SCENARIOS FOR IMPROVING HYDROPHOBIC VOCS ELIMINATION IN TRICKLE-BED- AIR-BIOFILTERS

摘要

Biological treatment represents low-cost and environmental friendly option for air pollution as compared to incineration, catalytic oxidation and adsorption. It has several advantages such as low power consumption, few byproducts and cost effectiveness. However, several challenges face biological treatment processes such as variability of flow rate and composition of contaminants in waste streams. And most importantly, hydrophobic compounds are not readily available for the microorganisms, creating a deficiency for the use of biological treatment in the industry. The main research objective of this study is to introduce biological treatment as an effective technique for non-methane hydrocarbon removal from air under stressed operating conditions. Emphasis is being placed on increasing bioavailability of hydrophobic compounds which are known to be recalcitrant to biological treatment due to the mass transfer rate limiting between the gas and liquid phases.