATCC 39327 was 64 and 53%, respectively, with a mean calorific power loss of 4.5% for both strains. The use of the native strain N° 06 and the designed airlift reactor is shown as an alternative for bio desulfurization process and constitute a first step for its scale-up to pilot plant.