Effect of Fe3O4 coated bacterial consortium IQMJ-5 on the desulfurization of the organosulfur portion of Pakistani coal and its chemical characteristics

Abstract Coal is an abundant and inexpensive source of energy with immense application in different industrial sectors. However, its extensive utilization has resulted in several kinds of sulfur-related environmental issues. To tackle such issues, indigenously isolated Fe 3 O 4 -coated bacterial consortium IQMJ-5 cells were applied for the desulfurization of a Pakistani coal. The coated cells were allowed to desulfurize the coal in a shake flask experiment. To assess the desulfurization capabilities, both the pre- and post-desulfurized coal were characterized by different chemical and analytical techniques. The total sulfur content identified in the coal sample was about 4.50%. The results of the analysis showed that after treatment an increase in the carbon content and heating value of the coal sample was detected. Moreover, an amount of about 54.46% and 66.6% of organic and total sulfur, respectively were removed after biodesulfurization. The obtained results clearly suggest that the consortium can be a potential candidate for reducing sulfur-related environmental pollutants of fossil fuels at a more advanced commercial scale.