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Experimental study and mathematical modeling of gaseous toluene biofiltration by thermophilic active compost
Author(s) -
Karamanev Dimitre G.,
Matteau Yanick,
Ramsay Bruce A.
Publication year - 1999
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.5450770534
Subject(s) - biofilter , toluene , compost , mass transfer , chemistry , particle (ecology) , bioreactor , chromatography , chemical engineering , analytical chemistry (journal) , environmental chemistry , environmental engineering , waste management , environmental science , organic chemistry , oceanography , engineering , geology
The main goal of this work was to develop a mathematical model of the process of toluene biofiltration by thermophilic active compost. The model parameters were determined in laboratory‐scale experiments with a biofilter, as well as in microcosm experiments. Our experiments have shown that there are two distinctive shapes of compost particles: flat and round ones. The retention time distribution was also determined experimentally. The experimental results of the kinetics, retention time distribution and particle shape were used to develop a mathematical model of the process. Toluene and oxygen concentration profiles were calculated as a function of the particle depth. It has been shown that the oxygen concentration is always is excess and therefore, no anaerobic zones can be expected. A significant intraparticle mass‐transfer resistance was predicted for the case of round particles while the effect of internal mass‐transfer was not that important in the flat particles. The toluene concentration profile as a function of the bioreactor axial coordinate was calculated and compared to the experimental data.