Bifiltration of air polluted with alpha-pinene

Abstract: The main objective of this investigation is to determine the effect of different physical and chemical parameters on the performance of biofilters, treating hydrophobic organic compounds. pinene was used as a model substance. Alpha-pinene is commonly found in wood, and therefore found at wood storage facilities and wood processing industries [1]. In this experiment two biofilter which were in equal size, were used. Both of them were filled with perlite for treating the alpha pinene contaminated air. One of the columns contained perlite partially coated with silicone oil to make the surface of perlite more hydrophobic. The filters were run at 5, 2.5 and 1.5 l min-1 air flow rate. The results showed that the silicone oil amended filter performed better at 2.5 l/min with a maximum removal rate of 20 g / (m3 h) in comparison with 15 g/ (m3 h) for the filter without oil. The efficiency was approximately the same for both filters at 1.5 and 5 l/min (40 compare to 35 g/m3 bed h). The flow rate was then set to 2.5 l/min once more. The results showed that the removal rate had increased to approximately 35 g/ (m3 h) and that the efficiency of both filters was approximately the same. The difference in results between the initial run and the later at 2.5 l/min is probably depending on that the microorganisms had become adapted to the α-pinene and that the microorganism communities developed differently in the two filters.