Construction and Economics of a Pilot/Full-Scale Biological Trickling Filter Reactor for the Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds from Polluted Air

ABSTRACT

The design and the construction of an actual 8.7-m³ pilot/ full-scale biotrickling filter for waste air treatment is described and compared with a previous conceptual scale-up of a laboratory reactor. The reactor construction costs are detailed and show that about one-half of the total reactor costs ($97,000 out of $178,000) was for personnel and engineering time, whereas ~20% was for monitoring and control equipment. A detailed treatment cost analysis demonstrated that, for an empty bed contact time of 90 sec, the overall treatment costs (including capital charges) were as low as $8.7/1000 m³ _air in the case where a nonchlorinated volatile organic compound (VOC) was treated, and $14/ 1000 m³ _air for chlorinated compounds such as CH₂Cl₂. Comparison of these costs with conventional air pollution control techniques demonstrates excellent perspectives for more field applications of biotrickling filters. As the specific costs of building and operating biotrickling filter reactors decrease with increasing size of the reactor, the cost benefit of biotrickling filtration is expected to increase for full technical-scale bioreactors.     

Phytoextraction of lead-contaminated soil using vetivergrass (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Vetiveria zizanioides</Emphasis> L.), cogongrass (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Imperata cylindrica</Emphasis> L.) and carabaograss (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Paspalum conjugatum</Emphasis> L.)

Background, Aims and Scope The global problem concerning contamination of the environment as a consequence of human activities is increasing. Most of the environmental contaminants are chemical by-products and heavy metals such as lead (Pb). Lead released into the environment makes its way into the air, soil and water. Lead contributes to a variety of health effects such as decline in mental, cognitive and physical health of the individual. An alternative way of reducing Pb concentration from the soil is through phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is an alternative method that uses plants to clean up a contaminated area. The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the survival rate and vegetative characteristics of three grass species such as vetivergrass, cogongrass and carabaograss grown in soils with different Pb levels; and (2) to determine and compare the ability of the three grass species as potential phytoremediators in terms of Pb accumulation by plants. Methods The three test plants: vetivergrass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.); cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica L.); and carabaograss (Paspalum conjugatum L.) were grown in individual plastic bags containing soils with 75 mg kg⁻¹ (37.5 kg ha⁻¹) and 150 mg kg⁻¹ (75 kg ha⁻¹) of Pb, respectively. The Pb contents of the test plants and the soil were analyzed before and after experimental treatments using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. This study was laid out following a 3 × 2 factorial experiment in a completely randomized design. Results On the vegetative characteristics of the test plants, vetivergrass registered the highest whole plant dry matter weight (33.85–39.39 Mg ha⁻¹). Carabaograss had the lowest herbage mass production of 4.12 Mg ha⁻¹ and 5.72 Mg ha⁻¹ from soils added with 75 and 150 mg Pb kg⁻¹, respectively. Vetivergrass also had the highest percent plant survival which meant it best tolerated the Pb contamination in soils. Vetivergrass registered the highest rate of Pb absorption (10.16 ± 2.81 mg kg⁻¹). This was followed by cogongrass (2.34 ± 0.52 mg kg⁻¹) and carabaograss with a mean Pb level of 0.49 ± 0.56 mg kg⁻¹. Levels of Pb among the three grasses (shoots + roots) did not vary significantly with the amount of Pb added (75 and 150 mg kg⁻¹) to the soil. Discussion Vetivergrass yielded the highest biomass; it also has the greatest amount of Pb absorbed (roots + shoots). This can be attributed to the highly extensive root system of vetivergrass with the presence of an enormous amount of root hairs. Extensive root system denotes more contact to nutrients in soils, therefore more likelihood of nutrient absorption and Pb uptake. The efficiency of plants as phytoremediators could be correlated with the plants’ total biomass. This implies that the higher the biomass, the greater the Pb uptake. Plants characteristically exhibit remarkable capacity to absorb what they need and exclude what they do not need. Some plants utilize exclusion mechanisms, where there is a reduced uptake by the roots or a restricted transport of the metals from root to shoots. Combination of high metal accumulation and high biomass production results in the most metal removal from the soil. Conclusions The present study indicated that vetivergrass possessed many beneficial characteristics to uptake Pb from contaminated soil. It was the most tolerant and could grow in soil contaminated with high Pb concentration. Cogongrass and carabaograss are also potential phytoremediators since they can absorb small amount of Pb in soils, although cogongrass is more tolerant to Pb-contaminated soil compared with carabaograss. The important implication of our findings is that vetivergrass can be used for phytoextraction on sites contaminated with high levels of heavy metals; particularly Pb. Recommendations and Perspectives High levels of Pb in localized areas are still a concern especially in urban areas with high levels of traffic, near Pb smelters, battery plants, or industrial facilities that burn fuel ending up in water and soils. The grasses used in the study, and particularly vetivergrass, can be used to phytoremediate urban soil with various contaminations by planting these grasses in lawns and public parks. ESS-Submission Editor: Dr. Willie Peijnenburg (wjgm.peijnenburg@rivm.nl)     

Effects of bacterial activities on the release of heavy metals from contaminated dredged sediments

