Preferences in removal of aliphatic and aromatic gasoline components by biofiltration under varied loading

Abstract

Removal of gasoline vapors from waste air was investigated in a bench-scale perlite biofilter for three aromatic-to-aliphatic mass ratios (62/38, 92/8 and 44/56) under different loads, varied by changing both the substrate inlet concentration and air flow rate. The measurement of concentration profiles along the bed height allowed for an assessment of interactions between the aromatic and aliphatic fractions of gasoline. Variations in both the inlet concentrations and empty bed residence time significantly influenced the removal of aliphatic gasoline components. Except for the lowest organic loads, the whole biofilter bed was required for achieving an acceptable removal efficiency of aliphatic hydrocarbons. The presence of large amounts of aromatics negatively impacted the removal of aliphatics. By contrast, the aromatic gasoline components were near-completely removed from any mixtures; the bulk of them were degraded in the first (out of three) biofilter section, even at high concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons. The observed effect was shown to be due to competitive interactions of aliphatic and aromatic components, which is consistent with the biological steps being rate limiting. Mass transfer, particularly for aliphatic components due to their high Henry's law constants, was shown to be rate-limiting under extreme scenarios, such as low loading rates and EBRT.