HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Free Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary table Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Google Scholar Articles by Mohebali, G. Articles by Ball, A. S. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mohebali, G. Articles by Ball, A. S. Agricola Articles by Mohebali, G. Articles by Ball, A. S.

Biocatalytic desulfurization (BDS) of petrodiesel fuels

¹ Department of Petroleum Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran
² School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia

Correspondence
Ghasemali Mohebali
mohebaligh{at}ripi.ir

Oil refineries are facing many challenges, including heavier crude oils, increased fuel quality standards, and a need to reduce air pollution emissions. Global society is stepping on the road to zero-sulfur fuel, with only differences in the starting point of sulfur level and rate reduction of sulfur content between different countries. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is the most common technology used by refineries to remove sulfur from intermediate streams. However, HDS has several disadvantages, in that it is energy intensive, costly to install and to operate, and does not work well on refractory organosulfur compounds. Recent research has therefore focused on improving HDS catalysts and processes and also on the development of alternative technologies. Among the new technologies one possible approach is biocatalytic desulfurization (BDS). The advantage of BDS is that it can be operated in conditions that require less energy and hydrogen. BDS operates at ambient temperature and pressure with high selectivity, resulting in decreased energy costs, low emission, and no generation of undesirable side products. Over the last two decades several research groups have attempted to isolate bacteria capable of efficient desulfurization of oil fractions. This review examines the developments in our knowledge of the application of bacteria in BDS processes, assesses the technical viability of this technology and examines its future challenges.

A supplementary table is available with the online version of this paper.