Restaurant emissions removal by a biofilter with immobilized bacteria.

Pseudomonas sp. ZD8 isolated from contaminated soil was immobilized with platane wood chips to produce packing materials for a novel biofilter system utilized to control restaurant emissions. The effects of operational parameters including retention time, temperature, and inlet gas concentration on the removal efficiency and elimination capacity were evaluated. Criteria necessary for a scale-up design of the biofilter was established. High and satisfactory level of rapeseed oil smoke removal efficiency was maintained during operation and the optimal retention time was found to be 18 s corresponding to smoke removal efficiency greater than 97%. The optimal inlet rapeseed oil smoke loading was 120 mg/(m(3) x h) at the upper end of the linear correlation between inlet loading and elimination capacity.