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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

ISSN 2095-2201

ISSN 2095-221X(Online)

CN 10-1013/X

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Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.    2015, Vol. 9 Issue (3) : 554-562    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-014-0671-z
RESEARCH ARTICLE
A biofilter model for simultaneous simulation of toluene removal and bed pressure drop under varied inlet loadings
Jinying XI1,*(),Insun KANG1,Hongying HU1,2,Xian ZHANG1
1. Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control State Key Joint Laboratory, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2. Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
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Abstract

In this study, a biofiltration model including the effect of biomass accumulation and inert biomass growth is developed to simultaneously predict the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) removal and filter bed pressure drop under varied inlet loadings. A laboratory-scale experimental biofilter for gaseous toluene removal was set up and operated for 100 days with inlet toluene concentration ranging from 250 to 2500 mg?m-3. According to sensitivity analysis based on the model, the VOCs removal efficiency of the biofilter is more sensitive to Henry’s constant, the specific surface area of the filter bed and the thickness of water layer, while the filter bed pressure drop is more sensitive to biomass yield coefficient and original void fraction. The calculated toluene removal efficiency and bed pressure drop satisfactorily fit the experimental data under varied inlet toluene loadings, which indicates the model in this study can be used to predict VOCs removal and bed pressure drop simultaneously. Based on the model, the effect of mass-transfer parameters on VOCs removal and the stable-run time of a biofilter are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the model can function as a good tool to evaluate the effect of biomass accumulation and optimize the design and operation of biofilters.
Keywords Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)      biofilters      modelling      biomass accumulation      pressure drop     
Corresponding Author(s): Jinying XI   
Online First Date: 14 March 2014    Issue Date: 30 April 2015
 Cite this article:   
Jinying XI,Insun KANG,Hongying HU, et al. A biofilter model for simultaneous simulation of toluene removal and bed pressure drop under varied inlet loadings[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2015, 9(3): 554-562.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-014-0671-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2015/V9/I3/554
Fig.1  Conceptual model of biofiltration process: (a) biofilter column; (b) VOCs transfer and degradation process in bulk gas, water layer and biofilm
symbol parameter value unit methods
Sgin inlet toluene concentration 0.2–2 g?m-3 measured
u superficial velocity 27 m?h-1 measured
l height of filter bed 0.4 m measured
a0 initial specific surface area of the filter bed 950 m2?m-3 measured
?0 initial void fraction of the filter bed 0.6 – measured
νm maximum specific substrate utilization rate 0.45 h-1 measured
Ks monod half saturation constant 2.4 g?m-3 measured
H Henry’s constant of toluene 0.3 – cited [31]
D diffusion coefficient of toluene in water 3 × 10-6 m2?h-1 cited [32]
Df diffusion coefficient of toluene in biofilm 2.4 × 10-6 m2?h-1 cited [33]
μ air viscosity 5.14 × 10-9 Pa?h cited
ρ air density 1.18 × 103 g?m-3 citied
Y actual yield coefficient 0.7 – cited [29]
b biomass decay rate 0.005 h-1 cited [29]
β formation coefficient of inert biomass 0.2 – cited [29]
L thickness of water layer 5 × 10-5 m data fitting
Xf biomass density in biofilm 5 × 104 g?m-3 data fitting
de0 initial equivalent diameter of the filter bed 7 × 10-4 m data fitting
Xa0 initial active biomass concentration 50 g?m-3 assumed
Xi0 initial inert biomass concentration 50 g?m-3 assumed
Tab.1  Estimated values of parameters in the model
parameter RSI(Sgout) RSI(ΔP) parameter RSI(Sgout) RSI(ΔP)
a0 ?0.85 1.95 Ks 0.13 ?0.18
?0 ?0.38 ?1.99 Y 0.51 3.12
de0 0 ?1.52 B ?0.14 ?0.53
H 0.92 ?1.01 β 0.28 1.93
D ?0.58 1.10 L 0.66 ?0.77
Df ?0.13 0.23 Xf ?0.52 ?1.28
νm ?0.13 0.23
Tab.2  Relative sensitivity index (RSI) for different parameters
Fig.2  Comparison of experimental and calculated toluene removal performance of the biofilter during the operation period: (a) inlet toluene concentration; (b) toluene removal efficiency; (c) toluene removal rate
Fig.3  Variation of experimental and calculated bed pressure drop during the operation period (the filter bed is stirred and mixed on Day 75)
Fig.4  Effects of some parameters on VOCs removal efficiency by model prediction: (a) Henry’s constant (H); (b) specific surface area of filter bed (a0); (c) thickness of water layer (L)
Fig.5  Calculated stable-run time of a biofilter under different inlet toluene concentrations and superficial velocities (u)
aspecific surface area of the filter bed (m2?m-3)
a0initial specific surface area of the filter bed (m2?m-3)
bendogenous-decay coefficient (h-1)
DVOCs diffusion coefficient in the water layer (m2?h-1)
DfVOCs diffusion coefficient in biofilm (m2?h-1).
deequivalent diameter of the filder bed
dPxpressure drop of the differential layer (Pa)
dxthickness of the differential layer of filter bed (m)
HHenry’s constant (dimensionless)
JxVOCs diffusion flux on the interface of the gas phase and the water layer (g?m-2?h-1)
Kshalf saturation constant (g?m-3)
Lthickness of water layer on the biofilm (m)
Lfthickness of the biofilm (m)
lheight of the filter bed (m)
RSIrelative sensitivity index (dimensionless)
SfVOCs concentration in biofilm (g?m-3)
Sggaseous VOCs concentration in a section of filter bed (g?m-3)
Sgininlet gaseous VOCs concentration (g?m-3)
Sgoutoutlet gaseous VOCs concentration (g?m-3)
SsVOCs concentration in the surface of water layer (g?m-3)
ttime (h)
usuperficial velocity inside the biofilter (m?h-1)
Xaactive biomass concentration (g?m-3)
Xftotal biomass density in biofilm (g?m-3)
Xfaactive biomass density in biofilm (g?m-3)
Xiinactive and inert biomass concentration (g?m-3)
Xttotal biomass concentration (g?m-3)
xdistance from a section of filter bed to inlet (m)
Yyield coefficient from toluene to biomass (dimensionless)
zdistance from some point in biofilm to the interface of biofilm and water layer (m)
ΔPtotal pressure drop of the filter bed (Pa)
βfraction of inactive biomass to decayed biomass (dimensionless)
?void fraction of the filter bed (dimensionless)
?0initial void fraction (dimensionless)
νmmaximum specific VOCs utilization rate (h-1)
μgas viscosity (Pa?h)
ρgas density (g?m-3)
Tab.1  
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