Streese J, Stegmann R
Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Department of Waste Management, Harburger Schlossstrasse 36, D-21079 Hamburg, Germany.
Waste Manag. 2003;23(7):573-80. doi: 10.1016/S0956-053X(03)00097-7.
Landfill gas emissions are among the largest sources of the greenhouse gas methane. For this reason, the possibilities of microbial methane degradation in biofilters were investigated. Different filter materials were tested in two experimental plants, a bench-scale plant (total filter volume 51 l) and a pilot plant (total filter volume 4 m3). Three months after the beginning of the experiment, very high degradation rates of up to 63 g CH4/(m3h) were observed in the bench-scale plant at mean methane concentrations of 2.5% v/v and with fine-grained compost as biofilter material. However, the degradation rates of the compost biofilter decreased in the fifth month of the experiment, probably due to the accumulation of exopolymeric substances formed by the microorganisms. A mixture of compost, peat, and wood fibers showed stable and satisfactory degradation rates around 20 g/(m3h) at mean concentrations of 3% v/v over a period of one year. In this material, the wood fibers served as a structural material and prevented clogging of the biofilter. Extrapolation of the experimental data indicates that biofilters for methane oxidation have to be at least 100 times the volume of biofilters for odor control to obtain the same cleaning efficiency per unit volume flow of feed gas.
垃圾填埋气排放是温室气体甲烷的最大来源之一。因此，对生物滤池中微生物降解甲烷的可能性进行了研究。在两个实验装置中测试了不同的过滤材料，一个是实验室规模的装置（总过滤体积51升），另一个是中试装置（总过滤体积4立方米）。实验开始三个月后，在实验室规模的装置中，当平均甲烷浓度为2.5%（体积/体积）且以细颗粒堆肥作为生物滤池材料时，观察到高达63克CH₄/（立方米·小时）的极高降解率。然而，在实验的第五个月，堆肥生物滤池的降解率下降，这可能是由于微生物形成的胞外聚合物的积累。堆肥、泥炭和木纤维的混合物在一年的时间里，当平均浓度为3%（体积/体积）时，显示出稳定且令人满意的约20克/（立方米·小时）的降解率。在这种材料中，木纤维作为结构材料，防止了生物滤池的堵塞。实验数据的外推表明，用于甲烷氧化的生物滤池体积至少必须是用于气味控制的生物滤池体积的100倍，才能在单位体积进料气流量下获得相同的净化效率。
