The use of fortified soil-clay as on-site system for domestic wastewater purification.

PubMed

Oladoja, N A; Ademoroti, C M A

2006-02-01

The quest for simple, low-cost and high-performance decentralized wastewater treatment system for domestic application in developing nations necessitated this study. Clay samples collected from different deposits in Nigeria were characterized by studying the mineralogical and geochemical composition using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), respectively. Three major clay minerals of kaolinite, illite and smectite were identified. The geochemical studies showed the abundance of SiO2, Al2O3 and H2O+ in each of the clay samples. Performance efficiency studies were conducted to determine the best combination ratio of pebbles/soil-clay. Soil-clay fortified by pebbles in combination ratios of 1:3 (i.e. pebbles:soil-clay = 1:3 (w/w) showed the optimum water purification, while the combination 3:1 gave the least. The flow rate studies showed that the wastewater had a longer residence time in non-fortified soil-clay than in fortified soil-clay. Two modes of treatment methods were employed-single and double column treatment methods (SCT and DCT). The two methods gave effluents of good quality characteristics, but those from the DCT were of better quality. The quality of effluents also varies from one clay type to another. The quality of effluents from media containing smectite clay mineral was better than those from other columns. Repeated usage of the fortified clay column showed a decrease of pH, TS and DO, and an increase of COD when monitored over a period of 10 days.

Energy Efficiency Strategies for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Daw, J.; Hallett, K.; DeWolfe, J.

2012-01-01

Water and wastewater systems are significant energy consumers with an estimated 3%-4% of total U.S. electricity consumption used for the movement and treatment of water and wastewater. Water-energy issues are of growing importance in the context of water shortages, higher energy and material costs, and a changing climate. In this economic environment, it is in the best interest for utilities to find efficiencies, both in water and energy use. Performing energy audits at water and wastewater treatment facilities is one way community energy managers can identify opportunities to save money, energy, and water. In this paper the importance of energymore » use in wastewater facilities is illustrated by a case study of a process energy audit performed for Crested Butte, Colorado's wastewater treatment plant. The energy audit identified opportunities for significant energy savings by looking at power intensive unit processes such as influent pumping, aeration, ultraviolet disinfection, and solids handling. This case study presents best practices that can be readily adopted by facility managers in their pursuit of energy and financial savings in water and wastewater treatment. This paper is intended to improve community energy managers understanding of the role that the water and wastewater sector plays in a community's total energy consumption. The energy efficiency strategies described provide information on energy savings opportunities, which can be used as a basis for discussing energy management goals with water and wastewater treatment facility managers.« less

Purification of heavy metal loaded wastewater from electroplating industry under synthesis of delafossite (ABO2) by "Lt-delafossite process".

PubMed

John, Melanie; Heuss-Aßbichler, Soraya; Ullrich, Aladin; Rettenwander, Daniel

2016-09-01

In this study we present a new, environmental friendly and economic method, called Lt-delafossite process to treat industrial wastewater (initial Cu(2+)-concentrations of 1-15.6 g/l) by subsequent synthesis of nano-crystalline (doped) delafossite (CuFeO2) solely by precipitation and ageing at temperatures between 50 °C and 90 °C. The reached water purification rates are exclusively ≥99.99% for both wastewater models and wastewaters from electroplating industry. We succeeded to synthesize a mixture of 3R and 2H delafossite at 50 °C after 90 h and ≥70 °C after 16 h of ageing directly from industrial wastewater without any additional phases. In all cases green rust (GR), a Fe(II-III) layered double hydroxysulphate, Cu2O (cuprite) and Fe10O14(OH)2 (ferrihydrite) precipitates first. During ageing of the residues the metastable phases transform to delafossite. The residues are characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, VFTB and Mößbauer measurements. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancement of nutrient removal from swine wastewater digestate coupled to biogas purification by microalgae Scenedesmus spp.

PubMed

Prandini, Jean Michel; da Silva, Márcio Luís Busi; Mezzari, Melissa Paola; Pirolli, Mateus; Michelon, William; Soares, Hugo Moreira

2016-02-01

This work investigated the effects of swine wastewater-derived biogas on microalgae biomass production and nutrient removal rates from piggery wastewater concomitantly with biogas filtration. Photobioreactors with dominant Scenedesmus spp. were prepared using non-sterile digestate and exposed to different photoperiods. In the presence of biogas and autotrophic conditions microalgae yield of 1.1±0.2 g L(-1) (growth rate of 141.8±3.5 mg L(-1) d(-1)) was obtained leading to faster N-NH3 and P-PO4(3-) assimilation rate of 21.2±1.2 and 3.5±2.5 mg L(-1) d(-1), respectively. H2S up to 3000 ppmv was not inhibitory and completely removed. Maximum CO2 assimilation of 219±4.8 mg L(-1) d(-1) was achieved. Biological consumption of CH4 up to 18% v/v was verified. O2 up to 22% v/v was controlled by adding acetate to exacerbate oxygen demand by microorganisms. Microalgae-based wastewater treatment coupled to biogas purification accelerates nutrient removal concomitantly producing valuable biomass and biomethane. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy Efficiency in Water and Wastewater Facilities

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Learn how water and wastewater facilities can lead by example and achieve multiple benefits by improving energy efficiency of their new, existing, and renovated buildings and their day-to-day operations.

Sterols indicate water quality and wastewater treatment efficiency.

PubMed

Reichwaldt, Elke S; Ho, Wei Y; Zhou, Wenxu; Ghadouani, Anas

2017-01-01

As the world's population continues to grow, water pollution is presenting one of the biggest challenges worldwide. More wastewater is being generated and the demand for clean water is increasing. To ensure the safety and health of humans and the environment, highly efficient wastewater treatment systems, and a reliable assessment of water quality and pollutants are required. The advance of holistic approaches to water quality management and the increasing use of ecological water treatment technologies, such as constructed wetlands and waste stabilisation ponds (WSPs), challenge the appropriateness of commonly used water quality indicators. Instead, additional indicators, which are direct measures of the processes involved in the stabilisation of human waste, have to be established to provide an in-depth understanding of system performance. In this study we identified the sterol composition of wastewater treated in WSPs and assessed the suitability of human sterol levels as a bioindicator of treatment efficiency of wastewater in WSPs. As treatment progressed in WSPs, the relative abundance of human faecal sterols, such as coprostanol, epicoprostanol, 24-ethylcoprostanol, and sitostanol decreased significantly and the sterol composition in wastewater changed significantly. Furthermore, sterol levels were found to be correlated with commonly used wastewater quality indicators, such as BOD, TSS and E. coli. Three of the seven sterol ratios that have previously been used to track sewage pollution in the environment, detected a faecal signal in the effluent of WSPs, however, the others were influenced by high prevalence of sterols originating from algal and fungal activities. This finding poses a concern for environmental assessment studies, because environmental pollution from waste stabilisation ponds can go unnoticed. In conclusion, faecal sterols and their ratios can be used as reliable indicators of treatment efficiency and water quality during wastewater

Simultaneous stack gas scrubbing wastewater purification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

Variations of a process for removing sulfur dioxide from stack gases and using it to treat municipal waste water are described. The once-through system lowers the pH of the scrubbing water from minor depressions to a pH of about 2.5 under certain conditions. A recycle system uses iron for catalytic oxidation of sulfurous acid to sulfuric acid allowing very large amounts of sulfur dioxide to be absorbed in a small portion of water. The partial recycle system uses municipal wastewater and iron as a scrubbing medium, followed by neutralization of the wastewater with lime to produce an iron hydroxide precipitation which, when removed, produces tertiary quality treated wastewater. The SO2 scrubber is described, test results are analyzed, and a preliminary capital cost estimate for the three processes is included.

Occurrence and removal efficiency of parasitic protozoa in Swedish wastewater treatment plants.

PubMed

Berglund, Björn; Dienus, Olaf; Sokolova, Ekaterina; Berglind, Emma; Matussek, Andreas; Pettersson, Thomas; Lindgren, Per-Eric

2017-11-15

Giardia intestinalis, Cryptosporidium spp., Entamoeba histolytica and Dientamoeba fragilis are parasitic protozoa and causative agents of gastroenteritis in humans. G. intestinalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in particular are the most common protozoa associated with waterborne outbreaks in high-income countries. Surveillance of protozoan prevalence in wastewater and evaluation of wastewater treatment removal efficiencies of protozoan pathogens is therefore imperative for assessment of human health risk. In this study, influent and effluent wastewater samples from three wastewater treatment plants in Sweden were collected over nearly one year and assessed for prevalence of parasitic protozoa. Quantitative real-time PCR using primers specific for the selected protozoa Cryptosporidium spp., G. intestinalis, E. histolytica, Entamoeba dispar and D. fragilis was used for protozoan DNA detection and assessment of wastewater treatment removal efficiencies. Occurrence of G. intestinalis, E. dispar and D. fragilis DNA was assessed in both influent (44, 30 and 39 out of 51 samples respectively) and effluent wastewater (14, 9 and 33 out of 51 samples respectively) in all three wastewater treatment plants. Mean removal efficiencies of G. intestinalis, E. dispar and D. fragilis DNA quantities, based on all three wastewater treatment plants studied varied between 67 and 87%, 37-75% and 20-34% respectively. Neither E. histolytica nor Cryptosporidium spp. were detected in any samples. Overall, higher quantities of protozoan DNA were observed from February to June 2012. The high prevalence of protozoa in influent wastewater indicates the need for continued monitoring of these pathogens in wastewater-associated aquatic environments to minimise the potential risk for human infection. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Wastewater Treatment Efficiency in a Soft Drinks Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boguniewicz-Zabłocka, Joanna; Capodaglio, Andrea G.; Vogel, Daniel

2017-10-01

During manufacturing processes, most industrial plants generate wastewater which could become harmful to the environment. Discharge of untreated or improperly treated industrial wastewaters into surface water could, in fact, lead to deterioration of the receiving water body's quality. This paper concerns wastewater treatment solutions used in the soft drink production industry: wastewater treatment plant effectiveness analysis was determined in terms of basic pollution indicators, such as BOD, COD, TSS and variable pH. Initially, the performance of mechanic-biological systems for the treatment of wastewater from a specific beverages production process was studied in different periods, due to wastewater flow fluctuation. The study then showed the positive effects on treatment of wastewater augmentation by methanol, nitrogen and phosphorus salts dosed into it during the treatment process. Results confirm that after implemented modification (methanol, nitrogen and phosphorus additions) pollution removal occurs mostly with higher efficiency.

Design and function of biomimetic multilayer water purification membranes

PubMed Central

Ling, Shengjie; Qin, Zhao; Huang, Wenwen; Cao, Sufeng; Kaplan, David L.; Buehler, Markus J.

2017-01-01

Multilayer architectures in water purification membranes enable increased water throughput, high filter efficiency, and high molecular loading capacity. However, the preparation of membranes with well-organized multilayer structures, starting from the nanoscale to maximize filtration efficiency, remains a challenge. We report a complete strategy to fully realize a novel biomaterial-based multilayer nanoporous membrane via the integration of computational simulation and experimental fabrication. Our comparative computational simulations, based on coarse-grained models of protein nanofibrils and mineral plates, reveal that the multilayer structure can only form with weak interactions between nanofibrils and mineral plates. We demonstrate experimentally that silk nanofibril (SNF) and hydroxyapatite (HAP) can be used to fabricate highly ordered multilayer membranes with nanoporous features by combining protein self-assembly and in situ biomineralization. The production is optimized to be a simple and highly repeatable process that does not require sophisticated equipment and is suitable for scaled production of low-cost water purification membranes. These membranes not only show ultrafast water penetration but also exhibit broad utility and high efficiency of removal and even reuse (in some cases) of contaminants, including heavy metal ions, dyes, proteins, and other nanoparticles in water. Our biomimetic design and synthesis of these functional SNF/HAP materials have established a paradigm that could lead to the large-scale, low-cost production of multilayer materials with broad spectrum and efficiency for water purification, with applications in wastewater treatment, biomedicine, food industry, and the life sciences. PMID:28435877

Design and function of biomimetic multilayer water purification membranes.

PubMed

Ling, Shengjie; Qin, Zhao; Huang, Wenwen; Cao, Sufeng; Kaplan, David L; Buehler, Markus J

2017-04-01

Multilayer architectures in water purification membranes enable increased water throughput, high filter efficiency, and high molecular loading capacity. However, the preparation of membranes with well-organized multilayer structures, starting from the nanoscale to maximize filtration efficiency, remains a challenge. We report a complete strategy to fully realize a novel biomaterial-based multilayer nanoporous membrane via the integration of computational simulation and experimental fabrication. Our comparative computational simulations, based on coarse-grained models of protein nanofibrils and mineral plates, reveal that the multilayer structure can only form with weak interactions between nanofibrils and mineral plates. We demonstrate experimentally that silk nanofibril (SNF) and hydroxyapatite (HAP) can be used to fabricate highly ordered multilayer membranes with nanoporous features by combining protein self-assembly and in situ biomineralization. The production is optimized to be a simple and highly repeatable process that does not require sophisticated equipment and is suitable for scaled production of low-cost water purification membranes. These membranes not only show ultrafast water penetration but also exhibit broad utility and high efficiency of removal and even reuse (in some cases) of contaminants, including heavy metal ions, dyes, proteins, and other nanoparticles in water. Our biomimetic design and synthesis of these functional SNF/HAP materials have established a paradigm that could lead to the large-scale, low-cost production of multilayer materials with broad spectrum and efficiency for water purification, with applications in wastewater treatment, biomedicine, food industry, and the life sciences.

Efficiency of a multi-soil-layering system on wastewater treatment using environment-friendly filter materials.

PubMed

Ho, Chia-Chun; Wang, Pei-Hao

2015-03-23

The multi-soil-layering (MSL) system primarily comprises two parts, specifically, the soil mixture layer (SML) and the permeable layer (PL). In Japan, zeolite is typically used as the permeable layer material. In the present study, zeolite was substituted with comparatively cheaper and more environmentally friendly materials, such as expanded clay aggregates, oyster shells, and already-used granular activated carbon collected from water purification plants. A series of indoor tests indicated that the suspended solid (SS) removal efficiency of granular activated carbon was between 76.2% and 94.6%; zeolite and expanded clay aggregates achieved similar efficiencies that were between 53.7% and 87.4%, and oyster shells presented the lowest efficiency that was between 29.8% and 61.8%. Further results show that the oyster shell system required an increase of wastewater retention time by 2 to 4 times that of the zeolite system to maintain similar chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. Among the four MSL samples, the zeolite system and granular activated carbon system demonstrated a stable NH3-N removal performance at 92.3%-99.8%. The expanded clay aggregate system present lower removal performance because of its low adsorption capacity and excessively large pores, causing NO3--N to be leached away under high hydraulic loading rate conditions. The total phosphorous (TP) removal efficiency of the MSL systems demonstrated no direct correlation with the permeable layer material. Therefore, all MSL samples achieved a TP efficiency of between 92.1% and 99.2%.

On Operating a Nanofiltration Membrane for Olive Mill Wastewater Purification at Sub- and Super-Boundary Conditions.

PubMed

Stoller, Marco; Ochando-Pulido, Javier Miguel; Field, Robert

2017-07-14

In the last decades, membrane processes have gained a significant share of the market for wastewater purification. Although the product (i.e., purified water) is not of high added value, these processes are feasible both technically and from an economic point of view, provided the flux is relatively high and that membrane fouling is strongly inhibited. By controlling membrane fouling, the membrane may work for years without service, thus dramatically reducing operating costs and the need for membrane substitution. There is tension between operating at high permeate fluxes, which enhances fouling but reduces capital costs, and operating at lower fluxes which increases capital costs. Operating batch membrane processes leads to increased difficulties, since the feed fed to the membrane changes as a function of the recovery value. This paper is concerned with the operation of such a process. Membrane process designers should therefore avoid membrane fouling by operating membranes away from the permeate flux point where severe fouling is triggered. The design and operation of membrane purification plants is a difficult task, and the precision to properly describe the evolution of the fouling phenomenon as a function of the operating conditions is a key to success. Many reported works have reported on the control of fouling by operating below the boundary flux. On the other hand, only a few works have successfully sought to exploit super-boundary operating conditions; most super-boundary operations are reported to have led to process failures. In this work, both sub- and super-boundary operating conditions for a batch nanofiltration membrane process used for olive mill wastewater treatment were investigated. A model to identify a priori the point of transition from a sub-boundary to a super-boundary operation during a batch operation was developed, and this will provide membrane designers with a helpful tool to carefully avoid process failures.

AUTOMATED MONITORING OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT EFFICIENCY - PHASE I

EPA Science Inventory

Antibiotics with anaerobic ammonium oxidation in urban wastewater treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Ruipeng; Yang, Yuanming

2017-05-01

Biofilter process is based on biological oxidation process on the introduction of fast water filter design ideas generated by an integrated filtration, adsorption and biological role of aerobic wastewater treatment process various purification processes. By engineering example, we show that the process is an ideal sewage and industrial wastewater treatment process of low concentration. Anaerobic ammonia oxidation process because of its advantage of the high efficiency and low consumption, wastewater biological denitrification field has broad application prospects. The process in practical wastewater treatment at home and abroad has become a hot spot. In this paper, anammox bacteria habitats and species diversity, and anaerobic ammonium oxidation process in the form of diversity, and one and split the process operating conditions are compared, focusing on a review of the anammox process technology various types of wastewater laboratory research and engineering applications, including general water quality and pressure filtrate sludge digestion, landfill leachate, aquaculture wastewater, monosodium glutamate wastewater, wastewater, sewage, fecal sewage, waste water salinity wastewater characteristics, research progress and application of the obstacles. Finally, we summarize the anaerobic ammonium oxidation process potential problems during the processing of the actual waste water, and proposed future research focus on in-depth study of water quality anammox obstacle factor and its regulatory policy, and vigorously develop on this basis, and combined process optimization.

Efficient stable isotope labeling and purification of vitamin D receptor from inclusion bodies

PubMed Central

Zhu, Jinge; Rao, Hongyu; Tonelli, Marco; Westler, Milo; Singarapu, Kiran K.; Markley, John L.; DeLuca, Hector F.; Assadi-Porter, Fariba M.

2012-01-01

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) plays a crucial role in many cellular processes including calcium and phosphate homeostasis. Previous purification methods from prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems were challenged by low protein solubility accompanied by multi purification steps resulting in poor protein recovery. The full-length VDR and its ligand binding domain (LBD) were mostly (>90%) insoluble even when expressed at low temperatures in the bacterial system. We describe a one-step procedure that results in the purification of rat VDR and LBD proteins in high-yield from E. coli inclusion bodies. The heterologously expressed protein constructs retain full function as demonstrated by ligand binding and DNA binding assays. Furthermore, we describe an efficient strategy for labeling these proteins with, 13C, and 15N for structural and functional studies by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This efficient production system will facilitate future studies on the mechanism of vitamin D action including characterization of the large number of synthetic vitamin D analogs that have been developed. PMID:22750673

Bismuth Oxysulfide and Its Polymer Nanocomposites for Efficient Purification

PubMed Central

Luo, Yidong; Qiao, Lina; Wang, Huanchun; Lan, Shun; Shen, Yang; Lin, Yuanhua; Nan, Cewen

2018-01-01

The danger of toxic organic pollutants in both aquatic and air environments calls for high-efficiency purification material. Herein, layered bismuth copper oxychalcogenides, BiCuSO, nanosheets of high photocatalytic activity were introduced to the PVDF (Polyvinylidene Fluoride). The fibrous membranes provide an easy, efficient, and recyclable way to purify organic pollutant. The physical and photophysical properties of the BiCuSO and its polymer composite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron spin resonance (EPR). Photocatalysis of Congo Red reveals that the BiCuSO/PVDF shows a superior photocatalytic activity of a 55% degradation rate in 70 min at visible light. The high photocatalytic activity is attributed to the exposed active {101} facets and the triple vacant associates VBi‴VO••VBi‴. By engineering the intrinsic defects on the surface of bismuth oxysulfide, high solar-driven photocatalytic activity can be approached. The successful fabrication of the bismuth oxysulfide and its polymer nanocomposites provides an easy and general approach for high-performance purification materials for various applications. PMID:29562701

Efficiency of a Multi-Soil-Layering System on Wastewater Treatment Using Environment-Friendly Filter Materials

PubMed Central

Ho, Chia-Chun; Wang, Pei-Hao

2015-01-01

The multi-soil-layering (MSL) system primarily comprises two parts, specifically, the soil mixture layer (SML) and the permeable layer (PL). In Japan, zeolite is typically used as the permeable layer material. In the present study, zeolite was substituted with comparatively cheaper and more environmentally friendly materials, such as expanded clay aggregates, oyster shells, and already-used granular activated carbon collected from water purification plants. A series of indoor tests indicated that the suspended solid (SS) removal efficiency of granular activated carbon was between 76.2% and 94.6%; zeolite and expanded clay aggregates achieved similar efficiencies that were between 53.7% and 87.4%, and oyster shells presented the lowest efficiency that was between 29.8% and 61.8%. Further results show that the oyster shell system required an increase of wastewater retention time by 2 to 4 times that of the zeolite system to maintain similar chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. Among the four MSL samples, the zeolite system and granular activated carbon system demonstrated a stable NH3-N removal performance at 92.3%–99.8%. The expanded clay aggregate system present lower removal performance because of its low adsorption capacity and excessively large pores, causing NO3−-N to be leached away under high hydraulic loading rate conditions. The total phosphorous (TP) removal efficiency of the MSL systems demonstrated no direct correlation with the permeable layer material. Therefore, all MSL samples achieved a TP efficiency of between 92.1% and 99.2%. PMID:25809517

Benchmarking wastewater treatment plants under an eco-efficiency perspective.

PubMed

Lorenzo-Toja, Yago; Vázquez-Rowe, Ian; Amores, María José; Termes-Rifé, Montserrat; Marín-Navarro, Desirée; Moreira, María Teresa; Feijoo, Gumersindo

2016-10-01

The new ISO 14045 framework is expected to slowly start shifting the definition of eco-efficiency toward a life-cycle perspective, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as the environmental impact assessment method together with a system value assessment method for the economic analysis. In the present study, a set of 22 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Spain were analyzed on the basis of eco-efficiency criteria, using LCA and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) as a system value assessment method. The study is intended to be useful to decision-makers in the wastewater treatment sector, since the combined method provides an alternative scheme for analyzing the relationship between environmental impacts and costs. Two midpoint impact categories, global warming and eutrophication potential, as well as an endpoint single score indicator were used for the environmental assessment, while LCC was used for value assessment. Results demonstrated that substantial differences can be observed between different WWTPs depending on a wide range of factors such as plant configuration, plant size or even legal discharge limits. Based on these results the benchmarking of wastewater treatment facilities was performed by creating a specific classification and certification scheme. The proposed eco-label for the WWTPs rating is based on the integration of the three environmental indicators and an economic indicator calculated within the study under the eco-efficiency new framework. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Variables affecting efficiency of molasses fermentation wastewater ozonation.

PubMed

Coca, M; Peña, M; González, G

2005-09-01

The main operating variables affecting ozonation efficiencies of wastewater from beet molasses alcoholic fermentation have been studied. Semibatch experiments have been performed in order to analyze the influence of pH, bicarbonate ion, temperature and stirring rate on color and organic matter removals. The efficiencies were similar regardless of the pH, which indicates that direct reactions of ozone with wastewater organics were predominant to radical reactions. Gel permeation chromatography confirmed the reduction in the concentration of organics absorbing light at 475 nm after ozonation. The elimination of bicarbonate ion, strong inhibitor of hydroxyl radical reactions, yielded an improvement in both color and COD reduction efficiencies. Acidification for removing bicarbonate ions produced a shift of colored compounds to smaller molecular weights. The highest efficiencies were achieved at 40 degrees C. Color and COD reductions at 40 degrees C were about 90% and 37%, respectively. In no case, the percentage of TOC removed was higher than 10-15%. Stirring rate had a slightly positive effect during the first stage of the ozonation showing that mass transfer played a role only during the initial reaction phase when direct attack of ozone molecules to aromatic/olefinic structures of colored substances was the predominant pathway.

Efficient treatment of aniline containing wastewater in bipolar membrane microbial electrolysis cell-Fenton system.

PubMed

Li, Xiaohu; Jin, Xiangdan; Zhao, Nannan; Angelidaki, Irini; Zhang, Yifeng

2017-08-01

Aniline-containing wastewater can cause significant environmental problems and threaten the humans's life. However, rapid degradation of aniline with cost-efficient methods remains a challenge. In this work, a novel microbial electrolysis cell with bipolar membrane was integrated with Fenton reaction (MEC-Fenton) for efficient treatment of real wastewater containing a high concentration (4460 ± 52 mg L -1 ) of aniline. In this system, H 2 O 2 was in situ electro-synthesized from O 2 reduction on the graphite cathode and was simultaneously used as source of OH for the oxidation of aniline wastewater under an acidic condition maintained by the bipolar membrane. The aniline was effectively degraded following first-order kinetics at a rate constant of 0.0166 h -1 under an applied voltage of 0.5 V. Meanwhile, a total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency of 93.1 ± 1.2% was obtained, revealing efficient mineralization of aniline. The applicability of bipolar membrane MEC-Fenton system was successfully demonstrated with actual aniline wastewater. Moreover, energy balance showed that the system could be a promising technology for removal of biorefractory organic pollutants from wastewaters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficiency evaluation with feedback for regional water use and wastewater treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zhineng; Yan, Shiyu; Yao, Liming; Moudi, Mahdi

2018-07-01

Clean water is crucial for sustainable economic and social development; however, around the world low water use efficiency and increasing water pollution have become serious problems. To comprehensively evaluate water use and wastewater treatment, this paper integrated bi-level programming (BLP) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with a feedback variable to deal with poor output to rank DMUs using a super efficiency DEA. The proposed model was applied to a case study of 10 cities in the Minjiang River Basin to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness, from which it was found that a water system can only be cost-efficient when both the water use and wastewater treatment subsystems are both cost-efficient. The comparison analysis demonstrated that the proposed model was more discriminating, and stable than traditional DEA models and was able to better improve total water system cost efficiencies than a BLP-DEA model.

Photocatalytic wastewater purification with simultaneous hydrogen production using MoS2 QD-decorated hierarchical assembly of ZnIn2S4 on reduced graphene oxide photocatalyst.

PubMed

Zhang, Shuqu; Wang, Longlu; Liu, Chengbin; Luo, Jinming; Crittenden, John; Liu, Xia; Cai, Tao; Yuan, Jili; Pei, Yong; Liu, Yutang

2017-09-15

It is attractive to photocatalytically purify wastewater and simultaneously convert solar energy into clean hydrogen energy. However, it is still a challenge owing to the relatively low photocatalytic efficiency of photocatalysts. In this study, we synthesized a molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) quantum dot-decorated 3D nanoarchitecture (MoS 2 QDs) of indium zinc sulfide (ZnIn 2 S 4 ) and reduced grapheme oxide (MoS 2 QDs@ZnIn 2 S 4 @RGO) photocatalyst using a simple solvothermal method. The RGO promotes the electron transfer, and the highly dispersed MoS 2 QDs provides numerous catalytic sites. The photocatalytic purification of rhodamine B (RhB), eosin Y (EY), fulvic acid (FA), methylene blue (MB) and p-nitrophenol (PNP) in simulated wastewaters were further tested. The degradation efficiencies and TOC removal were 91% and 75% for PNP, 92.2% and 72% for FA, 98.5% and 80% for MB, 98.6% and 84% for EY, and 98.8% and 88% for RhB, respectively (C organics  = 20 mg/L, C catalyst  = 1.25 g/L, t = 12 h, I light  = 3.36 × 10 -5  E L -1  s -1 ). Among these tests, the highest hydrogen production was achieved (45 μmol) during RhB degradation. Both experimental and calculational results prove that lower LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbit) level of organic molecules was available for transferring electrons to catalysts, resulting in more efficient hydrogen production. Significantly, the removal efficiencies of natural organic substances in actual river water reached 76.3-98.4%, and COD reduced from 32 to 16 mg/L with 13.8 μmol H 2 production after 12 h. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Complex technology for water and wastewater disinfection and its industrial realization in prototype unit].

PubMed

Arakcheev, E N; Brunman, V E; Brunman, M V; Konyashin, A V; Dyachenko, V A; Petkova, A P

Usage of complex automated electrolysis unit for drinking water disinfection and wastewater oxidation and coagulation is scoped, its ecological and energy efficiency is shown. Properties of technological process of anolyte production using membrane electrolysis of brine for water disinfection in municipal pipelines and potassium ferrate production using electrochemical dissolution of iron anode in NaOH solution for usage in purification plants are listed. Construction of modules of industrial prototype for anolyte and ferrate production and applied aspects of automation of complex electrolysis unit are proved. Results of approbation of electrolytic potassium ferrate for drinking water disinfection and wastewater, rain water and environmental water oxidation and coagulation are shown.

Construction of the Syngonium podophyllum-Pseudomonas sp. XNN8 Symbiotic Purification System and Investigation of Its Capability of Remediating Uranium Wastewater.

PubMed

Deng, Qin-Wen; Wang, Yong-Dong; Ding, De-Xin; Hu, Nan; Sun, Jing; He, Jia-Dong; Xu, Fei

2017-02-01

The endophyte Pseudomonas sp. XNN8 was separated from Typha orientalis which can secrete indole-3-acetic acid and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase and siderophores and has strong resistance to uranium it was then colonized in the Syngonium podophyllum; and the S. podophyllum-Pseudomonas sp. XNN8 symbiotic purification system (SPPSPS) for uranium-containing wastewater was constructed. Afterwards, the hydroponic experiments to remove uranium from uranium-containing wastewater by the SPPSPS were conducted. After 24 days of treatment, the uranium concentrations of the wastewater samples with uranium concentrations between 0.5 and 5.0 mg/L were lowered to below 0.05 mg/L. Furthermore, the uranium in the plants was assayed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. The Pseudomonas sp. XNN8 was found to generate substantial organic groups in the roots of the Syngonium podophyllum, which could improve the complexing capability of S. podophyllum for uranium. The uranium in the roots of S. podophyllum was found to be the uranyl phosphate (47.4 %) and uranyl acetate (52.6 %).

Removal efficiency of nickel and lead from industrial wastewater using microbial desalination cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirzaienia, Fariba; Asadipour, Ali; Jafari, Ahmad Jonidi; Malakootian, Mohammad

2017-11-01

Microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a new method of desalination. Its energy is supplied through microbial metabolism of organic materials. In this study, synthetic samples were provided with concentration of 25, 50, 75, 100 mg/L Ni and Pb. Removal efficiency of each metal was analyzed after 60, 90, 120 min, psychrophilic, mesophilic, thermophilic and 3-4, 4-5, 5-6 mg/L dissolved oxygen. Optimum conditions for removing Ni and Pb were achieved in 100, 4.5 and 4.6 mg/L dissolved oxygen, respectively, 26 °C and 120 min. Nickel and led were removed from wastewaters of Isfahan electroplating industry and steel company. The maximum removal efficiencies of Ni and Pb in real samples were 68.81 and 70.04%. MDC can be considered as a good choice for removing Ni and Pb from industrial wastewater. Due to microorganisms for decomposing organic material in municipal wastewater, metals from industrial wastewater can be removed simultaneously.

Air purification in industrial plants producing automotive rubber components in terms of energy efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grzebielec, Andrzej; Rusowicz, Artur; Szelągowski, Adam

2017-04-01

In automotive industry plants, which use injection molding machines for rubber processing, tar contaminates air to such an extent that air fails to enter standard heat recovery systems. Accumulated tar clogs ventilation heat recovery exchangers in just a few days. In the plant in which the research was conducted, tar contamination causes blockage of ventilation ducts. The effect of this phenomenon was that every half year channels had to be replaced with new ones, since the economic analysis has shown that cleaning them is not cost-efficient. Air temperature inside such plants is often, even in winter, higher than 30°C. The air, without any means of heat recovery, is discharged outside the buildings. The analyzed plant uses three types of media for production: hot water, cold water at 14°C (produced in a water chiller), and compressed air, generated in a unit with a rated power consumption of 180 kW. The aim of the study is to determine the energy efficiency improvement of this type of manufacturing plant. The main problem to solve is to provide an air purification process so that air can be used in heat recovery devices. The next problem to solve is to recover heat at such a temperature level that it would be possible to produce cold for technological purposes without air purification. Experimental studies have shown that air purification is feasible. By using one microjet head, a total of 75% of tar particles was removed from the air; by using 4 heads, a purification efficiency of 93% was obtained. This method of air purification causes air temperature to decrease from 35°C to 20°C, which significantly reduces the potential for heat recovery. The next step of the research was designing a cassette-plate heat exchanger to exchange heat without air purification. The economic analysis of such a solution revealed that replacing the heat exchanger with a new one even once a year was not cost-efficient. Another issue examined in the context of energy efficiency was

A new application of high-efficient silver salts-based photocatalyst under natural indoor weak light for wastewater cleaning.

