Treatment of waste gas from the breather vent of a vertical fixed roof p-xylene storage tank by a trickle-bed air biofilter

This study applied a pilot-scale trickle-bed air biofilter (TBAB) system for treating waste gas emitted from the breather vent of a vertical fixed roof storage tank containing p-xylene (p-X) liquid. The volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration of the waste gas was related to ambient temperature as well as solar radiation, peaking at above 6300 ppmv of p-X and 25000 ppmv of total hydrocarbons during the hours of 8 AM to 3 PM. When the activated carbon adsorber was employed as a VOC buffer, the peak waste gas VOC concentration was significantly reduced resulting in a stably and efficiently performing TBAB system. The pressure drop appeared to be low, reflecting that the TBAB system could be employed in the prolonged operation with a low running penalty. These advantages suggest that the TBAB system is a cost-effective treatment technology for VOC emission from a fixed roof storage tank.

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► VOC emission of storage tank is related to ambient temperature, solar radiation and daily ambient temperature range.
► More than 95% removals are obtained at the designed VOC load of TBAB system.
► Activated carbon can buffer inlet VOC load at peak emission of storage tank.
► The TBAB system is a cost-effective VOC control technology of storage tank.