Characterization of the archaeal community fouling a membrane bioreactor

Biofilmformation, one of the primary causes of biofouling, results in reducedmembrane flux or increased transmembrane pressure and thus represents a major impediment to the wider implementation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies for water purification. Most studies have focused on the role of bacteria in membrane fouling as they are the most dominant and best studied organisms present in the MBR. In contrast, there is limited information on the role of the archaeal community in biofilm formation in MBRs. This study investigated the composition of the archaeal community during the process of biofouling in an MBR. The archaeal community was observed to have lower richness and diversity in the biofilmthan the sludge during the establishment of biofilms at low transmembrane pressure (TMP). Clustering of the communities based on the Bray-Curtis similarity matrix indicated that a subset of the sludge archaeal community formed the initial biofilms. The archaeal community in the biofilm was mainly composed of Thermoprotei, Thermoplasmata, Thermococci, Methanopyri, Methanomicrobia and Halobacteria. Among them, the Thermoprotei and Thermoplasmata were present at higher relative proportions in the biofilms than they were in the sludge. Additionally, the Thermoprotei, Thermoplasmata and Thermococci were the dominant organisms detected in the initial biofilms at low TMP, while as the TMP increased, the Methanopyri, Methanomicrobia, Aciduliprofundum and Halobacteria were present at higher abundances in the biofilms at high TMP.     

Investigation of adsorption/desorption behavior of Cr(VI) at the presence of inorganic and organic substance in membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI)

The adsorption and desorption behavior of Cr(VI) in membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) was investigated systematically in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and KCl with different concentrations, respectively. Results revealed that Cr(VI) absorption was enhanced and the adsorption amount for Cr(VI) increased from 155.7 to 190.8?mg/g when KCl concentration increased from 100 to 200?mg/L in the adsorption process, which was attributed to the stronger driving force. However, the adsorption amount sharply decreased to 90.2?mg/g when KCl concentration reached up to 1000?mg/L suggesting the negative effect for Cr(VI) removal that high KCl concentration had. As for the effect of BSA on ion adsorption, the amount for Cr (VI) significantly declined to 78.3?mg/g and pH was found to be an important factor contributing to this significant reduction. Then, the desorption performance was also conducted and it was obtained that the presence of KCl had negligible effect on Cr(VI) desorption, while promoted by the addition of BSA. The incomplete desorption was obtained and the residual chromium ions onto the electrode after desorption was detected via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Based on above analysis, the enhanced removal mechanism for Cr(VI) in MCDI was found to be consisted of ion adsorption onto electrode surface, the redox reaction of Cr(VI) into Cr(III) and precipitation, which was demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM).     

固定化微生物技术在大气恶臭污染物处理中应用研究进展

恶臭污染物（Odor pollutants）是指一切刺激嗅觉器官引起人们不愉快感觉以及损害生活环境的恶臭气味物质的统称。文章首先简要地介绍了大气中恶臭污染物的来源、分类以及危害等,指出大气恶臭污染物的主要来源主要包括农牧业来源、工业生产过程来源和城市垃圾处理恶臭污染来源等;其次,文章对能够处理大气恶臭污染物的反应器类型及其应用现状进行了系统的总结,提出能够应用于大气恶臭污染物处理的固定化微生物技术主要包括生物过滤池、生物滴滤塔和生物膜反应器等;同时着重综述了处理大气中恶臭污染物的影响因素,如底物、微生物、填料、微生物固定化方法、pH值和温度等因素对大气中恶臭污染物净化效率的影响,并且对固定化微生物技术生物转化与生物降解恶臭污染物的微观机理进行了一定的归纳与总结;最后还对固定化微生物技术在处理恶臭污染物方面的应用和未来发展趋势进行了展望,指出如果要真正实现固定化微生物技术在大气恶臭污染物处理中的工业化应用,今后还需要加强以下几个方面的研究工作：优势微生物菌剂的培育、固定化载体的开发与改良、固定微生物反应器的构建与优化和固定化微生物技术与其它单元技术的联用等。     