PubMed

Hua, Xia; Teng, Fei; Zhao, Yunxuan; Xu, Juan; Xu, Chuangye; Yang, Yang; Zhang, Qiqi; Paul, Shashi; Zhang, Yi; Chen, Mindong; Zhao, Xudong

2015-09-15

As a high-quantum-efficiency photocatalyst, the serious photo-corrosion of silver phosphate (Ag3PO4), limits the practical applications in water purification and challenges us. Herein, Ag3PO4 is found to have a high stability under natural indoor weak light irradiation, suggesting that we can employ it by adopting a new application strategy. In our studies, rhodamine B (RhB, cationic dye), methyl orange (MO, anionic dye) and RhB-MO mixture aqueous solutions are used as the probing reaction for the degradation of organic wastewater. It is found that RhB, MO and RhB-MO can be completely degraded after 28 h under natural indoor weak light irradiation, indicating that multi-component organic contaminants can be efficiently degraded by Ag3PO4 under natural indoor weak light irradiation. The density of natural indoor weak light is measured to be 72cd, which is merely one-thousandth of 300 W xenon lamp (68.2 × 10(3)cd). Most importantly, Ag3PO4 shows a high stability under natural indoor weak light irradiation, demonstrated by the formation of fairly rare Ag. Furthermore, we also investigate the influence of inorganic ions on organic dyes degradation. It shows that the Cl(-) and Cr(6+) ions with high concentrations in wastewater have significantly decreased the degradation rate. From the viewpoint of energy saving and stability, this study shows us that we can utilize the Ag-containing photocatalysts under natural indoor weak light, which could be extended to indoor air cleaning process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low Cost, Efficient Microcavity Plasma Ozone Generation for Water Remediation and Air Purification

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

Eliasson, and M. Hirth, “ Ozone Generation from Oxygen and Air: Discharge Physics and Reaction Mechanisms,” Ozone Sci. and Eng., vol. 10, pp. 367-378...Phase I Final Report: Low Cost, Efficient Microcavity Plasma Ozone Generation for Water Remediation and Air Purification...Contract Number: FA9550-11-C-0087 June 2012 Low Cost, Efficient Microcavity Plasma Ozone Generation for Water Remediation

Opportunities for Energy Efficiency and Open Automated Demand Response in Wastewater Treatment Facilities in California -- Phase I Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lekov, Alex; Thompson, Lisa; McKane, Aimee

This report summarizes the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory?s research to date in characterizing energy efficiency and automated demand response opportunities for wastewater treatment facilities in California. The report describes the characteristics of wastewater treatment facilities, the nature of the wastewater stream, energy use and demand, as well as details of the wastewater treatment process. It also discusses control systems and energy efficiency and automated demand response opportunities. In addition, several energy efficiency and load management case studies are provided for wastewater treatment facilities.This study shows that wastewater treatment facilities can be excellent candidates for open automated demand response and thatmore » facilities which have implemented energy efficiency measures and have centralized control systems are well-suited to shift or shed electrical loads in response to financial incentives, utility bill savings, and/or opportunities to enhance reliability of service. Control technologies installed for energy efficiency and load management purposes can often be adapted for automated demand response at little additional cost. These improved controls may prepare facilities to be more receptive to open automated demand response due to both increased confidence in the opportunities for controlling energy cost/use and access to the real-time data.« less

Plant uptake-assisted round-the-clock photocatalysis for complete purification of aquaculture wastewater using sunlight.

PubMed

Bian, Zhenfeng; Cao, Fenglei; Zhu, Jian; Li, Hexing

2015-02-17

A novel reactor equipped with solar batteries, Bi2O3/TiO2 film photocatalyst, and celery plant was designed and used for purification of aquaculture wastewater. The Bi2O3/TiO2 film photocatalyst started photocatalytic degradation of organonitrogen compounds under irradiation of sunlight. Meanwhile, the solar batteries absorbed and converted excess sunlight into electric energy and then started UV lamps at night, leading to round-the-clock photocatalysis. Subsequently, the inorganic nitrogen species including NH4(+), NO2(-), and NO3(-) resulting from photocatalytic degradation of the organonitrogen compounds could subsequently be uptaken by the celery plant as the fertilizer to reduce the secondary pollution. It was found that, after 24 h circulation, both organonitrogen compounds and NO2(-) species were completely removed, while NH4(+) and NO3(-) contents also decreased by 30% and 50%, respectively. The reactor could be used repetitively, showing a good potential in practical application.

Rapid protein concentration, efficient fluorescence labeling and purification on a micro/nanofluidics chip.

PubMed

Wang, Chen; Ouyang, Jun; Ye, De-Kai; Xu, Jing-Juan; Chen, Hong-Yuan; Xia, Xing-Hua

2012-08-07

Fluorescence analysis has proved to be a powerful detection technique for achieving single molecule analysis. However, it usually requires the labeling of targets with bright fluorescent tags since most chemicals and biomolecules lack fluorescence. Conventional fluorescence labeling methods require a considerable quantity of biomolecule samples, long reaction times and extensive chromatographic purification procedures. Herein, a micro/nanofluidics device integrating a nanochannel in a microfluidics chip has been designed and fabricated, which achieves rapid protein concentration, fluorescence labeling, and efficient purification of product in a miniaturized and continuous manner. As a demonstration, labeling of the proteins bovine serum albumin (BSA) and IgG with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) is presented. Compared to conventional methods, the present micro/nanofluidics device performs about 10(4)-10(6) times faster BSA labeling with 1.6 times higher yields due to the efficient nanoconfinement effect, improved mass, and heat transfer in the chip device. The results demonstrate that the present micro/nanofluidics device promises rapid and facile fluorescence labeling of small amount of reagents such as proteins, nucleic acids and other biomolecules with high efficiency.

Fenton-like reaction: a possible way to efficiently remove illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals from wastewater.

PubMed

Mackuľak, Tomáš; Mosný, Michal; Grabic, Roman; Golovko, Oksana; Koba, Olga; Birošová, Lucia

2015-03-01

We analyzed 13 psychoactive pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs and their metabolites in wastewater treatment plant influent and effluent and the possibility of their degradation by biological and chemical processes. Tramadol (413-853 ng/L) and methamphetamine (460-682 ng/L) were the most concentrated compounds in the wastewater in winter and summer, respectively. A significant decrease in the concentration of tramadol in wastewater was measured during the summer. The lowest efficiency was observed for tramadol, venlafaxine, citalopram and oxazepam (∼ 10%) and the highest efficiency was observed for amphetamine and THC-COOH (∼ 80%). The efficiency of compound degradation via the Fenton reaction, a modified Fenton reaction and different degradation (by algae, wood-rotting fungi and enzymes at influent versus effluent) was determined. The Fenton reaction and its modification were efficient at eliminating these substances in comparison with the tested biological processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Heterogeneity of the environmental regulation of industrial wastewater: European wineries.

PubMed

Román-Sánchez, Isabel M; Aznar-Sánchez, José A; Belmonte-Ureña, Luis J

2015-01-01

The European legislation of the pollution of industrial wastewater shows a high degree of heterogeneity. This fact implies that there is a market failure with relevant consequences. Within the European Union, each Member State performs a specific transposition of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60. The member states introduce different sanitation fees to correct water pollution. In this paper, the case of the European wine industry is analyzed. It studies the sanitation fees of the five major wine producing countries: France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Portugal. Results show significant differences among the wastewater fees and the study reveals how such heterogeneity leads to relevant market distortions. The research concludes that more homogeneous environmental regulation would promote more sustainable wine production processes with more efficient water management and purification systems, as well as the introduction of cutting edge technologies.

[Research on removal efficiency of Cd (II)-bearing wastewater by sulfate-reducing biological filter].

PubMed

Wu, Xuan; Tan, Ke-Yan; Hu, Xi-Jia; Gu, Yun; Yang, Hong

2014-04-01

At the temperature of 18.0-22.3 degrees C, biological carriers were produce from pure SRB and zeolite by the embedding immobilized method, and a sulfate-reducing biological filter filled with filter carriers was built to treat cadmium-containing wastewater. Experimental research on removal efficiency of Cd2+, COD and SO4(2-) in wastewater by the biological filter was carried out after SRB domestication. Results show that cadmium can be removed satisfactorily from wastewater using SRB by the biological filter filled with sulfate-reducing bacteria. When the filtration rate was 0.4 m x h(-1) and the cadmium concentration in wastewater was not more than 15 mg x L(-1), the processing efficiency was the best. In the formal running period, the removal rates of Cd2+, COD and SO4(2-) by the biological filter were more than 99%, 75% and 50%. The effluent Cd2+ concentration was less than 0.1 mg x L(-1), which could meet the cadmium emission requirements in the wastewater quality standards for discharge to municipal sewers (CJ 343-2010). The removal of Cd2+, COD and SO4(2-) by biological filter mainly occurs in the top 60 cm of the filter bed during stable operation. When the filtration rate was less than 0.6 m x h(-1), Cd(2+) can be removed by the biological filter with high efficiency and stability.

Water Purification Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

A water purification/recycling system developed by Photo-Catalytics, Inc. (PCI) for NASA is commercially available. The system cleanses and recycles water, using a "photo-catalysis" process in which light or radiant energy sparks a chemical reaction. Chemically stable semiconductor powders are added to organically polluted water. The powder absorbs ultraviolet light, and pollutants are oxidized and converted to carbon dioxide. Potential markets for the system include research and pharmaceutical manufacturing applications, as well as microchip manufacture and wastewater cleansing.

Effect of organic nitrogen concentration on the efficiency of trickling filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopeć, Łukasz; Drewnowski, Jakub; Fernandez-Morales, F. J.

2018-02-01

The study was conducted in Poland at six selected wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) based on the trickling filters Bioclere® technology. The aim of the study was to find the relationship between the influent organic nitrogen concentration and the purification efficiency expressed as effluent COD concentration. In the tests performed, the COD to BOD5 relationship was close to 2 and the ratio of BOD5 to TN was lower than 4. The research indicated that this specific chemical composition of raw wastewater causes appearance of filamentous bacteria on the surface of trickling filter filling and strongly affect the effluent quality.

Improving quality of textile wastewater with organic materials as multi soil layering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Supriyadi; Widijanto, H.; Pranoto; Dewi, AK

2016-02-01

On agricultural land, fresh water is needed especially for irrigation. Alternative ways to fulfill needs of fresh water is by utilizing wastewater from industry. Wastewater that produced in the industry in Surakarta is over flowing especially textile wastewater. Wastewater that produced from industry has many pollutants that affected decreasing fresh water quality for irrigation. Multi Soil Layering (MSL) is one of method that utilize the soil ability as main media by increasing its function of soil structure to purify wastewater, so it does not contaminate the environment and reusable. This research was purposed to know affectivity of organic materials (such as rice straw, baggase, sawdust, coconut fibre, and corncob) and dosage (5%, 10% and 25%) in MSL, also get alternative purification ways with easy and cheaper price as natural adsorbent. This study using field and laboratory experiment. The result shows that MSL can be an alternative method of purification of wastewater. The appropriate composition of organic materials that can be used as adsorbent is MSL with wood sawdust 10% dosage because it can increase pH, decrease the number of Cr, ammonia, and phosphate but less effective to decrease BOD and COD.

Evaluation of constructed wetlands by wastewater purification ability and greenhouse gas emissions.

PubMed

Gui, P; Inamori, R; Matsumura, M; Inamori, Y

2007-01-01

Domestic wastewater is a significant source of nitrogen and phosphorus, which cause lake eutrophication. Among the wastewater treatment technologies, constructed wetlands are a promising low-cost means of treating point and diffuse sources of domestic wastewater in rural areas. However, the sustainable operation of constructed wetland treatment systems depends upon a high rate conversion of organic and nitrogenous loading into their metabolic gaseous end products, such as N2O and CH4. In this study, we examined and compared the performance of three typical types of constructed wetlands: Free Water Surface (FWS), Subsurface Flow (SF) and Vertical Flow (VF) wetlands. Pollutant removal efficiency and N2O and CH4 emissions were assessed as measures of performance. We found that the pollutant removal rates and gas emissions measured in the wetlands exhibited clear seasonal changes, and these changes were closely associated with plant growth. VF wetlands exhibited stable removal of organic pollutants and NH3-N throughout the experiment regardless of season and showed great potential for CH4 adsorption. SF wetlands showed preferable T-N removal performance and a lower risk of greenhouse gas emissions than FWS wetlands. Soil oxidation reduction potential (ORP) analysis revealed that water flow structure and plant growth influenced constructed wetland oxygen transfer, and these variations resulted in seasonal changes of ORP distribution inside wetlands that were accompanied by fluctuations in pollutant removal and greenhouse gas emissions.

Treatment performance and microorganism community structure of integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland plots for domestic wastewater.

PubMed

Wu, Su-qing; Chang, Jun-jun; Dai, Yanran; Wu, Zhen-bin; Liang, Wei

2013-06-01

In order to investigate the treatment performance and microorganism mechanism of IVCW for domestic wastewater in central of China, two parallel pilot-scale IVCW systems were built to evaluate purification efficiencies, microbial community structure and enzyme activities. The results showed that mean removal efficiencies were 81.03 % for COD, 51.66 % for total nitrogen (TN), 42.50 % for NH4 (+)-N, and 68.01 % for TP. Significant positive correlations between nitrate reductase activities and TN and NH4 (+)-N removal efficiencies, along with a significant correlation between substrate enzyme activity and operation time, were observed. Redundancy analysis demonstrated gram-negative bacteria were mainly responsible for urease and phosphatase activities, and also played a major role in dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase activities. Meanwhile, anaerobic bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and saturated FA groups, gram-positive bacteria exhibited good correlations with the removal of COD (p=0.388), N (p=0.236), and TP (p=0.074), respectively. The IVCW system can be used to treat domestic wastewater effectively.

Efficient, ultra-high-affinity chromatography in a one-step purification of complex proteins

PubMed Central

Vassylyeva, Marina N.; Klyuyev, Sergiy; Vassylyev, Alexey D.; Wesson, Hunter; Zhang, Zhuo; Renfrow, Matthew B.; Wang, Hengbin; Higgins, N. Patrick; Chow, Louise T.; Vassylyev, Dmitry G.

2017-01-01

Protein purification is an essential primary step in numerous biological studies. It is particularly significant for the rapidly emerging high-throughput fields, such as proteomics, interactomics, and drug discovery. Moreover, purifications for structural and industrial applications should meet the requirement of high yield, high purity, and high activity (HHH). It is, therefore, highly desirable to have an efficient purification system with a potential to meet the HHH benchmark in a single step. Here, we report a chromatographic technology based on the ultra-high-affinity (Kd ∼ 10−14–10−17 M) complex between the Colicin E7 DNase (CE7) and its inhibitor, Immunity protein 7 (Im7). For this application, we mutated CE7 to create a CL7 tag, which retained the full binding affinity to Im7 but was inactivated as a DNase. To achieve high capacity, we developed a protocol for a large-scale production and highly specific immobilization of Im7 to a solid support. We demonstrated its utility with one-step HHH purification of a wide range of traditionally challenging biological molecules, including eukaryotic, membrane, toxic, and multisubunit DNA/RNA-binding proteins. The system is simple, reusable, and also applicable to pulldown and kinetic activity/binding assays. PMID:28607052

Degradation of organic pollutants and microorganisms from wastewater using different dielectric barrier discharge configurations--a critical review.

PubMed

Mouele, Emile S Massima; Tijani, Jimoh O; Fatoba, Ojo O; Petrik, Leslie F

2015-12-01

The growing global drinking water crisis requires the development of novel advanced, sustainable, and cost-effective water treatment technologies to supplement the existing conventional methods. One such technology is advanced oxidation based on dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). DBD such as single and double planar and single and double cylindrical dielectric barrier configurations have been utilized for efficient degradation of recalcitrant organic pollutants. The overall performance of the different DBD system varies and depends on several factors. Therefore, this review was compiled to give an overview of different DBD configurations vis-a-viz their applications and the in situ mechanism of generation of free reactive species for water and wastewater treatment. Our survey of the literature indicated that application of double cylindrical dielectric barrier configuration represents an ideal and viable route for achieving greater water and wastewater purification efficiency.

Forward Osmosis in Wastewater Treatment Processes.

PubMed

Korenak, Jasmina; Basu, Subhankar; Balakrishnan, Malini; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus; Petrinic, Irena

2017-01-01

In recent years, membrane technology has been widely used in wastewater treatment and water purification. Membrane technology is simple to operate and produces very high quality water for human consumption and industrial purposes. One of the promising technologies for water and wastewater treatment is the application of forward osmosis. Essentially, forward osmosis is a process in which water is driven through a semipermeable membrane from a feed solution to a draw solution due to the osmotic pressure gradient across the membrane. The immediate advantage over existing pressure driven membrane technologies is that the forward osmosis process per se eliminates the need for operation with high hydraulic pressure and forward osmosis has low fouling tendency. Hence, it provides an opportunity for saving energy and membrane replacement cost. However, there are many limitations that still need to be addressed. Here we briefly review some of the applications within water purification and new developments in forward osmosis membrane fabrication.

Dynamic Membrane Technology for Printing Wastewater Reuse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lin; Lu, Xujie; Chen, Jihua

As environmental regulations become rigid and the cost of freshwater increases, wastewater is considered as a major resource in China. The paper presented a study on the implementation of the advanced treatment process using dynamic membrane (DM) in reusing of printing wastewater. The DM was well formed by circulating 1.5g/L of PAC in 20 minutes, the trans-membrane pressure of 200 kPa and the cross-flow velocity of 0.75m/s. The printing effluents were treated in effluent treatment plants comprising a physicochemical option followed by biological process. The treated effluent contained chemical oxygen demand (COD), color and turbidity in the range of 45-60 mg/L, 0.030-0.045 (absorbance at 420 nm) and 3-5 NTU. The results showed that the COD, color and turbidity removal efficiencies of the DM permeate were 84%, 85% and 80%, respectively. The wastewater treated by DM was reused as process water and the final concentrated retentate could be discharged directly into sewage treatment works with no additional treatments. Cleaning and regeneration of DM were very convenient if necessary. The proper process was that the polluted DM was cleaned with tap water at high cross-flow velocity. When irreversible pollutants accumulate, it would be rinsed with chemicals tested and the membrane flux would be restored up to 95%. The result showed that DM was considered as a promising method for purification aimed at reuse of printing wastewater, resulting in direct environmental and economic benefits.

Air/Water Purification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

After 18 years of research into air/water pollution at Stennis Space Center, Dr. B. C. Wolverton formed his own company, Wolverton Environmental Services, Inc., to provide technology and consultation in air and water treatment. Common houseplants are used to absorb potentially harmful materials from bathrooms and kitchens. The plants are fertilized, air is purified, and wastewater is converted to clean water. More than 100 U.S. communities have adopted Wolverton's earlier water hyacinth and artificial marsh applications. Catfish farmers are currently evaluating the artificial marsh technology as a purification system.

Removal of antibiotics from piggery wastewater by biological aerated filter system: Treatment efficiency and biodegradation kinetics.

PubMed

Chen, Jun; Liu, You-Sheng; Zhang, Jin-Na; Yang, Yong-Qiang; Hu, Li-Xin; Yang, Yuan-Yuan; Zhao, Jian-Liang; Chen, Fan-Rong; Ying, Guang-Guo

2017-08-01

This study aimed to investigate the removal efficiency and mechanism for antibiotics in swine wastewater by a biological aerated filter system (BAF system) in combination with laboratory aerobic and anaerobic incubation experiments. Nine antibiotics including sulfamonomethoxine, sulfachloropyridazine, sulfamethazine, trimethoprim, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, lincomycin, leucomycin and oxytetracycline were detected in the wastewater with concentrations up to 192,000ng/L. The results from this pilot study showed efficient removals (>82%) of the conventional wastewater pollutants (BOD 5 , COD, TN and NH 3 -N) and the detected nine antibiotics by the BAF system. Laboratory simulation experiment showed first-order dissipation kinetics for the nine antibiotics in the wastewater under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The biodegradation kinetic parameters successfully predicted the fate of the nine antibiotics in the BAF system. This suggests that biodegradation was the dominant process for antibiotic removal in the BAF system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of ozone in a pilot-scale plant for textile wastewater pre-treatment: physico-chemical efficiency, degradation by-products identification and environmental toxicity of treated wastewater.

PubMed

Somensi, Cleder A; Simionatto, Edésio L; Bertoli, Sávio L; Wisniewski, Alberto; Radetski, Claudemir M

2010-03-15

In this study, ozonation of raw textile wastewater was conducted in a pilot-scale plant and the efficiency of this treatment was evaluated based on the parameters color removal and soluble organic matter measured as chemical oxygen demand (COD), at two pH values (9.1 and 3.0). Identification of intermediate and final degradation products of ozone pre-treatment, as well as the evaluation of the final ecotoxicity (Lumistox test) of pre-treated wastewater, was also carried out. After 4h of ozone treatment with wastewater recirculation (flow rate of 0.45 m(3)h(-1)) the average efficiencies for color removal were 67.5% (pH 9.1) and 40.6% (pH 3.0), while COD reduction was 25.5% (pH 9.1) and 18.7% (pH 3.0) for an ozone production capacity of 20 g h(-1). Furthermore, ozonation enhances the biodegradability of textile wastewater (BOD(5)/COD ratios) by a factor of up to 6.8-fold. A GC-MS analysis of pre-treated textile wastewater showed that some products were present at the end of the pre-treatment time. In spite of this fact, the bacterial luminescence inhibition test (Lumistox test) showed a significant toxicity reduction on comparing the raw and treated textile wastewater. In conclusion, pre-ozonation of textile wastewater is an important step in terms of improving wastewater biodegradability, as well as reducing acute ecotoxicity, which should be removed completely through sequential biological treatment. (c) 2009. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Application of gas sensor arrays in assessment of wastewater purification effects.

PubMed

Guz, Łukasz; Łagód, Grzegorz; Jaromin-Gleń, Katarzyna; Suchorab, Zbigniew; Sobczuk, Henryk; Bieganowski, Andrzej

2014-12-23

A gas sensor array consisting of eight metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) type gas sensors was evaluated for its ability for assessment of the selected wastewater parameters. Municipal wastewater was collected in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in a primary sedimentation tank and was treated in a laboratory-scale sequential batch reactor (SBR). A comparison of the gas sensor array (electronic nose) response to the standard physical-chemical parameters of treated wastewater was performed. To analyze the measurement results, artificial neural networks were used. E-nose-gas sensors array and artificial neural networks proved to be a suitable method for the monitoring of treated wastewater quality. Neural networks used for data validation showed high correlation between the electronic nose readouts and: (I) chemical oxygen demand (COD) (r = 0.988); (II) total suspended solids (TSS) (r = 0.938); (III) turbidity (r = 0.940); (IV) pH (r = 0.554); (V) nitrogen compounds: N-NO3 (r = 0.958), N-NO2 (r = 0.869) and N-NH3 (r = 0.978); (VI) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) (r = 0.987). Good correlation of the abovementioned parameters are observed under stable treatment conditions in a laboratory batch reactor.

Biochar-based functional materials in the purification of agricultural wastewater: Fabrication, application and future research needs.

PubMed

Wei, Dongning; Li, Bingyu; Huang, Hongli; Luo, Lin; Zhang, Jiachao; Yang, Yuan; Guo, Jiajun; Tang, Lin; Zeng, Guangming; Zhou, Yaoyu

2018-04-01

Nowadays, agricultural contamination is becoming more and more serious due to the rapid growth of agricultural industry, which discharged antibiotics, pesticides or toxic metals into farmlands. A large number of researchers have applied biochar-based functional materials to the treatment of agricultural wastewater contamination. Meanwhile, biochar has also proved to be a very promising and effective technology in water purification field due to its various beneficial properties (e.g., cost effective, high specific surface area, and surface reactive groups). The focus of this review is to highlight the fabrication methods and application of biochar-based functional materials with the removal of different agricultural contaminants, and discuss the underlying mechanisms. However, the application of biochar-based functional materials is currently under its infancy, with the main hindrance is identified as the gap between laboratory scale and field application, immaturity of engineered biochar production technologies, and lack of quality standards. In order to fill these knowledge gaps, more efforts should be made to pay for the relevant research in future studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Plasmonic Colloidal Photocatalyst Composed of a Metal-Organic Framework Core and a Gold/Anatase Shell for Visible-Light-Driven Wastewater Purification from Antibiotics and Hydrogen Evolution.

PubMed

Tilgner, Dominic; Kempe, Rhett

2017-03-02

Porous coordination polymers (PCP) or metal- organic frameworks (MOF) are promising materials for the generation of photocatalytically active composite materials. Here, a novel synthesis concept is reported, which permits the formation of PCP/MOF-core-Au/anatase-shell materials. These materials are photocatalysts for wastewater purification and hydrogen generation from water under visible-light illumination. MIL-101 (Cr) is utilized as the core material, which directs the size of the core-shell compound and ensures the overall stability. In addition, its excellent reversible large molecule sorption behavior allows the materials synthesis. The crystalline anatase shell is generated stepwise under mild conditions using titanium(IV) isopropoxide as a precursor. The high degree of control of the vapor phase deposition process permits the precise anatase shell formation. The generation of plasmonic active gold particles on the TiO 2 shell leads to an efficient material for visible-light-driven photocatalysis with a higher activity than gold-decorated P25 (Degussa). © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Dielectric barrier discharge-based investigation and analysis of wastewater treatment and pollutant removal.

PubMed

Ramdani, N; Lousdad, A; Tilmatine, A; Nemmich, S

2016-01-01

Current research reveals that the oxidation by ozone is considered as an effective solution and offers irrefutable advantages in wastewater treatment. It is also well known that ozone is used to treat different types of water due to its effectiveness in water purification and for its oxidation potential. This process of ozonation is becoming progressively an alternative technology and is inscribed in a sustainable development perspective in Algeria. In this regards, the present paper investigates the wastewater treatment process by ozone produced by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) under high potential. Three (DBD) ozone generators of cylindrical form have been used, at a laboratory scale, for treating collected samples from the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the city of Sidi-Bel-Abbes located in the west of Algeria. Our experimental results reveal the efficiency of this type of treatment on the basis of the physicochemical analysis (pH, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, heavy metals) and microbial analysis downstream of the WWTP, which showed a high rate of elimination of all the parameters.

Optimization of electrocoagulation (EC) process for the purification of a real industrial wastewater from toxic metals.

PubMed

Gatsios, Evangelos; Hahladakis, John N; Gidarakos, Evangelos

2015-05-01

In the present work, the efficiency evaluation of electrocoagulation (EC) in removing toxic metals from a real industrial wastewater, collected from Aspropyrgos, Athens, Greece was investigated. Manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) at respective concentrations of 5 mg/L, 5 mg/L and 10 mg/L were present in the wastewater (pH=6), originated from the wastes produced by EBO-PYRKAL munitions industry and Hellenic Petroleum Elefsis Refineries. The effect of operational parameters such as electrode combination and distance, applied current, initial pH and initial metal concentration, was studied. The results indicated that Cu and Zn were totally removed in all experiments, while Mn exhibited equally high removal percentages (approximately 90%). Decreasing the initial pH and increasing the distance between electrodes, resulted in a negative effect on the efficiency and energy consumption of the process. On the other hand, increasing the applied current, favored metal removal but resulted in a power consumption increase. Different initial concentrations did not affect metal removal efficiency. The optimal results, regarding both cost and EC efficiency, were obtained with a combination of iron electrodes, at 2 cm distance, at initial current of 0.1 A and pH=6. After 90 min of treatment, maximum removal percentages obtained were 89% for Mn, 100% for Cu and 100% for Zn, at an energy consumption of 2.55 kWh/m(3). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Removal Efficiency of COD, Total P and Total N Components from Municipal Wastewater using Hollow-fibre MBR.

PubMed

Petrinić, Irena; Curlin, Mirjana; Korenak, Jasmina; Simonič, Marjana

2011-06-01

The membrane bioreactor (MBR) integrates well within the conventionally activated sludge system regarding advanced membrane separation for wastewater treatment. Over the last decade, a number of MBR systems have been constructed worldwide and this system is now accepted as a technology of choice for wastewater treatment especially for municipal wastewater. The aim of this work was to investigate and compare submerged MBR with conventionally-activated sludge system for the treatment of municipal wastewater in Maribor, Slovenia. It can be concluded from the results, that the efficiencies being determined by the parameters were satisfied, such as, chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorous, and total nitrogen, which were 97%, 75%, and 90%, respectively. The efficiencies of ultrafiltration membrane for the same parameters were also determined, and compared with biological treatment. The results of this analysis show an additional effect regarding an improvement in the quality of the permeate but primary treatment is also very important. For successfully application of MBR system smaller grid for primary treatment is needed.

Enzymatic Purification of Microplastics in Environmental Samples.

PubMed

Löder, Martin G J; Imhof, Hannes K; Ladehoff, Maike; Löschel, Lena A; Lorenz, Claudia; Mintenig, Svenja; Piehl, Sarah; Primpke, Sebastian; Schrank, Isabella; Laforsch, Christian; Gerdts, Gunnar

2017-12-19

Micro-Fourier transform infrared (micro-FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy enable the reliable identification and quantification of microplastics (MPs) in the lower micron range. Since concentrations of MPs in the environment are usually low, the large sample volumes required for these techniques lead to an excess of coenriched organic or inorganic materials. While inorganic materials can be separated from MPs using density separation, the organic fraction impedes the ability to conduct reliable analyses. Hence, the purification of MPs from organic materials is crucial prior to conducting an identification via spectroscopic techniques. Strong acidic or alkaline treatments bear the danger of degrading sensitive synthetic polymers. We suggest an alternative method, which uses a series of technical grade enzymes for purifying MPs in environmental samples. A basic enzymatic purification protocol (BEPP) proved to be efficient while reducing 98.3 ± 0.1% of the sample matrix in surface water samples. After showing a high recovery rate (84.5 ± 3.3%), the BEPP was successfully applied to environmental samples from the North Sea where numbers of MPs range from 0.05 to 4.42 items m -3 . Experiences with different environmental sample matrices were considered in an improved and universally applicable version of the BEPP, which is suitable for focal plane array detector (FPA)-based micro-FTIR analyses of water, wastewater, sediment, biota, and food samples.

Wastewater Treatment: The Natural Way

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

Wolverton Environmental Services, Inc. is widely acclaimed for innovative work in natural water purification which involves use of aquatic plants to remove pollutants from wastewater at a relatively low-cost. Haughton, Louisiana, visited Wolverton's artificial marsh test site and decided to use this method of wastewater treatment. They built an 11 acre sewage lagoon with a 70 by 900 foot artificial marsh called a vascular aquatic plant microbial filter cell. In the cell, microorganisms and rooted aquatic plants combine to absorb and digest wastewater pollutants, thereby converting sewage to relatively clean water. Raw waste water, after a period in the sewage lagoon, flows over a rock bed populated by microbes that digest nutrients and minerals from the sewage thus partially cleaning it. Additional treatment is provided by the aquatic plants growing in the rock bed, which absorb more of the pollutants and help deodorize the sewage.

Starvation is more efficient than the washing technique for purification of rat Sertoli cells.

PubMed

Ghasemzadeh-Hasankolaei, Mohammad; Eslaminejad, Mohamadreza Baghaban; Sedighi-Gilani, Mohammadali; Mokarizadeh, Aram

2014-09-01

Sertoli cells (SCs), one of the most important components of seminiferous tubules, are vital for normal spermatogenesis and male fertility. In recent years, numerous in vitro studies have shown the potential and actual activities of SCs. However, pure SCs are necessary for various in vitro studies. In this study, we have evaluated the efficiency of the starvation method for SC purification as compared with the washing method. Seminiferous tubule-derived cells (STDCs) of rats' testes underwent two different techniques for SC purification. In the first group (washing group), the medium was changed every 3-4 d, and cells were washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline that lacked CaC12 and MgSO4 (PBS(-)) before the addition of fresh medium. In the second group (starvation), the medium was changed every 7-8 d. Primary culture (P0), passage 1 (P1), and passage 2 (P2) cells were analyzed for the expression of SC-specific genes, vimentin, Wilm's tumor 1 (WT1), germ cell gene (vasa), Leydig cell marker, 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 (Hsd17b3), and a marker of peritubular myoid cells, alpha smooth muscle actin (αSma), by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real-time RT-PCR. Gene expression analysis showed that P0 cells expressed all tested genes except Hsd17b3. The starvation method caused significant downregulation of vasa and αSma expression in P0, P1, and P2 cells, whereas vimentin and WT1 were upregulated. In contrast, the washing method was less effective than the starvation method for the removal of germ and pretubular myoid cells (p < 0.001). Totally, the results have revealed that although washing is the only common technique for elimination of contaminant cells in SC cultures, starvation has a stronger effect and is a suitable, affordable technique for SC purification. We propose that starvation is an efficient, inexpensive method that can be used for purification of SCs in animal species.

Highly efficient purification of protein complexes from mammalian cells using a novel streptavidin-binding peptide and hexahistidine tandem tag system: Application to Bruton's tyrosine kinase

PubMed Central

Li, Yifeng; Franklin, Sarah; Zhang, Michael J; Vondriska, Thomas M

2011-01-01

Tandem affinity purification (TAP) is a generic approach for the purification of protein complexes. The key advantage of TAP is the engineering of dual affinity tags that, when attached to the protein of interest, allow purification of the target protein along with its binding partners through two consecutive purification steps. The tandem tag used in the original method consists of two IgG-binding units of protein A from Staphylococcus aureus (ProtA) and the calmodulin-binding peptide (CBP), and it allows for recovery of 20–30% of the bait protein in yeast. When applied to higher eukaryotes, however, this classical TAP tag suffers from low yields. To improve protein recovery in systems other than yeast, we describe herein the development of a three-tag system comprised of CBP, streptavidin-binding peptide (SBP) and hexa-histidine. We illustrate the application of this approach for the purification of human Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk), which results in highly efficient binding and elution of bait protein in both purification steps (>50% recovery). Combined with mass spectrometry for protein identification, this TAP strategy facilitated the first nonbiased analysis of Btk interacting proteins. The high efficiency of the SBP-His6 purification allows for efficient recovery of protein complexes formed with a target protein of interest from a small amount of starting material, enhancing the ability to detect low abundance and transient interactions in eukaryotic cell systems. PMID:21080425

Extraction of anthocyanins from black bean canning wastewater with macroporous resins.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoxi; Hansen, Conly; Allen, Karin

2014-02-01

This study investigated purification of anthocyanins from black bean canning wastewater by column chromatography with 5 types of macroporous resins (Diaion Hp20, Sepabeads Sp70, Sepabeads Sp207, Sepabeads Sp700, and Sepabeads Sp710). By-product of canned black beans was partially purified by filtration, in anticipation of higher performance during column chromatography. Equilibrium adsorption isotherms were measured and analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Both Langmuir (all R² ≥ 0.98) and Freundlich (all R² ≥ 0.97) models can describe the adsorption process of anthocyanins from black bean canning wastewater using the tested resins. The adsorption and desorption behaviors of anthocyanins were studied using a dynamic method on the 5 types of resins, and Sp700 presented the highest adsorption capacity (39 ± 4 mg/g; P < 0.05) as well as desorption capacity (19 ± 2%; P < 0.05), indicating that of the resins examined, Sp700 is a better candidate for purification of anthocyanins from black bean canning wastewater. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

Applications of nanotechnology in wastewater treatment--a review.

