Biofilter - A malodor control technology for livestock industry

Biofilters give a new route to solve malodor problems from livestock and poultry production. Unlike wet-scrubbers and trickling filters, the odor compounds and pollutants eliminated by biofilters are completely metabolized and degraded without causing secondary pollution. This paper reviews these recently developed techniques and applications and intends to introduce this technology to livestock industry for malodor and contaminant control. pH adjustment and inoculation and nutrient seeding techniques improve the feasibility of biofiltration application in malodor control. Isolating deodorizing bacteria greatly increases the biodegradation rate and the possibility of equalizing the adsorption rate and metabolic rate, which will highly ameliorate the biofiltration efficiency.