Kinetic evaluation of removal of odorous contaminants in a three-stage biological air filter

Environ Sci Technol. 2012 Aug 7;46(15):8261-9. doi: 10.1021/es301295m. Epub 2012 Jul 25.

Abstract

Biofiltration is a cost-effective technology for removing air contaminants from animal facilities. Kinetic analysis can be helpful in understanding and designing the process but has not been performed on full-scale filters treating complex mixtures. In this study, kinetics was investigated in a full-scale biological filter treating air pollutants from a pig facility. Due to the high air flow rates used in the filter, both a plug flow model and a model based on complete mixing were tested with respect to kinetic order and Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Application of these models only gave poor to moderate agreement with air filter removal data. Two alternative kinetic models (Stover-Kincannon model and Grau second-order model) adopted from wastewater biofiltration process analysis were introduced to analyze contaminant removal in the biological air filter. Data analysis demonstrated the applicability of these two models with a high degree of precision on contaminant removal in the biological air filter. Whereas the Stover-Kincannon model demonstrated that pollutant removal rates were related to the mass loading rates, the Grau second-order kinetic model indicated that the removal efficiencies were dependent on air loading rates. Therefore, the kinetic data can be used for comparing biofilter performances and for design purposes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Filtration / instrumentation*
  • Kinetics
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Odorants*