Economical assessment of the design, construction and operation of open-bed biofilters for waste gas treatment.

A protocol was developed with the purpose of assessing the main costs implied in the set-up, operation and maintenance of a waste gas-treating conventional biofilter. The main operating parameters considered in the protocol were the empty bed residence time and the gas flow rate. A wide variety of investment and operating costs were considered. In order to check its reliability, the protocol was applied to a number of scenarios, with biofilter volumes ranging from 8.3 to 4000 m(3). Results show that total annualized costs were between 20,000 and 220,000 euro/year and directly dependent, among other factors, on the size of the system. Total investment and operating costs for average-size compost biofilters were around 60,000 euro and 20,000 euro/year, respectively, which are concordant with actual costs. Also, a sensitivity analysis was performed in order to assess the relative influence of a series of selected costs. Results prove that operating costs are those that influence the total annual costs to a higher extent. Also, packing material replacement costs contribute significantly to the total yearly costs in biofilters with a volume higher than 800 m(3). Among operating costs, the electricity consumption is the main influencing factor in biofilters with a gas flow rate above 50,000 m(3)/h, while labor costs are critical at lower gas flow rates. In addition, the use of a variety of packing materials commonly employed in biofiltration was assessed. According to the results obtained, special attention should be paid to the packing material selected, as it is the main parameter influencing the medium replacement costs, and one of the main factors affecting investment costs.