Scholars@Duke
Marc Deshusses

Marc Deshusses

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
marc.deshusses@duke.edu
Box 90287, Durham, NC 27708-0287
127C Hudson Hall, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Publications

Experimental evaluation of a full-scale in-duct UV germicidal irradiation system for bioaerosols inactivation.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · October 2024 Bioaerosols control techniques, especially ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) are gaining attention due to increasing needs for controlling of health risk caused by airborne biocontaminants. The effectiveness of a full-scale in-duct UVGI air disinfe ... Full text Cite

Optimization of the IntraVascular Oxygenator Catheter Using Angular Oscillation.

Journal Article Ann Biomed Eng · March 2024 We demonstrate a methodology which both improves oxygen transport and reduces or eliminates bubble formation in a novel hyperbaric membrane oxygenator catheter model system. Angular oscillations were introduced to a bundle of hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hydrophobic air pollutants removal at one second gas contact in a multi-channel capillary bioreactor

Journal Article Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering · October 1, 2023 Biological processes are increasingly applied for gas purification as a sustainable and economical alternative to conventional physical-chemical processes (chemical absorption, incineration, adsorption). Although biological gas treatment is accepted as an ... Full text Cite

Supercritical water oxidation for the destruction of spent media wastes generated from PFAS treatment.

Journal Article Journal of hazardous materials · October 2023 Granular activated carbon (GAC) and anion exchange resin (AIX) have been successfully demonstrated to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water and wastewater. These treatment technologies, when applied for PFAS removal, gen ... Full text Cite

Quantitative risk assessment of COVID-19 aerosol transmission indoors: a mechanistic stochastic web application.

Journal Article Environmental technology · April 2023 An increasing body of literature suggests that aerosol inhalation plays a primary role in COVID-19 transmission, particularly in indoor settings. Mechanistic stochastic models can help public health professionals, engineers, and space planners understand t ... Full text Cite

Modeling of a capillary microbioreactor for VOC removal

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · March 15, 2023 Capillary microreactors have shown superior performance as a result of the precise control of reaction parameters, contact time, shape and size of the interface between gas and liquid and enhanced mass transfer due to high surface to volume ratio. In this ... Full text Cite

PFAS Elimination Rates in Sludge, Ion Exchange Resin, and Aqueous Film Forming Foam Using Supercritical Water Oxidation: A Quantitative Review

Conference WEFTEC 2023 - 96th Annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference · January 1, 2023 Rising concern of Perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) contamination of our ecosystem has sparked interest in this class of pollutants as it pertains to water and waste management. While PFAS sources are numerous, it is widely believed that firefight ... Cite

Quantifying Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) Efficiency Treating PFAS Laden Sludge, Ion Exchange Resin and Aqueous Film Forming Foam

Conference Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Conference and Exhibition, AWMA · January 1, 2023 Cite

Impact of Substrate Makeup on PFAS Elimination Rates from Sludge, IX Resin and AFFF Using Supercritical Water Oxidation

Conference Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Conference and Exhibition, AWMA · January 1, 2023 Rising concern of Perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) contamination of our ecosystem has sparked interest in this class of pollutants as it pertains to water and waste management. While PFAS sources are numerous, it is widely believed that firefight ... Cite

Critical assessment of gassing-in methods to determine mass transfer coefficient in miniature and microbioreactors with gas-liquid flow

Journal Article Biochemical Engineering Journal · November 1, 2022 Accurate measurements of mass transfer coefficients are critical for reliable characterization of bioreactors. While standardized methods to measure mass transfer coefficients have been established for simple stirred tank reactors, existing methods to char ... Full text Cite

Quantitative microbial risk assessment of outdoor aerosolized pathogens in cities with poor sanitation.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · June 2022 The aeromicrobiological transmission pathway of enteric pathogens in places with unsafe sanitation services is poorly understood. In an attempt to partly fill this knowledge gap, we assessed the potential public health impact of bioaerosols near open waste ... Full text Cite

Intravascular Gas Exchange: Physiology, Literature Review, and Current Efforts.

Journal Article Respir Care · April 2022 Acute respiratory failure with inadequate oxygenation and/or ventilation is a common reason for ICU admission in children and adults. Despite the morbidity and mortality associated with acute respiratory failure, few proven treatment options exist beyond i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Detection and Quantification of Enteric Pathogens in Aerosols Near Open Wastewater Canals in Cities with Poor Sanitation.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · November 2021 Urban sanitation infrastructure is inadequate in many low-income countries, leading to the presence of highly concentrated, uncontained fecal waste streams in densely populated areas. Combined with mechanisms of aerosolization, airborne transport of enteri ... Full text Cite

Evaluation of private well contaminants in an underserved North Carolina community.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · October 2021 On-site sewage treatment systems can be an important source of antibiotic resistant bacteria and organic micropollutants into adjacent groundwater. Due to the frequent proximity of private wells to septic systems, this contamination is a concern to communi ... Full text Cite

Development and validation of a comprehensive model for biotrickling filters upgrading biogas

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · March 1, 2021 This paper details the development, validation, and analysis of a conceptually correct mathematical model for biogas upgrading biological trickling filter (BTF) reactors. The model considers convective transport and dispersion of gases through the fixed be ... Full text Cite

Editorial of Special Issue.

Journal Article Chemosphere · March 2021 Full text Cite

Antimicrobial resistance genes are enriched in aerosols near impacted urban surface waters in La Paz, Bolivia.

Journal Article Environmental research · March 2021 Antibiotic resistance poses a major global health threat. Understanding emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance in environmental media is critical to the design of control strategies. Because antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) may be aerosoliz ... Full text Cite

Open Waste Canals as Potential Sources of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Aerosols in Urban Kanpur, India.

Journal Article The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · March 2021 Understanding the movement of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment is critical to managing their spread. To assess potential ARG transport through the air via urban bioaerosols in cities with poor sanitation, we quantified ARGs and a mo ... Full text Cite

Development of a novel intravascular oxygenator catheter: Oxygen mass transfer properties across nonporous hollow fiber membranes.

Journal Article Biotechnol Bioeng · January 2021 Despite hypoxic respiratory failure representing a large portion of total hospitalizations and healthcare spending worldwide, therapeutic options beyond mechanical ventilation are limited. We demonstrate the technical feasibility of providing oxygen to a b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Technical evaluation and optimization of a mobile septage treatment unit.

Journal Article Journal of environmental management · January 2021 A mobile septage treatment unit was built in India using readily available filters and membranes (mesh fabric, sand, granular activated carbon (GAC), microfilter, ultrafilter) and installed on the bed of a small truck. The target application was emptying o ... Full text Cite

Ultrasonic bubble detection and tracking using spatial coherence and motion modeling

Conference Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE · January 1, 2021 Limited options exist to improve oxygenation in patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure. We are developing an intravascular oxygenator catheter capable of delivering a clinically significant amount of oxygen directly into the bloodstream of patient ... Full text Cite

Environmental and Aerosolized Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Among Hospitalized Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients.

Journal Article J Infect Dis · November 9, 2020 During April and May 2020, we studied 20 patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), their hospital rooms (fomites and aerosols), and their close contacts for molecular and culture evidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavir ... Full text Link to item Cite

Capillary microbioreactors for VOC vapor treatment: Impacts of operating conditions.

Journal Article Chemosphere · November 2020 Micro-capillary bioreactors (1 mm ID, 10 cm long) were investigated for the biodegradation of toluene vapors as a model volatile organic compound (VOC). The intended application is the removal of VOCs from indoor air, when such microbioreactor is coupled w ... Full text Cite

Bioaerosol sampling optimization for community exposure assessment in cities with poor sanitation: A one health cross-sectional study.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · October 2020 Evidence of exposure to enteric pathogens through the air and associated risk of infection is scarce in the literature outside of animal- or human-waste handling settings. Cities with poor sanitation are important locations to investigate this aerial expos ... Full text Cite

Bioaerosol sampling optimization for community exposure assessment in cities with poor sanitation: A one health cross-sectional study.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · October 2020 Evidence of exposure to enteric pathogens through the air and associated risk of infection is scarce in the literature outside of animal- or human-waste handling settings. Cities with poor sanitation are important locations to investigate this aerial expos ... Full text Cite

Biological Co-treatment of H2S and reduction of CO2 to methane in an anoxic biological trickling filter upgrading biogas.

