The dominant off gases from publicly owned treatment works include hydrogen sulfide, benzene, and toluene. In this research, hydrogen sulfide oxidized by Bacillus cereus, and benzene with toluene were removed by VOC-degrading microbial consortium. The optimum operating condition of the fluidized bed bioreactor including both microorganisms was 30 ℃, pH 6-8, and 150 cm of liquid bed height. The critical loading rate of hydrogen sulfide, benzene and toluene in the bioreactor was about 15 g/m3 h, 10 g/m3 h and 12 g/m3 h, respectively. The fluidized bed bioreactor showed an excellent elimination capacity for 580 hours of continuous operation, and maintained stable removal efficiency at sudden inlet concentration changes.
Seed LP, Corsi RL, Biofiltration of BTEX contaminated streams: laboratory studies, Proceedings of 87th Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the Air and Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 1994