Biodesulfurization: Effective and sustainable technologies for biogas hydrogen sulfide removal

Abstract

Biogas is a valuable green energy source. Hydrogen sulfide removal is essential for biogas upgrading for high-end applications. This work provides a comprehensive review of biogas biodesulfurization technologies for industrial applications, focusing on aerobic and anoxic biofilters, biotrickling filters, and bioscrubbers. Key topics include removal mechanisms, system design, performance, operating factors, best-fit applications, and design-based cost analysis. Biodesulfurization technologies are highly efficient, achieving up to 99 % removal efficiency at full scale, particularly in bioscrubbers and biotrickling filters due to improved design configurations. Performance is largely affected by operating conditions and the composition, activity, and robustness of sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms. While kinetic models are widely used to study performance, further research is needed to advance the application of computational fluid dynamics for system modeling. Biodesulfurization technologies prove to be environmentally sustainable and may be more economically viable in large-scale, commercial applications. Reducing energy and packing material replacement costs would further improve economic viability. While biodesulfurization technologies are safe, precautions must be taken to avoid explosion risks from methane/oxygen mixtures and hydrogen sulfide gas poisoning. Ultimately, selecting suitable biodesulfurization technology for industrial applications depends on the volume of biogas to be treated, the choice of sulfur microorganisms, system stability, and the intended biogas end-use.