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Two cost-effective packing materials were used for n-butyl acetate removal in lab-scale biofilters, namely waste spruce root wood chips and biochar obtained as a byproduct from a wood gasifier. Three biofilters packed with spruce root wood chips: without biochar (SRWC), a similar one with 10% of biochar (SRWC-B) and that with 10% of biochar impregnated with a nitrogen fertilizer (SRWC-IB) showed similar yet differing maximum elimination capacities of 206 ± 27, 275 ± 21 and 294 ± 20 g m−3 h−1, respectively, enabling high pollutant removal efficiency (>95% at moderate loads) and stable performance. The original biochar adsorption capacity was high (208 ± 6 mgtoluene g−1), but near 70% of it was lost after a 300-day biofilter operation. By contrast, the exposed impregnated biochar drastically increased its adsorption capacity in 300 days (149 ± 7 vs. 17 ± 5 mgtoluene g−1). Colony forming unit (CFU) and microscopic analyses revealed significant packing material colonization by microorganisms and grazing fauna in all three biofilters with an acceptable pressure drop, up to 1020 Pa m−1, at the end of biofilter operation. Despite a higher price (14 vs. 123 €m−3), the application of the best performing SRWC-IB packing can reduce the total investment costs by 9% due to biofilter volume reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study was aimed at testing the possibility of using a biotrickling filter for the treatment of waste air resulting from animal farming. For this purpose, a laboratory and pilot biotrickling filter with a moving bed were constructed. In the first case, the removal of ammonia emissions from waste air, by means of ammonia nitrogen utilization by present micro-organisms under laboratory conditions, was tested. The mass load of the biotrickling filter was gradually increased by slowly increasing the ammonia concentration. In the second case, the pilot biotrickling filter with a moving bed was installed inside a pig farm and it was tested under real operation conditions. In the first case, the highest value of the laboratory biotrickling filter's elimination capacity was 6.2 g m of filling h. The elimination capacity of the pilot filter was 1.6 g m of filling h. The source of carbon for the present micro-organisms was a 1% sucrose solution, which simulated waste water with high content of COD. [<-define what COD is, if mentioned for the first time] At the same time there was almost 89% decrease in waste water pollution. It was also shown that the contribution of the ammonia nitrogen utilization by the present micro-organisms to the removal of ammonia from the waste air was 90%. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]