Performance and mechanistic study on electrocoagulation process for municipal wastewater treatment based on horizontal bipolar electrodes

• EC modified with BPEs enhances pollutant removal and reduce energy consumption. • Increasing BPE number cannot increase flocculants yield exponentially. • Simulations help to predict the distribution of electrochemical reactions on BPEs. The design of electrodes is crucial to electrocoagulation process (EC), specifically, with respect to pollutant removal and energy consumption. During EC, the mechanisms for interaction between different electrode arrangement and electrode reactions remain unclear. This work presents an integrated EC process based on horizontal bipolar electrodes (BPEs). In the electrochemical cell, the graphite plates are used as driving cathode while either Fe or Al plates serves as driving anode and BPEs. The BPEs are placed horizontally between the driving electrodes. For municipal wastewater treatment, the pollutant removal efficiency and energy consumption in different configurations of two-dimension electrocoagulation (2D-EC) system with horizontal BPEs were investigated. The removal efficiency of turbidity, total phosphorus and total organic carbon increased significantly with the number of BPEs. Noted that the energy consumption for TP removal decreased by 75.2% with Fe driving anode and 81.5% with Al driving anode than those of 2D-EC, respectively. In addition, the physical field simulation suggested the distributions of potential and current in electrolyte and that of induced charge density on BPE surface. This work provides a visual theoretical guidance to predict the distribution of reactions on BPEs for enhanced pollutant removal and energy saving based on electrocoagulation process for municipal wastewater treatment.     

污水生物处理过程药品及个人护理品转化产物识别研究进展

药品及个人护理品(pharmaceuticals and personal care products,PPCPs)在污水生物处理过程会发生生物及化学转化从而生成转化产物,某些转化产物较母体化合物毒性更高.目前对PPCPs转化产物关注不够,转化产物识别方法不明确.本文介绍了污水中PPCPs转化产物的识别流程,系统阐述了...     

Synergy of adsorption and advanced oxidation processes in recalcitrant wastewater treatment

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The presence of recalcitrant organic pollutants in water is a major source of concern worldwide. These pollutants are not easily removed using conventional...     

Impacts of advanced treatment processes on elimination of antibiotic resistance genes in a municipal wastewater treatment plant

The distributions of ARGs were monitored in a WWTP in Harbin during six months. CASS had the best removal efficacy of ARGs compared to other processes in the WWTP. UV disinfection could effectively control the HGT. AGAC significantly remove ARGs and organics due to its high absorption capacity. Combination of ozone and AGAC significantly improve removal of ARGs and organics. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) pose a serious threat to public health. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are essential for controlling the release of ARGs into the environment. This study investigated ARG distribution at every step in the treatment process of a municipal WWTP located in Harbin for six consecutive months. Changes in ARG distribution involved in two advanced secondary effluent treatment processes, ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption, were analyzed. Biological treatment resulted in the highest ARG removal (0.76–1.94 log reduction), followed by ultraviolet (UV) disinfection (less than 0.5-log reduction). Primary treatment could not significantly remove ARGs. ARG removal efficiency increased with an increase in the ozone dose below 40 mg/L. However, amorphous GAC (AGAC) adsorption with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 h showed better removal of ARGs, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) than ozonation at a 60 mg/L dose. UV treatment could efficiently reduce the relative ARG abundance, despite presenting the lowest efficiency for the reduction of absolute ARG abundance compared with GAC and ozone treatments. The combination of ozone and AGAC can significantly improve the removal of ARGs, TOC, TN and TP. These results indicate that a treatment including biological processing, ozonation, and AGAC adsorption is a promising strategy for removing ARGs and refractory organic substances from sewage.     

酚类化合物在焦化废水处理过程中的降解与转移

研究了4种烷基酚、7种氯酚和2种硝基酚物质在广东韶关钢铁集团焦化废水处理站的浓度演变与转移.针对设计处理量为2000 m.3d-1,生物处理采用A/O1/O2工艺,已经稳定运行5年的实际废水处理工程,同一时间分别采集水样、气样与综合排泥样若干批次,采用GC/MS方法分析酚类物质的浓度.研究结果表明,焦化废水中酚类物质在原水与各个处理工段中均存在成分与浓度的特征分布,烷基酚类物质浓度高但容易通过生物降解去除,氯酚和硝基酚的去除率略低,经生物处理的出水酚类物质浓度均低于5μg.L-1,达到了有关排放标准的要求;所有酚类物质在废水处理过程中存在气相转移的现象,转移污染物浓度分布差异显著,取决于废水本底浓度与该物质的化学性质;污泥样品能够高倍数富集氯酚类物质,在处理与处置工艺的选择方面需要防止扩散.酚类化合物在焦化废水处理过程中的浓度削减主要是生物阶段,气相转移与固相转移可能构成环境风险,未来的水处理工程需要考虑二次污染的消除问题.     

