Parameter identification in the biodesulphurization of an exhaust catalyst

Natural gas contains a small percentage of hydrogen sulphide which should be recovered, before the fuel distribution, since it is a toxic and corrosive component. Sulphur recovery is usually done from a catalysis process where an adsorbent material removes the sulphide from the natural gas. Since this process works continuously with large input flow rates, the catalyst reaches a saturation state and it should be substituted and/or reactivated. Chemical are the most used method for the reactivation of such catalysts; nevertheless alternative methods have been explored from some years ago. In this work a biological method is studied in order to remove the sulphur from an exhaust catalyst used in the Pemex (the Company which manage oil and natural gas in Mexico) sulphur recovery plants. A kinetic analysis is done and a mathematical model, including parameter identification, for Thiosphaera pantotropha is presented. Experimental data from a laboratory set-up are employed to do this study. A removing of around 80% of the sulphide from the exhaust catalyst is obtained from preliminary laboratory experiments. These results are comparable with the reported in the literature and can be used for a future scaling procedure.