Activated carbon load equalization of discontinuously generated acetone and toluene mixtures treated by biofiltration

Studies were conducted to evaluate use of granular activated carbon (GAC) as a passively operated load-equalization mechanism for biofilters treating gas streams with dynamically varying (intermittent) pollutant loading. In the initial stage of research, abiotic fixed-bed sorption experiments and numerical modeling were conducted to assess the degree of load-equalization achieved by GAC columns for air flows containing intermittent loading of acetone and toluene present as single-component contaminants and as a mixture. In the subsequent stage of research, an integrated system consisting of a GAC column in series before a biofilter was used to treat a gas stream containing a mixture of acetone and toluene at influent concentrations of 430 ppm(v) and 100 ppm(v) respectively. To simulate loading conditions expected from an industrial process with intermittent operation, contaminated air was supplied 8 h/day and uncontaminated air was supplied 16 h/day. The system was operated with different empty bed contact times, as low as 2.5 s for the GAC column and 14.5 s for the biofilter. Performance of an additional, conventionally operated biofilter (i.e., without GAC load equalization system) was used as a basis of comparison. Data are presented which clearly demonstrate that passively operated GAC load-dampening systems installed in series before biofilters can lead to more uniform loading as a function of time and thereby improve biofilter treatment performance. Results also demonstrate that, because of competitive sorption, the degree of load equalization achieved for different constituents in multi-contaminant gas streams can vary markedly. A pore and surface diffusion model (PSDM) was able to accurately predict the degree of load-dampening achieved by GAC columns for single and multicomponent waste gases.