Hydrophilic Fe3O4 nanoparticles prepared by ferrocene as high‐efficiency heterogeneous Fenton catalyst for the degradation of methyl orange

Hydrophilic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were prepared with ferrocene as an iron source via the thermal decomposition method and their catalytic response towards methyl orange was investigated. The effects of the pH, temperature, H₂O₂ dosage, catalyst dosage and initial dye concentration on the degradation of methyl orange were researched in detail. Furthermore, the stability of the catalyst was evaluated by measuring the degradation rate in eight successive cycles. The study demonstrates that methyl orange can be completely degraded i.e., a 99% degratation rate was obtained within 3 min. This excellent catalytic activity is attributed to the small size and good dispersibility of the nanoparticles, which stimulate the rapid and massive generation of reactive oxygen species in the heterogeneous Fenton reaction. In addition, the magnetic separation of the catalyst offers great prospects for fast and economical decontamination of dye polluted water.     

Removal of chemical oxygen demand,nitrogen, and heavy metals using a sequenced anaerobic-aerobic treatment of landfill leachates at 10-30 degrees C

As a first step of treatment of landfill leachates (total chemical oxygen demand [COD]: 1.43–3.81 g/L; total nitrogen: 90–162 mg/L), performance of laboratory upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactors was investigated under mesophilic (30°C), submesophilic (20°C), and psychrophilic (10°C) conditions. Under hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of about 0.3 d, when the average organic loading rates (OLRs) were about 5 g of COD/(L·d), the total COD removal accounted for 81% (on average) with the effluent concentrations close to the anaerobic biodegradability limit (0.25 g of COD/L) for mesophilic and submesophilic regimes. The psychrophilic treatment conducted under an average HRT of 0.34 d and an average OLR of 4.22 g of ducted under an average HRT of 0.34 d and an average OLR of 4.22 g of COD/(L·d) showed a total COD removal of 47%, giving effluents (0.75 g of COD/L) more suitable for subsequent biologic nitrogen removal. All three anaerobic regimes used for leachate treatment were quite efficient for elimination of heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd) by concomitant precipitation in the form of insoluble sulfides inside the sludge bed. The application of aerobic/anoxic biofilter as a sole polishing step for psychrophilic anaerobic effluents was acceptable for elimination of biodegradable COD and nitrogen approaching the current standards for direct discharge of treated waste-water.     

Applied photoelectrocatalysis on the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewaters

A large variety of electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) have been recently developed to remove organic pollutants from wastewaters to avoid their serious health-risk factors from their environmental accumulation and to reuse the treated water for human activities. The effectiveness of EAOPs is based on the in situ production of strong reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydroxyl radical (OH). Photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) has emerged as a promising powerful EAOP by combining photocatalytic and electrolytic processes. It consists in the promotion of electrons from the valence band to the conduction band of a semiconductor photocatalyst upon light irradiation, with production of positive holes. The fast recombination of the electron/hole pairs formed is avoided in PEC by applying an external bias potential to the photocatalyst that extracts the photogenerated electrons up to the cathode of the electrolytic cell. Organics can be oxidized directly by the holes, ^•OH formed from water oxidation with holes and other ROS produced between the electrons and dissolved O₂. This paper presents a general and critical review on the application of PEC to the remediation of wastewaters with organic pollutants. Special attention is made over the different kinds of photocatalysts utilized and preparation methods of the most ubiquitous TiO₂ materials. Typical PEC systems and main operation variables that affect the effectiveness of the degradation process are also examined. An exhaustive analysis of the advances obtained on the treatment of dyes, chemicals and pharmaceuticals from synthetic solutions, as well as of real wastewaters, is performed. Finally, research prospects are proposed for the future development of PEC with perspectives to industrial application.     