The potential impact of indigenous bacterial processes on the release of heavy metals from dredged sediment deposits was investigated. Batch re-suspension experiments were conducted in order to investigate the release of Zn, Cd, Cu and Pb from a polluted anoxic sediment submitted to oxidative perturbations. The concentrations of heavy metals, sulphate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were periodically recorded, and cell counts were performed to follow the evolution of several bacterial species. The specific effects of microbial processes were quantified by performing re-suspension assays on sterilised samples. Moreover, the effect of an initial acidification of the system was studied. The results showed that metal release was mainly due to oxidation of sulphide minerals contained in the sediment. Sulphur-oxidising bacteria such as Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans were identified to play a major role in the process, by enhancing the oxidation kinetic. However, the acid production resulting from these reactions was almost totally buffered by the dissolution of the calcite present in the sediment. Copper was released to a lesser extent, and a strong association with organic matter was observed. Lead was not observed in solution, because of its low solubility at neutral conditions and of its re-adsorption on the solid phase. The initial acidification of the system resulted in an faster growth of the acidophilic A. thiooxidans. A subsequent pH drop originating from microbial processes was then observed during the first stages of the experiment. As a consequence, drastic increases in metal (Zn, Cd) release were observed.     

Heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic ozonation of benzothiazole promoted by activated carbon: kinetic approach

Ozone oxidation combined with activated carbon adsorption (O(3)/AC) has recently started to be developed as a single process for water and wastewater treatment. While a number of aspects of aqueous ozone decomposition are well understood, the importance and relationship between aqueous ozone decomposition and organic contaminant degradation in the presence of activated carbon is still not clear. This study focuses on determining the contribution of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions to organic contaminants removal in O(3)/AC system. Benzothiazole (BT) was selected as a target organic pollutant due to its environmental concern. A reactor system based on a differential circular flow reactor composed by a 19 cm(3) activated carbon fixed bed column and 1 dm(3) storage tank was used. Ozone was produced from pure and dry oxygen using an Ozocav ozone generator rated at 5 g O(3)h(-1). Experimental results show that BT removal rate was proportional to activated carbon dosage. Activated carbon surface contribution to BT oxidation reactions with ozone, increased with pH in absence of radical scavengers. The radical reaction contribution within the pH range 2-11 accounted for 67-83% for BT removal in O(3)/AC simultaneous treatment. Results suggest that at pH higher than the pH of the point of zero charge of the activated carbon dissociated acid groups such as carboxylic acid anhydrides and carboxylic acids present on activated carbon surface could be responsible for the observed increase in the ozone decomposition reaction rate. A simplified mechanism and a kinetic scheme representing the contribution of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions on BT ozonation in the presence of activated carbon is proposed.     

Biosurfactant technology for remediation of cadmium and lead contaminated soils

This research focuses on column experiments conducted to evaluate the potential of environmentally compatible rhamnolipid biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain BS2 to remove heavy metals (Cd and Pb) from artificially contaminated soil. Results have shown that di-rhamnolipid removes not only the leachable or available fraction of Cd and Pb but also the bound metals as compared to tap water which removed the mobile fraction only. Washing of contaminated soil with tap water revealed that approximately 2.7% of Cd and 9.8% of Pb in contaminated soil was in freely available or weakly bound forms whereas washing with rhamnolipid removed 92% of Cd and 88% of Pb after 36 h of leaching. This indicated that di-rhamnolipid selectively favours mobilization of metals in the order of Cd>Pb. Biosurfactant specificity observed towards specific metal will help in preferential elution of specific contaminant using di-rhamnolipid. It was further observed that pH of the leachates collected from heavy metal contaminated soil column treated with di-rhamnolipid solution was low (6.60-6.78) as compared to that of leachates from heavy metal contaminated soil column treated with tap water (pH 6.90-7.25), which showed high dissolution of metal species from the contaminated soil and effective leaching of metals with treatment with biosurfactant. The microbial population of the contaminated soil was increased after removal of metals by biosurfactant indicating the decrease of toxicity of metals to soil microflora. This study shows that biosurfactant technology can be an effective and nondestructive method for bioremediation of cadmium and lead contaminated soil.     

Geochemical and geostatistical investigations of chromium pollution in groundwater.

Geochemical and geostatistical study of the chromium concentration in groundwater occurring at variable depths of 12 to 33.5 m (40 to 110 ft) in the Karachi urban area of Pakistan have been made. Samples were collected at variable distances, with a maximum of 1 km interval, on the bases of population, industries, types, and density. The chromium concentration has also been worked out to deduce the threshold value of the area under study and the estimation of probability impact modeling, in terms of concentration variation, by using the disjunctive kriging technique. The outcome of the present work appears to be a good tool to decipher pollution variation in the groundwater of highly urbanized areas, with respect to the population and industries. The patterns of distribution of chromium concentration in groundwater and pollution hotspots in particular localities appear to be more related to the types of industries than to the effect of population types.     

Extent and causes of 3D spatial variations in potential N mineralization and the risk of ammonium and nitrate leaching from an N-impacted permanent grassland near York, UK

Changes in the dynamics of inorganic N species transformations with depth have been investigated for seven soil profiles from a nitrogen-impacted ancient grassland on a nature reserve outside York in the UK, using incubation experiments. In five of the profiles, both ammonification and nitrification are occurring below the rooting zone, probably partly in response to the low C:N ratio in the soils. This contributes to elevated nitrate concentrations found in an adjacent stream. Accumulation of ammonium during incubation in the sub-soils of these five profiles suggests a high probability of ammonium leaching down the profiles as ammonium inputs and outputs at a given depth approach equilibrium. This ammonium may also be nitrified at depth. However, in the two profiles with the most acidic surface horizons, net mineralization was negligible or negative; some initial ammonium-N and ammonium-N produced during incubation were nitrified, so the loss in ammonium-N was closely balanced by nitrate-N production.