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Desulfurization and denitrogenation of heavy gas oil by Rhodococcus erythropolis ATCC 4277

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Abstract

Some of the noxious atmospheric pollutants such as nitrogen and sulfur dioxides come from the fossil fuel combustion. Biodesulfurization and biodenitrogenation are processes which remove those pollutants through the action of microorganisms. The ability of sulfur and nitrogen removal by the strain Rhodococcus erythropolis ATCC 4277 was tested in a biphasic system containing different heavy gas oil concentrations in a batch reactor. Heavy gas oil is an important fraction of petroleum, because after passing through, the vacuum distillation is incorporated into diesel oil. This strain was able to remove about 40 % of the nitrogen and sulfur present in the gas heavy oil. Additionally, no growth inhibition occurred even when in the presence of pure heavy gas oil. Results present in this work are considered relevant for the development of biocatalytic processes for nitrogen and sulfur removal toward building feasible industrial applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Brazilian Petroleum Agency—ANP, through PRH-09/MECPETRO, and CNPq for the financial support and scholarships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EQA/UFSC, Department of Chemical and Food Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, C.P. 476, Florianópolis, SC, CEP 88040-900, Brazil

    D. Maass, D. Todescato, D. E. Moritz, J. Vladimir Oliveira, D. Oliveira, A. A. Ulson de Souza & S. M. A. Guelli Souza

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  1. D. Maass
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  2. D. Todescato
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  3. D. E. Moritz
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  4. J. Vladimir Oliveira
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  5. D. Oliveira
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  6. A. A. Ulson de Souza
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  7. S. M. A. Guelli Souza
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Correspondence to S. M. A. Guelli Souza.

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Maass, D., Todescato, D., Moritz, D.E. et al. Desulfurization and denitrogenation of heavy gas oil by Rhodococcus erythropolis ATCC 4277. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 38, 1447–1453 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-015-1386-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-015-1386-7

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