Abstract:
The first part of this study used microbial desulphurization process as a pre-combustion technique for sulphur
content reduction in Waterberg steam coal. This is simulated at the laboratory scale where Continuously Stirred
Tank Reactor (CSTR) acts as a biological reaction chamber. Experimental tests were performed by varying coal
particle size distribution of -0.85 mm, +1.00 mm, +2.30 mm and 4.60 mm in order to determine the influence
and optimum condition for desulphurization process. The second part of this study deals with developing a
model based on reaction kinetics, simulate microbial desulphurization process in CSTR system and validate the
model under various experimental conditions. Kinetics study and parameter estimations were evaluated and
optimized using the Simulation Programme for Aquatic Systems (AQUASIM) 2.0 Software. The average kinetic
parameters in the bioreactor were determined for both without inhibition: kd = 1.65 x 10-3 (h-1), Ks = 1.23 x 10-4
mgL-1, X0 = 523 mgL-1 and χ2 = 0.524 and with inhibition, KI = 371 mgL-1 for finer coal particle size. Equally
important, these kinetic parameters were determined by means of optimization. Consideration should be given
that the developed model may be applied to only wider range of sulphur content range studied.