A New Approach for Removal of Nitrogen Oxides from Synthetic Gas-streams under High Concentration of Oxygen in Biofilters

The potential of using denitrifying and nitrifying concurrent biofilters for the removal of nitrogen oxides from synthetic gas streams was studied under the condition of high oxygen concentration. It was found that more than 85% of nitric oxide was removed from synthetic combustion gas-streams which contained 20% oxygen and 350 μL/L NO, with a residence time of 60 seconds. In the process, it was found that the existing of oxygen showed no evident negative effect on the efficiency of nitrogen removal.     

Application of advanced oxidation processes for removing salicylic acid from synthetic wastewaters

<正>In this study,advanced oxidation processes(AOPs) such as anodic oxidation(AO),UV/H_2O_2 and Fenton processes(FP) were investigated for the degradation of salicylic acid(SA) in lab-scale experiments.Boron-doped diamond(BDD) film electrodes using Ta as substrates were employed for AO of SA.In the case of FP and UV/H_2O_2,most favorable experimental conditions were determined for each process and these were used for comparing with AO process.The study showed that the FP was the most effective process under acidic conditions,leading to the highest rate of SA degradation in a very short time interval.However,the results showed that Ta/BDD films had high electrocatalytic activity for complete degradation of SA;even if it employs more time for complete elimination of the SA respect to FP.Additionally,AO led to a sixfold acceleration of the oxidation rate compared with the UV/H_2O_2 process.Finally a rough comparison of the specific energy consumption shows that AO process reduced the energy consumption by at least 90%compared with the UV/H_2O_2 process.     

Treatment of silk production wastewaters by membrane processes for sericin recovery

Sericin protein, although a valuable resource for many industries including cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical, has been discarded as a waste in silk industry, causing environmental pollution. This paper describes determination of a membrane-based process for sericin recovery from cocoon cooking wastewaters (CCW) that will enable value-added utilization of waste sericin. The iso-electric point (pI) of sericin was found as 5–6, whose MW was distributed as 180–200, 70–80, 30–40 and 10–25 kDa. Prior to membrane filtration, sericin was separated from other impurities via centrifugation (CFG) followed by microfiltration (MF) in the pre-treatment stage, which also helped minimize post membrane fouling. Ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) were adopted at a pH equal to pI of sericin. UF achieved partial recovery of sericin polypeptides at 37–60%, which was attributed to increased transmission of uncharged sericin polypeptides at their pI. On the other hand, NF achieved sericin recovery as high as 94–95%, containing all MW fractions. Severe flux decline was the major problem due to protein–membrane interactions and high sericin concentrations, where concentration polarization mainly had a dominant effect. Although flux declines were as high as 58–88% in UF and 70–75% in NF, flux recovery by at least 83% was achieved by chemical cleaning using NaOH and free chlorine.     

应用大孔吸附树脂从农药废水中回收毕克草

毕克草为一种新型除草剂,通常情况下很难被降解,本文利用物理吸附原理通过自行制备的大孔吸附树脂从农药水中对其进行了回收,回收效果良好,同时也达到了废水处理的目的。优化的最佳实验条件:室温下,pH=1.0以及流速为5BV/h时,对COD为15000mg/L的毕克草废水吸附处理后,其出水可达《污水综合排放标准》(GB89—1996)中的一级排放标准;洗脱再生时,室温下,用95%的乙醇洗脱,流速为2BV/h,(即2倍树脂床体积/h)回收率可达98.4%,纯度达93.7%,总流程一次可处理该废水240mL。     

Methodical investigation of interactions between organic pollutants and humic organic material in coal wastewaters

Summary Coal wastewaters taken from a pond near Leipzig have been analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by GC-MS. Most of the organic constituents were pollutants; they included mainly phenol and alkylphenols. Whereas the identities of the main organic contaminants varied little between surface and deep water, the concentration of pollutants in the deeper water was considerably higher. Methodical investigation of interactions between organic pollutants of differentpolarity and aquatic humic substances showed that phenols, among them highly chlorinated and nitrated derivatives, were bound by humic matter. On changing the pH value from ca 7 to 2, all the adsorbed pollutants were released.     

