Cécile Hort

Biological treatment of indoor air for VOC removal: potential and challenges.

There is nowadays no single fully satisfactory method for VOC removal from indoor air due to the difficulties linked to the very low concentration (microg m(-3) range), diversity, and variability at which VOCs are typically found in the indoor environment. Although biological methods have shown a certain potential for this purpose, the specific characteristic of indoor air and the indoor air environment brings numerous challenges. In particular, new methods must be developed to inoculate, express, and maintain a suitable and diverse catabolic ability under conditions of trace substrate concentration which might not sustain microbial growth. In addition, the biological treatment of indoor air must be able to purify large amounts of air in confined environments with minimal nuisances and release of microorganisms. This requires technical innovations, the development of specific testing protocols and a deep understanding of microbial activities and the mechanisms of substrate uptake at trace concentrations.

A review of indoor air treatment technologies

Indoor air pollution is a complex issue involving a wide diversity and variability of pollutants that threats human health. In this context, major efforts should be made to enhance indoor air quality. Thus, it is important to start by the control of indoor pollution sources. Nevertheless, when the suppression or minimization of emission sources is insufficient, technically unfeasible, or economically unviable, abatement technologies have to be used. This review presents a general overview of single treatment techniques such as mechanical and electrical filtration, adsorption, ozonation, photolysis, photocatalytic oxidation, biological processes, and membrane separation. Since there is currently no technology that can be considered fully satisfactory for achieving “cleaner” indoor air, special attention is paid to combined purification technologies or innovative alternatives that are currently under research and have not yet been commercialized (plasma-catalytic hybrid systems, hybrid ozonation systems, biofilter-adsorption systems, etc.). These systems seem to be a good opportunity as they integrate synergetic advantages to achieve good indoor air quality.

Measurement and modelling of adsorption equilibrium, adsorption kinetics and breakthrough curve of toluene at very low concentrations on to activated carbon

Indoor air pollution, characterized by many pollutants at very low concentrations, is nowadays known as a worrying problem for human health. Among physical treatments, adsorption is a widely used process, since porous materials offer high capacity for volatile organic chemicals. However, there are few studies in the literature that deal with adsorption as an indoor air pollution treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the adsorption of toluene on to activated carbon at characteristic indoor air concentrations. Firstly, global kinetic parameters were determined by fitting Thomass model to experimental data obtained with batch experiments. Then, these kinetic parameters led to the determination of Henrys coefficient, which was checked with experimental data of the adsorption isotherm. Secondly, we simulated a breakthrough curve made at an inlet concentration 10 times higher than the indoor air level. Even if the kinetic parameters in this experiment are different from those in batch experiments, it can be emphasized that the Henry coefficient stays the same.

Evaluation of compost and a mixture of compost and activated carbon as biofilter media for the treatment of indoor air pollution

Indoor air pollution (IAP), defined by a lot of pollutants at low concentrations (μg m−3), is recognized as a major environmental health issue. In order to remove this pollution, biofiltration was investigated in this study. Two biofilters packed with compost and a mixture of compost and activated carbon (AC) were compared during the treatment of an influent with characteristics close to those of IAP. Very high removal efficiencies (RE) were achieved for the two biofilters (RE more than 90% for butyl acetate, butanol, formaldehyde, limonene, toluene and undecane at mass loading from 6–24 mg m−3 h−1 and 19 s empty bed retention time). The fact that high RE of hydrophobic compounds (undecane and limonene) were achieved, along with the results of an abiotic sorption study, lead us to suggest a mechanism including adsorption followed by biodegradation at the interface of the biofilm where microorganisms tend to concentrate near the available substrate. Both chemical reactions with the packing materials and biological degradation led to average RE greater than 91.4% for nitrogen dioxide. It was observed that adding AC to compost had significant effects. First, its buffering capacity led to shorter acclimation duration and more stable operation efficiencies than for the compost biofilter. Secondly, the only compound which was not removed by the compost biofilter, trichloroethylene, was strongly adsorbed by the compost/AC biofilter. Finally, the concentration profile along the two biofilters demonstrated that adding of AC could lead to a reduction of the retention time required to reach the maximal RE.

A hybrid biological process of indoor air treatment for toluene removal

Bioprocesses, such as biofiltration, are commonly used to treat industrial effluents containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at low concentrations. Nevertheless, the use of biofiltration for indoor air pollution (IAP) treatment requires adjustments depending on specific indoor environments. Therefore, this study focuses on the convenience of a hybrid biological process for IAP treatment. A biofiltration reactor using a green waste compost was combined with an adsorption column filled with activated carbon (AC). This system treated a toluene-micropolluted effluent (concentration between 17 and 52 µg/m3), exhibiting concentration peaks close to 733 µg/m3 for a few hours per day. High removal efficiency was obtained despite changes in toluene inlet load (from 4.2 × 10−3 to 0.20 g/m3/hr), which proves the hybrid system’s effectiveness. In fact, during unexpected concentration changes, the efficiency of the biofilter is greatly decreased, but the adsorption column maintains the high efficiency of the entire process (removal efficiency [RE] close to 100%). Moreover, the adsorption column after biofiltration is able to deal with the problem of the emission of particles and/or microorganisms from the biofilter. Implications Indoor air pollution is nowadays recognized as a major environmental and health issue. This original study investigates the performance of a hybrid biological process combining a biofilter and an adsorption column for removal of indoor VOCs, specifically toluene.