Effect of Changing VOC Influent Composition on the Microbial Community Structure of TBABs

Microbial communities in trickle bed air biofilters (TBABs) were evaluated under conditions of interchanging the feed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and VOC mixtures. Three independent TBABs (Biofilter “A,” “B,” and “C”) were run under interchanging VOCs conditions with different initial VOCs. Two aromatic compounds (toluene and styrene) and two oxygenated compounds (methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK)) were interchanged as single solutes. Two other TBABs “D” and “E” were run for two VOC mixtures. Biofilter “D” had a VOC mixture with equal molar ratio of the four components and Biofilter “E” received a VOC mixture with its composition based on EPA 2003 emission report. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of 16S rRNA genes was used to assess the microbial richness in TBABs for treating the VOC mixtures and the impact of interchanging VOCs on the bacterial community structure in the biofilters. The results from DGGE indicated that the microbial community structure in the biofilter was different after each interchange of VOCs. Some bands of microbial species faded and some bands were strengthened. For the two TBABs treating VOC mixtures, the microbial species did not show significant difference, but the richness among these species was different from each other.     

Evaluation of Trickle Bed Air Biofilter Performance as a Function of Inlet VOC Concentration and Loading,and Biomass Control

ABSTRACT

The 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act have stimulated strong interest in the use of biofiltration for the economical, engineered control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in effluent air streams. Trickle bed air biofilters (TBABs) are especially applicable for treating VOCs at high loadings. For long-term, stable operation of highly loaded TBABs, removal of excess accumulated bio-mass is essential. Our previous research demonstrated that suitable biomass control for TBABs was achievable by periodic backwashing of the biofilter medium. Backwashing was performed by fluidizing the pelletized biological attachment medium with warm water to about a 40% bed expansion. This paper presents an evaluation of the impact of backwashing on the performance of four such TBABs highly loaded with toluene. The inlet VOC concentrations studied were 250 and 500 ppmv toluene, and the loadings were 4.1 and 6.2 kg COD/m³ day (55 and 83 g toluene/m³ hr). Loading is defined as kg of chemical oxygen demand per cubic meter of medium per day. Performance deterioration at the higher loading was apparently due to a reduction of the specific surface of the attached biofilm resulting from the accumulation of excess biomass. For a toluene loading of 4.1 kg COD/m³ day, it was demonstrated that the long-term performance of biofilters with either inlet concentration could be maintained at over 99.9% VOC removal by employing a backwashing strategy consisting of a frequency of every other day and a duration of 1 hr.     

Sources and remediation for mercury contamination in aquatic systems--a literature review

Sources of mercury contamination in aquatic systems were studied in a comprehensive literature review. The results show that the most important anthropogenic sources of mercury pollution in aquatic systems are: (1) atmospheric deposition, (2) erosion, (3) urban discharges, (4) agricultural materials, (5) mining, and (6) combustion and industrial discharges. Capping and dredging are two possible remedial approaches to mercury contamination in aquatic systems, and natural attenuation is a passive decontamination alternative. Capping seems to be an economical and effective remedial approach to mercury-contaminated aquatic systems. Dredging is an expensive remedial approach. However, for heavily polluted systems, dredging may be more effective. Natural attenuation, involving little or no cost, is a possible and very economical choice for less contaminated sites. Proper risk assessment is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of remedial and passive decontamination methods as well as their potential adverse environmental effects. Modeling tools have a bright future in the remediation and passive decontamination of mercury contamination in aquatic systems. Existing mercury transport and transformation models were reviewed and compared.     

