Bio-demineralization of Indian bituminous coal by Aspergillus niger and characterization of the products
Biodegradation; CHNS and Proximate analysis; Coal characterization; HPLC; XRD
The effect of demineralization on an Indian bituminous coal has been investigated by filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. X-ray diffraction profile reveals the presence of inorganic components in the sample. Bio-Solubilization using Aspergillus niger significantly reduced the ash content in the coal sample (10.23wt% to 5.21wt %). Leaching process removed silicate and pyrite minerals where as aluminates were decreased considerably. The carbon content showed an increase of 19.94% where as the oxygen content decreased by 52.3%. During biosolubilization the fungus produced acids like gluconic acid, oxalic acid and citric acid along with oxalates which are responsible for the demineralization in coal by the formation of mineral salts. The broad diffraction peak at 2?~25.5 is due to the crystalline carbon in the sample which is mainly due to the typical (002) plane reflection of graphite.
Research Journal of Biotechnology, Vol-8, No. 3, pp. 49-54.
Manoj B., Dept. of Physics, Christ University, Bangalore -29, Karnataka, India