Estudio a Escala Laboratorio y Piloto de la Biopurificación de Contaminantes del Aire de Interior
Indoor air pollution is an increasingly relevant environmental issue worldwide, as it directly affects human health. It originates from multiple sources, including industrial, domestic, and commercial activities. Naphthalene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) produced as a byproduct of the inc...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Valladolid |
| Repositorio: | UVaDOC. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:uvadoc______::001b2f139effb1dcb8bdde4b7c79941b |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doi.org/10.35376/10324/84449 https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/84449 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Contaminación atmosférica biopurifaction Biopurificación Indoor air Aire interior 3308.01 Control de la Contaminación Atmosférica |
| Sumario: | Indoor air pollution is an increasingly relevant environmental issue worldwide, as it directly affects human health. It originates from multiple sources, including industrial, domestic, and commercial activities. Naphthalene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) produced as a byproduct of the incomplete combustion of organic matter, is among the most hazardous pollutants. The presence of naphthalene in indoor air is common in areas where forest biomass is burned. Another group of concerning indoor air contaminants are alkylpyrazines (such as 2,5 dimethylpirazine), odoriferous substances responsible for the pleasant aromas in baked foods, which are also released during industrial food processing. These emissions can cause discomfort to workers and surrounding communities. Today, commercial technologies for the removal of VOCs and PAHs in indoor environments are largely limited to activated carbon adsorption and ozonation systems, which show limitations in terms of efficiency and sustainability. Biological technologies offer an interesting alternative with lower environmental impact and operating costs, however only a few microorganisms have demonstrated the ability to degrade these pollutants. In this context, the present thesis aimed at: i) evaluating the ability of the filamentous fungus Fusarium solani to biodegrade DMP, ii) assessing the performance of a radial-flow air biopurifier using a model mixture of toluene, formaldehyde, and benzo(α)pyrene (BaP), initially inoculated with Fusarium solani and Rhodococcus erythropolis, iii) comparatively investigating the efficiency of naphthalene vapor biofiltration in a biofilter inoculated with an adapted consortium of F. solani and R. erythropolis, and in a biofilter inoculated with microbial isolates obtained from a previously operating naphthalene-degrading biofilter. The main results obtained in this thesis showed that under axenic cultivation, F. solani exhibited a high capacity for growth using DMP as the sole carbon and energy source, producing aerial mycelium, releasing 70 ppm of CO2 per mg of dry biomass, and consuming DMP at a rate of 58.3 mg g-1 biomass, comparable to values reported for bacterial systems in literature. In a non-axenic biofilter operated for 40 days at a gas residence time of 3 min with DMP-laden air, a maximum DMP removal capacity of 8.5 g m-3 h-1 was achieved at an inlet load of 11.3 g m-3 h-1, corresponding to a removal efficiency of 80%. The radial-flow biopurifier achieved removal efficiencies above 90% for BaP, formaldehyde, and toluene, with air renewal rates of 0.62, 2.5, and 0.8 h-1, respectively. The system operated stably for eight months without significant efficiency loss, even after 15 days of inactivity. Inoculation of a biofilter with a reconstructed microbial consortium reduced system start-up time from 35 to 5 days, while maintaining a consistent naphthalene removal efficiency of 80% (6 g m-3 h-1) at a gas residence time of 54 s. This system also reached a maximum removal capacity of 14 g m-3 h-1 at a naphthalene inlet load of 17 g m-3 h-1. Microbial community analysis revealed high bacterial diversity and low fungal diversity, with Fusarium solani predominating at 97%. |
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