Mathematical modeling and parameters optimization of acrylonitrile degradation in biofilters

Removal of Acrylonitrile (AN) from waste gas streams using biological methods has recently gained more attraction due to their better performance. The purpose of this research is modeling of the AN removal by a bio-filter. The model validation is done using the experimental data of a bench-scale bio-filter bed column including yard waste compost and shredded hard plastics and thickened municipal activated sludge. In this work the kinetics of the biodegradation of Acrylonitrile is first investigated. Then equations of the biofilm and air are obtained at steady state and constant temperature. The unknown parameters of the model are determined by the least square optimization method along with solving the model equations using MATLAB. For inlet concentrations less than 1 g/m3 the model results show reasonable similarity to the experimental data. The effect of various parameters on bio-filter performance is evaluated. Peclet number, biofilm thickness and biomass concentration are the most important parameters respectively. The proposed model can be useful for design aims.