Elimination of sulphur odours at landfills by bioconversion and the corona discharge plasma technique

Abstract

Hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) contributes a lot to odours at landfills, which is a threat to the environment and the health of the staff therein. To mitigate its emission, the bioconversion within landfill cover soils (LCSs) was introduced. H₂S emission and concentration both in the field air above the landfill and in microcosm testing were surveyed. Results indicated that H₂S emission and concentration in the landfill varied with landfill seasons and sites. There existed relationship between H₂S concentration and fluxes spatially and temporally. To characterize and assess the spatial and temporal diversity of sulphur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) and sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the LCSs, the terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique was employed. Using the functional genes of dsrB and soxB, SOB, including Halothiobacillus, Rhodothalassium, Paracocccus, Allochromatium, and Thiobacillus, and SRB, including Desulfovibrio, Syntrophobacter, Desulfomonile and Desulfobacca, were identical and exhibited the dominant role in the LCSs. By employing an alternative available corona reactor, more than 90% removal efficiencies of sulphides were demonstrated, suggesting that the LCSs for eliminating odours in a lower concentration would be feasible.

Keywords:

• hydrogen sulphide emission
• elimination
• clone
• sulphur bioconversion
• corona discharge plasma

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants nos. 41001148 and 51178411, and partially by National High Technology Research and Development Program no. 2013AA065901.