THE BIO-OXYGEN ODOUR TREATMENT PROCESS
BIO-OXYGEN - The Natural Process
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ODOURS, GASES, CHEMICAL FUMES & VAPOURS
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BACTERIA, FUNGUS, YEAST, MOULD, MILDEW, SPORES & PROTOZOA
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PARTICULATES, AEROSOLS, STEAM, OIL & WAX
The Bio-Oxygen Process does not remove airborne Particulates, Aerosols, Steam, Oil or Wax. Before we agree to a demonstration or trial, the Customer must remove these pollutants by other means because Particulates, Aerosols, Steam, Oil and Wax in the exhaust gases act like airborne magnets and consume a disproportionate large number of Oxygen Clusters. The combined concentration of particulates, aerosols, steam, oil and wax in the exhaust air should not exceed 10 ug/m3 (10 microgram per cubic meter), collected on a 1 micron pore size test membrane.
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE & HUMIDITY
The capacity and sizing of the Bio-Oxygen equipment is mainly assessed on the maximum likely temperature and humidity as well as on the maximum likely concentration of pollutants in the exhaust air. Therefore, the temperature and humidity of the exhaust odours can become a load over and above the pollutants in the air.
BIO-OXYGEN ODOUR TREATMENT CAPACITY
The Bio-Oxygen Process injects Oxygen Clusters into the Sewerage Pit, Grease Trap, Kitchen Exhaust etc and as the Oxygen Clusters and the Polluted Air mix, a chemical reaction takes place between the Oxygen Clusters and the Pollutants. The Oxygen Clusters react with the Odours and Chemical Fumes in 5 15 seconds. The electrode tubes are in the path of clean outside air and the polluted air does not come into the contact with the electrode tubes so that the Bio-Oxygen electrode tubes always stay clean.
Once the Oxygen Clusters have bonded with an odour molecule, the Oxygen Clusters continue to act on the odours, gases and chemicals in mid air and the odours gradually diminish over 5 15 seconds. The odours can only travel as far as the air currents and wind can carry the odours in 5 15 seconds but along the way, the odours gradually diminish and become weaker and weaker until in up to 15 seconds, the odours are gone.
The Bio-Oxygen process is a positive process because it causes a chemical reaction to take place between the Oxygen Clusters and the odours, gases and chemicals. For this reason, the Bio-Oxygen Process is a positive process that works at the molecular level. Carbon Filters, Scrubbers and Biomass Filters are all negative systems because they only absorb the odours and don't really do anything to the odours. The capacity and sizing of the Bio-Oxygen equipment is mainly assessed on the maximum likely odour and chemical concentration. Up to 100% odour reduction may be targeted because as long as there is an excess of Oxygen Clusters, there can be no residual odours. Please ask Bio-Oxygen for a cost estimate to treat your particular odour emissions.
CARBON FILTERS versus BIO-OXYGEN
Carbon Block Filters or Carbon Granule Filters are often used to remove Odours and Chemicals. Carbon Blocks are shaped like a house brick and have pores like wormholes. The wormholes go from side to side through the carbon block. The carbon blocks are stacked one on top of another like a brick wall. A powerful fan sucks the air through the wormholes in the carbon block wall or through the carbon granules.
Carbon must be kept dry
The carbon must be kept dry because once the pores of the carbon are full of water, they cannot hold water and gases as well. The pores can either hold water or gas but they cannot hold both. For this reason, a Dehumidifier is required for a Carbon Filter installation to keep the carbon dry. The dehumidifier has to have the same or higher capacity as the ventilation fan. If a dehumidifier is not provided for a carbon filter then such an installation would be useless.
Contact Time
As the Odours, Gases and Chemicals pass through the carbon, they make contact with the carbon and are absorbed into the pores of the carbon. The minimum required contact time for the odours and gases to be absorbed into the carbon is 0.20 seconds, provided that the carbon is dry. However, as the polluted air is forced through the carbon granule bed, the air follows the path of least resistance and therefore the polluted air tends to flow through the gaps around the granules rather than through the pores of the carbon granules. For this reason, carbon granule filters only have a low efficiency.
Effects of Temperature
Gases expand and contract depending on temperature. Therefore, the capacity of carbon to hold gases in the pores of the carbon depends on the temperature of the exhaust gases and the environmental temperature. As the temperature goes up, the gases expand in the pores of the carbon and begin to get squeezed out of the pores. Some of the odours and gases that have been absorbed during the cool night are squeezed out again the next day during the day. The temperature of the carbon filter and the temperature of the exhaust gases should ideally be kept below 30 C and the temperature should not fluctuate, however, in practice this is not possible.
Airborne Particulates block Pinholes
The pores of carbon block or carbon granule filter are very easily blocked by airborne particulates and once a pore is blocked, it cannot absorb any more odours and gases. Gradually, as more and more of the pores are blocked, the odour absorption capacity of the carbon is accordingly impaired and it is only a question of time before all the pores are blocked and the odour absorption capacity of the carbon comes to an end. Mostly the pores are blocked before the carbon has reached its maximum absorption capacity.
