REMOVAL OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN SOLVENT VAPOR OF CAR PAINT USING BIOFILTER

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to determine efficiency of biofilter in the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in solvent vapor of a car paint, suitable ratios of media used in the biofilter, and dominant species of microorganisms in the removal process. The media used in this study was a mixture of manure, soil mixed with caw leaves, corn cob and community sewage sludge at the ratios of 2: 1: 3: 1, 2: 2: 2: 1 and 2: 3: 1: 1 by volume. The media mixtures were analyzed for their physical and chemical properties. The control variable was concentration of solvent vapor set at 400 ppm. The retention times were 60, 120 and 180 seconds.

            Before the VOCs removal study, the solvent vapor of car paint was analyzed. The results showed that the highest removal efficiency was obtained from the biofilter using the media ratio of 2: 3: 1: 1 with the highest removal efficiency after passing through the 3 media layers at 90.9 ± 2.0%, 93.5 ± 1.2% and 96.4 ± 0.3%, respectively, followed by the media ratio of 2: 2: 2: 1 with the removal efficiency after passing through the 3 media layers at 79.7 ± 0.3%, 85.2 ± 0.4%, and 90.2 ± 0.2, respectively. The dominant microorganisms found in all of the media mixture were Bacillus cereus and Candida tropicalis.