INTRODUCTION Thereare many physical and chemical methods to treat air pollution. Bioprocesseshave been very efficient for the treatment of air pollution. The most popularbioreactor configuration is the conventional biofilter. Biofilters wereinitially designed for odour control at wastewater treatment plants, but nowthey are becoming renowned for the treatment of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) and other organic compounds. These gases have bad odour and aredangerous for humans and animals.
Biofiltrationprocess is preferred over other air pollution control techniques and has gainedpopularity because it has economic advantages,as the energy requirement is significantly low and avoids cross media transferof pollutants. This technology can be mainly applied to waste gases to controlair pollution, which have low concentration and readily biodegradablepollutants. Biofilters utilizes microorganisms to reduce air pollution. Airpollutants come in contact with microorganisms inside the biofilter, wheremicroorganisms demean pollutants to produce energy and by-products (C02 andH20). Biofilter includes a filter material, where microorganisms breed. Biofilmis a very important part of the biofilter.
Biofilm is a thin layer of moisturewhere the microorganisms reside. In the process of biofiltration polluted airis pushed inside the biofilter slowly thereby, the pollutants in the air getabsorbed in the filter media, then as a result the polluted gas is dispersed inthe biofilter and absorbed onto the biofilm. Afterthe escalation of the conventional biofilter, new configurations were developedfor air pollution control which is known as biotrickling filters and bioscrubbers.A new set of technologies were also introduced for air pollution control suchas membrane bioreactor and rotating biological contractor.
A lot of industriesuse this biofilter technology for example the food industry, pharmaceuticals,wood products manufacturing, paint and coatings application, petroleumindustry, sewage treatment etc. Polluted air stream comprises VOCs and manysulfur compounds. Biofilters require a large area while treating largeairflows, which can be as big as a basketball court. Recent research shows thatbiofilters can be used to remove a variety of airborne contaminants whichincludes aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, organicacids, acrylate, carbolic acids, amines and ammonia. The main three bio reactor configurations used forair pollution control are biofilters, biotrickling filters and bioscrubbers.The core mechanism is same for all but they make use of microbes in differentphases which may be suspended, fixed or in a liquid state. Biofilters are notexactly filtration units but a combination of different unit operations such asabsorption, adsorption, degradation and desorption of gas phase contaminants.
Water is added into the biofilter system to controlthe moisture content and add essential nutrients. Humidification of gas streamsis generally carried out before feeding it into the system. BIOFILTER CONFIGURATION AND ELEMENTS CONVENTIONAL BIOFILTERSThe two categories of biofilters are open bed orclosed bed.Open bed biofilters are theones that are used mostly and its depth varies from about 10 to 18 inches. Theyare larger than the closed-bed biofilters. Open bed biofilters are made in sucha way that they are exposed to the weather outside. Closed bed biofilters areusually surrounded with a small exhaust port to let out the air which is clean.Closed bed biofilters are commonly used to treat small airflows and tend to havedeeper media approximately (2-3 feet), in order to reduce the space which isrequired to attain odour control also it is more expensive as compared to open bedbiofilters.
