Methanethiol removal from biogas by biological conversion in an anaerobic biotrickling filter

Abstract

In this study, methanethiol(MT)-degradation bacteria were cultivated by using MT, methanol and trimethylamine as carbon sources under anaerobic conditions. It was found that the batch bacteria used MT and methanol as carbon sources grew faster than those used trimethylamine. The enriched bacteria used MT and methanol as the carbon sources were respectively inoculated in different biotrickling filters. The biological conversion performance of MT under anaerobic conditions was investigated in biotrickling filters. The results showed that the performance of the biotrickling filter inoculated with the bacteria enriched using MT was better than that inoculated with the bacteria enriched using methanol. When the inlet concentration of MT was 0.005vol%(50,ppm), the empty bed residence time was 50 s, pH value was 8.0, and the flow rate of the nutrient solution was 10 L/h, the removal efficiency of MT reached 95.3%. Adding methanol stimulated the growth of the biomass and the degradation of MT, but caused that some bacteria only degrading methanol outcompeted the bacteria only degrading MT. The concentration of sodium bicarbonate in the nutrient solution needed to be controlled lower than 30 g/L, otherwise, it would be harmful to the degradation of MT.