Advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal in A2O-BAF system treating low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio domestic wastewater

A laboratory-scale anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic process (A²O) with a small aerobic zone and a bigger anoxic zone and biologic aerated filter (A²O-BAF) system was operated to treat low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio domestic wastewater. The A²O process was employed mainly for organic matter and phosphorus removal, and for denitrification. The BAF was only used for nitrification which coupled with a settling tank Compared with a conventional A²O process, the suspended activated sludge in this A²O-BAF process contained small quantities of nitrifier, but nitrification overwhelmingly conducted in BAF. So the system successfully avoided the contradiction in sludge retention time (SRT) between nitrifying bacteria and phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). Denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms (DPAOs) played an important role in removing up to 91% of phosphorus along with nitrogen, which indicated that the suspended activated sludge process presented a good denitrifying phosphorus removal performance. The average removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and NH ₄ ⁺ -N were 85.56%, 92.07%, 81.24% and 98.7% respectively. The effluent quality consistently satisfied the national first level A effluent discharge standard of China. The average sludge volume index (SVI) was 85.4 mL·g^?1 additionally, the volume ratio of anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic zone in A²O process was also investigated, and the results demonstrated that the optimum value was 1:6:2.     

Enhanced atrazine removal using membrane bioreactor bioaugmented with genetically engineered microorganism

Bioaugmentation with genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs) in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for enhanced removal of recalcitrant pollutants was explored. An atrazine-degrading genetically engineered microorganism (GEM) with green fluorescent protein was inoculated into an MBR and the effects of such a bioaugmentation strategy on atrazine removal were investigated. The results show that atrazine removal was improved greatly in the bioaugmented MBR compared with a control system. After a start-up period of 6 days, average 94.7% of atrazine was removed in bioaugmented MBR when atrazine concentration of influent was 14.5 mg/L. The volumetric removal rates increased linearly followed by atrazine loading increase and the maximum was 65.5 mg/(L·d). No negative effects were found on COD removal although carbon oxidation activity of bioaugmented sludge was lower than that of common sludge. After inoculation, adsorption to sludge flocs was favorable for GEM survival. The GEM population size initially decreased shortly and then was kept constant at about 10⁴–10⁵ CFU/mL. Predation of micro-organisms played an important role in the decay of the GEM population. GEM leakage from MBR was less than 10² CFU/mL initially and was then undetectable. In contrast, in a conventionally activated sludge bioreactor (CAS), sludge bulking occurred possibly due to atrazine exposure, resulting in bioaugmentation failure and serious GEM leakage. So MBR was superior to CAS in atrazine bioaugmentation treatment using GEM.     

Performance of bioferric-submerged membrane bioreactor for dyeing wastewater treatment

Adding iron salt or iron hydroxide to sludgemixed liquor in an aeration tank of a conventional activated sludge processes (bioferric process) can simultaneously improve the sludge’s filterability and enhance the system’s treatment capacity. In view of this, Fe(OH)₃ was added to a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) to enhance the removal efficiency and to mitigate membrane fouling. Bioferric process and SMBR were combined to create a novel process called Bioferric-SMBR. A side-by-side comparison study of Bioferric-SMBR and common SMBR dealing with dyeing wastewater was carried out. Bioferric-SMBR showed potential superiority, which could enhance removal efficiency, reduce membrane fouling and improve sludge characteristic. When volumetric loading rate was 25% higher than that of common SMBR, the removal efficiencies of Bioferric-SMBR on COD, dye, and NH₄ ⁺-N were 1.0%, 9.5%, and 5.2% higher than that of common SMBR, respectively. The trans-membrane pressure of Bioferric-SMBR was only 36% of that in common SMBR while its membrane flux was 25% higher than that of common SMBR. The stable running period in Bioferric-SMBR was 2.5 times of that in common SMBR when there was no surplus sludge discharged. The mixed liquor suspended solids concentration of Bioferric-SMBR was higher than that of common SMBR with more diversified kinds of microorganisms such as protozoans and metazoans. The mean particle diameter and specific oxygen uptake rate of Bioferric-SMBR were 3.10 and 1.23 times the common SMBR, respectively.     

