Reusing H2S-exhausted carbon as packing material for odor biofiltration

Exhausted carbon coming from the H2S adsorption process is a big environmental problem in Wastewater Treatment Plants. In this study, reusing exhausted carbon as a carrier of sulfide-oxidizing bacteria in lab-scale biofilters was evaluated. The exhausted carbons from different heights of the adsorption bed have different exhaustion extents, i.e. characteristics in terms of sulfur content, pH and porosity. Therefore, four biofilters were packed separately with exhausted carbon from top, middle, bottom of H2S adsorption bed, and a mixture of the three, to investigate the suitability for further H2S biofiltration. The results showed a quick startup in these biofilters (approximately 80 h). The numbers of sulfide-oxidizing bacteria immobilized on activated carbon were approximately 4.8, 9.2 and 14 x 108 CFU g-1 top, middle and bottom carbon after the 240-h operation, respectively. In addition, the biofilters demonstrated a rapid recovery to the original removal efficiency (RE) within 2 h after the H2S spike loadings. After a 110-h shutdown, the RE was rapidly recovered for all the biofilters within 5 h, with a shorter time (1 h) observed for the bottom carbon biofilter. The H2S removal mechanism of these biofilters was studied through a full analysis of sulfur products in both liquid (recycling medium) and activated carbon, and variable characterization of activated carbon before and after biofiltration. This study shows that the exhausted carbon-based biofilter is a feasible and economical alternative to conventional odor biofiltration.