Analysis of the rate-limiting step of an anaerobic biotrickling filter removing TCE vapors

Removal of gaseous volatile organic compounds via vacuum ultraviolet photodegradation: Review and prospect

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have attracted much attention for decades as they are the precursors of photochemical smog and are harmful to the environment and human health. Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photodegradation is a simple and effective method to decompose VOCs (ranging from tens to hundreds of ppmV) without additional oxidants or catalysts in the air at atmospheric pressure. In this paper, we review the research progress of VOCs removal via VUV photodegradation. The fundamentals are outlined and the key operation factors for VOCs degradation, such as humidity, oxygen content, VOCs initial concentration, light intensity, and flow rate, are discussed. VUV photodegradation of VOCs mixture is elucidated. The application of VUV photodegradation in combination with ozone-assisted catalytic oxidation (OZCO) and photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) systems, and as the pre-treatment technique for biological purification are illustrated. Based on the summary, we propose the challenges of VUV photodegradation and perspectives for its future development.

Optimization of acrylic-styrene latex-based biofilms as a platform for biological indoor air treatment

Biotechnologies have emerged as a promising solution for indoor air purification with the potential to overcome the inherent limitations of indoor air treatment. These limitations include the low concentrations and variability of pollutants and mass-transfer problems caused by pollutant hydrophobicity. A new latex-based biocoating was herein optimized for the abatement of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) toluene, trichloroethylene, n-hexane, and α-pinene using acclimated activated sludge dominated by members of the phylum Patescibacteria. The influence of the water content, the presence of water absorbing compounds, the latex pretreatment, the biomass concentration, and the pollutant load was tested on VOC removal efficiency (RE) by varying the formulation of the mixtures. Overall, hexane and trichloroethylene removal was low (<30%), while high REs (>90%) were consistently recorded for toluene and pinene. The assays demonstrated the benefits of operating at high water content in the biocoating, either by including mineral medium or water absorbing compounds in the latex-biomass mixtures. The performance of the latex-based biocoating was likely limited by VOC mass-transfer rather than by biomass concentration in the biocoating. The latex-based biocoating supported a superior toluene and pinene removal than biomass in suspension when VOC loading rate was increased by a factor of 4.

Presence of organohalide-respiring bacteria in and around a permeable reactive barrier at a trichloroethylene-contaminated Superfund site

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of the most common groundwater contaminants in the United States; however clean-up efforts are a challenge due to its physical and chemical properties. TCE and several of its degradation products were detected in the groundwater of the Beaver Dam Road Landfill site (Beltsville, MD) at concentrations above accepted maximum contaminant levels. A permeable reactive barrier (i.e., biowall) was installed to remediate the groundwater. Microbial infiltration and colonization of the biowall with native site bacteria was expected to occur. An array of molecular biological tools was applied to survey the microbial community for presence of organohalide-respiring microorganisms at the site. Microorganisms belonging to methanogens, acetogens, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon-metabolizing bacteria were identified, thus making way for the application of the microbial populations in the biowall bioaugmentation efforts. In concomitant laboratory studies, molecular approaches were used to monitor continuously-fed column reactors containing saturated biowall material spiked with a commercially-available, Dehalococcoides-containing culture (SDC-9), with or without zero-valent iron (ZVI) shavings. The column without ZVI had the highest abundance of Dehalococcoides spp. (2.7 × 10⁶ cells g^-1 material, S.D. = 3.8 × 10⁵ cells g^-1 material), while the addition of ZVI did not affect the overall population. Although the addition of ZVI and biostimulation did change ratios of the Dehalococcoides strains, the results suggests that if ZVI would be applied as a biowall material amendment, biostimulation would not be required to maintain a Dehalococcoides population. These experimental results will be utilized in future remediation and/or biowall expansion plans to utilize the natural resources most effectively at the biowall site.

Coal-packed methane biofilter for mitigation of green house gas emissions from coal mine ventilation air

Methane emitted by coal mine ventilation air (MVA) is a significant greenhouse gas. A mitigation strategy is the oxidation of methane to carbon dioxide, which is approximately twenty-one times less effective at global warming than methane on a mass-basis. The low non-combustible methane concentrations at high MVA flow rates call for a catalytic strategy of oxidation. A laboratory-scale coal-packed biofilter was designed and partially removed methane from humidified air at flow rates between 0.2 and 2.4 L min-1 at 30°C with nutrient solution added every three days. Methane oxidation was catalysed by a complex community of naturally-occurring microorganisms, with the most abundant member being identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence as belonging to the methanotrophic genus Methylocystis. Additional inoculation with a laboratory-grown culture of Methylosinus sporium, as investigated in a parallel run, only enhanced methane consumption during the initial 12 weeks. The greatest level of methane removal of 27.2±0.66 g methane m-3 empty bed h-1 was attained for the non-inoculated system, which was equivalent to removing 19.7±2.9% methane from an inlet concentration of 1% v/v at an inlet gas flow rate of 1.6 L min-1 (2.4 min empty bed residence time). These results show that low-cost coal packing holds promising potential as a suitable growth surface and contains methanotrophic microorganisms for the catalytic oxidative removal of methane.

