Use of activated carbon as a support medium for H2S biofiltration and effect of bacterial immobilization on available pore surface

The use of support media for the immobilization of microorganisms is widely known to provide a surface for microbial growth and a shelter that protects the microorganisms from inhibitory compounds. In this study, activated carbon is used as a support medium for the immobilization of microorganisms enriched from municipal sewage activated sludge to remove gas-phase hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a major odorous component of waste gas from sewage treatment plants. A series of designed experiments is used to examine the effect on bacteria-immobilized activated carbon ( termed biocarbon) due to physical adsorption, chemical reaction, and microbial degradation in the overall removal of H2S. H2S breakthrough tests are conducted with various samples, including microbe-immobilized carbon and Teflon discs, salts-medium-washed carbon, and ultra-pure water-washed carbon. The results show a higher removal capacity for the microbe-immobilized activated carbon compared with the activated carbon control in a batch biofilter column. The increase in removal capacity is attributed to the role played by the immobilized microorganisms in metabolizing adsorbed sulfur and sulfur compounds on the biocarbon, hence releasing the adsorption sites for further H2S uptake. The advantage for activated carbon serving as the support medium is to adsorb a high initial concentration of substrate and progressively release this for microbial degradation, hence acting as a buffer for the microorganisms. Results obtained from surface area and pore size distribution analyses of the biocarbon show a correlation between the available surface area and pore volume with the extent of microbial immobilization and H2S uptake. The depletion of surface area and pore volume is seen as one of the factors which cause the onset of column breakthrough. Microbial growth retardation is due to the accumulation of metabolic products (i.e., sulfuric acid); and a lack of water and nutrient salts in the batch biofilter are other possible causes of column breakthrough.