Characterization of Wood-Dryer Condensate with Assessment of Toxicity to Microorganisms
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 7
Abstract
Drying of wood causes airborne emissions that can be reduced by recirculating all or part of the drying medium. This favors both emission control and energy efficiency, but results in a condensate that contains significant amounts of organic compounds. Drying operations have been requested by municipal regulatory bodies to clean the condensate before release. The industry has tested biological treatment of condensate from biomass dryers, but maintaining the viability of microorganisms has been a challenge. In this study, the effect of drying gas temperature and the final wood moisture content on the chemical composition and acute toxicity of the condensate was tested. Results showed that whereas the condensate from wood drying was extremely toxic to Vibrio fischeri employed in Microtox assays, the undefined mixed culture present in biosludge from a pulp and paper mill treatment plant were considerably less affected.
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Acknowledgments
This work was in part funded by Ångpanneföreningen’s Foundation for Research and Development (Åforsk).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 7 • July 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 8, 2016
Accepted: Oct 31, 2016
Published ahead of print: Feb 24, 2017
Published online: Feb 25, 2017
Published in print: Jul 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Jul 25, 2017
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