High efficiency VOC biofiltration using microencapsulated organisms

Effective management of air quality in closed environments is important for the health and performance of military personnel. High concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including aromatics, halocarbons, and aldehydes are present in spacecraft and submarines. Traditional approaches to treat VOCs based on catalytic oxidation or photooxidation are costly, bulky, and not effective at low VOC concentrations. Current biofiltration technologies, including biotrickling filters and bioscrubbers, offer advantages over traditional approaches, but are still unsuitable for military use in closed spaces due to low capacity, low mass transfer rate, and large space requirements. We propose to develop a novel droplet-based microfluidic system for simultaneous biofiltration of multiple VOCs in a compact system. The new biofiltration system will allow co-culturing of multiple microorganisms and offer exquisite control over microbial populations and thereby the consumption of VOCs. The high surface area-to-volume ratios employed in the system will reduce mass transfer times and increase reaction rates and thus provide significant space savings. The new system will remove multiple VOCs efficiently and offer significant benefit on the health and performance of military personnel in closed environments.