Abatement of styrene waste gas emission by biofilter and biotrickling filter: comparison of packing materials and inoculation procedures

The removal of styrene was studied using 2 biofilters packed with peat and coconut fibre (BF1-P and BF2-C, respectively) and 1 biotrickling filter (BTF) packed with plastic rings. Two inoculation procedures were applied: an enriched culture with strain Pseudomonas putida CECT 324 for biofilters and activated sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant for the BTF. Inlet loads (ILs) between 10 and 45 g m-3 h-1 and empty bed residence times (EBRTs) from 30 to 120 s were applied. At inlet concentrations ranging between 200 and 400 mg Nm-3, removal efficiencies between 70 and 95% were obtained in the 3 bioreactors. Maximum elimination capacities (ECs) of 81 and 39 g m-3 h-1 were obtained for the first quarter of the BF1-P and BF2-C, respectively (IL of 173 g m-3 h-1 and EBRT of 60 s in BF1-P; IL of 89 g m-3 h-1 and EBRT of 90 s in BF2-C). A maximum EC of 52 g m-3 h-1 was obtained for the first third of the BTF (IL of 116 g m-3 h-1, EBRT of 45 s). Problems regarding high pressure drop appeared in the peat biofilter, whereas drying episodes occurred in the coconut fibre biofilter. DGGE revealed that the pure culture used for biofilter inoculation was not detected by day 105. Although 2 different inoculation procedures were applied, similar styrene removal at the end of the experiments was observed. The use as inoculum of activated sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plant appears a more feasible option

Research into smell emitted by containers for public waste / Konteineriuose surenkamų buitinių atliekų skleidžiamo kvapo tyrimai

Waste is generally accepted as any materials and objects that a holder discards, wants to discard or is required to be discarded. The article deals with the smell of prefabricated containers for household waste produced under normal domestic activities. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of open, shallow and underground Molok containers, installation options and geometric parameters. Research has been conducted referring to air samples taken from three open, three shallow and three underground Molok containers at an outside temperature of 0 °C and depending on the replenishment of containers. The performed analysis has shown that the strongest smell of household waste is detected from completely replenished containers. Open containers have a distinctive feature of releasing a strong smell - in one of those, the odour strength of 119 OUE/m3 has been determined. Santrauka Atliekos visuotinai suprantamos kaip bet kokios medžiagos ir daiktai, kurių turėtojas atsikrato, nori ar privalo atsikratyti. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas konteineriuose surenkamų buitinių atliekų, susidarančių įprastinėje žmogaus buitinėje veikloje, skleidžiamas kvapas. Aptariami atvirųjų, šachtinių ir požeminių Molok konteinerių privalumai ir trūkumai, įrengimo galimybės, geometriniai parametrai. Tyrimo metu esant 0 °C aplinkos temperatūrai oro mėginiai imti iš trijų atvirųjų buitinių atliekų konteinerių, trijų šachtinio tipo konteinerių ir trijų požeminių Molok konteinerių, atsižvelgiant į konteinerių buitinių atliekų pripildymo būdą. Tyrimais nustatyta, jog stipriausias buitinių atliekų kvapas susidaro konteineriuose, esant visiškam buitinių atliekų pripildymui. Buitinių atliekų skleidžiamo kvapo stiprumu išsiskiria atvirojo tipo konteineriai, iš kurių viename nustatytas net 119 OUE/m3 kvapo stiprumas. Raktiniai žodžiai: buitinės atliekos; konteineris; kvapas; Europinis kvapo vienetas; olfaktometrij