APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR THE DESULFURIZATION OF PETROLEUM BY BACTERIA

摘要

A method for treating petroleum with anaerobic microorganisms acting as biocatalysts that can remove sulfur atoms from hydrocarbon molecules, under anaerobic conditions, and then convert the sulfur atoms to hydrogen sulfide. Because the biocatalyst is present in the form of an aqueous suspension whereas the reacting substrate consists of hydrocarbon molecules in an organic phase, the actual desulfurization reaction takes place at the aqueous-organic interface. To ensure adequate interfacial contacting and mass transfer, a biphasic electrostatic bioreactor system (1) is utilized to disperse and recoalesce a biocatalyst contained in the aqueous liquid phase into the organic liquid phase containing the sulfur. High-intensity electric fields generated by first (6, 7) and second (9, 10) array electrodes rupture the aqueous drops into a plurality of microdroplets and induce continuous coalescence and redispersion as the microdroplets progress through the organic phase, thus increasing surface area. The biocatalyst reacts with the sulfur to produce hydrogen sulfide which is removed and the organic liquid, now free of the sulfur, is ready for immediate use or further processing.