THE REMOVAL OF VOLATILE KETONE MIXTURES FROM AIR IN BIOFILTERS

The work reported concerns the removal of mixtures of two ketones, met hyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), which find w ide application as industrial solvents, from effluent air streams in d ownward flow biofilters operating at relative humidities in excess of 95 percent. The inlet concentrations of the two pollutants were 300 mg m-3 MEK and 330 mg m-3 MIBK. Maximum elimination capacities achieved were 50 g m-3 h-1 for MEK and 20 g m-3 h-1 for MIBK. Marked interactio n between the elimination of the two ketones was observed and establis hed biophysical models for the kinetic analysis of biofilter operation proved inadequate as far as the complex processes involved in multico mponent biodegradable vapour elimination were concerned. The complexit y of such systems requires further definition and the development of a ppropriate models for process evaluation and design.