ABSTRACT
Bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR) is one of the key factors leading to the anomalous accumulation of hydrogen sulphide in coal mines. Environmental factors such as temperature and pH play a crucial role in the metabolism and degradation of coal by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). In this study, coal samples were selected from Shengli Coal Mine, and SRB strains were isolated and purified from mine water using a dilution spread-plate anaerobic cultivation method. Based on single-factor experiments and response surface methodology (RSM), the impact of temperature, pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), chemical oxygen demand to sulfate ratio (COD/SO42-) on the generation of hydrogen sulphide during brown coal BSR was analyzed. The results showed that the anaerobic degradation of coal by SRB was inhibited by either too high or too low a temperature to produce hydrogen sulfide, and the greatest production of hydrogen sulfide occurred at a temperature of about 30 °C; The greatest production of hydrogen sulfide occurred at an initial ambient pH of 7.5; COD/SO42- ratio of around 2.0 is most conducive to hydrogen sulphide generation; the lower ORP value is more favorable for hydrogen sulfide generation. The optimal conditions obtained by RSM were: temperature of 30.37 °C, pH of 7.64 and COD/SO42- of 1.96. Under these conditions, the hydrogen sulfide concentration was 56.79 mg/L, the pH value was 8.40, the ORP value was -274 mV, and the SO42- utilization rate was 58.04%. The RSM results showed that temperature, ambient pH and COD/SO42- had a significant effect on hydrogen sulfide production, and the degree of effect was: ambient pH > temperature > COD/SO42-.
