Effects of Water Content and Irrigation of Packing Materials on the Performance of Biofilters and Biotrickling Filters: A Review

Abstract

Biofilters (BFs) and biotrickling filters (BTFs) are two types of bioreactors used for treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Both BFs and BTFs use packing materials in which various microorganisms are immobilised. The water phase in BFs is stationary and used to maintain the humidity of packing materials, while BTFs have a mobile liquid phase. Optimisation of irrigation of packing materials is crucial for effective performance of BFs and BTFs. A literature review is presented on the influence of water content of packing materials on the biofiltration efficiency of various pollutants. Different configurations of BFs and BTFs and their influence on moisture distribution in packing materials were discussed. The review also presents various packing materials and their irrigation control strategies applied in recent biofiltration studies. The sources of this review included recent research articles from scientific journals and several review articles discussing BFs and BTFs.

Biochar-packed biofilter for the treatment of gases produced by accumulated sargassum waste

“…Currently, biofilters have become a popular substitute for traditional air treatment procedures, including odor control and the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOC) (Permana et al, 2022), as well as H 2 S emissions. Biofilters are devices that transport a moist contaminated fluid through a permeable filled area (Danila et al, 2022). The effectiveness of biochar in a biofilter depends on numerous factors, including suitable packing materials, large surface area, specific surface area, pore volume, pore size distribution, good ion exchange capacity, high gas retention capacity, and improved selectivity (Das et al, 2019).…”