In this study, the performance of a rotating biological contactor (RBC) treating complex mixtures of VOCs commonly found in surface coating manufacturing and application facilities was evaluated. The effects of inlet loading rate (ILR) and empty bed residence time (EBRT) on elimination capacity (EC) and removal efficiency (RE) were evaluated. Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), methyl iso-butyl ketone (MIBK), ethylbenzene, o-xylene and toluene (T) were taken as model pollutants. The performance of RBC was evaluated while treating single pollutants and various combinations of pollutants (two, three and five). Though the elimination capacity varied at different phases, the system recorded a maximum elimination capacity of 569 g/m(3)/h. While ketones were biodegraded mostly in the first two discs of RBC near the inlet, degradation of aromatics utilized the full reactor length. Shut-down of the circulating liquid flow affected the reactor performance more than shut-down of gas-flow or rotation of the discs. Shock-load of toluene had significant adverse effect on the reactor performance while that of ketone had no residual impact on the performance of RBC. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.