Pilot-scale studies of domestic wastewater treatment by typical constructed wetlands and their greenhouse gas emissions

Three typical constructed wetlands (CWs) including Vertical Flow (VF), Free Water Surface (FWS), and Subsurface Flow (SF), and combined VF-SF-FWS constructed wetlands were investigated for the treatment of domestic wastewater with low C/N ratio. The performance of nutrient removal and the characteristics of greenhouse gas emissions, such as CH₄ and N₂O, from these CWs were compared. The results indicated that the four types of CWs had high removal efficiencies for organic matter and suspended solid (SS). The combined wetland also showed a comparatively good performance for nitrogen and phosphorus removal, and the removal efficiencies for total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were 81.3% and 84.5%, respectively. The combined CWs had a comparative lower global warming potential. The FWS CW had the highest tendency to emit CH₄ and led to a higher global warming potential among the four types of CWs, which was about 586 mg CO₂/m²·h.     

MBR工艺处理螺旋霉素制药废水过程中抗生素耐药菌与抗性基因的研究

抗生素废水含有大量的抗生素耐药菌(antibiotic resistant bacteria,ARB)与抗性基因(antibiotic resistance genes,ARGs),处理排放后可能增强受纳环境的微生物抗性,因此有必要深入研究抗生素废水处理过程中ARB与ARGs的削减效果及其影响因素。本研究采用膜生物反应器(membrane bioreactor,MBR)工艺处理螺旋霉素制药废水,考察了不同水力停留时间(hydraulic retention time,HRT)对ARB与ARGs削减效果的影响。结果表明,虽然在HRT=30 h时MBR对COD与氨氮的去除率略高于HRT=40 h,但HRT=40 h时,不仅总异养菌与肠球菌的去除效果更佳,出水肠球菌耐药率及携带的抗性基因检出率也更低,而且MBR对废水中erm B、erm F、erm X、mef A、ere A、mph B和转移元件ISCR 1、Tn 916/1545相对丰度的削减效果更好。这表明长HRT更有利于MBR工艺削减螺旋霉素废水的耐药菌与抗性基因。     

Fe-pillared bentonite,a stable Fenton catalyst for treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater

Fe-pillared bentonite (Fe-Bent) was prepared by ion exchange as heterogeneous catalyst for degradation of organic contaminants in petroleum refinery wastewater. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the existence of α-Fe₂O₃. The effects of pH, H₂O₂ concentration, and catalyst dosage on the rate of lowering the chemical oxygen demand (COD) were investigated in detail. Removal efficiency of COD can be up to 92% under the following conditions: dosage of Fe-Bent 7 g L^?1, pH value 3, and H₂O₂ concentration 10 mmol L^?1. Fe-Bent showed good stability for the degradation of organics in petroleum refinery wastewater for five cycles. The adsorption of organics in wastewater onto Fe-Bent could be well described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model.     

Unprecedented total mineralization of atrazine and cyanuric acid by anodic oxidation and electro-Fenton with a boron-doped diamond anode

This article reports the complete mineralization of atrazine. Atrazine has been the most widely used s-triazine herbicide. Atrazine occurs in natural waters and presents a potential danger for public health because atrazine is considered as an endocrine disruptor. The use of chemical, photochemical and photocatalytic advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) to decontaminate waters containing atrazine only allowed its conversion into the cyanuric acid as ultimate end products, since it cannot be completely degraded by hydroxyl radicals (^•OH) produced by these techniques. The same behavior was previously reported for anodic oxidation and electro-Fenton with Pt anode, although better performances were found using boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode but without explaining the role of generated ^•OH. Here, the oxidative action of these radicals in such electrochemical AOPs has been clarified by studying the mineralization process and decay kinetics of atrazine and cyanuric acid in separated solutions by anodic oxidation with BDD and electro-Fenton with Pt or BDD anode using an undivided cell with a carbon-felt cathode under galvanostatic conditions. Results showed that electro-Fenton with BDD anode was the more powerful treatment to degrade both compounds. Almost total mineralization, 97% total organic carbon (COT) removal, of atrazine was only feasible by this method with a faster removal of its oxidation intermediates by ^•OH formed at the BDD surface than that formed in the bulk from Fenton reaction, although the latter process caused a more rapid decay of the herbicide. Cyanuric acid was much slowly mineralized mainly with ^•OH produced at the BDD surface, and it was not degraded by electro-Fenton with Pt anode. These results highlight that electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) using a BDD anode are more powerful than the classical electro-Fenton process with Pt or PbO₂ anodes.     