Removal characteristics and kinetic analysis of an aerobic vapor-phase bioreactor for hydrophobic alpha-pinene

Biofiltration is considered an effective method to control volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential use of a bacterial biofilter packed with wood chips and peat for the removal of hydrophobic alpha-pinene. When inoculated with two pure degraders and adapted activated sludge, a removal efficiency (RE) of more than 95% was achieved after a startup period of 11 days. The maximum elimination capacity (EC) of 50 g/(m3 x hr) with RE of 94% was obtained at empty bed retention time (EBRT) of 102 sec. When higher alpha-pinene concentrations and shorter EBRTs were applied, the REs and ECs decreased significantly due to mass-transfer and biological reaction limitations. As deduced from the experimental results, approximately 74% of alpha-pinene were completely mineralized by the consortiums and the biomass yield was 0.60 g biomass/g alpha-pinene. Sequence analysis of the selected bands excised from denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed that the inoculated pure cultures could be present during the whole operation, and others were closely related to bacteria being able to degrade hydrocarbons. The kinetic results demonstrated that the whole biofiltration for alpha-pinene was diffusion-limit controlled owing to its hydrophobic characteristics. These findings indicated that this bacterial biofiltration is a promising technology for the remediation of hydrophobic industrial waste gases containing alpha-pinene.

Conversion characteristics and mechanism analysis of gaseous dichloromethane degraded by a VUV light in different reaction media

The photodegradation of gaseous dichloromethane (DCM) by a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light in a spiral reactor was investigated with different reaction media and initial concentrations. Through the combination of direct photolysis, O3 oxidation and HO* oxidation, DCM was ultimately mineralized into inorganic compounds (such as HCl, CO2, H2O, etc.) in the air with relative humidity (RH) of 75%-85%. During the photodegradation process, some small organic acids (including formic acid, acetic acid) were also detected and the intermediates were more soluble than DCM, providing a possibility for its combination with subsequent biodegradation. Based on the detected intermediates and the confirmed radicals, a photodegradation pathway of DCM by VUV was proposed. With RH 75%-80% air as the reaction medium, the DCM removal followed the second-order kinetic model at inlet concentration of 100-1000 mg/m3. Kinetic analysis showed that the reaction media affected the kinetic constants of DCM conversion by a large extent, and RH 80% air could cause a much lower half-life for its conversion. Such results supported the possibility that VUV photodegradation could be used not only for the mineralization of DCM but also as a pretreatment before biodegradation.

Vinyl chloride removal from an air stream by biotrickling filter

A biofiltration process was used for degradation of vinyl chloride as a hazardous material in the air stream. Three biotrickling filters in series-parallel allowing uniform feed and moisture distribution all over the bed were used. Granular activated carbon mixed with compost was employed as carrier bed. The biological culture consisted of mixture of activated sludge from PVC wastewater treatment plant. Concurrent flow of gas and liquid was used in the bed. Results indicated that during the operation period of 110 days, the biotrickling bed was able to remove over 35% of inlet vinyl chloride. Maximum elimination capacity was calculated to be 0.56 g.m(-3).hr(-1). The amount of chlorine accumulated in the circulating liquid due to the degradation of vinyl chloride was measured to be equal to the vinyl chloride removed from the air stream.

Review of mass transfer aspects for biological gas treatment

This contribution reviews the mass transfer aspects of biotechnological processes for gas treatment, with an emphasis on the underlying principles and technical feasible methods for mass transfer enhancements. Understanding of the mass transfer behavior in bioreactors for gas treatment will result in improved reactor designs, reactor operation, and modeling tools, which are important to maximize efficiency and minimize costs. Various methods are discussed that show the potential for a more effective treatment of compounds with poor water solubility.

Comparison of the removal of ethanethiol in twin-biotrickling filters inoculated with strain RG-1 and B350 mixed microorganisms

This study aims to compare the biological degradation performance of ethanethiol using strain RG-1 and B350 commercial mixed microorganisms, which were inoculated and immobilized on ceramic particles in twin-biotrickling filter columns. The parameters affecting the removal efficiency, such as empty bed residence time (EBRT) and inlet concentration, were investigated in detail. When EBRT ranged from 332 to 66 s at a fixed inlet concentration of 1.05 mg L(-1), the total removal efficiencies for RG-1 and B350 both decreased from 100% to 70.90% and 47.20%, respectively. The maximum elimination capacities for RG-1 and B350 were 38.36 (removal efficiency=89.20%) and 25.82 g m(-3) h(-1) (removal efficiency=57.10%), respectively, at an EBRT of 83 s. The variation of the inlet concentration at a fixed EBRT of 110 s did not change the removal efficiencies which remained at 100% for RG-1 and B350 at concentrations of less than 1.05 and 0.64 mg L(-1), respectively. The maximum elimination capacities were 39.93 (removal efficiency=60.30%) and 30.34 g m(-3) h(-1) (removal efficiency=46.20%) for RG-1 and B350, respectively, at an inlet concentration of 2.03 mg L(-1). Sulfate was the main metabolic product of sulfur in ethanethiol. Based the results, strain RG-1 would be a better choice than strain B350 for the biodegradation of ethanethiol.