Control of acidity development on solid sulfur due to bacterial action.

The global production of sulfur, which is currently obtained almost exclusively as an involuntary byproduct of the oil and gas industry, is exceeding the market demand so that long term storage or even definitive disposal of elemental sulfur is often needed to handle production surplus. The storage of large quantities of elemental sulfur calls for solidifying liquid sulfur in huge blocks, hundred meters wide on each side and as high as 20 meters. Sulfur, in presence of water and air, can be oxidized to sulfuric acid by a ubiquitous microorganism: Thiobacillus.