PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS INDICATED THAT THE THERMOPHILLIC BACTERIA, SULFOLOBUS ACIDOCALDARIUS, AND POSSIBLY RELATED VARIANTS, CAN REMOVE 75% OF THE SULFUR PRESENT IN HIGH-SULFUR COAL IN 3 TO 4 DAYS USING ELEVATED TEMPERATURES AND ACID CONDITIONS.

PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS INDICATED THAT THE THERMOPHILLIC BACTERIA, SULFOLOBUS ACIDOCALDARIUS, AND POSSIBLY RELATED VARIANTS, CAN REMOVE 75% OF THE SULFUR PRESENT IN HIGH-SULFUR COAL IN 3 TO 4 DAYS USING ELEVATED TEMPERATURES AND ACID CONDITIONS. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL DETERMINE, USING A BENCH-SCALE, FED-BATCH SYSTEM, THE RATE AND EFFICIENCY OF SULFOLOBUS DESULFURIZATION ON AQUEOUS COAL SLURRIES. AN EXPERIMENTAL MATRIX OF THREE COAL PARTICLE SIZES AND THREE WEIGHT PERCENTS OF COAL SLURRY WILL BE STUDIED. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROGRAM ARE TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM COAL PARTICLE SIZE AND WEIGHT PERCENT OF SLURRY FOR EFFICIENT MICROBIAL DESULFURIZATION USING SULFOLOBUS, AND TO ASSESS WHETHER SULFOLOBUS CAN BE USED TO DESULFURIZE MICROFINE COAL IN AQUEOUS SLURRY SO THAT THE CLEANED PRODUCT CAN BE SUBSTITUTED FOR HEAVY FUEL OIL IN THE FUTURE.