Indoor Air Pollution Control Using a Soil Biofilter

Academic Paper from the year 2008 in the subject Physics - Biophysics, , language: English, abstract: Biofiltration may be used to control indoor air pollution. In biofiltration, contaminants in a gas stream are degraded by microorganisms and converted to carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. In this study, the CO2 production and the elimination capacity (EC) of toluene at inlet concentrations between 20 and 80 ppm were investigated using three biofilters operated separately with soil as bed material. Results showed soil, with its rich microflora taken to full advantage without inoculants and additional nutrients, biodegraded toluene at removal rates comparable to those in other studies at higher concentrations. The quantity of CO2 produced correlates with the quantity of toluene removed which implies effective biodegradation and suggests stable long-term operation at these low concentrations. Though the concentrations used in this study are not typical toluene indoor concentrations (ppb), results show biofiltration may be effective for indoor air pollution control with proper design considering biomass growth or biofilm structure, concentration, and gas flow rate.