Journal Article Chemosphere · October 2020 This study investigated the feasibility of co-treating H2S and CO2 in a biological trickling filter (BTF) inoculated with hydrogenotrophic methanogens (HMs) and nitrate-reducing, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. This was accomplished by int ... Full text Cite

Nutrient removal from human fecal sludge digestate in full-scale biological filters.

Journal Article Chemosphere · October 2020 There is a great need for simple methods for digestate management for potential household sanitation systems based on anaerobic digestion of minimally diluted fecal waste in countries that lack safe sanitation. Herein, a full-scale three-stage filter for n ... Full text Cite

Bioaerosol sampling optimization for community exposure assessment in cities with poor sanitation: A one health cross-sectional study.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · October 2020 Evidence of exposure to enteric pathogens through the air and associated risk of infection is scarce in the literature outside of animal- or human-waste handling settings. Cities with poor sanitation are important locations to investigate this aerial expos ... Full text Cite

Novel Integrated Biotrickling Filter-Anammox Bioreactor System for the Complete Treatment of Ammonia in Air with Nitrification and Denitrification.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · October 2020 An integrated biotrickling filter-anammox bioreactor system for the complete treatment of ammonia in air with conversion to nitrogen gas without the supply of an extraneous electron donor for denitrification was established. Partial nitritation (i.e., conv ... Full text Cite

Fecal Malodor Detection Using Low-Cost Electrochemical Sensors.

Journal Article Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · May 2020 Technology innovation in sanitation is needed for the 4.2 billion people worldwide, lacking safely managed sanitation services. A major requirement for the adoption of these technologies is the management of malodor around toilet and treatment systems. The ... Full text Cite

Resources recovery from high-strength human waste anaerobic digestate using simple nitrification and denitrification filters.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · April 2020 Simple trickling nitrification filters and submerged denitrification filters were developed to provide post-treatment to high-strength human waste anaerobic digestate with the aims to (i) effectively recover nutrients in a useful form as a fertilizer and t ... Full text Cite

Preface

Book · January 1, 2020 Full text Cite

Detailed investigations of dissolved hydrogen and hydrogen mass transfer in a biotrickling filter for upgrading biogas.

Journal Article Bioresource technology · October 2019 This study investigated the hydrogen mass transfer limitations in a biotrickling filter inoculated with hydrogenotrophic methanogens for biogas upgrading. A highly sensitive dissolved hydrogen probe allowed measuring concentrations in real-time. Experiment ... Full text Cite

Sensor-Array optimization based on mutual information for sanitation-related malodor alerts

Conference BioCAS 2019 - Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference, Proceedings · October 1, 2019 There is an unmet need for a low-cost instrumented technology for detecting malodor around toilets and emerging sanitation technologies for onsite waste treatment. Our approach to an electronic nose for sanitation-related malodor is based on the use of ele ... Full text Cite

Miniaturized Biotrickling Filters and Capillary Microbioreactors for Process Intensification of VOC Treatment with Intended Application to Indoor Air.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · February 2019 Typical biofilters and biotrickling filters used for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) control have treatment rates limited to 30-200 g m-3 h-1, mostly because they are exposed to dilute VOC streams, have moderate biomass density and ... Full text Cite

Bioaerosol emissions associated with pit latrine emptying operations.

Journal Article The Science of the total environment · January 2019 Pit latrines are the most common sanitation option in the developing world. They are simple to build but require periodic emptying which results in widespread dispersion of fecal pathogens in the environment. While much is known about the health risks of f ... Full text Cite

Reduction in energy for electrochemical disinfection of E. coli in urine simulant.

Journal Article Journal of applied electrochemistry · January 2019 AbstractWe report the development of novel modes of operation for electrochemical disinfection of E. coli in human urine simulant with an aim to minimize the energy required for disinfection. The system employs boron-doped diamond electrode ... Full text Cite

Improved blackwater disinfection using potentiodynamic methods with oxidized boron-doped diamond electrodes.

Journal Article Water research · September 2018 Electrochemical disinfection (ECD) has become an important blackwater disinfection technology. ECD is a promising solution for the 2 billion people without access to conventional sanitation practices and in areas deficient in basic utilities (e.g., sewers, ... Full text Cite

Nitrifying trickling filters and denitrifying bioreactors for nitrogen management of high-strength anaerobic digestion effluent.

Journal Article Chemosphere · August 2018 The treatment of high-strength anaerobic digester effluent in laboratory-scale trickling filters for nitrification and then anaerobic filters for denitrification is reported. Five media types were investigated in the trickling filters: biochar, granular ac ... Full text Cite

Quantification of Mercury Bioavailability for Methylation Using Diffusive Gradient in Thin-Film Samplers.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · August 2018 Mercury-contaminated sediment and water contain various Hg species, with a small fraction available for microbial conversion to the bioaccumulative neurotoxin monomethylmercury (MeHg). Quantification of this available Hg pool is needed to prioritize sites ... Full text Cite

Antibiotic-induced changes in the microbiota disrupt redox dynamics in the gut.

Journal Article Elife · June 19, 2018 How host and microbial factors combine to structure gut microbial communities remains incompletely understood. Redox potential is an important environmental feature affected by both host and microbial actions. We assessed how antibiotics, which can impact ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Performance of a monolith biotrickling filter treating high concentrations of H2S from mimic biogas and elemental sulfur plugging control using pigging.

Journal Article Chemosphere · November 2017 A novel biotrickling filter using a 3D-printed honeycomb-monolith as its filter bed has been proposed and studied in this work and a solution to bed-clogging problems using pigging was demonstrated. The inlet H2S concentration in the mimic bioga ... Full text Cite

High-Performance Biogas Upgrading Using a Biotrickling Filter and Hydrogenotrophic Methanogens.

Journal Article Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · October 2017 This research reports the development of a biotrickling filter (BTF) to upgrade biogas, which is achieved by adding H2 to reduce CO2. H2 and CO2 (80:20% vol.) were fed to a bench-scale BTF packed with polyurethan ... Full text Cite

Enhanced H2O2 Production at Reductive Potentials from Oxidized Boron-Doped Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Electrodes.

Journal Article ACS applied materials & interfaces · May 2017 This work investigates the surface chemistry of H2O2 generation on a boron-doped ultrananocrystalline diamond (BD-UNCD) electrode. It is motivated by the need to efficiently disinfect liquid waste in resource constrained environments ... Full text Cite

Terephthalic acid capped iron oxide nanoparticles for sensitive electrochemical detection of heavy metal ions in water

Journal Article Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry · March 1, 2017 This work describes a simple wet chemical synthesis of iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) capped with terephthalic acid (TA) and their application for the individual detection of Hg(II), Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions as well as simultaneous and selective dete ... Full text Cite

Determination and correlation of the partition coefficients of 48 volatile organic and environmentally relevant compounds between air and silicone oil

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · February 15, 2017 Many emerging bioprocesses include a second, non-aqueous phase liquid in which the key substrate or product partitions for either enhanced interphase mass transfer, concentration dampening, or in-situ product extraction. Knowledge of the partition coeffici ... Full text Cite

Biofiltration for air pollution control

Book · January 1, 2017 The number-one environmental threat to public health, air pollution remains a pressing problem-made even more complicated by the massive quantity and diversity of air pollution sources. Biofiltration technology (using micro-organisms growing on porous medi ... Full text Cite

Carbon dioxide capture using Escherichia coli expressing carbonic anhydrase in a foam bioreactor.

Journal Article Environmental technology · December 2016 The present study reports CO2 capture and conversion to bicarbonate using Escherichia coli expressing carbonic anhydrase (CA) on its cell surface in a novel foam bioreactor. The very large gas-liquid interfacial area in the foam bioreactor promoted rapid C ... Full text Cite

On-Site Fecal Sludge Treatment with the Anaerobic Digestion Pasteurization Latrine

Journal Article Environmental Engineering Science · November 1, 2016 The Anaerobic Digestion Pasteurization Latrine (ADPL) is a self-contained and energy neutral on-site sanitation system using anaerobic digestion of fecal sludge to generate biogas and then uses the biogas to pasteurize the digester effluent at 65-75°C to p ... Full text Cite

Performance evaluation of a full-scale innovative swine waste-to-energy system.

