The Removal of Organic Acids and Aldehydes from Gases Emitted from Composting Municipal Waste

• Main Author: Monika Wierzbińska
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Polish Society of Ecological Engineering (PTIE) 2021-03-01
• Series: Journal of Ecological Engineering
• Subjects: composting; deodorisation; aluminosilicates; mineral sorbents; halloysite
• Online Access: http://www.jeeng.net/The-Removal-of-Organic-Acids-and-Aldehydes-from-Gases-Emitted-from-Composting-Municipal,132434,0,2.html

The article describes an experiment conducted in industrial (real) conditions in a municipal waste composting facility. Waste gases emitted from composting processes were passed through an experimental installation made in a semi-technical scale. The installation consisted of two biofilters which were filled with different aluminosilicate beds with average granulation of 4-10 mm. Sorbents were inoculated with a mixture of microorganisms bred on the mineral bed, previously operating at the tank with waste from that composting facility. Malodorous gases were passed through the installation and concentrations of organic acids and aldehydes before and after passing through biofilters with the examined sorbents were analysed. The aim of the experiment was to determine which of the two mineral sorbents better removes the analysed contaminations from post-production gases. The experiment lasted for a month as difficult and very changeable industrial conditions caused problems with operation and the experiment was suddenly interrupted. The study will be continued after the introduction of construction changes in the installation. After the month of conducting the study we can conclude that in the first weeks of the study, before the dampness of sorbents took place, halloysite reduced the concentrations of acetic acid in 80 - 99%, and of acetaldehyde in 96 - 98%. The other aluminosilicate caused a drop in the concentrations by 97 - 98% and 92 - 86%, respectively. Moreover, in the experiment planned in the semi-technical scale it was not possible to determine overall performances of mineral biofilters due to unstable operating conditions and ending the experiment ahead of time. The halloysite sorbent finally turned out to be potentially the more efficient mineral sorbent than the other aluminosilicate sorbent.