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The influence of the gas flow rate during methane biofiltration on an inorganic packing material
Author(s) -
Josiane Nikiema,
Michèle Heitz
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.20131
Subject(s) - biofilter , methane , chemistry , phosphorus , nitrogen , carbon dioxide , nutrient , environmental chemistry , volumetric flow rate , environmental engineering , environmental science , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
The influence of the gas flow rate (GFR), when varied between 1 and 5.5 L/min, on the conversion, the elimination capacity (EC) and the carbon dioxide production ${\rm (}P_{{\rm CO}_2 } )$ , during the biofiltration of methane using a biofilter charged with an inorganic packing material, has been investigated. The methane concentrations considered for this purpose were selected from the operating range of 1300–12 000 ppmv. The experiments involved were conducted, using a nitrogen minimal salt nutrient solution, for the biofilter periodic irrigation, in which the nitrogen concentration was maintained at 0.75 g/L, and the phosphorus concentration was of 0.3 or 1.5 g/L. The results obtained from this study have confirmed the view that the GFR is a important parameter, the optimum values found, leading to methane conversions of ≥90%, being ≤2 L/min for inlet loads ≤55 g/m 3 /h. Based on this result, it was then established that the maximum volumetric load (VL) of methane in the biofilter must be estimated at around 0.075 m 3 (methane)/m 3 (biofilter)/h, that is, 6.8 m 3 (polluted gas)/m 3 (biofilter)/h. In addition, when the GFR is selected between 1 and 4.2 L/min, it has an influence on the EC. However, the GFR does not affect the $P_{{\rm CO}_2 }$ within the biofilter. It has also been established that the high phosphorus level (i.e., 1.5 g/L), present in the nutrient solution, is to be preferred in the biofilter.