Development of High Efficiency Biological Scrubbers for Air Pollution Control

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

0086860 Deshusses The objective of this project is to develop an alternative to trickling bed filters and other biofilter configurations that are currently employed to remove and destroy volatile organic contaminants in air streams. The conventional technologies are prone to biomass build up which, in turn, diminishes performance due to increased pressure drop and channeling. The proposed alternative contacts contaminant-laden air with descending droplets that contain microbes. The droplets are formed by pumping a microbial suspension through an array of nozzles. Microbial-mediated degradation of air contaminants occurs as the pollutants transport from the gas to the droplet phase. The liquid collects at the bottom of the device. It can be recycled to continually introduce droplets with biomass into the process and excess biomass can be purged. Apart from good interfacial contacting and potentially rapid kinetics, the proposed device offers the benefits of (1) low pressure drop and (2) steady vs. intermittent operation. The panel was intrigued with the idea and viewed the proposal as fitting well with the initiative. This grant is made pursuant to Solicitation NSF 00-49, New Technologies for the Environment. ***