Carbon Filters suck out Oxygen from the Sewage Liquid
Carbon Filters are equipped with a powerful vacuum-blower. The vacuum-blower creates a very high vacuum inside the sewage pit and actually sucks the hydrogen sulphide gas out of the sewage liquid. Unfortunately, along with the H2S, the vacuum-blower, also sucks bubbles of oxygen out of the sewage liquid and thus slowly depletes and starves the sewage of oxygen. As the sewage flows from pumping station to pumping station and the carbon filters suck out more and more oxygen from the sewage and the oxygen level in the sewage drops, the sewage liquid becomes more and more acid and starts to smell stronger and stronger. In order to mitigate the side effects of rising acidity and stronger smells from the sewage, at some point, it becomes necessary for the sewage to be dosed with Hydrogen Peroxide and/or Magnesium Hydroxide or both so as put oxygen back into the sewage and reduce the acidity of the sewage caused by the carbon filters. The need for chemical dosing of the sewage is usually a side effect of carbon filters, scrubbers or biomass filters because they all suck oxygen out of the sewerage system.
Bio-Oxygen Process
Carbon Filters, Biomass Filters and Scrubbers suck the H2S and Oxygen out of the sewage liquid whilst the Bio-Oxygen system works in reverse and blows Oxygen Clusters into the sewage pit and aeration tank. The Oxygen Clusters react with the odours and gases inside the sewage pit or aeration tank. As long as we pump in more Oxygen Clusters and at a faster rate than the rate at which the odours and gases are produced inside the pit or aeration tank then there can be no residual odours. With our method, we can achieve 100% odour reduction, 100% of the time because as long as there is an excess of Oxygen Clusters there can be no residual odours. The Oxygen Clusters react in 5 15 seconds inside the pit or aeration tank.
Bio-Oxygen oxygenates Sewage Liquid
Oxygen Clusters are more readily absorbed into the water than ordinary oxygen. Whilst carbon filters, biomass filters and scrubbers suck the oxygen out of the liquid, the Bio-Oxygen process works in reverse and actually puts oxygen back into the sewage liquid and oxygenates the sewage liquid. The resultant higher oxygen content of the sewage liquid promotes the growth of aerobic bacteria and suppresses the growth of anaerobic bacteria. Oxygenated sewage smells less and is easier and faster processed at the sewerage treatment plant than sewage dosed with chemicals. The oxygenation of the sewage liquid is a bonus from the Bio-Oxygen Process.
SCRUBBER versus BIO-OXYGEN
A Scrubber consists of a large vessel with a built-in fogger and high pressure pump that produces a fog inside the vessel. The polluted air flows through the fog and the fog washes out particulates in the polluted air stream. Some people apply scrubbers for the removal of odours and gases but gases and water don't mix and, for this reason, scrubbers are ineffective for the removal of odours and gases.
Chemical Scrubber
However, in order to enhance the odour removal efficiency of scrubbers, chemicals such as Hydrogen Peroxide, Magnesium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide or Sodium Hypochlorite are added to the scrubbing water. The chemicals give off fumes and the chemical fumes then react with the odours and gases in the air and remove some of the odours and therefore in a chemical scrubber, it is not the water that removes the odours but the chemical fumes.
Chemical Scrubbers expensive to operate
Chemical Scrubbers are very expensive to operate because they consume large amounts of water and large amounts of chemicals. In some areas, the cost of the water may be equal to or more than the cost of the chemicals. Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic Soda) and Sodium Hypochlorite (Chlorine) are highly corrosive and corrodes the scrubber and therefore, chemical scrubbers only have a life of 5 10 years. A comparable Bio-Oxygen system would have a life expectancy of 30 years (3 times longer). The chemicals are stored on site in large tanks. A chemical scrubber and chemical tanks look like a small chemical plant and therefore such an installation would be viewed by local residents and/or businesses with suspicion. Furthermore, chemical scrubbers have to be connected to a drainage tank because the residual slurry from the scrubber cannot be discharged to the sewer because the slurry is toxic. Chemical Scrubbers and chemical tanks pose a safety risk and have to be insured against leakage, vandalism and disaster. An equivalent Bio-Oxygen installation would only consist of a small box which could be accommodated inside the existing electrical control room. Bio-Oxygen does not require water or chemicals, we only require clean ambient air and therefore there are no safety issues.
BIOMASS FILTER versus BIO-OXYGEN
Biomass Filters are designed and constructed like a swimming pool and are very expensive to build. Biomass Filters can be as large as an olympic size swimming pool. About 50 cm high piers are erected on the bottom of the Biomass Filter. A rigid wire mesh is placed on top of the piers and then wood chips, peanut shells, coconut shells or similar organic material is spread on top of the rigid mesh until the pool is filled with the biomass. A layer of soil is then spread on top of the biomass. Water sprinklers are placed on top of the Biomass Filter and continually sprinkle water onto the Biomass Filter to keep the biomass moist in order to promote bacterial activity inside the biomass. On the bottom of the Biomass Filter is a drain hole which is connected to a pond to drain the water coming from the sprinklers. The exhaust air is blown into the hollow space under the wire mesh and the gases rise through the biomass to the surface. The average Biomass Filter is 3 meters deep and if the air rises at only 1 m/s then the odours would be in contact with the biomass for only about 3 seconds.
