title: Methane biofiltration using autoclaved aerated concrete as the carrier material.
abstract: The methane removal capacity of mixed methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) culture in a biofilter setup using autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) as a highly porous carrier material was tested. Batch experiment was performed to optimize MOB immobilization on AAC specimens where optimum methane removal was obtained when calcium chloride was not added during bacterial inoculation step and 10-mm-thick AAC specimens were used. The immobilized MOB could remove methane at low concentration (~1000 ppmv) in a biofilter setup for 127 days at average removal efficiency (RE) of 28.7 %. Unlike a plug flow reactor, increasing the total volume of the filter by adding a biofilter in series did not result in higher total RE. MOB also exhibited a higher abundance at the bottom of the filter, in proximity with the methane gas inlet where a high methane concentration was found. Overall, an efficient methane biofilter performance could be obtained using AAC as the carrier material.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LABMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ganendra
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mercado-Garcia
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Sanabria
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boeckx
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boon
mesh_terms: D061808:Air Filters / Q000382:microbiology*; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods*; D008697:Methane / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008772:Methylococcaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
chemical_list: D008697:Methane