title: Removal of formaldehyde, methanol, dimethylether and carbon monoxide from waste gases of synthetic resin-producing industries.
abstract: The removal of mixtures of gas-phase pollutants released from formaldehyde- and formaldehyde resin-producing industries was studied in different bioreactor systems. The waste gases contained formaldehyde, methanol, dimethylether and carbon monoxide. The use of a hybrid two-stage bioreactor, composed of a biotrickling filter and a conventional biofilter connected in series, led to very high elimination capacities and removal efficiencies close to 100% for overall pollutant loads exceeding 600g m(-3)h(-1). The presence of low concentrations of dimethylether in the gaseous mixture did not have a significant effect on the removal of formaldehyde or methanol under our operating conditions, although moderate concentrations of these compounds did negatively affect the biodegradation of dimethylether. When a mixture of all four compounds, at concentrations around 100, 100, 50 and 50mg m(-3) for formaldehyde, methanol, carbon monoxide and dimethylether, respectively, was fed to a conventional biofilter, removal efficiencies higher than 80% were obtained for the first three pollutants at empty bed retention time values above 30s. On the other hand, dimethylether was removed to a lower extent, although its reduced environmental impact allows to conclude that these results were satisfactory.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Engineering Laboratory, University of La Coruña, Alejandro de la Sota, 1, E-15071 La Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: O J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Veiga
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kennes
mesh_terms: D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012117:Resins, Synthetic / Q000737:chemistry*; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D008738:Methyl Ethers; D012117:Resins, Synthetic; D005557:Formaldehyde; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; C033413:dimethyl ether; D000432:Methanol