Development and Validation of a Practical Model for Transient Biofilter Performance

Biofilters are biological air-phase packed-bed reactors used for the removal of industrial air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odors. Because of the economic and environmental benefits, biofilter technology is preferred in applications such as wastewater treatment plants, waste recycling facilities, and several chemical industries over conventional treatment methods such as adsorption, absorption, and thermal oxidation processes. In order to predict the performance of biofilters, mathematical models under steady-state and transient conditions are needed. The transient biofilter models for gas-phase bioreactors are highly complex, as they involve several parameters that are not easily determined for industrial applications. In this work, a practical transient biofilter model is developed and an analytical solution for the transient model is obtained. When this model is compared with the published but more complex model, this new transient model produces almost the same level of prediction with equal comparisons of experimental data for VOCs, benzene, and toluene. This simple model has fewer parameters and will be very useful and practical for industrial applications for the analysis of transient biofilter performance.