COAL BIODESULFURIZATION - DESIGN CRITERIA OF A PILOT-PLANT

Considerable advances have been made over the last decade in elucidating the microbiological, physico-chemical and technological aspects of coal biodesulfurization. The promising achievements in iron sulfide bioremoval are well documented but the lack of information on its technico-economical aspects does not allow the prediction of the performance and costs of a commercial plant. The results of the research on organosulfur bioremoval, though not as exhaustive as for biodepyritization, have been taken into account for designing a possible two-stage flowsheet. The paper describes the general design criteria adopted for a pilot plant with a throughput of 50 kg of dry coal per hour. The plant will be installed in the area of the Enichem-Anic Laboratories at Porto Torres in northern Sardinia (Italy). A proposal for integrating this project into a programme of the European Economic Community, involving the participation of several European partners, has been submitted to the parties concerned.