Microbiological treatment of waste gases in the hybrid reactors

Aim of project
The main goal of the project is to improve the microbiological removal of dangerous organic compounds – chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as trichloroethene or tetrachloroethene, from waste gases. Trichloroethene and tetrachloroethene are widely used as the industrial solvents for degreasing materials and are hardly biodegradable. It is assumed that the efficiency of pollutants removal from waste air increases when the polluted air is treated in a two-step hybrid plant. The first step requires the use of a bioscrubber containing the microorganisms immobilized on chosen sorbents. The second step of the treatment is a biofilter with the carefully selected biofilter bed. The optimum technological parameters, such as the biofilter bed, the type of sorbent, the volumetric load of bioscrubber and biofilter, the contaminant load, biofilter humidity and biomass growth will be determined. The physical, chemical, microbiological, enzymatic and ecotoxicological analyses will be performed to control the process conditions and efficiency.

Expected results
Currently, the legal pressure to limit the emission of dangerous volatile pollutants to the atmosphere increases. The small number of installations, working in Poland, dedicated to the microbiological waste gas treatment indicate the necessity of the further research in this area. The biotechnological methods of waste gas treatment are more effective and economically feasible than the chemical of physical treatment. The designed hybrid system is an innovative solution which is not described in the available literature concerning the subject. The main result of the project is to propose the guidelines for the construction and the operation of the modern installations for the industrial waste gas treatment.