Abstract
AbstractBACKGROUND: Two peat biofilters were used for the removal of toluene from air for one year. One biofilter was fed with pure toluene and the other received 1:1 (by weight) ethyl acetate:toluene mixture.RESULTS: The biofilters were operated under continuous loading: the toluene inlet load (IL) at which 80% removal occurred was 116 g m−3 h−1 at 57 s gas residence time. Maximum elimination capacity of 360 g m−3 h−1 was obtained at an IL of 745 g m−3 h−1. The elimination of toluene was inhibited by the presence of ethyl acetate. Intermittent loading, with pollutants supplied for 16 h/day, 5 days/week, did not significantly affect the removal efficiency (RE). Biomass was fully activated in 2 h after night closures, but 6 h were required to recover RE after weekend closures. Live cell density remained relatively constant over the operational period, while the dead cell fraction increased. Finally, a 15 day starvation period was applied and operation then re‐started. Performance was restored with similar re‐acclimatization period to that after weekend closures, and a reduction in dead cell fraction was observed.CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the capacity of the system to handle intermittent loading conditions that are common in industrial practices, including long‐term starvation. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry
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