Insight into vented explosion mechanism and premixed flame dynamics in linked vessels: Influence of membrane thickness and blocking rate

To effectively prevent and mitigate explosion hazards and casualties, relief venting of flammable gas explosions has been applied in production processes in a broad variety of industries. This work conducted fully vented experiments to investigate the influence of venting membrane thickness, and partially vented experiments to investigate the influence of baffle blocking rate on the explosion characteristics of 9.5 vol% methane-air mixtures in linked vessels with a 0.5 m long vented duct. Results indicate that the membrane thickness and blocking rate for the two types of vented explosions significantly affected the explosion overpressure. The smaller the membrane thickness and blocking rate, the lower the explosion overpressure. Secondary explosions were observed in the vented duct through experiments and a weaker explosion flame appeared at a small blocking rate of 20%. With the further increase in the blocking rate, the flame became extremely weak, and no secondary explosions occurred. The overpressure evolution process at different positions in the explosion duct and secondary explosion phenomenon in the vented duct were investigated. This work could probably serve as an important reference for the selection of technical parameters of explosion venting in the practical industrial processes.     

膜生物反应器法处理模拟印染废水

针对人工模拟的印染废水,设计了缺氧/好氧膜生物反应器相结合的处理装置。系统经过165 d的运+行,结果表明:系统对COD和氨氮一直有很好的去除效果,稳定期COD的去除率可以达到95.0%,NH4+-N平均去除率为96.5%,TP的平均去除率低于50%,TN的去除率处在60%⁸0%之间,活性艳红染料X-3B的去除率在60%80%之间,活性艳红染料X-3B的去除率在60%⁷3%之间,出水含有少量色度。水样中长链的壬基酚聚氧乙烯醚NP10EO的去除率可以达到99%,出水仅含有少量的NP1EO,NP2EO和NP。     

膜法处理垃圾渗滤液新技术实验研究

将改进间歇式活性污泥法与FIL-MAX膜组合处理工艺相结合,应用于沈阳某垃圾场垃圾渗滤液处理工程实例中。通过实验,分析了COD、NH3-N等指标的处理效率以及影响因素,最终得出改进间歇式活性污泥法与FIL-MAX组合工艺处理在一定程度上改善膜污染、膜堵塞等常见问题。     

Comparative studies on fouling of homogeneous anion exchange membranes by different structured organics in electrodialysis

Five negatively charged organic compounds with different structures, sodium methane sulfonate (MS), sodium benzene sulfonate (BS), sodium 6-hydroxynaphthalene-2-sulfonate (NSS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), were used to examine the fouling of an anion exchange membrane (AEM) in electrodialysis (ED), to explore the effect of molecular characteristics on the fouling behavior on the AEM and changes in the surface and electrochemical properties of the AEM. Results indicated that the fouling degree of the AEM by the different organics followed the order: SDBS?>?SDS?>?NSS?>?BS?>?MS. SDBS and SDS formed a dense fouling layer on the surface of the AEM, which was the main factor in the much more severe membrane fouling, and completely restricted the transmembrane ion migration. The other three organics caused fouling of the AEM by adsorption on the surface and /or accumulation in the interlayer of the AEM, and exhibited almost no influence on the transmembrane ion migration. It was also concluded that the organics with benzene rings caused more severe fouling of the AEM due to the stronger affinity interaction and steric effect between the organics and the AEM compared with organics with aliphatic chains.     

Characterization of dissolved organic matter and membrane fouling in coagulation-ultrafiltration process treating micro-polluted surface water

Coagulation–ultrafiltration(C–UF) is widely used for surface water treatment. With the removal of pollutants, the characteristics of organic matter change and affect the final treatment efficiency and the development of membrane fouling. In this study, we built a dynamic C–UF set-up to carry out the treatment of micro-polluted surface water, to investigate the characteristics of dissolved organic matter from different units. The influences of poly aluminum chloride and poly dimethyldiallylammonium chloride(PDMDAAC) on removal efficiency and membrane fouling were also investigated. Results showed that the dosage of PDMDAAC evidently increased the UV254 and dissolved organic carbon removal efficiencies,and thereby alleviated membrane fouling in the C–UF process. Most hydrophobic bases(HoB)and hydrophobic neutral fractions could be removed by coagulation. Similarly, UF was good at removing HoB compared to hydrophilic substances(HiS) and hydrophobic acid(HoA)fractions. HiS and HoA fractions with low molecule weight accumulated on the surface of the membrane, causing the increase of transmembrane pressure(TMP). Membrane fouling was mainly caused by a removable cake layer, and mechanical cleaning was an efficient way to decrease the TMP.     

Fenton cleaning strategy for ceramic membrane fouling in wastewater treatment

Membrane fouling is an obstacle impeding the wide applications of ceramic membranes and organics are responsible for most of the membrane fouling issues in wastewater treatment. In this study, Fenton cleaning strategy was firstly proposed to clean ceramic membrane fouling in wastewater treatment. Fe~(2+)efficiently catalyzed fouling cleaning with H_2O_2(1.5%) to recover the filterability of ceramic membrane. The maximum ΔTMP recovery(over 99%) was achieved at an optimal Fe~(2+)dosage of 124 mg/L after 6 hr of immersion cleaning. The total residual membrane fouling resistance decreased gradually from this optimum value as the Fe~(2+)dosage increased above 124 mg/L. The residual hydraulically reversible fouling resistance accounted for most of the membrane fouling and was basically removed(≤3.0 × 10~9 m~(-1)) when Fe~(2+)dosages higher than 124 mg/L were used. The foulants responsible for the formation of a residual hydraulically reversible fouling layer(DOC(dissolved organic carbon), proteins, polysaccharides, EEM(fluorescence excitationemission matrix spectra), SS(suspended solids), and VSS(volatile suspended solids)) were gradually removed as the Fe~(2+)dosage increased. These residual organic foulants were degraded from biopolymers(10–200 kDa) to low molecular weight substances(0.1–1 kDa),and the particle size of these residual foulants decreased significantly as a result. The strong oxidation power of hydrogen peroxide/hydroxy radicals towards organic foulants was enhanced by Fe~(2+). Fe~(2+)played a significant role in the removal of hydraulically reversible fouling and irreversible fouling from the ceramic membrane. However, Fe~(2+)(≥ 124 mg/L) increased the likelihood of forming secondary iron-organics aggregates.     

Application of a hybrid gravity-driven membrane filtration and dissolved ozone flotation (MDOF) process for wastewater reclamation and membrane fouling mitigation

This study proposed a novel membrane filtration and dissolved ozone flotation integrated(MDOF) process and tested it at pilot scale. Membrane filtration in the MDOF process was operated in gravity-driven mode, and required no backwashing, flushing, or chemical cleaning. Because ozone was added in the MDOF process, ozonation, coagulation, and membrane filtration could occur in a single reactor. Moreover, in situ ozonation occurred in the MDOF process, which differs from the conventional pre-ozonation membrane filtration process. Significant enhancement of turbidity removal was further achieved through the addition of membrane filtration. Membrane fouling was mitigated in the MDOF process compared to the MDAF process. In situ ozonation in the MDOF process decreased the fluorescence intensity and transformed the high MW dissolved organics into small MW compounds. For the fouling layer, the extracellular polymeric substance(EPS) contents and cake layer morphology were analyzed. The results indicated that the contents of EPS decreased. Furthermore, a thinner and more loosely structured cake layer formed in the MDOF process. Because coagulation and ozonation occurred simultaneously in a single reactor, the generation of hydroxyl radicals was enhanced through the catalytic effect of Al-based coagulants on ozone decomposition, which further alleviated membrane fouling in the MDOF process.