PubMed

Bora, Tanujjal; Dutta, Joydeep

2014-01-01

Water on Earth is a precious and finite resource, which is endlessly recycled in the water cycle. Water, whose physical, chemical, or biological properties have been altered due to the addition of contaminants such as organic/inorganic materials, pathogens, heavy metals or other toxins making it unsafe for the ecosystem, can be termed as wastewater. Various schemes have been adopted by industries across the world to treat wastewater prior to its release to the ecosystem, and several new concepts and technologies are fast replacing the traditional methods. This article briefly reviews the recent advances and application of nanotechnology for wastewater treatment. Nanomaterials typically have high reactivity and a high degree of functionalization, large specific surface area, size-dependent properties etc., which makes them suitable for applications in wastewater treatment and for water purification. In this article, the application of various nanomaterials such as metal nanoparticles, metal oxides, carbon compounds, zeolite, filtration membranes, etc., in the field of wastewater treatment is discussed.

Technology of surface wastewater purification, including high-rise construction areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsyba, Anna; Skolubovich, Yury

2018-03-01

Despite on the improvements in the quality of high-rise construction areas and industrial wastewater treatment, the pollution of water bodies continues to increase. This is due to the organized and unorganized surface untreated sewage entry into the reservoirs. The qualitative analysis of some cities' surface sewage composition is carried out in the work. Based on the published literature review, the characteristic contamination present in surface wastewater was identified. The paper proposes a new technology for the treatment of surface sewage and presents the results of preliminary studies.

Improving domestic wastewater treatment efficiency with constructed wetland microbial fuel cells: Influence of anode material and external resistance.

PubMed

Corbella, Clara; Puigagut, Jaume

2018-08-01

For the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in the operation of constructed wetlands as microbial fuel cells (CW-MFCs) for both the improvement of wastewater treatment efficiency and the production of energy. However, there is still scarce information on design and operation aspects to maximize CW-MFCs efficiency, especially for the treatment of real domestic wastewater. The aim of this study was to quantify the extent of treatment efficiency improvement carried out by membrane-less MFCs simulating a core of a shallow un-planted horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland. The influence of the external resistance (50, 220, 402, 604 and 1000Ω) and the anode material (graphite and gravel) on treatment efficiency improvement were addressed. To this purpose, 6 lab-scale membrane-less MFCs were set-up and loaded in batch mode with domestic wastewater for 13weeks. Results showed that 220Ω was the best operation condition for maximising MFCs treatment efficiency, regardless the anode material employed. Gravel-based anode MFCs operated at closed circuit showed ca. 18%, 15%, 31% and 25% lower effluent concentration than unconnected MFCs to the COD, TOC, PO 4 -3 and NH 4 + -N, respectively. Main conclusion of the present work is that constructed wetlands operated as MFCs is a promising strategy to improve domestic wastewater treatment efficiency. However, further studies at pilot scale under more realistic conditions (such as planted systems operated under continuous mode) shall be performed to confirm the findings here reported. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Efficiency of beef extract for the recovery of poliovirus from wastewater effluents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Landry, E.F.; Vaughn, J.M.; Thomas, M.Z.

1978-10-01

The efficiency of poliovirus elution from fiber glass cartridge filters (K27), epoxy-fiber glass-asbestos filters (M780), and pleated cartridge filters was assessed by using 3% beef extract (pH 9.0) or 0.1 M glycine (pH 11.5). Poliovirus type I, strain LSc, was seeded into 20 to 25 gallon (ca. 75.6 to 95.6 liter) samples of treated sewage effluent and concentrated by using a filter adsorption-elution technique. Virus elution was accomplished by using either two 600-ml portions of 3% beef extract (pH 9.0), or two 1 liter portions of 0.1 M glycine (pH 11.5). In all experiments, beef extract elution followed by organicmore » flocculation was found to be superior, yielding a mean recovery efficiency of 85%, with recoveries ranging from 68 to 100%. Elution with 0.1 M glycine (pH 11.5) followed by inorganic flocculation resulted in a mean recovery efficiency of 36%. The variable range of recoveries with beef extract could not be significantly improved by varying the type of beef extract or by extending the elution time to 30 min. Second-step reconcentration of 1 liter seeded sewage effluent and renovated wastewater samples indicated that organic flocculation was a more efficient method for virus recovery than inorganic flocculation. Beef extract concentrations of less than 3% were found to be efficient in the recovery of poliovirus from renovated wastewater.« less

The use of low-cost adsorbents for wastewater purification in mining industries.

PubMed

Iakovleva, Evgenia; Sillanpää, Mika

2013-11-01

Recently, great attention has been paid to the environmental problems in mining industry. At present there are different ways of mineral processing, as well as various methods of wastewater treatment, most of them are expensive. Work is ongoing to find low-cost treatments. In this article, low-cost adsorbents, potentially useful for wastewater treatment on mining and metallurgical plants, are reviewed; their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of their application are compared. Also adsorption of different metals and radioactive compounds from acidic environment similar to composition of mining and metallurgical wastewaters is considered.

Study on degrading graphene oxide in wastewater under different conditions for developing an efficient and economical degradation method.

PubMed

Li, Ting; Zhang, Chao-Zhi; Gu, Chengyue

2017-12-01

With popular application of graphene and graphene oxide (GO), they have been discharged into water. Graphene and GO harm organisms. However, an efficient and economical method for removing graphene and GO in wastewater has seldom been reported. Graphene can be oxidized by hydrogen peroxide to give GO; therefore, degradation of graphene oxide is an important step in the procedure of removal of graphene from water. In this paper, GO degradation via photo-Fenton reaction under different conditions was carried out. Experimental results suggested that GO in wastewater can be efficiently and economically degraded into carbon dioxide and H 2 O when pH value is 3, concentration of H 2 O 2 and FeCl 3 are 35 mM and 5 ppm, respectively. Degradation mechanism of GO was suggested based on UV-vis absorption spectra, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectra data of degradation intermediates. This paper suggests an efficient and economical degradation way of GO in wastewater.

Microbial Community Profiles in Wastewaters from Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Technology

PubMed Central

Jałowiecki, Łukasz; Chojniak, Joanna Małgorzata; Dorgeloh, Elmar; Hegedusova, Berta; Ejhed, Helene; Magnér, Jörgen; Płaza, Grażyna Anna

2016-01-01

The aim of the study was to determine the potential of community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs) methodology as an assay for characterization of the metabolic diversity of wastewater samples and to link the metabolic diversity patterns to efficiency of select onsite biological wastewater facilities. Metabolic fingerprints obtained from the selected samples were used to understand functional diversity implied by the carbon substrate shifts. Three different biological facilities of onsite wastewater treatment were evaluated: fixed bed reactor (technology A), trickling filter/biofilter system (technology B), and aerated filter system (the fluidized bed reactor, technology C). High similarities of the microbial community functional structures were found among the samples from the three onsite wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as shown by the diversity indices. Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that the diversity and CLPPs of microbial communities depended on the working efficiency of the wastewater treatment technologies. This study provided an overall picture of microbial community functional structures of investigated samples in WWTPs and discerned the linkages between microbial communities and technologies of onsite WWTPs used. The results obtained confirmed that metabolic profiles could be used to monitor treatment processes as valuable biological indicators of onsite wastewater treatment technologies efficiency. This is the first step toward understanding relations of technology types with microbial community patterns in raw and treated wastewaters. PMID:26807728

Removal of chromium(III) from tannery wastewater using activated carbon from sugar industrial waste.

PubMed

Fahim, N F; Barsoum, B N; Eid, A E; Khalil, M S

2006-08-21

Chromium is commonly found in huge quantities in tannery wastewaters. For this reason, the removal and recovery of the chromium content of tannery wastewaters is crucial for environmental protection and economic reasons. Removal and recovery of chromium were carried out by using low-cost potential adsorbents. For this purpose three types of activated carbon; C1, the waste generated from sugar industry as waste products and the others (C2, C3) are commercial granular activated carbon, were used. The adsorption process and extent of adsorption are dependent on the physical and chemical characteristics of the adsorbent, adsorbate and experimental condition. The effect of pH, particle size and different adsorbent on the adsorption isotherm of Cr(III) was studied in batch system. The sorption data fitted well with Langmuir adsorption model. The efficiencies of activated carbon for the removal of Cr(III) were found to be 98.86, 98.6 and 93 % for C1, C2 and C3, respectively. The order of selectivity is C1>C2>C3 for removal of Cr(III) from tannery wastewater. Carbon "C1" of the highest surface area (520.66 m(2)/g) and calcium content (333.3 mg/l) has the highest adsorptive capacity for removal of Cr(III). The results revealed that the trivalent chromium is significantly adsorbed on activated carbon collected from sugar industry as waste products and the method could be used economically as an efficient technique for removal of Cr(III) and purification of tannery wastewaters.

Simultaneous photocatalytic and microbial degradation of dye-containing wastewater by a novel g-C3N4-P25/photosynthetic bacteria composite

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xinying; Wu, Yan; Xiao, Gao; Tang, Zhenping; Wang, Meiyin; Liu, Fuchang; Zhu, Xuefeng

2017-01-01

Azo dyes are very resistant to light-induced fading and biodegradation. Existing advanced oxidative pre-treatment methods based on the generation of non-selective radicals cannot efficiently remove these dyes from wastewater streams, and post-treatment oxidative dye removal is problematic because it may leave many byproducts with unknown toxicity profiles in the outgoing water, or cause expensive complete mineralization. These problems could potentially be overcome by combining photocatalysis and biodegradation. A novel visible-light-responsive hybrid dye removal agent featuring both photocatalysts (g-C3N4-P25) and photosynthetic bacteria encapsulated in calcium alginate beads was prepared by self-assembly. This system achieved a removal efficiency of 94% for the dye reactive brilliant red X-3b and also reduced the COD of synthetic wastewater samples by 84.7%, successfully decolorized synthetic dye-contaminated wastewater and reduced its COD, demonstrating the advantages of combining photocatalysis and biocatalysis for wastewater purification. The composite apparently degrades X-3b by initially converting the dye into aniline and phenol derivatives whose aryl moieties are then attacked by free radicals to form alkyl derivatives, preventing the accumulation of aromatic hydrocarbons that might suppress microbial activity. These alkyl intermediates are finally degraded by the photosynthetic bacteria. PMID:28273118

Industrial wastewater treatment with a bioelectrochemical process: assessment of depuration efficiency and energy production.

PubMed

Molognoni, Daniele; Chiarolla, Stefania; Cecconet, Daniele; Callegari, Arianna; Capodaglio, Andrea G

2018-01-01

Development of renewable energy sources, efficient industrial processes, energy/chemicals recovery from wastes are research issues that are quite contemporary. Bioelectrochemical processes represent an eco-innovative technology for energy and resources recovery from both domestic and industrial wastewaters. The current study was conducted to: (i) assess bioelectrochemical treatability of industrial (dairy) wastewater by microbial fuel cells (MFCs); (ii) determine the effects of the applied organic loading rate (OLR) on MFC performance; (iii) identify factors responsible for reactor energy recovery losses (i.e. overpotentials). For this purpose, an MFC was built and continuously operated for 72 days, during which the anodic chamber was fed with dairy wastewater and the cathodic chamber with an aerated mineral solution. The study demonstrated that industrial effluents from agrifood facilities can be treated by bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) with >85% (average) organic matter removal, recovering power at an observed maximum density of 27 W m -3 . Outcomes were better than in previous (shorter) analogous experiences, and demonstrate that this type of process could be successfully used for dairy wastewater with several advantages.

Combined electron-beam and coagulation purification of molasses distillery slops. Features of the method, technical and economic evaluation of large-scale facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pikaev, A. K.; Ponomarev, A. V.; Bludenko, A. V.; Minin, V. N.; Elizar'eva, L. M.

2001-04-01

The paper summarizes the results obtained from the study on combined electron-beam and coagulation method for purification of molasses distillery slops from distillery produced ethyl alcohol by fermentation of grain, potato, beet and some other plant materials. The method consists in preliminary mixing of industrial wastewater with municipal wastewater, electron-beam treatment of the mixture and subsequent coagulation. Technical and economic evaluation of large-scale facility (output of 7000 m 3 day -1) with two powerful cascade electron accelerators (total maximum beam power of 400 kW) for treatment of the wastewater by the above method was carried out. It was calculated that the cost of purification of the wastes is equal to 0.25 US$ m -3 that is noticeably less than in the case of the existing method.

Education of Technicians for Water Conservation and Wastewater Control.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooking, Walter J.

There is a growing need for supportive personnel with technical preparation in water and wastewater purification and water resource conservation. A curriculum and program guide was developed in 1965-66 by Fayetteville Technical Institute for use by institutions interested in establishing a program to educate technicians. Meeting the need for…

Production of a High Efficiency Microbial Flocculant by Proteus mirabilis TJ-1 Using Compound Organic Wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhiqiang; Xia, Siqing; Zhang, Jiao

2010-11-01

The production of a high efficiency microbial flocculant (MBF) by Proteus mirabilis TJ-1 using compound organic wastewater was investigated. To cut down the cost of the MBF production, several nutritive organic wastewaters were selected to replace glucose and peptone as the carbon source and the nitrogen source in the optimized medium of strain TJ-1, respectively. The compound wastewater of the milk candy and the soybean milk was found to be good carbon source and nitrogen source for this strain to produce MBF. The cost-effective culture medium consists of (per liter): 800 mL wastewater of milk candy, 200 mL wastewater of soybean milk, 0.3 g MgSO4ṡ7 H2O, 5 g K2HPO4, 2 g and KH2PO4, pH 7.0. The economic cost for the MBF production can be cut down over a half by using the developed culture medium. Furthermore, the utilization of the two wastewaters in the preparation of culture medium of strain TJ-1 can not only save their big treatment cost, but also realize their resource reuse.

Treatment of municipal wastewater in full-scale on-site sand filter reduces BOD efficiently but does not reach requirements for nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

PubMed

Laaksonen, Petteri; Sinkkonen, Aki; Zaitsev, Gennadi; Mäkinen, Esa; Grönroos, Timo; Romantschuk, Martin

2017-04-01

A traditional sand filter for treatment of household wastewater was constructed in the fall of 2012 at Biolinja 12, Turku, Finland. Construction work was led and monitored by an authorized wastewater treatment consultant. The filter was placed on a field bordered by open ditches from all sides in order to collect excess rain and snowmelt waters. The filter was constructed and insulated from the environment so that all outflowing water was accounted for. Untreated, mainly municipal, wastewater from Varissuo suburb was pumped from a sewer separately via three septic tanks (volume = 1 m 3 each) into the filters. Normally, wastewater was distributed to ground filters automatically according to pre-programmed schedule. Initially, the daily flow was 1200 L day -1 to reflect the average organic load of a household of five persons (load: ca 237 g day -1 BOD; 73 g day -1 total N; and 10.4 g day -1 total P). Later in the test, the flow rate was decreased first to 900 and then to 600 L day -1 to better reflect the average volume produced by five persons. Volumes of inlet wastewater as well as treated water were monitored by magnetic flow meters. Samples were withdrawn from the inlet water, from the water entering the filters after the third septic tank, and from the outflowing water. After an initial adaption time, the reductions in BOD and chemical oxygen demand were constantly between 92 and 98%, showing that the biological degradation process in the filters functioned optimally and clearly comply with the national and EU standards. The reduction in total nitrogen and total phosphorus, however, reached required levels only during the first months of testing, apparently when buildup of microbial biomass was still ongoing. After this initial period of 3 months showing satisfactory reduction levels, the reduction of total nitrogen varied between 5 and 25% and total phosphorus mostly between 50 and 65%. Nitrification was efficient in the filter, but as indicated

Simple and Efficient Purification of Recombinant Proteins Using the Heparin-Binding Affinity Tag.

PubMed

Jayanthi, Srinivas; Gundampati, Ravi Kumar; Kumar, Thallapuranam Krishnaswamy Suresh

2017-11-01

Heparin, a member of the glycosaminoglycan family, is known to interact with more than 400 different types of proteins. For the past few decades, significant progress has been made to understand the molecular details involved in heparin-protein interactions. Based on the structural knowledge available from the FGF1-heparin interaction studies, we have designed a novel heparin-binding peptide (HBP) affinity tag that can be used for the simple, efficient, and cost-effective purification of recombinant proteins of interest. HBP-tagged fusion proteins can be purified by heparin Sepharose affinity chromatography using a simple sodium chloride gradient to elute the bound fusion protein. In addition, owing to the high density of positive charges on the HBP tag, recombinant target proteins are preferably expressed in their soluble forms. The purification of HBP-fusion proteins can also be achieved in the presence of chemical denaturants, including urea. Additionally, polyclonal antibodies raised against the affinity tag can be used to detect HBP-fused target proteins with high sensitivity. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cork boiling wastewater treatment and reuse through combination of advanced oxidation technologies.

PubMed

Ponce-Robles, L; Miralles-Cuevas, S; Oller, I; Agüera, A; Trinidad-Lozano, M J; Yuste, F J; Malato, S

2017-03-01

Industrial preparation of cork consists of its immersion for approximately 1 hour in boiling water. The use of herbicides and pesticides in oak tree forests leads to absorption of these compounds by cork; thus, after boiling process, they are present in wastewater. Cork boiling wastewater shows low biodegradability and high acute toxicity involving partial inhibition of their biodegradation when conventional biological treatment is applied. In this work, a treatment line strategy based on the combination of advanced physicochemical technologies is proposed. The final objective is the reuse of wastewater in the cork boiling process; thus, reducing consumption of fresh water in the industrial process itself. Coagulation pre-treatment with 0.5 g/L of FeCl 3 attained the highest turbidity elimination (86 %) and 29 % of DOC elimination. Similar DOC removal was attained when using 1 g/L of ECOTAN BIO (selected for ozonation tests), accompanied of 64 % of turbidity removal. Ozonation treatments showed less efficiency in the complete oxidation of cork boiling wastewater, compared to solar photo-Fenton process, under the studied conditions. Nanofiltration system was successfully employed as a final purification step with the aim of obtaining a high-quality reusable permeate stream. Monitoring of unknown compounds by LC-QTOF-MS allowed the qualitative evaluation of the whole process. Acute and chronic toxicity as well as biodegradability assays were performed throughout the whole proposed treatment line.

Evaluation of virus reduction efficiency in wastewater treatment unit processes as a credit value in the multiple-barrier system for wastewater reclamation and reuse.

PubMed

Ito, Toshihiro; Kato, Tsuyoshi; Hasegawa, Makoto; Katayama, Hiroyuki; Ishii, Satoshi; Okabe, Satoshi; Sano, Daisuke

2016-12-01

The virus reduction efficiency of each unit process is commonly determined based on the ratio of virus concentration in influent to that in effluent of a unit, but the virus concentration in wastewater has often fallen below the analytical quantification limit, which does not allow us to calculate the concentration ratio at each sampling event. In this study, left-censored datasets of norovirus (genogroup I and II), and adenovirus were used to calculate the virus reduction efficiency in unit processes of secondary biological treatment and chlorine disinfection. Virus concentration in influent, effluent from the secondary treatment, and chlorine-disinfected effluent of four municipal wastewater treatment plants were analyzed by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach, and the probabilistic distributions of log reduction (LR) were estimated by a Bayesian estimation algorithm. The mean values of LR in the secondary treatment units ranged from 0.9 and 2.2, whereas those in the free chlorine disinfection units were from -0.1 and 0.5. The LR value in the secondary treatment was virus type and unit process dependent, which raised the importance for accumulating the data of virus LR values applicable to the multiple-barrier system, which is a global concept of microbial risk management in wastewater reclamation and reuse.

Energy-efficient stirred-tank photobioreactors for simultaneous carbon capture and municipal wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Mohammed, K; Ahammad, S Z; Sallis, P J; Mota, C R

2014-01-01

Algal based wastewater treatment (WWT) technologies are attracting renewed attention because they couple energy-efficient sustainable treatment with carbon capture, and reduce the carbon footprint of the process. A low-cost energy-efficient mixed microalgal culture-based pilot WWT system, coupled with carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration, was investigated. The 21 L stirred-tank photobioreactors (STPBR) used light-emitting diodes as the light source, resulting in substantially reduced operational costs. The STPBR were operated at average optimal light intensity of 582.7 μmol.s(-1).m(-2), treating synthetic municipal wastewater containing approximately 250, 90 and 10 mg.L(-1) of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), ammonium (NH4-N), and phosphate, respectively. The STPBR were maintained for 64 days without oxygen supplementation, but had a supply of CO2 (25 mL.min(-1), 25% v/v in N2). Relatively high SCOD removal efficiency (>70%) was achieved in all STPBR. Low operational cost was achieved by eliminating the need for mechanical aeration, with microalgal photosynthesis providing all oxygenation. The STPBR achieved an energy saving of up to 95%, compared to the conventional AS system. This study demonstrates that microalgal photobioreactors can provide effective WWT and carbon capture, simultaneously, in a system with potential for scaling-up to municipal WWT plants.

Techno-economical efficiency and productivity change of wastewater treatment plants: the role of internal and external factors.

PubMed

Hernández-Sancho, F; Molinos-Senante, M; Sala-Garrido, R

2011-12-01

Efficiency and productivity are important measures for identifying best practice in businesses and optimising resource-use. This study analyses how these two measures change across the period 2003-2008 for 196 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Spain, by using the benchmarking methods of Data Envelopment Analysis and the Malmquist Productivity Index. To identify which variables contribute to the sustainability of the WWTPs, differences in efficiency scores and productivity indices for external factors are also investigated. Our results indicate that both efficiency and productivity decreased over the five years. We verify that the productivity drop is primarily explained by technical change. Furthermore, certain external variables affected WWTP efficiency, including plant size, treatment technology and energy consumption. However, plants with low energy consumption are the only ones which improve their productivity. Finally, the benchmarking analyses proved to be useful as management tools in the wastewater sector, by providing vital information for improving the sustainability of plants.

ETV REPORT: EVALUATION OF HYDROMETRICS, INC., HIGH EFFICIENCY REVERSE OSMOSIS (HERO™) INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrometrics, founded in 1979 and located in Helena, MT, manufactures a commercial-ready High Efficiency Reverse Osmosis (HERO™) industrial wastewater treatment system. The system uses a three-stage reverse osmosis process to remove and concentrate metals for recovery while prod...

Functional magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles for efficient purification of laccase from fermentation broth in magnetically stabilized fluidized bed.

PubMed

Wang, Feng; Guo, Chen; Liu, Chun-Zhao

2013-12-01

A magnetically stabilized fluidized bed (MSFB) with the Cu(2+)-chelated magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MMSNPs-Cu(2+)) was established to purify laccase directly from the fermentation broth of Trametes versicolor. The MMSNPs-Cu(2+) particles in the MSFB maintained a stable bed expansion of two to threefold at a flow rate of 120-180 cm/h. At the optimal magnetic field intensity of 120 Gs, both the maximal Bodenstein number and the smallest axial dispersion coefficient were achieved, which resulted in a stable fluidization stage. The dynamic binding capacity of laccase in the MSFB decreased from 192.5 to144.3 mg/g when the flow velocity through the bed increased from 44.2 to 69.8 cm/h. The MSFB with MMSNPs-Cu(2+) achieved efficient laccase purification from the fermentation broth with 62.4-fold purification of laccase and 108.9 % activity yield. These results provided an excellent platform for the application of these magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles integrated with the MSFB in developing novel protein purification process.

Design of functional guanidinium ionic liquid aqueous two-phase systems for the efficient purification of protein.

PubMed

Ding, Xueqin; Wang, Yuzhi; Zeng, Qun; Chen, Jing; Huang, Yanhua; Xu, Kaijia

2014-03-07

A series of novel cationic functional hexaalkylguanidinium ionic liquids and anionic functional tetraalkylguanidinium ionic liquids have been devised and synthesized based on 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine. The structures of the ionic liquids (ILs) were confirmed by (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) and the production yields were all above 90%. Functional guanidinium ionic liquid aqueous two-phase systems (FGIL-ATPSs) have been first designed with these functional guanidinium ILs and phosphate solution for the purification of protein. After phase separation, proteins had transferred into the IL-rich phase and the concentrations of proteins were determined by measuring the absorbance at 278 nm using an ultra violet visible (UV-vis) spectrophotometer. The advantages of FGIL-ATPSs were compared with ordinary ionic liquid aqueous two-phase systems (IL-ATPSs). The proposed FGIL-ATPS has been applied to purify lysozyme, trypsin, ovalbumin and bovine serum albumin. Single factor experiments were used to research the effects of the process, such as the amount of ionic liquid (IL), the concentration of salt solution, temperature and the amount of protein. The purification efficiency reaches to 97.05%. The secondary structure of protein during the experimental process was observed upon investigation using UV-vis spectrophotometer, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and circular dichroism spectrum (CD spectrum). The precision, stability and repeatability of the process were investigated. The mechanisms of purification were researched by dynamic light scattering (DLS), determination of the conductivity and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was suggested that aggregation and embrace phenomenon play a significant role in the purification of proteins. All the results show that FGIL-ATPSs have huge potential to offer new possibility in the purification of proteins. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights

Method and apparatus for efficient photodetachment and purification of negative ion beams

DOEpatents

Beene, James R [Oak Ridge, TN; Liu, Yuan [Knoxville, TN; Havener, Charles C [Knoxville, TN

2008-02-26

Methods and apparatus are described for efficient photodetachment and purification of negative ion beams. A method of purifying an ion beam includes: inputting the ion beam into a gas-filled multipole ion guide, the ion beam including a plurality of ions; increasing a laser-ion interaction time by collisional cooling the plurality of ions using the gas-filled multipole ion guide, the plurality of ions including at least one contaminant; and suppressing the at least one contaminant by selectively removing the at least one contaminant from the ion beam by electron photodetaching at least a portion of the at least one contaminant using a laser beam.

Wastewater retreatment and reuse system for agricultural irrigation in rural villages.

PubMed

Kim, Minyoung; Lee, Hyejin; Kim, Minkyeong; Kang, Donghyeon; Kim, Dongeok; Kim, YoungJin; Lee, Sangbong

2014-01-01

Climate changes and continuous population growth increase water demands that will not be met by traditional water resources, like surface and ground water. To handle increased water demand, treated municipal wastewater is offered to farmers for agricultural irrigation. This study aimed to enhance the effluent quality from worn-out sewage treatment facilities in rural villages, retreat effluent to meet water quality criteria for irrigation, and assess any health-related and environmental impacts from using retreated wastewater irrigation on crops and in soil. We developed the compact wastewater retreatment and reuse system (WRRS), equipped with filters, ultraviolet light, and bubble elements. A pilot greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate lettuce growth patterns and quantify the heavy metal concentration and pathogenic microorganisms on lettuce and in soil after irrigating with tap water, treated wastewater, and WRRS retreated wastewater. The purification performance of each WRRS component was also assessed. The study findings revealed that existing worn-out sewage treatment facilities in rural villages could meet the water quality criteria for treated effluent and also reuse retreated wastewater for crop growth and other miscellaneous agricultural purposes.

Controlled synthesis of flexible graphene aerogels macroscopic monolith as versatile agents for wastewater treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Shuying; Xia, Longji; Guo, Teng; Zhang, Fangyuan; Cui, Lingfang; Su, Xianfa; Wang, Dong; Guo, Wei; Sun, Jianhui

2018-07-01

Emerging applications for environmental purification require agents that not only possess high decontamination efficiency, but also are capable of withstanding mechanical deformation without secondary pollution and degradation of performance. To this end, we have controlled synthesis of mechanically flexible graphene aerogel (GA) by vacuum freeze-drying of their hydrogel precursors obtained from heating the aqueous mixtures of graphene oxide (GO) and Vitamin C (VC) without stirring. Through the adaptable process conditions, such as the particle size of carbon, GO concentration, dosage of reducing agent and solution pH, the highly porous, ultralight and mechanically flexible GA are synthesized. Owing to the porous, robust and stable structure, the resulting GA show very promising performance in water purification including enrichment of organic liquid solvents (alcohols, oil and alkanes), removal of hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) and purified industrial wastewater, as well as flexible conductors. The successful creation of the GA may provide new insights into the design of carbon-based aerogels for various applications, as the GA can be prepared via a very simple procedure and available in macroscopic diverse morphologies with tunable porosity.

Dormancy and Recovery Testing for Biological Wastewater Processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hummerick, Mary F.; Coutts, Janelle L.; Lunn, Griffin M.; Spencer, LaShelle; Khodadad, Christina L.; Birmele, Michele N.; Frances, Someliz; Wheeler, Raymond

2015-01-01

Resource recovery and recycling waste streams to usable water via biological water processors is a plausible component of an integrated water purification system. Biological processing as a pretreatment can reduce the load of organic carbon and nitrogen compounds entering physiochemical systems downstream. Aerated hollow fiber membrane bioreactors, have been proposed and studied for a number of years as an approach for treating wastewater streams for space exploration.

Efficient treatment of azo dye containing wastewater in a hybrid acidogenic bioreactor stimulated by biocatalyzed electrolysis.

PubMed

Wang, Hong-Cheng; Cheng, Hao-Yi; Wang, Shu-Sen; Cui, Dan; Han, Jing-Long; Hu, Ya-Ping; Su, Shi-Gang; Wang, Ai-Jie

2016-01-01

In this study, a novel scaled-up hybrid acidogenic bioreactor (HAB) was designed and adopted to evaluate the performance of azo dye (acid red G, ARG) containing wastewater treatment. Principally, HAB is an acidogenic bioreactor coupled with a biocatalyzed electrolysis module. The effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and ARG loading rate on the performance of HAB were investigated. In addition, the influent was switched from synthetic wastewater to domestic wastewater to examine the key parameters for the application of HAB. The results showed that the introduction of the biocatalyzed electrolysis module could enhance anoxic decolorization and COD (chemical oxygen demand) removal. The combined process of HAB-CASS presented superior performance compared to a control system without biocatalyzed electrolysis (AB-CASS). When the influent was switched to domestic wastewater, with an environment having more balanced nutrients and diverse organic matters, the ARG, COD and nitrogen removal efficiencies of HAB-CASS were further improved, reaching 73.3%±2.5%, 86.2%±3.8% and 93.5%±1.6% at HRT of 6 hr, respectively, which were much higher than those of AB-CASS (61.1%±4.7%, 75.4%±5.0% and 82.1%±2.1%, respectively). Moreover, larger TCV/TV (total cathode volume/total volume) for HAB led to higher current and ARG removal. The ARG removal efficiency and current at TCV/TV of 0.15 were 39.2%±3.7% and 28.30±1.48 mA, respectively. They were significantly increased to 62.1%±2.0% and 34.55±0.83 mA at TCV/TV of 0.25. These results show that HAB system could be used to effectively treat real wastewater. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Efficiency of WWTP to remove emerging pollutants in wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carmona, Eric; Llopis, Agustín; Andreu, Vicente; Picó, Yolanda

2016-04-01

Recently some compounds that are extensively used are considered emerging pollutants since are at low concentrations and have been little studied. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are classified as this kind of pollutants and most of these are excreted through urine or feces and come to end up to treatment plants. Recent studies indicates that pharmaceuticals, personal care products or illicit drugs from Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) are a considerable chemical pollution in surface [1, 2]. The purpose of this study is to determine the removal efficiency for two WWT of Pinedo I and II, Valencia (Spain). After obtaining the results of analysis by an Agilent 1260 HPLC in tandem with a 6410 MS/MS triple quad, a simple mathematical operation with the influents and effluents is performed. This operation consists in subtracted from the influent, the effluent, divided by the result of the influent and this multiply by 100. Results are expressed as a percentage with its 95 % confidence interval (CI). The influent and effluent of the samples were filtered with a 0.50 μm glass fiber filter of 90 mm by Advantec (Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan). After filtration, 250ml of this water is extracted through a SPE. SPE was performed with Strata-X 33U Polymeric Reversed Phase (200 mg/6 mL) from Phenomenex. These cartridges were conditioned with 6 mL of methanol and 6 mL of distilled water. Extracts were eluted with 6mL of Methanol and evaporated with compressed air. The residue was reconstituted with 1 mL of methanol-water (30:70, v/v). The removal efficiencies depend on the type of the compound, these rates remain between 23% and 100%. In some cases, removal efficiency is negative since some compounds are accumulated in the sludge and these have more concentration. Tertiary treatment including UV disinfection could efficiently reduce most of the residual pharmaceuticals below their quantification limits. Acknowledgments This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry

Preparation of polyelectrolytes for wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Radoiu, Marilena T; Martin, Diana I; Calinescu, Ioan; Iovu, Horia

2004-01-02

Liquid-phase polymerisation of acrylamide-acrylic acid to form polyelectrolytes used in wastewater cleaning was examined using accelerated electron beam and microwave irradiation methods. Polymerisation was carried out in aqueous solutions at temperatures approximately 60 degrees C. Monomers total concentration was established at 40% (36% acrylamide and 4% acrylic acid). Only using the features of simultaneous radiation-induction and microwave heating can result in the formation of linear polymer chains with good water solubility and low residual monomer concentration. The flocculation capacity of the obtained polymers was tested using two wastewaters, one sampled from a slaughterhouse and the other from a vegetable oil plant. Quality indicators such as total suspended matters (TSM), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and fat, oils and grease (FOG) were measured before and after the treatment with polymeric flocculants and compared with the results obtained in classical treatment with Al(2)(SO(4))(3). It was found that the combined treatment with polymers and Al(2)(SO(4))(3) increases the degree of purification of both wastewaters up to 99%.

