The packing material selection for a bioreactor is an important factor to consider, since the characteristics of this material can directly affect the performance of the bioprocess, as well as the investment costs. Different types of low cost packing materials were studied in columns to reduce the initial and operational costs of biogas biodesulfurization. The most prominent (PVC pieces from construction pipes) was applied in a bench-scale biotrickling filter to remove the H2S of the biogas from a real sewage treatment plant in Brazil, responsible for 90 thousand inhabitants. At the optimal experimental condition, the reactor presented a Removal Efficiency (RE) of up to 95.72% and Elimination Capacity (EC) of 98 gS·m−3·h−1, similar to open pore polyurethane foam, the traditional material widely used for H2S removal. These results demonstrated the high potential of application of this packing material in a full scale considering the robustness of the system filled with this support, even when submitted to high sulfide concentration, fluctuations in H2S content in biogas, and temperature variations.
Biogas is a renewable energy source that can be used to produce heat and energy, replacing fossil fuels. The main factor limiting the use of biogas is contaminants in its composition which H2S is the most important due to corrosion and environmental problems. A promising technology to remove this contaminant from biogas is the biotrickling filters and the selection of inexpensive and durable supports is an important step for the operation. This work has studied different support materials, for microorganisms immobilization, as Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polyethylene Terephtalate (PET), Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon®) comparing to open pore polyurethane foam (OPP) each one packed in biotrickling filters to evaluate the consumption of thiosulfate by chemolitotrofic microorganisms. The kinetics of substrate consumption in different cycles for each support were distinct suggesting different microbial colonization. The materials tested have presented results very similar polyurethane foam, which has already known by its efficiency on biogas desulfurization, unless Teflon that has showed a divergent result with the increase of the substrate concentration in the system.
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