Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Preface -- Part I Fundamentals and Microbiological Aspects -- Chapter 1 Introduction to Air Pollution -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Types and sources of air pollutants -- 1.2.1 Particulate matter -- 1.2.2 Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide -- 1.2.3 Sulphur oxides -- 1.2.4 Nitrogen oxides -- 1.2.5 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) -- 1.2.6 Odours -- 1.2.7 Ozone -- 1.2.8 Calculating concentrations of gaseous pollutants -- 1.3 Air pollution control technologies -- 1.3.1 Particulate matter -- 1.3.2 Volatile organic and inorganic compounds -- 1.3.2.1 Nonbiological processes -- 1.3.2.2 Bioprocesses -- 1.3.3 Environmentally friendly bioenergy -- 1.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 2 Biodegradation and Bioconversion of Volatile Pollutants -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Biodegradation of volatile compounds -- 2.2.1 Inorganic compounds -- 2.2.1.1 Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) -- 2.2.1.2 Ammonia -- 2.2.2 Organic compounds -- 2.2.2.1 CxHy pollutants -- 2.2.2.2 CxHyOz pollutants -- 2.2.2.3 Organic sulphur compounds -- 2.2.2.4 Halogenated organic compounds -- 2.3 Mass balance calculations -- 2.4 Bioconversion of volatile compounds -- 2.4.1 Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide -- 2.4.2 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) -- 2.5 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 3 Identification and Characterization of Microbial Communities in Bioreactors -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Molecular techniques to characterize the microbial communities in bioreactors -- 3.2.1 Quantification of the community members -- 3.2.1.1 Microscopic direct counts -- 3.2.1.2 Quantitative PCR -- 3.2.2 Assessment of microbial community diversity and structure -- 3.2.2.1 Biochemical methods -- 3.2.2.2 Genetic fingerprinting methods.

3.2.2.3 Analysis of fingerprint data by multivariate statistical tools and diversity indices -- 3.2.3 Determination of the microbial community composition -- 3.2.3.1 Construction of small sub-unit (SSU) rRNA clone libraries followed by phylogenetic identification by randomly sequencing the clones -- 3.2.3.2 Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) -- 3.2.4 Techniques linking microbial identity to ecological function -- 3.2.4.1 Stable isotope probing (SIP) -- 3.2.4.2 Microautoradiography combined with FISH (FISH-MAR) -- 3.2.5 Microarray techniques -- 3.2.6 Synthesis -- 3.3 The link of microbial community structure with ecological function in engineered ecosystems -- 3.3.1 Introduction -- 3.3.2 Temporal and spatial dynamics of the microbial community structure under stationary conditions in bioreactors -- 3.3.2.1 Temporal stability and dynamics of the total bacterial community structure in the steady state -- 3.3.2.2 Microbial and functional stratification along the biofilter height -- 3.3.2.3 The microbial community structure-ecosystem function relationship -- 3.3.3 Impact of environmental disturbances on the microbial community structure within bioreactors -- 3.4 Conclusions -- References -- Part II Bioreactors for Air Pollution Control -- Chapter 4 Biofilters -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Historical perspective of biofilters -- 4.3 Process fundamentals -- 4.4 Operation parameters of biofilters -- 4.4.1 Empty-bed residence time (EBRT) -- 4.4.2 Volumetric loading rate (VLR) -- 4.4.3 Mass loading rate (MLR) -- 4.4.4 Elimination capacity (EC) -- 4.4.5 Removal efficiency (RE) -- 4.4.6 CO2 production rate (PCO2 ) -- 4.5 Design considerations -- 4.5.1 Reactor sizing -- 4.5.2 Irrigation system -- 4.5.3 Leachate collection and disposal -- 4.6 Start-up of biofilters.

4.7 Parameters affecting biofilter performance -- 4.7.1 Inlet concentrations and pollutant load -- 4.7.2 Composition of waste gas and interaction patterns -- 4.7.3 Biomass support medium -- 4.7.4 Temperature -- 4.7.5 pH -- 4.7.6 Oxygen availability -- 4.7.7 Nutrient availability -- 4.7.8 Moisture content and relative humidity -- 4.7.9 Polluted gas flow direction -- 4.7.10 Carbon dioxide generation rates -- 4.7.11 Pressure drop -- 4.8 Role of microorganisms and fungal growth in biofilters -- 4.9 Dynamic loading pattern and starvation conditions in biofilters -- 4.10 On-line monitoring and control (intelligent) systems for biofilters -- 4.10.1 On-line flame ionization detector (FID) and photo-ionization detector (PID) analysers -- 4.10.2 On-line proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) -- 4.10.3 Intelligent moisture control systems -- 4.10.4 Differential neural network (DNN) sensor -- 4.11 Mathematical expressions for biofilters -- 4.12 Artificial neural network-based models -- 4.12.1 Back error propagation (BEP) algorithm -- 4.12.2 Important considerations during neural network modelling -- 4.12.2.1 Data selection, division and normalization -- 4.12.2.2 Network parameters -- 4.12.2.3 Sensitivity analysis of input parameters -- 4.12.2.4 Estimating errors in prediction -- 4.12.3 Neural network model development for biofilters and specific examples -- 4.13 Fuzzy logic-based models -- 4.14 Adaptive neuro-fuzzy interference system-based models for biofilters -- 4.15 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 5 Biotrickling Filters -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Main characteristics of BTFs -- 5.2.1 General aspects -- 5.2.2 Packing material -- 5.2.3 Biomass and biofilm -- 5.2.4 Trickling phase -- 5.2.5 Gas EBRT -- 5.2.6 Liquid and gas velocities -- 5.3 Pressure drop and clogging -- 5.3.1 Excess biomass accumulation.

