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Exhaust gas purification using immobilised monocultures (biocatalysts)

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Summary

The paper is concerned with the purification of exhaust gases using biocatalysts in a trickle bed reactor. Substance specific strains (monocultures) which were, for example, immobilised on activated carbon served as biocatalyst. Technically important solvents and substances such as aldehydes, methyl ethyl ketone and ethyl acetate were used as pollutants. Their concentration was about 5–40 ppm in the exhaust gas to be purified. The experiments show that with suitable bacterial, strains space velocities of about k *=1500 h-1 can be obtained at a conversion of 90%. The mass transfer through the liquid film around the activated carbon grains seems to be rate determining.

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Abbreviations

A :

area of reactor cross section

a b :

ratio of suspension to bed volume

c g :

pollutant concentration (gas)

C 1 :

pollutant concentration (liquid)

c * 1 :

equilibrium concentration

c * 1 :

mean logarithmic equilibrium concentration

d :

reactor diameter

d p :

diffusion coefficient

D 1 :

diffusion coefficient

f b :

degree of wetting

h :

reactor length

k * :

space velocity

k a :

adsorption kinetic constant

k g :

mass transfer coefficient (gas)

k 1 :

mass transfer coefficient (liquid)

M s :

pollutant mass flow rate

\(\mathop {\text{N}}\limits_ \cdot \) g :

diffusion flow rate (gas)

\(\mathop {\text{N}}\limits_ \cdot \) 1 :

diffusion flow rate (liquid)

Δp :

pressure drop

Reg :

Reynolds-number (gas)

Re1 :

Reynolds-number (liquid)

R v :

reaction rate

Sh:

Sherwood-number

Sc:

Schmidt-number

t :

time

t B :

loading time

T :

temperature

v 1 :

liquid velocity

V g :

gas flow rate

V 1 :

liquid flow rate

V k :

reactor volume

V' k :

absorber volume

V s :

suspension volume

X s :

cell density (suspension)

X v :

cell density (trickle bed reactor)

Y :

free attachment capacity of activated carbon

Z :

variable cell density

ε H :

interstitial volume percentage

ε p :

pore moisture percentage

ε o :

surface moisture percentage

ε s :

percentage of moisture statically fixed

ρ1 :

compacted density

v 1 :

kinematic viscosity (liquid)

References

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Kirchner, K., Hauk, G. & Rehm, H.J. Exhaust gas purification using immobilised monocultures (biocatalysts). Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 26, 579–587 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00253036

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00253036

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