Bacterial cultures of acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and their use in the treatment of materials containing sulfur-compounds

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015361513-A1
Application number	US-201514738032-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 12, 2015
Priority date	Jun 13, 2014
Publication date	Dec 17, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

Bacterial cultures of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans are isolated, maintained and identified and used in the treatment of materials containing sulfur-compounds, such as contaminated and/or spent catalysts with elemental sulfur (S). Bacterial cultures of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans exhibit sulfur-oxidizing activity particularly useful in the transformation of elemental sulfur (S) to sulfates (SO 4 ), a compound soluble in water (H 2 O) and usable in industry. The bacterial cultures of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans are mainly used as a biological or biotechnological procedure for the treatment of contaminated and/or spent catalysts with elemental sulfur (S) hazardous contaminated wastes that are mainly, but not exclusively, from the Claus process that operates at environmental conditions; does not impact the environment or ecosystem; and recovers 91-100% of the elemental sulfur (S) in sulfate form (SO 4 ).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A bacterial strain Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans AZCT-M125-5, with registration number DSM 26636 registered on Nov. 12, 2012 to the international authority of microbial deposit Leibniz Institute-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures.

2 . A bacterial strain Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans AZCT-M125-6, with registration number DSM 26637 registered on Nov. 12, 2012 to the international authority of microbial deposit Leibniz Institute-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures.

3 . The method for isolation, maintenance and identification of bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans of claims 1 and 2 , which involves their:
a) Isolation from their natural environment, in a liquid culture media that involves a sulfur source;
b) Maintenance in a modified Starkey medium, added with 5 to 15 g/l of elemental sulfur [S], at pH from 2 to 4, preferably 10 g/l of elemental sulfur [S], to a pH from 2.5-3; and
c) Molecular identification preferably by a phylogenetic tree build using the method known as Unweighted Pair Group Method Arithmetic mean (UPGMA).

4 . The method of isolation, maintenance and identification of bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in accordance with claim 3 , where in the stage a) the isolation of the bacterial strains preferably is done from the zone Los Azufres Natural Park, located in Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán de Ocampo State, Mexico.

5 . The method of isolation, maintenance and identification of bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, in accordance with claim 3 , where the liquid culture media of the stage a) preferably is called ATCC 125 (American Type Culture Collection) based on mineral salts, added with 0 to 15 g/L of elemental sulfur [S], at a pH from 2 to 10, preferably from 5 to 10 g/L of elemental sulfur [S], at a pH 3.

6 . The method of isolation, maintenance and identification of bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans in accordance with claim 5 , where the composition of liquid ATCC 125 culture media of the stage a), is as follows:

Interval
Preferential

Composition
g/L
g/L

KH 2 PO 4
2-4
3.0

(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4
0.1-0.3
0.2

MgSO 4 7H 2 O
0.2-0.8
0.5

CaCl 2 •2H 2 O
0.1-0.5
0.3

FeSO 4 •7H 2 O
0.00-0.02
0.01

7 . The method of isolation, maintenance and identification of bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, in accordance with claim 3 , where the composition of the modified Starkey media of the stage b), is as follows:

Interval
Preferential

Composition
g/l
g/l

KH 2 PO 4
2-4
3.0

(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4
0.1-0.3
0.2

MgSO 4 7H 2 O
0.2-0.8
0.5

CaCl 2 •2H 2 O
0.1-0.5
0.3

FeSO 4 •7H 2 O
0.00-0.02
0.01

Na 2 MoO 4
50-100 μg
75 μg

8 . The method of isolation, maintenance and identification of bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, in accordance with claim 3 , which were identified as bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans AZCT-M125-5 and AZCT-M125-6, with registration numbers DSM 26636 and DSM 26637 respectively, registered on November 2012 in the international authority of microbial deposit Leibniz-Institute DSMZ German Collection of microorganisms and Cell Cultures.

9 . A biological or biotechnological process for the treatment of materials containing sulfur-compounds, which involves:
a) The use of bacterial cultures of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans; b) Preparation of active inocula; c) Preparation of inoculation media; d) Utilization of inoculation media in a glass column system; and e) Monitoring of the treatment of the material contaminated and/or spent with sulfur to transform the elemental sulfur-compounds (S) to sulfates (SO 4 ).

10 . The biological or biotechnological procedure for the treatment of materials containing sulfur-compounds, in accordance with claim 9 , where the materials containing sulfur-compounds are preferably spent catalyst contaminated and/or spent with elemental sulfur (S), hazardous contaminated wastes that came mainly, but not exclusively, from Claus process.

11 . The biological or biotechnological procedure for the treatment of materials containing sulfur-compounds, in accordance with claim 9 , where the bacterial cultures of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, of the stage a), preferably are the bacterial strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans AZCT-M125-5 and AZCT-M125-6, with registration numbers DSM 26636 and DSM 26637 respectively, registered on Nov. 12, 2012 to the international authority of microbial deposit Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures.

12 . The biological or biotechnological procedure for the treatment of materials that contain sulfur-compounds, in accor

Assignees

• Mexicano Inst Petrol
• Inst Politecnico Nacional

Inventors

• Garcia De Leon Roberto
• Rojas Avelizapa Norma Gabriela
• Aburto Anell Jorge Arturo
• Hernandez Gama Regina
• Gomez Ramirez Marlenne

Classifications

• C12R1/01 Primary

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• B01J38/00

  Regeneration or reactivation of catalysts, in general · CPC title

• C12Q1/04

  Determining presence or kind of microorganism; Use of selective media for testing antibiotics or bacteriocides; Compositions containing a chemical indicator therefor {(C12Q1/6897 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• C12R2001/01

  Bacteria or Actinomycetales {; using bacteria or Actinomycetales} · CPC title

• C12N1/20 Primary

  Bacteria; Culture media therefor · CPC title