Fuels, Chemicals and Metals from Bioprocesses

4775627 4777135

C O A L D E S U L F U R I Z A T I O N U S I N G B A C T E R I A A D A P T A T I O N

A N D B A C T E R I A L M O D I F I C A T I O N O F P Y R I T E S U R F A C E S

Yosry A Atria, Mohamed A Elzeky assigned to The Ohio State University a branch of the State Government

The invention relates to the desulfurization of high sulfur coal, and specifically to the removal of pyrite from high sulfur coal via separation processes based on relative hydrophobicity. The surfaces of the pyrite particles are modified so as to be more hydrophilic by pre-conditioning of the coal with a culture of thiophilic bacteria such as Thiobacillus ferroxidans, and the coal is then subjected to the separation process. The bac- terial culture is preadapted to pyrite and to the pyrite surface modification step conditions for a period of several weeks which allows the com- mercial preconditioning step to be accomplished in less than one hour and typically in five to fifteen minutes.

M E T H O D F O R P R O D U C I N G B U T A N O L BY F E R M E N T A T I O N

Gary Husted, Joseph D Santangelo, Dunbar Bostwick assigned to The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College

A method for producing butanol by fermenta- tion is provided. The method is carried out by culturing a butanol-producing microorganism in a culture medium containing a fluorocarbon selected from the group consisting of mono- fluorotrichloromethane, mono- fluorodichloromethane, monochloroheptafluorocthane, dich- lorodifluoromethane, dich- lorotetrafluoroethane and mixtures thereof in an amount sufficient to increase butanol produc- tion, and by separating the butanol from the cul- ture medium.

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