Idle time in the washing and iron concentration in leachate removed: two basic parameters in the desulphurization of coal in a packed column.

Column biodesulphurization of coal is at the experimental stage and is influenced by many variables including temperature, pH, particle size, concentration of iron in solution, among others. Idle time in the washing process and the concentration of dissolved iron in the purged leachate are two variables with a definite effect on the yield of the desulphurization system. In the laboratory, several trials were run with columns packed with coal for different idle times: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 days, and for different concentrations of iron in the purged leachate: 500 to 4,000 mg/l. The optimal values for the two variables; that is, those allowing for the highest desulphurization yields, were idle times of 3 and 5 days, which give an elimination of 56% and 49% of pyritic sulphur, respectively, and 3,000 mg/l of iron concentration in the purged leachate, giving a decrease in pyritic sulphur in coal of 57%.