Performance of a biofilter with compost and activated carbon based packing material for gas-phase toluene removal under extremely high loading rates

Abstract

The main aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of a biofilter packed with a mixture of compost and activated carbon, for gas-phase toluene removal under very high loading rates. Plaster of Paris was used as a binder to improve the mechanical strength and durability of the packing media. The biofilter was operated continuously for a period of similar to 110 days and at four different flow rates (0.069, 0.084, 0.126 and 0.186 m(-3)h(-1)), corresponding to toluene loading rates of 160-8759 g m(-3)h(-1). The maximum elimination capacity (EC) achieved in this study was 6665 g m(-3)h(-1), while the removal efficiency (RE) varied from similar to 70 to > 95% depending on the loading rate tested. The biofilter was able to remove > 99% of toluene using Pseudomonas sp. RSST (MG 279053) as the dominant toluene degrading biocatalyst.