Hydrogen sulfide removal by Thiobacillus thioparus bacteria on seashell bed biofilters

The aim of this research is to achieve an efficient and cheap methods to remove H2S from the factories emissions. Four serial cylinders are designed, 40 cm in height and 15 cm in diameter each. They are filled with bivalve seashells with 63% porosity which contains Thiobacillus thioparus bacteria to the maximum height of 27.5 cm. By mixing phosphoric acid and sodium sulfide, H2S gas is released and its concentration is measured as mg m(-3) before injecting into the cylinders. A permanent measuring instrument is equipped to control the gas coming out of the cylinders. In order to prevent the outdoor environment from pollution, first the gas is sent through two activated carbon columns and then sent through a ferrous chloride scrubber. Finally it is burnt directly by flames. There were 550 sample readings in 15 weeks. The changes in the discharge of the air which carries the gas are considered between 1-12 L min(-1) and the concentration of the influent pollutant is considered between 1-140 mg m(-3). Also the humidity in the atmosphere is fixed between 77-93% and the optimum temperature required for growing of the microorganisms is retained between 20.5-30 degrees C. After feeding the system for three weeks the efficiency started to increase so that by the end of the final week of this research the efficiency reached to 90% with the discharge of 6 L min(-1) of the carrier gas. The results achieved from this research show that because of not using Filamentous bacteria, clogging did not occur in the biological system in biofilters. The amount of head loss in cylinder was only 2 mm water and during this research, head loss was the same due to unclogging of filter. On the other hand the traditional methods are expensive in terms of using chemicals, carbon recycling and using fuel and etc. Therefore researchers have started new studies in this field. The above mentioned method, according to high efficiency, inexpensiveness and easiness of control and maintenance is considered one of the best methods.