Removal Of Butylene And Propylene Gas Using Biofiltration

Abstract

Air pollutants are produced from a variety of anthropogenic activities such as food production, wastewater treatment plants, painting, industrial activities, and biomass combustion. Such pollutants are becoming a cause of concern worldwide because of their harmful effects on ecosystems, human health, and the atmosphere. One technology for treatment of these hazardous, odorous, and ozone-forming compounds is biofiltration. Biofilters are relatively inexpensive to install and operate, and can achieve high pollution removal efficiencies. This research was carried out to determine the removal efficiency of pollutants propylene and butylene using biofilter technology. In a biofilter column, air is passed through a packed bed of media. Pollutants diffuse into the biofilm layer and are then degraded by microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria present in the biofilm. A mixture of compost and hard wood chips was used as media in this research, in 80:20, 50:50, and intermediate ratios by volume at room temperature of 73°F. Initially, the pH of the media was about 7.12 for both gases but it increased slightly to 7.76 in 10 weeks and 7.71 in 11 weeks for butylene and propylene gas, respectively. The moisture content was 40-100% throughout the experiment. The biofilter was effective in removing 100% of the butylene and propylene in 12 weeks. The maximum observed elimination capacity was 807 g/m³-hr and 13.6 g/m³-hr for propylene and butylene, respectively, for concentrations ranging from 91 ppm to 643 ppm for butylene and 2.95 x 10⁴ ppm to 4.22 x 10⁴ for propylene.