A kinetic study on bacterial sulfate reduction

Abstract

The activity of anaerobic sulfate reduction was studied using sulfate-reducing bacteria isolated from the water produced from a Brazilian oil reservoir. The effects of the initial sulfate concentration on the anaerobic sulfate reduction and sulfide generation kinetics were investigated. The redox potential, the biomass solution content, and the sulfate and the sulfide solution content were measured. The results indicate that the sulfate conversion and the sulfide generation are both first-order processes for the initial sulfate concentration of 823, 1,282, and 1,790 mg/L. The results for the kinetic constants for the sulfate conversion indicate an inhibition with the enhancement of the initial sulfate solution content. The kinetic constants for the sulfide generation indicate that this reaction is almost independent of the initial sulfate solution content due to the presence of at least two in-series processes that are faster than the microbial conversion of the sulfate. The kinetic test using the water from an onshore oil field, with an initial sulfide content of 228 mg/L and sulfate content of 947 mg/L, shows a sulfate conversion of 50 % in 528 h. The kinetic modeling for the net content of sulfate and sulfide indicates that the sulfate conversion is slower for this water than for the deionized water tests; however, the sulfide formation has almost the same conversion velocity. The reactions are first order in both cases.