Efficacy of wood charcoal and its modified form as packing media for biofiltration of isoprene

•The effect two synthetic packing media on isoprene biofiltration was evaluated.•The bioreactors showed 90% removal efficiency at 404 g m−3 h−1 inlet loading rate.•Comparison showed superior efficacy of synthetic packing media over natural ones.•Polyurethane foam was the most suitable packing media for isoprene abatement.

The efficacy of wood charcoal (WC) and nutrient-enriched wood charcoal (NWC) as biofilter packing media were assessed for isoprene biodegradation in a bioreactor comprising bioscrubber and a biofilter connected in series and inoculated with Pseudomonas sp. The bioreactors using WC and NWC exhibited >90% removal efficiency and around 369 g m−3 h−1 elimination capacity at around 404 g m−3 h−1 inlet loading rate. In both the bioreactors, the biofilter component showed better degradation capacity compared to the bioscrubber unit. The kinetic parameters, maximum elimination capacity, ECmax; substrate constant, Ks and ECmax/Ks for Michaelis-Menten model were evaluated. The lower Ks for the WC packed bioreactor indicated that ECmax achieved, was faster compared to others, while higher ECmax and ECmax/Ks for the NWC packed bioreactor suggests its superiority in isoprene abatement in the continuous mode. A comparison of the available published information on biofiltration of isoprene reflected polyurethane foam as the superior packing media.