title: Optimization of biological sulfide removal in a CSTR bioreactor.
abstract: In this study, biological sulfide removal from natural gas in a continuous bioreactor is investigated for estimation of the optimal operational parameters. According to the carried out reactions, sulfide can be converted to elemental sulfur, sulfate, thiosulfate, and polysulfide, of which elemental sulfur is the desired product. A mathematical model is developed and was used for investigation of the effect of various parameters on elemental sulfur selectivity. The results of the simulation show that elemental sulfur selectivity is a function of dissolved oxygen, sulfide load, pH, and concentration of bacteria. Optimal parameter values are calculated for maximum elemental sulfur selectivity by using genetic algorithm as an adaptive heuristic search. In the optimal conditions, 87.76% of sulfide loaded to the bioreactor is converted to elemental sulfur.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. roosta@shirazu.ac.ir
authors.forename: Aliakbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roosta
authors.forename: Abdolhossein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jahanmiri
authors.forename: Dariush
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mowla
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niazi
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sotoodeh
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008954:Models, Biological; D059206:Natural Gas; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D013440:Sulfides / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D059206:Natural Gas; D013440:Sulfides; D010100:Oxygen