In this study, the development of a thermophilic biotrickling filter (BTF) system to inoculate a newly isolated strain of Chelatococcus daeguensis TAD1 for the effective treatment of nitric oxide (NO) is described. It was successfully started up in 35 days and effectively removed NO from the oxygen contained simulated gas at 50 C. A mathematical model based on the mass transfer in gas-biofilm interface and chemical oxidation in gas phase was developed. Steady-state experimental data under different inlet NO concentration and empty bed retention time (EBRT) condition were used to verify the proposed model. The model can well reproduce the experimental results and the sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the model is not dependent on the accuracy of the parameters excessively. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.