Hyperentanglement purification using imperfect spatial entanglement.

PubMed

Wang, Tie-Jun; Mi, Si-Chen; Wang, Chuan

2017-02-06

As the interaction between the photons and the environment which will make the entangled photon pairs in less entangled states or even in mixed states, the security and the efficiency of quantum communication will decrease. We present an efficient hyperentanglement purification protocol that distills nonlocal high-fidelity hyper-entangled Bell states in both polarization and spatial-mode degrees of freedom from ensembles of two-photon system in mixed states using linear optics. Here, we consider the influence of the photon loss in the channel which generally is ignored in the conventional entanglement purification and hyperentanglement purification (HEP) schemes. Compared with previous HEP schemes, our HEP scheme decreases the requirement for nonlocal resources by employing high-dimensional mode-check measurement, and leads to a higher fidelity, especially in the range where the conventional HEP schemes become invalid but our scheme still can work.

Nanomaterials and Water Purification: Opportunities and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savage, Nora; Diallo, Mamadou S.

2005-10-01

Advances in nanoscale science and engineering suggest that many of the current problems involving water quality could be resolved or greatly ameliorated using nanosorbents, nanocatalysts, bioactive nanoparticles, nanostructured catalytic membranes and nanoparticle enhanced filtration among other products and processes resulting from the development of nanotechnology. Innovations in the development of novel technologies to desalinate water are among the most exciting and promising. Additionally, nanotechnology-derived products that reduce the concentrations of toxic compounds to sub-ppb levels can assist in the attainment of water quality standards and health advisories. This article gives an overview of the use of nanomaterials in water purification. We highlight recent advances on the development of novel nanoscale materials and processes for treatment of surface water, groundwater and industrial wastewater contaminated by toxic metal ions, radionuclides, organic and inorganic solutes, bacteria and viruses. In addition, we discuss some challenges associated with the development of cost effective and environmentally acceptable functional nanomaterials for water purification.

Rotating Reverse-Osmosis for Water Purification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lueptow, RIchard M.

2004-01-01

A new design for a water-filtering device combines rotating filtration with reverse osmosis to create a rotating reverse- osmosis system. Rotating filtration has been used for separating plasma from whole blood, while reverse osmosis has been used in purification of water and in some chemical processes. Reverse- osmosis membranes are vulnerable to concentration polarization a type of fouling in which the chemicals meant not to pass through the reverse-osmosis membranes accumulate very near the surfaces of the membranes. The combination of rotating filtration and reverse osmosis is intended to prevent concentration polarization and thereby increase the desired flux of filtered water while decreasing the likelihood of passage of undesired chemical species through the filter. Devices based on this concept could be useful in a variety of commercial applications, including purification and desalination of drinking water, purification of pharmaceutical process water, treatment of household and industrial wastewater, and treatment of industrial process water. A rotating filter consists of a cylindrical porous microfilter rotating within a stationary concentric cylindrical outer shell (see figure). The aqueous suspension enters one end of the annulus between the inner and outer cylinders. Filtrate passes through the rotating cylindrical microfilter and is removed via a hollow shaft. The concentrated suspension is removed at the end of the annulus opposite the end where the suspension entered.

Small scale recirculating vertical flow constructed wetland (RVFCW) for the treatment and reuse of wastewater.

PubMed

Gross, A; Sklarz, M Y; Yakirevich, A; Soares, M I M

2008-01-01

The quantity of freshwater available worldwide is declining, revealing a pressing need for its more efficient use. Moreover, in many developing countries and lightly populated areas, raw wastewater is discarded into the environment posing serious ecological and health problems. Unfortunately, this situation will persist unless low-cost, effective and simple technologies are brought in. The aim of this study is to present such a treatment method, a novel setup which is termed recirculating vertical flow constructed wetland (RVFCW). The RVFCW is composed of two components: (i) a three-layer bed consisting of planted organic soil over an upper layer of filtering media (i.e. tuff or beads) and a lower layer of limestone pebbles, and (ii) a reservoir located beneath the bed. Wastewater flows directly into the plant root zone and trickles down through the three-layer bed into the reservoir, allowing passive aeration. From the reservoir the water is recirculated back to the bed, several times, until the desired purification is achieved. The results obtained show that the RVFCW is an effective and convenient strategy to treat (domestic, grey and agro) wastewater for re-use in irrigation. The system performance is expected to be further improved once current optimization experiments and mathematical modeling studies are concluded. IWA Publishing 2008.

Seasonal variation and removal efficiency of antibiotic resistance genes during wastewater treatment of swine farms.

PubMed

Sui, Qianwen; Zhang, Junya; Tong, Juan; Chen, Meixue; Wei, Yuansong

2017-04-01

The seasonal variation and removal efficiency of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), including tetracycline resistance genes (tetG, tetM, and tetX) and macrolide (ermB, ermF, ereA, and mefA), were investigated in two typical swine wastewater treatment systems in both winter and summer. ARGs, class 1 integron gene, and 16S rRNA gene were quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction assays. There was a 0.31-3.52 log variation in ARGs in raw swine wastewater, and the abundance of ARGs in winter was higher than in summer. tetM, tetX, ermB, ermF, and mefA were highly abundant. The abundance of ARGs was effectively reduced by most individual treatment process and the removal efficiencies of ARGs were higher in winter than in summer. However, when examining relative abundance, the fate of ARGs was quite variable. Anaerobic digestion reduced the relative abundance of tetX, ermB, ermF, and mefA, while lagoon treatment decreased tetM, ermB, ermF, and mefA. Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) decreased tetM, ermB, and ermF, but biofilters and wetlands did not display consistent removal efficiency on ARGs in two sampling seasons. As far as the entire treatment system is concerned, ermB and mefA were effectively reduced in both winter and summer in both total and relative abundance. The relative abundances of tetG and ereA were significantly correlated with intI1 (p < 0.01), and both tetG and ereA increased after wastewater treatment. This may pose a great threat to public health.

Enhanced energy conversion efficiency from high strength synthetic organic wastewater by sequential dark fermentative hydrogen production and algal lipid accumulation.

PubMed

Ren, Hong-Yu; Liu, Bing-Feng; Kong, Fanying; Zhao, Lei; Xing, Defeng; Ren, Nan-Qi

2014-04-01

A two-stage process of sequential dark fermentative hydrogen production and microalgal cultivation was applied to enhance the energy conversion efficiency from high strength synthetic organic wastewater. Ethanol fermentation bacterium Ethanoligenens harbinense B49 was used as hydrogen producer, and the energy conversion efficiency and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency reached 18.6% and 28.3% in dark fermentation. Acetate was the main soluble product in dark fermentative effluent, which was further utilized by microalga Scenedesmus sp. R-16. The final algal biomass concentration reached 1.98gL(-1), and the algal biomass was rich in lipid (40.9%) and low in protein (23.3%) and carbohydrate (11.9%). Compared with single dark fermentation stage, the energy conversion efficiency and COD removal efficiency of two-stage system remarkably increased 101% and 131%, respectively. This research provides a new approach for efficient energy production and wastewater treatment using a two-stage process combining dark fermentation and algal cultivation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Significance of Myriophyllum elatinoides for Swine Wastewater Treatment: Abundance and Community Structure of Ammonia-Oxidizing Microorganisms in Sediments

PubMed Central

Li, Xi; Zhang, Miaomiao; Liu, Feng; Li, Yong; He, Yang; Zhang, Shunan; Wu, Jinshui

2015-01-01

Myriophyllum elatinoides was reported to effectively treat wastewater by removing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). However, little is known about the abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms associated with M. elatinoides purification systems. The objective of this research was to characterize the abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in swine wastewater and determine the main nitrogen removal pathways. In this study, five different waters were treated by M. elatinoides in microcosms for one month. The five waters included tap water (Control), swine wastewater (SW), 50% diluted swine wastewater (50% SW), and two synthetic wastewaters: 200 mg NH4 +-N L−1 (200 NH4 +-N) and 400 mg NH4 +-N L−1 (400 NH4 +-N). The most dramatic changes were in NH4 +-N and total N (TN) concentrations, with average removal rates of 84% and 90%, respectively, in the treatments containing swine wastewater. On days 7, 14, and 28, the dissolved oxygen (DO) increased by 81.8%, 210.4% and 136.5%, respectively, compared with on day 0, in the swine wastewater. The results also showed that the bacterial amoA (AOB) copy numbers in the sediments of the treatments were significantly higher than those of archaeal amoA (AOA) copy numbers (p = 0.015). In addition, the high DO concentrations in swine wastewater responded well to the high abundance of AOB. The AOA and AOB community distributions were positively related with NO3 -N and were negatively related with DO in swine wastewater treatments. In summary, our experimental results suggested that the M. elatinoides purification system could improve the activity of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms and consequently might contribute to the significant N removal from the swine wastewater. PMID:26444015

The Significance of Myriophyllum elatinoides for Swine Wastewater Treatment: Abundance and Community Structure of Ammonia-Oxidizing Microorganisms in Sediments.

PubMed

Li, Xi; Zhang, Miaomiao; Liu, Feng; Li, Yong; He, Yang; Zhang, Shunan; Wu, Jinshui

2015-01-01

Myriophyllum elatinoides was reported to effectively treat wastewater by removing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). However, little is known about the abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms associated with M. elatinoides purification systems. The objective of this research was to characterize the abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in swine wastewater and determine the main nitrogen removal pathways. In this study, five different waters were treated by M. elatinoides in microcosms for one month. The five waters included tap water (Control), swine wastewater (SW), 50% diluted swine wastewater (50% SW), and two synthetic wastewaters: 200 mg NH4+-N L(-1) (200 NH4+-N) and 400 mg NH4+-N L(-1) (400 NH4+-N). The most dramatic changes were in NH4+-N and total N (TN) concentrations, with average removal rates of 84% and 90%, respectively, in the treatments containing swine wastewater. On days 7, 14, and 28, the dissolved oxygen (DO) increased by 81.8%, 210.4% and 136.5%, respectively, compared with on day 0, in the swine wastewater. The results also showed that the bacterial amoA (AOB) copy numbers in the sediments of the treatments were significantly higher than those of archaeal amoA (AOA) copy numbers (p = 0.015). In addition, the high DO concentrations in swine wastewater responded well to the high abundance of AOB. The AOA and AOB community distributions were positively related with NO3-N and were negatively related with DO in swine wastewater treatments. In summary, our experimental results suggested that the M. elatinoides purification system could improve the activity of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms and consequently might contribute to the significant N removal from the swine wastewater.

Highly efficient removal of lead and cadmium during wastewater irrigation using a polyethylenimine-grafted gelatin sponge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bingbing; Zhou, Feng; Huang, Kai; Wang, Yipei; Mei, Surong; Zhou, Yikai; Jing, Tao

2016-09-01

Wastewater irrigation is a very important resource for heavy metal pollution in soil and then accumulation in vegetable crops. In this study, a polyethylenimine (PEI)-grafted gelatin sponge was prepared to effectively adsorb heavy metals during wastewater irrigation. Based on the strong water adsorption ability, wastewater remained in the PEI-grafted gelatin sponge for a sufficient time for the heavy metals to interact with the sorbents. The binding capacities of Pb(II) ions and Cd(II) ions on the PEI-grafted gelatin sponge were 66 mg g-1 and 65 mg g-1, which were much more than those on the gelatin sponge (9.75 mg g-1 and 9.35 mg g-1). Subsequently, the PEI-grafted gelatin sponge was spread on the surface of soil planted with garlic and then sprayed with synthetic wastewater. The concentrations of cadmium and lead in the garlic leaves were 1.59 mg kg-1 and 5.69 mg kg-1, respectively, which were much lower than those (15.78 mg kg-1 and 27.98 mg kg-1) without the gelatin sponge, and the removal efficiencies were 89.9% and 79.7%. The PEI-grafting gelatin sponge could effectively remove heavy metals during wastewater irrigation, which improved the soil environment and reduced human exposure to heavy metals.

[Characteristics of microbial community and operation efficiency in biofilter process for drinking water purification].

PubMed

Xiang, Hong; Lü, Xi-Wu; Yang, Fei; Yin, Li-Hong; Zhu, Guang-Can

2011-04-01

In order to explore characteristics of microbial community and operation efficiency in biofilter (biologically-enhanced active filter and biological activated carbon filter) process for drinking water purification, Biolog and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) techniques were applied to analyze the metabolic function and structure of microbial community developing in biofilters. Water quality parameters, such as NH; -N, NO; -N, permanganate index, UV254 and BDOC etc, were determined in inflow and outflow of biofilters for investigation of operation efficiency of the biofilters. The results show that metabolic capacity of microbial community of the raw water is reduced after the biofilters, which reflect that metabolically active microbial communities in the raw water can be intercepted by biofilters. After 6 months operation of biofilters, the metabolic profiles of microbial communities are similar between two kinds of biologically-enhanced active filters, and utilization of carbon sources of microbial communities in the two filters are 73.4% and 75.5%, respectively. The metabolic profiles of microbial communities in two biological activated carbon filters showed significant difference. The carbon source utilization rate of microbial community in granule-activated carbon filter is 79.6%, which is obviously higher than 53.8% of the rate in the columnar activated carbon filter (p < 0.01). The analysis results of PCR-SSCP indicate that microbial communities in each biofilter are variety, but the structure of dominant microorganisms is similar among different biofilters. The results also show that the packing materials had little effect on the structure and metabolic function of microbial community in biologically-enhanced active filters, and the difference between two biofilters for the water purification efficiency was not significant (p > 0.05). However, in biological activated carbon filters, granule-activated carbon is

Determination of Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria and Nitrate Oxidizing Bacteria in Wastewater and Bioreactors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Francis, Somilez Asya

2014-01-01

The process of water purification has many different physical, chemical, and biological processes. One part of the biological process is the task of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Both play critical roles in the treatment of wastewater by oxidizing toxic compounds. The broad term is nitrification, a naturally occurring process that is carried out by AOB and NOB by using oxidation to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. To monitor this biological activity, bacterial staining was performed on wastewater contained in inoculum tanks and biofilm samples from bioreactors. Using microscopy and qPCR, the purpose of this experiment was to determine if the population of AOB and NOB in wastewater and membrane bioreactors changed depending on temperature and hibernation conditions to determine the optimal parameters for AOB/NOB culture to effectively clean wastewater.

Energy Efficiency in Water and Wastewater Facilities

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Learn how local governments have achieved sustained energy improvements at their water and wastewater facilities through equipment upgrades, operational modifications, and modifications to facility buildings.

PHOTOCATALYTIC TIO2 FILMS AND MEMBRANES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFICIENT WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND REUSE SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

In order to develop efficient photocatalytic TiO₂ films and membranes for application in water and wastewater treatment and reuse systems, there is a great need to tailor-design the structural properties of TiO2 material and enhance its photocatalytic activity. Through...

Wastewater: A Potential Bioenergy Resource.

PubMed

Prakash, Jyotsana; Sharma, Rakesh; Ray, Subhasree; Koul, Shikha; Kalia, Vipin Chandra

2018-06-01

Wastewaters are a rich source of nutrients for microorganisms. However, if left unattended the biodegradation may lead to severe environmental hazards. The wastewaters can thus be utilized for the production of various value added products including bioenergy (H 2 and CH 4 ). A number of studies have reported utilization of various wastewaters for energy production. Depending on the nature of the wastewater, different reactor configurations, wastewater and inoculum pretreatments, co-substrate utilizations along with other process parameters have been studied for efficient product formation. Only a few studies have reported sequential utilization of wastewaters for H 2 and CH 4 production despite its huge potential for complete waste degradation.

Construction of a high efficiency copper adsorption bacterial system via peptide display and its application on copper dye polluted wastewater.

PubMed

Maruthamuthu, Murali Kannan; Nadarajan, Saravanan Prabhu; Ganesh, Irisappan; Ravikumar, Sambandam; Yun, Hyungdon; Yoo, Ik-Keun; Hong, Soon Ho

2015-11-01

For the construction of an efficient copper waste treatment system, a cell surface display strategy was employed. The copper adsorption ability of recombinant bacterial strains displaying three different copper binding peptides were evaluated in LB Luria-Bertani medium (LB), artificial wastewater, and copper phthalocyanine containing textile dye industry wastewater samples. Structural characteristics of the three peptides were also analyzed by similarity-based structure modeling. The best binding peptide was chosen for the construction of a dimeric peptide display and the adsorption ability of the monomeric and dimeric peptide displayed strains were compared. The dimeric peptide displayed strain showed superior copper adsorption in all three tested conditions (LB, artificial wastewater, and textile dye industry wastewater). When the strains were exposed to copper phthalocyanine dye polluted wastewater, the dimeric peptide display [543.27 µmol/g DCW dry cell weight (DCW)] showed higher adsorption of copper when compared with the monomeric strains (243.53 µmol/g DCW).

Efficient production and purification of functional bacteriorhodopsin with a wheat-germ cell-free system and a combination of Fos-choline and CHAPS detergents.

PubMed

Genji, Takahisa; Nozawa, Akira; Tozawa, Yuzuru

2010-10-01

Cell-free translation is one potential approach to the production of functional transmembrane proteins. We have now examined various detergents as supplements to a wheat-germ cell-free system in order to optimize the production and subsequent purification of a functional model transmembrane protein, bacteriorhodopsin. We found that Fos-choline and CHAPS detergents counteracted each other's inhibitory effects on cell-free translation activity and thereby allowed the efficient production and subsequent purification of functional bacteriorhodopsin in high yield. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Economy of precipitating agent application in municipal wastewater treatment facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neis, U.; Geppert, B.; Hahn, H. H.; Gleisberg, D.

1983-01-01

Purification by precipitation in this study is not considered primarily as a means of phosphate removal but as a method for reduction of suspended solids BOD and COD. A dynamic calculation procedure is used to allow for exact determination of time dependent variation of costs. The results show that costs of wastewater treatment by precipitation may equal those of conventional primary clarification and secondary biological treatment, especially with low-cost iron-II-salts in simultaneous precipitation and in larger plants ( 20,000 PF). Cost advantages may be accrued in smaller plants by using the more expensive trivalent salts in pre-precipitation as compared to conventional low-load biological treatment. This is due mainly to better effluent quality and, consequently, lower wastewater fees (Wastewater Discharge Act). If the precipitant is dosed temporarily only during periods of highest pollution the savings can be about 5 to 10%.

Removal Efficiency of Faecal Indicator Organisms, Nutrients and Heavy Metals from a Peri-Urban Wastewater Treatment Plant in Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

PubMed

Edokpayi, Joshua N; Odiyo, John O; Msagati, Titus A M; Popoola, Elizabeth O

2015-06-29

Wastewater treatment facilities are known sources of fresh water pollution. This study was carried out from January to June 2014 to assess the reduction efficiency of some selected contaminants in the Thohoyandou wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The pH and electrical conductivity of the effluent fell within the South African wastewater discharge guidelines. The WWTP showed the chemical oxygen demand reduction efficiency required by the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) guidelines of 75 mg/L for the months of April and June, although it was below this standard in March and May. Free chlorine concentration varied between 0.26-0.96 mg/L and exceeded the DWA guideline value of 0.25 mg/L. The concentration of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3(-) N) in the influent and effluent varied between 0.499-2.31 mg/L and 7.545-19.413 mg/L, respectively. The concentration of NO3- N in the effluent complied with DWA effluent discharge standard of 15 mg/L, except in April and May. Phosphate concentrations in the influent and effluent were in the ranges of 0.552-42.646 mg/L and 1.572-32.554 mg/L, respectively. The WWTP showed reduction efficiencies of E. coli and Enterococci during some sampling periods but the level found in the effluent exceeded the recommended guideline value of 1000 cfu/100 mL for faecal indicator organisms in wastewater effluents. Consistent removal efficiencies were observed for Al (32-74%), Fe (7-32%) and Zn (24-94%) in most of the sampling months. In conclusion, the Thohoyandou WWTP is inefficient in treating wastewater to the acceptable quality before discharge.

Efficient removal of nickel(II) from high salinity wastewater by a novel PAA/ZIF-8/PVDF hybrid ultrafiltration membrane.

PubMed

Li, Ting; Zhang, Weiming; Zhai, Shu; Gao, Guandao; Ding, Jie; Zhang, Wenbin; Liu, Yang; Zhao, Xin; Pan, Bingcai; Lv, Lu

2018-06-15

The development of highly efficient membranes, especially those aimed at the removal of trace (ppm, 10 -6 ) heavy metals from high salinity wastewater, is one of the principal challenges in the wastewater treatment field. In this study, a new metal-organic frameworks-based hybrid ultrafiltration membrane (PAA/ZIF-8/PVDF membrane) was prepared, which outperformed some other adsorption materials and owned the first and highest reported nickel ion (Ni(II)) adsorption capacity (219.09 mg/g) in high salinity ([Na + ] = 15000 mg/L) wastewater. Novel and highly efficient hybrid ultrafiltration membrane was facilely fabricated by physically immobilizing zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) particles onto the surface of trimesoyl chloride (TMC)-modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane under the protection of polyacrylic acid (PAA) layer, and possessed a relatively high water flux of ∼460 L m -2 h -1 . The XPS studies revealed that the Ni(II) uptake was mainly attributed to the specific hydrogen bonding interaction between Ni(II) and hydroxyl on ZIF-8 frameworks as well as the electrostatic adsorption by carboxyl groups in PAA layer. Especially, compared to PAA, ZIF-8 could selectively bind with Ni(II) effectively, which was almost not affected by concentrated sodium ion. The filtration study showed that the membrane with an area of 12.56 cm 2 could treat 5.76 L of Ni(II)-contained high salinity wastewater ([Ni(II) = 2 mg/L, [Na + ] = 15000 mg/L) to meet the maximum contaminant level of 0.1 mg/L Ni(II). Moreover, the hybrid membrane can be regenerated several times by HCl-NaCl solution (pH = 5.5) for repeated use under direct current electric field. Thus, the newly developed ZIF-8 hybrid ultrafiltration membrane showed a promising potential for heavy metals containing wastewater treatment. This work provides a worthy reference for designing highly efficient ultrafiltration membranes modified by metal-organic frameworks

Purification of lanthanides for double beta decay experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Polischuk, O. G.; Barabash, A. S.; Belli, P.

2013-08-08

There are several potentially double beta active isotopes among the lanthanide elements. However, even high purity grade lanthanide compounds contain {sup 238}U, {sup 226}Ra and {sup 232,228}Th typically on the level of ∼ (0.1 - 1) Bq/kg. The liquid-liquid extraction technique was used to remove traces of U, Ra and Th from CeO{sub 2}, Nd{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The radioactive contamination of the samples before and after the purification was tested by using ultra-low-background HPGe γ spectrometry at the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN (Italy). After the purification the radioactive contamination of gadolinium oxidemore » by Ra and Th was decreased at least one order of magnitude. The efficiency of the approach to purify cerium oxide from Ra was on same level, while the radioactive contamination of neodymium sample before and after the purification is below the sensitivity of analytical methods. The purification method is much less efficient for chemically very similar radioactive elements like lanthanum, lutetium and actinium. R and D of the methods to remove the pollutions with improved efficiency is in progress.« less

General method for rapid purification of native chromatin fragments.

PubMed

Kuznetsov, Vyacheslav I; Haws, Spencer A; Fox, Catherine A; Denu, John M

2018-05-24

Biochemical, proteomic and epigenetic studies of chromatin rely on the efficient ability to isolate native nucleosomes in high yield and purity. However, isolation of native chromatin suitable for many downstream experiments remains a challenging task. This is especially true for the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which continues to serve as an important model organism for the study of chromatin structure and function. Here, we developed a time- and cost-efficient universal protocol for isolation of native chromatin fragments from yeast, insect, and mammalian cells. The resulting protocol preserves histone posttranslational modification in the native chromatin state, and is applicable for both parallel multi-sample spin-column purification and large scale isolation. This protocol is based on the efficient and stable purification of polynucleosomes, features a combination of optimized cell lysis and purification conditions, three options for chromatin fragmentation, and a novel ion-exchange chromatographic purification strategy.  The procedure will aid chromatin researchers interested in isolating native chromatin material for biochemical studies, and as a mild, acid- and detergent-free sample preparation method for mass-spectrometry analysis. Published under license by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Optimized Production of Coal Fly Ash Derived Synthetic Zeolites for Mercury Removal from Wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tauanov, Z.; Shah, D.; Itskos, G.; Inglezakis, V.

2017-09-01

Coal fly ash (CFA) derived synthetic zeolites have become popular with recent advances and its ever-expanding range of applications, particularly as an adsorbent for water and gas purification and as a binder or additive in the construction industry and agriculture. Among these applications, perpetual interest has been in utilization of CFA derived synthetic zeolites for removal of heavy metals from wastewater. We herein focus on utilization of locally available CFA for efficient adsorption of mercury from wastewater. To this end, experimental conditions were investigated so that to produce synthetic zeolites from Kazakhstani CFAs with conversion into zeolite up to 78%, which has remarkably high magnetite content. In particular, the effect of synthesis reaction temperature, reaction time, and loading of adsorbent were systematically investigated and optimized. All produced synthetic zeolites and the respective CFAs were characterized using XRD, XRF, PSA and porosimetric instruments to obtain microstructural and mineralogical data. Furthermore, the synthesized zeolites were studied for the removal of mercury from aqueous solutions. A comparison of removal eficiency and its relationship to the physical and chemical properties of the synthetic zeolites were analyzed and interpreted.

Efficiency assessment of wastewater treatment plants: A data envelopment analysis approach integrating technical, economic, and environmental issues.

PubMed

Castellet, Lledó; Molinos-Senante, María

2016-02-01

The assessment of the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is essential to compare their performance and consequently to identify the best operational practices that can contribute to the reduction of operational costs. Previous studies have evaluated the efficiency of WWTPs using conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. Most of these studies have considered the operational costs of the WWTPs as inputs, while the pollutants removed from wastewater are treated as outputs. However, they have ignored the fact that each pollutant removed by a WWTP involves a different environmental impact. To overcome this limitation, this paper evaluates for the first time the efficiency of a sample of WWTPs by applying the weighted slacks-based measure model. It is a non-radial DEA model which allows assigning weights to the inputs and outputs according their importance. Thus, the assessment carried out integrates environmental issues with the traditional "techno-economic" efficiency assessment of WWTPs. Moreover, the potential economic savings for each cost item have been quantified at a plant level. It is illustrated that the WWTPs analyzed have significant room to save staff and energy costs. Several managerial implications to help WWTPs' operators make informed decisions were drawn from the methodology and empirical application carried out. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering human ventricular heart muscles based on a highly efficient system for purification of human pluripotent stem cell-derived ventricular cardiomyocytes.

PubMed

Li, Bin; Yang, Hui; Wang, Xiaochen; Zhan, Yongkun; Sheng, Wei; Cai, Huanhuan; Xin, Haoyang; Liang, Qianqian; Zhou, Ping; Lu, Chao; Qian, Ruizhe; Chen, Sifeng; Yang, Pengyuan; Zhang, Jianyi; Shou, Weinian; Huang, Guoying; Liang, Ping; Sun, Ning

2017-09-29

Most infarctions occur in the left anterior descending coronary artery and cause myocardium damage of the left ventricle. Although current pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and directed cardiac differentiation techniques are able to generate fetal-like human cardiomyocytes, isolation of pure ventricular cardiomyocytes has been challenging. For repairing ventricular damage, we aimed to establish a highly efficient purification system to obtain homogeneous ventricular cardiomyocytes and prepare engineered human ventricular heart muscles in a dish. The purification system used TALEN-mediated genomic editing techniques to insert the neomycin or EGFP selection marker directly after the myosin light chain 2 (MYL2) locus in human pluripotent stem cells. Purified early ventricular cardiomyocytes were estimated by immunofluorescence, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, quantitative PCR, microelectrode array, and patch clamp. In subsequent experiments, the mixture of mature MYL2-positive ventricular cardiomyocytes and mesenchymal cells were cocultured with decellularized natural heart matrix. Histological and electrophysiology analyses of the formed tissues were performed 2 weeks later. Human ventricular cardiomyocytes were efficiently isolated based on the purification system using G418 or flow cytometry selection. When combined with the decellularized natural heart matrix as the scaffold, functional human ventricular heart muscles were prepared in a dish. These engineered human ventricular muscles can be great tools for regenerative therapy of human ventricular damage as well as drug screening and ventricular-specific disease modeling in the future.

[Spectral Analysis of Dissolved Organic Matter of Tannery Wastewater in the Treatment Process].

PubMed

Fan, Chun-hui; Zhang, Ying-chao; Du, Bo; Song, Juan; Huai, Cui-qian; Wang, Jia-hong

2015-06-01

Tannery industry is one of the major traditional industries and important wastewater sources in China. The existing research mainly focus on the quality of inlet and outlet water, rather than the purification and transformation behavior of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the treatment process of tannery wastewater. The UV spectra and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to detect the spectral characteristics of water samples in the treatment process, and it is analyzed that the formation process and the linear relationships between total fluorescence intensity and parameters. The results showed: the UV absorbance of DOM in wastewater increased firstly and then decreased with longer wavelength, and the wave peaks were found around the wavelength of 230 nr. The values of A253 /A203 and SUVA254 increased firstly and then decreased, indicating the complex reaction process related to free substituent and aromatic rings. The fluorescence peaks appeared at the regions of λ(ex/em) = 320-350/440- 460 and λ(ex/em) = 270-300/390-420, referred as visible humic-like and visible fulvic-like fluorescence, respectively. With the treatment process of tannery wastewater, the following fluorescence phenomenon were monitored, such as the blue-shift of humic-like fluorescence peak in the hydrolytic acidification tank, the appearance of tryptophan fluorescence peak in the second biochemical pond (λ(ex/em) = 290/340), the weak fluorescence peak in the fourth biochemical pond (λ(ex/em) = 350/520) and the stabilized fluorescence characteristics in the secondary sedimentation tank and water outlet. The achievements are helpful to investigate the degradation and formation behavior of water components, and significant for the fluorescence variation analysis in the treatment system. The removal rate of total fluorescence intensity of tannery wastewater fit better the removal rate of TOC with coefficient of r 0.835 5. The UV spectra and 3D-EEMs are effective to reveal the purification

Electron beam treatment of textile dyeing wastewater: operation of pilot plant and industrial plant construction.

PubMed

Han, B; Kim, J; Kim, Y; Choi, J S; Makarov, I E; Ponomarev, A V

2005-01-01

A pilot plant for treating 1000 m3/day of dyeing wastewater with e-beam has been constructed and operated since 1998 in Daegu, Korea together with the biological treatment facility. The wastewater from various stages of the existing purification process has been treated with an electron beam in this plant, and it gave rise to elaborating the optimal technology of the electron beam treatment of wastewater with increased reliability for instant changes in the composition of wastewater. Installation of the e-beam pilot plant resulted in decolorizing and destructive oxidation of organic impurities in wastewater, appreciable reduction of chemical reagent consumption, in reduction of the treatment time, and in increase in the flow rate limit of existing facilities by 30-40%. Industrial plant for treating 10,000 m3/day each, based upon the pilot experimental result, is under construction and will be finished by 2005. This project is supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Korean Government.

Removal of Hazardous Pollutants from Wastewaters: Applications of TiO 2 -SiO 2 Mixed Oxide Materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rasalingam, Shivatharsiny; Peng, Rui; Koodali, Ranjit T.

The direct release of untreated wastewaters from various industries and households results in the release of toxic pollutants to the aquatic environment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have gained wide attention owing to the prospect of complete mineralization of nonbiodegradable organic substances to environmentally innocuous products by chemical oxidation. In particular, heterogeneous photocatalysis has been demonstrated to have tremendous promise in water purification and treatment of several pollutant materials that include naturally occurring toxins, pesticides, and other deleterious contaminants. In this work, we have reviewed the different removal techniques that have been employed for water purification. In particular, the application ofmore » TiO 2 -SiO 2 binary mixed oxide materials for wastewater treatment is explained herein, and it is evident from the literature survey that these mixed oxide materials have enhanced abilities to remove a wide variety of pollutants.« less

Removal of Hazardous Pollutants from Wastewaters: Applications of TiO 2 -SiO 2 Mixed Oxide Materials

DOE PAGES

Rasalingam, Shivatharsiny; Peng, Rui; Koodali, Ranjit T.

2014-01-01

The direct release of untreated wastewaters from various industries and households results in the release of toxic pollutants to the aquatic environment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have gained wide attention owing to the prospect of complete mineralization of nonbiodegradable organic substances to environmentally innocuous products by chemical oxidation. In particular, heterogeneous photocatalysis has been demonstrated to have tremendous promise in water purification and treatment of several pollutant materials that include naturally occurring toxins, pesticides, and other deleterious contaminants. In this work, we have reviewed the different removal techniques that have been employed for water purification. In particular, the application ofmore » TiO 2 -SiO 2 binary mixed oxide materials for wastewater treatment is explained herein, and it is evident from the literature survey that these mixed oxide materials have enhanced abilities to remove a wide variety of pollutants.« less

Biocapture of CO₂ by Different Microalgal-Based Technologies for Biogas Upgrading and Simultaneous Biogas Slurry Purification under Various Light Intensities and Photoperiods.

PubMed

Guo, Pengfei; Zhang, Yuejin; Zhao, Yongjun

2018-03-15

Abstract : Co-cultivation of microalgae and microbes for pollutant removal from sewage is considered as an effective wastewater treatment method. The aim of this study is to screen the optimal photoperiod, light intensity and microalgae co-cultivation method for simultaneously removing nutrients in biogas slurry and capturing CO₂ in biogas. The microalgae-fungi pellets are deemed to be a viable option because of their high specific growth rate and nutrient and CO 2 removal efficiency under the photoperiod of 14 h light:10 h dark. The order of both the biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading is ranked the same, that is Chlorella vulga ris - Ganoderma lucidum > Chlorella vulga ris -activated sludge > Chlorella vulgaris under different light intensities. For all cultivation methods, the moderate light intensity of 450 μmol m -2 s -1 is regarded as the best choice. This research revealed that the control of photoperiod and light intensity can promote the biological treatment process of biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading using microalgal-based technology.

