Biofilter performance of pine nuggets and lava rock as media

Wood chips and bark mulch are commonly used biofilter media because they are generally locally available and inexpensive. Nevertheless, these organic materials degrade and require replacement every 2–5 years. In this study, airflow characteristics and gas reduction efficiencies of two alternative biofilter media (pine nuggets and lava rock) with high porosity and potentially longer service lives were evaluated at three empty bed contact times (1, 3, and 5 s) and two moisture levels (82% and 90% relative humidity). The lava rock had a lower pressure drop across the media and maintained higher media depth. Gas reduction efficiencies were highest for lava rock at 5 s empty bed contact time and 90% humidity. The reduction efficiencies at these conditions were 56%, 88%, 87%, 25%, and 0.7% for ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, total reduced sulfur, methane and nitrous oxide, respectively. Odor reduction up to 48% was observed but was not consistent.