Enhancement of using combined packing materials on the removal of mixed sulfur compounds in a biotrickling filter and analysis of microbial communities

Abstract

Background Packing materials is a critical design consideration when employing biological reactor to treat malodorous gases. The acidification of packing bed usually results in a significant drop in the removal efficiency. In the present study, a biotrickling filter (BTF2) packed with plastic balls in the upper layer and with lava rocks in the bottom layer, was proposed to mitigate the acidification. Results Results showed that using combined packing materials efficiently enhanced the removal performance of BTF2 when compared with BTF1, which was packed with sole lava rocks. Removal efficiencies of more than 92.5% on four sulfur compounds were achieved in BTF2. Average pH value in its bottom packing bed was about 4.86, significantly higher than that in BTF1 (2.85). Sulfate and elemental sulfur were observed to accumulate more in BTF1 than in BTF2. Analysis of principal coordinate analysis proved that structure of microbial communities in BTF2 changed less after the shutdown but more when the initial pH value was set at 5.5. Network analysis of significant co-occurrence patterns based on the correlations between microbial taxa revealed that BTF2 harbored more diverse microorganisms involving in the bio-oxidation of sulfur compounds and had more complex interactions between microbial species. Conclusions Results confirmed that using combined packing materials effectively improved conditions for the growth of microorganisms. The robustness of reactor against acidification, adverse temperature and gas supply shutdown was greatly enhanced. These provided a theoretical basis for using mixed packing materials to improve removal performance.

Comparative Performance Evaluation of Commercial Packing Materials for Malodorants Abatement in Biofiltration

“…Microorganisms of the genus Thiobacillus, Halothiobacillus and Acidithiobacillus within the Proteobacteria phylum were detected and were likely involved in methyl mercaptan degradation in the BF-FAC, BTF-F and BTF-FAC. Thiobacillus thioparus is able to oxidize methyl mercaptan producing elemental sulfur and sulfate [27] and different Thiobacillus species have been previously found in BFs and BTFs treating methyl mercaptan and other sulfur odorants [15,28,29]. Some species of Thiobacillus have been reclassified in the genera Halothiobacillus and Acidithiobacillus [30] and their ability to degrade methyl mercaptan cannot be ruled out.…”

Structural characteristics and diversity of the rhizosphere bacterial communities of wild Fritillaria przewalskii Maxim. in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

“…The network was visualized using Gephi 0.9.6 (r [absolute value] > 0.6, p < 0.01). Measurement properties such as numbers of nodes and edges, average degree, and average clustering coefficient were calculated using Gephi (Tu et al, 2019).…”

Hydrogen sulfide capture and removal technologies: A comprehensive review of recent developments and emerging trends

“…A few industrial-scale projects are planned to produce sulfur for agriculture recovery goals. However, the yellow sulfur deposit can clog the filter bed, thus lowering mass transfer and deteriorating the BTF performance because of the increased gas pressure drop [70]. In this condition, the use of intracellular sulfur-oxidizing bacteria can be a solution to operate under lower oxygen levels without losing performance.…”