Application of Photo-Fenton,Electro-Fenton,and Photo-Electro-Fenton processes for the treatment of DMSO and DMAC wastewaters

Biological treatment, due to the formation of hazardous chemicals to remove organic compounds such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAC), has limited potential. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are regarded as a viable alternative for treating molecules containing carbon-hydrogen bonds that cannot be broken down by traditional physico-chemical methods. In this investigation, various AOPs such as Photo-Fenton, Electro-Fenton, and Photo-Electro-Fenton processes were studied to treat wastewaters containing DMSO and DMAC. The effects of the operating parameters, including various initial concentrations of DMSO and DMAC, initial pH, reaction time, different concentrations of Fenton’s reagent, power of UV lamp, different concentrations of electrolytes, the distance between electrodes and current intensity, were investigated. The findings of the experiments revealed that a pH of 3 and a reaction time of 120 min were optimal. At 2000 mg L^?1 of DMSO, maximum degradation and the final concentration of TOC were 98.64 % and 256.8 mg L^?1, respectively, by the Electro-Fenton process under the optimal conditions. The Electro-Fenton process was successful in determining the maximum degradation of DMAC (96.31 %) and the final TOC concentration (10.03 mg L^?1) at 250 mg L^?1 of DMAC under optimal conditions. Finally, it can be concluded that the Electro-Fenton process was the best process for the efficient removal of DMSO and DMAC. The second step of the kinetic model follows a pseudo-first-order reaction for 250 and 500 mg L^?1 of pollutants and obeyed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model for concentrations of 1000, 2000 mg L^?1.     

Aerobic and anaerobic microbial degradation of poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate produced by Azotobacter chroococcum

Food industry wastewater served as a carbon source for the synthesis of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) by Azotobacter chroococcum. The content of polymer in bacterial cells grown on the raw materials reached 75%. PHB films were degraded under aerobic, microaerobic, and anaerobic conditions in the presence and absence of nitrate by microbial populations of soil, sludges from anaerobic and nitrifying/denitrifying reactors, and sediment from a sludge deposit site. Changes in molecular mass, crystallinity, and mechanical properties of PHB were studied. Anaerobic degradation was accompanied by acetate formation, which was the main intermediate utilized by denitrifying bacteria or methanogenic archaea. On a decrease in temperature from 20 to 5° C in the presence of nitrate, the rate of PHB degradation was 7.3 times lower. Under anaerobic conditions and in the absence of nitrate, no PHB degradation was observed, even at 11°C. The enrichment cultures of denitrifying bacteria obtained from soil and anaerobic sludge degraded PHB films for a short time (3–7 d). The dominant species in the enrichment culture from soil were Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas stutzeri. The rate of PHB degradation by the enrichment cultures depended on the polymer molecular weight, which reduced with time during biodegradation.     

A liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry study of ethanolamines in high salinity industrial wastewaters

The detection and quantitation of four ethanolamines, tris(2-hydroxyethyl)amine (triethanolamine, TEA), N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)methylamine (methyldiethanolamine, MDEA), N-(2-aminoethyl)ethanolamine (AEA), and N,N-diethylethanolamine (DEA), were achieved in wastewaters from two aerobic activated sludge bioreactors located in an industrial wastewater treatment plant. The streams had salt concentrations of approximately 3% and 7% by weight in Reactor 1 and Reactor 2, respectively. The use of liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry avoided the need for some sample preparation steps such as extraction, concentration, and derivatization. Ion suppression in the electrospray, attributable to the presence of sodium clusters, was attenuated by a 10-fold dilution of the wastewaters with acetonitrile. A matrix-matched calibration model averted other potential interferences. For the compounds analyzed in selected reaction monitoring mode (TEA, MDEA, and DEA), the calibration curves presented linearity in a range of 10-1000 μg/L with corresponding detection limits ranging from 2 to 11 μg/L, depending upon the specific analyte and aqueous matrix. AEA was calibrated in selected ion monitoring mode (100-1000 μg/L), with corresponding detection limits in the two wastewaters of 74.6 and 85.3 μg/L, respectively. Overall good precision (<10%) and accuracy (97-110%) were achieved for both matrices, which fell within-laboratory reproducibility. Finally, the amines were introduced into six mixed liquor samples from both reactors and quantified following the reported protocol. Again, recoveries were close to 100% with a relative standard deviation of less than 10% in all cases.     

