Determination of 27 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water: The benefit of isotope dilution

• Isotope dilution method was developed for the determination of 27 PPCPs in water. • The established method was successfully applied to different types of water samples. • The correction effect of corresponding 27 ILSs over 70 d was investigated. • Benefit of isotopic dilution method was illustrated for three examples. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a unique group of emerging and non-persistent contaminants. In this study, 27 PPCPs in various water samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE), and determined by isotope dilution method using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem triple quadruple mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). A total of 27 isotopically labeled standards (ILSs) were applied to correct the concentration of PPCPs in spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river, effluent and influent sewage. The corrected recoveries were 73%–122% with the relative standard deviation (RSD)<16%, except for acetaminophen. The matrix effect for all kinds of water samples was<22% and the method quantitation limits (MQLs) were 0.45–8.6 ng/L. The developed method was successfully applied on environmental water samples. The SPE extracts of spiked ultrapure water, drinking water, river and wastewater effluent were stored for 70 days, and the ILSs-corrected recoveries of 27 PPCPs were obtained to evaluate the correction ability of ILSs in the presence of variety interferences. The recoveries of 27 PPCPs over 70 days were within the scope of 72%–140% with the recovery variation<37% in all cases. The isotope dilution method seems to be of benefit when the extract has to be stored for long time before the instrument analysis.     

Biological conversion pathways of sulfate reduction ammonium oxidation in anammox consortia

• The SRAO phenomena tended to occur only under certain conditions. • High amount of biomass and non-anaerobic condition is requirement for SRAO. • Anammox bacteria cannot oxidize ammonium with sulfate as electron acceptor. • AOB and AnAOB are mainly responsible for ammonium conversion. • Heterotrophic sulfate reduction mainly contributed to sulfate conversion. For over two decades, sulfate reduction with ammonium oxidation (SRAO) had been reported from laboratory experiments. SRAO was considered an autotrophic process mediated by anammox bacteria, in which ammonium as electron donor was oxidized by the electron acceptor sulfate. This process had been attributed to observed transformations of nitrogenous and sulfurous compounds in natural environments. Results obtained differed largely for the conversion mole ratios (ammonium/sulfate), and even the intermediate and final products of sulfate reduction. Thus, the hypothesis of biological conversion pathways of ammonium and sulfate in anammox consortia is implausible. In this study, continuous reactor experiments (with working volume of 3.8L) and batch tests were conducted under normal anaerobic (0.2≤DO<0.5 mg/L) / strict anaerobic (DO<0.2 mg/L) conditions with different biomass proportions to verify the SRAO phenomena and identify possible pathways behind substrate conversion. Key findings were that SRAO occurred only in cases of high amounts of inoculant biomass under normal anaerobic condition, while absent under strict anaerobic conditions for same anammox consortia. Mass balance and stoichiometry were checked based on experimental results and the thermodynamics proposed by previous studies were critically discussed. Thus anammox bacteria do not possess the ability to oxidize ammonium with sulfate as electron acceptor and the assumed SRAO could, in fact, be a combination of aerobic ammonium oxidation, anammox and heterotrophic sulfate reduction processes.     

Scenario-based assessment and multi-objective optimization of urban development plan with carrying capacity of water system

• Impact of urban development on water system is assessed with carrying capacity. • Impacts on both water resource quantity and environmental quality are involved. • Multi-objective optimization revealing system trade-off facilitate the regulation. • Efficiency, scale and structure of urban development are regulated in two stages. • A roadmap approaching more sustainable development is provided for the case city. Environmental impact assessments and subsequent regulation measures of urban development plans are critical to human progress toward sustainability, since these plans set the scale and structure targets of future socioeconomic development. A three-step methodology for assessing and optimizing an urban development plan focusing on its impacts on the water system was developed. The methodology first predicted the pressure on the water system caused by implementation of the plan under distinct scenarios, then compared the pressure with the carrying capacity threshold to verify the system status; finally, a multi-objective optimization method was used to propose regulation solutions. The methodology enabled evaluation of the water system carrying state, taking socioeconomic development uncertainties into account, and multiple sets of improvement measures under different decisionmaker preferences were generated. The methodology was applied in the case of Zhoushan city in South-east China. The assessment results showed that overloading problems occurred in 11 out of the 13 zones in Zhoushan, with the potential pressure varying from 1.1 to 18.3 times the carrying capacity. As a basic regulation measure, an environmental efficiency upgrade could relieve the overloading in 4 zones and reduce 9%‒63% of the pressure. The optimization of industrial development showed that the pressure could be controlled under the carrying capacity threshold if the planned scale was reduced by 24% and the industrial structure was transformed. Various regulation schemes including a more suitable scale and structure with necessary efficiency standards are provided for decisionmakers that can help the case city approach a more sustainable development pattern.     

