Biodegradation of volatile organic mixture in an air membrane bioreactor (aMBR) | |
| Author | Nichakul Phosirikul |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-20-04 |
| Subject(s) | Membrane reactors Bioreactors Air--Pollution |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | More stringent regulations regarding air pollutant emissions to environment has increased the need for and use of waste gas treatment technologies. Air membrane bioreactor (aMBR) has been developed in order to overcome the limitations of conventional bioreactors for waste gas treatment. Larger gas-liquid surface area and presence of discrete gas and liquid phases allow aMBR to effectively remove hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds from polluted air. In this study, a laboratory scale aMBR was used to eliminate a gas mixture of mixture of methanol (MeOH) and acetonitrile (ACN). A mixed culture of microorganisms obtained from a wastewater treatment plant was utilized as inoculum, and the aMBR was operated under steady state and transient conditions with inlet concentrations of 1 – 50 g/m3 for both compounds. Under steady state, the system was operated at different conditions through variation of empty bed resident time (EBRT) and ratios of MeOH to ACN, while intermittent shutdown was conducted for transient operation. The results indicated that microorganisms preferred to consume ACN over MeOH. In addition, the system provided more than 80% removal efficiencies for both MeOH and ACN compounds for the conditions tested in the experimental runs. An EBRT of 30 seconds was the optimum condition for treating the mixture, providing more than 98% removal efficiencies with less than 20 mg/L of compound accumulation in liquid phase. Under this condition, the maximum elimination capacities (EC) of MeOH and ACN were 3,382.8 and 2,215.0 g/m3h corresponding to removal efficiencies of 99.4 and ~100% respectively. Additionally, aMBR was able to restore performance to normal operation within few days after three days of shutdown mode. There is no literature based on removal of MeOH and ACN mixture by aMBR, especially ACN which has never been studied in the field of biological waste gas treatment. However, this study demonstrated that the laboratory scale aMBR was able to effectively remove both pollutants, and it can be a promising biotechnology for the removal of waste gas containing hydrophilic compounds. |
| Year | 2020 |
| 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 (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Visvanathan, C. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Rene, Eldon Raj;Ekbordin Winijkul;Loc Thai Nguyen |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Loom Nam Khong Pijai (Greater Mekong Subregion) Scholarships |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2020 |