Abstract
In this research, different inlet concentrations of n-hexane vapor (1–11 g m−3) corresponds to the inlet loading rates of 9–598 g m−3 h−1 at different temperatures (35–45 °C) were eliminated from air under continuous and intermittent loading (10-h feeding per day) in a biofilter packed with compost and lava rock. Loading type had minor effect on the n-hexane removal at 35 °C and the removal efficiency (RE) was in the range of 70 to 100 % at an inlet concentration of 11 gm−3. On the contrary, RE dropped significantly to 25 % at 40 °C under intermittent loading while it was 77 % under continuous loading with the inlet concentration of 9 g m−3 and empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 2 min. Increasing the temperature to 45 °C significantly reduced the RE at both types of loading at both EBRTs of 2 and 1.3 min; however, intermittent loading was led to a slightly greater removal. According to transient-state experiment under intermittent loading at EBRT of 2 min, the biochemical reaction became the dominant mechanism, after an initial short period, every day to remove n-hexane rather than adsorption on bed. Kinetic modeling showed that the biodegradation rates changed linearly with increase in the logarithmic mean n-hexane concentration during intermittent loading at different temperatures while the order of reaction was higher at continuous loading.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvarez-Hornos, F. J., Gabaldon, C., Martinez-Soria, V., Marzal, P., & Peñya-roja, J. M. (2008). Biofiltration of toluene in the absence and the presence of ethyl acetate under continuous and intermittent loading. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 83, 643–653.
Aly Hasan, A., & Sorial, G. A. (2010a). Biofiltration of n-hexane in the presence of benzene vapors. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 85, 371–377.
Aly Hasan, A., & Sorial, G. A. (2010b). A comparative study for destruction of n-hexane in trickle bed air biofilter. Chemical Engineering Journal, 162, 227–233.
Arriaga, S., Muñoz, R., Hernandez, S., Guieysse, B., & Revah, S. (2006). Gaseous n-hexane biodegradation by Fusarium solani in two liquid phase packed-bed and stirred-tank bioreactors. Environmental Science and Technology, 40, 2390–2395.
Ashworth, R. A., Howe, G. B., Mullins, M. E., & Rogers, T. N. (1988). Air–water partitioning coefficients of organics in dilute aqueous solutions. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 18, 25–36.
Avalos Ramirez, A., Benard, S., Giroir-Fendler, A., Jones, J. P., & Heitz, M. (2008). Kinetics of microbial growth and biodegradation of methanol and toluene in biofilters and an analysis of the energetic indicators. Journal of Biotechnology, 138, 88–95.
Cox, H. H. J., Sexton, T., Shareefdeen, Z. M., & Deshusses, M. A. (2001). Thermophilic biotrickling filtration of ethanol vapors. Environmental Science and Technology, 35, 2612–2619.
Datta, I., Fulthorpe, R. R., Sharma, S., & Allen, D. G. (2007). High-temperature biotrickling filtration of hydrogen sulphide. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 74, 708–716.
Delhomenie, M. C., & Heitz, M. (2005). Biofiltration of air: a review. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 25, 53–72.
Delhomenie, M. C., Nikiema, J., Bibeau, L., & Heitz, M. (2008). A new method to determine the microbial kinetic parameters in biological air filters. Chemical Engineering Science, 63, 4126–4134.
Devinny, J. S., & Ramesh, J. (2005). A phenomenological review of biofilter models. Chemical Engineering Journal, 113, 187–196.
Dumont, E., Darracq, G., Couvert, A., Couriol, C., Amrane, A., Thomas, D., Andrès, Y., & Le Cloirec, P. (2013). Volumetric mass transfer coefficients characterising VOC absorption in water/silicone oil mixtures. Chemical Engineering Journal, 221, 308–314.
Gallastegui, G., Avalos Ramirez, A., Elias, A., Jones, J. P., & Heitz, M. (2011). Performance and macrokinetic analysis of biofiltration of toluene and p-xylene mixtures in a conventional biofilter packed with inert material. Bioresource Technology, 102, 7657–7665.
Hernandez, M., Quijano, G., Thalasso, F., Daugulis, A. J., Villaverde, S., & Muñoz, R. (2010). A comparative study of solid and liquid non-aqueous phases for the biodegradation of n-hexane in two-phase partitioning bioreactors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 106, 731–740.
Hernandez-Melendez, O., Barzana, E., Arriaga, S., Hernandez-Luna, M., & Revah, S. (2008). Fungal removal of gaseous n-hexane in biofilters packed with poly (ethylene carbonate) pine sawdust or peat composites. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 100, 864–871.
Jin, Y., Guo, L., Veiga, M. C., & Kennes, C. (2007). Fungal biofiltration of α-pinene: effects of temperature, relative humidity, and transient loads. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 96, 433–443.