Journal Article Bioresource technology · September 2016 Intensive monitoring was carried out to evaluate the performance of a full-scale innovative swine waste-to-energy system at a commercial swine farm with 8640 heads of swine. Detailed mass balances over each unit of the system showed that the system, which ... Full text Cite

A comparative study of dilute VOCs treatment in a non-thermal plasma reactor

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · June 15, 2016 Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is an emerging technology for the treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in polluted point source air streams. Here, a dielectric barrier discharge NTP was used to evaluate the treatment efficiency of several common VOCs at ... Full text Cite

Water Availability for Shale Gas Development in Sichuan Basin, China.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · March 2016 Unconventional shale gas development holds promise for reducing the predominant consumption of coal and increasing the utilization of natural gas in China. While China possesses some of the most abundant technically recoverable shale gas resources in the w ... Full text Cite

Design and assessment of an innovative swine waste to renewable energy system

Journal Article Transactions of the ASABE · January 1, 2016 The greater reliance on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) for livestock production presents both environmental challenges and opportunities for renewable energy and resource recovery. In this article, the design, economics of construction and ... Full text Cite

Anaerobic digestion pasteurization latrine: Novel onsite sewage treatment for developing countries

Conference WEFTEC 2016 - 89th Water Environment Federation Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference · January 1, 2016 The Anaerobic Digestion Pasteurization Latrine (ADPL) is a self-contained and energy neutral on-site sanitation system using anaerobic digestion of fecal sludge to generate biogas, and then uses the biogas to pasteurize the digester effluent at 65-75 °C to ... Full text Cite

Supercritical water oxidation of a model fecal sludge without the use of a co-fuel.

Journal Article Chemosphere · December 2015 A continuous supercritical water oxidation reactor was designed and constructed to investigate the conversion of a feces simulant without the use of a co-fuel. The maximum reactor temperature and waste conversion was determined as a function of stoichiomet ... Full text Open Access Cite

Anaerobic digestion of undiluted simulant human excreta for sanitation and energy recovery in less-developed countries

Journal Article Energy for Sustainable Development · December 1, 2015 Improving access to sanitation is one of the most effective means to improve public health. Anaerobic digestion of high-strength undiluted human simulant excreta was investigated in laboratory systems. The focus was on demonstrating the suitability of usin ... Full text Cite

Novel sulfonated Nafion®-based composite membranes with pillararene as selective artificial proton channels for application in direct methanol fuel cells

Journal Article International Journal of Hydrogen Energy · October 15, 2015 Proton exchange membranes (PEM) are critical components of low temperature fuel cells. Most PEMs are made of perfluorinated sulfonic acid polymers such as Nafion®. However, Nafion has a high methanol permeability which is limiting its applicability in dire ... Full text Cite

Relative contributions of mercury bioavailability and microbial growth rate on net methylmercury production by anaerobic mixed cultures.

Journal Article Environmental science. Processes & impacts · September 2015 Monomethylmercury (MeHg) is produced in many aquatic environments by anaerobic microorganisms that take up and methylate inorganic forms of Hg(II). Net methylation of Hg(II) appears to be correlated with factors that affect the activity of the anaerobic mi ... Full text Cite

Reduction of invasive bacteria in ethanol fermentations using bacteriophages.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · August 2015 Invasive Lactobacillus bacteria inhibit ethanol fermentations and reduce final product yields. Due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of Lactobacillus spp., alternative disinfection strategies are needed for ethanol fermentations. The feasibi ... Full text Cite

Natural Gas Residual Fluids: Sources, Endpoints, and Organic Chemical Composition after Centralized Waste Treatment in Pennsylvania.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · July 2015 Volumes of natural gas extraction-derived wastewaters have increased sharply over the past decade, but the ultimate fate of those waste streams is poorly characterized. Here, we sought to (a) quantify natural gas residual fluid sources and endpoints to bou ... Full text Cite

Thiol-Based Selective Extraction Assay to Comparatively Assess Bioavailable Mercury in Sediments.

Journal Article Environmental engineering science · July 2015 Bioaccumulation of methylmercury in the aquatic food web is governed in part by the methylation of inorganic divalent mercury (Hg(II)) by anaerobic microorganisms. In sulfidic settings, a small fraction of total Hg(II) is typically bioavailable to methylat ... Full text Cite

Fermentation of swine wastewater-derived duckweed for biohydrogen production

Journal Article International Journal of Hydrogen Energy · June 15, 2015 Duckweed harvested from a swine wastewater treatment system was evaluated for its potential as a fermentation feedstock for the production of biohydrogen. The effects of pretreatment and fermentation conditions on biohydrogen production were investigated i ... Full text Cite

Biocatalytic coatings for air pollution control: a proof of concept study on VOC biodegradation.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · February 2015 Although biofilm-based biotechnologies exhibit a large potential as solutions for off-gas treatment, the high water content of biofilms often causes pollutant mass transfer limitations, which ultimately limit their widespread application. The present study ... Full text Cite

Nitrification of anaerobic digester effluent for nitrogen management at swine farms.

Journal Article Chemosphere · December 2014 Anaerobic digester effluent collected from a swine farm was nitrified in lab-scale bioreactors mimicking an innovative manure management system to understand factors relevant to a successful start-up. The effects of digester effluent strength, aeration tim ... Full text Cite

Net methylation of mercury in estuarine sediment microcosms amended with dissolved, nanoparticulate, and microparticulate mercuric sulfides.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · August 2014 The production of methylmercury (MeHg) by anaerobic microorganisms depends in part on the speciation and bioavailability of inorganic mercury to these organisms. Our previous work with pure cultures of methylating bacteria has demonstrated that the methyla ... Full text Cite

Application of the finite difference method to model pH and substrate concentration in a double-chamber microbial fuel cell.

Journal Article Environmental technology · May 2014 The purpose of this study was to develop a mathematical model that can describe glucose degradation in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) with the use of finite difference approach. The dynamic model can describe both substrate and pH changes in the anode chamber ... Full text Cite

A robust framework to predict mercury speciation in combustion flue gases.

Journal Article Journal of hazardous materials · January 2014 Mercury emissions from coal combustion have become a global concern as growing energy demands have increased the consumption of coal. The effective implementation of treatment technologies requires knowledge of mercury speciation in the flue gas, namely co ... Full text Cite

Disinfection of E. coli contaminated urine using boron-doped diamond electrodes

Journal Article Journal of the Electrochemical Society · January 1, 2014 We report the development of an electrochemical disinfection system for human urine, which does not require the addition of any external water or chemical reagents. It is designed to minimize energy consumption so that it may be powered from point-of-use s ... Full text Cite

The effects of various amendments on the biostimulation of perchlorate reduction in laboratory microcosm and flowthrough soil columns

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · October 1, 2013 Perchlorate (ClO4-) is a contaminant of concern in groundwater and drinking water. In the presence of a suitable electron donor, perchlorate can be reduced to non-toxic chloride via either biotic or abiotic mechanisms. The objective of this study was to ev ... Full text Cite

Mechanisms regulating mercury bioavailability for methylating microorganisms in the aquatic environment: a critical review.

Journal Article Environ Sci Technol · March 19, 2013 Mercury is a potent neurotoxin for humans, particularly if the metal is in the form of methylmercury. Mercury is widely distributed in aquatic ecosystems as a result of anthropogenic activities and natural earth processes. A first step toward bioaccumulati ... Full text Link to item Cite

Desulfurization of Biogas in Biotrickling Filters

Journal Article · March 13, 2013 A case study of a full-scale biotrickling filter for the removal of high loads of hydrogen sulphide contained in biogas is analyzed. Startup, performance and operational and design challenges are analyzed. Also, fundamental aspects in biogas desulfurizatio ... Full text Cite

Hybrid tin oxide-SWNT nanostructures based gas sensor

Journal Article Electrochimica Acta · March 1, 2013 A facile electrochemical functionalization method was utilized to decorate single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with tin oxide and their gas sensing performance toward various analytes (NH3, NO2, H 2, H2S, acetone, and water vapor) was evaluated at room ... Full text Cite

Electrochemical disinfection of human urine for water-free and additive-free toilets using boron-doped diamond electrodes

Journal Article ECS Transactions · January 1, 2013 We report the development of an electrochemical disinfection system for human urine, which does not require the addition of any external water or chemical reagents. It is designed to minimize energy consumption so that it may derive its energy from solar p ... Full text Cite

Application of a moving bed biofilm reactor for tertiary ammonia treatment in high temperature industrial wastewater.