Removal Efficiency of Faecal Indicator Organisms, Nutrients and Heavy Metals from a Peri-Urban Wastewater Treatment Plant in Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province, South Africa

PubMed Central

Edokpayi, Joshua N.; Odiyo, John O.; Msagati, Titus A. M.; Popoola, Elizabeth O.

2015-01-01

Wastewater treatment facilities are known sources of fresh water pollution. This study was carried out from January to June 2014 to assess the reduction efficiency of some selected contaminants in the Thohoyandou wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The pH and electrical conductivity of the effluent fell within the South African wastewater discharge guidelines. The WWTP showed the chemical oxygen demand reduction efficiency required by the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) guidelines of 75 mg/L for the months of April and June, although it was below this standard in March and May. Free chlorine concentration varied between 0.26–0.96 mg/L and exceeded the DWA guideline value of 0.25 mg/L. The concentration of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3− N) in the influent and effluent varied between 0.499–2.31 mg/L and 7.545–19.413 mg/L, respectively. The concentration of NO3− N in the effluent complied with DWA effluent discharge standard of 15 mg/L, except in April and May. Phosphate concentrations in the influent and effluent were in the ranges of 0.552–42.646 mg/L and 1.572–32.554 mg/L, respectively. The WWTP showed reduction efficiencies of E. coli and Enterococci during some sampling periods but the level found in the effluent exceeded the recommended guideline value of 1000 cfu/100 mL for faecal indicator organisms in wastewater effluents. Consistent removal efficiencies were observed for Al (32–74%), Fe (7–32%) and Zn (24–94%) in most of the sampling months. In conclusion, the Thohoyandou WWTP is inefficient in treating wastewater to the acceptable quality before discharge. PMID:26132481

Potential of using plant extracts for purification of shallow well water in Malawi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pritchard, M.; Mkandawire, T.; Edmondson, A.; O'Neill, J. G.; Kululanga, G.

There has been very little scientific research work into the use of plant extracts to purify groundwater. Research studies on the purification of groundwater have mainly been carried out in developed countries and have focused on water purification systems using aluminium sulphate (a coagulant) and chlorine (a disinfectant). Such systems are expensive and not viable for rural communities due to abject poverty. Shallow well water, which is commonly available throughout Africa, is often grossly contaminated and usually consumed untreated. As a result, water-related diseases kill more than 5 million people every year worldwide. This research was aimed at examining natural plant extracts in order to develop inexpensive ways for rural communities to purify their groundwater. The study involved creating an inventory of plant extracts that have been used for water and wastewater purification. A prioritisation system was derived to select the most suitable extracts, which took into account criteria such as availability, purification potential, yield and cost of extraction. Laboratory trials were undertaken on the most promising plant extracts, namely: Moringa oleifera, Jatropha curcas and Guar gum. The extracts were added to water samples obtained from five shallow wells in Malawi. The trials consisted of jar tests to assess the coagulation potential and the resulting effect on physico-chemical and microbiological parameters such as temperature, pH, turbidity and coliforms. The results showed that the addition of M. oleifera, J. curcas and Guar gum can considerably improve the quality of shallow well water. Turbidity reduction was higher for more turbid water. A reduction efficiency exceeding 90% was achieved by all three extracts on shallow well water that had a turbidity of 49 NTU. A reduction in coliforms was about 80% for all extracts. The pH of the water samples increased with dosage, but remained within acceptable levels for drinking water for all the extracts

Characteristics of activated carbon produced from biosludge and its use in wastewater post-treatment.

PubMed

Pikkov, L; Kallas, J; Rüütmann, T; Rikmann, E

2001-02-01

Experimental research into the bench-scale production of activated carbon from waste-activated sludge from water purification, sawdust, peat, and their mixtures, by carbonisation and activation was undertaken. The research work was carried out to determine possible methods of production of cheap activated carbon from local raw materials and to use it in water purification technology. Along with the samples produced, several commercial activated carbons (namely RB-1, F 100, CA (adsorbent from military gas masks), BAY (product of the USSR)) were tested to compare adsorption properties in the adsorption of phenols, xylidines, amines, methylene blue and molasses. It has been found that the activated carbon produced from waste biosludge was of higher quality than that produced from either sawdust or peat, and performed similarly to RB-1 and F100 in adsorption tests. It was also determined that the activated carbon produced from biosludge could possibly be used in the post-treatment of wastewater. Residual sludge from the biological treatment of the wastewater from the purification of oil-shale in the chemical processing industry could cover up to 80% of the need for activated carbon. Some of this activated carbon could be used in the post-treatment of the same water, adsorbing polyalcaline phenols from the initial content of 4 mg l-1 to the demanded level of 1 mg l-1.

Energy efficiency for the removal of non-polar pollutants during ultraviolet irradiation, visible light photocatalysis and ozonation of a wastewater effluent.

PubMed

Santiago-Morales, Javier; Gómez, María José; Herrera-López, Sonia; Fernández-Alba, Amadeo R; García-Calvo, Eloy; Rosal, Roberto

2013-10-01

This study aims to assess the removal of a set of non-polar pollutants in biologically treated wastewater using ozonation, ultraviolet (UV 254 nm low pressure mercury lamp) and visible light (Xe-arc lamp) irradiation as well as visible light photocatalysis using Ce-doped TiO2. The compounds tracked include UV filters, synthetic musks, herbicides, insecticides, antiseptics and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Raw wastewater and treated samples were analyzed using stir-bar sorptive extraction coupled with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (SBSE-CG × GC-TOF-MS). Ozone treatment could remove most pollutants with a global efficiency of over 95% for 209 μM ozone dosage. UV irradiation reduced the total concentration of the sixteen pollutants tested by an average of 63% with high removal of the sunscreen 2-ethylhexyl trans-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC), the synthetic musk 7-acetyl-1,1,3,4,4,6-hexamethyltetrahydronaphthalene (tonalide, AHTN) and several herbicides. Visible light Ce-TiO2 photocatalysis reached ~70% overall removal with particularly high efficiency for synthetic musks. In terms of power usage efficiency expressed as nmol kJ(-1), the results showed that ozonation was by far the most efficient process, ten-fold over Xe/Ce-TiO2 visible light photocatalysis, the latter being in turn considerably more efficient than UV irradiation. In all cases the efficiency decreased along the treatments due to the lower reaction rate at lower pollutant concentration. The use of photocatalysis greatly improved the efficiency of visible light irradiation. The collector area per order decreased from 9.14 ± 5.11 m(2) m(-3) order(-1) for visible light irradiation to 0.16 ± 0.03 m(2) m(-3) order(-1) for Ce-TiO2 photocatalysis. The toxicity of treated wastewater was assessed using the green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. Ozonation reduced the toxicity of treated wastewater, while UV irradiation and visible light photocatalysis limited by 20-25% the algal growth due to

Nitrogen removal in Northern peatlands treating mine wastewaters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmer, Katharina; Karlsson, Teemu; Turunen, Kaisa; Liisa Räisänen, Marja; Backnäs, Soile

2015-04-01

Natural peatlands can be used as passive purification systems for mine wastewaters. These treatment peatlands are well-suited for passive water treatment as they delay the flow of water, and provide a large filtration network with many adsorptive surfaces on plant roots or soil particles. They have been shown to remove efficiently harmful metals and metalloids from mine waters due to variety of chemical, physical and biological processes such as adsorption, precipitation, sedimentation, oxidation and reduction reactions, as well as plant uptake. Many factors affect the removal efficiency such as inflow water quality, wetland hydrology, system pH, redox potential and temperature, the nature of the predominating purification processes, and the presence of other components such as salts. However, less attention has been paid to nitrogen (N) removal in peatlands. Thus, this study aimed to assess the efficiency of N removal and seasonal variation in the removal rate in two treatment peatlands treating mine dewatering waters and process effluent waters. Water sampling from treatment peatland inflow and outflow waters as well as pore waters in peatland were conducted multiple times during 2012-2014. Water samples were analysed for total N, nitrate-N and ammonium-N. Additionally, an YSI EXO2 device was used for continuous nitrate monitoring of waters discharged from treatment peatlands to the recipient river during summer 2014. The results showed that the oxic conditions in upper peat layer and microbial activity in treatment peatlands allowed the efficient oxidation of ammonium-N to nitrite-N and further to nitrate-N during summer time. However, the slow denitrification rate restricts the N removal as not all of the nitrate produced during nitrification is denitrified. In summer time, the removal rate of total N varied between 30-99 % being highest in late summer. N removal was clearly higher for treatment peatland treating process effluent waters than for peatland

Biocapture of CO2 by Different Microalgal-Based Technologies for Biogas Upgrading and Simultaneous Biogas Slurry Purification under Various Light Intensities and Photoperiods

PubMed Central

Guo, Pengfei; Zhang, Yuejin; Zhao, Yongjun

2018-01-01

Co-cultivation of microalgae and microbes for pollutant removal from sewage is considered as an effective wastewater treatment method. The aim of this study is to screen the optimal photoperiod, light intensity and microalgae co-cultivation method for simultaneously removing nutrients in biogas slurry and capturing CO2 in biogas. The microalgae–fungi pellets are deemed to be a viable option because of their high specific growth rate and nutrient and CO2 removal efficiency under the photoperiod of 14 h light:10 h dark. The order of both the biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading is ranked the same, that is Chlorella vulgaris–Ganoderma lucidum > Chlorella vulgaris–activated sludge > Chlorella vulgaris under different light intensities. For all cultivation methods, the moderate light intensity of 450 μmol m−2 s−1 is regarded as the best choice. This research revealed that the control of photoperiod and light intensity can promote the biological treatment process of biogas slurry purification and biogas upgrading using microalgal-based technology. PMID:29543784

Study on removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural wastewater by subsurface flow constructed wetland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ling, Zhen; Li, Jie

2018-03-01

Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetland Plant 5 kinds of perennial herbs, there are Canna, Water onion, Iris, Calamus, Reed. Foucs on Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands on agricultural wastewater nitrogen and phosphorus removal effect. Research results: Different plants TP removal efficiency from high to low is Iris> reed> calamus> water onion> canna.And TN removal efficiency from high to low is reed> water onion> iris> calamus> canna. Compared with the blank test land, Wetland plants improves TN removal and TP removal is higher than TN. Wetland plants can reduce the PH of experimental water.

Efficient purification and concentration of viruses from a large body of high turbidity seawater.

PubMed

Sun, Guowei; Xiao, Jinzhou; Wang, Hongming; Gong, Chaowen; Pan, Yingjie; Yan, Shuling; Wang, Yongjie

2014-01-01

Marine viruses are the most abundant entities in the ocean and play crucial roles in the marine ecological system. However, understanding of viral diversity on large scale depends on efficient and reliable viral purification and concentration techniques. Here, we report on developing an efficient method to purify and concentrate viruses from large body of high turbidity seawater. The developed method characterizes with high viral recovery efficiency, high concentration factor, high viral particle densities and high-throughput, and is reliable for viral concentration from high turbidity seawater. Recovered viral particles were used directly for subsequent analysis by epifluorescence microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and metagenomic sequencing. Three points are essential for this method:•The sampled seawater (>150 L) was initially divided into two parts, water fraction and settled matter fraction, after natural sedimentation.•Both viruses in the water fraction concentrated by tangential flow filtration (TFF) and viruses isolated from the settled matter fraction were considered as the whole viral community in high turbidity seawater.•The viral concentrates were re-concentrated by using centrifugal filter device in order to obtain high density of viral particles.

Solutions to microplastic pollution - Removal of microplastics from wastewater effluent with advanced wastewater treatment technologies.

PubMed

Talvitie, Julia; Mikola, Anna; Koistinen, Arto; Setälä, Outi

2017-10-15

Conventional wastewater treatment with primary and secondary treatment processes efficiently remove microplastics (MPs) from the wastewater. Despite the efficient removal, final effluents can act as entrance route of MPs, given the large volumes constantly discharged into the aquatic environments. This study investigated the removal of MPs from effluent in four different municipal wastewater treatment plants utilizing different advanced final-stage treatment technologies. The study included membrane bioreactor treating primary effluent and different tertiary treatment technologies (discfilter, rapid sand filtration and dissolved air flotation) treating secondary effluent. The MBR removed 99.9% of MPs during the treatment (from 6.9 to 0.005 MP L -1 ), rapid sand filter 97% (from 0.7 to 0.02 MP L -1 ), dissolved air flotation 95% (from 2.0 to 0.1 MP L -1 ) and discfilter 40-98.5% (from 0.5 - 2.0 to 0.03-0.3 MP L -1 ) of the MPs during the treatment. Our study shows that with advanced final-stage wastewater treatment technologies WWTPs can substantially reduce the MP pollution discharged from wastewater treatment plants into the aquatic environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microfluidic platform for efficient Nanodisc assembly, membrane protein incorporation, and purification.

PubMed

Wade, James H; Jones, Joshua D; Lenov, Ivan L; Riordan, Colleen M; Sligar, Stephen G; Bailey, Ryan C

2017-08-22

The characterization of integral membrane proteins presents numerous analytical challenges on account of their poor activity under non-native conditions, limited solubility in aqueous solutions, and low expression in most cell culture systems. Nanodiscs are synthetic model membrane constructs that offer many advantages for studying membrane protein function by offering a native-like phospholipid bilayer environment. The successful incorporation of membrane proteins within Nanodiscs requires experimental optimization of conditions. Standard protocols for Nanodisc formation can require large amounts of time and input material, limiting the facile screening of formation conditions. Capitalizing on the miniaturization and efficient mass transport inherent to microfluidics, we have developed a microfluidic platform for efficient Nanodisc assembly and purification, and demonstrated the ability to incorporate functional membrane proteins into the resulting Nanodiscs. In addition to working with reduced sample volumes, this platform simplifies membrane protein incorporation from a multi-stage protocol requiring several hours or days into a single platform that outputs purified Nanodiscs in less than one hour. To demonstrate the utility of this platform, we incorporated Cytochrome P450 into Nanodiscs of variable size and lipid composition, and present spectroscopic evidence for the functional active site of the membrane protein. This platform is a promising new tool for membrane protein biology and biochemistry that enables tremendous versatility for optimizing the incorporation of membrane proteins using microfluidic gradients to screen across diverse formation conditions.

Antifouling membranes for sustainable water purification: strategies and mechanisms.

PubMed

Zhang, Runnan; Liu, Yanan; He, Mingrui; Su, Yanlei; Zhao, Xueting; Elimelech, Menachem; Jiang, Zhongyi

2016-10-24

One of the greatest challenges to the sustainability of modern society is an inadequate supply of clean water. Due to its energy-saving and cost-effective features, membrane technology has become an indispensable platform technology for water purification, including seawater and brackish water desalination as well as municipal or industrial wastewater treatment. However, membrane fouling, which arises from the nonspecific interaction between membrane surface and foulants, significantly impedes the efficient application of membrane technology. Preparing antifouling membranes is a fundamental strategy to deal with pervasive fouling problems from a variety of foulants. In recent years, major advancements have been made in membrane preparation techniques and in elucidating the antifouling mechanisms of membrane processes, including ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis and forward osmosis. This review will first introduce the major foulants and the principal mechanisms of membrane fouling, and then highlight the development, current status and future prospects of antifouling membranes, including antifouling strategies, preparation techniques and practical applications. In particular, the strategies and mechanisms for antifouling membranes, including passive fouling resistance and fouling release, active off-surface and on-surface strategies, will be proposed and discussed extensively.

Separation and Purification of Mineral Salts from Spacecraft Wastewater Processing via Electrostatic Beneficiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miles, John D., II; Lunn, Griffin

2013-01-01

Electrostatic separation is a class of material processing technologies commonly used for the sorting of coarse mixtures by means of electrical forces acting on charged or polarized particles. Most if not all of the existing tribo-electrostatic separators had been initially developed for mineral ores beneficiation. It is a well-known process that has been successfully used to separate coal from minerals. Potash (potassium) enrichment where underground salt mines containing large amounts of sodium is another use of this techno logy. Through modification this technology can be used for spacecraft wastewater brine beneficiation. This will add in closing the gap beeen traveling around Earth's Gravity well and long-term space explorations. Food has been brought on all man missions, which is why plant growth for food crops continues to be of interest to NASA. For long-term mission considerations food productions is one of the top priorities. Nutrient recovery is essential for surviving in or past low earth orbit. In our advance bio-regenerative process instead of nitrogen gas produced; soluble nitrate salts that can be recovered for plant fertilizer would be produced instead. The only part missing is the beneficiation of brine to separate the potassium from the sodium. The use of electrostatic beneficiation in this experiment utilizes the electrical charge differences between aluminum and dried brine by surface contact. The helixes within the aluminum tribocharger allows for more surface contact when being agitated. When two materials are in contact, the material with the highest affinity for electrons becomes negatively charged, while the other becomes positively charged. This contact exchange of charge may cause the particles to agglomerate depending on their residence time within the tribocharger, compromising the efficiency of separation. The aim of this experiment is to further the development in electrostatic beneficiation by optimizing the separation of ersatz and

Study of the efficiency of moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) in LAS Anionic Detergent removal from hospital wastewater: determination of removing model according to response surface methodology (RSM).

PubMed

Shokoohi, Reza; Torkshavand, Zahra; Zolghadnasab, Hassan; Alikhani, Mohammad Yousef; Hemmat, Meisam Sedighi

2017-04-01

Detergents are considered one of the important pollutants in hospital wastewater. Achieving efficient and bio-friendly methods for the removal of these pollutants is considered as a concern for environmental researchers. This study aims at studying the efficiency of a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) system for removing linear alkyl benzene sulfonate (LAS) from hospital wastewater with utilization of response surface methodology (RSM). The present study was carried out on a reactor with continuous hydraulic flow using media k 1 at pilot scale to remove detergent from hospital wastewater. The effect of independent variables including contact time, percentage of media filling and mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration of 1000-3000 mg/l on the system efficiency were assessed. Methylene blue active substances (MBAS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) 750-850 mg/l were used by closed laboratory method in order to measure the concentration of LAS. The results revealed that the removal efficiency of LAS detergent and COD using media k 1 , retention time of 24 hours, and MLSS concentration of around 3,000 mg/l were 92.3 and 95.8%, respectively. The results showed that the MBBR system as a bio-friendly compatible method has high efficiency in removing detergents from hospital wastewater and can achieve standard output effluent in acceptable time.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in wastewater treatment plants and drinking water treatment plants: Removal efficiency and exposure risk.

PubMed

Pan, Chang-Gui; Liu, You-Sheng; Ying, Guang-Guo

2016-12-01

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of chemicals with wide industrial and commercial applications, and have been received great attentions due to their persistence in the environment. The information about their presence in urban water cycle is still limited. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and removal efficiency of eighteen PFASs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and drinking water plants (DWTPs) with different treatment processes. The results showed that both perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were the predominant compounds in the water phase of WWTPs and DWTPs, while PFOS was dominant in dewatered sludge of WWTPs. The average total PFASs concentrations in the three selected WWTPs were 19.6-232 ng/L in influents, 15.5-234 ng/L in effluents, and 31.5-49.1 ng/g dry weight in sludge. The distribution pattern of PFASs differed between the wastewater and sludge samples, indicating strong partition of PFASs with long carbon chains to sludge. In the WWTPs, most PFASs were not eliminated efficiently in conventional activated sludge treatment, while the membrane bio-reactor (MBR) and Unitank removed approximately 50% of long chain (C ≥ 8) perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs). The daily mass loads of total PFASs in WWTPs were in the range of 1956-24773 mg in influent and 1548-25085 mg in effluent. PFASs were found at higher concentrations in the wastewater from plant A with some industrial wastewater input than from the other two plants (plant B and plant C) with mainly domestic wastewater sources. Meanwhile, the average total PFASs concentrations in the two selected DWTPs were detected at 4.74-14.3 ng/L in the influent and 3.34-13.9 ng/L in the effluent. In DWTPs, only granular activated carbon (GAC) and powder activated carbon (PAC) showed significant removal of PFASs. The PFASs detected in the tap water would not pose immediate health risks in the short term exposure. The findings from this

CO₂-neutral wastewater treatment plants or robust, climate-friendly wastewater management? A systems perspective.

PubMed

Larsen, Tove A

2015-12-15

CO2-neutral wastewater treatment plants can be obtained by improving the recovery of internal wastewater energy resources (COD, nutrients, energy) and reducing energy demand as well as direct emissions of the greenhouse gases N2O and CH4. Climate-friendly wastewater management also includes the management of the heat resource, which is most efficiently recovered at the household level, and robust wastewater management must be able to cope with a possible resulting temperature decrease. At the treatment plant there is a substantial energy optimization potential, both from improving electromechanical devices and sludge treatment as well as through the implementation of more energy-efficient processes like the mainstream anammox process or nutrient recovery from urine. Whether CO2 neutrality can be achieved depends not only on the actual net electricity production, but also on the type of electricity replaced: the cleaner the marginal electricity the more difficult to compensate for the direct emissions, which can be substantial, depending on the stability of the biological processes. It is possible to combine heat recovery at the household scale and nutrient recovery from urine, which both have a large potential to improve the climate friendliness of wastewater management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating sequencing batch reactor with bio-electrochemical treatment for augmenting remediation efficiency of complex petrochemical wastewater.

PubMed

Yeruva, Dileep Kumar; Jukuri, Srinivas; Velvizhi, G; Naresh Kumar, A; Swamy, Y V; Venkata Mohan, S

2015-01-01

The present study evaluates the sequential integration of two advanced biological treatment methods viz., sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and bioelectrochemical treatment systems (BET) for the treatment of real-field petrochemical wastewater (PCW). Initially two SBR reactors were operated in aerobic (SBR(Ae)) and anoxic (SBR(Ax)) microenvironments with an organic loading rate (OLR) of 9.68 kg COD/m(3)-day. Relatively, SBR(Ax) showed higher substrate degradation (3.34 kg COD/m(3)-day) compared to SBR(Ae) (2.9 kg COD/m(3)-day). To further improve treatment efficiency, the effluents from SBR process were fed to BET reactors. BET(Ax) depicted higher SDR (1.92 kg COD/m(3)-day) with simultaneous power generation (17.12 mW/m(2)) followed by BET(Ae) (1.80 kg COD/m(3)-day; 14.25 mW/m(2)). Integrating both the processes documented significant improvement in COD removal efficiency due to the flexibility of combining multiple microenvironments sequentially. Results were supported with GC-MS and FTIR, which confirmed the increment in biodegradability of wastewater. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of strategies to control Fab light chain dimer during mammalian expression and purification: A universal one-step process for purification of correctly assembled Fab.

PubMed

Spooner, Jennifer; Keen, Jenny; Nayyar, Kalpana; Birkett, Neil; Bond, Nicholas; Bannister, David; Tigue, Natalie; Higazi, Daniel; Kemp, Benjamin; Vaughan, Tristan; Kippen, Alistair; Buchanan, Andrew

2015-07-01

Fabs are an important class of antibody fragment as both research reagents and therapeutic agents. There are a plethora of methods described for their recombinant expression and purification. However, these do not address the issue of excessive light chain production that forms light chain dimers nor do they describe a universal purification strategy. Light chain dimer impurities and the absence of a universal Fab purification strategy present persistent challenges for biotechnology applications using Fabs, particularly around the need for bespoke purification strategies. This study describes methods to address light chain dimer formation during Fab expression and identifies a novel CH 1 affinity resin as a simple and efficient one-step purification for correctly assembled Fab. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Treatment of dyeing wastewater by TiO2/H2O2/UV process: experimental design approach for evaluating total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency.

PubMed

Lee, Seung-Mok; Kim, Young-Gyu; Cho, Il-Hyoung

2005-01-01

Optimal operating conditions in order to treat dyeing wastewater were investigated by using the factorial design and responses surface methodology (RSM). The experiment was statistically designed and carried out according to a 22 full factorial design with four factorial points, three center points, and four axial points. Then, the linear and nonlinear regression was applied on the data by using SAS package software. The independent variables were TiO2 dosage, H2O2 concentration and total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency of dyeing wastewater was dependent variable. From the factorial design and responses surface methodology (RSM), maximum removal efficiency (85%) of dyeing wastewater was obtained at TiO2 dosage (1.82 gL(-1)), H2O2 concentration (980 mgL(-1)) for oxidation reaction (20 min).

The modified swirl sedimentation tanks for water purification.

PubMed

Ochowiak, Marek; Matuszak, Magdalena; Włodarczak, Sylwia; Ancukiewicz, Małgorzata; Krupińska, Andżelika

2017-03-15

This paper discusses design, evaluation, and application for the use of swirl/vortex technologies as liquid purification system. A study was performed using modified swirl sedimentation tanks. The vortex separators (OW, OWK, OWR and OWKR) have been studied under laboratory conditions at liquid flow rate from 2.8⋅10 -5 to 5.1⋅10 -4 [m 3 /s]. The pressure drop and the efficiency of purification of liquid stream were analyzed. The suspended particles of different diameters were successfully removed from liquid with the application of swirl chambers of proposed constructions. It was found that damming of liquid in the tank increases alongside liquid stream at the inlet and depends on the tank construction. The efficiency of the sedimentation tanks increases alongside the diameters of solid particles and decrease in the liquid flow rate. The best construction proved to be the OWR sedimentation tank due to smallest liquid damming, even at high flow rates, and the highest efficiency of the purification liquid stream for solid particles of the smallest diameter. The proposed solution is an alternative to the classical constructions of sedimentation tanks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highly efficient removal of ammonia nitrogen from wastewater by dielectrophoresis-enhanced adsorption.

PubMed

Liu, Dongyang; Cui, Chenyang; Wu, Yanhong; Chen, Huiying; Geng, Junfeng; Xia, Jianxin

2018-01-01

A new approach, based on dielectrophoresis (DEP), was developed in this work to enhance traditional adsorption for the removal of ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) from wastewater. The factors that affected the removal efficiency were systematically investigated, which allowed us to determine optimal operation parameters. With this new method we found that the removal efficiency was significantly improved from 66.7% by adsorption only to 95% by adsorption-DEP using titanium metal mesh as electrodes of the DEP and zeolite as the absorbent material. In addition, the dosage of the absorbent/zeolite and the processing time needed for the removal were greatly reduced after the introduction of DEP into the process. In addition, a very low discharge concentration (C, 1.5 mg/L) of NH 3 -N was achieved by the new method, which well met the discharge criterion of C < 8 mg/L (the emission standard of pollutants for rare earth industry in China).

Co-Cultivation of Fungal and Microalgal Cells as an Efficient System for Harvesting Microalgal Cells, Lipid Production and Wastewater Treatment

PubMed Central

Wrede, Digby; Taha, Mohamed; Miranda, Ana F.; Kadali, Krishna; Stevenson, Trevor; Ball, Andrew S.; Mouradov, Aidyn

2014-01-01

The challenges which the large scale microalgal industry is facing are associated with the high cost of key operations such as harvesting, nutrient supply and oil extraction. The high-energy input for harvesting makes current commercial microalgal biodiesel production economically unfeasible and can account for up to 50% of the total cost of biofuel production. Co-cultivation of fungal and microalgal cells is getting increasing attention because of high efficiency of bio-flocculation of microalgal cells with no requirement for added chemicals and low energy inputs. Moreover, some fungal and microalgal strains are well known for their exceptional ability to purify wastewater, generating biomass that represents a renewable and sustainable feedstock for biofuel production. We have screened the flocculation efficiency of the filamentous fungus A. fumigatus against 11 microalgae representing freshwater, marine, small (5 µm), large (over 300 µm), heterotrophic, photoautotrophic, motile and non-motile strains. Some of the strains are commercially used for biofuel production. Lipid production and composition were analysed in fungal-algal pellets grown on media containing alternative carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus sources contained in wheat straw and swine wastewater, respectively. Co-cultivation of algae and A. fumigatus cells showed additive and synergistic effects on biomass production, lipid yield and wastewater bioremediation efficiency. Analysis of fungal-algal pellet's fatty acids composition suggested that it can be tailored and optimised through co-cultivating different algae and fungi without the need for genetic modification. PMID:25419574

Co-cultivation of fungal and microalgal cells as an efficient system for harvesting microalgal cells, lipid production and wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Wrede, Digby; Taha, Mohamed; Miranda, Ana F; Kadali, Krishna; Stevenson, Trevor; Ball, Andrew S; Mouradov, Aidyn

2014-01-01

The challenges which the large scale microalgal industry is facing are associated with the high cost of key operations such as harvesting, nutrient supply and oil extraction. The high-energy input for harvesting makes current commercial microalgal biodiesel production economically unfeasible and can account for up to 50% of the total cost of biofuel production. Co-cultivation of fungal and microalgal cells is getting increasing attention because of high efficiency of bio-flocculation of microalgal cells with no requirement for added chemicals and low energy inputs. Moreover, some fungal and microalgal strains are well known for their exceptional ability to purify wastewater, generating biomass that represents a renewable and sustainable feedstock for biofuel production. We have screened the flocculation efficiency of the filamentous fungus A. fumigatus against 11 microalgae representing freshwater, marine, small (5 µm), large (over 300 µm), heterotrophic, photoautotrophic, motile and non-motile strains. Some of the strains are commercially used for biofuel production. Lipid production and composition were analysed in fungal-algal pellets grown on media containing alternative carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus sources contained in wheat straw and swine wastewater, respectively. Co-cultivation of algae and A. fumigatus cells showed additive and synergistic effects on biomass production, lipid yield and wastewater bioremediation efficiency. Analysis of fungal-algal pellet's fatty acids composition suggested that it can be tailored and optimised through co-cultivating different algae and fungi without the need for genetic modification.

Ice-shell purification of ice-binding proteins.

PubMed

Marshall, Craig J; Basu, Koli; Davies, Peter L

2016-06-01

Ice-affinity purification is a simple and efficient method of purifying to homogeneity both natural and recombinant ice-binding proteins. The purification involves the incorporation of ice-binding proteins into slowly-growing ice and the exclusion of other proteins and solutes. In previous approaches, the ice was grown around a hollow brass finger through which coolant was circulated. We describe here an easily-constructed apparatus that employs ice affinity purification that not only shortens the time for purification from 1-2 days to 1-2 h, but also enhances yield and purity. In this apparatus, the surface area for the separation was increased by extracting the ice-binding proteins into an ice-shell formed inside a rotating round-bottom flask partially submerged in a sub-zero bath. In principle, any ice-binding compound can be recovered from liquid solution, and the method is readily scalable. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measuring and explaining eco-efficiencies of wastewater treatment plants in China: An uncertainty analysis perspective.

PubMed

Dong, Xin; Zhang, Xinyi; Zeng, Siyu

2017-04-01

In the context of sustainable development, there has been an increasing requirement for an eco-efficiency assessment of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Data envelopment analysis (DEA), a technique that is widely applied for relative efficiency assessment, is used in combination with the tolerances approach to handle WWTPs' multiple inputs and outputs as well as their uncertainty. The economic cost, energy consumption, contaminant removal, and global warming effect during the treatment processes are integrated to interpret the eco-efficiency of WWTPs. A total of 736 sample plants from across China are assessed, and large sensitivities to variations in inputs and outputs are observed for most samples, with only three WWTPs identified as being stably efficient. Size of plant, overcapacity, climate type, and influent characteristics are proven to have a significant influence on both the mean efficiency and performance sensitivity of WWTPs, while no clear relationships were found between eco-efficiency and technology under the framework of uncertainty analysis. The incorporation of uncertainty quantification and environmental impact consideration has improved the liability and applicability of the assessment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new method of auxiliary purification for motor vehicle exhaust.

PubMed

Li, Dingqi

2018-07-01

As a result of the limitations of current purification technologies, purification efficiency is relatively low, particularly during startup or in the case of other abnormal automobile exhaust. Therefore, a new method of auxiliary purification is proposed in this paper. The acidic solution of potassium permanganate can oxidize carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide at relatively high temperatures and the alkaline solution of potassium permanganate can selectively absorb nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. Therefore, we carried out the experiment using a solution of potassium permanganate and sulfuric acid as well as a solution of sodium carbonate and potassium permanganate, which served as the reagents for the auxiliary purification. The results of the test showed that after auxiliary purification by the acidic solution of potassium permanganate and the alkaline solution of potassium permanganate, the concentrations of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and solid particles in the emissions were considerably lower than the concentrations prior to purification. It is possible to reduce the motor vehicle exhaust by the auxiliary purification of the solutions.

Removal of airborne microorganisms emitted from a wastewater treatment oxidation ditch by adsorption on activated carbon.

PubMed

Li, Lin; Gao, Min; Liu, Junxin; Guo, Xuesong

2011-01-01

Bioaerosol emissions from wastewater and wastewater treatment processes are a significant subgroup of atmospheric aerosols. Most previous work has focused on the evaluation of their biological risks. In this study, however, the adsorption method was applied to reduce airborne microorganisms generated from a pilot scale wastewater treatment facility with oxidation ditch. Results showed adsorption on granule activated carbon (GAC) was an efficient method for the purification of airborne microorganisms. The GAC itself had a maximum adsorption capacity of 2217 CFU/g for airborne bacteria and 225 CFU/g for fungi with a flow rate of 1.50 m3/hr. Over 85% of airborne bacteria and fungi emitted from the oxidation ditch were adsorbed within 80 hr of continuous operation mode. Most of them had a particle size of 0.65-4.7 microm. Those airborne microorganisms with small particle size were apt to be adsorbed. The SEM/EDAX, BET and Boehm's titration methods were applied to analyse the physicochemical characteristics of the GAC. Relationships between GAC surface characteristics and its adsorption performance demonstrated that porous structure, large surface area, and hydrophobicity rendered GAC an effective absorber of airborne microorganisms. Two regenerate methods, ultraviolet irradiation and high pressure vapor, were compared for the regeneration of used activated carbon. High pressure vapor was an effective technique as it totally destroyed the microorganisms adhered to the activated carbon. Microscopic observation was also carried out to investigate original and used adsorbents.