以聚己内酯作为生物反硝化固体碳源的研究

为解决水体因低碳氮比而导致脱氮效率差的问题,将颗粒聚己内酯(PCL)重新塑形为阶梯环状,研究其作为反硝化过程的生物膜载体与固相碳源的反硝化性能。结果表明,在静态实验中,平均反硝化速率为8.57 mg NO3-N/(L·h);反硝化过程为零级反应。连续填充床实验中,超过90%的硝酸盐可被去除,出水NO2-N质量浓度低于0.20 mg/L;出水NH3-N质量浓度略有上升;出水溶解性有机碳(DOC)先上升后降低至1 mg/L左右。电子扫描显微镜扫描显示,PCL阶梯环反应表面空隙率较高,表面生物膜以杆菌为主,反应后被明显腐蚀;液相色谱检测显示PCL阶梯环分子量反应前后略有下降,其结构未受到破坏;表明该材料适合作为反硝化反应的碳源的同时,又可以作为载体供微生物附着生长。     

热处理时间对餐厨垃圾高温干式厌氧发酵的影响

餐厨垃圾中有机物大部分以大分子的形式存在,对其进行热处理,破坏大分子有机物的存在形式,将会影响其干式厌氧发酵的过程。实验对餐厨垃圾进行了热处理(100℃),处理后将其在含固率(TS)20%、接种率25%的条件下进行高温55℃厌氧发酵。实验结果表明,热处理后,餐厨垃圾的理化性质发生显著变化,累计产气量、TS和VS的去除率均增大。当热处理时间为15 min时,餐厨垃圾的SCOD值最高,为59.49 g/L,比未处理时提高了3.3倍。同样该条件下,累计产气量也最高,为2 782.8 m L,与未处理相比累积产气量提高58.30%,第二产气高峰比未处理提前3天。各发酵瓶发酵前后TS、VS去除率的变化趋势与累计产气量的变化基本一致,累计产气量越大,TS、VS的去除率越大。     

电化学氧化法处理垃圾渗滤液纳滤浓缩液

实验利用电化学氧化法处理垃圾渗滤液纳滤浓缩液,以提高废水的可生化性。研究考察了水力停留时间、进水流量、循环流量、电流强度和原水氯离子浓度对有机物去除的影响。研究结果表明,电化学氧化法的最佳运行条件如下:水力停留时间为3 h,进水流量为1 m3/h,循环流量为15 m3/h,电流强度为420 A。在上述条件下,原水COD浓度从3 100mg/L降到1 311.3 mg/L,去除率达到57.7%,BOD/COD值由0.03提升至0.31。氯离子对电解有促进作用,但原水氯离子浓度超过5 000 mg/L,不需要外加工业盐。     

高岭土对不同污染物微滤过程的影响

本研究采用原子力显微镜(AFM)结合自制的膜探针以及Zeta电位仪通过分别测量不同有机污染物,即腐殖酸(HA)、牛血清蛋白(BSA)和海藻酸钠(SA)与微滤膜之间的粘附力以及相应污染物的Zeta电位,对高岭土在不同有机物微滤过程的影响进行了系统性研究。结果表明,高岭土对污染膜通量衰减的影响主要发生在膜过滤的初期阶段,其存在使HA污染膜的初期通量衰减幅度增加,BSA和SA污染膜的初期通量衰减幅度减缓;清洗后HA污染膜的通量恢复率降低,而BSA和SA污染膜的通量恢复率增大。而且,高岭土的存在使膜-HA之间的粘附力变大以及HA溶液的Zeta电位变小,膜-BSA、SA之间的粘附力变小以及相应污染物的Zeta电位都增大。因此,膜-污染物之间粘附力以及溶液的Zeta电位的变化可以指示膜污染的变化趋势。     

MFC强化同步短程硝化反硝化工艺的启动

微生物燃料电池(MFC)可在阴极实现反硝化、短程反硝化和同步硝化反硝化并产生电能,但在MFC阴极实现同步短程硝化反硝化的研究尚未见到报道。为了探讨MFC阴极同步短程硝化反硝化工艺的性能,将双室曝气阴极MFC与A/O脱氮工艺结合处理人工模拟低碳氮比废水。通过静置运行15 d使得MFC阴极室亚硝态氮得以积累,氨氧化菌得以富集。随即改为连续运行后第21天成功启动同步短程硝化反硝化MFC;阴极出水氨氮浓度为0.3 mg/L,亚硝态氮浓度为15.9 mg/L,硝态氮浓度为0.6 mg/L,亚硝化率达到95%以上,阴极电极自养反硝化去除率达到50%以上,COD去除率达到85%以上。结果表明,将MFC与同步短程硝化反硝化工艺结合,通过阴极室中氧气得电子获得高p H,可以强化同步短程硝化反硝化工艺,完成生物脱氮的同时回收电能,并具有减少外加碱度的优势。