Abstract: Air pollution is increasing day by day due to the rapid industrialization and urbanization. Sulfur Dioxide is one of most noxious air pollutant, which is harmful to the habitat and Ecosystem. Different control technologies are being applied for source reduction and end of the pipe treatment of SO2. These technologies cannot reduce the concentration of SO2 to zero level and accordingly, stacks are being used for discharging the flue gas. Besides this, there is no control on the emissions form automobile exhaust. The life of SO2 in atmosphere is small because, immediately after the emission it would be converted to sulfurous acid and results in acid rain due to photochemical and other reactions. Therefore, treatment of waste gases containing SO2 to zero level is highly important for ecological balance. Studies are conducted in an anaerobic batch, semi-continuous and continuous Bioreactor for the treatment of SO2 containing air in order to understand the various parameters. Sulfur dioxide was generated using copper turnings and sulfuric acid. Media composition is optimized for growing SRB’s and absorbing Sulfur dioxide. Mixed cultures of SRB’s are isolated & acclimatized. The study shows that sulfite can be degraded to sulfide to the tune 80-90% at inlet concentration of approximately 350 mg/L with Hydraulic residence time of 6 days. The batch and semi-continuous reactors are operated repeatedly for number of cycles in order to understand the reproducibility and stability of the microbes in the reactor. The studies also show that dynamic equilibrium is establishing for Sulfide in aqueous phase and H2S in gas phase. Culture showed excellent microbial activity & specific productivity during the course of study for all the experiments. The studies revealed that by the application of appropriate Bioreactor, SO2 from the waste gas could be removed to zero level.

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