Phycoremediation of Heavy Metals in Wet Market Wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apandi, Najeeha; Saphira Radin Mohamed, Radin Maya; Al-Gheethi, Adel; Latiffi, Atikah; Nor Hidayah Arifin, Siti; Gani, Paran

2018-04-01

The efficiency of phycoremediation using microalgae for removing nutrients and heavy metals from wastewaters has been proved. However, the differences in the composition of wastewaters as well as microalgae species play an important role in the efficient of this process. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Scenedesmus sp. to removal of heavy metals from wet market wastewater. Scenedesmus sp. was inoculated with 106 cells/mL into each wet market wastewater concentration included 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100% and incubated for 18 days. The highest growth rate was recorded in 50% WM with a maximum dry weight of 2006 mg L-1 which subsequently removed 93.06% of Cd, 91.5% of Cr, 92.47% of Fe, 92.40% of Zn. These findings reflected the high potential of Scenedesmus sp. in the treatment of wet market wastewater and production microalgae biomass.

Enhancing purification efficiency of affinity functionalized composite agarose micro beads using Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

PubMed

Amiri, S; Mehrnia, M R; Roudsari, F Pourasgharian

2017-01-15

In this work, a series of magnetic and nonmagnetic agarose matrices were fabricated for protein purification. Certain amounts of Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles were encapsulated in agarose beads to form composite magnetic matrices with enhanced purification efficiency. Structure and morphology of prepared matrices were studied by optical and scanning electron microscopes, FT-IR, and BET-BJH analysis. The prepared matrices had regular spherical shape, followed by a uniform size distribution. By nanoparticles addition, the number of mesopores decreased while population of pores with radius ≤10nm increased; thus, higher specific area achieved. According to VSM results, magnetization degree was one of the characteristics affected by agarose content of the beads. A dye ligand, Cibacron Blue F3GA (CB), was covalently bound to beads to adsorb Bovine serum albumin. CB concentration was determined by elemental analysis. It was shown that magnetic beads hold higher CB concentrations than nonmagnetic ones due to higher specific area. As a result, magnetic 8%-agarose beads had the highest affinity adsorption capacity in static experiments. Moreover, breakthrough curves were monitored to calculate dynamic binding capacity. And, it was shown that magnetic 4%-agarose had the highest adsorbing amount (6.00mg/mL). It was implied that pore diffusion in magnetic 4%-agarose may be the reason for higher dynamic capacity. Plus, column efficiency was evaluated. It was revealed that all magnetic beads had lower HETP (0.11, 0.12 and 0.11cm for magnetic 4, 6, and 8%-agarose beads) than nonmagnetic ones (P-value<0.05). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Method for the purification of noble gases, nitrogen and hydrogen

DOEpatents

Baker, John D.; Meikrantz, David H.; Tuggle, Dale G.

1997-01-01

A method and apparatus for the purification and collection of hydrogen isotopes in a flowing inert gaseous mixture containing impurities, wherein metal alloy getters having the capability of sorbing non-hydrogen impurities such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, nitrogen and water vapor are utilized to purify the gaseous mixture of impurities. After purification hydrogen isotopes may be more efficiently collected. A plurality of parallel process lines utilizing metal getter alloys can be used to provide for the continuous purification and collection of the hydrogen isotopes.

Method for the purification of noble gases, nitrogen and hydrogen

DOEpatents

Baker, J.D.; Meikrantz, D.H.; Tuggle, D.G.

1997-09-23

A method and apparatus are disclosed for the purification and collection of hydrogen isotopes in a flowing inert gaseous mixture containing impurities, wherein metal alloy getters having the capability of sorbing non-hydrogen impurities such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, nitrogen and water vapor are utilized to purify the gaseous mixture of impurities. After purification hydrogen isotopes may be more efficiently collected. A plurality of parallel process lines utilizing metal getter alloys can be used to provide for the continuous purification and collection of the hydrogen isotopes. 15 figs.

Eutrophic water purification efficiency using a combination of hydrodynamic cavitation and ozonation on a pilot scale.

PubMed

Li, Wei-Xin; Tang, Chuan-Dong; Wu, Zhi-Lin; Wang, Wei-Min; Zhang, Yu-Feng; Zhao, Yi; Cravotto, Giancarlo

2015-04-01

This paper presents the purification of eutrophic water using a combination of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and ozonation (O3) at a continuous flow of 0.8 m(3) h(-1) on a pilot scale. The maximum removal rate of chlorophyll a using O3 alone and the HC/O3 combination was 62.3 and 78.8%, respectively, under optimal conditions, where the ozone utilization efficiency was 64.5 and 94.8% and total energy consumption was 8.89 and 8.25 kWh m(-3), respectively. Thus, the removal rate of chlorophyll a and the ozone utilization efficiency were improved by 26.5% and 46.9%, respectively, by using the combined technique. Meanwhile, total energy consumption was reduced by 7.2%. Turbidity linearly decreased with chlorophyll a removal rate, but no linear relationship exists between the removal of COD or UV254 and chlorophyll a. As expected, the suction-cavitation-assisted O3 exhibited higher energy efficiency than the extrusion-cavitation-assisted O3 and O3 alone methods.

Monolith-based immobilized metal affinity chromatography increases production efficiency for plasmid DNA purification.

PubMed

Shin, Min Jae; Tan, Lihan; Jeong, Min Ho; Kim, Ji-Heung; Choe, Woo-Seok

2011-08-05

Immobilized metal affinity monolith column as a new class of chromatographic support is shown to be superior to conventional particle-based column as plasmid DNA (pDNA) purification platform. By harnessing the affinity of endotoxin to copper ions in the solution, a majority of endotoxin (90%) was removed from the alkaline cell lysate using CuCl(2)-induced precipitation. RNA and remaining endotoxin were subsequently removed to below detection limit with minimal loss of pDNA using either monolith or particle-based column. Monolith column has the additional advantage of feed concentration and flowrate-independent dynamic binding capacity for RNA molecules, enabling purification process to be conducted at high feed RNA concentration and flowrate. The use of monolith column gives three fold increased productivity of pDNA as compared to particle-based column, providing a more rapid and economical platform for pDNA purification. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growing Chlorella sp. on meat processing wastewater for nutrient removal and biomass production.

PubMed

Lu, Qian; Zhou, Wenguang; Min, Min; Ma, Xiaochen; Chandra, Ceria; Doan, Yen T T; Ma, Yiwei; Zheng, Hongli; Cheng, Sibo; Griffith, Richard; Chen, Paul; Chen, Chi; Urriola, Pedro E; Shurson, Gerald C; Gislerød, Hans R; Ruan, Roger

2015-12-01

In this work, Chlorella sp. (UM6151) was selected to treat meat processing wastewater for nutrient removal and biomass production. To balance the nutrient profile and improve biomass yield at low cost, an innovative algae cultivation model based on wastewater mixing was developed. The result showed that biomass yield (0.675-1.538 g/L) of algae grown on mixed wastewater was much higher than that on individual wastewater and artificial medium. Wastewater mixing eased the bottleneck for algae growth and contributed to the improved biomass yield. Furthermore, in mixed wastewater with sufficient nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen removal efficiencies (68.75-90.38%) and total nitrogen removal efficiencies (30.06-50.94%) were improved. Wastewater mixing also promoted the synthesis of protein in algal cells. Protein content of algae growing on mixed wastewater reached 60.87-68.65%, which is much higher than that of traditional protein source. Algae cultivation model based on wastewater mixing is an efficient and economical way to improve biomass yield. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance Modeling and Cost Analysis of a Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis Process for the Final Purification of Olive Mill Wastewater

PubMed Central

Ochando-Pulido, Javier Miguel; Hodaifa, Gassan; Victor-Ortega, Maria Dolores; Martinez-Ferez, Antonio

2013-01-01

A secondary treatment for olive mill wastewater coming from factories working with the two-phase olive oil production process (OMW-2) has been set-up on an industrial scale in an olive oil mill in the premises of Jaén (Spain). The secondary treatment comprises Fenton-like oxidation followed by flocculation-sedimentation and filtration through olive stones. In this work, performance modelization and preliminary cost analysis of a final reverse osmosis (RO) process was examined on pilot scale for ulterior purification of OMW-2 with the goal of closing the loop of the industrial production process. Reduction of concentration polarization on the RO membrane equal to 26.3% was provided upon increment of the turbulence over the membrane to values of Reynolds number equal to 2.6 × 104. Medium operating pressure (25 bar) should be chosen to achieve significant steady state permeate flux (21.1 L h−1 m−2) and minimize membrane fouling, ensuring less than 14.7% flux drop and up to 90% feed recovery. Under these conditions, irreversible fouling below 0.08 L h−2 m−2 bar−1 helped increase the longevity of the membrane and reduce the costs of the treatment. For 10 m3 day−1 OMW-2 on average, 47.4 m2 required membrane area and 0.87 € m−3 total costs for the RO process were estimated. PMID:24957058

Evaluation of enhanced coagulation pretreatment to improve ozone oxidation efficiency in wastewater.

PubMed

Wert, Eric C; Gonzales, Sarah; Dong, Mei Mei; Rosario-Ortiz, Fernando L

2011-10-15

Enhanced coagulation (EC) using ferric chloride was evaluated as a pretreatment process to improve the efficiency of ozone (O3) for the oxidation of trace organic contaminants in wastewater. At the applied dosages (10-30 mg/L as Fe), EC pretreatment removed between 10 and 47% of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from the three wastewaters studied. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) showed that EC preferentially removed higher apparent molecular weight (AMW) compounds. Subsequent O3 testing was performed using an O3:DOC ratio of 1. Results showed that O3 exposures were similar even though the required doses were reduced by 10-47% by the EC pretreatment process. Hydroxyl radical (HO·) exposure, measured by parachlorobenzoic acid (pCBA), showed 10% reduction when using a FeCl3 dose of 30 mg/L, likely due to the lower O3 dose and decreased production of HO· during the initial phase of O3 decomposition (t<30 s). The oxidation of 13 trace organic contaminants (including atenolol, carbamazepine, DEET, diclofenac, dilantin, gemfibrozil, ibuprofen, meprobamate, naproxen, primidone, sulfamethoxazole, triclosan, and trimethoprim) was evaluated after EC and O3 treatment. EC was ineffective at removing any of the contaminants, while O3 oxidation reduced the concentration of compounds according to their reaction rate constants with O3 and HO·. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A rapid, efficient, and economic device and method for the isolation and purification of mouse islet cells

PubMed Central

Zongyi, Yin; Funian, Zou; Hao, Li; Ying, Cheng; Jialin, Zhang

2017-01-01

Rapid, efficient, and economic method for the isolation and purification of islets has been pursued by numerous islet-related researchers. In this study, we compared the advantages and disadvantages of our developed patented method with those of commonly used conventional methods (Ficoll-400, 1077, and handpicking methods). Cell viability was assayed using Trypan blue, cell purity and yield were assayed using diphenylthiocarbazone, and islet function was assayed using acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-glucose stimulation testing 4 days after cultivation. The results showed that our islet isolation and purification method required 12 ± 3 min, which was significantly shorter than the time required in Ficoll-400, 1077, and HPU groups (34 ± 3, 41 ± 4, and 30 ± 4 min, respectively; P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in islet viability among the four groups. The islet purity, function, yield, and cost of our method were superior to those of the Ficoll-400 and 1077 methods, but inferior to the handpicking method. However, the handpicking method may cause wrist injury and visual impairment in researchers during large-scale islet isolation (>1000 islets). In summary, the MCT method is a rapid, efficient, and economic method for isolating and purifying murine islet cell clumps. This method overcomes some of the shortcomings of conventional methods, showing a relatively higher quality and yield of islets within a shorter duration at a lower cost. Therefore, the current method provides researchers with an alternative option for islet isolation and should be widely generalized. PMID:28207765

A rapid, efficient, and economic device and method for the isolation and purification of mouse islet cells.

PubMed

Zongyi, Yin; Funian, Zou; Hao, Li; Ying, Cheng; Jialin, Zhang; Baifeng, Li

2017-01-01

Rapid, efficient, and economic method for the isolation and purification of islets has been pursued by numerous islet-related researchers. In this study, we compared the advantages and disadvantages of our developed patented method with those of commonly used conventional methods (Ficoll-400, 1077, and handpicking methods). Cell viability was assayed using Trypan blue, cell purity and yield were assayed using diphenylthiocarbazone, and islet function was assayed using acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-glucose stimulation testing 4 days after cultivation. The results showed that our islet isolation and purification method required 12 ± 3 min, which was significantly shorter than the time required in Ficoll-400, 1077, and HPU groups (34 ± 3, 41 ± 4, and 30 ± 4 min, respectively; P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in islet viability among the four groups. The islet purity, function, yield, and cost of our method were superior to those of the Ficoll-400 and 1077 methods, but inferior to the handpicking method. However, the handpicking method may cause wrist injury and visual impairment in researchers during large-scale islet isolation (>1000 islets). In summary, the MCT method is a rapid, efficient, and economic method for isolating and purifying murine islet cell clumps. This method overcomes some of the shortcomings of conventional methods, showing a relatively higher quality and yield of islets within a shorter duration at a lower cost. Therefore, the current method provides researchers with an alternative option for islet isolation and should be widely generalized.

Detection of a wide variety of human and veterinary fluoroquinolone antibiotics in municipal wastewater and wastewater-impacted surface water.

PubMed

He, Ke; Soares, Ana Dulce; Adejumo, Hollie; McDiarmid, Melissa; Squibb, Katherine; Blaney, Lee

2015-03-15

As annual sales of antibiotics continue to rise, the mass of these specially-designed compounds entering municipal wastewater treatment systems has also increased. Of primary concern here is that antibiotics can inhibit growth of specific microorganisms in biological processes of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) or in downstream ecosystems. Growth inhibition studies with Escherichia coli demonstrated that solutions containing 1-10 μg/L of fluoroquinolones can inhibit microbial growth. Wastewater samples were collected on a monthly basis from various treatment stages of a 30 million gallon per day WWTP in Maryland, USA. Samples were analyzed for the presence of 11 fluoroquinolone antibiotics. At least one fluoroquinolone was detected in every sample. Ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin exhibited detection frequencies of 100% and 98%, respectively, across all sampling sites. Concentrations of fluoroquinolones in raw wastewater were as high as 1900 ng/L for ciprofloxacin and 600 ng/L for ofloxacin. Difloxacin, enrofloxacin, fleroxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, and orbifloxacin were also detected at appreciable concentrations of 9-170 ng/L. The total mass concentration of fluoroquinolones in raw wastewater was in the range that inhibited E. coli growth, suggesting that concerns over antibiotic presence in wastewater and wastewater-impacted surface water are valid. The average removal efficiency of fluoroquinolones during wastewater treatment was approximately 65%; furthermore, the removal efficiency for fluoroquinolones was found to be negatively correlated to biochemical oxygen demand removal and positively correlated to phosphorus removal. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Organic contaminants in onsite wastewater treatment systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Conn, K.E.; Siegrist, R.L.; Barber, L.B.; Brown, G.K.

2007-01-01

Wastewater from thirty onsite wastewater treatment systems was sampled during a reconnaissance field study to quantify bulk parameters and the occurrence of organic wastewater contaminants including endocrine disrupting compounds in treatment systems representing a variety of wastewater sources and treatment processes and their receiving environments. Bulk parameters ranged in concentrations representative of the wide variety of wastewater sources (residential vs. non-residential). Organic contaminants such as sterols, surfactant metabolites, antimicrobial agents, stimulants, metal-chelating agents, and other consumer product chemicals, measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were detected frequently in onsite system wastewater. Wastewater composition was unique between source type likely due to differences in source water and chemical usage. Removal efficiencies varied by engineered treatment type and physicochemical properties of the contaminant, resulting in discharge to the soil treatment unit at ecotoxicologically-relevant concentrations. Organic wastewater contaminants were detected less frequently and at lower concentrations in onsite system receiving environments. Understanding the occurrence and fate of organic wastewater contaminants in onsite wastewater treatment systems will aid in minimizing risk to ecological and human health.

Integration of biotechnological wastewater treatment units in textile finishing factories: from end of the pipe solutions to combined production and wastewater treatment units.

PubMed

Feitkenhauer, H; Meyer, U

2001-08-23

Increasing costs for water, wastewater and energy put pressure on textile finishing plants to increase the efficiency of wet processing. An improved water management can decrease the use of these resources and is a prerequisite for the integration of an efficient, anaerobic on-site pretreatment of effluents that will further cut wastewater costs. A two-phase anaerobic treatment is proposed, and successful laboratory experiments with model effluents from the cotton finishing industry are reported. The chemical oxygen demand of this wastewater was reduced by over 88% at retention times of 1 day or longer. The next step to boost the efficiency is to combine the production and wastewater treatment. The example of cotton fabric desizing (removing size from the fabric) illustrates how this final step of integration uses the acidic phase bioreactor as a part of the production and allows to close the water cycle of the system.

Bacteria Provide Cleanup of Oil Spills, Wastewater

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2010-01-01

Through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts with Marshall Space Flight Center, Micro-Bac International Inc., of Round Rock, Texas, developed a phototrophic cell for water purification in space. Inside the cell: millions of photosynthetic bacteria. Micro-Bac proceeded to commercialize the bacterial formulation it developed for the SBIR project. The formulation is now used for the remediation of wastewater systems and waste from livestock farms and food manufacturers. Strains of the SBIR-derived bacteria also feature in microbial solutions that treat environmentally damaging oil spills, such as that resulting from the catastrophic 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Municipal wastewater biological nutrient removal driven by the fermentation liquid of dairy wastewater.

PubMed

Liu, Hui; Chen, Yinguang; Wu, Jiang

2017-11-01

Carbon substrate is required by biological nutrient removal (BNR) microorganism, but it is usually insufficient in the influent of many municipal wastewater treatment plants. In this study the use of ethanol-enriched fermentation liquid, which was derived from dairy wastewater, as the preferred carbon substrate of BNR was reported. First, the application of dairy wastewater and food processing wastewater and their fermentation liquid as the carbon substrate of BNR was compared in the short-term tests. The fermented wastewater showed higher BNR performance than the unfermented one, and the fermentation liquid of dairy wastewater (FL-DW), which was obtained under pH 8 and fermentation time of 6 day, exhibited the highest phosphorus (95.5%) and total nitrogen (97.6%) removal efficiencies due to its high ethanol content (57.9%). Then, the long-term performance of FL-DW acting as the carbon substrate of BNR was compared with that of acetate and ethanol, and the FL-DW showed the greatest phosphorus and total nitrogen removal. Further investigation showed that the use of FL-DW caused the highest polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) synthesis in BNR microbial cells, and more PHAs were used for phosphorus uptake and denitrification rather than glycogen synthesis and microbial growth. The FL-DW can be used as a preferred carbon substrate for BNR microbes. AB: aerobic end sludge active biomass; BNR: biological nutrient removal; DW: dairy wastewater; FL-DW: fermentation liquid of dairy wastewater; FPW: food processing wastewater; FL-FPW: fermentation liquid of food processing wastewater; PHAs: polyhydroxyalkanoates; PHB: poly-3-hydroxybutyrate; PHV: poly-3-hydroxyvalerate; PH2MV: poly-3-hydroxy-2- methylvalerate; PAOs: phosphorus accumulating organisms; SBR: sequencing batch reactor; SOP: soluble ortho-phosphorus; TN: total nitrogen; TSS: total suspended solids; VSS: volatile suspended solids; VFAs: volatile fatty acids; WWTPs: wastewater treatment plants.

Decreasing of BOD Concentration on Artificial Domestic Wastewater Using Anaerob Biofilter Reactor Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sumiyati, Sri; Purwanto; Sudarno

2018-02-01

Pollution of domestic wastewater becomes an urban problem. Domestic wastewater contains a variety of pollutants. One of the pollutant parameters in domestic wastewater is BOD. Domestic wastewater which BOD concentrations exceeding the quality standard will be harmful to the environment, particularly the receiving water body. Therefore, before being discharged into the environment, domestic wastewater needs to be processed first. One of the processing that has high efficiency, low cost and easy operation is biofilter technology. The purpose of this research was to analyze the efficiency of BOD concentration reduction in domestic wastewater with anaerobic reactor biofilter using volcanic gravel media. The type of reactor used is an anaerobic biofilter made of glass which volume of 30 liters while the biofilter media is volcanic gravel. In this research the established HRT were 24, 12, 6 and 3 hours. The results showed that the efficiency of BOD concentration reduction in artificial domestic wastewater reached 80%.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in two vertical-flow wetlands constructed for heavy metal-contaminated wastewater bioremediation.

PubMed

Xu, Zhouying; Wu, Yang; Jiang, Yinghe; Zhang, Xiangling; Li, Junli; Ban, Yihui

2018-05-01

Over the last three decades, the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in wetland habitats had been proven, and their roles played in wetland ecosystems and potential functions in wastewater bioremediation technical installations are interesting issues. To increase knowledge on the functions of AMF in the plant-based bioremediation of wastewater, we constructed two vertical-flow wetlands planting with Phragmites australis and investigated AMF distribution in plant roots and their roles played in purification of wastewater polluted by heavy metals (HMs), utilizing the Illumina sequencing technique. A total of 17 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from 33,031 AMF sequences were obtained, with Glomus being the most dominant. P. australis living in the two vertical-flow constructed wetlands (CWs) harbored diverse AMF comparable with the AM fungal communities in upland habitats. The AMF composition profiles of CW1 (vegetated with non-inoculated plants) and CW2 (vegetated with mycorrhizal plants inoculated with Rhizophagus intraradices) were significantly different. CW1 (15 OTUs) harbored more diverse AMF than CW2 (7 OTUs); however, CW2 harbored much more OTU13 than CW1. In addition, a zipf species abundance distribution (SAD), which might due to the heavy overdominance of OTU13, was observed across AM fugal taxa in P. australis roots of the two CWs. CW1 and CW2 showed high (> 70%) removal capacity of HMs. CW2 exhibited significant higher Cd and Zn removal efficiencies than CW1 (CK) (p = 0.005 and p = 0.008, respectively). It was considered that AMF might play a role in HM removal in CWs.

Efficient purification of Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) from plasma by HEA HyperCel™: An alternative approach.

PubMed

G, Arun Govind; Kamalanathan, Agamudi Shivasankaran; Vijayalakshmi, Mookambeswaran Arunachalam; Venkataraman, Krishnan

2018-01-15

HDL-ApoA1 plays a pivotal role in the prevention of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. ApoA1 purification from blood plasma has always remained tedious, involving multiple steps, large volumes of plasma and substantial loss in the final yield of pure ApoA1. In this study, a two-step method has been developed and optimized for the purification of ApoA1 from plasma. Plasma was first subjected to 60% ammonium sulphate (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 precipitation and subsequently, ApoA1 was recovered using mixed mode chromatographic sorbent, HEA HyperCel™. ApoA1 was found to be enriched in 60% (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 supernatant that was dialyzed and injected onto HEA sorbent with 50 mM phosphate buffer pH 7.4. The bound proteins were eluted by decreasing the pH in step-gradient from pH 7.4 to pH 4.0 and subsequently to pH 3.5 using 50 mM sodium acetate buffer. Gel electrophoresis showed elution of homogeneous apoA1 at pH 3.5, with purity and yield of 63%. An interesting feature of this approach is that the purified ApoA1 was monomeric with a mass of 28,079.30 Da as confirmed by MS analysis. This simple and efficient method of purification of apoA1 serves as an alternative method which can be combined with traditional approaches and has a great potential for biochemical and clinical studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Organic contaminant removal efficiency of sodium bentonite/clay (BC) mixtures in high permeability regions utilizing reclaimed wastewater: A meso-scale study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Yang; Li, Yunkai; Ning, Zigong; Li, Pengxiang; Yang, Peiling; Liu, Chengcheng; Liu, Zhongwei; Xu, Feipeng; Hynds, Paul Dylan

2018-03-01

Wastewater reclamation now represents an effective measure for sustainable water resource management in arid regions, however wastewater components (organic micropollutants) may potentially impact local ecological and/or human health. Previous studies have shown that sodium bentonite/natural clay (BC) mixes may be used to effectively reduce riverbed infiltration in regions characterized by excessively high hydraulic conductivity. Accordingly, the current study sought to investigate the contaminant removal efficiency (Re) of several BC mass ratios in simulated dry riverbeds. Results indicate that the measured Re of NH4+-N, CODcr and BOD5 increased in concurrence with an increasing sodium bentonite ratio, up to a maximum Re of 97.4% (NH4+-N), 55.2% (CODcr), and 51.5% (BOD5). The primary contaminant removal site was shown to be the infiltration-reducing (BC) layer, accounting for approximately 40%, 60%, and 70% of NH4+-N, CODcr and BOD5 removal, respectively. Conversely, the removal efficiency of NO3-N was found to be low (<15%), while total phosphorous (TP) was found to actively leach from the infiltration-reduction layer, resulting in measured TP discharges 2.4-4.8 times those of initial infiltration values. The current study provides a technical baseline for the efficacy of sodium bentonite as an effective bi-functional material in areas utilizing reclaimed water i.e. concurrent reduction of infiltration rates (Function 1) and decontamination of reclaimed wastewater infiltration/recharge (Function 2). Findings indicate that sodium bentonite-clay mixes may represent a feasible alternative for managing recharge of non-potable aquifers with reclaimed wastewater.

Hofmeister series salts enhance purification of plasmid DNA by non-ionic detergents

PubMed Central

Lezin, George; Kuehn, Michael R.; Brunelli, Luca

2011-01-01

Ion-exchange chromatography is the standard technique used for plasmid DNA purification, an essential molecular biology procedure. Non-ionic detergents (NIDs) have been used for plasmid DNA purification, but it is unclear whether Hofmeister series salts (HSS) change the solubility and phase separation properties of specific NIDs, enhancing plasmid DNA purification. After scaling-up NID-mediated plasmid DNA isolation, we established that NIDs in HSS solutions minimize plasmid DNA contamination with protein. In addition, large-scale NID/HSS solutions eliminated LPS contamination of plasmid DNA more effectively than Qiagen ion-exchange columns. Large-scale NID isolation/NID purification generated increased yields of high quality DNA compared to alkali isolation/column purification. This work characterizes how HSS enhance NID-mediated plasmid DNA purification, and demonstrates that NID phase transition is not necessary for LPS removal from plasmid DNA. Specific NIDs such as IGEPAL CA-520 can be utilized for rapid, inexpensive and efficient laboratory-based large-scale plasmid DNA purification, outperforming Qiagen-based column procedures. PMID:21351074

Polishing Step Purification of High-Strength Wastewaters by Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jinxiang; Baker, Brian O.; Grimsley, Charles T.; Husson, Scott M.

2016-01-01

This article reports findings on the use of nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) for secondary treatment of high-strength rendering facility wastewaters following an ultrafiltration step. These wastewaters present significant challenges to classical treatment technologies. Constant-pressure, direct-flow membrane filtration experiments were done to screen for flux and effluent water permeate quality of ten commercial NF and RO membranes. All membranes tested were effective in reducing total dissolved salts (TDS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD); however, only two membranes (Koch MPF-34 and Toray 70UB) gave sufficiently stable flux values to warrant longer term cross-flow filtration studies. Cross-flow flux measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) indicated that both membranes were eventually fouled by organic and inorganic foulants; however, the Toray 70UB RO membrane yielded a capacity of 1600 L/m2 prior to cleaning. A preliminary economic analysis compared the estimated costs of energy and consumables for a dual-stage UF/RO membrane process and dissolved air floatation (DAF) and found membrane process costs could be less than about 40% of the current DAF process. PMID:26978407

An efficient and environment-friendly method of removing graphene oxide in wastewater and its degradation mechanisms.

PubMed

Zhang, Chao-Zhi; Li, Ting; Yuan, Yang; Xu, Jianqiang

2016-06-01

Graphene and graphene oxide (GO) have already existed in air, water and soil due to their popular application in functional materials. However, degradation of graphene and GO in wastewater has not been reported. Degradation of GO plays a key role in the elimination of graphene and GO in wastewater due to graphene being easily oxidized to GO. In this paper, GO was completely degraded to give CO2 by Photo-Fenton. The degradation intermediates were determined by UV-vis absorption spectra, elemental analysis (EA), fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Experimental results showed that graphene oxide was completely degraded to give CO2 after 28 days. Based on UV, FT-IR, LC-MS spectra and EA data of these degradation intermediates, the degradation mechanisms of GO were supposed. This paper suggests an efficient and environment-friendly method to degrade GO and graphene. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater and sludge from wastewater treatment plants: removal and ecotoxicological impact of wastewater discharges and sludge disposal.

PubMed

Martín, J; Camacho-Muñoz, D; Santos, J L; Aparicio, I; Alonso, E

2012-11-15

The occurrence of sixteen pharmaceutically active compounds in influent and effluent wastewater and in primary, secondary and digested sludge in one-year period has been evaluated. Solid-water partition coefficients (Kd) were calculated to evaluate the efficiency of removal of these compounds from wastewater by sorption onto sludge. The ecotoxicological risk to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, due to wastewater discharges to the receiving streams and to the application of digested sludge as fertilizer onto soils, was also evaluated. Twelve of the pharmaceuticals were detected in wastewater at mean concentrations from 0.1 to 32 μg/L. All the compounds found in wastewater were also found in sewage sludge, except diclofenac, at mean concentrations from 8.1 to 2206 μg/kg dm. Ibuprofen, salicylic acid, gemfibrozil and caffeine were the compounds at the highest concentrations. LogKd values were between 1.17 (naproxen) and 3.48 (carbamazepine). The highest ecotoxicological risk in effluent wastewater and digested sludge is due to ibuprofen (risk quotient (RQ): 3.2 and 4.4, respectively), 17α-ethinylestradiol (RQ: 12 and 22, respectively) and 17β-estradiol (RQ: 12 and 359, respectively). Ecotoxicological risk after wastewater discharge and sludge disposal is limited to the presence of 17β-estradiol in digested-sludge amended soil (RQ: 2.7). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bioaugmentation: An Emerging Strategy of Industrial Wastewater Treatment for Reuse and Discharge

PubMed Central

Nzila, Alexis; Razzak, Shaikh Abdur; Zhu, Jesse

2016-01-01

A promising long-term and sustainable solution to the growing scarcity of water worldwide is to recycle and reuse wastewater. In wastewater treatment plants, the biodegradation of contaminants or pollutants by harnessing microorganisms present in activated sludge is one of the most important strategies to remove organic contaminants from wastewater. However, this approach has limitations because many pollutants are not efficiently eliminated. To counterbalance the limitations, bioaugmentation has been developed and consists of adding specific and efficient pollutant-biodegrading microorganisms into a microbial community in an effort to enhance the ability of this microbial community to biodegrade contaminants. This approach has been tested for wastewater cleaning with encouraging results, but failure has also been reported, especially during scale-up. In this review, work on the bioaugmentation in the context of removal of important pollutants from industrial wastewater is summarized, with an emphasis on recalcitrant compounds, and strategies that can be used to improve the efficiency of bioaugmentation are also discussed. This review also initiates a discussion regarding new research areas, such as nanotechnology and quorum sensing, that should be investigated to improve the efficiency of wastewater bioaugmentation. PMID:27571089

Bioaugmentation: An Emerging Strategy of Industrial Wastewater Treatment for Reuse and Discharge.

PubMed

Nzila, Alexis; Razzak, Shaikh Abdur; Zhu, Jesse

2016-08-25

A promising long-term and sustainable solution to the growing scarcity of water worldwide is to recycle and reuse wastewater. In wastewater treatment plants, the biodegradation of contaminants or pollutants by harnessing microorganisms present in activated sludge is one of the most important strategies to remove organic contaminants from wastewater. However, this approach has limitations because many pollutants are not efficiently eliminated. To counterbalance the limitations, bioaugmentation has been developed and consists of adding specific and efficient pollutant-biodegrading microorganisms into a microbial community in an effort to enhance the ability of this microbial community to biodegrade contaminants. This approach has been tested for wastewater cleaning with encouraging results, but failure has also been reported, especially during scale-up. In this review, work on the bioaugmentation in the context of removal of important pollutants from industrial wastewater is summarized, with an emphasis on recalcitrant compounds, and strategies that can be used to improve the efficiency of bioaugmentation are also discussed. This review also initiates a discussion regarding new research areas, such as nanotechnology and quorum sensing, that should be investigated to improve the efficiency of wastewater bioaugmentation.

Fluidic conduits for highly efficient purification of target species in EWOD-driven droplet microfluidics.

PubMed

Shah, Gaurav J; Kim, Chang-Jin Cj

2009-08-21

Due to the lack of continuous flows that would wash unwanted specifies and impurities off from a target location, droplet microfluidics commonly employs a long serial dilution process to purify target species. In this work, we achieve high-purity separation for the case of electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) based droplet microfluidics by introducing a "fluidic conduit" between a sample droplet and a buffer droplet. The long and slender fluidic path minimizes the diffusion and fluidic mixing between the two droplets (thus eliminating non-specific transport) but provides a conduit between them for actively transported particles (thus allowing the specific transport). The conduit is purely fluidic, stabilized chemically (e.g. using surfactants) and controlled by EWOD. The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated by eliminating approximately 97% non-magnetic beads in just one purification step, while maintaining high collection efficiency (>99%) of magnetic beads.

Carbon footprint of aerobic biological treatment of winery wastewater.

