Comparison of microporous and nonporous membrane bioreactor systems for the treatment of BTEX in vapor streams.

Increased regulatory constraints on industrial releases of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have resulted in an interest in using biofilters, bioscrubbers and air/liquid membranes for treatment of vapor phase waste streams. In this report, we describe the comparison of the use of two fundamentally different types of membrane module systems that allow the rapid diffusion of vapor phase aromatics and oxygen to an active biofilm for subsequent biodegradation. One system used a commercial membrane module containing microporous polypropylene fibers while the other used a nonporous silicone tubing membrane module for the delivery of substrate (a mixture of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylenes [BTEX]) and electron acceptor (O(2)). Tests of the systems under similar conditions with BTEX in the vapor feed stream showed significant performance advantages for the silicone membrane system. The average surface-area-based BTEX removal rate for the microporous membrane system over 500 h of operation was 7.88 microg h(-1) cm(-2) while the rate for the silicone membrane system was 23.87 microg h(-1) cm(-2). The percentages of BTEX removal were also consistently better in the silicone membrane system versus the microporous system. Part of the performance problem associated with the microporous membrane system appeared to be internal water condensation and possible plugging of the pores with biomass over time that could not be resolved with vapor phase backflushing.