Control of Odour, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) & Toxic Gases through Biofiltration - An Overview

Abstract

Direct emission of biodegradable volatile organic compounds (VOCs), odorous compounds and toxic gases
from the wide range of industries and public sector sources into the environment is one of the serious issues as it leads to
adverse environmental impact and public health risk. It makes the control of above pollutants necessary. This paper
presents an overview on one of the Biological techniques i.e. Biofiltration for the treatment of off-gases which uses
microorganism to break the biodegradable pollutants, the sources of such pollutants and extent of pollutants that a
biofilter can remove. This paper also gives a perspective of various factors governing the performance of biofilters, and
efficiency changes with a change in the type of filter media (peat, compost, chaff, perlite, oyster shells & wood chip), its
effectiveness in various industries along with its principle and basic design.From review it is found that the removal
efficiency ranges from 30% to 100% & its relative cost is very low compared to other treatment methods that make it cost
effective. The main purpose of using biofilter for study is to encourage its implementation at appropriate locations.