PubMed

Rosso, D; Bolzonella, D

2009-01-01

The carbon associated with wastewater and its treatment accounts for approximately 6% of the global carbon balance. Within the wastewater treatment industry, winery wastewater has a minor contribution, although it can have a major impact on wine-producing regions. Typically, winery wastewater is treated by biological processes, such as the activated sludge process. Biomass produced during treatment is usually disposed of directly, i.e. without digestion or other anaerobic processes. We applied our previously published model for carbon-footprint calculation to the areas worldwide producing yearly more than 10(6) m(3) of wine (i.e., France, Italy, Spain, California, Argentina, Australia, China, and South Africa). Datasets on wine production from the Food and Agriculture Organisation were processed and wastewater flow rates calculated with assumptions based on our previous experience. Results show that the wine production, hence the calculated wastewater flow, is reported as fairly constant in the period 2005-2007. Nevertheless, treatment process efficiency and energy-conservation may play a significant role on the overall carbon-footprint. We performed a sensitivity analysis on the efficiency of the aeration process (alphaSOTE per unit depth, or alphaSOTE/Z) in the biological treatment operations and showed significant margin for improvement. Our results show that the carbon-footprint reduction via aeration efficiency improvement is in the range of 8.1 to 12.3%.

Plasmid Vectors for Proteomic Analyses in Giardia: Purification of Virulence Factors and Analysis of the Proteasome

PubMed Central

Stadelmann, Britta; Birkestedt, Sandra; Hellman, Ulf; Svärd, Staffan G.

2012-01-01

In recent years, proteomics has come of age with the development of efficient tools for purification, identification, and characterization of gene products predicted by genome projects. The intestinal protozoan Giardia intestinalis can be transfected, but there is only a limited set of vectors available, and most of them are not user friendly. This work delineates the construction of a suite of cassette-based expression vectors for use in Giardia. Expression is provided by the strong constitutive ornithine carbamoyltransferase (OCT) promoter, and tagging is possible in both N- and C-terminal configurations. Taken together, the vectors are capable of providing protein localization and production of recombinant proteins, followed by efficient purification by a novel affinity tag combination, streptavidin binding peptide–glutathione S-transferase (SBP-GST). The option of removing the tags from purified proteins was provided by the inclusion of a PreScission protease site. The efficiency and feasibility of producing and purifying endogenous recombinant Giardia proteins with the developed vectors was demonstrated by the purification of active recombinant arginine deiminase (ADI) and OCT from stably transfected trophozoites. Moreover, we describe the tagging, purification by StrepTactin affinity chromatography, and compositional analysis by mass spectrometry of the G. intestinalis 26S proteasome by employing the Strep II-FLAG–tandem affinity purification (SF-TAP) tag. This is the first report of efficient production and purification of recombinant proteins in and from Giardia, which will allow the study of specific parasite proteins and protein complexes. PMID:22611020

Advanced oxidation-based treatment of furniture industry wastewater.

PubMed

Tichonovas, Martynas; Krugly, Edvinas; Grybauskas, Arturas; Jankūnaitė, Dalia; Račys, Viktoras; Martuzevičius, Dainius

2017-07-16

The paper presents a study on the treatment of the furniture industry wastewater in a bench scale advanced oxidation reactor. The researched technology utilized a simultaneous application of ozone, ultraviolet radiation and surface-immobilized TiO 2 nanoparticle catalyst. Various combinations of processes were tested, including photolysis, photocatalysis, ozonation, catalytic ozonation, photolytic ozonation and photocatalytic ozonation were tested against the efficiency of degradation. The efficiency of the processes was primarily characterized by the total organic carbon (TOC) analysis, indicating the remaining organic material in the wastewater after the treatment, while the toxicity changes in wastewater were researched by Daphnia magna toxicity tests. Photocatalytic ozonation was confirmed as the most effective combination of processes (99.3% of TOC reduction during 180 min of treatment), also being the most energy efficient (4.49-7.83 MJ/g). Photocatalytic ozonation and photolytic ozonation remained efficient across a wide range of pH (3-9), but the pH was an important factor in photocatalysis. The toxicity of wastewater depended on the duration of the treatment: half treated water was highly toxic, while fully treated water did not possess any toxicity. Our results indicate that photocatalytic ozonation has a high potential for the upscaling and application in industrial settings.

Efficient removal of copper from wastewater by using mechanically activated calcium carbonate.

PubMed

Hu, Huimin; Li, Xuewei; Huang, Pengwu; Zhang, Qiwu; Yuan, Wenyi

2017-12-01

Copper removal from aqueous solution is necessary from the stances of both environmental protection and copper resource recycling. It is important to develop a new chemical precipitation method suitable for removing copper particularly at low concentration as the case of waste mine water, with regards to the various problems related to the current precipitation methods by using strong alkalis or soluble sulfides. In this research, we studied a possible chemical precipitation of copper ions at concentration around 60 mg/L or lower by cogrinding copper sulfate in water with calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) using wet stirred ball milling. With the aid of ball milling, copper precipitation as a basic sulfate (posnjakite: Cu 4 (SO 4 ) (OH) 6 ·H 2 O) occurred at a very high copper removal rate of 99.76%, to reduce the residual copper concentration in the solution less than 0.5 mg/L, reaching the discharge limit, even with the addition amount of CaCO 3 as a stoichiometric ratio of CaCO 3 /Cu 2+ at 1:1. It is more interesting to notice that, at the same conditions, other heavy metals such as Ni, Mn, Zn and Cd do not precipitate obviously just with CaCO 3 addition at CaCO 3 /M 2+ at 1:1 so that the precipitate without the impurities can be processed as good source to recover copper. This newly proposed concept can be further developed to treat wastewaters with other metals to serve both purposes of environmental purification and resource recovery in a similar way. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nutrients removal from undiluted cattle farm wastewater by the two-stage process of microalgae-based wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Lv, Junping; Liu, Yang; Feng, Jia; Liu, Qi; Nan, Fangru; Xie, Shulian

2018-05-24

Chlorella vulgaris was selected from five freshwater microalgal strains of Chlorophyta, and showed a good potential in nutrients removal from undiluted cattle farm wastewater. By the end of treatment, 62.30%, 81.16% and 85.29% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium (NH 4 + -N) and total phosphorus (TP) were removed. Then two two-stage processes were established to enhance nutrients removal efficiency for meeting the discharge standards of China. The process A was the biological treatment via C. vulgaris followed by the biological treatment via C. vulgaris, and the process B was the biological treatment via C. vulgaris followed by the activated carbon adsorption. After 3-5 d of treatment of wastewater via the two processes, the nutrients removal efficiency of COD, NH 4 + -N and TP were 91.24%-92.17%, 83.16%-94.27% and 90.98%-94.41%, respectively. The integrated two-stage process could strengthen nutrients removal efficiency from undiluted cattle farm wastewater with high organic substance and nitrogen concentration. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficient metal adsorption and microbial reduction from Rawal Lake wastewater using metal nanoparticle coated cotton.

PubMed

Ali, Attarad; Gul, Ayesha; Mannan, Abdul; Zia, Muhammad

2018-05-17

This study was designed to investigate removal of toxic metals and reduction of bacterial count from Rawal Lake wastewater with novel nanocomposite sorbents. Iron, zinc and silver oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were attached on cotton. The nanocomposites (iron NPs on cotton (FeCt), zinc NPs on cotton (ZnCt) and silver NPs on cotton (AgCt)) were characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM, which showed successful adsorption of 10-30 nm size nanoparticles. Batch experiments were performed to determine the adsorption capacity of nanocomposite for metal removal. All the three adsorbents demonstrated 100% adsorption efficiency for Ag + , Co 2+ , Fe 3+ , Zn 2+ and Cu 2+ whereas less adsorption for Cd 2+ and Cr 3+ . The maximum adsorbance (qe) was exhibited by Co 2+ on ZnCt, FeCt and AgCt as 125.0, 111.1 and 100.0 mg g -1 , respectively. The efficiency of adsorbents for metal ions sorption was found as AgCt > ZnCt > FeCt while the order of adsorption for metals was observed as Fe 3+  > Co 2+  > Zn 2+  > Cu 2+  > Ag +  > Cr 3+  > Cd 2 + . The adsorption mechanism mostly follow Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetic model. The maximum microbial reduction was exhibited by AgCt followed by ZnCt and FeCt. The microbes were further processed for staining and biochemical characteristics to evaluate resistance and sensitive microbes. The study concludes that the NPs doped on cotton can be effectively used for adsorption of heavy metals and reduction of microbial count from natural wastewater making it valuable for human consumption. In addition, the nanoparticles impregnated cotton can be efficiently used in water filtration plants. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Determination of phenols and pharmaceuticals in municipal wastewaters from Polish treatment plants by ultrasound-assisted emulsification-microextraction followed by GC-MS.

PubMed

Kotowska, Urszula; Kapelewska, Justyna; Sturgulewska, Joanna

2014-01-01

A method combining ultrasound-assisted emulsification-microextraction (USAEME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for simultaneous determination of four acidic pharmaceuticals, ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, and diclofenac, as well as four phenols, 4-octylphenol, 4-n-nonylphenol, bisphenol A, and triclosan in municipal wastewaters. Conditions of extraction and simultaneous derivatization were optimized with respect to such aspects as type and volume of extraction solvent, volume of derivatization reagent, kind and amount of buffering salt, location of the test tube in the ultrasonic bath, and extraction time. The average correlation coefficient of the calibration curves was 0.9946. The LOD/(LOQ) values in influent and effluent wastewater were in the range of 0.002-0.121/(0.005-0.403) μg L(-1) and 0.002-0.828/(0.006-2.758) μg L(-1), respectively. Quantitative recoveries (≥94%) and satisfactory precision (average RSD 8.2%) were obtained. The optimized USAEME/GC-MS method was applied for determination of the considered pharmaceuticals and phenols in influents and treated effluents from nine Polish municipal wastewater treatment plants. The average concentration of acidic pharmaceuticals in influent and effluent wastewater were in the range of 0.06-551.96 μg L(-1) and 0.01-22.61 μg L(-1), respectively, while for phenols were in the range of 0.03-102.54 μg L(-1) and 0.02-10.84 μg L(-1), respectively. The removal efficiencies of the target compounds during purification process were between 84 and 99%.

Californium purification and electrodeposition

DOE PAGES

Burns, Jonathan D.; Van Cleve, Shelley M.; Smith, Edward Hamilton; ...

2014-11-30

The staff at the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, produced a 6.3 ± 0.4 GBq (1.7 ± 0.1 Ci) 252Cf source for the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) project at Argonne National Laboratory’s Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System. The source was produced by electrodeposition of a 252Cf sample onto a stainless steel substrate, which required material free from excess mass for efficient deposition. The resulting deposition was the largest reported 252Cf electrodeposition source ever produced. Several different chromatographic purification methods were investigated to determine which would be most effective for final purification of themore » feed material used for the CARIBU source. The separation of lanthanides from the Cf was of special concern. Furthermore, the separation, using 145Sm, 153Gd, and 249Cf as tracers, was investigated using BioRad AG 50X8 in α-hydroxyisobutyric acid, Eichrom LN resin in both HNO 3 and HCl, and Eichrom TEVA resin in NH 4SCN. The TEVA NH 4SCN system was found to completely separate 145Sm and 153Gd from 249Cf and was adopted into the purification process used in purifying the 252Cf.« less

Sensitivity of measurement-based purification processes to inner interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Militello, Benedetto; Napoli, Anna

2018-02-01

The sensitivity of a repeated measurement-based purification scheme to additional undesired couplings is analyzed, focusing on the very simple and archetypical system consisting of two two-level systems interacting with a repeatedly measured one. Several regimes are considered and in the strong coupling limit (i.e., when the coupling constant of the undesired interaction is very large) the occurrence of a quantum Zeno effect is proven to dramatically jeopardize the efficiency of the purification process.

Investigation on the Room-temperature preparation of Cobalt hybrid/Graphene Nanocomposite and application in wastewater purification: Highly Efficient Removal of Congo Red

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, L. X.; Zhao, Y. F.; Meng, Q. M.

2018-01-01

Here, we are going to report a simple, low-cost and environmental friendly process to prepare the cobalt hybrid/graphene (Co/G) nanocomposite at room temperature. NaBH4 was used as the reducing agent. Such an approach can be extended to grow some other metal/G nanocomposites, for example, Ni/G, Co/G nanocomposite possesses narrow size-distribution and good dispersion. Because of the special appearance with large surface area, and the special synthesis process of the productions, adsorption experiments for Congo Red were carried out in synthetic wastewater. The CR removal ability of Co/G nanocomposite can reach 263.2 mg/g.

The Adsorption Capacity of GONs/CMC/Fe₃O₄ Magnetic Composite Microspheres and Applications for Purifying Dye Wastewater.

PubMed

Lv, Shenghua; Zhu, Linlin; Li, Ying; Jia, Chunmao; Sun, Shiyu

2017-01-11

Graphene oxide nanosheets (GONs)/carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC)/Fe₃O₄ magnetic composite microspheres (MCMs) were prepared by enclosing Fe₃O₄ particles with CMC and GONs in turn. The microstructures of GONs and GONs/CMC/Fe₃O₄ MCMs were characterized by FTIR, XRD, TEM, and SEM. The effects of GON content, pH value, and adsorption time on the adsorption capacity of the MCMs were investigated. The results show that the GONs/CMC/Fe₃O₄ MCMs have a greater specific surface area and a strong adsorption capacity for dye wastewater. Meanwhile, the adsorption mechanism was investigated, and the results accorded with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich isotherm model. The search results indicate that GONs/CMC/Fe₃O₄ MCMs can be used to purify dye wastewater and has an important potential use in the practical purification of dye wastewater.

Affinity Purification of Proteins in Tag-Free Form: Split Intein-Mediated Ultrarapid Purification (SIRP).

PubMed

Guan, Dongli; Chen, Zhilei

2017-01-01

Proteins purified using affinity-based chromatography often exploit a recombinant affinity tag. Existing methods for the removal of the extraneous tag, needed for many applications, suffer from poor efficiency and/or high cost. Here we describe a simple, efficient, and potentially low-cost approach-split intein-mediated ultrarapid purification (SIRP)-for both the purification of the desired tagged protein from Escherichia coli lysate and removal of the tag in less than 1 h. The N- and C-fragment of a self-cleaving variant of a naturally split DnaE intein from Nostoc punctiforme are genetically fused to the N-terminus of an affinity tag and a protein of interest (POI), respectively. The N-intein/affinity tag is used to functionalize an affinity resin. The high affinity between the N- and C-fragment of DnaE intein enables the POI to be purified from the lysate via affinity to the resin, and the intein-mediated C-terminal cleavage reaction causes tagless POI to be released into the flow-through. The intein cleavage reaction is strongly inhibited by divalent ions (e.g., Zn 2+ ) under non-reducing conditions and is significantly enhanced by reducing conditions. The POI is cleaved efficiently regardless of the identity of the N-terminal amino acid except in the cases of threonine and proline, and the N-intein-functionalized affinity resin can be regenerated for multiple cycles of use.

New trends and affinity tag designs for recombinant protein purification.

PubMed

Wood, David W

2014-06-01

Engineered purification tags can facilitate very efficient purification of recombinant proteins, resulting in high yields and purities in a few standard steps. Over the years, many different purification tags have been developed, including short peptides, epitopes, folded protein domains, non-chromatographic tags and more recently, compound multifunctional tags with optimized capabilities. Although classic proteases are still primarily used to remove the tags from target proteins, new self-cleaving methods are gaining traction as a highly convenient alternative. In this review, we discuss some of these emerging trends, and examine their potential impacts and remaining challenges in recombinant protein research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cetylpyridinium chloride/magnetic alginate beads: an efficient system to remove p-nitrophenol from wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obeid, Layaly; Bee, Agnes; Talbot, Delphine; Abramson, Sebastien; Welschbillig, Mathias

2014-05-01

The adsorption process is one of the most efficient methods to remove pollutants from wastewater provided that suitable adsorbents are used. In order to produce environmentally safe adsorbents, natural polymers have received increasing attention in recent years. Thus, alginate, a polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweeds, is extensively used as inexpensive, non-toxic and efficient biosorbent. Furthermore, it has been shown that the encapsulation of magnetic materials in alginate beads facilitates their recovery from wastewater after the adsorption step, by the use of an external magnetic field gradient, obtained with a magnet or an electromagnet [1, 2]. In the present work, we have studied the adsorption affinity of magnetic alginate beads (called magsorbents)for p-nitrophenol (PNP), used as a hydrophobic pollutant, in presence of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), a cationic surfactant. First, the effect of different parameters (pH solution, contact time, surfactant initial concentration…) on the adsorption of CPC on the alginate beads was investigated. Adsorption of the surfactant occurs due to electrostatic attractions between its cationic head groups and negative carboxylate functions of the alginate beads. At larger surfactant concentrations, adsorption is also due to the interaction between the hydrocarbon chains of CPC forming aggregated structures capable of solubilizing hydrophobic solutes. In a second step, we showed that PNP can reach up to 95% of adsorption in the beads in presence of CPC, although the pollutant is poorly adsorbed by alginate in absence of the surfactant. At highest CPC concentrations, desorption occurs as micellar solubilization is preferred over coadsorption. Our magsorbents appear to efficiently remove both cationic surfactant and hydrophobic pollutants and we hope that this fundamental research will be helpful for the future development of magnetically assisted processes in water treatment plants. 1. A.Bee, D.Talbot, S.Abramson, V

Control of Cryptosporidium with wastewater treatment to prevent its proliferation in the water cycle.

PubMed

Suwa, M; Suzuki, Y

2003-01-01

The outbreak of Cryptosporidiosis in 1996 in Japan is thought to have been enlarged by the proliferation of Cryptosporidium in the water cycle from wastewater to drinking water through the river system. From this experience, the wastewater system must have functions to remove Cryptosporidium oocysts effectively. Efficiencies of wastewater treatment processes to remove oocysts were investigated using pilot plants receiving municipal wastewater. An activated sludge process and a following sand filter showed removal efficiencies of 2 log and 0.5 log, respectively. Poly-aluminium chloride dosage improved the efficiencies by 3 log for the activated sludge process and by 2 log for the sand filter. Chemical precipitation of raw wastewater with poly-aluminium chloride could achieve 1 to 3 log removal according on the coagulant concentration.

Isolation of viral ribonucleoprotein complexes from infected cells by tandem affinity purification.

PubMed

Mayer, Daniel; Baginsky, Sacha; Schwemmle, Martin

2005-11-01

The biochemical purification and analysis of viral ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) of negative-strand RNA viruses is hampered by the lack of suitable tags that facilitate specific enrichment of these complexes. We therefore tested whether fusion of the tandem-affinity-purification (TAP) tag to the main component of viral RNPs, the nucleoprotein, might allow the isolation of these RNPs from cells. We constitutively expressed TAP-tagged nucleoprotein of Borna disease virus (BDV) in cells persistently infected with this virus. The TAP-tagged bait was efficiently incorporated into viral RNPs, did not interfere with BDV replication and was also packaged into viral particles. Native purification of the tagged protein complexes from BDV-infected cells by two consecutive affinity columns resulted in the isolation of several viral proteins, which were identified by MS analysis as the matrix protein, the two forms of the nucleoprotein and the phosphoprotein. In addition to the viral proteins, RT-PCR analysis revealed the presence of viral genomic RNA. Introduction of further protease cleavage sites within the TAP-tag significantly increased the purification yield. These results demonstrate that purification of TAP-tagged viral RNPs is possible and efficient, and may therefore provide new avenues for biochemical and functional studies of these complexes.

Efficiency of autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of municipal wastewater sludge in removing Salmonella spp. and indicator bacteria.

PubMed

Zábranská, J; Dohányos, M; Jenícek, P; Růziciková, H; Vránová, A

2003-01-01

The study is focused on the comparison of autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion, thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic digestion, based on long-term monitoring of all processes in full-scale wastewater treatment plants, with an emphasis on the efficiency in destroying pathogens. The hygienisation effect was evaluated as a removal of counts of indicator bacteria, thermotolerant coliforms and enterococci as CFU/g total sludge solids and a frequency of a positive Salmonella spp. detection. Both thermophilic technologies of municipal wastewater sludge stabilisation had the capability of producing sludge A biosolids suitable for agricultural land application when all operational parameters (mainly temperature, mixing and retention time) were stable and maintained at an appropriate level.

Analysis And Design Of A Water Purification System For The West African Area Of Operation

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

harmful metals and in disinfecting the water prior to human consumption . Research conducted proved that the BWS is more cost effective , efficient...and test a feasible and cost- effective prototype of a purification system to the BWS for improved capability. This study uses a design-based and...design. The prototype test results showed that the water purification system performed effectively and efficiently in accordance with the

Efficient phosphate sequestration for water purification by unique sandwich-like MXene/magnetic iron oxide nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qingrui; Teng, Jie; Zou, Guodong; Peng, Qiuming; Du, Qing; Jiao, Tifeng; Xiang, Jianyong

2016-03-01

Rationally tailored intercalation for two-dimensional (2D) layered MXene materials has aroused extraordinary enthusiasm for broadening their applications. Herein, a novel sandwiched structural 2D MXene-iron oxide (MXI) material, prepared by selectively exfoliating an Al layer followed by magnetic ferric oxide intercalation, exhibits remarkable applicability to trace phosphate sequestration in the environmental remediation realm. Compared with commercial adsorbents, the resultant MXI nanocomposite exhibits a fast separation in 120 s together with the superior treatment capacities of 2100 kg and 2400 kg per kg in simulated and real phosphate wastewater applications, respectively. Such efficient sequestration is ascribed to the formation of a unique nano-ferric oxide morphology. The ultrafine nano-Fe2O3 particles can intercalate into the interior layers of MXene, widening the layer distance, and stimulating the available overlapping activated layers; while the efficient phosphate removal can be achieved by the strong complexation onto the embedded magnetic nano-Fe3O4 with a unique sandwich-structure as well as the stimulated Ti-O terminal within MXene. Apart from the fact that this approach suggests a complementary means for environmental remediation, it opens a new trajectory to achieve the functionalization of MXene.Rationally tailored intercalation for two-dimensional (2D) layered MXene materials has aroused extraordinary enthusiasm for broadening their applications. Herein, a novel sandwiched structural 2D MXene-iron oxide (MXI) material, prepared by selectively exfoliating an Al layer followed by magnetic ferric oxide intercalation, exhibits remarkable applicability to trace phosphate sequestration in the environmental remediation realm. Compared with commercial adsorbents, the resultant MXI nanocomposite exhibits a fast separation in 120 s together with the superior treatment capacities of 2100 kg and 2400 kg per kg in simulated and real phosphate wastewater

Treatment of kitchen wastewater using Eichhornia crassipes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parwin, Rijwana; Karar Paul, Kakoli

2018-03-01

The efficiency of Eichhornia crassipes for treatment of raw kitchen wastewater was studied in the present research work. An artificial wetland of 30 liter capacity was created for phytoremediation of kitchen wastewater using Eichhornia crassipes. Kitchen wastewater samples were collected from hostel of an educational institute in India. Samples were characterized based on physical and chemical parameters such as pH, turbidity, total hardness, nitrate-nitrogen, ammonium-nitrogen, sulphate, dissolved oxygen, total organic carbon and total dissolved solid. The physico-chemical parameter of kitchen wastewater samples were analysed for durations of 0 (initial day), 4 and 8 days. After 8 days of retention period, it was observed that pH value increases from 6.25 to 6.63. However, percentage reduction for turbidity, total hardness, nitrate-nitrogen, ammonium-nitrogen, sulphate, dissolved oxygen, total organic carbon and total dissolved solid were found to be 74.71%, 50%, 78.75%, 60.28%, 25.31%, 33.33%, 15.38% and 69.97%, respectively. Hence water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is found efficient and easy to handle and it can be used for low cost phytoremediation technique.

Synthesis and Technological Innovation of Applying Oxide Nanomaterials in Wastewater Treatment by Flotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Covaliu, C. I.; Moga, I. C.; Matache, M. G.; Paraschiv, G.; Gageanu, I.; Vasile, E.

2018-06-01

The appearance and development of nanotechnology gave new and efficient modalities for pollutants removal from wastewaters by using new compounds called nanomaterials which possess unique structural and morphological properties. In this paper we investigated the application of CoFe2O4 nanomaterial for increasing the efficiency of oily wastewater treatment by flotation. CoFe2O4 nanomaterial was prepared by precipitation method. Prior testing their application in wastewater treatment by flotation, the oxide nanomaterial was structural and morphological characterized by XRD and TEM analyses. The influence of CoFe2O4nanomaterial on oily wastewater depollution by flotation process was investigated by measuring the following parameters: treatment efficiency [%] and the stability of froth.

Towards Plasma-Based Water Purification: Challenges and Prospects for the Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster, John

2016-10-01

Freshwater scarcity derived from climate change, pollution, and over-development has led to serious consideration for water reuse. Advanced water treatment technologies will be required to process wastewater slated for reuse. One new and emerging technology that could potentially address the removal micropollutants in both drinking water as well as wastewater slated for reuse is plasma-based water purification. Plasma in contact with liquid water generates reactive species that attack and ultimately mineralize organic contaminants in solution. This interaction takes place in a boundary layer centered at the plasma-liquid interface. An understanding of the physical processes taking place at this interface, though poorly understood, is key to the optimization of plasma water purifiers. High electric field conditions, large density gradients, plasma-driven chemistries, and fluid dynamic effects prevail in this multiphase region. The region is also the source function for longer-lived reactive species that ultimately treat the water. Here, we review the need for advanced water treatment methods and in the process, make the case for plasma-based methods. Additionally, we survey the basic methods of interacting plasma with liquid water (including a discussion of breakdown processes in water), the current state of understanding of the physical processes taking place at the plasma-liquid interface, and the role that these processes play in water purification. The development of diagnostics usable in this multiphase environment along modeling efforts aimed at elucidating physical processes taking place at the interface are also detailed. Key experiments that demonstrate the capability of plasma-based water treatment are also reviewed. The technical challenges to the implementation of plasma-based water reactors are also discussed. NSF CBET 1336375 and DOE DE-SC0001939.

Scenedesmus obliquus in poultry wastewater bioremediation.

PubMed

Oliveira, Ana Cristina; Barata, Ana; Batista, Ana P; Gouveia, Luísa

2018-06-18

Wastewater biological treatment with microalgae can be an effective technology, removing nutrients and other contaminants while reducing chemical oxygen demand. This can be particularly interesting for the meat producing industry which produces large volumes of wastewater from the slaughtering of animals and cleaning of their facilities. The main purpose of this research was the treatment of poultry wastewater using Scenedesmus obliquus in an economical and environmentally sustainable way. Two wastewaters were collected from a Portuguese poultry slaughterhouse (poultry raw - PR and poultry flocculated - PF) and the bioremediation was evaluated. The performance of microalga biomass growth and biochemical composition were assessed for two illumination sources (fluorescent vs LEDs). S. obliquus achieved positive results when grown in highly contaminated agro-industrial wastewater from the poultry industry, independently of the light source. The wastewater bioremediation revealed results higher than 97% for both ammonium and phosphate removal efficiency, for a cultivation time of 13 days. The saponifiable matter obtained from the biomass of the microalga cultures was, on average, 11% and 27% (m/m alga ) with PR and PF wastewater, respectively. In opposition, higher sugar content was obtained from microalgae biomass grown in PR wastewater (average 34% m/m alga ) in comparison to PF wastewater (average 23% m/m alga ), independently of the illumination source. Therefore, biomass obtained with PR wastewater will be more appropriate as a raw material for bioethanol/biohydrogen production (higher sugar content) while biomass produced in PF wastewater will have a similar potential as feedstock for both biodiesel and bioethanol/biohydrogen production (similar lipid and sugar content).

Wastewater treatment plants as a pathway for microplastics: Development of a new approach to sample wastewater-based microplastics.

PubMed

Ziajahromi, Shima; Neale, Peta A; Rintoul, Llew; Leusch, Frederic D L

2017-04-01

Wastewater effluent is expected to be a pathway for microplastics to enter the aquatic environment, with microbeads from cosmetic products and polymer fibres from clothes likely to enter wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). To date, few studies have quantified microplastics in wastewater. Moreover, the lack of a standardized and applicable method to identify microplastics in complex samples, such as wastewater, has limited the accurate assessment of microplastics and may lead to an incorrect estimation. This study aimed to develop a validated method to sample and process microplastics from wastewater effluent and to apply the developed method to quantify and characterise wastewater-based microplastics in effluent from three WWTPs that use primary, secondary and tertiary treatment processes. We applied a high-volume sampling device that fractionated microplastics in situ and an efficient sample processing procedure to improve the sampling of microplastics in wastewater and to minimize the false detection of non-plastic particles. The sampling device captured between 92% and 99% of polystyrene microplastics using 25 μm-500 μm mesh screens in laboratory tests. Microplastic type, size and suspected origin in all studied WWTPs, along with the removal efficiency during the secondary and tertiary treatment stages, was investigated. Suspected microplastics were characterised using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, with between 22 and 90% of the suspected microplastics found to be non-plastic particles. An average of 0.28, 0.48 and 1.54 microplastics per litre of final effluent was found in tertiary, secondary and primary treated effluent, respectively. This study suggests that although low concentrations of microplastics are detected in wastewater effluent, WWTPs still have the potential to act as a pathway to release microplastics given the large volumes of effluent discharged to the aquatic environment. This study focused on a single sampling campaign, with

Tandem Affinity Purification of Protein Complexes from Eukaryotic Cells.

PubMed

Ma, Zheng; Fung, Victor; D'Orso, Iván

2017-01-26

The purification of active protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes is crucial for the characterization of enzymatic activities and de novo identification of novel subunits and post-translational modifications. Bacterial systems allow for the expression and purification of a wide variety of single polypeptides and protein complexes. However, this system does not enable the purification of protein subunits that contain post-translational modifications (e.g., phosphorylation and acetylation), and the identification of novel regulatory subunits that are only present/expressed in the eukaryotic system. Here, we provide a detailed description of a novel, robust, and efficient tandem affinity purification (TAP) method using STREP- and FLAG-tagged proteins that facilitates the purification of protein complexes with transiently or stably expressed epitope-tagged proteins from eukaryotic cells. This protocol can be applied to characterize protein complex functionality, to discover post-translational modifications on complex subunits, and to identify novel regulatory complex components by mass spectrometry. Notably, this TAP method can be applied to study protein complexes formed by eukaryotic or pathogenic (viral and bacterial) components, thus yielding a wide array of downstream experimental opportunities. We propose that researchers working with protein complexes could utilize this approach in many different ways.

Treatment efficiency and economic feasibility of biological oxidation, membrane filtration and separation processes, and advanced oxidation for the purification and valorization of olive mill wastewater.

PubMed

Ioannou-Ttofa, L; Michael-Kordatou, I; Fattas, S C; Eusebio, A; Ribeiro, B; Rusan, M; Amer, A R B; Zuraiqi, S; Waismand, M; Linder, C; Wiesman, Z; Gilron, J; Fatta-Kassinos, D

2017-05-01

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is a major waste stream resulting from numerous operations that occur during the production stages of olive oil. The resulting effluent contains various organic and inorganic contaminants and its environmental impact can be notable. The present work aims at investigating the efficiency of (i) jet-loop reactor with ultrafiltration (UF) membrane system (Jacto.MBR), (ii) solar photo-Fenton oxidation after coagulation/flocculation pre-treatment and (iii) integrated membrane filtration processes (i.e. UF/nanofiltration (NF)) used for the treatment of OMW. According to the results, the efficiency of the biological treatment was high, equal to 90% COD and 80% total phenolic compounds (TPh) removal. A COD removal higher than 94% was achieved by applying the solar photo-Fenton oxidation process as post-treatment of coagulation/flocculation of OMW, while the phenolic fraction was completely eliminated. The combined UF/NF process resulted in very high conductivity and COD removal, up to 90% and 95%, respectively, while TPh were concentrated in the NF concentrate stream (i.e. 93% concentration). Quite important is the fact that the NF concentrate, a valuable and polyphenol rich stream, can be further valorized in various industries (e.g. food, pharmaceutical, etc.). The above treatment processes were found also to be able to reduce the initial OMW phytotoxicity at greenhouse experiments; with the effluent stream of solar photo-Fenton process to be the least phytotoxic compared to the other treated effluents. A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) analysis was performed, in order to determine both the strengths of each technology, as well as the possible obstacles that need to overcome for achieving the desired levels of treatment. Finally, an economic evaluation of the tested technologies was performed in an effort to measure the applicability and viability of these systems at real scale; highlighting that the cost cannot be regarded as

Method and apparatus for energy efficient self-aeration in chemical, biochemical, and wastewater treatment processes

DOEpatents

Gao, Johnway [Richland, WA; Skeen, Rodney S [Pendleton, OR

2002-05-28

The present invention is a pulse spilling self-aerator (PSSA) that has the potential to greatly lower the installation, operation, and maintenance cost associated with aerating and mixing aqueous solutions. Currently, large quantities of low-pressure air are required in aeration systems to support many biochemical production processes and wastewater treatment plants. Oxygen is traditionally supplied and mixed by a compressor or blower and a mechanical agitator. These systems have high-energy requirements and high installation and maintenance costs. The PSSA provides a mixing and aeration capability that can increase operational efficiency and reduce overall cost.

Performance of hybrid subsurface constructed wetland system for piggery wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Zhang, X; Inoue, T; Kato, K; Harada, J; Izumoto, H; Wu, D; Sakuragi, H; Ietsugu, H; Sugawara, Y

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate performance of a hybrid constructed wetland (CW) built for high organic content piggery wastewater treatment in a cold region. The system consists of four vertical and one horizontal flow subsurface CWs. The wetland was built in 2009 and water quality was monitored from the outset. Average purification efficiency of this system was 95±5, 91±7, 89±8, 70±10, 84±15, 90±6, 99±2, and 93±16% for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), ammonium-N (NH4-N), total phosphorus (TP), total coliform (T. Coliform), and suspended solids (SS), respectively during August 2010-December 2013. Pollutant removal rate was 15±18 g m(-2) d(-1), 49±52 g m(-2) d(-1), 6±4 g m(-2) d(-1), 7±5 g m(-2) d(-1), and 1±1 g m(-2) d(-1) for BOD5, COD, TN, NH4-N, and TP, respectively. The removal efficiency of BOD5, COD, NH4-N, and SS improved yearly since the start of operation. With respect to removal of TN and TP, efficiency improved in the first three years but slightly declined in the fourth year. The system performed well during both warm and cold periods, but was more efficient in the warm period. The nitrate increase may be attributed to a low C/N ratio, due to limited availability of carbon required for denitrification.