Dimethyltitanocene-induced surface chemical degradation of synthetic biodegradable polyesters

The purpose of this research was to selectively alter the rate of surface degradation of linear aliphatic polyesters without adversely affecting their bulk properties by way of functional group transformation, where the surface ester linkages would be converted to vinyl ether functionalities with dimethyltitanocene. It has been observed that dimethyl titanocene causes surface degradation of poly (glycolic acid) without adversely affecting its bulk properties, such as M_v, bursting strength, and thermal properties The vinvl ether resulting from the conversion of the PGA ester groups was unstable under ambient conditions, and further reacted by polymer chain scissioning, as was observed from measurements of molecular weight. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Pretreatment of swine wastewater using anaerobic filter

Efforts were made to assess the efficiency of an anaerobic filter packed with porous floating ceramic media and to identify the optimum operational condition of anaerobic filter as a pretreatment of swine wastewater for the subsequent biological removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. A stepwise decrease in hydraulic retention time (HRT) and an increase in organic loading rate (OLR) were utilized in an anaerobic filter reactor at mesophilic temperature (35°C). The optimum operating condition of the anaerobic filter was found to be at an HRT of 1 d. A soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 62% and a total suspended solids removal efficiency of 39% at an HRT of 1 d were achieved with an OLR of 16.0 kg total COD/(m³·d), respectively. The maximum methane production rate approached 1.70 vol of biogas produced per volume of reactor per day at an HRT of 1 d. It was likely that the effluent COD/total Kjeldahl nitrogen ratio, of 22, the COD/total phosphorous ratio of 47, and the high effluent alkalinity >2500 mg/L as CaCO₃ of the anaerobic filter operated at an HRT of 1 d was adequate for the subsequent biological removal of nitrogen and phosphorus.     

Influence of temperature on performance of an anaerobic sequencing biofilm batch reactor with circulation applied to treatment of low-strength wastewater

The effect of temperature on the performance of an anaerobic sequencing biofilm batch reactor (ASBBR) with liquid-phase recirculation was assessed. Assays were performed using a recirculation velocity of 0.20 cm/s, 8-h cycles, and an average treated synthetic wastewater volume of 2 L/cycle with a concentration of 500 mg of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)/L. Operation temperatures were 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35°C. At 25, 30, and 35°C, organic matter removal efficiencies for filtered samples ranged from 81 to 83%. At lower temperatures, namely 15 and 20°C, removal efficiency decreased significantly to 61 and 65%, respectively. A first-order model could be fitted to the experimental concentration profile values. The first-order kinetic parameter value of this model varied from 0.46 to 0.81 h¹ considering the lowest and highest temperature studied. Moreover, analysis of the removal profile values allowed fitting of an Arrhenius-type equation with an activation energy of 5715 cal/mol.     

Use of low current densities in electrolyses with conductive-diamond electrochemical — Oxidation to disinfect treated wastewaters for reuse

In the search for new disinfection technologies for reused water, in this work the effect of current density on the disinfection capability, during the electrolyses with conductive diamond anodes of the effluent of a municipal wastewater treatment plant was evaluated. It was found that this electrolytic technology can disinfect completely for current densities ranging from 1.3 to 130 A m^{− 2}, but the disinfection rate and chlorine speciation are significantly affected by particular current density applied. In order to avoid the occurrence of non desired species, the lower value of this range is proposed. In those conditions, complete disinfection can be obtained and hypochlorite and chloramines are the main species, not being produced chlorate, perchlorate or organo-chlorinates species.     

