| Biofiltration has emerged as a prime candidate to treat high volume low concentration emissions in a cost effective manner. This technology is fraught with operational difficulties, and has limited performance potential.; In this work, a two-phase partitioning bioreactor (TPPB) is used to remove and degrade benzene and toluene from a gas stream. In a TPPB, an organic solvent is used as a reservoir for a toxic or inhibitory substrate that can be degraded by the organism in the reactor. Delivery of the substrate to the organism in the aqueous phase is accomplished via equilibrium partitioning at a rate based on the organism's metabolic demand. The organic solvent used in this work was n-hexadecane and the organism was Achromobacter xylosoxidans Y234.; The TPPB was used as a bioreactor/scrubber in which the removal of the target chemical from the gas stream was achieved by the reactor's liquid contents. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
