Diseño de un sistema de biofiltración para la remoción de estireno
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Jimenez-Roldan, E. (Esteban) | 2014-05-07
This work was focused on developing an elimination process of styrene, an organic compound generating
complex odors in air, through the design and construction of a biofiltration system, utilizing bacteria of the
Pseudomona aeruginosa and Escherichia coli types stuck on a pumice stone support.
Air was contaminated with styrene, in concentrations above the American Standard (TLV 40 ppm,
ACGIH Worldwide, 2002), to simulate a hazardous work environment to the human health. To evaluate the
efficiency of the system, the contaminated inlet air as well as the outlet flow were analyzed by taking direct
styrene concentrations measurements with an organic vapor meter. Initially, the results obtained from the
styrene degradation were above 55%, for a five-daily-sampling average during 10 days. This percentage was a
consequence of the progressive stabilization process of the system within the first days, so the removal was low.
However, average removals above 70% and punctual removals above 90% were reached after the eighth day.
The pumice stone support demonstrated to be a good alternative to improve biofilm formation; the
rapid micropore saturation guaranteed low adsorption of the organic compound and confirmed the elimination
of styrene via biodegradation.
LEER