Comparison of organic and inorganic packing materials in the removal of ammonia gas in biofilters

Abstract

Two organic and two inorganic packing materials were compared with regard to the removal of ammonia gas in a biofilter inoculated with night-soil sludge. By gradually increasing the inlet load of ammonia, the complete removal capacity, which was defined as the inlet load of ammonia that was completely removed, and the maximum removal capacity of ammonia, which was the value when the removal capacity leveled off for each packing material, were estimated. Both values which were based on a unit volume of packing material, were higher for organic packing materials than inorganic ones. By using kinetic analysis, the maximum removal rate of ammonia, V m, and the saturation constant, K s, were determined for all packing materials and the values of V m for organic packing materials were found to be larger. By using the kinetic parameters, the removal rates for ammonia were compared among the four packing materials, and the organic packing materials showed superior performance for the removal of ammonia in the concentration range of 0–300 ppm as compared to inorganic packing materials.