Enzymatic Pretreatment of Byproducts from Soapstock Splitting and Glycerol Processing for Improvement of Biogas Production

This study investigated acid splitting wastewater (ASW) and interphase (IF) from soapstock splitting, as well as matter organic non glycerol (MONG) from glycerol processing, as potential substrates for biogas production. Batch and semicontinuous thermophilic anaerobic digestion experiments were conducted, and the substrates were preliminary treated using commercial enzymes kindly delivered by Novozymes A/C. The greatest enhancement in the batch digestion efficiency was achieved when three preparations; EversaTransform, NovoShape, and Lecitase were applied in the hydrolysis stage, which resulted in the maximum methane yields of 937 NL/kg VS and 915 NL/kg VS obtained from IF and MONG, respectively. The co-digestion of 68% ASW, 16% IF, and 16% MONG (wet weight basis) performed at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 1.5 kg VS/m³/day provided an average methane yield of 515 NLCH₄/kg VS_added and a volatile solid reduction of nearly 95%. A relatively high concentration of sulfates in the feed did not significantly affect the digestion performance but resulted in an increased hydrogen sulfide concentration in the biogas with the peak of 4000 ppm.     

A comparison of sequential extraction techniques for determining arsenic fractionation in synthetic mineral mixtures

The sequential extraction methods according to Tessier et al. [1], Borovec et al. [2], Zhang and Moore [3] and Hall et al. [4] have been tested for their suitability for arsenic fractionation in samples of artificially prepared mineral mixtures. Mixtures containing different amounts of As-containing phases were prepared so that their compositions corresponded to weathering products on As-bearing ore deposits. A comparison of different procedures on simple mineral mixtures containing calcium arsenate (CaHAsO₄·H₂O), As-bearing goethite (FeOOH) and arsenopyrite (FeAsS) showed that only the results of the Hall method satisfactorily correspond to the expected arsenic distribution. A detailed verification of the Hall method was subsequently carried out on most complex synthetic mineral mixtures with varying amounts of As-containing kaolinite and carbonate, calcium arsenate, As-bearing goethite and arsenopyrite. The results confirm that the Hall method cannot be fully employed for an accurate As speciation but may be applied for a route identification of As distribution between "labile", "medium-labile" and "residual" forms in heavily polluted soils.     

Determination of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in hospital and municipal wastewaters in Coimbra by liquid chromatography with a monolithic column and fluorescence detection

The main goal of this work was determination of residues of the antibiotics ofloxacin (OFLO), norfloxacin (NOR), ciprofloxacin (CIPRO), and enrofloxacin (ENRO) in wastewater samples. The samples, after acidification to pH 4.5 and addition of EDTA, were extracted on an anion-exchange cartridge in tandem with an Oasis HLB cartridge. The LC–FD method, developed in previous studies, was based on application of a monolithic C₁₈ column. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of the method was 250 ng L⁻¹ for OFLO, 25 ng L⁻¹ for NOR and CIPRO, and 50 ng L⁻¹ for ENRO. Mean recovery ranged between 75 and 121% for OFLO, NOR, CIPRO, and ENRO. A total of 14 wastewater samples were analyzed; these were collected from four hospitals and from influent and effluent from a wastewater-treatment plant in Coimbra, Portugal, during spring and autumn. CIPRO was present in all the samples, NOR was detected second most often, followed by OFLO. ENRO was found at concentrations under the LOQ in five hospital samples, and the highest level was found in influent from the WWTP.     

污水污泥空气气化特性的研究

利用外热式下吸固定床气化实验装置,以空气为气化剂对五种不同性质污泥的气化特性进行了研究。结果表明,升高气化温度有利于提高气化气的品质,气化气中CO、CH₄和H₂的含量和气化气热值随气化剂流量的减小而增加。污泥厌氧消化过程使气化气品质降低;污水处理工艺对污泥气化气组成和热值亦产生影响,其中连续SBR工艺的未消化污泥气化气中CO、CO₂的含量最高,而H₂、CH₄和C_mH_n的含量最低;活性污泥法的未消化污泥气化气中H₂和C_mH_n含量最高;A²/O工艺的未消化污泥气化气中CO、CO₂的含量最低,而CH₄的含量最高,且三个污水工艺污泥的气化气热值依次升高。