Department & Program:

• Biosystems Engineering, Ph. D.

Funding Sources:

• Funding Agency for Research: ARDI
• Source of Scholarship: NSERC

Advisor:

• Dr. Danny Mann, P.Eng.

Odor emissions from livestock facilities and other forms of air pollution are causing environmental and medical concern as the world population increases. The proliferation of stringent environmental regulations aimed at maintaining a sustainable environment clearly indicates the importance of this issue. Odorous gases are offensive to any neighborhood subjected to them. Thus, a good odor control program is very necessary for the success of any facility that has potential for odor emission. Most of the conventional technologies currently available for treating odorous gases are too expensive. One alternative technology that might be affordable is biofiltration. Biofiltration is a biological odor control technique in which contaminants present in an air stream are broken down by microorganisms fixed to a biologically active porous medium. Biofiltration takes place in a vessel called a biofilter. Just like every other storage vessel the biofilter is liable to structural failure. One common cause of structural failure is the lateral pressure exerted by the stored material on the walls of the containing vessel. My research interests are in odor reduction through biofiltration and determining the lateral pressure exerted by the filter materials on the biofilter vessel.