BIO-FILTRATION

What is bio-filtration?
• Bio-Filtration is a relatively new pollution control technology.

• It is an technology for the elimination harmful gas emissions and of

low concentration of volatile organic compounds.

• The filtration process in which the pollutants are removed due to

biological degradable substances is called Biofiltration.
Why is bio-filtration important?
• Green process.

• Thermal and catalytic control units consume large volumes of

expensive fuel.

• Bioreactor only use small amount of electrical power to drive two or

three small motors.
Biological process involved in Biofiltration:
Attachment of Growth of Decay and
microorganism microorganism detachment of
microorganism
Step 1:Attachment of microorganism

Organisms attached to medium and grow into dense films of

viscous, jellylike nature.
Mechanisms by which microorganisms can attach and colonize on the
surface of the filter media of a biofilter are:
• Transportation,((a) diffusion (Brownian motion), (b) convection,(c)
sedimentation due to gravity, and (d) active mobility of the
microorganisms)
• Initial adhesion, (depending upon the total interaction energy)
• Firm attachment (depend on influent characteristics (such as organic type
and concentration) and surface properties of the filter media)
• Colonization (depend on influent characteristics (such as organic type and
concentration) and surface properties of the filter media)
Growth of microorganism
• Dissolved organics passes into biofilm due to concentration gradients within
film.
• Suspended particles and colloids retain on sticky surface and decomposed
into soluble products.
• Oxygen for aerobic reactions , provided by dissolved oxygen and from void
spaces of medium.
• Waste products diffuse outwards and carried away by water currents.
• The factors that influence the rate of substrate utilization within a biofilm are
I. substrate mass transport to the biofilm,
II. diffusion of the substrate into the biofilm, and
III. utilization kinetics within the biofilm.
Decay and detachment of microorganism
• As the film grows thicker, both anaerobic and endogenous
mechanisms occur at biofilm-medium surface interface.
• Attachment mechanism weakened.
• Shearing action of WW washes it away. This Process is called
“sloughing”.
• Sloughing is function of hydraulic and organic loading rate.
• Limiting factor is oxygen diffusivity. Aerobic zones are limited to 0.1-
0.2 mm thickness.
THANK YOU