Multiplexed Biofiltration of Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air, especially in closed environments pose a major health threat. There is a critical need to remove these pollutant, and biofiltration is a promising solution to this need. This is a Phase II STTR proposal is to develop a novel, modular and scalable approach to biofiltration for effective management of air pollutants in closed environments. We propose a novel, modular and scalable biofiltration approach to meet this critical need. The device will consist of two “sides:” a microconcentrator device consisting of microchannels in titanium dioxide (TiO2). Contaminated air passes through this microconcentrator device and VOCs adsorb and concentrate onto the TiO2. At predefined periods the concentrated VOCS are released from the surface by elevating the temperature of the microchannels using built-in microheaters. The adsorption is such that release of a specific VOCs or classes of VOCs occurs at a specific temperature. The VOCs are then directed into a microbioreactor, where they are biodegraded by specific microorganisms. Depending on the application, there are multiple microbioreactors tailored for the specific air pollutants. Significantly, the system is modular. Microreactor “chips” can be added to treat additional pollutants and clustered to increase the treatment capacity simplifying scale-up.