Adsorption of phenolics on activated carbon--impact of pore size and molecular oxygen

The impact of pore size of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) on adsorption capacity and on the potential for oligomerization of phenolic compounds on the surface of ACFs in the presence of molecular oxygen has been investigated in this study. Compared with granular activated carbon (GAC), ACFs have unique pore size distributions, suitable to be used to elucidate the effect of pore structure on adsorption. Adsorption isotherm data were collected for o-cresol and 2-ethylphenol on four ACFs (ACC-10, ACC-15, ACC-20, and ACC-25) with different micropore volumes and BET surface area and on one type of GAC bituminous base. These isotherms were collected under anoxic (absence of molecular oxygen) and oxic (presence of molecular oxygen) conditions. No significant impact of the presence of molecular oxygen on adsorption capacity was noted for ACC-10. ACC-10 has an average pore width of 19.2 A and total pore volume of 0.43 cm3g(-1). On the other hand, for the remaining ACFs, which have larger average pore width and larger pore volume, significant increase in the adsorptive capacity had been observed when molecular oxygen was present. The GAC gave the greatest difference between anoxic and oxic conditions when compared to all the ACFs studied. Binary adsorption of o-cresol and 2-ethylphenol on ACFs with the least pore size (ACC-10) also showed no significant differences between oxic and anoxic environment. The binary system under both anoxic and oxic conditions was well predicted by the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST).     

Removal of ammonia from contaminated air by trickle bed air biofilters

A trickle bed air biofilter (TBAB) was evaluated for the oxidation of NH3 from an airstream. Six-millimeter Celite pellets (R-635) were used for the biological attachment medium. The efficiency of the biofilter in oxidizing NH3 was evaluated using NH3 loading rates as high as 48 mol NH3/m3 hr and empty-bed residence times (EBRTs) as low as 1 min. Excess biomass was controlled through periodic backwashing of the biofilter with water at a rate sufficient to fluidize the medium. The main goal was to demonstrate that high removal efficiencies could be sustained over long periods of operation. Ammonia oxidation efficiencies in excess of 99% were consistently achieved when the pH of the liquid nutrient feed was maintained at 8.5. Quick recovery of the biofilter after backwashing was observed after only 20 min. Evaluation of biofilter performance with depth revealed that NH3 did not persist in the gas phase beyond 0.3 m into the depth of the medium (26% of total medium depth).     

Remediation of MTBE from drinking water: air stripping followed by off-gas adsorption

The widespread use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as an oxygenate in gasoline has resulted in the contamination of a large number of ground and surface water sources. Even though air stripping has been proven to be an effective treatment technology for MTBE removal, off-gas treatment often is required in conjunction with it. This study evaluated the combined treatment technologies of air stripping followed by off-gas adsorption on a pilot scale for the treatment of MTBE-contaminated water. The effect of air/water ratios on the treatment efficiency was studied, and the mass transfer coefficient was determined. Air/water ratios of 105:1, 151:1, 177:1, 190:1, 202:1, and 206:1 were used, and a treatment efficiency of >99% was achieved for all the runs conducted. The depth of packing required to achieve maximum treatment efficiency decreased with increasing air/water ratio. Relative humidity (RH) impacts on the MTBE adsorption capacity of a granular activated carbon (GAC) and carbonaceous resin were determined from pilot plant studies. Breakthrough profiles obtained from the pilot plant studies conducted at 20, 30, and 50% RH indicated that GAC has a higher adsorptive capacity than resin. The adsorptive capacity of GAC decreased with increasing RH, whereas RH did not impact the resin adsorptive capacity.     

