Browsing by Author "Yim, Calista"

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    Organic Sulfur-Bearing Species as Subsurface Carbon Storage Vectors
    (2019-09-12) Yim, Calista; Larter, S. R.; Huang, Haiping; Snowden, L. R.; Tutolo, Benjamin M.
    To tackle climate change issues, this study investigates whether residual biomass can be converted to a suitable form for permanent subsurface sequestration. Natural sulfurization processes in sedimentary organic matter are investigated as mechanisms to generate biologically refractory water-soluble organic molecules. Such molecular vectors could be sequestered in shallow, saline, contaminated aquifers through solubility trapping. Sulfur-rich oils were analyzed with gas chromatography mass spectrometry and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to reveal molecular compositions of complex organosulfur compounds in such oils. Sulfurized compounds including C20-28, C35 and C40 species were detected with double bond equivalent values suggesting the occurrence of sulfurized lipids. Laboratory sulfurization experiments on lipids yielded products with up to 7 sulfur atoms, which suggests labile biomolecules can be altered to biologically refractory molecules. Biodegradation resistance and water solubility estimates of various model compounds show sulfinyl functional groups improves water solubility and biodegradation resistance of molecules.