Performance of air membrane bioreactor for gas phase methanol removal under steady and transient state conditions | |
| Author | Kamonkarn Prikyai |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-19-05 |
| Subject(s) | Membrane reactors Bioreactors Waste gases--Recycling |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The requirement of high surface area and rapid clogging of biomass is the major limitation of the conventional biological waste gas treatment. Whereas in an air membrane bioreactor (aMBR), these limitations can be easily overcome. The large gas-liquid surface area of air membrane bioreactor can enhance the mass transfer of pollutants and oxygen. It can operate under high inlet loading rate within a small compact reactor. A laboratory scale aMBR was evaluated for the removal of gas phase methanol from air. This research also studied the biodegradability of methanol by C. boidinii in the batch test. The result showed that the concentration of methanol decreased over time. The specific substrate utilization rate (SSUR) was 645 μg CH3OH/g biomass·h. The system was loaded in the range between 2.5-30 g m-3 of MeOH. Meanwhile, the performance of aMBR at different empty bed residence times (EBRT) of 30, 10 and 5 s was assessed. The maximum 98 % of removal efficiency (RE) at the inlet loading rates (ILR) up to 1,953 g m-3 h were achieved at EBRT 30 s. The maximum elimination capacity (EC) of 8,644 g m-3 h-1 was observed when the system was operated at ILR ~ 9,353 g m-3 h-1 (RE 92 % at 30 s). The possibility of aMBR to deal with an upset situation was investigated under transient condition. Experimental results showed that the system can handle the fluctuation of MeOH due to the results of only 5-10 % of RE dropped during the shock load test. After that, MeOH removal could be restored within 1 - 2 days. Moreover, the results from High-Throughput Sequencing process showed the variety of microbial community structure which was distributed to the different times. Candida boidinii, Fusicolla merismoides and Xantobactor flavus played important roles in the biodegradation of MeOH. All of these results show that MeOH waste gas was effectively degraded in this aMBR application. |
| Year | 2019 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Vishvanathan, Chettiyappan |
| Examination Committee(s) | Rene, Eldon R.;Ekbordin Winijkul;Shipin, Oleg V.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2019 |