Treatment of Benzene, Toluene and Xylene Contaminated Air in a Bioactive Foam Emulsion Reactor

A novel bioactive foam emulsion bioreactor for benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) contaminated air streams treatment has been developed The gas-liquid interfacial area by biocompatible foam and driving force for mass transfer by a water immiscible organic phase were increased in this reactor. The effect of several parameters such as gas residence time, oxygen content, and organic phase concentration on bioreactor performance was studied. Experimental results showed an average elimination capacity (EC) of 220 g.m(-3) h(-1) with removal efficiency (RE) of 89.59% for BTX inlet concentration of 1 gm(-3) at 15 s gas residence time in the bioreactor The statistical developed model predicted that the maximum elimination capacity of the reactor for BTX could be reached to 423.45 g m(-3) h(-1). Continues operation of the bioreactor with high EC and RE was demonstrated by optimizing the operational parameters of the bioreactor Overall the results suggest that the bioreactor developed can be very effective systems to treat BTX vapors