Desulfurization of selected hard and brown coal samples from India and Indonesia with Ralstonia sp and Pseudoxanthomonas sp

Abstract

The present paper entails the investigations on the removal of total sulfur (St) from the coal samples of four coal and lignite fields of India and Indonesia by Ralstonia sp and Pseudoxanthomonas sp. Minimum desulfurization (in relative%) was observed in Nagaland coals (India) which contain maximum quantity of St (6.86%) among the samples of the studied area while higher removal (in relative%) was observed in coals containing relatively low quantity of St. Nevertheless, a positive correlation exists between St and removal percentage in samples of all coalfields indicating an increase in removal% with increasing concentration of St. The removal percent (with respect to its initial St) by Pseudoxanthomonas sp in the investigated area is in order of: Vastan (mean 41.84%) > Indonesian (mean 34.16%) > Nagaland (mean 18.26) coals. In case of removal by Ralstonia sp the order of removal % can be put as: Vastan (mean 45.50%) > Rajpardi (mean 42.93%) > Indonesian (mean 20.22%) > Nagaland (mean 11.83%) coals.