Performance of fibrous bed bioreactor for treating odorous gas - Scientific note

A fibrous bed bioreactor was used for treatment of odorous volatile fatty a cid (VFA). The effect of gaseous VFA (acetic, propionic, and butyric acids) mass loading on the bioreactor performance was investigated. The VFA degra ding microbial culture was selected from activated sludge by the three VFAs using a shake-flask culture. The selected microorganisms were then immobil ized in a biofilter using cotton fabric as packing material. In the biofilt ration experiment, the inlet gas flow rates ranged from 1 to 4 L/min, the t otal VFA concentrations ranged from 0.10 to 0.43 g/m(3), and the resulting total mass loadings of VFA studied ranged from 9.7 to 104.3 g/m(3)/h. At to tal mass loading of 104.3 g/m(3)/h, the VFA removal efficiency was 87.7%. H igher removal efficiencies (>90%) were achieved at mass loadings below 50.3 g/m(3)/h.