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Effects of nitrogen source and empty bed residence time on the removal of styrene gaseous emissions by biotrickling filtration

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Abstract

The removal of styrene-polluted air emissions by biotrickling filtration was performed to evaluate the influence of using nitrate and urea as a nitrogen source in the nutrient solution supplied to two bioreactors run in parallel under the same operational conditions for 3 months. The use of urea resulted in less biomass content along the packed bed and better performance of the process, with a maximum elimination capacity (EC) of 57.6 g C m−3 h−1 (removal efficiency (RE) of 88.3% and empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 60 s), which was around 54% higher than when using nitrate. EBRTs of 60, 30 and 15 s were evaluated with a urea-based nutrient supply. By decreasing the EBRT from 60 to 30 s the styrene concentration that could be treated with REs above 80% was almost the half, from 1,100 to 600 mg C m−3, resulting in ECs of 52.8 g C m−3 h−1. Working at 15 s was not possible to obtain REs higher than 40% with a maximum EC of 28.5 g C m−3 h−1.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain, research project CTM 2010-15031 with FEDER funds) is acknowledged. Feliu Sempere and Jordi Palau thank the Universitat de València and Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) for the award of their respective pre-doctoral fellowships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament d’Enginyeria Química, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria, Universitat de València, Dr. Moliner, 50, 46100, Burjassot (València), Spain

    Feliu Sempere, Vicente Martínez-Soria, Jordi Palau, Josep-Manuel Penya-roja, Pau San-Valero & Carmen Gabaldón

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  1. Feliu Sempere
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  2. Vicente Martínez-Soria
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  3. Jordi Palau
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  4. Josep-Manuel Penya-roja
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  5. Pau San-Valero
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  6. Carmen Gabaldón
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Correspondence to Carmen Gabaldón.

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Sempere, F., Martínez-Soria, V., Palau, J. et al. Effects of nitrogen source and empty bed residence time on the removal of styrene gaseous emissions by biotrickling filtration. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 34, 859–867 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-011-0536-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-011-0536-9

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