Microbial response and elimination capacity in biofilters subjected to high toluene loadings |
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Authors: | JiHyeon Song Kerry A Kinney |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, 143-747, South Korea;(2) Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA |
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Abstract: | Elimination capacity (EC) is frequently used as a performance and design criterion for vapor-phase biofilters without further
verification of the microbial quantity and activity. This study was conducted to investigate how biofilters respond to high
pollutant loadings and ultimately how this affects the EC of the biofilter. Two identical laboratory-scale biofilters were
maintained at an initial toluene loading rate of 46 g m−3 h−1 for a period of 24 days. After the initial biofilm development stage, the loading rates were increased to 91 g m−3 h−1 and 137 g m−3 h−1, respectively. Following a short period of pseudo-steady state, toluene removal efficiencies rapidly declined in both biofilters,
with a concurrent decline in both critical and maximum ECs. The decline was mainly due to deterioration in the biodegradation
activity of the biofilm and a decline in the toluene-degrading bacterial population within the biofilm phase. The findings
imply that high toluene loadings accelerated the deterioration in overall performance due to a rapid accumulation of inactive
biomass. As a result, care must be used when relying on EC values for biofilter design and operational purposes, since the
values do not appropriately reflect the temporal changes in biodegradation activity and active biomass quantities that can
occur in biofilters subjected to high inlet loadings. |
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