Journal Article Bioresource technology · May 2012 This study examines the use of a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) as a tertiary treatment step for ammonia removal in high temperature (35-45°C) effluents, and quantifies different phenotypes of ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria responsible for nitri ... Full text Cite

Treatment of mixtures of toluene and n-propanol vapours in a compost-woodchip-based biofilter.

Journal Article Environmental technology · April 2012 The present work describes the biofiltration of mixture of n-propanol (as a model hydrophilic volatile organic compound (VOC)) and toluene (as a model hydrophobic VOC) in a biofilter packed with a compost-woodchip mixture. Initially, the biofilter was fed ... Full text Cite

Bioaugmentation of an anaerobic biotrickling filter for enhanced conversion of trichloroethene to ethene

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · February 15, 2012 During biological reduction of trichloroethene (TCE), incomplete reduction to partially dechlorinated intermediates cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) can occur due to kinetic and inhibitory limitations. In this study, an anaerobic bi ... Full text Cite

Electronic-nose for detecting environmental pollutants: Signal processing and analog front-end design

Journal Article Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing · January 1, 2012 Environmental monitoring relies on compact, portable sensor systems capable of detecting pollutants in real-time. An integrated chemical sensor array system is developed for detection and identification of environmental pollutants in diesel and gasoline ex ... Full text Cite

Adsorption of clofibric acid and ketoprofen onto powdered activated carbon: effect of natural organic matter.

Journal Article Environmental technology · December 2011 The adsorption of two acidic pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), clofibric acid and ketoprofen, onto powdered activated carbon (PAC) was investigated with a particular focus on the influence of natural organic matter (NOM) on the adsorption of the P ... Full text Cite

Gas sensing mechanism of gold nanoparticles decorated single-walled carbon nanotubes

Journal Article Electroanalysis · November 1, 2011 Metal nanoparticles decorated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can lead to considerable enhancement in sensing performance towards different gas analytes, however the sensing mechanism was not clearly elucidated. The detailed sensing mechanism of hyb ... Full text Cite

Operational aspects of the desulfurization process of energy gases mimics in biotrickling filters.

Journal Article Water research · November 2011 Biological removal of reduced sulfur compounds in energy-rich gases is an increasingly adopted alternative to conventional physicochemical processes, because of economical and environmental benefits. A lab-scale biotrickling filter reactor for the treatmen ... Full text Cite

Sensitive Detection of Elemental Mercury Vapor by Gold Nanoparticle Decorated Carbon Nanotube Sensors.

Journal Article The journal of physical chemistry. C, Nanomaterials and interfaces · July 2011 Low-cost, low power consumption gas sensors that can detect or quantify various gas analytes are of increasing interest for various applications ranging from mobile health, to environmental exposure assessment and homeland security. In particular miniature ... Full text Cite

Biological treatment of mixtures of toluene and n-hexane vapours in a hollow fibre membrane bioreactor.

Journal Article Environmental technology · April 2011 Membrane bioreactors are gaining interest for the control of contaminated air streams. In this study, the removal of toluene and n-hexane vapours in a hollow fibre membrane bioreactor (HFMB) was investigated. The focus was on quantifying the possible inter ... Full text Cite

Kinetics and inhibition of reductive dechlorination of trichloroethene, cis-1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride in a continuously fed anaerobic biofilm reactor.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · February 2011 Anaerobic bioreactors containing Dehalococcoides spp. can be effective for the treatment of trichloroethene (TCE) contamination. However, reductive dehalogenation of TCE often results in partial conversion to harmless ethene, and significant production of ... Full text Cite

Kinetics of inactivation of indicator pathogens during thermophilic anaerobic digestion.

Journal Article Water research · December 2010 Thermophilic anaerobic sludge digestion is a promising process to divert waste to beneficial use, but an important question is the required temperature and holding time to achieve a given degree of pathogen inactivation. In this study, the kinetics of inac ... Full text Cite

Synthesis of Sn doped CuO nanotubes from core-shell Cu/SnO(2) nanowires by the Kirkendall effect.

Journal Article Nanotechnology · July 2010 Sn doped CuO nanotubes were synthesized by thermal oxidization of Cu/SnO(2) core-shell nanowires in air through the Kirkendall effect. The Cu/SnO(2) core-shell nanowires were sequentially electrodeposited by forming a SnO(2) shell followed by electrodeposi ... Full text Cite

Analysis of the rate-limiting step of an anaerobic biotrickling filter removing TCE vapors

Journal Article Process Biochemistry · April 1, 2010 A detailed analysis of a biotrickling filter treating trichloroethene (TCE) vapors anaerobically is presented and discussed. The biotrickling filter relies on mixed cultures containing bacteria from the genus Dehalococcoides that reductively dechlorinate T ... Full text Cite

Electrical and gas sensing properties of polyaniline functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Journal Article Nanotechnology · February 2010 Electrical and gas sensing properties of single-walled carbon nanotube networks functionalized with polyaniline (PANI-SWNTs) were systematically investigated to understand the gas sensing mechanisms and optimize sensing performance. The temperature-depende ... Full text Cite

Sensitive detection of H2S using gold nanoparticle decorated single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Journal Article Analytical chemistry · January 2010 Herein, we demonstrate that highly sensitive conductometric gas nanosensors for H(2)S can be synthesized by electrodepositing gold nanoparticles on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) networks. Adjusting the electrodeposition conditions allowed for tuning ... Full text Open Access Cite

Electrical and sensing properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes network: Effect of alignment and selective breakdown

Journal Article Electroanalysis · January 1, 2010 The electrical transport and NH3 sensing properties of randomly oriented and aligned SWNT networks were presented and discussed. The results indicate that aligned SWNT-FETs have better FET characteristics due to the reduced number of interconnected nodes. ... Full text Cite

Anaerobic biotrickling filter for trichloroethylene removal from waste gases

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Conference and Exhibition, AWMA · December 1, 2009 There are an estimated 852 sites with groundwater and/or soil contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) in the US. To biologically treat TCE-laden waste gas streams, a different microbial metabolic pathway is needed. A study was conducted to provide proof ... Cite

Anaerobic biotrickling filter for trichloroethylene removal from contaminated sites

Journal Article In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation-2009: Proceedings of the 10th International In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation Symposium · December 1, 2009 Aerobic biotreatment of trichloroethylene(TCE)-laden soil vapor extraction gases has not found practical application because of its recalcitrance. This study looks at removing TCE from contaminated sites by anaerobic gas-phase biotreatment. An anaerobic bi ... Cite

Anaerobic biotrickling filter for trichloroethylene removal from contaminated sites

Journal Article In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation-2009: Proceedings of the 10th International In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation Symposium · November 27, 2009 Aerobic biotreatment of trichloroethylene(TCE)-laden soil vapor extraction gases has not found practical application because of its recalcitrance. This study looks at removing TCE from contaminated sites by anaerobic gas-phase biotreatment. An anaerobic bi ... Cite

Reductive dehalogenation of trichloroethene vapors in an anaerobic biotrickling filter.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · October 2009 Until now, it has not been possible to use biofiltration to treat trichloroethene (TCE) from waste gases generated by soil vapor extraction or dual-phase extraction at remediation sites because aerobic biodegradation of TCE is possible only via cometabolis ... Full text Cite

The effect of packing hydrophilization on bacterial attachment and the relationship with the performance of biotrickling filters.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · August 2009 Many bioprocesses depend on the effective formation of a biofilm on a solid support. In the present study, three different surface treatments (sandblasting, pure-O(2) plasma, and He-O(2) plasma treatments) were conducted on polypropylene (PP) Pall rings us ... Full text Cite

A gas nanosensor unaffected by humidity.

