Evaluation of continuous and intermittent trickling strategies for the removal of hydrogen sulfide in a biotrickling filter

Hao Bu; Gilda Carvalho; Casey Huang; Keshab R Sharma; Zhiguo Yuan; Yarong Song; Philip Bond; Jurg Keller; Miao Yu; Guangming Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132723

Evaluation of continuous and intermittent trickling strategies for the removal of hydrogen sulfide in a biotrickling filter

Chemosphere. 2022 Mar;291(Pt 1):132723. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132723. Epub 2021 Oct 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, QLD, Australia.
² Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, QLD, Australia. Electronic address: g.carvalho@uq.edu.au.
³ Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, QLD, Australia.
⁴ Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology (formerly AWMC), The University of Queensland, QLD, Australia; School of Civil, Mining & Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: gjiang@uow.edu.au.

PMID: 34736744
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132723

Abstract

Biotrickling filter (BTF) is a widely applied bioreactor for odour abatement in sewer networks. The trickling strategy is vital for maintaining a sound operation of BTF. This study employed a lab-scale BTF packed with granular activated carbon at a short empty bed residence time of 6 s and pH 1-2 to evaluate different trickling strategies, i.e., continuous trickling (different velocities) and intermittent trickling (different trickling intervals), in terms of the removal of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), bed pressure drop, H₂S oxidation products and microbial community. The H₂S removal performance decreased with the trickling velocity (∼3.6 m/h) in BTF. In addition, three intermittent trickling strategies, i.e., 10-min trickling per 24 h, 8 h, and 2 h, were investigated. The H₂S elimination capacity deteriorated after about 2 weeks under both 10-min trickling per 24 h and 8 h. For both intermittent (10-min trickling per 2 h) and continuous trickling, the BTF exhibited nearly 100 % H₂S removal for inlet H₂S concentrations<100 ppmv, but intermittent BTF showed better removal performance than continuous trickling when inlet H₂S increased to 120-190 ppmv. Furthermore, the bed pressure drops were 333 and 3888 Pa/m for non-trickling and trickling periods, respectively, which makes intermittent BTF save 83 % energy consumption of the blower compared with continuous tirckling. However, intermittent BTF exhibited transient H₂S breakthrough (<1 ppmv) during trickling periods. Moreover, elemental sulfur and sulfate were major products of H₂S oxidation and Acidithiobacillus was the dominant genus in both intermittent and continuous trickling BTF. A mathematical model was calibrated for the intermittent BTF and a sensitivity analysis was performed on the model. It shows mass transfer parameters determine the H₂S removal. Overall, intermittent trickling strategy is promising for improving odour abatement performance and reducing the operating cost of the BTF.

Keywords: Biotrickling filter; Continuous trickling; Hydrogen sulfide; Intermittent trickling.

MeSH terms

Biodegradation, Environmental
Bioreactors
Filtration
Hydrogen Sulfide*
Microbiota*
Sulfur

Substances

Sulfur
Hydrogen Sulfide