Denitrification and nitric oxide reduction in an aerobic toluene-treating biofilter

• Published in: Biotechnology and bioengineering 1998-05, Vol.58 (4), p.408-415
• Main Authors: du Plessis, Chris A., Kinney, Kerry A., Schroeder, Edward D., Chang, Daniel P. Y., Scow, Kate M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aerobic; Aerobiosis; aerosol; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biofilms; biofilter; Biological and medical sciences; Biological treatment of gaseous effluents; biomass control; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Biotechnology - instrumentation; Biotechnology - methods; denitrification; Environment and pollution; Equipment Design; flue gas; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; nitric oxide; Nitric Oxide - pharmacokinetics; Nitrogen Oxides - pharmacokinetics; NOx; Toluene - pharmacokinetics
• ISSN: 0006-3592; 1097-0290
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0290(19980520)58:4<408::AID-BIT8>3.0.CO;2-N

The presence of significant denitrification activity in an aerobic toluene‐treating biofilter was demonstrated under batch and flow‐through conditions. N2O concentrations of 9.2 ppmv were produced by denitrifying bacteria in the presence of 15% acetylene, in a flow‐through system with a bulk gas phase O2 concentration of >17%. The carbon source for denitrification was not toluene but a byproduct or metabolite of toluene catabolism. Denitrification conditions were successfully used for the reduction of 60 ppmv nitric oxide to 15 ppmv at a flow rate of 3 L min−1 (EBRT of 3 min) in a fully aerated, 17% v/v O2 (superficially aerobic) biofilter. Higher NO removal efficiency (97%) was obtained by increasing the toluene supply to the biofilter. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 58:408‐415, 1998.