Abstract
This paper focuses on recent developments of biofiltration technology used in treating nuisance chemical odors from industrial and municipal air streams. In the biofiltration process, odorous chemical constituents in the air are first transported to biofilms by diffusion, solubilization and adsorption processes. Bacteria within the biofilms oxidize odor constituents into harmless and odorless products. Through successful laboratory and pilot research on biofiltration of odorous air-stream constituents, numerous commercial biofilters have been designed and installed across North America. In this paper, case studies related to biofiltration of air emissions from meat rendering plants, municipal wastewater treatment applications, and printed circuit board production are discussed to demonstrate the robustness of this technology in eliminating a wide variety of compounds.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cadenhead PC, KL Sublette (1990) Oxidation of hydrogen sulfide by Thiobacilli. Biotechnol Bioeng 35:1150–1154
Cho KS, Hirai M, Shoda M (1991) Degradation characteristics of hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, dimethyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide by Thiobacillus thiorparus DW44 isolated from peat biofilter. J Ferment Bioeng 71:384–389
Chung Y-C, Huang C, Pan JR, Tseng CP (1998) Comparison of autotrophic and mixtrophic biofilters for hydrogen sulfide removal. J Environ Eng
Devinny, JS, Deshusses MA, Webster TS (1999) Biofiltration for air pollution control. Lewis, New York
Leson G, Winer AM (1991) Biofiltration: an innovative air pollution control technology for VOC emissions J Air Waste Manag Assoc 41:1045–1054
Ottengraf SPP, Disks R (1990) Biological purification of waste gases. Chimicaoggi, May 41–45
Pefer Y (1996) VOC emission control strategies for the chemical industry. Can Chem News, November/December
Shareefdeen Z, Baltzis BC, Oh Y-S, Bartha R (1993) Biofiltration of methanol vapor. Biotechnol Bioeng 41:512–524
Shareefdeen, Z, Biran H, Wilson, S (2002) Biofiltration of nuisance sulfur gaseous odors from a meat rendering plant. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 77:1–4
Shareefdeen Z, Herner B, Webb D, Polenek S, Wilson S (2001) Biofiltration removes VOC Emissions from a printed circuit board manufacturing facility. AWMA 94th Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, June 24–28
Yang Y, Allen E.R (1994) Part 1. Biofiltration control of hydrogen sulfide. 1. Design and operational parameters. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 44:863–868
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This paper was presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting of Society for Industrial Microbiology, Philadelphia, August 11–15, 2002
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shareefdeen, Z., Herner, B., Webb, D. et al. Biofiltration eliminates nuisance chemical odors from industrial air streams. J IND MICROBIOL BIOTECHNOL 30, 168–174 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-003-0026-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-003-0026-4