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Oxidation of methane in biotrickling filters inoculated with methanotrophic bacteria

  • 4th International Symposium on Environmental Biotechnology and Engineering-2014
  • Published:
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Abstract

The oxidation of methane (CH4) using biofilters has been proposed as an alternative to mitigate anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions with a low concentration of CH4 that cannot be used as a source of energy. However, conventional biofilters utilize organic packing materials that have a short lifespan, clogging problems, and are commonly inoculated with non-specific microorganisms leading to unpredictable CH4 elimination capacities (EC) and removal efficiencies (RE). The main objective of this work was to characterize the oxidation of CH4 in two biotrickling filters (BTFs) packed with polyethylene rings and inoculated with two methanotrophic bacteria, Methylomicrobium album and Methylocystis sp., in order to determine EC and CO2 production (pCO2) when using a specific inoculum. The repeatability of the results in both BTFs was determined when they operated at the same inlet load of CH4. A dynamic mathematical model that describes the CH4 abatement in the BTFs was developed and validated using mass transfer and kinetic parameters estimated independently. The results showed that EC and pCO2 of the BTFs are not identical but very similar for all the conditions tested. The use of specific inoculum has shown a faster startup and higher EC per unit area (0.019 gCH4 m−2 h−1) in comparison to most of the previous studies at the same CH4 load rate (23.2 gCH4 m−3 h−1). Global mass balance showed that the maximum reduction of CO2 equivalents was 98.5 gCO2eq m−3 h−1. The developed model satisfactorily described CH4 abatement in BTFs for a wide range of conditions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financed by the National Fund for Science and Technology (FONDECYT), Project 1110919, and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. We thank the Biofilm and Environmental Microbiology Laboratory of the Universidad de Concepción who helped us to acquire SEM pictures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biochemical Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2085, Valparaíso, Chile

    Manuel Cáceres, Antonio D. Dorado, Juan C. Gentina & Germán Aroca

  2. Manresa School of Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Bases de Manresa 61-73, 08242, Manresa, Spain

    Antonio D. Dorado

Authors
  1. Manuel Cáceres
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  2. Antonio D. Dorado
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  3. Juan C. Gentina
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  4. Germán Aroca
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Correspondence to Manuel Cáceres.

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Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand

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Cáceres, M., Dorado, A.D., Gentina, J.C. et al. Oxidation of methane in biotrickling filters inoculated with methanotrophic bacteria. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 25702–25712 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7133-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7133-z

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