Removal of ammonia emissions from waste air in a biotrickling filter: pilot-scale demonstration in real conditions

Abstract

This study was aimed at testing the possibility of using a biotrickling filter for the treatment of waste air resulting from animal farming. For this purpose, a laboratory and pilot biotrickling filter with a moving bed were constructed. In the first case, the removal of ammonia emissions from waste air, by means of ammonia nitrogen utilization by present micro-organisms under laboratory conditions, was tested. The mass load of the biotrickling filter was gradually increased by slowly increasing the ammonia concentration. In the second case, the pilot biotrickling filter with a moving bed was installed inside a pig farm and it was tested under real operation conditions. In the first case, the highest value of the laboratory biotrickling filter’s elimination capacity was 6.2 g_NH3 m⁻³ of filling h⁻¹. The elimination capacity of the pilot filter was 1.6 g_NH3 m⁻³ of filling h⁻¹. The source of carbon for the present micro-organisms was a 1% sucrose solution, which simulated waste water with high content of COD_CR. [<-define what COD is, if mentioned for the first time] At the same time there was almost 89% decrease in waste water pollution. It was also shown that the contribution of the ammonia nitrogen utilization by the present micro-organisms to the removal of ammonia from the waste air was 90%.