A biofilter inoculated with Pseudomonas putida F1 utilizing toluene as a carbon and energy source was operated to observe toluene vapor purification particularly at overload conditions. Experiment has been carried out at varying conditions of inlet co...
A biofilter inoculated with Pseudomonas putida F1 utilizing toluene as a carbon and energy source was operated to observe toluene vapor purification particularly at overload conditions. Experiment has been carried out at varying conditions of inlet concentrations to approach following objectives : ⅰ) to review gas removal process including substrate inhibition in biofilters ; ⅱ) to determine various kinetics parameters concerned with toluene purification at overload conditions. Toluene vapor degradation rate increased with its load. However, when toluene load was over 2.2 g(toluene)․[g(VSS)]-1․h-1, the degradation rate was apparently reduced due to substrate inhibition. Toluene vapor purification efficiency decreased exponentially with the positions (heights) of the biofilter. When toluene vapor was treated continuously in the biofilter under substrate inhibition condition, maximum degradation rate(k) and half velocity constant(K) in liquid, determined by using Luong equation, were 1.17 g․m-3․sec-1 and 2.17 g/m3, respectively.