焦化废水中有机物的识别、污染特性及其在废水处理过程中的降解

采用液-液萃取辅以硅胶、氧化铝净化的方法,并结合GC/MS分析技术,系统分析了焦化废水中有机物的组成.在焦化废水中检测到15类558种有机物.根据有机物的分子结构、废水中的含量、毒性及环境效应,筛选出焦化废水中的特征性有机污染物,以区别于其它工业废水,可作为追溯环境中污染物来源的依据.经物理、生物和化学处理后,焦化废水中大部分有机物被去除,其中,对去除率的主要贡献是生物处理阶段.为了更好地考察生物处理阶段对有机污染物的去除特征,选定酚类、多环芳烃和喹啉类物质作为研究对象,分析了3类特征性污染物在A/O2工艺各单元中的去除状况及组成变化特征.     

Effectiveness of tertiary treatment processes in removing different classes of emerging contaminants from domestic wastewater

● Different advanced treatment processes were tested for ECs removal from wastewater. ● UV radiation showed low to moderate removal for 5 of the 38 micropollutants. ● Among tested membrane processes, nanofiltration showed the better performance. ● The use of PAC achieved high or partially removal for 31 out of the 38 compounds. ● The environmental and economical evaluation of a pilot-scale PAC unit is suggested. In this work, 38 different organic emerging contaminants (ECs), belonging to various chemical classes such as pharmaceuticals (PhCs), endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), benzotriazoles (BTRs), benzothiazoles (BTHs), and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), were initially identified and quantified in the biologically treated wastewater collected from Athens’ (Greece) Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). Processes already used in existing STPs such as microfiltration (MF), nanofiltration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF), UV radiation, and powdered activated carbon (PAC) were assessed for ECs’ removal, under the conditions that represent their actual application for disinfection or advanced wastewater treatment. The results indicated that MF removed only one out of the 38 ECs and hence it was selected as pretreatment step for the other processes. UV radiation in the studied conditions showed low to moderate removal for 5 out of the 38 ECs. NF showed better results than UF due to the smaller pore sizes of the filtration system. However, this enhancement was observed mainly for 8 compounds originating from the classes of PhCs and PFCs, while the removal of EDCs was not statistically significant. Among the various studied technologies, PAC stands out due to its capability to sufficiently remove most ECs. In particular, removal rates higher than 70% were observed for 9 compounds, 22 were partially removed, while 7 demonstrated low removal rates. Based on our screening experiments, future research should focus on scaling-up PAC in actual conditions, combining PAC with other processes, and conduct a complete economic and environmental assessment of the treatment.     

天然蛭石组合工艺处理生活污水的效果

针对天然蛭石的吸附能力,开发了天然蛭石组合工艺,用于生活污水处理,并分析其处理效果.通过对生活污水的浊度、CODcr、TN和TP的质量浓度进行测定,结果显示:组合工艺对于初始ρ(CODcr)低于500.0 mg·L-1的污水,处理后其浊度、ρ(CODcr)和ρ(TN)分别下降了86.6%、80.3%和70.7%,出水可达到污水二级排放标准(GB 8978-1996);同时,组合工艺也能有效降低生活污水的ρ(TP),获得了49.0%的下降效果.另外,在曝气强度为10.0 m3·m-3·h-1和投加有效微生物菌群时,均能提高组合工艺的处理效果.     

Conventional and non-conventional adsorbents for wastewater treatment

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The removal of contaminants from wastewaters is a major challenge in the field of water pollution. Among numerous techniques available for contaminant removal,...     

Titanium dioxide photocatalysis for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment

Heterogeneous photocatalysis using the semiconductor titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has proven to be a promising treatment technology for water purification. The effectiveness of this oxidation technology for the destruction of pharmaceuticals has also been demonstrated in numerous studies. This review highlights recent research on TiO₂ photocatalytic treatment applied to the removal of selected pharmaceuticals. The discussions are tailored based on the therapeutic drug classes as the kinetics and mechanistic aspects are compound dependent. These classes of pharmaceuticals were chosen because of their environmental prevalence and potential adverse effects. Optimal operational conditions and degradation pathways vary with different pharmaceutical compounds. The main conclusion is that the use of TiO₂ photocatalysis can be considered a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical wastewater treatment methodology. Further studies are, however, required to optimize the operating conditions for maximum degradation of multiple pharmaceuticals in wastewater under realistic conditions and on an industrial scale.     

Nanotechnology-based water quality management for wastewater treatment

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Water contamination by pollutants has become one of the most critical health problem worldwide. In the current era, the supply of high-quality drinking water to...     

