Nimas M.S. Sunyoto. Removal of Hydrogen Sulfide in Biogas Using Various Porous Beads as Supporting Material in Biofilter. Master's Degree(Biotechnology). King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library.. : King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 2010.
Removal of Hydrogen Sulfide in Biogas Using Various Porous Beads as Supporting Material in Biofilter
Abstract:
Hydrogen sulfide, a nuisance compound found in biogas is one of major problem in its
utilization as biofuel because of its corrosive properties to metal parts and machinery
and toxicity to living organism. Recently, biofilter have been recognized as the most
efficient technologies for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal because it is inexpensive and
cause no environmental pollutions. In order to get the high efficiency of biofiltration,
the performance of packing material has to be considered. Therefore this study aimed to
investigate the utilization of a packing material namely RHAB (rice husk ash bead) to
removeH2S.
The study used three different particle sizes of 0.5-1.0 cm (RHAB type 1), 1.5-2.0 cm
(RHAB type 2) and 2.0-3.5 cm (RHAB type 3). The operation was carried out in 5 litres
working volume biofilter under controlled dissolved oxygen (DO) 0.5 mg.l-1 and pH 7
and employed seed sludge taken from open pond of swine manure wastewater
treatment. The synthetic hydrogen sulfide gas in the low strength of H2S (1,500 ppm)
and high strength of H2S (3,000 ppm) was fed in up flow direction at various flow rate.
H2S loading rate (SLR) at 6.13-24.53 g H2S.m-3.h-1for low strength was fed at 0.25-1.0
l.min-1 of flow rate and 5-20 minutes of gas retention time (GRT). While in the high
strength of H2S, the flow rate of 0.17 and 0.25 l.min-1 was used at the 30 and 20 minutes
of GRT resulting in H2S loading rate of 8.18 and 12.27 g H2S.m-3.h-1, respectively. The
effect of a RHAB particle size on hydrogen sulfide removal in biofilter was studied. The
reactor performance in term of elimination capacity, metabolic products and microbial
activity in H2S removal under low and high strength of inlet H2S was investigated.
The performance of the biofilters using three types of RHAB in overall of study showed
a good suitability in applying for the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal by provided 89-
90% and 91-95% of removal efficiency under low and high strength of H2S inlet,
respectively. Moreover the elimination capacity of the entire biofilters was in the range
of 21.83-22.20 and 11.20-11.63 g H2S.m-3.hr-1 for low and high strength of H2S,
respectively. However, it can be inferred that the size of packing material was not effect
to the removal efficiency and elimination capacity of each type of biofilter studied since
the removal efficiency and elimination capacity provided by each type of biofilter was
not significantly different under short term operation.
Furthermore, the study of metabolic products in each range of H2S inlet showed that the
low strength of H2S mostly generated sulfate and elemental sulfur in the similar
percentage of 45-49% and 47-53%, respectively, compared to the high strength of H2S
which mostly converted to elemental sulfur of 56-81 % and sulfate in smaller percentage
of 15-36%. In addition, the study of bacterial aspects in the term of volatile suspended
solid (VSS) and bacterial activity showed that the VSS of low and high strength of H2S
was similar in the range of 0.08-0.058 g VSS cell. g-1 dry weight of packing. Whereas.
high strength of H2S showed higher bacterial activity of 8.6-12.63 g Na2S203.g VSSI.
dafl compared with the low strengh of H2S which has the bacterial activity in the
range of7.40-8.89 g Na2S203.g VSS-1 .day-1.
Moreover, the minimum GRT and the maximum SLR can be applied in the biofilter
using RHAB as packing material were 5 minutes and 24.53 g H2S.m-3.hr-l, respectively
for low strength of H2S. While in the high strength of H2S, the biofilter of RHAB are
still able to be operated well in the GRT 20 minutes of SLR 12.27 g H2S.m-3.hr-1.
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. KMUTT Library.