Three identical upflow laboratory-scale biofilters, inoculated with the benzene-degrading strain Pseudomonas sp. NCIMB 9688 but filled up with different packing media (PM), specifically raw sugarcane bagasse, sieved sugarcane bagasse and peat, were employed to eliminate benzene from waste air. The macrokinetics of the process were also studied using the profiles of benzene and biomass concentrations, collected under different conditions over the height of both biofilters.

Ref: Treatment of benzene-contaminated airstreams in laboratory-scale biofilters packed with raw and sieved sugarcane bagasse and with peat. Biodegradation 15: 87-96, 2004.

We performed a macrokinetic and quantitative microbial investigation of a continuously operating bench-scale biofilter treating styrene-polluted gases. The device was filled with a mixture of peat and glass beads as packing medium and inoculated with the styrene-oxidizing strain, Rhodococcus rhodochrous AL NCIMB 13259. The process followed zeroth-order macrokinetics with respect to styrene concentration, which is consistent with zeroth-order microkinetics with either fully active or not fully active biofilm.

Ref. : Macrokinetic and quantitative microbial investigation on a bench-scale biofilter treating styrene-polluted gaseous streams. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 83(1): 29-38, 2003.