• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2003

Biological methods are frequently used for treatment of contaminated air, containing volatile organic compounds and odor compounds in low concentrations and high flow rate of air streams. For more than 20 years. biofilter has been recognized as a cost effective technology for the purification of contaminated air. Most commercial applications before 1990 were for control of odors. In the past decades major progress has been accomplished in the development of vapor phase bioreactor. in particular biotrickling filers. Biotrickling filters are more complex than biofilters. but are usually more effective, especially for the treatment of compounds which are difficult to degrade or compounds that generate acidic by-products. While the level of understanding of biotrickling filtration process for VOCs still remains limited. the evidence success of biotreatment of VOC in air resulted in pursuing active research. This paper presents fundamental and practical aspert of VOCs treatment from air in biotrickling filter. Special emphasis is given to the operating parameters and the factors influencing performance for biotrickling filter.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.489-495
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• 2015

A fundamental mathematical model for mass transfer processes has been used to understand the air pollution control process in biotrickling filtration and to evaluate the mass transfer coefficients of gas/liquid (trickling liquid), gas/solid (biomass) and liquid/solid based upon experimental results and mathematical model calculations for selected operating conditions. The mass transfer models for the utilization of the steady-state mass balance for gas/liquid, and dynamic mass balance model for gas/solid & liquid/solid in biotrickling filters were established and discussed. The mass transfer model considered the reactor to comprise finite sections, for each of which dynamic mass balances for gas/solid and liquid/solid system were solved by numerical analysis code (numerical iteration). To determine the mass transfer coefficients ($K_La$) of gas/liquid, gas/solid & liquid/solid in a biotrickling filter, the calculation results based upon mass balance equation was optimized to coincide with the experimental results for the selected operating conditions. Finally, this study contributed the development of experimental methods and discussed the mathematical model to determine the mass transfer coefficients in a biotrickling filtration for air pollution control.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.482-488
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• 2015

Biological treatment is promising alternative to conventional air pollution control method. Bioreactors for air pollution control have found most of their success in the treatment of dilute and high flow waste air streams containing volatile organic compounds and odor. The studies of mass transfer in biotrickling filters for air pollution control were of importance in order to control and optimize the purification process. The objectives of this study were to develop the experimental methodologies to evaluate the mass transfer coefficients of gas/liquid(trickling liquid), gas/solid(biomass) and liquid/solid in three phase biotrickling filtration. Also, this study characterized the influence factors on mass transfer such as dynamic holdup volume, gas/liquid flow rate ratio, biomass weight in reactor and recirculation rate of trickling medium for each phase of biotrickling filter.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.474-484
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• 2005

Biological treatment is a promising alternative to conventional air pollution control methods. Bioreactors for air pollution control have found most of their success in the treatment of dilute and high flow waste air streams containing volatile organic compounds and odor compounds. They offer several advantages over traditional technologies such as incineration or adsorption. These include lower treatment costs, absence of formation of secondary pollutants, no spent chemicals, low energy demand and low temperature treatment. The most widely used bioreactor for air pollution control is biofilter, but it has several limitations. In the past years major progress has been accomplished in the development of vapor phase bioreactor, in particular biotrickling filters. Biotrickling filters are more complex than biofilters, but are usually more effective, especially for the treatment of compounds which are difficult to degrade or compounds that generate acidic by-products. While the level of understanding of biotrickling filtration process for VOCs still remains limited, the evident success of biotreatment of VOC in air stimulated the pursue of acitve research. This paper presents fundamental and theoretical/practical aspect of air pollution control in biotrickling filter. Special emphasis is given to the operating parameters and the factors influencing performance for air pollution control in biotrickling filter.

• Clean Technology
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• v.13 no.1 s.36
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• pp.1-15
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• 2007

Biological treatment is a relatively recent air pollution control technology in which off-gases containing biodegradable odors and volatile organic compounds(VOCs) are vented through microbes. It is a promising alternative to conventional air pollution control methods. Bioreactors for air pollution control have found most of their success in the treatment of dilute and high flow waste air streams containing VOCs and odor compounds. They offer several advantages over traditional technologies such as incineration or adsorption. These include lower treatment costs, absence of formation of secondary pollutants, no spent chemicals, low energy demand and low temperature treatment. The three most widely used technologies are described, namely biofiltration, biotrickling filtration, bioscrubbing. The most widely used bioreactor for air pollution control is biofilter, but it has several limitations. In the past years major progress has been accomplished in the development of vapor phase bioreaction systems, for solving problems of biofilter. Biotrickling filters are more complex than biofilters, but are usually more effective, especially for the treatment of compounds which are difficult to degrade or compounds that generate acidic by-products. This, paper reviews fundamental and theoretical/practical aspect of air pollution control in biofilter, biotrickling filter and bioscrubber, focusing more extensively on biotrickling filtration. Special emphasis is given to the operating parameters and the factors influencing performance for air pollution control, and cost estimation in biotreatment technologies.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.139-152
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• 2017

Excessive amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odorants discharged into the environment are highly dangerous to human health as well as to ecological systems. Biological treatments of waste gas streams, called biofiltration, containing VOCs and odorous compounds has gained much attention because biofilters are more cost effective and environmentally friendly than conventional air pollution control technologies. This review provides an overview of biotrickling filtration, which is a type of biofiltration including continuous trickled-water flow inside filter media, for VOC and odor abatement. The configuration, design, cost effectiveness, removal capacity and environmental impact of this techniques and the future research and development needs in this area are all considered.