title: Biofiltration of ethylbenzene vapours: influence of the packing material.
abstract: In order to investigate suitable packing materials, a soil amendment composed of granular high mineralized peat (35% organic content) locally available has been evaluated as carrier material for biofiltration of volatile organic compounds in air by comparison with a fibrous peat (95% organic content). Both supports were tested to eliminate ethylbenzene from air streams in laboratory-scale reactors inoculated with a two-month conditioned culture. In pseudo-steady state operation, experiments at various ethylbenzene inlet loads (ILs) were carried out. Maximum elimination capacity of about 120 g m(-3) h(-1) for an IL of 135 g m(-3) h(-1) was obtained for the fibrous peat. The soil amendment reactor achieved a maximum elimination capacity of about 45 g m(-3) h(-1) for an inlet load of 55 g m(-3) h(-1). Ottengraf-van den Oever model was applied to the prediction of the performance of both biofilters. The influence of gas flow rate was also studied: the fibrous peat reactor kept near complete removal efficiency for empty bed residence times greater than 1 min. For the soil amendment reactor, an empty bed residence time greater than 2 min was needed to achieve adequate removal efficiency. Concentration profiles along the biofilter were also compared: elimination occurred in the whole fibrous peat biofilter, while in the soil amendment reactor the biodegradation only occurred in the first 65% part of the biofilter. Results indicated that soil amendment material, previously selected to increase the organic content, would have potential application as biofilter carrier to treat moderate VOC inlet loads.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Valencia, Dr Moliner, 50, 46100, Burjassot, Spain.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Hornos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gabaldón
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martínez-Soria
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marzal
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Penya-Roja
mesh_terms: D001555:Benzene Derivatives / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D001555:Benzene Derivatives; D012987:Soil; C004912:ethylbenzene