Kibazohi, O., Yun, S., & Anderson, W. A. (2004). Removal of n-hexane in biofilters packed with perlite and a peat–perlite mixture, World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 20, 337–343.
Lu, C., Lin, M. R., & Chu, C. (1999). Temperature effects of trickle-bed biofilter for treating BTEX vapors. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 125, 775–779.
Mathur, A. K., Sundaramurthy, J., & Balomajumder, C. (2006). Kinetics of the removal of mono-chlorobenzene vapor from waste gases using a trickle bed air biofilter. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 137, 1560–1568.
Moe, W. M., & Qi, B. (2004). Performance of a fungal biofilter treating gas-phase solvent mixtures during intermittent loading. Water Research, 38, 2259–2268.
Moe, W. M., & Qi, B. (2005). Biofilter treatment of volatile organic compound emissions from reformulated paint: complex mixtures, intermittent operation and startup. Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, 55, 950–960.
Mohammad, B. T., Veiga, M. C., & Kennes, C. (2007). Mesophilic and thermophilic biotreatment of BTEX-polluted air in reactors. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 97, 1423–1438.
Muñoz, R., Arriaga, S., Hernandez, S., Guieysse, B., & Revah, S. (2006). Enhanced n-hexane biodegradation in a two phase partitioning bioreactor: overcoming pollutant transport limitations. Process Biochemistry, 41, 1614–1619.
Moussavi, G., Bahadori, M. B., Farzadkia, M., Yazdanbakhsh, A., & Mohseni, M. (2009). Performance evaluation of a thermophilic biofilter for the removal of MTBE from waste air stream: effects of inlet concentration and EBRT. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 45, 152–156.
Qi, B., & Moe, W. M. (2006). Performance of low pH biofilters treating a paint solvent mixture: continuous and intermittent loading. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 135, 303–310.
Rene, E. R., Murthy, D. V. S., & Swaminathan, T. (2005). Performance evaluation of a compost biofilter treating toluene vapours. Process Biochemistry, 40, 2771–2779.
Rene, E. R., Veiga, M. C., & Kennes, C. (2009a). Performance of a biofilter for the removal of high concentrations of styrene under steady and non-steady state conditions. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 168, 282–290.
Rene, E. R., Jin, Y., Veiga, M. C., & Kennes, C. (2009b). Two-stage gas-phase bioreactor for the combined removal of hydrogen sulphide, methanol and α-pinene. Environmental Technology, 30, 1261–1272.
Rene, E. R., Murthy, D. V. S., & Swaminathan, T. (2010). Effect of flow rate, concentration and transient-state operations on the performance of a biofilter treating xylene vapors. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 211, 79–93.
Salehahmadi, R., Halladj, R., & Zamir, S. M. (2012). Unsteady-state mathematical modeling of a fungal biofilter treating n-hexane vapor at different operating temperatures. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 51, 2388–2396.
Sémpere, F., Gabaldon, C., Martinez-Soria, V., Marzal, P., Peñya-roja, J. M., & Alvarez-Hornos, F. J. (2008). Performance evaluation of a biotrickling filter treating a mixture of oxygenated VOCs during intermittent loading. Chemosphere, 73, 1533–1539.
Spigno, G., Pagella, C., Daria Fumi, M., Molteni, R., & De Faveri, D. M. (2003). VOCs removal from waste gases: gas-phase bioreactor for the abatement of n-hexane by Aspergillus niger. Chemical Engineering Journal, 58, 739–746.
Zehraoui, A., Aly Hasan, A., & Sorial, G. A. (2012). Effect of methanol on the biofiltration of n-hexane. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 219, 176–182.
Zehraoui, A., Aly Hasan, A., & Sorial, G. A. (2013). Biological treatment of n-hexane and methanol in trickle bed air biofilters under acidic conditions. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 77, 129–135.
Zamir, M., Halladj, R., Sadraei, M., & Nasernejad, B. (2012). Biofiltration of gas-phase n-hexane and toluene mixture under intermittent loading conditions. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 90, 326–332.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Babak Bonakdarpour for his practical comments and reviewing of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Glossary
- BF
-
Biofilter
- BTF
-
Biotrickling filter
- EBRT
-
Empty bed residence time (min)
- EC
-
Elimination capacity (g m−3 h−1)
- IL
-
Inlet load (g m−3 h−1)
- RE
-
Removal efficiency (%)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zamir, S.M., Ferdowsi, M. & Halladj, R. Effects of Loading Type and Temperature on Performance, Transient Operation, and Kinetics of n-Hexane Vapor Removal in a Biofilter. Water Air Soil Pollut 225, 1825 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1825-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1825-5