Process intensification and modeling of a hybrid air stripping-biofilter (ASBF) system for removal of benzene from produced water

Abstract

In this work, a novel concept of combining air stripping followed by biofilter technology (ASBF) is introduced and through a mathematical model, the performance of the system for the removal of benzene as a representative pollutant is evaluated. The system performance is investigated for a flow rate range of 8.5 × 10⁻³–17 × 10⁻³ m³/s and benzene concentrations of 45 × 10⁻³ and 75 × 10⁻³ kg/m³. The removal efficiency ranged from 29.2 to 90.3% for the air stripping section of the system at varying packing types and sizes while the biofilter section had a removal efficiency range of 34–99% for varying empty bed residence times (EBRTs). The overall removal efficiency for the ASBF system ranged from 92 to 97%. The simulation results also showed that the ASBF system can be effectively used to remove benzene from polluted industrial wastewater. Parameter perturbation study that was performed using factorial design showed influent benzene concentration, stripping factor, air stripping column packing size, packing type, and biofilter EBRT are the main factors that influence the removal of benzene.

Keywords:

• Air stripping
• Benzene
• Biofilter
• Empty bed residence time
• Process intensification
• VOC
• Wastewater
• Process modeling
• Process simulation

Acknowledgment

Zarook Shareefdeen acknowledges American University of Sharjah for the Sabbatical Grant to work at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. Muyiwa Ogunlaja, a graduate student, acknowledges the financial support of Dr Wayne Parker of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo.

Notes

Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Water, Energy and Environment (ICWEE) 24–26 March 2015, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates