| Title: | Transient Performance of Biofilters Treating Mixtures of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Volatile Organic Compounds |
| Address: | "a Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry , University of Toronto , Toronto , Ontario , Canada" |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10473289.1999.10463980 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2162-2906 (Electronic) 1096-2247 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The biological degradation of hydrophilic and hydrophobic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), discharged in pulp and paper and wood products air emissions, was examined under transient operating conditions. Two identical bench-scale biofilters were operated in parallel in order to study the influence of step loads on the removal of a-pinene, a hydrophobic VOC, and methanol, a hydrophilic VOC. The biofilter media consisted of a mixture of wood chips and spent mushroom compost that was further mixed with either perlite or small-size wood chips. The biofilters provided complete methanol removals during the start-up period due to the absorption process followed by biodegradation. For a-pinene, however, there was an acclimation period of 1 week to 10 days before the biofilters achieved 100% a -pinene removal efficiency. Step changes in the methanol loading rate did not affect the performance of the biofilters with respect to methanol. However, these fluctuations significantly influenced a-pinene biodegradation provided enough time (i.e., several days) was allowed. The removal rate of a-pinene gradually decreased along the column after each step increase in methanol inlet concentration. It appears that the presence of high concentrations of metha-nol, a hydrophilic and easily biodegradable compound, adversely impacted the growth of the a-pinene degrading microbial community, thereby decreasing a-pinene removal capacity of the biofilters over time. Unlike a-pinene, the methanol biodegradation rate was not affected by the presence or absence of a-pinene and with a-pinene fluctuations in the inlet airstream" |
| Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINEMohseni, Madjid Allen, D Grant eng 1999/12/01 J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 1999 Dec; 49(12):1434-1441. doi: 10.1080/10473289.1999.10463980" |
