Biofiltration apparatus and method for reducing methyl bromide concentration in a volume of gas
AssigneeEnergy Resource Institute, Inc.
InventorMarc Deshusses
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A biofiltration apparatus and method for reducing methyl bromide concentration in a volume of a gas are disclosed. The apparatus includes a housing and a substrate component located in the housing. The substrate component includes a population of methyl bromide degrading microorganisms. The housing receives a volume of contaminated gas, such as exhaust from a fumigation site, through a contaminated gas inlet. The contaminated gas is exposed to the methyl bromide degrading microorganisms where the methyl bromide is biodegraded. The filtered gas, or the gas with a reduced methyl bromide concentration, is then directed out of the housing. The apparatus may also include a contaminated gas load dampening device.
Claims19
A filtration apparatus for filtering methyl bromide from a volume of methyl bromide-containing gas, comprising:
- a housing having a first end, a second end, and a sidewall extending from the first end to the second end to define an interior compartment;
- a contaminated gas inlet located on the housing to direct methyl bromide-containing gas into the interior compartment;
- a filtered gas outlet located on the housing to direct filtered gas out from the interior compartment;
- and a substrate component located in the interior compartment, the substrate component including a population of methyl bromide-degrading microorganisms effective in degrading methyl bromide present in a volume of gas passed from the contaminated gas inlet into the interior compartment.
A method of filtering methyl bromide from a volume of gas, comprising:
- providing a biofiltration apparatus having a population of methyl bromide-degrading microorganisms provided with a substrate component located in a housing;
- directing contaminated gas containing methyl bromide into the housing via a contaminated gas inlet to expose the methyl bromide-degrading microorganisms to the gas to degrade the methyl bromide and form a filtered gas;
- and
- directing the filtered gas from the housing through a filtered gas outlet.
An isolated population of methyl bromide degrading microorganisms produced by a process comprising
- providing a contained environment having a substrate component structured to permit bacteria to grow thereon;
- placing a naturally occurring sedimentatious material, such as soil, sewage, sediment, and the like, suspected of containing methyl bromide-degrading bacteria in the contained environment;
- and
- exposing the contained environment to a substantially continuous supply of gas containing a concentration of methyl bromide ranging from about 0 g/m3 to about 2.5 g/m3.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.