Polyurethane Foam Medium for Biofiltration. I: Characterization
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 126, Issue 9
Abstract
Although biological treatment has been applied successfully to treat waste gases using conventional organic packing media such as compost, there is currently a need for further research on ways to optimize the medium selected. Use of a superior filter-bed medium could overcome or minimize many of the problems encountered in conventional biofilter operation (e.g., medium clogging, difficulty in control of moisture content, and nutrient limitation). In research described herein, polyurethane foam was manufactured and characterized to determine its suitability as a solid support medium for use in gas-phase biofilters. Part I of this paper describes studies conducted to determine the medium's porosity, pore size, head loss characteristics, density, sorption capacity, and chemical resistance. Results are presented that characterize the polyurethane foam medium's properties and suggest how it can be used effectively in treating gas-phase volatile organic compound contaminants. Part II of this paper describes studies conducted to determine the medium's ability to support an active biofilm and to study feasibility of a novel nutrient addition and biomass wasting strategy.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Baltzis, B. C. ( 1998). “Biofiltration of VOC vapors.” Biological treatment of hazardous wastes, G. A. Lewandowski and L. J. DeFilippi, eds., Wiley, New York, 119.
2.
Boyette, R. A., Williams, T., and Wynne, D. (1995). “Biofiltration demonstration for controlling volatile organic emissions.” Proc., 1995 Conf. on Biofiltration, D. S. Hodge and F. E. Reynolds Jr., eds., 325–332.
3.
Braun, T., Navratil, J. D., and Farag, A. B. (1985). Polyurethane foam sorbents in separation science, CRC, Boca Raton, Fla.
4.
Brooks, I. K., Lilly, M. D., and Drozd, J. W. (1987). “Use of immobilized Bacillus subtillus for the stereospecific hydrolysis of d,l-menthyl acetate.” Enzyme and Microbial Tech., 9(4), 217–220.
5.
Chatzopoulos, D. ( 1994). “Experimental and modeling studies on membrane-aerated granular activated carbon–Sequencing batch biofilm reactors for wastewater treatment.” PhD dissertation, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.
6.
Cox, H. H., Moerman, R. E., van Baalen, S., van Heiningen, W. N. M., Doddema, H. J., and Harder, W. (1997). “Performance of a styrene-degrading biofilter containing the yeast Exophiala jeanselmei.” Biotechnol. and Bioengrg., 53(3), 259–266
7.
Deshusses, M. A. (1995). “Operation of compost based biofilters under transient and multiple VOC conditions.” Proc., 1995 Conf. on Biofiltration, D. S. Hodge and F. E. Reynolds Jr., eds., 45–52.
8.
Devinny, J. S., Deshusses, M. A., and Webster, T. S. (1999). Biofiltration for air pollution control, Lewis, Boca Raton, Fla.
9.
Diks, R. M. M., and Ottengraf, S. P. P. (1991). “Verification studies of a simplified model for the removal of dichloromethane from waste gases using a biological trickling filter: Part I.” Bioprocess Engrg., 6(3). 93–99.
10.
Eitner, D., and Gethke, H. G. (1989). “Design, construction, and operation of biofilters for odor control in sewage treatment plants.” Proc., 80th Annu. Meeting of the Air Pollution Control Assn.
11.
Ergas, S. J., Schroeder, E. D., and Chang, D. P. (1992). “Biodegradation technology for volatile organic compound removal from airstreams; Phase I: Performance verification.” Prepared for Research Division, California Air Resources Board, Final Report under Contract No. AO-32-137.
12.
Farmer, R. W. ( 1994). “Biofiltration: Process variables and optimization studies.” MS thesis, University of Minnesota, Minn.
13.
Gu, Y., Zhong-cheng, H., and Korus, R. A. (1994). “Effects of adsorption on mass transfer in immobilization matrices.” Chemical Engrg. J., 54, B1–B8.
14.
Havens, P. L., and Rase, H. F. (1993). “Reusable immobilized enzyme/polyurethane sponge for removal and detoxification of localized organophosphate pesticide spills.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 32, 2254–2258.
