Dimethyl sulphide degradation using immobilized Thiobacillus thioparus in a biotrickling filter

Gaseous dimethyl sulphide (DMS) was eliminated in a biotrickling filter with Thiobacillus thioparus grown in polyurethane foam cubes as carrier material. The temperature, pH and empty bed residence time of the gas were maintained at 30 degrees C, 7.0 and 40 s, respectively. In the first 45 days, DMS loads of around 2.0 gDMS m-3 h-1 were fed to the BTF to adapt T. thioparus to DMS consumption, attaining close to 100% removal efficiency (RE) on day 46, and the maximum elimination capacity (EC) was 4.0 gDMS m-3 h-1 with a RE of 77%. The overall performance was enhanced by adding a nitrogen-enriched (9x) medium but was negatively affected by high superficial liquid velocity (8.18 m h-1) and high pH (7.5). Sulphate concentrations (up to 10 g L-1) showed no effect. The system supported shock loads up to 58 gDMS m-3 h-1 with increased elimination. With nitrogen-enriched medium and a pH of 7.0 it was possible to increase the EC of DMS up to a maximum of around 23 gDMS m-3 h-1 with 65% RE.