Performance Evaluation of a Bagasse-Based Biofilter Treating Toluene Vapour

A three-layer biofilter, mainly filled with sugarcane bagasse and compost, was constructed to treat air contaminated by toluene. Toluene removal efficiency (RE) could be maintained in the range of 80 to 100 % under the conditions of initial concentrations below 1.5 g·m^-3 and gas empty bed retention time (EBRT) of 2.0 min. When toluene inlet load (IL) was lower than 100 g·m^-3·h^-1, elimination capacity (EC) increased obviously with the rise of IL. The maximum EC about 95 g·m^-3·h^-1 was reached at the IL ranging 120-150 g·m^-3·h^-1 and kept almost no increase in spite of IL rising. Under steady state, the biofilter could recover its performance rapidly when faced up to load shock. During the operation, water content and pH in the media could be maintained in appropriate range, indicating that bagasse is suitable for packing biofilter to treat VOCs.