Biofiltration of a mixture of ethylene, ammonia, n-butanol, and acetone gases

This study describes cleaning of a waste gas stream using bench scale biofilters (BFs) or biotrickling filters (BTFs). The gas stream contained a mixture of acetone, n-butanol, methane, ethylene, and ammonia, and was diverted uniformly to six biofilters and four biotrickling filters. The biofilters were packed with either perlite (BF-P), polyurethane foam (BF-F), or a mixture of compost, wood chips, and straw (BF-C), whereas the biotrickling filters contained either perlite (BTF-P) or polyurethane foam (BTF-F). Experimental results showed that both BFs and BTFs packed with various media were able to achieve complete removal of highly soluble compounds such as acetone, n-butanol, and ammonia of which the dimensionless Henry’s constants (H) are less than 0.01. Methane was not removed due to its extreme insolubility (H > 30). However, the ethylene (H ≈ 9) removal efficiencies depended on trickle water flow rates, media surface areas, and ammonia gas levels.

► Removal of gases using biofiltration strongly depends on the individual solubility of each gas.
► We examine highly various ethylene removals in biofilters according to reaction conditions.
► We examine trickle water flow and media surface areas strongly affect ethylene biofiltration.