HD Q-PAC in Biotrickling Filter yields no odors ... - Lantec Products

Lantec Products Case Study 52HD Q-PAC ® Bio-media Eliminates Odors at Mt. Dora, Florida WaterReclamation Plant. System Very Responsive to H2S Surges*The water reclamation plant at Mt. Dora, Floridahad an odor problem at the headworks collectionwell. Several pump stations in the community sendtheir water to this location. The discharge of thevarious lines is random. At times one line may bedischarging water while other lines are idle. At othertimes multiple lines are discharging. There areperiods of no water discharge at various timesduring the day. As a consequence, hydrogensulfide (H2S) levels vary greatly from hour to hourand even from minute to minute.The Mt. Dora WWTP needed a reliable,inexpensive, easy-to-operate odor control system.Like other municipal wastewater treatment authorities,Mt. Dora preferred a biological odor-controlsystem to a chemical wet scrubber. Chemicalscrubbers can react instantly to changes in the H2Sloading. Biological systems, though much lessexpensive to operate over time due to zerochemical demand, have a reputation for reactingslowly to changes in sulfide loading. Mt. Doratherefore accepted a full-scale biotrickling odorcontrolsystem from a consortium of companies, onthe condition that no purchase order would beissued until such time as the system proved itself tobe capable of eliminating odors and providing quickresponse to frequent changes in malodorous gasloadings.The plant not only needed a system that wouldwork; it also needed to continue its good-neighborpolicy of no odors beyond the property line.Operators also had their own professional reputationsto protect. The Mt. Dora WWTP was chosenin 2004 as the "Most Efficiently Operated MediumSized WWTP in the State of Florida" by the RuralWater Association of Florida. John Wyker, the ChiefOperator at Mt. Dora, was recognized as the "BestWWTP Operator" in 2004 (1)."The biological system is removing all of theodors. Clearly, H2S is being reduced to belowthe odor threshold in the stack outlet.Additionally, it has proven to be very nimble tochanges in H2S loadings. When inlet concentrationrises within a minute from 10 to 30 ppmv,only a small blip in the outlet concentration isnoticed. This blip is not enough to result in anodor breakout. The system quickly adjusts..."John WykerChief Operator, Mt. Dora WWTPThe odor control system supplied was filled with HDQ-PAC ® media supplied by Lantec Products. Thebasic process design was also supplied by Lantec.The system itself, rated to treat up to 1,000 scfm ofair containing 200 ppmv H2S, was fabricated byHD Q-PAC ® : US Patent #5,458,817www.lantecp.comsales@lantecp.com

Macrotek, Ltd. (2). On-site installation was supervisedby Peterson Associates, Inc. (3) with assistancefrom Macrotek, Lantec, and RiverbendLaboratories (4). The system was installed inOctober 2005. Besides the typical daily fluctuations,Monday mornings routinely see a spike to50 ppmv H2S in the air. Yet the "biologicalscrubber" has responded quickly, and no odorshave been noted during any of these loadingsurges.HD Q-PAC ® has proven to be an effectivesubstrate for growth of Thiobacillus thiooxidansand other sulfide-consuming microbes. Itsuniformly spaced grid-and-rod structure providesideal support for the autotrophic bacteria.Autotrophs utilize inorganic carbon to build cellstructures. They typically don't secrete slime, butbloom to form extremely thin biofilms. Whencovered with a full bloom of Thiobacillus t.bacteria, the effective surface area of the biomassis up to 300 ft 2 /ft 2 (980 m 2 /m 3 ).Thanks to this unique structure, HD Q-PAC ®operates with very low pressure drop that doesnot creep up over time because the media has aself cleaning design. This has been demonstratedat the Saco, Maine WWTP (5) in 8 years of usingHD Q-PAC ® in biofilters for H2S removal. The bioscrubbersystem at Mt. Dora operates with a headloss of < 0.5 in WC (1.2 mbar).Due in part to this innovative odor-controlsolution, the Mt. Dora water reclamation plant wasawarded the "2005 Earl B. Phelps Award forOutstanding Wastewater Operations in the Stateof Florida" by PBS&J, Inc., consulting engineers(6).*Update - due to seasonal variations and operationalchanges, H2S levels at the Mt. Dora WWTPfell dramatically in August of 2006. As a result, thebiotrickling odor control system described in thispaper was idled. With unit idle, and with no odorcomplaints from abutters such as the shoppingmall across the street from the WWTP, the unithas been moved to another site for the purpose ofdemonstrating the feasibility of destruction of H2Sodors biologically at that location.www.lantecp.comsales@lantecp.comHD Q-PAC ® media with biofilm growthFoul Air FlowH 2 SCO 2NutrientsH 2 SThin Mass ThiobacillusOne to Two Cells ThickSolid SupportHD Q-PAC132 ft 2 /ft 3H 2 SO 4Dead CellsContacts(1) John Wyker, Mt. Dora, FLwykerj@ci.mount-dora.fl.us, 352-267-0503(2) Tom Payne, Macrotek,Markham, ON, Canadatpayne@macrotek.net, 905-415-1799(3) Pat Anthony, Peterson Associates, Inc.,Eustis, FL,pat@petersonvalves.com, 352-483-0008(4) Chris Hatch, Riverbend Labs, Inc.St. Charles, MO,cahatch@msn.com, 636-940-5445(5) Howard Carter, Saco, MEhcarter@sacomaine.org, 207-282-3564(6) PBS&J, www.pbsj.comWater FlowCO 2NutrientsH 2 SCO 2Nutrients

HD Q-PAC ® Media for Biotrickling FiltersAdvantages of Biotrickling Odor Control Systems Utilizing HD Q-PAC ®High removal efficiency; no odorsEight years of successful operation in multiple systemsExcellent water and air distribution.Huge effective surface ~ 300 ft 2 /ft 2 (980 m 2 /m 3 ). Entire surface:* available to microbes.* exposed to H2S, nutrients, etc.* biofilm is self renewing to maintain active growth phase.* is self cleaning - no fouling, no pressure drop increase.Extremely low pressure drop across HD Q-PAC ® .Low capital costLow operating expenseSmall footprint - easy to installLow profile - maintain good sightlineNo hazardous chemicals required; green solution to odor controlNo requirement to clean HD Q-PAC ® .Polypropylene HD Q-PAC ® is impervious to sulfuric acid.No requirement to replace HD Q-PAC ®HD Q-PAC ® Physical CharacteristicsMaterial:Surface Area:Effective Surface Area*:Bulk Density:Void Fraction:Smallest Grid OpeningStandard Module Size:Polypropylene132 ft 2 /ft 3up to 300 ft 2 /ft 37.5 lb/ft 387%0.16" x 0.16"12" x 12" x 12"432 m 2 /m 3up to 981 m 2 /m 3120 kg/m 387%1.6 mm x 1.6 mm305 x 305 x 305 mmMt. Dora WWTP Biotrickling Filter using HD Q-PAC ®Lantec Products provides free bed designs for:Wet scrubbers (acid gases, amines, SO2, etc.)Biological odor control systemsRegenerative thermal oxidizersOil water separatorsCO2 air strippersGas cooling towersTCE, BETX and other types of air strippersHD Q-PAC ® : US Patent #5,458,817www.lantecp.comsales@lantecp.com