Emerging electrochemical processes for materials recovery from wastewater: Mechanisms and prospects

• Mechanisms for selective recovery of materials in electrochemical processes are discussed. • Wastewaters that contain recoverable materials are reviewed. • Application prospects are discussed from both technical and non-technical aspects. Recovering valuable materials from waste streams is critical to the transition to a circular economy with reduced environmental damages caused by resource extraction activities. Municipal and industrial wastewaters contain a variety of materials, such as nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), lithium, and rare earth elements, which can be recovered as value-added products. Owing to their modularity, convenient operation and control, and the non-requirement of chemical dosage, electrochemical technologies offer a great promise for resource recovery in small-scale, decentralized systems. Here, we review three emerging electrochemical technologies for materials recovery applications: electrosorption based on carbonaceous and intercalation electrodes, electrochemical redox processes, and electrochemically induced precipitation. We highlight the mechanisms for achieving selective materials recovery in these processes. We also present an overview of the advantages and limitations of these technologies, as well as the key challenges that need to be overcome for their deployment in real-world systems to achieve cost-effective and sustainable materials recovery.     

Bimetallic adsorbents for wastewater treatment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The rising pollution of water resources is threatening the health of humans and ecosystems, calling for advanced methods to clean polluted waters. Adsorption on...     

Municipal wastewater treatment cost

The cost of control for conventional pollutants at municipal wastewater treatment plants is examined. Empirical estimates of the effect of performance measures as well as the flow size of the waste stream are obtained for both the capital and the operation and maintenance components of total facility cost. These estimates are used to calculate the marginal cost per pound of pollution control over the range of effluent concentration beyond secondary treatment. The implications of the results for current environmental policy issues are outlined.     

Shipboard bilge water treatment by electrocoagulation powered by microbial fuel cells

Reveals the synergy between microbial fuel cells and electrocoagulation. Demonstrates MFC-ECC shipboard wastewater treatment is advantageous. MFC-ECC integration enables energy neutral bilge water treatment. Ships generate large amounts of wastewater including oily bilge water, blackwater and greywater. Traditionally they are treated separately with high energy consumption. In this study we demonstrate the feasibility that these waste streams can be treated using an integrated electrocoagulation cell (ECC) and microbial fuel cell (MFC) process, which not only synergized the contaminants removal but also accomplished energy neutrality by directly powering EC with MFC electricity. Results showed that MFC stack powered ECC removed 93% of oily organics, which is comparable to the performance of an external DC voltage powered ECC. In the meantime, more than 80% of COD was removed from MFCs when fed with either acetate or municipal wastewater. Moreover, the ECC electrode area and distance showed notable effects on current generation and contaminants removal, and further studies should focus on operation optimization to enhance treatment efficiency.     

Microbial community structure in different wastewater treatment processes characterized by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) technique

In order to investigate microbial community structures in different wastewater treatment processes and understand the relationship between the structures and the status of processes, the microbial community diversity, variety and distribution in five wastewater treatment processes were studied by a culture-independent genetic fingerprinting technique single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). The five processes included denitrifying and phosphate-removal system (diminished N), Chinese traditional medicine wastewater treatment system (P), beer wastewater treatment system (W), fermentative biohydrogen-producing system (H), and sulfate-reduction system (S). The results indicated that the microbial community profiles in the wastewater bioreactors with the uniform status were very similar. The diversity of microbial populations was correlated with the complexity of organic contaminants in wastewater. Chinese traditional medicine wastewater contained more complex organic components; hence, the population diversity was higher than that of simple nutrient bioreactors fed with molasses wastewater. Compared with the strain bands in a simulated community, the relative proportion of some functional microbial populations in bioreactors was not dominant. Fermentative biohydrogen producer Ethanoligenens harbinense in the better condition bioreactor had only a 5% band density, and the Desulfovibrio sp. in the sulfate-reducing bioreactor had less than 1.5% band density. The SSCP profiles could identify the difference in microbial community structures in wastewater treatment processes, monitor some of the functional microbes in these processes, and consequently provide useful guidance for improving their efficiency.     

城市污水处理厂污泥处理处置的政策分析

简要介绍了城市污水处理厂污泥处理处置技术，提出污泥产业发展政策的建议，指出土地利用是符合我国国情的污泥处置的方向之一：污泥处理技术主要有减量化、浓缩、脱水、消化、堆肥等；污泥处置技术主要有焚烧、填埋、土地利用、建材利用等。污泥处理处置应按照减量化、稳定化、无害化原则，鼓励污泥资源化综合利用。合理确定污水处理厂污泥处理处置设施的布局和设计规模；鼓励对污泥处理处置给与税、费优惠政策，明确将污泥处理处置的运营费用列入污水排污收费范围，建立科学的价格补偿机制；政府在污泥产业发展中起着较为重要的作用，主要体现为服务与监督，包括承诺、保障和协调三个方面。     

火山岩型膨润土原矿的脱色性能研究

考察了火山岩型膨润土原矿对亚甲基蓝溶液的脱色处理效果，发现12min后4种矿物的脱色率均达到了85％以上，其中信阳、黑山和凌源膨润土矿样脱色率高达98％以上。各膨润土矿地质背景差异导致矿样间物理化学性质的差异较大。讨论膨润土的物理化学性质和染料脱色效果，发现影响膨润土样品吸附的主要因素为膨润土d001值、CEC以及内表面积。