Biofiltration of hydrogen sulphide and toluene using a novel biological activated carbon biotrickling filter

Abstract

In this study, granular activated carbon (GAC) was chosen as the packing material to test potential improvements to current biofiltration processes by investigating the use of a novel support medium for mixture gases removal. Carbon characteristics were investigated to study its feasibility as a packing material for biofiltration. The experimental data showed that GAC had a large surface area, porous structure, neutral pH, high adsorption capacity and uniform shape that were favorable for use as a medium of biofiltration. Immobilization tests indicated that microorganisms grew rapidly and formed a satisfactory biofilm on the carbon surface. The results of this study demonstrated that GAC with biofilm formed a novel packing medium termed in this study as biological activated carbon (BAC).