Penggunaan bahan pengisi tanah, kompos, arang sekam dan serasah dengan teknik biofilter untuk menghilangkan NH3 pada ruang produksi lateks pekat

Abstract

Concentrated latex industry use concentrated liquid ammonia to stabilize latex, its emitted fugitive NH3 gas in high concentration. Ammonia is a odorous gas and easy to condense that cause exhalation problem and the oxidized ammonia (nitrit) is toxic and cause poisonous. This condition result to health problems for worker and local resident so a serious handling to treatment this air pollution is urgently needed. The objective of this research is to determine the best packing material composition to remove ammonia by using biofilter technique and to determine removal capacity of biofilters during operation. This research was conducted in three industrial scale biofilters using different packing materials. The first Biofilter packed with soil, charred chaff, peat leaf (2:l:l) and starter, the second biofilter used soil, charred chaK compost (1:1:2), and starter. The third biofilter used soil, charred chaff, compost and peat leaf and also given starter ( 1:1:0.5:0.5). The inlet and outlet of ammonia gas (NH3) concentration were measured for 55 days. The condition of packed materials were analyzed for water content, total of N, nitrate, ion ammonium, carbon and population of Nitrosomonas sp. and heterotroph bacteria every week, while pH was measured every three days.