Seasonal differences in treatment efficiency of a set of stabilization ponds in a semi-arid region

This article aims to determine the significant differences of the seasonal changes of pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), and total suspended solids (TSS) parameters in a wastewater stabilization pond. The variation of these parameters followed the seasonal pattern of temperature. The mean seasonal pH of the influent wastewater ranged between 7.8 (in spring) and 7.9 (in summer), while in the final effluents it was between 7.9 (in winter) and 8.3 (in summer). The mean seasonal COD of the influent wastewater ranged between 650?mg?L^?1 in spring and 600?mg?L^?1 in autumn, whereas in the effluents it was between 150?mg?L^?1 in autumn and 270?mg?L^?1 in spring. The mean seasonal BOD₅ of the influent wastewater ranged between 360?mg?L^?1 in autumn and 390?mg?L^?1 in winter, whereas in the effluents it was between 66?mg?L^?1 in summer and 130?mg?L^?1 in winter. The results showed that the percent removals of COD, BOD₅ and TSS from final effluents were maximum in summer for COD and BOD₅ (76%), summer (83%) and for TSS in winter (78%), respectively. Data analysis showed that there were significant differences between parameters of pH, COD, BOD₅ and TSS at four different seasons (p?相似文献   

Relationships of nitrous oxide fluxes with water quality parameters in free water surface constructed wetlands

The effects of chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration in the influent on nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, together with the relationships between N₂O and water quality parameters in free water surface constructed wetlands, were investigated with laboratoryscale systems. N₂O emission and purification performance of wastewater were very strongly dependent on COD concentration in the influent, and the total N₂O emission in the system with middle COD influent concentration was the least. The relationships between N₂O and the chemical and physical water quality variables were studied by using principal component scores in multiple linear regression analysis to predict N₂O flux. The multiple linear regression model against principal components indicated that different water parameters affected N₂O flux with different COD concentrations in the influent, but nitrate nitrogen affected N₂O flux in all systems.     

Practical consideration for design and optimization of the step feed process

Based on the anoxic/oxic (A/O) step feed process, a modified University of Cape Town (UCT) step feed process was developed by adding an anaerobic zone and adjusting sludge return pipeline. Performance evaluation of these two types of processes was investigated by optimizing operational parameters, such as the anaerobic/anoxic/oxic volumes, internal recycle ratios, and sludge retention times, for removal of chemical oxygen demanding (COD), nitrogen, and phosphorus. Results showed high removal efficiencies of COD of (85.0±1.7)%, ammonium of (99.7±0.2)%, total nitrogen (TN) of (85.5±1.7)%, phosphorus of (95.1±3.3)%, as well as excellent sludge settleability with average sludge volume index of (83.7±9.5) L·mg^-1 in the modified UCT process. Moreover, (61.5±6.0)% of influent COD was efficiently involved in denitrification or phosphorus release process. As much as 35.3% of TN was eliminated through simultaneous nitrification and denitrification process in aerobic zones. In addition, the presence of denitrifying phosphorus accumulating organisms (DNPAOs), accounting for approximately 39.2% of PAOs, was also greatly beneficial to the nitrogen and phosphorus removal. Consequently, the modified UCT step feed process was more attractive for the wastewater treatment plant, because it had extremely competitive advantages such as higher nutrient removal efficiencies, lower energy and dosages consumption, excellent settling sludge and operational assurance.     

Comparative experiment on treating digested piggery wastewater with a biofilm MBR and conventional MBR: simultaneous removal of nitrogen and antibiotics

A biofilm membrane bioreactor (BF-MBR) and a conventional membrane bioreactor (MBR) were parallelly operated for treating digested piggery wastewater. The removal performance of COD, TN, NH₄ ⁺-N, TP as well as antibiotics were simultaneously studied when the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was gradually shortened from 9 d to 1 d and when the ratio of influent COD to TN was changed. The results showed that the effluent quality in both reactors was poor and unstable at an influent COD/TN ratio of 1.0±0.2. The effluent quality was significantly improved as the influent COD/TN ratio was increased to 2.3±0.5. The averaged removal rates of COD, NH₄ ⁺-N, TN and TP were 92.1%, 97.1%, 35.6% and 54.2%, respectively, in the BF-MBR, significantly higher than the corresponding values of 91.7%, 90.9%, 17.4% and 31.9% in the MBR. Analysis of 11 typical veterinary antibiotics (from the tetracycline, sulfonamide, quinolone, and macrolide families) revealed that the BF-MBR removed more antibiotics than the MBR. Although the antibiotics removal decreased with a shortened HRT, high antibiotics removals of 86.8%, 80.2% and 45.3% were observed in the BF-MBR at HRTof 5–4 d, 3–2 d and 1 d, respectively, while the corresponding values were only 83.8%, 57.0% and 25.5% in the MBR. Moreover, the BF-MBR showed a 15% higher retention rate of antibiotics and consumed 40% less alkalinity than the MBR. Results above suggest that the BF-MBR was more suitable for digested piggery wastewater treatment.