Journal Article Nanotechnology · June 2009 The fabrication of a gas nanosensor for detecting ammonia gas in air that is unaffected by humidity is demonstrated. On functionalizing single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) networks with a precise amount of camphorsulfonic-acid-doped polyaniline (PANI(CSA) ... Full text Cite

The effects of a lower irrigation system on pollutant removal and on the microflora of a biofilter.

Journal Article Environmental technology · May 2009 Moisture control is one the most important parameters in biofilters for air pollution control. Biofilters tend to experience drying at the air inlet port, which causes decreased pollutant removal over time. In this study, the installation of an irrigation ... Full text Cite

Size-controlled electrochemical synthesis and properties of SnO2 nanotubes.

Journal Article Nanotechnology · May 2009 SnO(2) nanotubes with controlled diameter and length were synthesized using an electrochemical method at room temperature. The length and wall thickness of the nanotubes increased monotonically with the deposition time and the diameter of the nanotubes was ... Full text Cite

Polyaniline nanowires-gold nanoparticles hybrid network based chemiresistive hydrogen sulfide sensor

Journal Article Applied Physics Letters · March 6, 2009 We report a sensitive, selective, and fast responding room temperature chemiresistive sensor for hydrogen sulfide detection and quantification using polyaniline nanowires-gold nanoparticles hybrid network. The sensor was fabricated by facile electrochemica ... Full text Cite

Modeling of a foamed emulsion bioreactor: II. model parametric sensitivity.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · February 2009 The sensitivity of a conceptual model of a foam emulsion bioreactor (FEBR) used for the control of toluene vapors in air was examined. Model parametric sensitivity studies showed which parameters affect the removal of toluene (as model pollutant) in the FE ... Full text Cite

Materials, electrical, and sensing properties of ZnO nanowires

Journal Article AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings · December 1, 2008 Cite

Templated directed electrodeposition of SnO2-nanotubes

Journal Article AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings · December 1, 2008 Cite

Biological removal of siloxanes from landfill and digester gases: opportunities and challenges.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · November 2008 The presence of volatile methyl siloxanes (VMSs) presents challenges for using landfill and digester gases as energy fuels because of the formation of silicon dioxide deposits during combustion. This study looks at the feasibility of using biological treat ... Full text Cite

Removal of ammonia from contaminated air in a biotrickling filter - denitrifying bioreactor combination system.

Journal Article Water research · November 2008 The removal of gaseous ammonia in a system consisting of a biotrickling filter, a denitrification reactor and a polishing bioreactor for the trickling liquid was investigated. The system allowed sustained treatment of ammonia while preventing biological in ... Full text Cite

Alkaline biofiltration of H2S odors.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · October 2008 Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a very common odor nuisance which is best controlled by chemical or biological scrubbing. Under alkaline pH, the amount of H2S that can be solubilized in a scrubbing liquid increases significantly, and therefore, gas-liquid mass t ... Full text Cite

Recent progress in carbon nanotube-based gas sensors.

Journal Article Nanotechnology · August 2008 The development of carbon nanotube-(CNTs-)based gas sensors and sensor arrays has attracted intensive research interest in the last several years because of their potential for the selective and rapid detection of various gaseous species by novel nanostruc ... Full text Cite

Electrodeposition of maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · May 15, 2008 Crystalline maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles were cathodically electrodeposited at room temperature from environmentally benign electrolytes. The shape, size, and production rate of nanoparticles were strongly influenced by electrochemical conditions (e.g ... Full text Cite

Note to intending authors

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · May 15, 2008 Full text Cite

Modeling of a foamed emulsion bioreactor: I. Model development and experimental validation.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · April 2008 Recently, a new type of bioreactor for air pollution control referred to as the foamed emulsion bioreactor (FEBR) has been developed. The process relies on the emulsion of an organic phase with a suspension of an actively growing culture of pollutant-degra ... Full text Cite

Biological sweetening of energy gases mimics in biotrickling filters.

Journal Article Chemosphere · March 2008 Removal of hydrogen sulfide from waste and energy-rich gases is required, not only because of environmental health and safety reasons, but also because of operational reasons if such gases have to be used for energy generation. A biotrickling filter for th ... Full text Cite

Maskless electrodeposited contact for conducting polymer nanowires

Journal Article Applied Physics Letters · February 25, 2008 This letter reports a simple and scalable method to create mechanical joints and electrical contacts of conducting polymer nanowires to electrodes by selective maskless metal electrodeposition on electrodes. This is an attractive route for contacting nanow ... Full text Cite

Determination of mass transfer coefficients for packing materials used in biofilters and biotrickling filters for air pollution control-2: Development of mass transfer coefficients correlations

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Science · February 1, 2008 Correlations that allow determination of gas film mass transfer coefficients (kG at, kG aw) and liquid film mass transfer coefficients (kL aw) for packing materials used in biofilters and biotrickling filters for air pollution control are presented. Lava r ... Full text Cite

Determination of mass transfer coefficients for packing materials used in biofilters and biotrickling filters for air pollution control. 1. Experimental results

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Science · February 1, 2008 Gas film mass transfer coefficients (kG at, kG aw) and liquid film mass transfer coefficients (kL aw) for packing materials used in biofilters and biotrickling filters for air pollution control were determined experimentally. Lava rock, polyurethane foam c ... Full text Cite

The control of mercury vapor using biotrickling filters.

Journal Article Chemosphere · January 2008 The feasibility of using biotrickling filters for the removal of mercury vapor from simulated flue gases was evaluated. The experiments were carried out in laboratory-scale biotrickling filters with various mixed cultures naturally attached on a polyuretha ... Full text Cite

Materials, electrical, and sensing properties of ZnO nanowires

Journal Article AIChE 100 - 2008 AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings · 2008 ZnO is an interesting and versatile material due to its ample material properties and diverse applications. ZnO is an n-type direct and wide band gap semiconductor with band gap of 3.35eV, it has excellent chemical and thermal stability, photonic propertie ... Cite

Materials, electrical, and sensing properties of ZnO nanowires

Journal Article AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings · 2008 Cite

Fenton oxidation of TCE vapors in a foam reactor

Journal Article Environmental Progress · October 1, 2007 Oxidation of dilute TCE vapors in a foam reactor using Fenton's reagent was investigated. The new process relies on rapid mass transfer from the gas undergoing treatment to a fine aqueous foam and oxidation by Fenton's reagents. Laboratory investigations d ... Full text Cite

The removal of H2S from process air by diffusion into activated sludge.

Journal Article Environmental technology · September 2007 Emissions of H2S from publicly owned treatment works is a serious problem, therefore collection and treatment of these emissions is essential. In this work, the performance of a bench scale activated sludge system used for the removal of H2S from foul air ... Full text Cite

Palladium nanoparticles decorated single-walled carbon nanotube hydrogen sensor

Journal Article Journal of Physical Chemistry C · May 3, 2007 We developed a simple and cost-effective fabrication technique to construct a hydrogen nanosensor by decorating single-walled carbon nanotubes with Pd nanoparticles. By varying the sensor's synthesis conditions (e.g., Pd electrodeposition charge, depositio ... Full text Cite

Poly(m-aminobenzene sulfonic acid) functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes based gas sensor

Journal Article Nanotechnology · April 25, 2007 We have demonstrated a NH3, NO2 and water vapour sensor based on poly(m-aminobenzene sulfonic acid) functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT-PABS) networks. The SWNT-PABS based sensors were fabricated by simple dispersion of SWNT-PABS on top of p ... Full text Cite

Perchlorate reduction by autotrophic bacteria attached to zerovalent iron in a flow-through reactor.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · February 2007 Biological reduction of perchlorate by autotrophic microorganisms attached to zerovalent iron (ZVI) was studied in flow-through columns. The effects of pH, flow rate, and influent perchlorate and nitrate concentrations on perchlorate reduction were investi ... Full text Cite

Biotreatment of groundwater contaminated with MTBE: interaction of common environmental co-contaminants.

