Effects of Nutrients on the Performance of the Biological Sulfur Recovery Unit for Sulfur Removal from Water

The Biological Sulfur Recovery Unit (BSRU) with Thiobacillus as biocatalysts is believed to be suitable for handling soluble sulfur in wastewater. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of nutrient (SO42−, PO43−, and Fe2+) concentration on BSRU performance, particularly on the conversion of sulfide to elemental sulfur. This study shows that the variation of SO42− concentration does not significantly affect the conversion process, while a small increment of PO43− (KH2PO4 1.7 g/L and K2HPO4 1.36 g/L) results in a higher yield of elemental sulfur production. Fe2+ also significantly affected the formation and conversion rate of elemental sulfur.