Abstract
The efficiency of the air bio-purification from the mixture of two volatile organic compounds (styrene and p-xylene) was studied. The process was carried out in a pilot-scale trickle-bed bioreactor installation designed to purify ∼200 m 3 h -1 of the polluted air. The bioreactor operated at concurrent flow of gas and liquid (mineral salt solution) through packing (polypropylene Ralu rings) covered with a thin layer of microorganisms (bacterial consortium of Pseudomonas sp. E-022150 and Pseudomonas putida mt-2). The experiments, carried out for various values of a reactor load with pollutant, confirmed the great efficiency of the investigated process. At the tested bed load with pollution (inlet specific pollutant load was changed within the range of 41 – 84 gm -3 h -1 ), styrene conversion degree changed within the range of 80-87% and p-xylene conversion degree within the range of 42-48%.
Highlights
Air pollution caused by human activity is an international problem since harmful substances emitted into the atmosphere are transmitted across the state borders both in the ground zone, in the rhythm of meteorological changes, and through the stratosphere
The process was carried out at optimal for bacteria strains conditions: the temperature of 30oC and pH 7 maintained by batching the solutions of KH2PO4/NaOH according to the indications of the pH electrode
The carried out research confirmed the possibility of using a trickle-bed bioreactor to purify big streams of air from a mixture of volatile organic compounds
Summary
Air pollution caused by human activity is an international problem since harmful substances emitted into the atmosphere are transmitted across the state borders both in the ground zone, in the rhythm of meteorological changes, and through the stratosphere. The subject of research in the presented study is the process of air bio-purification from a mixture of volatile organic compounds (styrene/ p-xylene) carried out in a pilot-scale trickle-bed bioreactor (TBB) unit. In such apparatuses the column packing is made of an inert material on which microorganisms are immobilized. There is an ongoing need for the development of better treatment methods to eliminate or reduce the content of xylene in gaseous effluents prior to their release into the atmosphere Both styrene and xylene, due to their toxic action and lowering the standard of living, were placed on the list of 189 harmful air pollutants by the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) – Clean Air Act 1990 [8]. Extensive analysis of literature data on air biopurification from styrene/xylene was presented in our earlier papers [9,10]
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