Optimization of sulphur production in a biotechnological sulphide-removing reactor.

A new biotechnological process for sulphide removal is proposed. The principle of this process is that sulphide is converted into elemental sulphur, which can be removed by sedimentation. In this article, investigations on the optimization of the sulphur production are reported. It seems that less than 10% sulphate is produced at low oxygen concentration, when the sulphide concentration in the reactor exceeds 10 mg/L. At sulphide concentrations higher than 20 mg/L only 5% of the incoming sulphide is converted to sulphate even at high oxygen concentrations. An immobilized biomass on recticulated polyurethane produced more sulphate than a free cell suspension at the same oxygen and sulphide concentration.