Air pollution abatementJoint combination of packing materials in biofilters

  1. Gorka Gallastegui 1
  2. Iker Ogitza 1
  3. Naiara Rojo 1
  4. Astrid Barona 1
  5. Luis Gurtubay 1
  6. Ana Elías 1
  1. 1 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

Libro:
Proceedings from the 18th International Congress on Project Management and Engineering: (Alcañiz, July 2014)

Editorial: Asociación Española de Ingeniería de Proyectos (AEIPRO)

ISBN: 978-84-617-2742-1

Año de publicación: 2014

Páginas: 1389-1400

Congreso: CIDIP. Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería de Proyectos (18. 2014. Alcañiz)

Tipo: Aportación congreso

Resumen

Closed areas with heavy traffic such as road tunnels and underground parking lots usually present high levels of atmospheric pollution. Thus, the poor-quality air in those enclosures constitutes a health threat for commuters, regular users and workers. The presence of a fluctuating number of volatile organic and inorganic compounds in those confined spaces encourages the utilization of biological reactors (such as biofilters) for their removal. Biofilters are considered a cost-effective, reliable and safe alternative for treating moderately high loading rates of biodegradable pollutants present in air. As far as the system operation is concerned, the contaminated air stream passes through a bed containing a packing material where the biomass is attached, and thus, the contaminants are degraded by the action of the microorganisms. The nature of the packing material is a key factor for the successful application of any biofilter. Thus, this work focuses the influence of using a joint combination of different packing materials on the performance of volatile organic compounds (VOC) abatement. The contaminated inlet gas flow was generated in the laboratory by carefully mixing biodegradable volatile compounds usually found in motor vehicle exhaust gases.