Removal of toluene vapor in the absence and presence of a quorum-sensing molecule in a biotrickling filter and microbial composition shift

Abstract Toluene is highly toxic and mutagenic, and it is generally used as an industrial solvent. Thus, toluene removal from air is necessary. To solve the problem of reducing high toluene concentrations with a short gas retention time (GRT), a quorum-sensing molecule [N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone] (OHL) was added to a biotrickling filter (BTF). In this study, a BTF was used to treat synthetic and natural waste gases containing toluene. An extensive analysis was performed to understand the removal efficiency, removal characteristics, and bacterial community of the BTF. The addition of 20 μM OHL to the BTF significantly improved toluene removal, and more than 99.2% toluene removal was achieved at a GRT of 0.5 min when natural waste gas containing toluene (590–1020 ppm or 2.21–3.83 g m−3) was introduced. The maximum inlet load for toluene was 337.9 g m−3 h−1. Moreover, the BTF exhibited satisfactory adaptability to shock loading and shutdown operations. Pseudomonadaceae (33.0%) and Comamonadaceae (26.3%) were predominant bacteria in the system after a 98-day operation. These bacteria were responsible for toluene degradation. The optimal moisture content and low pressure drop for system operations demonstrated that the BTF was energy and cost efficient. Therefore, processing through a BTF with OHL is a favorable technique for toluene treatment.