RT journal article T1 Strategies for pH control in a biofilter packed with sugarcane bagasse for hydrogen sulfide removal A1 Jover, Josefina A1 Ramírez, Martín A1 Rodriguez, Ivan A1 Gómez Montes de Oca, José Manuel A1 Cantero Moreno, Domingo A2 Ingeniería Química y Tecnología de Alimentos K1 Biofiltration, biofilter, hydrogen sulfide, pH control, sugarcane bagasse K1 Biofiltration K1 biofilter K1 hydrogen sulfide K1 pH control K1 sugarcane bagasse AB The biological removal of hydrogen sulfide at low concentration (<120 ppmv) was studied in a laboratory-scale biofilter packed with sugarcane bagasse and inoculated with a sulfur-oxidizing bacterial consortium isolated from activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Inlet loads from 1.31 to 20.2 g Sm−3 h−1 were supplied to the biofilter, and empty bed residence times (EBRTs) of 30, 20 and 10 s were tested. In all cases, the removal efficiency was greater than 99%. Two methods for the pH control were tested: increasing the phosphate buffer capacity of the mineral medium (method I), and a new method, which involves the addition of solid CaCO3 to the bagasse at the upper inlet of the biofilter (method II). For method I, pH increased gradually along the bed (from the bottom to the top), from a constant value of 3.0 to 7.0. For method II, pH was constant (2.4 ± 0.8) along the bed, and then a steep increase of pH was observed at the top to 7.1. We suggest the use of CaCO3 instead of phosphate buffer because the former is less expensive, it is a simple method and the results obtained with the two methods are similar. PB Taylor & Francis SN 1093-4529 YR 2012 FD 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/16306 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/16306 LA eng NO DOI: 10.1080/10934529.2012.667308 DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz RD 07-nov-2026