Biofiltration of toluene vapor under steady-state and transient conditions: Theory and experimental results

Shareefdeen, Zarook; Baltzis, Basil C.

doi:10.1016/s0009-2509(05)80230-1

Cited by 42 publications

(69 citation statements)

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“…This general finding suggests that the double-substrate (pollutant and oxygen) kinetics, such as the model of Sharfeedeen and Baltsiz, 12,13 should be employed to describe biodegradation at high loadings.…”

Section: Oxygen Effects On Biofiltrationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Effects of Nitrogen and Oxygen on Biofilter Performance

Minuth

Allen

2002

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Three laboratory-scale biofilters packed with inert material were used to study the nitrogen and oxygen requirements for biofiltration of methanol. Mixtures of methanol with inorganic nitrogen (NH 3 or NO 3 ) at nitrogen-to-carbon (N:C) ratios ranging from 0.015 to 0.4 were employed to reveal nitrogen effects on biofiltration. In the oxygen study, mixtures of air and oxygen at different oxygen contents were used. At low nitrogen levels, the removal rate increased with increasing N:C ratio for both NH 3 and NO 3 . However, at high concentrations, NH 3 had an inhibitory effect on biodegradation while the removal rate reached a plateau at high NO 3 concentrations. Biofiltration with 63% oxygen in the inlet gas stream increased the maximum removal rate from 120 to 145 g/m 3 /hr after 3 days in comparison with biofiltration with air. However, a further increase in oxygen content up to 80% did not lead to a further improvement in biofilter performance, suggesting that both oxygen and biofilm thickness can be the relevant factors limiting biofilter performance and creating the plateau in removal rates at high loadings.

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Section: Oxygen Effects On Biofiltrationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Effects of Nitrogen and Oxygen on Biofilter Performance

Minuth

Allen

2002

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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“…For TOL and XYL, the values of the obtained biomass yield coefficients are in agreement with others found in the literature. [25][26][27] However, no data have been found in the literature concerning TRI degradation by biofiltration.…”

Section: Parameter Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degradation of Toluene, Xylene, and Trimethylbenzene Vapors by Biofiltration: A Comparison

Delhoménie

Bibeau

Gendron

et al. 2003

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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This paper presents a comparative study of the biodegradation of three aromatic volatile compounds in a compost-based biofilter: toluene, xylene, and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, used in the course of this work for the first time in the field of biofiltration. Hence, three identical biofiltration units have been operated at the laboratory scale. During the experiments, nitrogen (as urea) was supplied at various concentrations to each reactor, via irrigated nutrient solutions. A comparative analysis of the results showed that the biodegradability scale followed the degree of substitution around the aromatic ring: toluene Ͼ xylene Ͼ trimethylbenzene, with 95, 80, and 70% maximum conversions, respectively. In addition, and despite the different removal levels achieved in the three bioreactors, it was established that from a reaction viewpoint, the degradation of the three compounds seemed to follow similar metabolic pathways involving methylcatechol isomers. Finally, by varying the nitrogen input concentrations in the three reactors, three degradation regimes have been highlighted: an N-limitation regime and an N-optimum regime, common to the three solvents, and an Nexcess regime, favorable to the colonization of the filter beds by nitrifying species, which particularly affected the xylene and trimethylbenzene biodegradation.

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“…[8][9][10] In plug-flow reactors, all the gas is assumed to enter the reactor together, to move through the reactor as a plug with perfect radial mixing, and to leave together one residence time later, as defined by V/Q (where V is the reactor volume and Q is feed flow rate). Thus, the reactant concentration remains at a maximum value and the conversion is also maximal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Performance of an Alternative Biofilter System

Lee

Lau

Pinder

2001

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Step tracer tests were carried out on lab-scale biofilters to determine the residence time distributions (RTDs) of gases passing through two types of biofilters: a standard biofilter with vertical gas flow and a modified biofilter with horizontal gas flow. Results were used to define the flow patterns in the reactors. "Non-ideal flow" indicates that the flow reactors did not behave like either type of ideal reactor: the perfectly stirred reactor [often called a "continuously stirred tank reactor" (CSTR)] or the plug-flow reactor.The horizontal biofilter with back-mixing was able to accommodate a shorter residence time without the usual requirement of greater biofilter surface area for increased biofiltration efficiency. Experimental results indicated that the first bed of the modified biofilter behaved like two CSTRs in series, while the second bed may be represented by two or three CSTRs in series. Because of the flow baffles used in the horizontal biofilter system, its performance was more similar to completely mixed systems, and hence, it could not be modeled as a plug-flow reactor. For the standard biofilter, the number of CSTRs was found to be between 2 and 9 depending on the airflow rate. In terms of NH 3 removal efficiency and elimination capacity, the standard biofilter was not as good as the modified system; moreover, the second bed of the modified biofilter exhibited greater removal efficiency IMPLICATIONS Models of biofilter operation that are developed without an understanding of the non-ideal flow of reactants in a biofilter would be of limited use for design purposes. In order to understand why a specific reactor can appear to have longer or shorter reaction times than predicted, it is necessary to have a model of the rate at which odorous gases will be oxidized, and to consider the residence time distribution of the reactants in the biofilter. This paper describes the use of tracer studies to determine the residence time distribution, to characterize the flow behavior of the reactant in a multistage biofilter, and to explain the different performances associated with a standard and a modified biofilter system.

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Biofiltration of toluene vapor under steady-state and transient conditions: Theory and experimental results

Cited by 42 publications

References 0 publications

Effects of Nitrogen and Oxygen on Biofilter Performance

Effects of Nitrogen and Oxygen on Biofilter Performance

Degradation of Toluene, Xylene, and Trimethylbenzene Vapors by Biofiltration: A Comparison

Development and Performance of an Alternative Biofilter System

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