Simultaneous removal of hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic sulfur compounds in off-gas mixture from a wastewater treatment plant using a two-stage bio-trickling filter system

摘要

Simultaneous removal of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and volatile organic sulfur compounds (VOSCs) in off-gas mixture from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is difficult due to the occasional inhibitory effects of H2S on VOSC degradation.In this study,a two-stage bio-trickling filter (BTF) system was developed to treat off-gas mixture from a real WWTP facility.At an empty bed retention time of 40 s,removal efficiencies of H2S,methanethiol,dimethyl sulfide,and dimethyl disulfide were 90.1,88.4,85.8,and 61.8％,respectively.Furthermore,the effect of lifting load shock on system performance was investigated and results indicated that removal of both H2S and VOSCs was slightly affected,Illumina Miseq sequencing revealed that the microbial community of first-stage BTF contained high abundance of H2S-affinity genera including Acidithiobacillus (51.43％),Metallibacterium (25.35％),and Thionomas (8.08％).Analysis of mechanism demonstrated that first stage of BTF removed 86.1％ of H2S,mitigating the suppression on VOSC degradation in second stage of BTF.Overall,the two-stage BTF system,an innovative bioprocess,can simultaneously remove H2S and VOSC.