Using a biological aerated filter to treat mixed water-borne volatile organic compounds and assessing its emissions

A biological aerated filter (BAF) was evaluated as a fixed-biofilm process to remove water-borne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a multiple layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) manufacturing plant in southern Taiwan. The components of VOC were identified to be toluene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, bromodichloromethane and isopropanol (IPA). The full-scale BAF was constructed of two separate reactors in series, respectively, using 10- and 15-cm diameter polypropylene balls as the packing materials and a successful preliminary bench-scale experiment was performed to feasibility. Experimental results show that the BAF removed over 90% chemical oxygen demand (COD) from the influent with (1188 605) mg/L of COD. A total organic loading of 2.76 kg biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)/(m3 packing d) was determined for the packed bed, in which the flow pattern approached that of a mixed flow. A limited VOC concentration of (0.97 0.29) ppmv (as methane) was emitted from the BAF system. Moreover, the emission rate of VOC was calculated using the proposed formula, based on an air-water mass equilibrium relationship, and compared to the simulated results obtained using the Water 9 model. Both estimation approaches of calculation and model simulation revealed that 0.1% IPA (0.0031–0.0037 kg/d) were aerated into a gaseous phase, and 30% to 40% (0.006–0.008 kg/d) of the toluene were aerated.