To investigate the performance of a compost biofilter treating toluene vapor during intermittent loading, a biofiltration
system was set up. This system was inoculated with a special type of white-rot fungus, Phanerochaete
chrysosporium. The system was loaded 10h per day on 0.096, 0.024, 0.06m3/h of air flow rates, and 173.1 and
52.6mgm−3 of pollutant concentration while there was no aeration to the system during the remaining 14h of
the day. Maximum removal efficiency and elimination capacity obtained were about 92% and 1913.7mgm−3 h−1,
respectively. The fungal biofilter showed its robustness to the alterations in inlet toluene concentration and gas flow
rate. The kinetic of biological reaction was studied by application of Monod type equation. The kinetic constants Km
and rm are evaluated as 3.495 gm−3 and 50 gm−3 h−1, respectively. The results confirmed that the fungal system could
effectively remove toluene in such a harsh condition without adding excess nutrient solution and during intermittent
loading.