Rates of elemental sulphur oxidation and associated oxygen and sulphur isotope fractionation
| dc.contributor.advisor | Hendry, Jim | en_US |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Wassenaar, Len | en_US |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Ansdell, Kevin | en_US |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Farrell, Richard | en_US |
| dc.creator | Smith, Laura Ann | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2009-08-29T18:03:20Z | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2013-01-04T04:55:51Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2010-09-21T08:00:00Z | en_US |
| dc.date.available | 2013-01-04T04:55:51Z | |
| dc.date.created | 2009-07 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2009-07 | en_US |
| dc.date.submitted | July 2009 | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Elemental sulphur (S⁰) is removed from sour gas deposits (high H₂S) during refinement. The resulting S⁰ is often stored onsite when the costs of shipping S⁰ to market exceeds the costs of storing it in large above ground blocks. With the aid of acidiphilic bacteria, atmospheric air and water oxidize S⁰ to sulphate (SO₄²⁻). Long term storage is under consideration; however, oxidation rates and the role of each oxygen source (O₂(g) and H₂O) is not clear. S⁰ oxidation experiments were conducted over a range of temperatures (6-32°C) to investigate reaction rates and isotopic fractionation of O and S isotopes during oxidation. The experiments also investigated the effect of integrating S⁰ oxidizing microorganisms and available nutrients on both the reaction rates and isotope fractionation. Results indicated > 95% of total SO₄²⁻ generated can be attributed to autotrophic microbial activity. Experiments conducted in a nutrient rich mineral solution showed rates increase with temperature from 0.16 (6°C) to 0.98 (32°C) μg S⁰ cm⁻² d⁻¹ (Q₁₀ ≈ 1.7 - 1.9). Experiments conducted in a nutrient poor solution (deionized water) showed oxidation rates did not increase with temperature (0.06 to 0.08 μg S⁰ cm⁻² d⁻¹) between 12 and 32°C. Oxygen isotope analysis of the generated SO₄²⁻ indicated essentially all oxygen incorporated into the SO₄²⁻ originated from H₂O. In addition, effluent samples obtained from S⁰ block effluent at SCL indicated δ¹⁸O(SO₄) generally reflected the δ¹⁸O(H₂O) in the system at the time of oxidation. While covering the S⁰ blocks with an impermeable cover would undoubtedly minimize total SO₄²⁻ accumulation in block effluent, the results of this study suggest δ¹⁸O(SO₄) can also be used to track water movement through the block. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-08292009-180320 | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.subject | sulphuric acid | en_US |
| dc.subject | storage blocks | en_US |
| dc.subject | oil sands | en_US |
| dc.subject | sour gas | en_US |
| dc.title | Rates of elemental sulphur oxidation and associated oxygen and sulphur isotope fractionation | en_US |
| dc.type.genre | Thesis | en_US |
| dc.type.material | text | en_US |
| thesis.degree.department | Geological Sciences | en_US |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Geological Sciences | en_US |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | en_US |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | en_US |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science (M.Sc.) | en_US |