Biological oxidation techniques – promising and eco-friendly control of gaseous VOCs

Abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) prevalent in our atmosphere are of major environmental concerns. Several methods of controlling VOCs exist. Most of them have direct or indirect environmental consequences in terms of materials they use and wastes they produce albeit control VOCs. We reviewed various methods of controlling gaseous VOCs to evaluate their suitability under common conditions, explored the pros and cons of mainly biological oxidation methods and identified parameters for improving removal efficiency and discussed their environmental implications. We examined the potential of biological oxidation techniques for controlling gaseous VOCs with their eco-friendly and positive implications on the environment. We found that conventional techniques especially of physical and chemical nature pose number of problems i.e. high on cost, high material requirement, produce lot of waste and contribute to climate change and environmental degradation. There is an ample scope to improve removal efficiencies of biological methods particularly of rotating biological contactor, a cheaper and eco-friendly method.