Removal of High Concentration of H2S in an Airlift-Loop Reactor

Abstract

A type of airlift-loop reactor inoculated with Thiobacillus thioparus S1 was developed for treating a gaseous stream containing high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide. This result showed superior performance of the bioreactor for H₂S removal. The bioreactor systems allowed an efficiency of 99 % when fed with 380-5400 ppmv H₂S. And the maximum elimination capacity was about 235 g-H₂S m^-3 h^-1. At high inlet concentration of 5120 ppmv, the conversion products were mainly sulfur and the production rate of SO₄ ^2- was only 2.8 mg h^-1. The biokinetic constants, Vm and Ks for the airlift-loop bioreactor were 277.8 g-H₂S m^-3 h^-1 and 366.3 ppmv, respectively.