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Abstract
Bioprocesses, such as biofiltration, are commonly used to treat industrial effluents containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at low concentrations. Nevertheless, the use of biofiltration for indoor air pollution (IAP) treatment requires adjustments depending on specific indoor environments. Therefore, this study focuses on the convenience of a hybrid biological process for IAP treatment. A biofiltration reactor using a green waste compost was combined with an adsorption column filled with activated carbon (AC). This system treated a toluene-micropolluted effluent (concentration between 17 and 52 µg/m3), exhibiting concentration peaks close to 733 µg/m3 for a few hours per day. High removal efficiency was obtained despite changes in toluene inlet load (from 4.2 × 10−3 to 0.20 g/m3/hr), which proves the hybrid system’s effectiveness. In fact, during unexpected concentration changes, the efficiency of the biofilter is greatly decreased, but the adsorption column maintains the high efficiency of the entire process (removal efficiency [RE] close to 100%). Moreover, the adsorption column after biofiltration is able to deal with the problem of the emission of particles and/or microorganisms from the biofilter.
Implications
Indoor air pollution is nowadays recognized as a major environmental and health issue. This original study investigates the performance of a hybrid biological process combining a biofilter and an adsorption column for removal of indoor VOCs, specifically toluene.
Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the society Recyclage Organique Mobile (France) for their valuable technical assistance.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
C. Hort
C. Hort is an associate professor and S. Sochard is a senior lecturer in Chemical and Environmental Engineering of the University of Pau, France.
S. Sochard
C. Hort is an associate professor and S. Sochard is a senior lecturer in Chemical and Environmental Engineering of the University of Pau, France.
A.T. Luengas Munoz
V. Platel is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Pau.
M. Ondarts
A.T. Luengas Munoz is a Ph.D. student whose doctoral thesis is a joint supervision between the University of Pau, France and the University of the Basque Country, Spain.
A. Reguer
M. Ondarts is an assistant professor at the Université de Savoie, France.
A. Barona
A. Reguer earned his Ph.D. about indoor air treatment at the Laboratory of Thermique Energétique et Procédés of the University of Pau, France in 2010.
A. Elias
A. Barona is a professor and A. Elias is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering in the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain.