An approach to wastewater treatment in organised industrial districts: a pilot-scale example from Turkey

In this study, a detailed wastewater profile and treatability studies of Demirtas Organized Industrial District (OID) were undertaken on a pilot-scale. The industrial categorisation of Demirtas OID was determined, and the wastewater characterisations of each industrial sector were analysed and the flow-rates were measured. The results were used to design a wastewater treatment plant for Demirtas OID. Pilot-scale chemical and biological treatability studies were carried out. The steady-state performance of the pilot-scale treatment system in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) was studied for a period of three months. The removal efficiencies obtained in this study were 42% of COD and 67% of SS in the chemical treatment, and 84% of COD and 25% of SS in the biological treatment. The overall removal efficiency of the pilot-scale system was 91% COD and 75% SS. The pilot-scale study showed that the wastewater from Demirtas OID could be treated with biological and chemical methods, and the treated wastewater met the Regulation of Discharge Standards of Turkey. The significance of this study is that it is the first such system in Turkey to be tested on a pilot scale.     

Efficiency of recycled wool-based nonwoven material for the removal of oils from water

The aim of this study was to highlight the potential use of recycled wool-based nonwoven material for the removal of diesel fuel, crude, base, vegetable and motor oil from water. Sorption capacity of the material in water and in oil without water, oil retention, sorbent reusability and buoyancy in static and dynamic conditions were investigated. The results show high sorption capacity of recycled wool for different kinds of oil. This sorbent also exhibited excellent buoyancy after 24h of sorption as well as a good reusability since the decrease in sorption capacity did not exceed 50% of the initial value after five sorption cycles in oil without water.     

Simultaneous removal of urea nitrogen and inorganic nitrogen from high-salinity wastewater by Halomonas sp. H36

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - To treat high-salt urea wastewater by microbial hydrolysis, it is necessary to overcome the dual problems of incomplete removal of nitrogen (N) from...     

Advanced extraction and lower bounds for removal of pollutants from wastewater by water plants.

The capacity to reach lower bounds for extraction of pollutants from wastewater by four floating aquatic macrophytes--water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), salvinia (Salvinia rotundifolia), and water primroses (Ludvigia palustris)--is investigated. It is shown that the following lower bounds can be established for wastewater purification with water hyacinth: biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 1.3 mg/L; chemical oxygen demand (COD), 11.3 mg/L; total suspended solids (TSS), 0.5 mg/L; turbidity, 0.7 NTU; ammonia, 0.2 mg/L; and phosphorus, 1.4 mg/L. Also, the following lower bounds can be established for wastewater purification with water lettuce: BOD, 1.8 mg/L; COD, 12.5 mg/L; TSS, 0.5 mg/L; turbidity, 0.9 NTU; ammonia, 0.2 mg/L; and phosphorus, 1.6 mg/L. These lower bounds were reached in 11- to 17-day experiments that were performed on diluted wastewater with reduced initial contents of the tested water quality indicators. As expected, water hyacinth exhibited the highest rates and levels of pollutant removal, thereby producing the best lower bounds of the water quality indicators. Given the initially low levels, BOD was further reduced by 86.3%, COD by 66.6%, ammonia by 97.8%, and phosphorus by 65.0% after 11 days of a batch experiment. The capacity of water plants to purify dilute wastewater streams opens new options for their application in the water treatment industry.     

Studies on thio-substituted polyurethane foam (T-PUF) as a new efficient separation medium for the removal of inorganic/organic mercury from industrial effluents and solid wastes

Novel thio-substituted flexible polyurethane foam (T-PUF) was synthesised by addition polymerisation of mercaptan with the precursors of an open-cell polyurethane foam, which can be used as a highly selective sorbent for inorganic and organic mercury from complex matrices. The percentage extraction of inorganic mercury was studied at different flow-rates, over a wide pH range at different concentrations ranging from 1 ppm, to 100 ppm. The break-through capacity and total capacity of unmodified and thio-foams were determined for inorganic and organic mercurials. The absorption efficiency of thio-foam was far superior to other sorbent media, such as activated carbon, polymeric ion-exchange resins and reagent-loaded polyurethane foams. It was observed that even at the 1000 ppm level, divalent ions like Cu, Mg, Ca, Zn do not appreciably influence the per cent extraction of inorganic mercury at the 10 ppm level. These matrix levels are the most concentrated ones which are likely to occur, both in local sewage and effluent waters. Further, the efficiency of this foam was sufficiently high at 10-100 ppm levels of Hg, even from 5-10 litres of effluent volumes using 50 g of thio-foam packed into different columns in series. Thio-foams were found to possess excellent abilities to remove and recover mercury even at low levels from industrial effluents and brine mud of chlor-alkali industry after pre-acid extraction. This makes it a highly efficient sorbent for possible application in effluent treatment. Model schemes for the removal and recovery of mercury from industrial effluents and municipal sewage (100-1000 litre) by a dynamic method are proposed and the costs incurred in a full-scale application method are indicated to show that the use of thio-foam could be commercially attractive.     

Selective removal of the heavy metal ions from waters and industrial wastewaters by ion-exchange method

By ion exchange undesirable ions are replaced by others which don't contribute to contamination of the environment. The method is technologically simple and enables efficient removal of even traces of impurities from solutions. Examples of selective removal of heavy metal ions by ion-exchange are presented. They include removal of Pb(II), Hg(II), Cd(II), Ni(II), V(IV,V), Cr(III,VI), Cu(II) and Zn(II) from water and industrial wastewaters by means various modern types of ion exchangers.     

Potential of different species for use in removal of DDT from the contaminated soils

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its main metabolites, p,p'-DDD and p,p'-DDE (DDTs in this study included DDT, DDD and DDE), are frequently detected in agricultural soils even though its usage in agriculture was banned in 1980s or earlier. In this study, eleven plants including eight maize (Zea mays) cultivars and three forage species (alfalfa, ryegrass and teosinte) widely cultivated in China were grown in the soils spiked with DDTs to investigate their potential for removal of DDT from the contaminated soils. The plants varied largely in their ability to accumulate and translocate DDTs, with the bioconcentration factor (BCF; DDT concentration ratio of the plant tissues to the soils) ranging from 0.014 to 0.25 and the translocation factor (TF; DDT concentration ratio of the shoots to the roots) varying from 0.35 (Zea mays cv Chaotian-23) to 0.76 (Zea mays spp. mexicana). The amount of DDT phytoextraction ranged from 3.89mug (ryegrass) to 27.0mug (teosinte) and accounted for <0.1% of the total initial DDTs spiked in the soils. After 70d, the removal rates reached 47.1-70.3% of the total initial DDTs spiked in the soils with plants while that was only 15.4% in the soils without plant. Moreover, the higher removal rates of DDTs occurred at the first 20d of experiment, and then the removal rate decreased with time. The highest amount of DDTs phytoextracted was observed in teosinte, followed by Zea mays spp. mexicana, but the highest removal rate of DDTs was found in maize (Zea mays cv Jinhai-6). Even though phytoextraction is not the main removal process for DDTs, the plant species especially Zea mays cv Jinhai-6 showed high potential for removing DDTs from the contaminated soils.     

An extended approach to calculate the ozone relative response factors used in the attainment demonstration for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards

With the promulgation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standard) for 8-hr ozone (O₃), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued modeling guidance that advocated the use of results from photochemical air quality models in a relative sense. In doing so, the EPA provided guidance on how to calculate relative response factors (RRFs) that can project current design value (DV) mixing ratios into the future for the purpose of determining the attainment status with respect to the O₃ standard. The RRFs recommended by the EPA represent the average response of the photochemical model over a broad range of O₃ mixing ratios above a specified cutoff threshold. However, it is known that O₃ response to emission reductions of limiting precursors (i.e., NO_x and/or VOC) is greater on days with higher O₃ mixing ratios compared to days with lower mixing ratios. In this study, we present a segmented RRF concept termed band-RRF, which takes into account the different model responses at different O₃ mixing ratios. The new band-RRF concept is demonstrated in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) region of California for the 1-hr and 8-hr O₃ standards. The 1-hr O₃ analysis is relevant to work done in support of the SJV O₃ State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted to the EPA in 2013. The 8-hr example for the future year of 2019 is presented for illustrative purposes only. Further work will be conducted with attainment deadline of 2032 as part of upcoming SIPs for the 0.075 parts per million (ppm) 8-hr O₃ standard. The applicability of the band-RRF concept to the particulate matter (PM_2.5) standards is also discussed.

Implications:Results of photochemical models are used in regulatory applications in a relative sense using relative response factors (RRFs), which represent the impacts of emissions reductions over a wide range of ozone (O₃) values. It is possible to extend the concept of RRFs to account for the fact that higher O₃ mixing ratios (both 1-hr and 8-hr) respond more to emissions controls of limiting precursors than do lower O₃ mixing ratios. We demonstrate this extended concept, termed band-RRF, for the 1-hr and 8-hr O₃ National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard) in the San Joaquin Valley of California. This extension can also be made applicable to the 24-hr PM_2.5 and annual PM_2.5 standards.     

Zerovalent iron encapsulated chitosan nanospheres - a novel adsorbent for the removal of total inorganic arsenic from aqueous systems

Evaluation of Chitosan zerovalent Iron Nanoparticle (CIN) towards arsenic removal is presented. Addition of chitosan enhances the stability of Fe(0) nano particle. Prepared adsorbent was characterized by FT-IR, SEM EDX, BET and XRD. It was found that, with an initial dose rate of 0.5 g L⁻¹, concentrations of As (III) and As (V) were reduced from 2 mg L⁻¹ to <5 μg L⁻¹ in less than 180 min and the adsorbent was found to be applicable in wide range of pH. Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity was found to be 94 ± 1.5 mg g⁻¹ and 119 ± 2.6 mg g⁻¹ at pH 7 for As (III) and As (V) respectively. Major anions including sulfate, phosphate and silicate did not cause significant interference in the adsorption behavior of both arsenite and arsenate. The adsorbent was successfully recycled five times and applied to the removal of total inorganic arsenic from real life groundwater samples.     

The efficiency of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes used for antibiotics removal from wastewaters generated by animal farms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the recent years, residual antibiotics are considered to be emerging environmental pollutants due to their continuous input and persistence into...     

An uncertainty analysis of mean flow velocity measurements used to quantify emissions from stationary sources

Point velocity measurements conducted by traversing a Pitot tube across the cross section of a flow conduit continue to be the standard practice for evaluating the accuracy of continuous flow-monitoring devices. Such velocity traverses were conducted in the exhaust duct of a reduced-scale analog of a stationary source, and mean flow velocity was computed using several common integration techniques. Sources of random and systematic measurement uncertainty were identified and applied in the uncertainty analysis. When applicable, the minimum requirements of the standard test methods were used to estimate measurement uncertainty due to random sources. Estimates of the systematic measurement uncertainty due to discretized measurements of the asymmetric flow field were determined by simulating point velocity traverse measurements in a flow distribution generated using computational fluid dynamics. For the evaluated flow system, estimates of relative expanded uncertainty for the mean flow velocity ranged from ±1.4% to ±9.3% and depended on the number of measurement locations and the method of integration.

Implications:Accurate flow measurements in smokestacks are critical for quantifying the levels of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel-burning power plants, the largest emitters of carbon dioxide. A systematic uncertainty analysis is necessary to evaluate the accuracy of these measurements. This study demonstrates such an analysis and its application to identify specific measurement components and procedures needing focused attention to improve the accuracy of mean flow velocity measurements in smokestacks.     

Activated carbon from industrial solid waste as an adsorbent for the removal of Rhodamine-B from aqueous solution: kinetic and equilibrium studies

The activated carbon was prepared using industrial solid waste called sago waste and physico-chemical properties of carbon were carried out to explore adsorption process. The effectiveness of carbon prepared from sago waste in adsorbing Rhodamine-B from aqueous solution has been studied as a function of agitation time, adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, pH and desorption. Adsorption equilibrium studies were carried out in order to optimize the experimental conditions. The adsorption of Rhodamine-B onto carbon followed second order kinetic model. Adsorption data were modeled using both Langmuir and Freundlich classical adsorption isotherms. The adsorption capacity Q0 was 16.12 mg g(-1) at initial pH 5.7 for the particle size 125-250 microm. The equilibrium time was found to be 150 min for 10, 20 mg l(-1) and 210 min for 30, 40 mg l(-1) dye concentrations, respectively. A maximum removal of 91% was obtained at natural pH 5.7 for an adsorbent dose of 100mg/50 ml of 10 mg l(-1) dye concentration and 100% removal was obtained when the pH was increased to 7 for an adsorbent dose of 275 mg/50 ml of 20 mg l(-1) dye concentration. Desorption studies were carried out in water medium by varying the pH from 2 to 10. Desorption studies were performed with dilute HCl and show that ion exchange is predominant dye adsorption mechanism. This adsorbent was found to be both effective and economically viable.     

An equilibrium model for chloride removal from recycled cooling water using the ultra-high lime with aluminum process.

Removal of chloride from recycled cooling water is needed to reduce corrosion and prolong equipment life. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that the ultra-high lime with aluminum (UHLA) process has the ability to achieve high chloride removal efficiency from recycled cooling water. In an effort to further understand the behavior of chloride in the UHLA process, a fundamental model of the chemical processes was developed. The purpose of this paper is to describe this equilibrium model and present values for solubility products of precipitated solids that have not been investigated previously. The model was based on PHREEQC and a new program called INVRS K was integrated with PHREEQC to calculate values of unknown or poorly defined equilibrium or kinetic constants using a Gauss-Newton nonlinear regression routine. Model predictions indicated that the results could be best described by assuming the formation of a solid solution of calcium chloroaluminate (Ca4Al2Cl2OH12), tricalcium hydroxyaluminate (Ca3Al2OH12), and tetracalcium hydroxyaluminate (Ca4Al2OH14).     

Modelling of the acid-base properties of natural and synthetic adsorbent materials used for heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions

In this paper a comparison about kinetic behaviour, acid-base properties and copper removal capacities was carried out between two different adsorbent materials used for heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions: an aminodiacetic chelating resin as commercial product (Lewatit TP207) and a lyophilised bacterial biomass of Sphaerotilus natans. The acid-base properties of a S. natans cell suspension were well described by simplified mechanistic models without electrostatic corrections considering two kinds of weakly acidic active sites. In particular the introduction of two-peak distribution function for the proton affinity constants allows a better representation of the experimental data reproducing the site heterogeneity. A priori knowledge about resin functional groups (aminodiacetic groups) is the base for preliminary simulations of titration curve assuming a Donnan gel structure for the resin phase considered as a concentrated aqueous solution of aminodiacetic acid (ADA). Departures from experimental and simulated data can be interpreted by considering the heterogeneity of the functional groups and the effect of ionic concentration in the resin phase. Two-site continuous model describes adequately the experimental data. Moreover the values of apparent protonation constants (as adjustable parameters found by non-linear regression) are very near to the apparent constants evaluated by a Donnan model assuming the intrinsic constants in resin phase equal to the equilibrium constants in aqueous solution of ADA and considering the amphoteric nature of active sites for the evaluation of counter-ion concentration in the resin phase. Copper removal outlined the strong affinity of the active groups of the resin for this ion in solution compared to the S. natans biomass according to the complexation constants between aminodiacetic and mono-carboxylic groups and copper ions.     

An experiment in the electrokinetic removal of copper from soil contaminated by the brass industry

The feasibility of electrokinetic remediation of copper-contaminated soil was evaluated following eight days of electroreclamation. The results indicate that electrokinetic reclamation of Cu is totally ineffective in soil composed primarily of clay minerals and organic matter. The strong absorption of copper by this kind of soil, in our view mainly a result of retention by the clay component, makes it resistant to mobilization by the electrogenerated acidic front as well as by citrates (the competitors of natural chelating agents, i.e., humates). Such conditions, while adverse for the electroremediation process, may cause this kind of soil to act as a natural barrier to the leaching of copper ions.     

Hierarchical eco-restoration: A systematical approach to removal of COD and dissolved nutrients from an intensive agricultural area

A systematical approach based on hierarchical eco-restoration system for the simultaneous removal of COD and dissolved nutrients was proposed and applied in a complex residential-cropland area in Kunming, China from August 2006 to August 2008, where the self-purifying capacity of the agricultural ecosystem had been lost. The system includes four main parts: (1) fertilizer management and agricultural structure optimization, (2) nutrients reuse, (3) wastewater treatment, and (4) catchment restoration. The results showed that the average removal efficiencies were 90% for COD, 93% for ammonia, 94% for nitrate and 71% for total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) when the hierarchical eco-restoration agricultural system was in a relatively steady-state condition. The emergence of 14 species of macrophytes and 4 species of zoobenthos indicated that the growth conditions for the plankton were improved. The results demonstrated that this promising and environmentally benign hierarchical eco-restoration system could decrease the output of nutrients and reduce downstream eutrophication risk.     

An evaluation of the urban stormwater pollutant removal efficiency of catch basin inserts.

In a storm sewer system, the catch basin is the interface between surface runoff and the sewer. Responding to the need to improve the quality of stormwater from urban areas and transportation facilities, and spurred by Phase I and II Stormwater Rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, several companies market catch basin inserts as best management practices for urban water quality management. However, little data have been collected under controlled tests that indicate the pollutant removal efficiency of these inserts when the inflow is near what can be expected to occur in the field. A stormwater simulator was constructed to test inserts under controlled and replicable conditions. The inserts were tested for removal efficiency of total suspended solids (TSS) and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) at an inflow rate of 757 to 814 L/min, with influent pollutant concentrations of 225 mg/L TSS and 30 mg/L TPH. These conditions are similar to stormwater runoff from small commercial sites in the southeastern United States. Results from the tests indicate that at the test flowrate and pollutant concentration, average TSS removal efficiencies ranged from 11 to 42% and, for TPH, the removal efficiency ranged from 10 to 19%.     

An integrated approach to identify the origin of PM10 exceedances

Purpose

This study was aimed to the development of an integrated approach for the characterization of particulate matter (PM) pollution events in the South of Italy.

Methods

PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 daily samples were collected from June to November 2008 at an urban background site located in Bari (Puglia Region, South of Italy). Meteorological data, particle size distributions and atmospheric dispersion conditions were also monitored in order to provide information concerning the different features of PM sources.

Results

The collected data allowed suggesting four indicators to characterize different PM₁₀ exceedances. PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratio, natural radioactivity, aerosol maps and back-trajectory analysis and particle distributions were considered in order to evaluate the contribution of local anthropogenic sources and to determine the different origins of intrusive air mass coming from long-range transport, such as African dust outbreaks and aerosol particles from Central and Eastern Europe. The obtained results were confirmed by applying principal component analysis to the number particle concentration dataset and by the chemical characterization of the samples (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5).

Conclusions

The integrated approach for PM study suggested in this paper can be useful to support the air quality managers for the development of cost-effective control strategies and the application of more suitable risk management approaches.