Purification process for vertically aligned carbon nanofibers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Cattien V.; Delziet, Lance; Matthews, Kristopher; Chen, Bin; Meyyappan, M.

2003-01-01

Individual, free-standing, vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes or nanofibers are ideal for sensor and electrode applications. Our plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition techniques for producing free-standing and vertically aligned carbon nanofibers use catalyst particles at the tip of the fiber. Here we present a simple purification process for the removal of iron catalyst particles at the tip of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers derived by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The first step involves thermal oxidation in air, at temperatures of 200-400 degrees C, resulting in the physical swelling of the iron particles from the formation of iron oxide. Subsequently, the complete removal of the iron oxide particles is achieved with diluted acid (12% HCl). The purification process appears to be very efficient at removing all of the iron catalyst particles. Electron microscopy images and Raman spectroscopy data indicate that the purification process does not damage the graphitic structure of the nanotubes.

[Treatment of wastewater containing Cr(VI) by LDH synthesizing in situ].

PubMed

Chen, Tian-hu; Feng, You-liang; Xu, Hui-fang; Peng, Shu-chuan; Huang, Chuan-hui; Tang, Shu-pei

2004-03-01

The objective of this work was to investigate the efficiency and factors impacting of removal Cr(VI) from wastewater by layer double hydroxide synthesizing in situ. Principle of the method may be described as follow: Mg2+ and Al3+ hydrolysis and forms Mg/Al-LDH by adding Mg2+, Al3+ and NaOH into wastewater containing Cr(VI), Cr(VI) anions are selectively intercalated into interlayer of LDH to balance positive structural charge. While Mg2+ and Al3+ co-precipitates and forms LDH, the Cr(VI) in wastewater is removal by settle of LDH synthesizing in situ, which are confirmed by analysis of X-ray diffraction on settle and chemical analysis on aqueous. The results indicate that factors of impacting on efficiency of removal Cr(VI) include in amount of adding Mg2+ and Al3+, Mg/Al ratio, pH and concentration of Cr(VI) in wastewater. The maximal removal efficiency of Cr(VI) can be reached when pH values are between 8.5 and 9, and Mg/Al ratios are between 1:1 and 2:1, meanwhile, Mg and Al added can be taken good use of. This technology has present extraordinary efficiency of wastewater treatment.

Purification of nanogram-range immunoprecipitated DNA in ChIP-seq application.

PubMed

Zhong, Jian; Ye, Zhenqing; Lenz, Samuel W; Clark, Chad R; Bharucha, Adil; Farrugia, Gianrico; Robertson, Keith D; Zhang, Zhiguo; Ordog, Tamas; Lee, Jeong-Heon

2017-12-21

Chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing (ChIP-seq) is a widely used epigenetic approach for investigating genome-wide protein-DNA interactions in cells and tissues. The approach has been relatively well established but several key steps still require further improvement. As a part of the procedure, immnoprecipitated DNA must undergo purification and library preparation for subsequent high-throughput sequencing. Current ChIP protocols typically yield nanogram quantities of immunoprecipitated DNA mainly depending on the target of interest and starting chromatin input amount. However, little information exists on the performance of reagents used for the purification of such minute amounts of immunoprecipitated DNA in ChIP elution buffer and their effects on ChIP-seq data. Here, we compared DNA recovery, library preparation efficiency, and ChIP-seq results obtained with several commercial DNA purification reagents applied to 1 ng ChIP DNA and also investigated the impact of conditions under which ChIP DNA is stored. We compared DNA recovery of ten commercial DNA purification reagents and phenol/chloroform extraction from 1 to 50 ng of immunopreciptated DNA in ChIP elution buffer. The recovery yield was significantly different with 1 ng of DNA while similar in higher DNA amounts. We also observed that the low nanogram range of purified DNA is prone to loss during storage depending on the type of polypropylene tube used. The immunoprecipitated DNA equivalent to 1 ng of purified DNA was subject to DNA purification and library preparation to evaluate the performance of four better performing purification reagents in ChIP-seq applications. Quantification of library DNAs indicated the selected purification kits have a negligible impact on the efficiency of library preparation. The resulting ChIP-seq data were comparable with the dataset generated by ENCODE consortium and were highly correlated between the data from different purification reagents. This study provides

Combined sewer overflows: an environmental source of hormones and wastewater micropollutants

USGS Publications Warehouse

Phillips, P.J.; Chalmers, A.T.; Gray, J.L.; Kolpin, D.W.; Foreman, W.T.; Wall, G.R.

2012-01-01

Data were collected at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Burlington, Vermont, USA, (serving 30,000 people) to assess the relative contribution of CSO (combined sewer overflow) bypass flows and treated wastewater effluent to the load of steroid hormones and other wastewater micropollutants (WMPs) from a WWTP to a lake. Flow-weighted composite samples were collected over a 13 month period at this WWTP from CSO bypass flows or plant influent flows (n = 28) and treated effluent discharges (n = 22). Although CSO discharges represent 10% of the total annual water discharge (CSO plus treated plant effluent discharges) from the WWTP, CSO discharges contribute 40–90% of the annual load for hormones and WMPs with high (>90%) wastewater treatment removal efficiency. By contrast, compounds with low removal efficiencies (<90%) have less than 10% of annual load contributed by CSO discharges. Concentrations of estrogens, androgens, and WMPs generally are 10 times higher in CSO discharges compared to treated wastewater discharges. Compound concentrations in samples of CSO discharges generally decrease with increasing flow because of wastewater dilution by rainfall runoff. By contrast, concentrations of hormones and many WMPs in samples from treated discharges can increase with increasing flow due to decreasing removal efficiency.

Combined Sewer Overflows: An Environmental Source of Hormones and Wastewater Micropollutants

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Data were collected at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Burlington, Vermont, USA, (serving 30,000 people) to assess the relative contribution of CSO (combined sewer overflow) bypass flows and treated wastewater effluent to the load of steroid hormones and other wastewater micropollutants (WMPs) from a WWTP to a lake. Flow-weighted composite samples were collected over a 13 month period at this WWTP from CSO bypass flows or plant influent flows (n = 28) and treated effluent discharges (n = 22). Although CSO discharges represent 10% of the total annual water discharge (CSO plus treated plant effluent discharges) from the WWTP, CSO discharges contribute 40–90% of the annual load for hormones and WMPs with high (>90%) wastewater treatment removal efficiency. By contrast, compounds with low removal efficiencies (<90%) have less than 10% of annual load contributed by CSO discharges. Concentrations of estrogens, androgens, and WMPs generally are 10 times higher in CSO discharges compared to treated wastewater discharges. Compound concentrations in samples of CSO discharges generally decrease with increasing flow because of wastewater dilution by rainfall runoff. By contrast, concentrations of hormones and many WMPs in samples from treated discharges can increase with increasing flow due to decreasing removal efficiency. PMID:22540536

Evaluation of an alternative method for wastewater treatment containing pesticides using solar photocatalytic oxidation and constructed wetlands.

PubMed

Berberidou, Chrysanthi; Kitsiou, Vasiliki; Lambropoulou, Dimitra A; Antoniadis, Αpostolos; Ntonou, Eleftheria; Zalidis, George C; Poulios, Ioannis

2017-06-15

The present study proposes an integrated system based on the synergetic action of solar photocatalytic oxidation with surface flow constructed wetlands for the purification of wastewater contaminated with pesticides. Experiments were conducted at pilot scale using simulated wastewater containing the herbicide clopyralid. Three photocatalytic methods under solar light were investigated: the photo-Fenton and the ferrioxalate reagent as well as the combination of photo-Fenton with TiO 2 P25, which all led to similar mineralization rates. The subsequent treatment in constructed wetlands resulted in further decrease of DOC and inorganic ions concentrations, especially of NO 3 - . Clopyralid was absent in the outlet of the wetlands, while the concentration of the detected intermediates was remarkably low. These findings are in good agreement with the results of phytotoxicity of the wastewater, after treatment with the ferrioxalate/wetlands process, which was significantly reduced. Thus, this integrated system based on solar photocatalysis and constructed wetlands has the potential to effectively detoxify wastewater containing pesticides, producing a purified effluent which could be exploited for reuse applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Degradation and decolorization of monosodium glutamate wastewater with Coriolus versicolor.

PubMed

Jia, Cuiying; Kang, Ruijuan; Zhang, Yuhui; Zhang, Yong; Cong, Wei

2007-10-01

Degradation and decolorization of monosodium glutamate wastewater (MSGW) with Coriolus versicolor were firstly carried out. The effects of various operation parameters namely wastewater concentrations, pH, culture time and incidence of sterilization on maximum percentage of degradation and decolorization of wastewater were investigated. Studies of mycelium and enzyme for C. versicolor degradation and decolorization were estimated in this study. Ten percentage of wastewater concentration and pH = 5.0 were found to be the most suitable ones among the other experiments. The highest degradation and decolorization efficiency of wastewater was obtained at the fifth day of cultivation, which was displayed with more than 70% chemical oxygen demand removal, 83% total sugar removal and 55% color removal, respectively. Sterile operation had no remarkable effect on the degradation and decolorization efficiency for C. versicolor. Mycelium and the extra cellular fungal enzyme were both necessary for the degradation and decolorization of MSGW. C. versicolor possesses great potential and economic advantages in MSGW treatment.

Robust and Efficient Spin Purification for Determinantal Configuration Interaction.

PubMed

Fales, B Scott; Hohenstein, Edward G; Levine, Benjamin G

2017-09-12

The limited precision of floating point arithmetic can lead to the qualitative and even catastrophic failure of quantum chemical algorithms, especially when high accuracy solutions are sought. For example, numerical errors accumulated while solving for determinantal configuration interaction wave functions via Davidson diagonalization may lead to spin contamination in the trial subspace. This spin contamination may cause the procedure to converge to roots with undesired ⟨Ŝ 2 ⟩, wasting computer time in the best case and leading to incorrect conclusions in the worst. In hopes of finding a suitable remedy, we investigate five purification schemes for ensuring that the eigenvectors have the desired ⟨Ŝ 2 ⟩. These schemes are based on projection, penalty, and iterative approaches. All of these schemes rely on a direct, graphics processing unit-accelerated algorithm for calculating the S 2 c matrix-vector product. We assess the computational cost and convergence behavior of these methods by application to several benchmark systems and find that the first-order spin penalty method is the optimal choice, though first-order and Löwdin projection approaches also provide fast convergence to the desired spin state. Finally, to demonstrate the utility of these approaches, we computed the lowest several excited states of an open-shell silver cluster (Ag 19 ) using the state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field method, where spin purification was required to ensure spin stability of the CI vector coefficients. Several low-lying states with significant multiply excited character are predicted, suggesting the value of a multireference approach for modeling plasmonic nanomaterials.

Novel immobilization process of a thermophilic catalase: efficient purification by heat treatment and subsequent immobilization at high temperature.

PubMed

Xu, Juan; Luo, Hui; López, Claudia; Xiao, Jing; Chang, Yanhong

2015-10-01

The main goal of the present work is to investigate a novel process of purification and immobilization of a thermophilic catalase at high temperatures. The catalase, originated from Bacillus sp., was overexpressed in a recombinant Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)/pET28-CATHis and efficiently purified by heat treatment, achieving a threefold purification. The purified catalase was then immobilized onto an epoxy support at different temperatures (25, 40, and 55 °C). The immobilizate obtained at higher temperatures reached its maximum activity in a shorter time than that obtained at lower temperatures. Furthermore, immobilization at higher temperatures required a lower ionic strength than immobilization at lower temperatures. The characteristics of immobilized enzymes prepared at different temperatures were investigated. The high-temperature immobilizate (55 °C) showed the highest thermal stability, followed by the 40 °C immobilizate. And the high-temperature immobilizate (55 °C) had slightly higher operational stability than the 25 °C immobilizate. All of the immobilized catalase preparations showed higher stability than the free enzyme at alkaline pH 10.0, while the alkali resistance of the 25 °C immobilizate was slightly better than that of the 40 and 55 °C immobilizates.

Experimental investigation of oily wastewater treatment using combined membrane systems.

PubMed

Salahi, A; Mohammadi, T

2010-01-01

Investigations were carried out for purification of oily wastewater by a combined of ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis (UF/RO) processes. Laboratory-scale UF using polysulfone (PS) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membranes were employed with typical oily wastewater collected from API unit of Tehran refinery. The PAN membrane showed higher rejection, more permeation flux and less fouling resistance than the PS membrane. Both membranes produced permeate with oil and grease contents generally less than 5 ppm. Rejection of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD5) were found to be 65% for UF treatment. In this work, Hermia's models were used to investigate the fouling mechanism involved in UF of the oily wastewater. The results showed that the best fit to experimental data corresponds to the cake layer formation model followed by the intermediate blocking model for both the UF membranes. For further treatment of the UF permeates, RO was applied using a thin film composite polyamide membrane. The rejection of COD, BOD5 and total dissolved solid (TDS) after UF/RO treatment increased up to 98%, 98% and 95%, respectively. The results showed that the final permeate has very high quality and even better than that is currently introduced to the cooling towers in Tehran refinery.

Changes in hormone and stress-inducing activities of municipal wastewater in a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant.

PubMed

Wojnarowicz, Pola; Yang, Wenbo; Zhou, Hongde; Parker, Wayne J; Helbing, Caren C

2014-12-01

Conventional municipal wastewater treatment plants do not efficiently remove contaminants of emerging concern, and so are primary sources for contaminant release into the aquatic environment. Although these contaminants are present in effluents at ng-μg/L concentrations (i.e. microcontaminants), many compounds can act as endocrine disrupting compounds or stress-inducing agents at these levels. Chemical fate analyses indicate that additional levels of wastewater treatment reduce but do not always completely remove all microcontaminants. The removal of microcontaminants from wastewater does not necessarily correspond to a reduction in biological activity, as contaminant metabolites or byproducts may still be biologically active. To evaluate the efficacy of conventional municipal wastewater treatment plants to remove biological activity, we examined the performance of a full scale conventional activated sludge municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. We assessed reductions in levels of conventional wastewater parameters and thyroid hormone disrupting and stress-inducing activities in wastewater at three phases along the treatment train using a C-fin assay. Wastewater treatment was effective at reducing total suspended solids, chemical and biochemical oxygen demand, and stress-inducing bioactivity. However, only minimal reduction was observed in thyroid hormone disrupting activities. The present study underscores the importance of examining multiple chemical and biological endpoints in evaluating and monitoring the effectiveness of wastewater treatment for removal of microcontaminants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advantages of using subsurface flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in space applications: Ground-based mars base prototype

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, M.; Alling, A.; Dempster, W. F.; van Thillo, M.; Allen, John

Research and design of subsurface flow wetland wastewater treatment systems for a ground-based experimental prototype Mars Base facility has been carried out, using a subsurface flow approach. These systems have distinct advantages in planetary exploration scenarios: they are odorless, relatively low-labor and low-energy, assist in purification of water and recycling of atmospheric CO2, and will support some food crops. An area of 6-8 m2 may be sufficient for integration of wetland wastewater treatment with a prototype Mars Base supporting 4-5 people. Discharge water from the wetland system will be used as irrigation water for the agricultural crop area, thus ensuring complete recycling and utilization of nutrients. Since the primary requirements for wetland treatment systems are warm temperatures and lighting, such bioregenerative systems may be integrated into early Mars base habitats, since waste heat from the lights may be used for temperature maintenance in the human living environment. "Wastewater gardens ™" can be modified for space habitats to lower space and mass requirements. Many of its construction requirements can eventually be met with use of in-situ materials, such as gravel from the Mars surface. Because the technology requires little machinery and no chemicals, and relies more on natural ecological mechanisms (microbial and plant metabolism), maintenance requirements are minimized, and systems can be expected to have long operating lifetimes. Research needs include suitability of Martian soil and gravel for wetland systems, system sealing and liner options in a Mars Base, and wetland water quality efficiency under varying temperature and light regimes.

Red cabbage yield, heavy metal content, water use and soil chemical characteristics under wastewater irrigation.

PubMed

Tunc, Talip; Sahin, Ustun

2016-04-01

The objective of this 2-year field study was to evaluate the effects of drip irrigation with urban wastewaters reclaimed using primary (filtration) and secondary (filtration and aeration) processes on red cabbage growth and fresh yield, heavy metal content, water use and efficiency and soil chemical properties. Filtered wastewater (WW1), filtered and aerated wastewater (WW2), freshwater and filtered wastewater mix (1:1 by volume) (WW3) and freshwater (FW) were investigated as irrigation water treatments. Crop evapotranspiration decreased significantly, while water use efficiency increased under wastewater treatments compared to FW. WW1 treatment had the lowest value (474.2 mm), while FW treatments had the highest value (556.7 mm). The highest water use efficiency was found in the WW1 treatment as 8.41 kg m(-3), and there was a twofold increase with regard to the FW. Wastewater irrigation increased soil fertility and therefore red cabbage yield. WW2 treatment produced the highest total fresh yield (40.02 Mg ha(-1)). However, wastewater irrigation increased the heavy metal content in crops and soil. Cd content in red cabbage heads was above the safe limit, and WW1 treatment had the highest value (0.168 mg kg(-1)). WW3 treatment among wastewater treatments is less risky in terms of soil and crop heavy metal pollution and faecal coliform contamination. Therefore, WW3 wastewater irrigation for red cabbage could be recommended for higher yield and water efficiency with regard to freshwater irrigation.

Biodegradation of phytosanitary products in biological wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Massot, A; Estève, K; Noilet, P; Méoule, C; Poupot, C; Mietton-Peuchot, M

2012-04-15

Agricultural activity generates two types of waste: firstly, biodegradable organic effluents generally treated by biological processes and, secondly, phytosanitary effluents which contain residues of plant protection products. The latter are collected and treated. Current technological solutions are essentially based on concentration or physical-chemical processes. However, recent improvements in the biodegradability of pesticides open the way to the consideration of alternative, biological, treatment using mixed liquor from wastewater plant activated sludge. The feasibility of the biological treatment of viticultural effluents has been evaluated by the application of pesticides to activated sludge. The necessity for selection of a pesticide-resistant biomass has been highlighted. The elimination of the phytosanitary products shows the potential of a resistant biomass in the treatment of pesticides. The aerated biological storage ponds at three wineries, followed by a sand or reed-bed filter, were used for the treatment of the total annual volume of the viticulture effluents and validate the laboratory experiments. The results show that the biological purification of pesticides by activated sludge is possible by allowing approximately 8 days for biomass adaptation. Stability of purification occurs between 20 and 30 days. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The coupling between hydrodynamic and purification efficiencies of ecological porous spur-dike in field drainage ditch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Lei; Wang, Pei-fang; Dai, Qing-song; Wang, Chao

2018-05-01

In this study, a series of ecological porous spur-dikes are arranged in an experiment channel to simulate a real field drainage ditch. The inside and outside flow fields of spur-dikes are determined by numerical simulations and experimental methods. An Ammonia-Nitrogen (NH3-N) degradation evaluation model is built to calculate the pollution removal rate by coupling with the inner flow field of the porous spur-dikes. The variations of the total pollutant removal rate in the channel are discussed in terms of different porosities and gap distances between spur-dikes and inlet flow velocities. It is indicated that a reasonable parameter matching of the porosity and the gap distance with the flow velocity of the ditch can bring about a satisfactory purification efficiency with a small delivery quantity of ecological porous materials.

Prospects, recent advancements and challenges of different wastewater streams for microalgal cultivation.

PubMed

Guldhe, Abhishek; Kumari, Sheena; Ramanna, Luveshan; Ramsundar, Prathana; Singh, Poonam; Rawat, Ismail; Bux, Faizal

2017-12-01

Microalgae are recognized as one of the most powerful biotechnology platforms for many value added products including biofuels, bioactive compounds, animal and aquaculture feed etc. However, large scale production of microalgal biomass poses challenges due to the requirements of large amounts of water and nutrients for cultivation. Using wastewater for microalgal cultivation has emerged as a potential cost effective strategy for large scale microalgal biomass production. This approach also offers an efficient means to remove nutrients and metals from wastewater making wastewater treatment sustainable and energy efficient. Therefore, much research has been conducted in the recent years on utilizing various wastewater streams for microalgae cultivation. This review identifies and discusses the opportunities and challenges of different wastewater streams for microalgal cultivation. Many alternative routes for microalgal cultivation have been proposed to tackle some of the challenges that occur during microalgal cultivation in wastewater such as nutrient deficiency, substrate inhibition, toxicity etc. Scope and challenges of microalgal biomass grown on wastewater for various applications are also discussed along with the biorefinery approach. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vertical flow constructed wetlands for municipal wastewater and septage treatment in French rural area.

PubMed

Paing, J; Voisin, J

2005-01-01

This paper presents the purification performance of 20 wastewater treatment plants with vertical reed bed filters (Macrophyltres), built between 1998 and 2003 by SAS Voisin, for communities of between 150 and 1400 PE. The first stage vertical reed bed (directly fed with raw wastewater by intermittent feeding) achieved high removal of SS, BOD and COD (mean respectively 96%, 98%, 92%). The second stage permitted compliance easily with effluent standards (SS < 15 mg/l, BOD < 15 mg/l, COD < 90 mg/l and mean TKN < 10 mg/l). Performance was not significantly influenced by variations of organic and hydraulic load, nor by seasonal variations. Rigorous operation and maintenance were required to obtain optimal performances. Another application of vertical reed beds is the treatment of septage (sludge from individual septic tanks). The results obtained on two sites operating for 2 and 3 years are presented. The first site achieved complete treatment of septage (solid and liquid fraction), the second permitted a pre-treatment for co-treatment of percolate with wastewater.

Challenges and opportunities in the purification of recombinant tagged proteins.

PubMed

Pina, Ana Sofia; Lowe, Christopher R; Roque, Ana Cecília A

2014-01-01

The purification of recombinant proteins by affinity chromatography is one of the most efficient strategies due to the high recovery yields and purity achieved. However, this is dependent on the availability of specific affinity adsorbents for each particular target protein. The diversity of proteins to be purified augments the complexity and number of specific affinity adsorbents needed, and therefore generic platforms for the purification of recombinant proteins are appealing strategies. This justifies why genetically encoded affinity tags became so popular for recombinant protein purification, as these systems only require specific ligands for the capture of the fusion protein through a pre-defined affinity tag tail. There is a wide range of available affinity pairs "tag-ligand" combining biological or structural affinity ligands with the respective binding tags. This review gives a general overview of the well-established "tag-ligand" systems available for fusion protein purification and also explores current unconventional strategies under development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Study on a new water purification equipment with spiral lamellas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, X. R.

2017-08-01

A new water purification equipment was introduced, especially the section of spiral lamellas. Utilization of spiral lamellas made the sedimentation space reach to 100%, not only improving sedimentation efficiency and reducing the cover space, but also saving investment. Production test results showed that the new water purification equipment with spiral lamellas had characteristics of excellent treatment efficiency and high shock resistant capacity. As the treatment water volume was 240 m3/d, when the turbidity, CODMn and UV254 were 203 NTU, 1.90 mg/L and 0.030 cm-1 in raw water, they were 0.32 NTU, 0.72mg/L and 0.011 cm-1 respectively in effluent water, which could fully meet the drinking water hygiene requirement.

Plasma-based water purification: Challenges and prospects for the future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster, John E.

2017-05-01

Freshwater scarcity derived from seasonal weather variations, climate change, and over-development has led to serious consideration for water reuse. Water reuse involves the direct processing of wastewater for either indirect or directly potable water reuse. In either case, advanced water treatment technologies will be required to process the water to the point that it can be reused in a meaningful way. Additionally, there is growing concern regarding micropollutants, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, which have been detected in finished drinking water not removed by conventional means. The health impact of these contaminants in low concentration is not well understood. Pending regulatory action, the removal of these contaminants by water treatment plants will also require advanced technology. One new and emerging technology that could potentially address the removal of micropollutants in both finished drinking water as well as wastewater slated for reuse is plasma-based water purification. Plasma in contact with liquid water generates a host of reactive species that attack and ultimately mineralize contaminants in solution. This interaction takes place in the boundary layer or interaction zone centered at the plasma-liquid water interface. An understanding of the physical processes taking place at the interface, though poorly understood, is key to the optimization of plasma-based water purifiers. High electric field conditions, large density gradients, plasma-driven chemistries, and fluid dynamic effects prevail in this multiphase region. The region is also the source function for longer-lived reactive species that ultimately treat the water. Here, we review the need for advanced water treatment methods and in the process, make the case for plasma-based methods. Additionally, we survey the basic methods of interacting plasma with liquid water (including a discussion of breakdown processes in water), the current state of understanding of the

"Living off the land": resource efficiency of wetland wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Nelson, M; Odum, H T; Brown, M T; Alling, A

2001-01-01

Bioregenerative life support technologies for space application are advantageous if they can be constructed using locally available materials, and rely on renewable energy resources, lessening the need for launch and resupply of materials. These same characteristics are desirable in the global Earth environment because such technologies are more affordable by developing countries, and are more sustainable long-term since they utilize less non-renewable, imported resources. Subsurface flow wetlands (wastewater gardens(TM)) were developed and evaluated for wastewater recycling along the coast of Yucatan. Emergy evaluations, a measure of the environmental and human economic resource utilization, showed that compared to conventional sewage treatment, wetland wastewater treatment systems use far less imported and purchased materials. Wetland systems are also less energy-dependent, lessening dependence on electrical infrastructure, and require simpler maintenance since the system largely relies on the ecological action of microbes and plants for their efficacy. Detailed emergy evaluations showed that wetland systems use only about 15% the purchased emergy of conventional sewage systems, and that renewable resources contribute 60% of total emergy used (excluding the sewage itself) compared to less than 1% use of renewable resources in the high-tech systems. Applied on a larger scale for development in third world countries, wetland systems would require the electrical energy of conventional sewage treatment (package plants), and save of total capital and operating expenses over a 20-year timeframe. In addition, there are numerous secondary benefits from wetland systems including fiber/fodder/food from the wetland plants, creation of ecosystems of high biodiversity with animal habitat value, and aesthestic/landscape enhancement of the community. Wetland wastewater treatment is an exemplar of ecological engineering in that it creates an interface ecosystem to handle

``Living off the land'': resource efficiency of wetland wastewater treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, M.; Odum, H. T.; Brown, M. T.; Alling, A.

Bioregenerative life support technologies for space application are advantageous if they can be constructed using locally available materials, and rely on renewable energy resources, lessening the need for launch and resupply of materials. These same characteristics are desirable in the global Earth environment because such technologies are more affordable by developing countries, and are more sustainable long-term since they utilize less non-renewable, imported resources. Subsurface flow wetlands (wastewater gardens™) were developed and evaluated for wastewater recycling along the coast of Yucatan. Emergy evaluations, a measure of the environmental and human economic resource utilization, showed that compared to conventional sewage treatment, wetland wastewater treatment systems use far less imported and purchased materials. Wetland systems are also less energy-dependent, lessening dependence on electrical infrastructure, and require simpler maintenance since the system largely relies on the ecological action of microbes and plants for their efficacy. Detailed emergy evaluations showed that wetland systems use only about 15% the purchased emergy of conventional sewage systems, and that renewable resources contribute 60% of total emergy used (excluding the sewage itself) compared to less than 1% use of renewable resources in the high-tech systems. Applied on a larger scale for development in third world countries, wetland systems would require 1/5 the electrical energy of conventional sewage treatment (package plants), and save 2/3 of total capital and operating expenses over a 20-year timeframe. In addition, there are numerous secondary benefits from wetland systems including fiber/fodder/food from the wetland plants, creation of ecosystems of high biodiversity with animal habitat value, and aesthestic/landscape enhancement of the community. Wetland wastewater treatment is an exemplar of ecological engineering in that it creates an interface ecosystem to handle

Correlation Among Soil Enzyme Activities, Root Enzyme Activities, and Contaminant Removal in Two-Stage In Situ Constructed Wetlands Purifying Domestic Wastewater.

PubMed

Ni, Lixiao; Xu, Jiajun; Chu, Xianglin; Li, Shiyin; Wang, Peifang; Li, Yiping; Li, Yong; Zhu, Liang; Wang, Chao

2016-07-01

Two-stage in situ wetlands (two vertical flow constructed wetlands in parallel and a horizontal flow constructed wetland) were constructed for studying domestic wastewater purification and the correlations between contaminant removal and plant and soil enzyme activities. Results indicated the removal efficiency of NH4 (+) and NO3 (-) were significantly correlated with both urease and protease activity, and the removal of total phosphorus was significantly correlated with phosphatase activity. Chemical oxygen demand removal was not correlated with enzyme activity in constructed wetlands. Plant root enzyme (urease, phosphatase, protease and cellulose) activity correlation was apparent with all contaminant removal in the two vertical flow constructed wetlands. However, the correlation between the plant root enzyme activity and contaminant removal was poor in horizontal flow constructed wetlands. Results indicated that plant roots clearly played a role in the removal of contaminants.

Electrocoagulation of wastewater from almond industry.

PubMed

Valero, David; Ortiz, Juan M; García, Vicente; Expósito, Eduardo; Montiel, Vicente; Aldaz, Antonio

2011-08-01

This work was carried out to study the treatment of almond industry wastewater by the electrocoagulation process. First of all, laboratory scale experiments were conducted in order to determine the effects of relevant wastewater characteristics such as conductivity and pH, as well as the process variables such as anode material, current density and operating time on the removal efficiencies of the total organic carbon (TOC) and the most representative analytical parameters. Next, the wastewater treatment process was scaled up to pre-industrial size using the best experimental conditions and parameters obtained at laboratory scale. Finally, economic parameters such as chemicals, energy consumption and sludge generation have been discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental purification of two-atom entanglement.

PubMed

Reichle, R; Leibfried, D; Knill, E; Britton, J; Blakestad, R B; Jost, J D; Langer, C; Ozeri, R; Seidelin, S; Wineland, D J

2006-10-19

Entanglement is a necessary resource for quantum applications--entanglement established between quantum systems at different locations enables private communication and quantum teleportation, and facilitates quantum information processing. Distributed entanglement is established by preparing an entangled pair of quantum particles in one location, and transporting one member of the pair to another location. However, decoherence during transport reduces the quality (fidelity) of the entanglement. A protocol to achieve entanglement 'purification' has been proposed to improve the fidelity after transport. This protocol uses separate quantum operations at each location and classical communication to distil high-fidelity entangled pairs from lower-fidelity pairs. Proof-of-principle experiments distilling entangled photon pairs have been carried out. However, these experiments obtained distilled pairs with a low probability of success and required destruction of the entangled pairs, rendering them unavailable for further processing. Here we report efficient and non-destructive entanglement purification with atomic quantum bits. Two noisy entangled pairs were created and distilled into one higher-fidelity pair available for further use. Success probabilities were above 35 per cent. The many applications of entanglement purification make it one of the most important techniques in quantum information processing.

Mixotrophic cultivation of a microalga Scenedesmus obliquus in municipal wastewater supplemented with food wastewater and flue gas CO2 for biomass production.

PubMed

Ji, Min-Kyu; Yun, Hyun-Shik; Park, Young-Tae; Kabra, Akhil N; Oh, In-Hwan; Choi, Jaeyoung

2015-08-15

The biomass and lipid/carbohydrate production by a green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus under mixotrophic condition using food wastewater and flue gas CO2 with municipal wastewater was investigated. Different dilution ratios (0.5-2%) of municipal wastewater with food wastewater were evaluated in the presence of 5, 10 and 14.1% CO2. The food wastewater (0.5-1%) with 10-14.1% CO2 supported the highest growth (0.42-0.44 g L(-1)), nutrient removal (21-22 mg TN L(-1)), lipid productivity (10-11 mg L(-1)day(-1)) and carbohydrate productivity (13-16 mg L(-1)day(-1)) by S. obliquus after 6 days of cultivation. Food wastewater increased the palmitic and oleic acid contents up to 8 and 6%, respectively. Thus, application of food wastewater and flue gas CO2 can be employed for enhancement of growth, lipid/carbohydrate productivity and wastewater treatment efficiency of S. obliquus under mixotrophic condition, which can lead to development of a cost effective strategy for microalgal biomass production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of pharmaceutical residues and assessment of their removal efficiency at the Daugavgriva municipal wastewater treatment plant in Riga, Latvia.

PubMed

Reinholds, I; Muter, O; Pugajeva, I; Rusko, J; Perkons, I; Bartkevics, V

2017-01-01

Pharmaceutical products (PPs) belong to emerging contaminants that may accumulate along with other chemical pollutants in wastewaters (WWs) entering industrial and/or urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the present study, the technique of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap-HRMS) was applied for the analysis of 24 multi-class PPs in WW samples collected at different technological stages of Daugavgriva WWTP located in Riga, Latvia. Caffeine and acetaminophen levels in the range of 7,570-11,403 ng/L and 810-1,883 ng/L, respectively, were the predominant compounds among 19 PPs determined in the WW. The results indicate that aerobic digestion in biological ponds was insufficiently effective to degrade most of the PPs (reduction efficiency <0-50.0%) with the exception of four PPs that showed degradation efficiency varying from 55.0 to 99.9%. Tests of short-term chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis for PP degradation in WW samples were performed, and the results reflected the complexity of different degradation mechanisms and physicochemical transformations of PPs. The toxicological studies of WW impact on Daphnia magna indicated gradual reduction of the total toxicity through the treatment stages at the WWTP.

Application of an efficient strategy based on liquid-liquid extraction, high-speed counter-current chromatography, and preparative HPLC for the rapid enrichment, separation, and purification of four anthraquinones from Rheum tanguticum.

PubMed

Chen, Tao; Liu, Yongling; Zou, Denglang; Chen, Chen; You, Jinmao; Zhou, Guoying; Sun, