Metagenome analysis and bioremediation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) with Thiobacillus denitrificans

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions from oil and gas operations, sewage treatment facilities, and landfills are challenges to quality of life by causing odor complaints at an odor threshold ranging from 0.0005 to 0.3 ppm. There is a high demand for affordable, clean, and sustainable biotechnology for H2S removal. The main objective of this work is to study the bacterial distribution in a lab-scale H2S bioremediation column using Thiobacillus denitrificans and different column packing materials. For this purpose, a lab-scale gas bioreactor containing four different filter materials made up of ceramic and polypropylene was designed and fabricated. On day 60, microbial community samples adhered to the surfaces of the filling materials were investigated using 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing with a paired-end 2x150 base reads (Illumina). The results showed that the H2S gas removal efficiency reached its maximum of 99% by the end of the seventh day, followed by a steady-state pattern. Compared to polypropylene surfaces, ceramic materials successfully hosted the T. denitrificans bacteria. Changing the filter material altered the phylum species diversity of the microcosms on the filter material.