Experimental investigation of biofilter parameters
[Thesis]
S. M. Azam
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia)
1996
114
M.S.
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia)
1996
Biological destruction of toluene vapor from air streams was studied in a laboratory scale biofilter. The packing material (peat) used in the reactor was immobilized with acclimatized bacterial suspension. The original microbial consortium was obtained as an activated sludge suspension from a local waste water treatment plant. A detailed analysis of the residence time distribution (RTD) was performed under abiotic condition. The RTD results showed that there is significant amount of dispersion in the biofilter. Moisture of the bed, being one of the most important operational parameter, was varied to see the change in the removal of the toluene vapor. It was found that the biofilter works efficiently around 50% moisture content. Pressure drop observed in the biofilter was different than the calculated values through Ergun equation. Correlations were obtained for the biolayer surface area and the porosity with respect to moisture content. Different sets of experiments were also performed to see the effect of oxygen concentration on the removal of the toluene. The effect of oxygen was studied at the inlet concentration of toluene ranging from 1.5 g m to 17.5 g m At higher concentration of polluted stream the effect of oxygen was more significant. An axial dispersion model had been developed and the equations were solved using orthogonal collocation technique. The predicted concentration profiles were in excellent agreement with the experimental data. A sensitivity analysis of the model revealed the key parameters which were significant in the operation of biofilters.