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Fate and removal of typical pharmaceutical and personal care products in a wastewater treatment plant from Beijing: a mass balance study

The fate and removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has received great attention during the last decade. Numerous data concerning concentrations in the water phase can be found in the literature, however corresponding data from sludge as well as associated mass balance calculations are very limited. In the present study, the adsorbed and dissolved concentrations of 9 PPCPs were investigated in each unit of a WWTP in Beijing, China. Based on the calculation of mass balance, the relative mass distribution and removal efficiency of each target compound was obtained at each process. The amount of PPCPs entering into the WWTP ranged from 12 g·d^–1 to 3848 g·d^–1. Five target compounds (caffeine, chloramphenicol, bezafibrate, clofibric acid, and N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) were effectively removed, with rates of 57%–100%. Negative removal efficiencies were obtained for sulpiride, metoprolol, nalidixic acid, and carbamazepine, ranging from -19% to -79%. PPCPs mainly existed in dissolved form (≥92%) in both the raw influent and the final effluent. The sludge cake carried a much lower amount of PPCPs (17 g·d^–1) compared with the discharged effluent (402 g·d^–1). In A²/O treatment tanks, the anaerobic and anoxic tanks showed good performance for PPCPs removal, and the amount of adsorbed PPCPs was increased. The results reveal that both the dissolved and the adsorbed phases should be considered when assessing the removal capacity of each A²/O tank.     

Effects of nitrite on phosphate uptake in anaerobic-oxic process

An anaerobic-oxic (A/O) biological phosphorus removal reactor was operated to study the effect of nitrite on phosphate uptake. The phosphorus uptake profile was determined under different operating conditions. The results indicated that in addition to oxygen and nitrate (DPB_Na, nitrate denitrifying phosphorus removal), to some extent, nitrite could also serve as an electron acceptor to achieve nitrite denitrifying phosphorus removal (DPB_Ni). The quantity and rate of phosphorus uptake of DPB_Ni, however, were evidently lower than that of DPB_Na. The experiment results revealed that nitrite would bring toxic action to phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) when NO₂ ^?-N ? 93.7 mg/L. The nitrite existing in the anoxic reactor made no difference to the quantity and rate of denitrifying phosphorus removal, but it could reduce the consumption of nitrate. Moreover, the data showed that the aerobic phosphate uptake of DPB_Ni was lower than that of anaerobic phosphorus-released sludge in a traditional A/O process. However, there was not much difference between these two kinds of sludge in terms of the total phosphorus uptake quantity and the effluent quality.     

Impact of photosynthesis and transpiration on nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands

To determine the impact of photosynthesis and transpiration on nitrogen removal in wetlands, an artificial wetland planted with reeds was constructed to treat highly concentrated domestic wastewater. Under different meteorological and hydraulic conditions, the daily changes of photosynthesis and transpiration of reeds, as well as nitrogen removal efficiency were measured. It was found that net photosynthesis rate per unit leaf area was maintained on a high level (average 19.0 μmol CO₂/(m²·s)) from 10:00 to 14:00 in July 2004 and reached a peak of 21.1 μmol CO₂/(m²·s) when Photon Flux Density was high during the day. Meanwhile, TN and NH₄ ⁺-N removal efficiency rose to 79.6% and 89.6%, respectively—the maximum values observed in the test. Correlation coefficient analysis demonstrated a positive correlation among photon flux density, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and TN and NH₄ ⁺-N removal efficiency. In contrast, there was a negative correlation between stomatal conductance and TN and NH₄ ⁺-N removal efficiency. Results suggest that the photosynthesis and transpiration of wetland plants have a great impact on nitrogen removal efficiency of wetlands, which can be enhanced by an increase in the photosynthesis and transpiration rate. In addition, the efficiency of water usage by reeds and nitrogen removal efficiency could be affected by the water level in wetlands; a higher level boosts nitrogen removal efficiency.     

