investigating the efficiency of biological filters for ammonia removal

backgrounds and aims: ammonia removal from air to prevent severe damage to the environment and living organisms is very important. biofiltration is an efficient, easy, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly process for degradation of ammonia from waste air. the aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency of biological filtration using a compost and scallop bed for ammonia removal. materials and methods: according to the ammonia removal method a column with 14cm inner diameter and 45cm height made from transparent plexiglas was used. the column was filled up to 25 cm with compost and scallop (with a scallop: compost ratio of 1:4). in this study, performance of the biofilter was studied under 10 different flow rates (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 lit/min) and 5 different concentrations (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80 and 80-100 ppm) at a temperature of 25 degrees celsius. results: the results of this study showed that efficiency is decreased when the flow rate or concentration is increased because the microbial population is reduced. the efficiency was reduced by 84.6-98.2 percent. maximum efficiency occurred at a 0.19g/(m 3 .h) loading rate. efficiency was in 0-20 concentration intervals at a flow rate of 1 lit/min and at an empty bed residence time (ebrt) of 240 seconds. conclusion: the results show that a biofilter with a compost and scallop bed is efficient for ammonia removal from air. results can be optimized in the design and operation of biological systems to be used in the industrial control of ammonia gas. refere nces yost m. systematic inorganic chemistry. new york: merz press; 2007. epa, control and pollution prevention options for ammonia emissions, environmental protection agency, wexford, ireland.1995. atsdr. toxicological profile for ammonia, agency for toxic substances & disease registry. 2004. park b, shin w, chung js. simultaneous biofiltration of h2s, nh3 and toluene using an inorganic/polymeric composite carrier. environ. eng. res. 2008; 13(1): 19-27. ho kl , chung yc , lin yh , tseng cp . biofiltration of trimethylamine, dimethylamine, and methylamine by immobilized paracoccus sp. cp2 and arthrobacter sp. cp1. chemosphere 2008; 72(2): 250-6. groenestijn jw, kraakman njr, recent development in biological waste gaspurification in europe. chem. eng. j. 2005; 113 (2-3): 85-91. malhautier l , gracian c , roux jc , fanlo jl , le cloirec p . biological treatment process of loaded with an ammonia and hydrogen sulfide mixture. chemosphere. 2003; 50(1):145-53. devinny j, deshusses m, webster t. biofiltration for air pollution control. boca raton, florida, usa: crc lewis; 1999. rene er, murthy dvs, swaminathan t. performance evaluation of a compost biofilter treating toluene vapours. process biochem. 2005; 40 (8): 2771-9. vergara-fernández a, molina ll, pulido na, arocag..effects of gas flow rate, inlet concentration and temperature on the biofiltration of toluene vapors. j. environ. manage. 2007; 2(84): 115-22. mcnevin d, barfoord j. biofiltration as odor abatement strategy. biochem. eng. j. 2000; 5(3): 231-42. ho kl, chung yc, lin yh, tseng cp. microbial populations analysis and field application of biofilter for the removal of volatile-sulfur compounds from swine wastewater treatment system. j. hazard. mater. 2008; 152(2): 580-8. sheridan b, currant t, dodd v, colligan j. biofiltration of odour and ammonia from a pig unit-apilot-scale study. biosystems eng. j. 2002; 82 (4): 441–53. wang z, govind r, bishop df. review of biofiltration effect of support media on biofilter performance. j. air waste manage. 1996; 46(2): 96-111. liu pkt, gregg rl, sabol hk, barkley n. engineered bio-filter for removing organic contaminants in air. j. air waste manage. 1994; 44(3): 299-303. hort c, gracy s, platel v, moynault l. evaluation of sewage sludge and yard waste compost as a biofilter media for the removal of ammonia and volatile organic sulfur compounds (voscs). chem. eng. j. 2009; 152(1): 44–53. taghipour h, shahmansoury mr, bina b, movahdian h. operational parameters in biofiltration of ammonia-contaminated air streams using compost–pieces of hard plastics filter media. chem. eng. j. 2008; 137(2): 198–204. fu y, shao l, tong l, liu h. ethylene removal evaluation and bacterial community analysis of vermicompost as biofilter material. j. hazard. mater. 2011; 192(2):658-66. chung y.c, huang c.biotreatment of ammonia in air by on immobilized nitrosomonaseuropeabiofilter. environ. prog. 1998; 17(2), 70-5. shahmansouri mr, taghipour h, bina b, movahedian h. biological removal of ammonia from contaminated air stream using biofiltration system. iran. j. environ. health sci. eng. 2005; 2 (2):17–25. 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