title: Biofilter for generation of concentrated sulphuric acid from H2S.
abstract: Biofilters are used for the conversion of odorous hydrogen sulphide to odourless sulphate in wastewater treatment plants under the right conditions of moisture and pH. One of the consequences of maintaining the suitable pH and moisture content is the production of large volumes of weakly acidic leachate. This paper presents a biofilter with a maximum H2S elimination capacity of 16.3 g m(-3) h(-1) and removal efficiency greater than 95 % which produces small volumes (1 mL of solution L(-1) of reactor day(-1)) of sulphuric acid with a concentration greater than 5.5 M after 150 days of continuous operation. The concentrated sulphuric acid was produced by intermittently trickling a minimum amount of nutrient solution down the upflow biofilter which created a moisture and pH gradient within the biofilter resulting in an environment at the top for the bacterial conversion of H2S, while sulphuric acid was accumulated at the base. Genetic diversity profiling of samples taken from different sections of the biofilter confirms that the upper sections of the biofilter had the best environment for the bacteria to convert H2S to sulphate. The formation of concentrated sulphuric acid presents an opportunity for the recovery of sulphur from the waste stream as a usable product.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Information Technology, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia. karabbani@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Rabbani
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Information Technology, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.affiliation: Water Corporation of Western Australia, 629 Newcastle St, Leederville, WA, 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kayaalp
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Information Technology, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cord-Ruwisch
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Information Technology, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Perth, WA, 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013431:Sulfates; D013464:Sulfuric Acids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D013431:Sulfates; D013464:Sulfuric Acids; C033158:sulfuric acid; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide
keywords: Biofilter; Hydrogen sulphide; Sulphur recovery; Sulphuric acid; Wastewater; Zero leachate