Coupled electrocoagulation–electro-Fenton for efficient domestic wastewater treatment

This article reports the first use of coupled electrocoagulation and electro-Fenton (EF-EC) to clean domestic wastewater. Domestic wastewater contains high amounts of organic, inorganic and microbial pollutants that cannot be usually treated in a single step. Here, to produce an effluent suitable for discharge in a single process step, a hybrid process combining electrocoagulation and electro-Fenton was simultaneously used to decrease chemical oxygen demand (COD), turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) from domestic wastewater. The electrocoagulation–electro-Fenton process was firstly tested for the production of H₂O₂ using Ti–IrO₂ and vitreous carbon- or graphite electrodes arranged at the anode and the cathode, respectively. The concentration of H₂O₂ recorded at 1.5 A of current intensity during 60 min of electrolysis using vitreous carbon- and graphite electrodes at the cathode was 4.18 and 1.62 mg L^?1, respectively. By comparison, when the iron electrode was used at the anode, 2.05 and 1.06 mg L^?1 of H₂O₂ were recorded using vitreous carbon and graphite, respectively. The H₂O₂ concentration decrease was attributed to hydroxyl radical formation generated by the Fenton reaction. Electro-Fenton using iron electrode at the anode and vitreous carbon at the cathode with a current density imposed of 0.34 A dm^?2 ensures the removal efficiency of 50.1 % COD_T, 70.8 % TSS and 90.4 % turbidity. The electrocoagulation–electro-Fenton technique is therefore a promising secondary treatment to simultaneously remove organic, inorganic and microbial pollutants from domestic, municipal and industrial wastewaters.     

N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor for biological N and P removal from wastewater

Nitrous oxide （N2O） is a greenhouse gas that can be released during biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor （SBR） for biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater was investigated, and the aims were to examine which process, nitrification or denitrification, would contribute more to N2Oemission and to study the effects of heterotrophic activities on N2O emission during nitrification. The results showed that N2O emission was mainly attributed to nitrification rather than to denitrification. N2O emission during denitrification mainly occurred with stored organic carbon as the electron donor. During nitrification, NaO emission was increased with increasing initial ammonium or nitrite concentrations. The ratio of N2O emission to the removed ammonium nitrogen （N2O- N/NH4-N） was 2.5% in the SBR system with high heterotrophic activities, while this ratio was in the range from 0.14% to 1.06% in batch nitrification experiments with limited heterotrophic activities.     

吸附—催化氧化—絮凝法联合处理造纸废水

采用吸附－催化氧化－絮凝法联合处理造纸废水，讨论了废水通过炉渣柱的滤速，在絮凝过程中Al2(SO4)3的加入量及催化氧化反应中溶液的pH值，铁屑的加入量，H2O2的加入量等主要因素对废水中COD去除率的影响，结果表明，COD，SS主要污染物去除率达97．0％和95．3％，各项指标超过一级排放标准，水质可以完全回收利用，为造纸废水的处理提供了新的技术方案。     

Short-term effects of excessive anaerobic reaction time on anaerobic metabolism of denitrifying polyphosphate-accumulating organisms linked to phosphorus removal and N2O production

The short-term effect of anaerobic reaction time (AnRT) (i.e., 90, 120 and 150 min) on the denitrifying phosphorus (P) removal performance and N₂O production was examined using a denitrifying enhanced biologic phosphorus removal (EBPR) sludge acclimatized with mixed acetate (HAc) and propionate (Pro) (in the molar ratio 3:1) as carbon sources. The results showed that when the AnRT was prolonged from 90 to 150 min, the anaerobic polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthesis was decreased by 15.3%. Moreover, the ineffective PHA consumption occurred in anaerobic phases and contributed to an increased NO ₂ ^? -N accumulation and higher free nitrous acid (FNA) concentrations (?0.001–0.0011 mg HNO₂-N/L) in the subsequent anoxic phases, causing a severe inhibition on anoxic P-uptake and denitrification. Accordingly, the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiencies dropped by approximately 6.3% and 85.5%, respectively; and the ratio of anoxic N₂O-N production to TN removal increased by approximately 3.8%. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis revealed that the sludge was mainly dominated by Accumulibacter (62.0% (SE_mean = 1.5%)). In conclusion, the short-term excessive anaerobic reaction time negatively impacted denitrifying P removal performance and stimulated more N₂O production, and its effect on P removal was more obvious than that on nitrogen removal.