Vertical and Horizontal Airflow Characteristics of Wood/Compost Mixtures

Sadaka, Sammy; Magura, C. R.; Mann, D. D.

doi:10.13031/2013.11321

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Nicolai and Janni (2001a) compared mixtures of compost and wood chips and reported that pressure drop increased and porosity of the mixture decreased as the amount of compost in the media mixture increased. Sadaka et al (2002) compared wood chips and wood mulch as bulking agents and reported that mulch had lower porosity than chips for the same compost to bulking agent ratio, thus providing higher resistance to airflow. Morgan-Sagastume et al (2003) reported that small pore diameters with high connectivity (wide conduit network) improved biofilter performance, as the contact between the flowing gas and media increased.…”

Section: Porosity and Resistance To Airflowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Physical Properties of Gas-Phase Biofilter Media

Maia¹,

Sales²,

Day³

et al. 2012

Transactions of the ASABE

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Gas-phase biofiltration is an effective technology for reduction of odors and trace-gas contaminants. Significant contributions to the technical literature regarding the characterization of biofilter media have been generated in the past two decades. Nevertheless, the information produced has not been systematically organized. The objective of this study is to demonstrate and document methods for physical characterization of gas-phase compost biofilters (GPCB). The inclusion of moisture content, compaction, and particle size effects in the determination of media bulk density and porosity, field capacity, drying rate analysis, water sorption isotherms, and resistance to airflow is demonstrated. Results indicated that: (1) higher moisture content led to about 2% reduction in porosity after compaction; (2) biofilter media sieved into three particle size ranges (12.5 mm > PSR1 > 8.0 mm > PSR2 > 4.75 mm > PSR3 > 1.35 mm) produced significantly different media field capacities, i.e., 52.8% (PSR1), 61.6% (PSR2), and 72.2% (PSR3) on a wet basis; (3) a drying rate analysis provides important information regarding media-water relations and can be potentially used for in situ indirect media moisture monitoring (as shown in previous work, changes in drying rate significantly affected ammonia removal and nitrous oxide generation); (4) the Henderson isotherm can be accurately used for dry organic media to determine the minimum moisture required for microbial activity; and finally (5) the combination of high airflow and high moisture content drastically increased pressure drop up to 65-fold (6350 Pa m-1) compared to the lowest pressure drop (98 Pa m-1). Further, the research community should integrate efforts to elaborate standard methods and protocols for physical characterization of gas-phase biofilter media before and during biofilter operation.

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Section: Porosity and Resistance To Airflowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Physical Properties of Gas-Phase Biofilter Media

Maia¹,

Sales²,

Day³

et al. 2012

Transactions of the ASABE

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“…A study conducted by Nicolai and Thaler (2007) showed an 11-to 13-Pa pressure drop through their vertical biofilter packed with hard wood chips with a 4-s EBRT. Sadaka et al (2002) also concluded the resistance to airflow in the horizontal direction was approximately 0.65 times the resistance to airflow in the vertical direction.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 96%

Mitigating Odors from Agricultural Facilities: A Review of Literature Concerning Biofilters

Chen¹,

Hoff²

2009

Applied Engineering in Agriculture

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This article reviews literature on biofilter research both in laboratories and at confined livestock facilities. The purpose is to give an up-to-date review of biofilters used to mitigate of odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from agricultural facilities using biofilters. More specifically the article addresses: 1) Factors concerned in design and operation of biofilters such as media property, empty bed residence time, media moisture measurement and control, microbial ecology, construction, and operation cost; and 2) Biofilter performance such as odor/VOC reduction efficiency (RE), and air pressure drop. Lab-scale, pilot-scale, and full-scale biofilter studies were reviewed. Biofilter design and odor/VOC REs were summarized in tables for easy reference and for a perspective on the current state of the art. The relationship between the biofilter configuration/operation factors and biofiter performance was discussed. This literature study indicates: 1) Biofilters can be used as an effective technology for reducing odor/VOC emissions from animal facilities (RE up to 99% for odor and up to 86% for 16 odorous VOCs reported); 2) The three most important factors effecting biofilter performance are packing media, media moisture content, and empty bed residence time; 3) Removal efficiency, air pressure drop, and construction/operation cost are three parameters of concern when a biofilter is installed and operated; and 4) Further studies such as developing precise media moisture measurement and control technologies, bacterial structure, and long time full-scale biofilter tests are needed to better understand the biofiltration process and improve biofilter applications for agriculture.

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“…Flat-bed biofilters with vertical airflow are commonly used to treat exhaust air from animal buildings. Vertical biofilters with horizontal airflow generally require less area and have lower pressure drops than flat-bed biofilters (Sadaka et al, 2002). The media in vertical biofilters settle and compact at the bottom of the biofilter which reduces the horizontal airflow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Full-scale biofilter reduction efficiencies assessed using portable 24-hour sampling units

Akdeniz

Janni

2012

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Portable 24-hr sampling units were used to collect air samples from eight biofilters on four animal feeding operations. The biofilters were located on a dairy, a swine nursery, and two swine finishing farms. Biofilter media characteristics (age, porosity, density, particle size, water absorption capacity, pressure drop) and ammonia (NH 3 ), hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) reduction efficiencies of the biofilters were assessed. The deep bed biofilters at the dairy farm, which were in use for a few months, had the most porous media and lowest unit pressure drops. The average media porosity and density were 75% and 180 kg/m 3 , respectively. Reduction efficiencies of H 2 S and NH 3 (biofilter 1: 64% NH 3 , 76% H 2 S; biofilter 2: 53% NH 3 , 85% H 2 S) were close to those reported for pilot-scale biofilters. No N 2 O production was measured at the dairy farm. The highest H 2 S, SO 2 , NH 3 , and CH 4 reduction efficiencies were measured from a flat-bed biofilter at the swine nursery farm. However, the highest N 2 O generation (29.2%) was also measured from this biofilter. This flat-bed biofilter media was dense and had the lowest porosity. A garden sprinkler was used to add water to this biofilter, which may have filled media pores and caused N 2 O production under anaerobic conditions. Concentrations of H 2 S and NH 3 were determined using the portable 24-hr sampling units and compared to ones measured with a semicontinuous gas sampling system at one farm. Flat-bed biofilters at the swine finishing farms also produced low amounts of N 2 O. The N 2 O production rate of the newer media (2 years old) with higher porosity was lower than that of older media (3 years old) (P ¼ 0.042).Implications: Media characteristics and gas reduction efficiencies of eight field-scale biofilters were evaluated. The media characteristics measured in this study indicated that media older than 3 years should be tested for high-pressure drops and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) production. The results also indicated that regular water addition can improve gas reduction efficiencies of biofilters but adding excessive amounts of water can cause N 2 O production. Uniform water distribution can be a challenge.

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Vertical and Horizontal Airflow Characteristics of Wood/Compost Mixtures

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Characterizing Physical Properties of Gas-Phase Biofilter Media

Characterizing Physical Properties of Gas-Phase Biofilter Media

Mitigating Odors from Agricultural Facilities: A Review of Literature Concerning Biofilters

Full-scale biofilter reduction efficiencies assessed using portable 24-hour sampling units

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