Factors Influencing Degradation of Mercaptans by Thiobacillus thioparus TK-m (1)

Degradation of methylmercaptans by thiobacillus thioparus tk-m was influenced by ph of the reaction medium. ratios of headspace concentrations in empty vials and those of acidified buffer solutions were less than 1.0. 95% of the h2s was in headspace with the remaining 5% in solution upon acidification. the values for mm were 80% in headspace and 20% in solution. different buffer solutions also influence the rate of removal of mercaptans from reaction vessels. for methylmercaptan oxidase, using tris/hcl buffer, the highest level of oxygen uptake was recorded at ph 8.5. mild changes in the ph levels were recorded at the end of the reactions. compared to tris/hcl buffer, phosphate buffer supports a significantly lower reactivity of mmoxidase towards methylmercaptan.