Proposing a new batch method for assessment of biological activity in H2S degrading biotrickling filters

Abstract

[Abstract] The proposed batch method consists on measuring the sulfate production rate (SPR) at maximum rate of a set of polyurethane cubes extracted from an ongoing pilot-scale biotrickling filter (BTF) for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal. Saturation of the system was achieved by applying high gaseous pollutant concentrations. Under these operational conditions the measured activity is proportional to the concentration of H2S degrading biomass (XSH) present in the system. This method has been used to follow the performance of a pilot-scale BTF under selected conditions. The activity at the inlet zone of the packed bed was found to be between two and three times that measured at the outlet zone. An increase in elimination capacity of 14% corresponded to a very similar average activity increase in the reactor. In addition to this, the method provided a means by which the reactor recovery after a starvation period could be studied.