Novel waste gas treatment system able to cope with poorly water soluble VOC, fluctuating loads and biomass accumulation

• Autores: Michael Studer, Philipp Rudolf von Rohr
• Localización: Biotechniques for air pollution control: proceedings of the international congress Biotechniques for Air Pollution Control : A Coruña, Spain, October 5-7, 2005 / Christian Kennes (dir. congr.), María C. Veiga (dir. congr.), 2005, ISBN 84-9749-163-7, págs. 241-248
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The objective of this project is to solve major challenges in the biological waste gas treatment by developing a novel process. These challenges are: load fluctuations of volatile organic compounds (VOC), treatment of poorly water soluble VOC and excessive biomass accumulation.

    The waste-gas treatment is split in two process steps: (i) the removal of the VOC from the gas phase and (ii) the microbial degradation. The VOC and oxygen are removed from the waste gas by a membrane-based absorption. This operation buffers load fluctuations and enables a constant feed of VOC and oxygen to the bacteria.

    In the second process step the VOC are degraded in a membrane based biofilm reactor. A bacterial biofilm grows on the membrane and degrades the VOC and the oxygen buffered in the absorbent. A nutrient solution overflows the biofilm, introducing shear stresses on the biofilm surface and thereby removing excessive biomass to prevent the reactor from clogging.

    The bacteria are supplied with oxygen and VOC through the membrane to the base of the biofilm. This creates a biofilm with the most active zone on the membrane. This activity profile allows discharging inactive biomass form the reactor.