Biofiltration of a mixture of ethylene, ammonia, n-butanol, and acetone gases

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 127; pp. 366 - 377
• Main Authors: Lee, Sang-hun, Li, Congna, Heber, Albert J., Ni, Jiqin, Huang, Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: 1-Butanol - metabolism; Acetone; Acetone - metabolism; Air Pollutants - metabolism; Air Pollution - prevention & control; Aluminum Oxide; Ammonia; Ammonia - metabolism; Biodegradation; Biofiltration; Biological and medical sciences; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Ethylene; Ethylenes - metabolism; Filtration - methods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas streams; Henrya; Henry’s law constant; Media; Methane; Methane - metabolism; Perlite; Polyurethane foam; Polyurethanes; Sewage - microbiology; Silicon Dioxide; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Wood; Biodegradation; Biofiltration; Henry’s law constant; Ethylene; Ammonia; Gases; Filtration; Henry constant; Butanol; Biological treatment; Henry's law constant; Biofilter; Acetone
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.09.110

► Removal of gases using biofiltration strongly depends on the individual solubility of each gas. ► We examine highly various ethylene removals in biofilters according to reaction conditions. ► We examine trickle water flow and media surface areas strongly affect ethylene biofiltration. This study describes cleaning of a waste gas stream using bench scale biofilters (BFs) or biotrickling filters (BTFs). The gas stream contained a mixture of acetone, n-butanol, methane, ethylene, and ammonia, and was diverted uniformly to six biofilters and four biotrickling filters. The biofilters were packed with either perlite (BF-P), polyurethane foam (BF-F), or a mixture of compost, wood chips, and straw (BF-C), whereas the biotrickling filters contained either perlite (BTF-P) or polyurethane foam (BTF-F). Experimental results showed that both BFs and BTFs packed with various media were able to achieve complete removal of highly soluble compounds such as acetone, n-butanol, and ammonia of which the dimensionless Henry’s constants (H) are less than 0.01. Methane was not removed due to its extreme insolubility (H>30). However, the ethylene (H≈9) removal efficiencies depended on trickle water flow rates, media surface areas, and ammonia gas levels.