Dynamic behavior of biofilters degrading reduced sulfur odorous gases
- Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Bio-Resource Engineering
The paper describes the results of a study about the transient behavior of biofilters, treating reduced sulfur pulping odors, to variations in contaminant inlet concentrations, and the effects of periods of starvation on biofilter dynamics and performance. Three bench-scale biofilters with different filter media were used. Filter media materials used were the mixtures of compost/perlite (4:1), hog fuel/perlite (4:1), and compost/hog fuel/perlite (2:2:1). Hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan, the malodorous gases produced from kraft pulping processes, were used as the test contaminants. The biofilter response to variations in contaminant mass loading was studied by abruptly changing the contaminant concentration in the inlet gas stream. Contaminant concentrations were continuously measured until a new steady state, for each test, was achieved. Biofilters responded effectively to inlet concentration variations by rapidly recovering to the original removal rates within 5--15 h. However, the time required to achieve full recovery was longer in case of methyl mercaptan than that for the hydrogen sulfide. The re-acclimation time to reach full capacity, after one-week idle phase, was significantly short about 2--2.5 days as compared to the literature reported initial acclimation time of 10--12 days for hydrogen sulfide.
- OSTI ID:
- 682224
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-980632--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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