Journal Article Biodegradation · February 2007 Contamination of groundwater with the gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is often accompanied by many aromatic components such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m-xylene and p-xylene (BTEX). In this study, a laboratory-scale biotri ... Full text Cite

Comparison of different packing materials for the biofiltration of air toxics.

Journal Article Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995) · November 2006 Four different biofilter packing materials (two porous ceramics, perlite, and open pore polyurethane foam) were compared for the removal of toluene vapors. The focus was on evaluating performance at relatively short gas retention time (13.5 and 27 sec). Th ... Full text Cite

Scale-up and cost evaluation of a foamed emulsion bioreactor.

Journal Article Environmental technology · June 2006 In the present paper, the potential of the foamed emulsion bioreactor (FEBR), a novel biological reactor for air pollution control was evaluated. Experimental data obtained on a laboratory-scale prototype were used to scale-up the process for a hypothetica ... Full text Cite

Perchlorate reduction by autotrophic bacteria in the presence of zero-valent iron.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · February 2006 A series of batch experiments were performed to study the combination of zero-valent iron (ZVI) with perchlorate-reducing microorganisms (PRMs) to remove perchlorate from groundwater. In this method, H2 produced during the process of iron corrosion by wate ... Full text Cite

Cometabolic degradation of TCE vapors in a foamed emulsion bioreactor.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · February 2006 Effective cometabolic biodegradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) vapors in a novel gas-phase bioreactor called the foamed emulsion bioreactor (FEBR) was demonstrated. Toluene vapors were used as the primary growth substrate for Burkholderia cepacia G4 which ... Full text Cite

Electrochemically functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube gas sensor

Journal Article Electroanalysis · January 1, 2006 We demonstrate a facile fabrication method to make chemical gas sensors using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) electrochemically functionalized with polyaniline (PANI). The potential advantage of this method is to enable targeted functionalization wit ... Full text Cite

Bio trickling filter technology

Journal Article · December 1, 2005 Bio trickling filtration is one of the many promising biological techniques forodor and VOC control. Contrary to bio filters that are usually packed with some sort of organic medium and are operated with a minimum of free water(Devinny et al. 1999), bio tr ... Full text Cite

Modeling of bio filters and bio trickling filters for odor and VOC control applications

Journal Article · December 1, 2005 To Modeling Biological treatment of contaminated air in bio filters and bio trickling filters involves a complex combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes. This makes it very difficult to mentally understand and integrate the subtle detai ... Full text Cite

Electrochemically functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes based gas sensors

Journal Article AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings · December 1, 2005 Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) and conducting polymers nanowires are promising 1-D nanomaterials for chemical and biological sensor applications. With its unique electrical, thermal and mechanic properties, SWNT has shown promise for s ... Cite

Continuous operation of foamed emulsion bioreactors treating toluene vapors.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · November 2005 Continuous operation of a new bioreactor for air pollution control called the foamed emulsion bioreactor (FEBR) has been investigated. The effect of several liquid feeding strategies was explored. The FEBR exhibited high and steady toluene removal performa ... Full text Cite

A detailed model of a biofilter for ammonia removal: Model parameters analysis and model validation

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · October 20, 2005 A dynamic model to describe ammonia removal in a gas-phase biofilter was developed. The mathematical model is based on discretized mass balances and detailed nitrification kinetics that include inhibitory effects caused by free ammonia (FA) and free nitrou ... Full text Cite

Understanding the limits of H2S degrading biotrickling filters using a differential biotrickling filter

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · October 20, 2005 The removal of H2S in high performance biotrickling filters was investigated using a differential biotrickling filter. The differential biotrickling filter was designed to reach high gas velocities through a minature packed bed, in this case a single 4-cm ... Full text Cite

Literature review of air pollution control biofilters and biotrickling filters for odor and volatile organic compound removal

Journal Article Environmental Progress · October 1, 2005 A literature study was conducted to compare the feasibility of biofilters and biotrickling filters for the treatment of complex odorous waste air containing hydrogen sulfide (H 2S), organic reduced sulfur compounds, and chlorinated and nonchlorinated volat ... Full text Cite

Environmental biotechnology: Challenges and opportunities for chemical engineers

Journal Article AIChE Journal · March 1, 2005 Chemical engineers are uniquely poised to contribute in the emerging area of environmental biotechnology, since many of the potential solutions require a combined perspective from modern biology and process engineering, two areas where chemical engineers e ... Full text Cite

An Environmentally Friendly Method for Controlling Biomass in Bio trickling Filters for Air Pollution Control

Journal Article Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry · December 1, 2004 Biomass accumulation is a major obstacle for long-term, stable operation of biotrickling filters treating high loadings of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Clogging reduces pollutant removal and increases the pressure drop in biotrickling filters. Severa ... Cite

The behavior of particulate matter in bioreactors for air pollution control

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Conference and Exhibition, AWMA · December 1, 2004 Bioreactors for air pollution control have been proposed for a range of unconventional and novel applications. Probably one of the largest potential applications is the treatment of combustion gases from stationary sources. Several studies have addressed t ... Cite

The behavior of particulate matter in bioreactors for air pollution control

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting and Exhibition · December 1, 2004 The control of particulate matter (PM) in three lab-scale gas-phase bioreactors was studied. The three reactors include - compost-woodchip biofilter, polyurethane foam biotrickling filter and biotrickling filter packed with Pall-rings. Particle removal was ... Cite

The use of UV-C for improved indoor air quality: Experiments and modeling application for homeland security issues

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting and Exhibition · December 1, 2004 Disinfection experiments were performed using a custom built 0.46 × 0.46 m (cross-section) by 4.3 m long wind tunnel fitted with a commercially available UV-C lamp unit operated under conditions usually found in HVAC systems (air velocities of 2000-9500 m/ ... Cite

A conceptual model for the treatment of ammonia vapors in a biotrickling filter

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting and Exhibition · December 1, 2004 A dynamic model for describing the behavior of a biotrickling filters for the treatment of the ammonia odor was developed. At this time, the model was not validated, but independent experiments will later serve to calibrate the model, so that it can be fur ... Cite

Retrofitted biotrickling filters for odor, VOC, H 2S and reduced sulfur compound emission control

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting and Exhibition · December 1, 2004 This paper evaluates treatment of odorous compounds (hydrogen sulfide, reduced sulfur compounds, VOCs, ammonia, and total odor) in wet chemical scrubbers that were converted to biotrickling filters at the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD), Californi ... Cite

Initial experiments on the application of ground penetrating radar to troubleshoot biofilters for air pollution control

Journal Article Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference Ground Penetrating Radar, GPR 2004 · December 1, 2004 Biofiltration is a biologically based technique for air pollution control. While biofilters are a major step forward for environmental protection, some problems such as heterogeneities in the packed bed exist. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) holds promise f ... Cite

Direct observation of biofouling in cross-flow microfiltration: Mechanisms of deposition and release

Journal Article Journal of Membrane Science · November 15, 2004 A laboratory-scale membrane filtration cell was constructed to enable direct microscopic observation of microbial cell deposition and release in cross-flow microfiltration. Initial deposition rates determined from microscopic images were interpreted throug ... Full text Cite

Conversion of full-scale wet scrubbers to biotrickling filters for H 2S control at publicly owned treatment works

Journal Article Journal of Environmental Engineering · October 1, 2004 Until recently, biological treatment of odors in biofilters or biotrickling filters was thought to require a longer gas contact time than chemical scrubbing, hence bioreactors for air treatment required a larger footprint. This paper discusses the conversi ... Full text Cite

Bioactive foam for air pollution control.

Journal Article Abstracts Of Papers Of The American Chemical Society · March 2004 Cite

Behavior of field-scale biotrickling filter under nonsteady state conditions

Journal Article Journal of Environmental Engineering · March 1, 2004 The performance of a field-scale biotrickling filter was investigated for the treatment of styrene vapors released from a bathtub manufacturing process. The two-stage biotrickling filter was operated in series with an average gas flow rate of 350 m3 h-1 co ... Full text Cite

Technical and economical analysis of the conversion of a full-scale scrubber to a biotrickling filter for odor control.