5.3.1.1 Limitation of biomass growth -- 5.3.1.2 Physical and chemical methods -- 5.3.1.3 Biological methods-predation -- 5.3.1.4 Cleaning the packing material outside the reactor -- 5.3.2 Accumulation of solid chemicals -- 5.4 Full-scale applications and scaling up -- 5.5 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 6 Bioscrubbers -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 General approach of bioscrubbers -- 6.3 Operating conditions -- 6.3.1 Absorption column -- 6.3.2 Biodegradation step-activated sludge reactor -- 6.4 Removing families of pollutants -- 6.4.1 Volatile organic compound (VOC) removal -- 6.4.2 Odor control -- 6.4.3 Sulfur compounds degradation -- 6.4.3.1 Sulfur compounds present in air -- 6.4.3.2 Biogas desulfurization -- 6.4.4 Ammonia absorption and bio-oxidation -- 6.5 Treatment of by-products generated by bioscrubbers -- 6.6 Conclusions and trends -- References -- Chapter 7 Membrane Bioreactors -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Membrane basics -- 7.2.1 Types of membranes -- 7.2.1.1 Porous membranes -- 7.2.1.2 Dense membranes -- 7.2.1.3 Composite membranes -- 7.2.2 Membrane materials -- 7.2.3 Membrane characterization parameters -- 7.2.3.1 Membrane thickness -- 7.2.3.2 Membrane performance: selectivity and permeance -- 7.2.4 Mass transport through the membrane -- 7.2.4.1 Transport in porous membranes -- 7.2.4.2 Transport in homogeneous membranes -- 7.3 Reactor configurations -- 7.3.1 Flat-sheet membranes -- 7.3.1.1 Plate and frame modules -- 7.3.1.2 Spiral-wound modules -- 7.3.2 Tubular configuration membranes -- 7.3.2.1 Tubular modules -- 7.3.2.2 Capillary membrane modules -- 7.3.2.3 Hollow-fiber membrane modules -- 7.3.3 Membrane-based bioreactors -- 7.4 Microbiology -- 7.5 Performance of membrane bioreactors -- 7.5.1 Membrane-based bioreactors.

7.5.2 Bioreactor operation: Influence of the operating parameters -- 7.6 Membrane bioreactor modeling -- 7.7 Applications of membrane bioreactors in biological waste-gas treatment -- 7.7.1 Comparison with other technologies -- 7.8 New applications: CO2-NOx sequestration -- 7.8.1 NOx removal -- 7.8.2 CO2 sequestration -- 7.9 Future needs -- References -- Chapter 8 Two-Phase Partitioning Bioreactors -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Features of the sequestering phase-selection criteria -- 8.3 Liquid two-phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs) -- 8.3.1 Performance -- 8.3.2 Mass transfer -- 8.3.2.1 Mass transfer pathways and mechanisms -- 8.3.2.2 Substrate uptake mechanisms -- 8.3.2.3 Mass transfer of poorly soluble substrates and oxygen -- 8.3.2.4 Physical parameters affecting Kla -- 8.3.3 Modeling and design elements -- 8.3.4 Limitations and research opportunities -- 8.4 Solids as the partitioning phase -- 8.4.1 Rationale -- 8.4.2 Performance -- 8.4.3 Mass transfer -- 8.4.4 Modeling and design elements -- 8.4.5 Limitations and research opportunities -- References -- Chapter 9 Rotating Biological Contactors -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.1.1 Limitations of conventional gas-phase bioreactors -- 9.2 The rotating biological contactor -- 9.2.1 Modified RBCs for waste-gas treatment -- 9.2.1.1 Generation of humidified VOC stream -- 9.2.1.2 Biofilm development and start-up -- 9.2.1.3 VOC removal studies -- 9.3 Studies on removal of dichloromethane in modified RBCs -- 9.3.1 Comparison of different bioreactors (biofilters, biotrickling filters, and modified RBCs) -- 9.3.2 Studies on removal of benzene and xylene in modified RBCs -- 9.3.3 Microbiological studies of biofilms -- 9.3.3.1 Phylogenic analysis -- References -- Chapter 10 Innovative Bioreactors and Two-Stage Systems -- 10.1 Introduction.

10.2 Innovative bioreactor configurations.