15.
Hu, Z.-C., Korus, R. A., Levinson, W. E., and Crawford, R. L. (1994). “Adsorption and biodegradation of pentachlorophenol by polyurethane-immobilized flavobacterium.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 28(3), 491–496.
16.
Introduction to Hypol;ot Prepolymers. (1992). Hampshire Chemical Corp., Lexington, Mass.
17.
Kinney, K. A., Wright, W., Chang, D. P., and Schroeder, E. D. ( 1998). “Biodegradation of vapor phase contaminants.” Bioremediation: Principles and practice, S. K. Sikdar and R. L. Irvine, eds., Vol. 1, Technomic Publishing Co., Lancaster, Pa., 601–632.
18.
Leson, G., and Winer, A. M. (1991). “Biofiltration: An innovative air pollution control technology for VOC emissions.” J. Air and Waste Mgmt. Assn., 41(8), 1045–1054.
19.
Loy, J., and Flauger, M. ( 1997). “Investigations in the elimination of odors in the tobacco and food industry using the Zander Biotrickling Technology.” Emerging Technologies in Hazardous Waste Management IX.
20.
Moe, W. M., and Irvine, R. L. ( 1998). “Application of periodic processes to the biofiltration of toluene vapors.” Air Pollution VI, C. A. Brebbia, C. F. Ratto, and H. Power, eds., WIT Press, Computational Mechanics Inc., Southampton, U.K., 267–276.
21.
Moe, W. M., and Irvine, R. L. (1999). “Nitrogen utilization in a synthetic medium biofilter.” Proc., 92nd Annu. Meeting of the Air and Waste Mgmt. Assn., 1–14.
22.
Moe, W. M., Irvine, R. L., and Montemagno, C. D. (1997). “Preliminary investigation of polyurethane foam medium for use in vapor phase biofiltration.” Proc., 1997 CSCE-ASCE Envir. Engrg. Conf.: Protecting People and the Environment, S. J. Stanley, C. J. W. Ward, and D. W. Smith, eds., Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, Montreal, 1755–1766.
23.
Moller, S., Pedersen, A. R., Poulsen, L. K., Arvin, E., and Molin, S. (1996). “Activity and three-dimensional distribution of toluene-degrading Pseudomonas putida in a multispecies biofilm assessed by quantitative in situ hybridization and scanning confocal laser microscopy.” Appl. and Envir. Microbiology, 62(12), 4632–4640.
24.
Ottengraf, S. P. P. (1987). “Biological systems for waste gas elimination.” Trends in Biotechnology, 5, 132–136.
25.
Severin, B. F., Shi, J., Cybul, B. G., Neilson, L. M., and Furstenberg, J. L. ( 1995). “High-rate low volume biofilters for industry, Water Environment Federation.” Industrial Waste Tech. Conf.: Multimedia Pollution Control and Prevention.
26.
Shareefdeen, Z., Baltzis, B. C., Oh, Y.-S., and Bartha, R. (1993). “Biofiltration of methanol vapor.” Biotechnol. and Bioengrg., 41, 512–514.
27.
Sorial, G. A., Smith, F. L., Suidan, M. T., Biswas, P., and Brenner, R. C. (1995). “Evaluation of trickle bed biofilter media for toluene removal.” J. Air and Waste Mgmt. Assn., 45(10), 801–810.
28.
van Groenestijn, J. W., Harkes, M., Cox, H., and Doddema, H. (1995). “Ceramic materials in biofiltration.” Proc., 1995 Conf. on Biofiltration, D. S. Hodge and F. E. Reynolds Jr., eds., 317–324.
29.
Wastewater engineering: Treatment, disposal, and reuse. (1991). 3rd Ed., Revised by G. Tchobanoglous and F. L. Burton, McGraw-Hill, New York.
30.
Wirpsz, Z. (1993). Polyurethanes: Chemistry, technology and applications, Ellis Horwood, New York.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 126 • Issue 9 • September 2000
Pages: 815 - 825
History
Received: Sep 1, 1999
Published online: Sep 1, 2000
Published in print: Sep 2000
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.