Journal Article Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research · January 2004 The present paper evaluates the technical and economical feasibility of converting wet chemical scrubbers to biotrickling filters for H2S control at the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD), California. Results of 8 months of continuous operation of a ... Full text Cite

Development of an autonomous 02 delivery system for in-situ aerobic bioremediation

Journal Article Report - University of California Water Resources Center · December 1, 2003 Development of an autonomous O2 delivery system for in-situ aerobic bioremediation is discussed. Individual parts of the system were tested, which required modification of the initial design of the proposed system. The focus of this development will be shi ... Cite

Development of foamed emulsion bioreactor for air pollution control.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · October 2003 A new type of bioreactor for air pollution control has been developed. The new process relies on an organic-phase emulsion and actively growing pollutant-degrading microorganisms, made into a foam with the air being treated. This new reactor is referred to ... Full text Cite

Odor and volatile organic compound removal from wastewater treatment plant headworks ventilation air using a biofilter.

Journal Article Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation · September 2003 Laboratory-scale experiments and field studies were performed to evaluate the feasibility of biofilters for sequential removal of hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wastewater treatment plant waste air. The biofilter was designed f ... Full text Cite

Performance of a full-scale biotrickling filter treating H2S at a gas contact time of 1.6 to 2.2 seconds

Journal Article Environmental Progress · July 1, 2003 Emission of objectionable odors is a major problem for wastewater treatment and other processing facilities. Biological treatment is a promising alternative to conventional control methods, such as chemical scrubbing, but historically, biotreatment has alw ... Full text Cite

Development and experimental validation of a conceptual model for biotrickling filtration of H2S

Journal Article Environmental Progress · July 1, 2003 A dynamic model that describes the behavior of high-performance hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-degrading biotrickling filters for odor control was developed. The model attempts to accurately describe pollutant mass transfer in the biotrickling filter, i.e., extern ... Full text Cite

Retrofitting existing chemical scrubbers to biotrickling filters for H2S emission control.

Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · May 2003 Biological treatment is a promising alternative to conventional air-pollution control methods, but thus far biotreatment processes for odor control have always required much larger reactor volumes than chemical scrubbers. We converted an existing full-scal ... Full text Cite

Sulfur dioxide treatment from flue gases using a biotrickling filter-bioreactor system.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · May 2003 Complete treatment of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from flue gases in a two-stage process consisting of a biotrickling filter followed by biological post-treatment unit was investigated. The biotrickling filter could remove 100% of influent SO2 from simulated flue ... Full text Cite

Observation, measurement and modeling of biocolloid deposition in crossfilow membrane filtration

Journal Article Abstracts Of Papers Of The American Chemical Society · March 2003 Cite

Initial adhesion of microorganisms to polymeric membranes

Journal Article Proceedings - International Conference on MEMS, NANO and Smart Systems, ICMENS 2003 · January 1, 2003 Biofilms form in nearly every environment that provides a surface, nutrients, and water. They can be found, for example, in almost all natural aquatic environments; on teeth, bone interstices, and oral epithelia of animals and humans; on hulls of marine in ... Full text Cite

Odor and volatile organic compound treatment by biotrickling filters: pilot-scale studies at hyperion treatment plant.

Journal Article Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation · November 2002 A pilot-scale biotrickling filter was installed at the Hyperion Treatment Plant in Los Angeles, California, to study hydrogen sulfide (odor) and volatile organic compound (VOC) removal from headworks waste air. The performance of the reactor was continuous ... Full text Cite

Changing mesophilic wastewater sludge digestion into thermophilic operation at Terminal Island Treatment Plant.

Journal Article Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation · September 2002 This paper describes the progress up to June 2000 for thermophilic digestion of wastewater sludge at the Los Angeles, California, Bureau of Sanitation's Terminal Island Treatment Plant. The development of the microorganism culture has followed a course sim ... Full text Cite

Effect of starvation on the performance and re-acclimation of biotrickling filters for air pollution control.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · July 2002 Biotrickling filters for air pollution control are expected to encounter fluctuating conditions or periods without pollutant supply. In the present study, we investigated the effect of pollutant starvation in bench-scale biotrickling filters treating tolue ... Full text Cite

Co-treatment of H2S and toluene in a biotrickling filter

Journal Article Chemical Engineering Journal · May 28, 2002 Biological treatment is an emerging technology for the treatment of publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) off-gases. Most of POTWs off-gases contain H2S and a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Since co-treatment of odors and VOCs in biotric ... Full text Cite

In-situ bioremediation of MTBE-contaminated groundwater using biobarriers

Journal Article Report - University of California Water Resources Center · May 1, 2002 A study to understand the kinetics and microbiology fundamentals for Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) biodegradation from which laboratory and field scale treatment systems may be designed. MTBE is most commonly used oxygenate, and it is estimated that the t ... Cite

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) degradation by a microbial consortium.

Journal Article Environmental microbiology · June 2001 The widespread use of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as a gasoline additive has resulted in a large number of cases of groundwater contamination. Bioremediation is often proposed as the most promising alternative after treatment. However, MTBE biodegradati ... Full text Cite

Thermophilic biotrickling filtration of ethanol vapors.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · June 2001 The treatment of ethanol vapors in biotrickling filters for air pollution control was investigated. Two reactors were operated in parallel, one at ambient temperature (22 degrees C) and one at high temperature (53 degrees C). After a short adaptation phase ... Full text Cite

Development of a methyl bromide collection system for fumigated farmland.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · February 2001 Recent research has indicated that up to 73% of the methyl bromide (MeBr) applied to agricultural farmland is ultimately emitted to the atmosphere despite the practice of complete coverage of the fields with polyethylene (PE) tarp. To reduce the emission o ... Full text Cite

In situ bioremediation of MTBE: Lessons from laboratory experiments

Journal Article ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts · December 1, 2000 Both microcosms and columns experiments were carried out to study the behavior of MTBE degrading consortium in laboratory and in soil-groundwater systems, and field bioremediation strategies were proposed. The MTBE degradation in microcosm was tested under ... Cite

Construction and economics of a pilot/full-scale biological trickling filter reactor for the removal of volatile organic compounds from polluted air.

Journal Article Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995) · November 2000 The design and the construction of an actual 8.7-m3 pilot/full-scale biotrickling filter for waste air treatment is described and compared with a previous conceptual scale-up of a laboratory reactor. The reactor construction costs are detailed and show tha ... Full text Cite

Toluene degradation in the recycle liquid of biotrickling filters for air pollution control.

Journal Article Applied microbiology and biotechnology · July 2000 Pollutant degradation in biotrickling filters for waste air treatment is generally thought to occur only in the biofilm. In two experiments with toluene degrading biotrickling filters, we show that suspended microorganisms in the recycle liquid may substan ... Full text Cite

Innovative experimental setup for the parallel operation of multiple bench scale biotrickling filters for waste air treatment

Journal Article Environmental Technology (United Kingdom) · April 1, 2000 A new concept of periodically rotating biotrickling filters was developed for parallel operation of multiple bench scale biotrickling filters without the requirement for expensive equipment such as liquid recycle pumps and air flow regulation. The performa ... Full text Cite

In situ bioremediation of MTBE: Lessons from laboratory experiments

Journal Article · March 26, 2000 Microcosms and columns experiments were carried out to study the behavior of MTBE degrading consortium in laboratory in soil-groundwater systems and to propose meaningful field bioremediation strategies. MTBE was only seen in those microcosms operated unde ... Cite

In situ bioremediation of MTBE: Lessons from laboratory experiments.