Water Consumption
Biomass Filters require a very large amount of water. In dry areas, there may not be enough water available to waste on a Biomass Filter and, in any event, the cost of the water in dry areas may be prohibitive. Bio-Oxygen does not require nor consume any water.
Bacterial Activity
The gaseous odours pass largely untreated through the Biomass Filter in 3 seconds and go untreated to the atmosphere because the bacteria in the biomass cannot digest the odours and gases in 3 seconds. Bacteria, at best, need hours or days, not seconds.
Absorption & Filtering
Biomass Filters are always dripping wet and therefore the biomass cannot absorb any odours, gases or chemicals into the pores of the biomass because the pores of the biomass are already full of water. The exhaust gases contain smelly particulates. The only odour reduction that a Biomass Filter is able to achieve is restricted to the removal of smelly particulates contained in the exhaust air. The smelly particulates become trapped in the 3 meter deep biomass, however, as the smelly organic material accumulates and builds-up in the biomass, after a time, the Biomass Filter itself will start to give off more and more odours.
Scrubbing Action
As the water trickles down through the biomass filter, some of the smelly particulates are washed down by the water trickling down through the biomass and finish up in a waste water pond. The water trickling down merely transfers some of the odourous substances from the biomass filter to the pond and eventually the pond starts to smell and has to be aerated.
Temperature
The temperature of the Biomass must be maintained at 30 C, summer or winter, snow, rain or shine, same as the temperature of an incubator. If the temperature of the biomass goes above or below 30 C then the bacterial activity in the biomass will be accordingly impaired. If the temperature of the exhaust gases exceeds 55 C then at that temperature, the whole Biomass Filer would be pasteurised. The pasteurisation temperature is 55 C and at that temperature, bacterial activity virtually ceases and the Biomass Filter would start to stink. Conversely, at 0 C the bacteria activity would virtually also cease. Therefore, the temperature (a) of the biomass in a Biomass Filter and (b) the temperature of the gases that pass through the Biomass Filter are critical for the proper functioning of a Biomass Filter and must be maintained at a constant 30 C.
Required Land Area
A Biomass Filter occupies literally hundreds of square meters or square yards of land. To arrive at a true cost comparison with Bio-Oxygen, you have to add the value of the land to the cost of construction of a Biomass Filter. Each Bio-Oxygen Model 8000/10 replaces a Biomass filter of up to 100 square meters (120 square yards) and therefore, the value of the 100 square meters (120 square yards) of land should be added to the cost of the Biomass Filter. The value of the land would already be more than the cost of the Bio-Oxygen equipment, let alone the cost of constructing a Biomass Filter on the land. A Bio-Oxygen unit only has a footprint of 0.30 sq. meter or 1 sq. foot.
Bio-Oxygen Process
By comparison, the Bio-Oxygen Process injects Oxygen Clusters into the exhaust stack, reaction chamber or sewerage pit etc. The Oxygen Clusters react with the Odours, Gases and Chemical Fumes and Vapours in the exhaust duct, reaction chamber or pit in 5 15 seconds. The Bio-Oxygen Electrode Tubes are in the path of clean outside air and the polluted air does not come into the contact with the electrode tubes and therefore the electrode tubes always stay clean. In an exhaust duct, without a reaction chamber, once the Oxygen Clusters have bonded with an odour molecule, the Oxygen Clusters continue to act on the odours, gases and chemicals in mid air and the odours gradually diminish over 5 15 seconds. The odours can only travel as far as the air currents and wind can carry the odours in 5 15 seconds but along the way, the odours gradually diminish and become weaker and weaker until in maximum 15 seconds, the odours are gone. The Bio-Oxygen Process is a positive process because it actually causes a chemical reaction to take place between the Oxygen Clusters and the odours, gases and chemicals. The Bio-Oxygen Process works at the molecular level. Biomass Filters are a negative system because they only absorb odours and don't do anything to the odours. The performance of a Biomass Filter is on a diminishing curve whilst the performance and efficiency of the Bio-Oxygen system remains constant for the duration of the service period.
BIO-OXYGEN - The Natural Process
Our process removes Odours, Gases, Chemical Fumes and Vapours in 5 -15 seconds.
Organic Odours from:
Sewage, Grease Traps, Kitchen Exhaust, Garbage, Toilets, Fertilizers, Farm Animals, Fermentation, Spoilage and Rotting etc.
Chemical Odours from:
Paints, Varnishes, Thinners, Adhesives, Glues, Plastics, Waxes, Carpets, Disinfectants, Deodorants and Perfumes etc. and from thousands of other chemicals, substances and material used and stored in buildings and factories.
Many odours are produced by Bacteria and other Organisms. Our process kills the organisms that cause odours such as Bacteria, Fungus, Yeast, Mould, Mildew, Spores, Protozoa and other Organisms. Our process treats the cause (Bacteria) as well as the effect (Odours).