Effects of pH, moisture, and flow pattern on trickle-bed air biofilter performance for BTEX removal

Effects of pH, moisture and flow pattern on the performance of a trickle-bed air biofilter (TBAB) treating benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene (BTEX) waste gas were investigated to establish the optimum operating conditions and design criteria. In the pH range of 7.5-8 and NFR range of 6.02-8.6 l/m(3)/h, removal efficiencies of each compound were greater than 80% with a loading of 143 g BT`EX/m(3)/h. The TBAB appears to be an effective process for controlling BTEX emission with a high loading. Counter-current flow TBAB has the advantages of more uniform BTEX removal and biomass growth in each section than co-current flow TBAB, but suffers from a higher pressure drop across the bed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.