Journal Article Abstracts Of Papers Of The American Chemical Society · March 2000 Cite

Development and validation of a simple protocol to rapidly determine the performance of biofilters for VOC treatment

Journal Article Environmental Science and Technology · February 1, 2000 A protocol has been developed for the rapid determination of complete elimination characteristics of target pollutants in waste air biofilters. The protocol involves the determination of two pollutant concentration profiles along the height of a three-segm ... Full text Cite

Removal of perchlorate in ground water with a flow-through bioreactor

Journal Article Journal of Environmental Quality · January 1, 2000 The bacterium, perclace, has been shown to reduce perchlorate to less than the detection limit of 0.004 mg L-1 when grown on acetate under anaerobic conditions. In batch studies, the presence of nitrate does not significantly hinder the reduction of perchl ... Full text Cite

Gas phase biotreatment of MTBE

Journal Article Battelle Memorial Institute International In Situ and On-Site Bioreclamation Symposium Proceedings · December 1, 1999 Two parallel biotrickling filters were used to enrich the MTBE degrading aerobic microbial consortium and to study the performance of MTBE removal from synthetic waste gas. The same consortium can also degrade tert-butyl alcohol, a potential metabolite of ... Cite

Treatment of methyl tert-butyl ether vapors in biotrickling filters. 2. Analysis of the rate-limiting step and behavior under transient conditions

Journal Article Environmental Science and Technology · September 1, 1999 Detailed experiments were performed with gas phase biotrickling filters treating vapors of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive of great environmental concern. A particular emphasis was placed on the analysis of the rate-limiting step, and i ... Full text Cite

Treatment of methyl tert-butyl ether vapors in biotrickling filters. 1. Reactor startup, steady-state performance, and culture characteristics

Journal Article Environmental Science and Technology · September 1, 1999 An aerobic microbial consortium able to biodegrade methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) was enriched in two waste air biotrickling filters after continuous operation for 6 months. After this acclimation phase, the two laboratory-scale biotrickling filters were a ... Full text Cite

Biofiltration of high loads of ethyl acetate in the presence of toluene.

Journal Article Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995) · August 1999 To date, biofilters have been used primarily to control dilute, usually odorous, off-gases with relatively low volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations (< 1 g m-3) and VOC loads (< 50 g m-3 hr-1). Recently, however, U.S. industry has shown an interes ... Full text Cite

Chemical removal of biomass from waste air biotrickling filters: Screening of chemicals of potential interest

Journal Article Water Research · July 1, 1999 A protocol was developed to rapidly assess the efficiency of chemical washing for the removal of excess biomass from biotrickling filters for waste air treatment. Although the experiment was performed on a small scale, conditions were chosen to simulate ap ... Full text Cite

Predation of bacteria by the protozoa Tetrahymena pyriformis in toluene-degrading cultures

Journal Article Biotechnology Letters · January 1, 1999 The influence of the toluene concentration on predation of tuluene-degrading bacteria by the protozoa Tetrahymena pyriformis was investigated in suspended batch cultures continuously aerated with toluene-contaminated air. At gas phase concentrations of 0.0 ... Full text Cite

Biomass control in waste air biotrickling filters by protozoan predation.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · January 1999 Two protozoan species as well as an uncharacterized protozoan consortium were added to a toluene-degrading biotrickling filter to investigate protozoan predation as a means of biomass control. Wet biomass formation in 23.6-L reactors over a 77-day period w ... Full text Cite

Cost benefit approach to reactor sizing and nutrient supply for biotrickling filters for air pollution control

Journal Article Environmental Progress · January 1, 1999 In the present paper, a general model was developed that allows the selection of the most cost-effective operation of biotrickling filters for air pollution control. The model was demonstrated for a typical case of industrial pollution: 10,000 m3 h-1 airst ... Full text Cite

Resolving operational and performance problems encountered in the use of a pilot/full-scale biotrickling filter reactor

Journal Article Environmental Progress · January 1, 1999 A pilot/full-scale biotrickling filter reactor experiment was performed at an industrial site to treat styrene laden waste gas. The engineered system consisted of two stainless steel tanks in series, each with filter bed volumes of 4.0 m3, filled with 3.5- ... Full text Cite

Elimination of toluene vapors in biotrickling filters: performance and carbon balances

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air & Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting & Exhibition · December 1, 1998 The performance of two toluene-degrading biotrickling filters was systematically investigated under different conditions of supply of toluene (0, 1 or 2 g/m3) and nutrients (feed of phosphate buffer or mineral medium). Two important results were obtained: ... Cite

Use of CAT scanning to characterize bioreactors for waste air treatment

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air & Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting & Exhibition · December 1, 1998 Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) scanning was used for the first time to characterize the structure of packed beds biofilters and biotrickling filters used for waste air treatment. A detailed analysis of CAT scan images demonstrated the heterogeneities of t ... Cite

Biological waste air treatment in biotrickling filters

Journal Article Current opinion in biotechnology · June 1998 Recent studies in the area of biological waste air treatment in biotrickling filters have addressed fundamental key issues, such as biofilm architecture, microbiology of the process culture and means to control accumulation of biomass. The results from the ... Full text Cite

Use of protozoa to control biomass in biotrickling filters for waste air treatment

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air & Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting & Exhibition · December 1, 1997 The use of protozoa preying upon bacteria to decrease the rate of biomass accumulation in toluene-degrading biotrickling filters is investigated. As compared to a control filter without added protozoa, the filter enriched with a consortium of protozoa show ... Cite

Treating high loads of ethyl acetate and toluene in a biofilter

Journal Article Proceedings of the Air & Waste Management Association's Annual Meeting & Exhibition · December 1, 1997 Two bench-scale biofilters were operated using a commercially available media and a mixture of wood chips and compost to study the behavior of biofilters at high loads of binary volatile organic compound mixtures. Biofilter response to two frequently encou ... Cite

Comparative Scale-Up and Cost Estimation of a Biological Trickling Filter and a Three-Phase Airlift Bioreactor for the Removal of Methylene Chloride from Polluted Air

Journal Article Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association · September 1, 1997 Laboratory scale biological trickling filters and three-phase airlift bioreactors have been studied for the elimination of methylene chloride (or dichloromethane) vapors from waste air, and the results used herein for the design of small industrial-scale r ... Full text Cite

Biological waste air treatment in biofilters.

Journal Article Current opinion in biotechnology · June 1997 Recent studies in the area of biological waste air treatment in biofilters have addressed fundamental key issues such as microbial dynamics, microscopical characterization of the process culture and oxygen and nutrient limitations. The results from these s ... Full text Cite

Innovative bioreactors.

Journal Article Current opinion in biotechnology · April 1997 Recent papers have described new bioreactor designs. Most innovations addressed either oxygen transfer, shear induced by stirring, control of water activity in organic phase systems or waste biotreatment. Innovations made during the past year were reported ... Full text Cite

Effects of unsteady state conditions on the biooxidation of methyl ethyl and methyl isobutyl ketone in continuous flow liquid phase cultures

Journal Article Bioprocess Engineering · January 1, 1997 The effects of changing operating conditions on the biooxidation of methyl ethyl and/or methyl isobutyl ketone in continuous flow enrichment culture are examined. Particular emphasis is placed on responses to step changes in feed stream concentrations and ... Full text Cite

Transient behavior of biofilters: Start-up, carbon balances, and interactions between pollutants

Journal Article Journal of Environmental Engineering · January 1, 1997 The work describes the aerobic biodegradation of volatile organic compound (VOC) mixtures from effluent air streams in laboratory-scale compost based biofilters. A rapid start-up of the system (3-5 d) was observed and 82% of the carbon in the influent poll ... Full text Cite

Transient-state behavior of a biofilter removing mixtures of vapors of MEK and MIBK from air.

Journal Article Biotechnology and bioengineering · March 1996 In the work reported here, selected aspects of the dynamic behavior of biofilters for waste air treatment have been investigated. Emphasis was placed on transient state elimination of mixtures of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) ... Full text Cite

Behavior of biofilters for waste air biotreatment. 1. Dynamic model development.

Journal Article Environmental science & technology · April 1995 Full text Cite

The removal of volatile ketone mixtures from air in biofilters

Journal Article Bioprocess Engineering · August 1, 1993 The work reported concerns the removal of mixtures of two ketones, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), which find wide application as industrial solvents, from effluent air streams in downward flow biofilters operating at relative ... Full text Cite

The Removal of Volatile Ketone Mixtures from Air in Biofilters

Journal Article Bioprocess Engineering · 1993 Cite

Methyl Isobutyl and Methyl Ethyl Ketone Biodegradation in Biofilters

Journal Article · January 1, 1992 Microbiological waste gas treatment is a most promising new development in environmental biotechnology. Herein effective methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) vapour removal and effective methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) vapour removal from polluted air streams are demon ... Full text Cite