Comparative evaluation of a biotrickling filter and a tubular photobioreactor for the continuous abatement of toluene

Giuseppina Oliva; Roxana Ángeles; Elisa Rodríguez; Sara Turiel; Vincenzo Naddeo; Tiziano Zarra; Vincenzo Belgiorno; Raúl Muñoz; Raquel Lebrero

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.120860

Comparative evaluation of a biotrickling filter and a tubular photobioreactor for the continuous abatement of toluene

J Hazard Mater. 2019 Dec 15:380:120860. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.120860. Epub 2019 Jul 2.

Authors

Giuseppina Oliva¹, Roxana Ángeles², Elisa Rodríguez², Sara Turiel³, Vincenzo Naddeo⁴, Tiziano Zarra⁴, Vincenzo Belgiorno⁴, Raúl Muñoz², Raquel Lebrero⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technology, University of Valladolid, Dr. Mergelina s/n., Valladolid 47011, Spain; SEED - Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, Fisciano, SA, Italy.
² Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technology, University of Valladolid, Dr. Mergelina s/n., Valladolid 47011, Spain; Institute of Sustainable Processes, University of Valladolid, Dr. Mergelina s/n., Valladolid 47011, Spain.
³ Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, 24071 León, Spain.
⁴ SEED - Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, via Giovanni Paolo II, Fisciano, SA, Italy.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technology, University of Valladolid, Dr. Mergelina s/n., Valladolid 47011, Spain; Institute of Sustainable Processes, University of Valladolid, Dr. Mergelina s/n., Valladolid 47011, Spain. Electronic address: raquel.lebrero@iq.uva.es.

PMID: 31302359
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.120860

Abstract

The negative effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on humans' health and the environment have boosted the enforcement of regulations, resulting in the need of effective and environmentally friendly off-gas treatment technologies. In this work, the synergism between microalgae and bacteria was investigated as a sustainable platform to enhance the biological degradation of toluene, herein selected as a model VOC. An innovative algal-bacterial tubular photobioreactor (TPBR) was systematically compared with a conventional biotrickling filter (BTF). The BTF supported average removal efficiencies close to those obtained in the TPBR (86 ± 9% and 88 ± 4%, respectively) at the highest inlet load (∼23 g m³ h^-1) and lowest gas residence time (0.75 min). However, the BTF was more sensitive towards the accumulation of secondary metabolites. In this regard, photosynthetic O₂ supplementation (resulting in dissolved oxygen concentrations of ∼7.3 mg O₂ L^-1) and CO₂ consumption by microalgae (which reduced the impact of acidification) enhanced toluene abatement performance and process stability.

Keywords: Algal-bacterial symbiosis; Biotrickling filter; Carbon dioxide fixation; Photobioreactor; Toluene abatement.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacteria / genetics
Bacteria / metabolism
Biodegradation, Environmental
Carbon Dioxide / chemistry
Filtration / instrumentation*
Microalgae / genetics
Microalgae / metabolism
Photobioreactors*
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
Toluene / isolation & purification
Toluene / metabolism*
Volatile Organic Compounds / chemistry

Substances

RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Volatile Organic Compounds
Carbon Dioxide
Toluene