What have we known so far about microplastics in drinking water treatment? A timely review

• 23 available research articles on MPs in drinking water treatment are reviewed. • The effects of treatment conditions and MP properties on MP removal are discussed. • DWTPs with more steps generally are more effective in removing MPs. • Smaller MPs (e.g.,<10 μm) are more challenging in drinking water treatment. Microplastics (MPs) have been widely detected in drinking water sources and tap water, raising the concern of the effectiveness of drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) in protecting the public from exposure to MPs through drinking water. We collected and analyzed the available research articles up to August 2021 on MPs in drinking water treatment (DWT), including laboratory- and full-scale studies. This article summarizes the major MP compositions (materials, sizes, shapes, and concentrations) in drinking water sources, and critically reviews the removal efficiency and impacts of MPs in various drinking water treatment processes. The discussed drinking water treatment processes include coagulation-flocculation (CF), membrane filtration, sand filtration, and granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration. Current DWT processes that are purposed for particle removal are generally effective in reducing MPs in water. Various influential factors to MP removal are discussed, such as coagulant type and dose, MP material, shape and size, and water quality. It is anticipated that better MP removal can be achieved by optimizing the treatment conditions. Moreover, the article framed the major challenges and future research directions on MPs and nanoplastics (NPs) in DWT.     

Techno-economic characteristics of wastewater treatment plants retrofitted from the conventional activated sludge process to the membrane bioreactor process

• Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased effluent quality and environmental benefits. • Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased energy consumption but not operating cost. • Retrofitting from CAS to MBR increased the net profit and cost efficiency. • The advantage of MBR is related to the adopted effluent standard. • The techno-economy of MBR improves with stricter effluent standards. While a growing number of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are being retrofitted from the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process to the membrane bioreactor (MBR) process, the debate on the techno-economy of MBR vs. CAS has continued and calls for a thorough assessment based on techno-economic valuation. In this study, we analyzed the operating data of 20 large-scale WWTPs (capacity≥10000 m³/d) and compared their techno-economy before and after the retrofitting from CAS to MBR. Through cost-benefit analysis, we evaluated the net profit by subtracting the operating cost from the environmental benefit (estimated by the shadow price of pollutant removal and water reclamation). After the retrofitting, the removal rate of pollutants increased (e.g., from 89.0% to 93.3% on average for NH₃-N), the average energy consumption increased from 0.40 to 0.57 kWh/m³, but the operating cost did not increase significantly. The average marginal environmental benefit increased remarkably (from 0.47 to 0.66 CNY/g for NH₃-N removal), leading to an increase in the average net profit from 19.4 to 24.4 CNY/m³. We further scored the technical efficiencies via data envelopment analysis based on non-radial directional distance functions. After the retrofitting, the relative cost efficiency increased from 0.70 to 0.73 (the theoretical maximum is 1), while the relative energy efficiency did not change significantly. The techno-economy is closely related to the effluent standard adopted, particularly when truncating the extra benefit of pollutant removal beyond the standard in economic modeling. The modeling results suggested that MBR is more profitable than CAS given stricter effluent standards.     

Recent advances in antimony removal using carbon-based nanomaterials: A review

• The synthesis and physicochemical properties of various CNMs are reviewed. • Sb removal using carbon-based nano-adsorbents and membranes are summarized. • Details on adsorption behavior and mechanisms of Sb uptake by CNMs are discussed. • Challenges and future prospects for rational design of advanced CNMs are provided. Recently, special attention has been deserved to environmental risks of antimony (Sb) element that is of highly physiologic toxicity to human. Conventional coagulation and ion exchange methods for Sb removal are faced with challenges of low efficiency, high cost and secondary pollution. Adsorption based on carbon nanomaterials (CNMs; e.g., carbon nanotubes, graphene, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide and their derivatives) may provide effective alternative because the CNMs have high surface area, rich surface chemistry and high stability. In particular, good conductivity makes it possible to create linkage between adsorption and electrochemistry, thereby the synergistic interaction will be expected for enhanced Sb removal. This review article summarizes the state of art on Sb removal using CNMs with the form of nano-adsorbents and/or filtration membranes. In details, procedures of synthesis and functionalization of different forms of CNMs were reviewed. Next, adsorption behavior and the underlying mechanisms toward Sb removal using various CNMs were presented as resulting from a retrospective analysis of literatures. Last, we prospect the needs for mass production and regeneration of CNMs adsorbents using more affordable precursors and objective assessment of environmental impacts in future studies.     

五区电除尘技术试验研究及应用

五区电除尘技术是一种新型的电除尘器提效改造技术,由于其性能优良、工作可靠、稳定运行,工程投资少、施工周期短等优点而得到广泛应用。在模拟计算分析其阻力和对气流分布影响的基础上,试验研究其对不同粉尘的收尘性能,结果表明:五区电除尘技术可高效捕集微细、高比电阻粉尘,且设备阻力小,气流分布理想。     

脉冲布袋除尘器净化分银炉含酸碱烟气的控制

介绍了用于净化铅锌冶炼厂分银炉含酸碱烟气的脉冲布袋除尘器的控制。从烟气温度控制、脉冲布袋除尘器清灰控制两个方面作了说明。     

超声波强化膜分离及清洗的研究进展

综述了超声波强化膜分离与膜清洗的机理,国内外超声波强化膜分离与清洗的研究现状以及影响该技术运用的问题所在。现有的研究成果表明:通过低功率超声波辐射处理污染膜可以减缓运行过程中的浓差极化及膜污染,而如何优化操作参数、如何减小超声波对膜体损害是近期的研究重点。     

膜生物反应器处理苎麻脱胶废水的研究

利用膜生物反应器对苎麻生物脱胶废水进行试验研究,通过对废水中的COD、NH3-N、SS及色度进行检测发现,出水水质达到国家综合排放标准,并可回用。因此,此法处理麻生物脱胶废水可行,为苎麻生物脱胶废水的处理提供一种新的处理方法。     

利用计算流体动力学(CFD)方法研究电收尘器斜向气流分布

在讨论了电收尘器电场内气流分布对除尘效率影响的基础上,介绍有效降低粉尘返流损失,提高电收尘效率的斜向气流技术,进而利用CFD方法对电场内的气流分布进行数值模拟,给出了在电场内实现斜向气流分布时气流分布板结构调整方法和参数。     

超低排放燃煤电厂中湿式电除尘器对可凝结颗粒物排放特性的影响

为了解不同负荷下超低排放燃煤电厂中湿式电除尘器（WESP）对可凝结颗粒物（CPM）排放特性的影响,基于US EPA Method 202搭建了CPM采样装置,分析了某安装有WESP的超低排放燃煤电厂烟气中CPM的排放水平,评估了机组负荷对CPM排放浓度的影响以及WESP对CPM中各组分的脱除效率．结果表明,在75%负荷和100%负荷条件下,超低排放电厂CPM的排放量分别为27.27 mg·m^-3和28.71 mg·m^-3,WESP对CPM的脱除效率分别为35.59%和27.59%.SO₄^2-是CPM中水溶性离子的主要成分,在不同负荷条件下SO₄^2-在CPM中无机组分的质量分数达到了65%以上;WESP对于CPM中Cl^-、K⁺、Ca²⁺、Mg²⁺和Na⁺等无机离子的脱除效率可以达到30%～50%,但会使CPM中SO₄^2...