Abiotic and biological mechanisms of nitric oxide removal from waste air in biotrickling filters

Nitric oxide (NO) may participate in the ozone layer depletion and forming of nitric acid. Abiotic and biological mechanisms of NO removal from waste gases were studied in a biotrickling filter. The abiotic NO removal rate in the biotrickling filter was estimated by a review of the literature. The abiotic and biological removals were also verified in the biotrickling filter. The result has shown that chemical oxidation and bionitrification were both involved in the NO removal. It was found that the NO removal in high concentration (approximately 1000 ppm or higher) was in large measure the result of abiotic removal in both gas-phase and liquid-phase reactions. When NO concentration is low (less than approximately 100 ppm), bionitrification was the main process in the NO removal process in the biotrickling filter.