Simultaneous removal of H2S and NH3 in biofilter inoculated with Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans TAS

H2S and NH3 gases are toxic, corrosive and malodorous air pollutants. Although there are numerous well-established physicochemical techniques presently available for the treatment of these gases, the growing demand for a more economical and improved process has prompted investigations into biological alternatives. In biological treatment methods, H2S is oxidized to SO42- by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, and then NH3 is removed by chemical neutralization with SO42- to (NH4)2SO4. Since the accumulated (NH4)2SO4 can inhibit microbial activity, it is important to utilize an effective sulfur-oxidizing bacterium that has tolerance to high concentrations of (NH4)2SO4 for the simultaneous removal of H2S and NH3. In this study, a sulfur-oxidizing bacterium with tolerance to high concentrations of (NH4)2SO4 was isolated from activated sludge and identified as Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans TAS. A. thiooxidans TAS could display its sulfur-oxidizing activity in a medium supplemented with 60 g·l−1 (NH4)2SO4, even though its growth and sulfur-oxidizing activity were completely inhibited in 80 g ·l−1 (NH4)2SO4. When H2S alone was supplied to a ceramic biofilter inoculated with A. thiooxidans TAS, an almost 100% H2S removal efficiency was maintained until the inlet H2S concentration was increased up to 900 μl·l−1 and the space velocity up to 500 h−1, at which the amount of H2S eliminated was 810 g-S·m−3·h−1. However, when NH3 (50-500 μl·l−1) was simultaneously supplied to the biofilter with H2S, the maximum amount of H2S eliminated decreased to 650 g-S·m−3·h−1. The inhibition of H2S removal by low NH3 concentrations (50-200μl·l−1) was similar to that by high NH3 concentrations (300-500μl·l−1). The critical inlet H2S load that resulted in over 99% removal was determined as 400 g-S·m−3·h−1 in the presence of NH3.