title: Oxidation of methane in biotrickling filters inoculated with methanotrophic bacteria.
abstract: The oxidation of methane (CH4) using biofilters has been proposed as an alternative to mitigate anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions with a low concentration of CH4that cannot be used as a source of energy. However, conventional biofilters utilize organic packing materials that have a short lifespan, clogging problems, and are commonly inoculated with non-specific microorganisms leading to unpredictable CH4elimination capacities (EC) and removal efficiencies (RE). The main objective of this work was to characterize the oxidation of CH4in two biotrickling filters (BTFs) packed with polyethylene rings and inoculated with two methanotrophic bacteria, Methylomicrobium album and Methylocystis sp., in order to determine EC and CO2production (pCO2) when using a specific inoculum. The repeatability of the results in both BTFs was determined when they operated at the same inlet load of CH4. A dynamic mathematical model that describes the CH4abatement in the BTFs was developed and validated using mass transfer and kinetic parameters estimated independently. The results showed that EC and pCO2of the BTFs are not identical but very similar for all the conditions tested. The use of specific inoculum has shown a faster startup and higher EC per unit area (0.019 gCH4m-2h-1) in comparison to most of the previous studies at the same CH4load rate (23.2 gCH4m-3h-1). Global mass balance showed that the maximum reduction of CO2equivalents was 98.5 gCO2eqm-3h-1. The developed model satisfactorily described CH4abatement in BTFs for a wide range of conditions.
authors.affiliation: School of Biochemical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2085, Valparaíso, Chile. manuel.caceres.s@mail.pucv.cl.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0428-3365
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cáceres
authors.affiliation: School of Biochemical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2085, Valparaíso, Chile.|Manresa School of Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Bases de Manresa 61-73, 08242, Manresa, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Dorado
authors.affiliation: School of Biochemical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2085, Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Juan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gentina
authors.affiliation: School of Biochemical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2085, Valparaíso, Chile.
authors.forename: Germán
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aroca
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019149:Bioreactors; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D005374:Filtration; D000074382:Greenhouse Gases / Q000378:metabolism; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D008772:Methylococcaceae / Q000378:metabolism*; D042083:Methylocystaceae / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
chemical_list: D000074382:Greenhouse Gases; D008697:Methane
keywords: Biofiltration; Biotrickling filters; Global warming; Greenhouse gases; Methane oxidation; Methanotrophs