cyrous gilani, p.e. (city of los angeles) kenneth r. redd, p.e. (city of los angeles)

Cyrous Gilani, P.E. (City of Los Angeles)Kenneth R. Redd, P.E. (City of Los Angeles)Michael J. Sarullo, P.E. (City of Los Angeles)

R. Tim Haug, Ph.D., P.E., (City of Los Angeles)

A Side-By-Side Test of 4 Different Types of Media in Bio-trickling Filters

@Hyperion Treatment Plant

City of Los AngelesDept. of Public WorksBureau of Engineering

Environmental Engineering Division

WEF/A&WMA ODORS AND AIR POLLUTANTS 2010Charlotte, North CarolinaMarch 2010

• The City is building 2 Air Treatment Facilities (ATFs) along the path of two large diameter interceptor sewers.

• The ATFs involve Bio-trickling filter technology as the primary air treatment stage followed by carbon adsorption as the polishing stage.

• In an effort to improve the BTF performance, a new media manufactured by Taiwan based Matala Water Technology was identified and tested at the Hyperion Plant.

• Through a joint effort between Daniel Mechanical Company and City of Los Angeles, a test unit consisting of 4 identical reactor vessels was designed and manufactured to test different types of media under the same condition (a side-by-side comparison test).

• Installation was completed and testing began June of 2009.

Project Background

4-Vessels Test unit Fabricated ByDaniel Mechanical Company

• 3’ Diameter, 10’ high• One level media, 3’ high• 2’ Sump at the bottom of

each unit• Re-cycled Irrigation

supplemented with nutrient

• Continuous Irrigation• Continuous make-up

water and nutrient

4-Vessels Test UnitBy Daniel Mechanical @ HTP

4-Vessels Test UnitTop View

4-Vessels Test UnitBy Daniel Mechanical @ HTP

Recirculation and Nutrient System

Make-Up Water and Drain Systems

Foul Air Supplied to Each Unit Through one Manifold System

Separate Nutrient Tank for Each Unit

Selected Media

Selected Media

Matala SM 365 Zander Media

Lava Rock Media Virgin Carbon

Spray Pattern Adjustment

H2S Removal Efficiency (Matala)Start-Up

Four Vessel Bio-Trickling Filter Test Using Matala Media

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Days since 01-Jun-2009

H2S

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n, p

pm

v

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Per

cen

t H

2S

Rem

ove

d

Inlet H2S Outlet H2S Percent H2S Removed

6/1/09 7/1/09

H2S Removal Efficiency (Zander)Start-Up

Four Vessel Bio-Trickling Filter Test Using Zander Media

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Days since 01-Jun-2009

H2S

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n, p

pm

v

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Per

cen

t H

2S

Rem

ove

d

Inlet H2S Outlet H2S Percent H2S Removed

6/1/09 7/1/09

H2S Removal Efficiency (Lava Rock)Start-Up

Four Vessel Bio-Trickling Filter Test Using Lava Rock

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Days since 01-Jun-2009

H2S

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n, p

pm

v

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Per

cen

t H

2S

Rem

ove

d

Inlet H2S Outlet H2S Percent H2S Removed

6/1/09 7/1/09

H2S Removal Efficiency (Matala)2nd Start-Up

Four Vessel Bio-Trickling Filter Test Using Matala Media

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Days since 15-July-2009

H2S

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n, p

pm

v

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Per

cen

t H

2S

Rem

ove

d

Inlet H2S Outlet H2S Percent H2S Removed

8/1/09 9/1/09 10/1/09

H2S Removal Efficiency (Zander)2nd Start-Up

Four Vessel Bio-Trickling Filter Test Using Zander Media

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Days since 15-July-2009

H2S

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n, p

pm

v

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Per

cen

t H

2S

Rem

ove

d

Inlet H2S Outlet H2S Percent H2S Removed

8/1/09 9/1/09 10/1/09

H2S Removal Efficiency (Lava Rock)2nd Start-Up

Four Vessel Bio-Trickling Filter Test Using Lava Rock

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Days since 15-July-2009

H2S

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n, p

pm

v

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Per

cen

t H

2S

Rem

ove

d

Inlet H2S Outlet H2S date Percent H2S Removed

8/1/09 9/1/09 10/1/09

Odor Removal All Media

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

Od

or

Le

ve

l

Inlet Matala Zander Lava Rock

10/08/09 10/15/09 10/29/09 11/19/09

% Odor Removal All Media

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

Pe

rce

nt

Od

or

Re

mo

ve

d

Matala Zander Lava Rock

10/08/09 10/15/09 10/29/09 11/19/09

H2S Removal All Media on the Odor Test Event

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

H2

S, p

pm

v

Inlet Matala Zander Lava Rock

10/08/09 10/15/09 10/29/09 11/19/09

% H2S Removed All Media on the Odor Test Event

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

Pe

rce

nt

H2

S R

em

ov

ed

Matala Zander Lava Rock

10/08/09 10/15/09 10/29/09 11/19/09

H2S Mass Loading, 15 Sec EBRT, Matala

H2S Mass Loading w/15 s Residence TimeMatala Media

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

H2S Mass Loading, ((g/m^3)/Hr.)

H2

S E

limin

ati

on

Ca

pa

cit

y, (

(g/m

^3

)/H

r.)

H2S Mass Loading, 15 Sec EBRT, Zander

H2S Mass Loading w/15 s Residence TimeZander Media

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

H2S Mass Loading, ((g/m^3)/Hr.)

H2

S E

limin

ati

on

Ca

pa

cit

y, (

(g/m

^3

)/H

r.)

H2S Mass Loading, 15 Sec EBRT, Lava Rock

H2S Mass Loading w/15 s Residence Time

Lava Rock Media

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

H2S Mass Loading, ((g/m^3)/Hr.)

H2

S E

limin

ati

on

Ca

pa

cit

y, (

(g/m

^3

)/H

r.)

• Effective and consistent H2S removal on all three media.

• The vessel containing the lava rock performed well during the 1st start-up. However, during the 2nd start-up, its performance dropped.

• The pH of the vessel containing lava rock was measured to be approximately 2.5 for the duration of this test. Numerous attempts were made to lower the pH by reducing the make-up water. Lowering the rate of the make-up water did not affect the pH.

• Matala and Zander both demonstrated excellent performance in terms of H2S removal.

• Although all three media effectively removed H2S, significant amounts of odors attributed to

other odor causing compounds, remained in the outlet air stream of each vessel.

• Inlet odor measurements ranged from 10,000 to 50,000 odor units, while outlet odor measurements for all three media ranged from 2,500 to 5,000 odor units.

• There was no direct correlation between remaining odors and H2S levels in the outlet air

stream, indicating that the majority of remaining odors were not caused by H2S.

Summary of Performance

NCOS ATF SiteUnder Construction

NCOS ATF SiteUnder Construction

ECIS ATF SiteUnder Construction

ECIS ATF SiteUnder Construction

WEF/A&WMA ODORS AND AIR POLLUTANTS 2010Charlotte, North Carolina

March 2010

City of Los AngelesDept. of Public WorksBureau of Engineering

Environmental Engineering Division

QUESTIONS