The treatment of ethanol vapors in biotrickling filters for air pollution control was investigated. Two reactors were operated in parallel, one at ambient temperature (22 degrees C) and one at high temperature (53 degrees C). After a short adaptation phase, the removal of ethanol was similar in both reactors. At a bed contact time of 57 s, the elimination capacity exceeded 220 g m(-3) h(-1) at ...

Biomass accumulation is a major obstacle for long-term, stable operation of biotrickling filters treating high loadings of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Clogging reduces pollutant removal and increases the pressure drop in biotrickling filters. Several options exist to remove excess biomass or to slow down the accumulation rate, but so far none has succeeded in combining a high VOC removal...

Pollutant degradation in biotrickling ®lters for waste air treatment is generally thought to occur only in the bio®lm. In two experiments with toluene degrading biotrickling ®lters, we show that suspended microorganisms in the recycle liquid may substantially contribute to the overall pollutant removal. Two days after reactor start up, the overall toluene elimination capacity reached a maximum ...

The removal of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from airstreams was studied in a biotrickling filter packed with porous lava as a carrier of Thiobacillus thioparus (DSM5368) with counter current flows of the air and liquid streams. The effect of operating parameters on biotrickling filter performance was studied. Experiments were performed at different empty bed residence times (9-60 sec), and...

Experimental studies were carried out with a laboratory-scale biotrickling filter to treat a gaseous stream contaminated with benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) operated in a continuous mode. The biotrickling filter initially acclimatised with toluene was used to treat BTX compound individually at loading rates ranging from 7.2 g/mhr to 62.2 g/mhr, operated in a sequential mode. The results show...

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a very common odor nuisance which is best controlled by chemical or biological scrubbing. Under alkaline pH, the amount of H2S that can be solubilized in a scrubbing liquid increases significantly, and therefore, gas-liquid mass transfer limitations can be reduced. To date, biological scrubbing of H2S has been limited to neutral or acidic pH, despite the potential bene...

The present paper evaluates the technical and economical feasibility of converting wet chemical scrubbers to biotrickling filters for H2S control at the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD), California. Results of 8 months of continuous operation of a biotrickling filter treating 16,000 m3 h–1 of foul air are analyzed. The reactor was operated at a gas contact time of 1.6 to 2.2 seconds rea...

The presence of volatile methyl siloxanes (VMSs) presents challenges for using landfill and digester gases as energy fuels because of the formation of silicon dioxide deposits during combustion. This study looks at the feasibility of using biological treatment to control VMSs. Biotrickling filters removing octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), selected as a model VMS, from aerobic and anaerobic wa...

The removal of H2S in high performance biotrickling filters was investigated using a differential biotrickling filter. The differential biotrickling filter was designed to reach high gas velocities through a minature packed bed, in this case a single 4-cm open-pore polyurethane foam cube. External mass transfer was limiting below air velocities of 3000–4000 m h−1, with possible other parameters...