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Design of a biofilter packed with crab shell and operation of the biofilter fed with leaf mold solution as a nutrient

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Abstract

After measuring toluene adsorption (15.7 mg-toluene/g-material), water holding capacity (18.5%), organic content (53.8%), specific surface area (18.1 m2/g-material), and microbial attachment, crab shells were chosen as the main packing material for a biofilter design. The crab shells, cheap and abundant in the Gangneung area, also have relatively rigid structure, low density, and ability to neutralize acids generated during mineralization of toluene. Since towel scraps have water holding capacity as high as 301.2%, 10% of the total packing was supplemented with them to compensate for low water holding capacity of the crab shells. The biofilter fed with defined chemical medium under 0.8∼1.3 mg/L of inlet toluene concentration and 18 seconds of residence time showed satisfactory removal efficiency of over 97% and 72.8 g/h·m3 of removal capacity. For the purpose of deceasing operation costs, leaf mold solution was tried as an alternative nutrient instead of a defined chemical medium. The removal efficiency and removal capacity were 85% and 56.3 g/h·m3, respectively, using the same inlet toluene concentration and residence time. This research shows the possibility of recycling crab shell waste as packing material for biofilter. In addition, leaf mold was able to serve as an alternative nutrient, which remarkably decreased the operating cost of the biofilter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Applied Chemical Engineering, Kangnung National University, Gangneung, 210-702, Korea

    Hyeouk Man Kwon & Sung Ho Yeom

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  1. Hyeouk Man Kwon
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  2. Sung Ho Yeom
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Correspondence to Sung Ho Yeom.

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Kwon, H.M., Yeom, S.H. Design of a biofilter packed with crab shell and operation of the biofilter fed with leaf mold solution as a nutrient. Biotechnol Bioproc E 14, 248–255 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-008-0177-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-008-0177-2

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