Benzene biodegradation using the polyurethane biofilter immobilized with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia T3-c

Abstract

The benzene removal characteristics of the polyurethane (PU) biofilter immobilized with S. maltophilia T3-c, that could efficiently degrade benzene, was investigated. Maximum capacity to eliminate benzene was maintained at 100-110 g·m-3·h-1 when space velocity (SV) ranged from 100 to 300 h-1, however, it decreased sharply to 55 g·m-3·h-1 as SV increased to 400 h-1. The critical elimination capacities that guaranteed 90% removal of inlet loading of the PU biofilter were determined to be 70, 30, and 15 g·m-3·h-1 at SV 100, 200, and 300 h-1, respectively. Based on the result of a kinetic analysis of the PU biofilter, maximum benzene elimination velocity (Vm) was 125 g·m-3 of PU·h-1 and saturation constant (Km) was 0.22 g·m-3 of benzene (65 μl·l-1). This study suggests that the biofilter utilizing S. maltophilia T3-c and polyurethane is a very promising technology for effectively degrading benzene.