title: Effect of gas-liquid flow pattern and microbial diversity analysis of a pilot-scale biotrickling filter for anoxic biogas desulfurization.
abstract: Hydrogen sulfide removal from biogas was studied under anoxic conditions in a pilot-scale biotrickling filter operated under counter- and co-current gas-liquid flow patterns. The best performance was found under counter-current conditions (maximum elimination capacity of 140 gS m(-3) h(-1)). Nevertheless, switching conditions between co- and counter-current flow lead to a favorable redistribution of biomass and elemental sulfur along the bed height. Moreover, elemental sulfur was oxidized to sulfate when the feeding biogas was disconnected and the supply of nitrate (electron acceptor) was maintained. Removal of elemental sulfur was important to prevent clogging in the packed bed and, thereby, to increase the lifespan of the packed bed between maintenance episodes. The larger elemental sulfur removal rate during shutdowns was 59.1 gS m(-3) h(-1). Tag-encoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing was used to study the diversity of bacteria under co-current flow pattern with liquid recirculation and counter-current mode with a single-pass flow of the liquid phase. The main desulfurizing bacteria were Sedimenticola while significant role of heterotrophic, opportunistic species was envisaged. Remarkable differences between communities were found when a single-pass flow of industrial water was fed to the biotrickling filter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technologies, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cadiz, Campus de Excelencia Agroalimentario ceiA3, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Almenglo
authors.affiliation: GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Tercia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bezerra
authors.affiliation: GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lafuente
authors.affiliation: GENOCOV Research Group, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technologies, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cadiz, Campus de Excelencia Agroalimentario ceiA3, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain. Electronic address: martin.ramirez@uca.es.
authors.forename: Martín
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technologies, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cadiz, Campus de Excelencia Agroalimentario ceiA3, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Domingo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cantero
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D005374:Filtration; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013455:Sulfur / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D013455:Sulfur
keywords: Anoxic; Biogas desulfurization; Biotrickling filter; Hydrogen sulfide; Pyrosequencing