Title: A novel photobioreactor system for hydrogen sulphide biogas clean-up

Authors: Elena De Luca; Floriana Fiocchetti; Silvia Rosa; Andrea Aliboni; Luigia Lona; Natale Corsaro; Claudio Felici

Addresses: ENEA National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301 00123 Rome, Italy ' ENEA National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301 00123 Rome, Italy ' ENEA National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301 00123 Rome, Italy ' ENEA National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301 00123 Rome, Italy ' ENEA National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301 00123 Rome, Italy; Department of Economic Development, Largo dell'Università, Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy ' ENEA National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301 00123 Rome, Italy ' ENEA National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301 00123 Rome, Italy

Abstract: Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a toxic and corrosive gas. Its removal from biogas is important to obtain valuable biomethane. A novel photobioreactor (PBR) has been conceived where the bacterium Chlorobium limicola converts H2S in elemental sulphur through an anoxigenic photosynthetic process. This system has proven to be stable over time. Quantitative clean-up was achieved in tests with artificial biogas with high concentration of H2S. Molecular analysis was used to check the stability of the culture under non-sterile conditions. This analysis has shown the presence of a strain belonging to Epsilonproteobacteria that does not affect the efficiency of the process. An aliquot of this bacterial culture was sampled and used as inoculum in a second experiment where the PBR was installed downstream of an anaerobic digestion plant. The efficiency of H2S removal was around 90% and the bacterial consortium remained stable. [Received: January 14, 2016; Accepted: April 24, 2016]

Keywords: biogas clean-up; H2S removal; photobioreactors; PBR; hydrogen sulphide; Chlorobium limcola; LED; green sulphur bacteria; GSB; biomethane; sulphur; anoxigenic photosynthesis; anaerobic digestion plant.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.081100

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.14 No.1/2, pp.62 - 76

Received: 14 Jan 2016
Accepted: 24 Apr 2016

Published online: 21 Dec 2016 *

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