Abstract
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is one of the main contaminants found in biogas, which is one of the end products of the anaerobic biodegradation of proteins and other sulfur-containing compounds in solid waste. The presence of H2S is one of the factors limiting the valorization of biogas. To valorize biogas, H2S must be removed. This study evaluated the performance of a pilot-scale biotrickling filter system on H2S removal from landfill biogas. The biotrickling filter system, which was packed with stainless-steel pall rings and inoculated with an H2S-oxidizing consortium, was designed to process 1 SCFM of biogas, which corresponds to an empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 3.9 min and was used to determine the removal efficiency of a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide from landfill biogas. The biofiltration system consisted of two biotrickling filters connected in series. Results indicate that the biofiltration system reduced H2S concentration by 94 to 98% without reducing the methane concentration in the outlet biogas. The inlet concentration of hydrogen sulfide, supplied to the two-phase bioreactor, was in the range of 900 to 1500 ppmv, and the air flow rate was 0.1 CFM. The EBRTs of the two biotrickling filters were 3.9 and 0.9 min, respectively. Approximately 50 ± 15.7 ppmv of H2S gas was detected in the outlet gas. The maximum elimination capacity of the biotrickling filter system was found to be 24 g H2S·m−3·h−1, and the removal efficiency was 94 ± 4.4%. During the biological process, the performance of the biotrickling filter was not affected when the pH of the recirculated liquid decreased to 2–3. The overall performance of the biotrickling filter system was described using a modified Michaelis–Menten equation, and the Ks and Vm values for the biosystem were 34.7 ppmv and 20 g H2S·m−3·h−1, respectively.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their special thanks and gratitude to the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Consortium de recherche et innovations en bioprocédés industriels au Québec (CRIBIQ), and Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) for their financial support. The authors are also grateful to Olivier Savary, Carolina Lopera, Julien Duchaine Gauthier, and Nicolas Gobeil, Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Université de Sherbrooke, for their help and support.
Funding
This work was supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) [Grant No. EGP2 505493], Consortium de recherche et innovations en bioprocédés industriels au Québec (CRIBIQ) [Grant No. 2017-002-C25], and Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) [Grant No. IT11154].
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Investigation, formal analysis, and writing—original draft were performed by RI. AEH contributed to the investigation, methodology, and data curation. SN-A contributed to the methodology, resources, and co-supervision. The supervision, project administration, funding acquisition, and writing—review and editing were ensured by HC. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ibrahim, ., El Hassni, A., Navaee-Ardeh, S. et al. Biological elimination of a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide from landfill biogas. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 431–443 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15525-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15525-7