Impact of Organosulfur Content on Diesel Fuel Stability and Implications for Carbon Steel Corrosion

Ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel has been integrated into the worldwide fuel infrastructure to help meet a variety of environmental regulations. However, desulfurization alters the properties of diesel fuel in ways that could potentially impact its biological stability. Fuel desulfurization might...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2013-06, Vol.47 (11), p.6052-6062
Main Authors: Lyles, Christopher N, Aktas, Deniz F, Duncan, Kathleen E, Callaghan, Amy V, Stevenson, Bradley S, Suflita, Joseph M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anaerobiosis
Applied sciences
Biodegradation, Environmental
Carbon steel
Corrosion
Crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products
Diesel fuels
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Engines and turbines
Environmental regulations
Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc
Exact sciences and technology
Fuels
Gasoline - analysis
Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons - metabolism
Metabolism
Microbial Consortia - genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Petroleum products, gas and fuels. Motor fuels, lubricants and asphalts
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Seawater - chemistry
Seawater - microbiology
Ships
Steel
Sulfates - chemistry
Sulfur - analysis
Sulfur - chemistry
Sulfur content
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Summary:Ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel has been integrated into the worldwide fuel infrastructure to help meet a variety of environmental regulations. However, desulfurization alters the properties of diesel fuel in ways that could potentially impact its biological stability. Fuel desulfurization might predispose ULSD to biodeterioration relative to sulfur-rich fuels and in marine systems accelerate rates of sulfate reduction, sulfide production, and carbon steel biocorrosion. To test such prospects, an inoculum from a seawater-compensated ballast tank was amended with fuel from the same ship or with refinery fractions of ULSD, low- (LSD), and high sulfur diesel (HSD) and monitored for sulfate depletion. The rates of sulfate removal in incubations amended with the refinery fuels were elevated relative to the fuel-unamended controls but statistically indistinguishable (∼50 μM SO4/day), but they were found to be roughly twice as fast (∼100 μM SO4/day) when the ship’s own diesel was used as a source of carbon and energy. Thus, anaerobic hydrocarbon metabolism likely occurred in these incubations regardless of fuel sulfur content. Microbial community structure from each incubation was also largely independent of the fuel amendment type, based on molecular analysis of 16S rRNA sequences. Two other inocula known to catalyze anaerobic hydrocarbon metabolism showed no differences in fuel-associated sulfate reduction or methanogenesis rates between ULSD, LSD, and HSD. These findings suggest that the stability of diesel is independent of the fuel organosulfur compound status and reasons for the accelerated biocorrosion associated with the use of ULSD should be sought elsewhere.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/es4006702