Biological technologies for the removal of sulfur containing compounds from waste streams: bioreactors and microbial characteristics

Abstract

Waste gases containing sulfur compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, thioethers, and mercaptan, produced and emitted from industrial processes, wastewater treatment, and landfill waste may cause undesirable issues in adjacent areas and contribute to atmospheric pollution. Their control has been an area of concern and research for many years. As alternative to conventional physicochemical air pollution control technologies, biological treatment processes which can transform sulfur compounds to harmless products by microbial activity, have gained in popularity due to their efficiency, cost-effectiveness and environmental acceptability. This paper provides an overview of the current biological techniques used for the treatment of air streams contaminated with sulfur compounds as well as the advances made in the past year. The discussion focuses on bioreactor configuration and design, mechanism of operation, insights into the overall biological treatment process, and the characterization of the microbial species present in bioreactors, their populations and their interactions with the environment. Some bioreactor case studies are also introduced. Finally, the perspectives on future research and development needs in this research area were also highlighted.

Operational aspects of SO2 removal and microbial population in an integrated-bioreactor with two bioreaction zones

“…8a). Although the SZ and IZ shared several common bands (e.g., bands [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], band 15 only appeared in the SZ. Specifically, bands 2-4, 16, and 17 were additional bands found in the IZ but were absent in the SZ.…”

“…Bench-and pilot-scale studies have shown that exhaust streams containing organic and inorganic sulfur compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide [7,8], sulfur dioxide [9], and volatile organic sulfur [10,11], can be successfully treated with biofilters and biotrickling filters. To date, new methods have been developed to successfully eliminate sulfur compounds from waste streams [12,13]. These methods include the use of fungal bioreactors [14], thermophilic bioreactors [7,15], combined-bioreactors [13,16], and bioreactors integrated with physicochemical techniques.…”

“…To date, new methods have been developed to successfully eliminate sulfur compounds from waste streams [12,13]. These methods include the use of fungal bioreactors [14], thermophilic bioreactors [7,15], combined-bioreactors [13,16], and bioreactors integrated with physicochemical techniques.…”

A comparison of biofiltration performance based on bacteria and fungi for treating toluene vapors from airflow

“…Biological air pollution controls, which are a suitable alternative to conventional physico-chemical technologies, can convert a variety of compounds (such as VOCs) through the microorganisms activities into harmless elements. Thanks to the high efficiency and environmental friendly features, they are widely used by industries (Hort et al 2014;Li et al 2015;Rezaei et al 2014).…”

“…Most biofiltration studies have focused on bacterial activity, and they have shown a great variation and compatibility in the treatment of VOCs (Khammar et al 2005;Ralebitso-Senior et al 2012;Schiavon et al 2016). Although, bacterial biofilters have been introduced as a durable technology for the treatment of gas contaminants, their performance rapidly reduces under conditions of low humidity, low pH, nutrient constraints, and the presence of recalcitrant compounds (Estrada et al 2013a; Lebrero et al 2010;Li et al 2015). On the other hand, some studies based on fungal biofiltration have suggested that this new technology is capable of handling these difficult conditions (Arriaga and Revah 2005;Estrada et al 2013b;Li et al 2015;Van Groenestijn et al 2001).…”