Capillary membrane bioreactor for abatement of low soluble compounds in waste gas

© 2017 Society of Chemical Industry BACKGROUND: The removal of problematic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from polluted gas (toluene, iso-octane and hexane) has been investigated in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) by adapting a commercial capillary microporous polypropylene membrane. The MBR performance was measured under several operational conditions. The influence of the empty bed residence time (EBRT), the liquid velocity and the inlet concentration was evaluated. RESULTS: For toluene, it was possible to treat higher loading rates than 1600 g m-3 h-1 with a maximum elimination capacity (EC) of 1309 g m-3 h-1, removal efficiencies (RE) of ∼80%. However, iso-octane was poorly degraded as a single pollutant. Hexane presented lower EC values (400 g m-3 h-1) than toluene. The synergistic effect of hexane degradation in two different mixtures was also considered. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrate that a commercial membrane for wastewater treatment can be adapted for biological gas treatment, becoming a potential alternative to conventional biological treatment technologies, especially for pollutants with low solubility. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.