对比研究槽式堆肥处理不同畜禽粪便对植物毒性的影响

为揭示槽式堆肥过程中不同畜禽粪便堆肥理化性质的变化及其对植物毒性的影响,分别开展了以羊、牛、鸡、猪粪便与木屑为堆料、为期44 d的好氧槽式堆肥对比试验,采集了不同堆肥期的堆肥样品,测定了堆肥的pH、电导率（EC）、可溶性有机碳（DOC）、硝氮（NO₃^--N）、氨氮（NH₄⁺-N）、全氮（TN）、碳氮比（C/N）、全磷（TP）、全钾（TK）、铜（Cu）、锌（Zn）含量及水堇的相对生长指数（RGI）和种子发芽指数（GI）,并通过相关分析和线性回归拟合,分析了堆肥过程粪便对水堇种子植物毒性的影响机制.结果表明,槽式堆肥过程中,羊粪的高温期持续时间最长,牛粪其次,猪粪和鸡粪最短;堆肥结束时4种粪便均呈弱碱性.堆肥过程中猪粪和鸡粪的EC降低,其他粪便的EC变化幅度较小,各粪便的DOC、NH₄⁺-N含量降低,NO₃^--N、TP、TK、Cu和Zn含量增加,牛粪和鸡粪的C/N逐渐降低,而猪粪和羊粪的C/N呈先升后降的趋势,羊粪和猪粪的TN含量下降,鸡粪和牛粪的TN含量缓慢上升.堆肥过程中4种粪便对水堇种子的植物毒性均降低,且RGI和GI升幅由高到低为：牛粪 > 羊粪 > 鸡粪 > 猪粪.相关分析表明,堆肥过程中羊粪的TP、Cu、Zn,牛粪的Zn、TK、TP、NO₃^--N,鸡粪的NO₃^--N、TN、Cu,猪粪的NO₃^--N、TP、Zn、TK与RGI呈显著正相关（p<0.01）;而羊粪的Cu、TP、TK,牛粪的Zn、TK、TP,鸡粪的Cu、TN、NO₃^--N、TK,猪粪的TP、Zn、NO₃^--N与GI呈显著正相关（p<0.01）.由此表明,不同粪便堆肥的以上指标促进了植物的根伸长和种子发芽.但堆肥过程中羊粪的NH₄⁺-N、TN、DOC,牛粪的NH₄⁺-N、DOC、C/N、EC,鸡粪的C/N、EC、DOC,猪粪的NH₄⁺-N、DOC、EC与RGI呈显著负相关（p<0.01）;羊粪的NH₄⁺-N、TN、DOC,牛粪的NH₄⁺-N、DOC、C/N,鸡粪EC、DOC、C/N,猪粪的NH₄⁺-N、DOC、EC与GI呈显著负相关（p<0.01）.由此表明,不同粪便的以上指标显著抑制了植物的根伸长和种子发芽.多元回归分析说明,堆肥过程羊粪和牛粪的NH₄⁺-N,鸡粪的NO₃^--N、Cu、C/N和EC,猪粪的NO₃^--N和TK对水堇种子根伸长具有显著的影响,而羊粪的NH₄⁺-N和TK,牛粪的DOC、pH和EC,鸡粪Cu、TN和NO₃^--N,猪粪的TK对水堇种子发芽具有显著的影响.以上对比研究结果可为不同畜禽粪便槽式堆肥处理和土地利用提供重要的理论依据和决策支持.     

Development and Demonstration of an Explicit Lumped-Parameter Biofilter Model and Design Equation Incorporating Monod Kinetics

Abstract

Biofiltration is an economical air pollution control (APC) technology, particularly suitable for the treatment of air-streams having high flow rates and low concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This technology utilizes enzymatic catalysis at ambient conditions to mineralize such pollutants to CO₂, H₂O, and salts. A pilot-scale study conducted for more than 4 years investigated the development of a new biofiltration technology employing trickle bed air biofilters (TBABs). Following the completion of this experimental study, additional data analysis was performed to develop a simple lumped-parameter biofilter model, assuming first-order kinetics. This model related the observed biofilter performance to the principle independent physical, thermodynamic, and biochemical parameters. The initial model has subsequently been expanded to incorporate Monod kinetics. In this paper, the development and use of the final explicit lumped-parameter biofilter model and design equation, incorporating Monod kinetics, are presented. To facilitate the application of this model, practical procedures are also presented for the determination of VOC solubility, VOC biokinetic Monod parameters, and the maximum practical biofilter inlet VOC concentration.