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Concept
Biofilter
Summary
Biofiltration is a pollution control technique using a bioreactor containing living material to capture and biologically degrade pollutants. Common uses include processing waste water, capturing harmful chemicals or silt from surface runoff, and microbiotic oxidation of contaminants in air. Industrial biofiltration can be classified as the process of utilizing biological oxidation to remove volatile organic compounds, odors, and hydrocarbons.
Examples of biofiltration include:
Bioswales, biostrips, biobags, bioscrubbers, Vermifilters and trickling filters
Constructed wetlands and natural wetlands
Slow sand filters
Treatment ponds
Green belts
Green walls
Riparian zones, riparian forests, bosques
Bivalve bioaccumulation
When applied to air filtration and purification, biofilters use microorganisms to remove air pollution.
The air flows through a packed bed and the pollutant transfers into a thin biofilm on the surface of the packing material. Microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi are immobilized in the biofilm and degrade the pollutant. Trickling filters and bioscrubbers rely on a biofilm and the bacterial action in their recirculating waters.
The technology finds the greatest application in treating malodorous compounds and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Industries employing the technology include food and animal products, off-gas from wastewater treatment facilities, pharmaceuticals, wood products manufacturing, paint and coatings application and manufacturing and resin manufacturing and application, etc. Compounds treated are typically mixed VOCs and various sulfur compounds, including hydrogen sulfide. Very large airflows may be treated and although a large area (footprint) has typically been required—a large biofilter (>200,000 acfm) may occupy as much or more land than a football field—this has been one of the principal drawbacks of the technology. Since the early 1990s, engineered biofilters have provided significant footprint reductions over the conventional flat-bed, organic media type.
Official source
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