Effects of liquid phase modification on the performance of biotrickling filters

Dataset presents the effects of liquid phase modification on the biotrickling filtration (BTF) performance of air polluted with toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and styrene.
Three biofiltration processes were run in similar biotrickling filters, packed with polyurethane foam discs, inoculated with activated sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plant. The treated air contained 20 – 40 ppm v/v of each from above listed volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Empty bed residence time was 60 seconds in all processes. Process performance is presented as the changes of removal efficiency (RE, %) of VOCs during the biofiltration time. The performance evaluation was based on determination of VOCs concentrations in the biofilter inlet and outlet gas streams using gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. Following results are presented:
a. control biotrickling filter (no modification of trickling liquid; trickling liquid contained only mineral salt medium (MSM) dissolved in distilled water with composition: KH2PO4 (3 g/L), Na2HPO4×2H2O (7.6 g/L), NH4Cl (1 g/L) and NaCl (0.5 g/L));
b. modification of trickling liquid using silicone oil (silicone oil, viscosity 20 cSt, VWR; addition of 1.5 – 5 % v/v to MSM solution);
c. modification of trickling liquid using sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS, POCh, addition of 0.24 g/L).
The data were collected during investigations performed in the project "Simultaneous treatment and energetic valorization of waste air from biological processing of municipal waste in the Baltic Sea Region", DEC-9/2022/IDUB/II.2/Sc, Gdansk University of Technology, grant under the Scandium - "Excellence Initiative - Research University" program.