Formulation of biofiltration packing materials: essential nutriment release for the biological treatment of odorous emissions

Biofiltration is a current biological gas treatment technology extensively used for the treatment of polluted air. The advantages of this cleaning technique are high - superficial area best-suited for poor water solubility compounds treatment, ease of operation and low operating costs. It involves a filter bed serving both as carrier for the microorganisms and as nutrient supplier. In this study, two types of material were formulated with an organic binder to compare two different nitrogen sources: ammonium phosphate or urea phosphate. The obtained supports were tested in terms of cohesion capacities in water, bulk density, moisture retention capacity, dissolving rate of the mineral elements (carbonate, phosphorus, calcium, nitrogen) and for the pH regulation. The results show that the binder gives important cohesion capacities to the material even in drastic conditions (material submerged in water) and allows a low diffused release for different elements. Therefore, formulated packing materials present interesting properties for biofiltration processes.