Media type: E-Article Title: Biological removal of gas‐phase H2S in hollow fibre membrane bioreactors Contributor: Das, Jewel; Ravishankar, Harish; Lens, Piet N. L. imprint: Wiley, 2022 Published in: Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology Language: English DOI: 10.1002/jctb.6999 ISSN: 0268-2575; 1097-4660 Keywords: Inorganic Chemistry ; Organic Chemistry ; Pollution ; Waste Management and Disposal ; Fuel Technology ; Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ; General Chemical Engineering ; Biotechnology Origination: Footnote: Description: <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>BACKGROUND</jats:title><jats:p>Hydrogen sulphide (H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S) must be treated at its emission source to avoid health risks, odour, and corrosion. Conventional physico‐chemical H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S removal technologies (for example, membrane contactors or chemical scrubbers) have several limitations, such as requiring high amounts of absorption chemicals and energy. In contrast, biological H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S removal technologies are environment friendly, easy to operate, and less expensive due to their low energy requirements. In this study, the feasibility of a porous hydrophilic polyethersulfone hollow fibre membrane bioreactor (HFMB) was tested for the biological removal of gas‐phase H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S by employing three lab‐scale reactors (two biotic and one abiotic). The HFMBs were operated at ~20 °C for ~3 months, employing different H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S inlet loading rates (ILR) and an empty bed residence time of 187 s.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>RESULTS</jats:title><jats:p>Biotic performance of the HFMBs demonstrated that the removal efficiency (RE) varied between the different inocula and was in the range of 80–100% for the applied H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S ILR of ~5.0–7.5 g m<jats:sup>−3</jats:sup> h<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>. The RE reached a constant value of ~100% in both biotic reactors at an ILR of ~17.0 g m<jats:sup>−3</jats:sup> h<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> when using acclimatized inoculum. The biotic HFMBs demonstrated ~5–9 times higher H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S flux and ~ 20–26 times higher mass transfer compared to the abiotic control. Surface morphology revealed attached microbial growth on the outer surface of the membranes, while the high throughput sequencing confirmed the richness of H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S oxidizing microbial communities on the shell side.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>CONCLUSION</jats:title><jats:p>The obtained results confirm that the HFMB configuration is suitable for biological treatment of H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S laden waste gas. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).</jats:p></jats:sec>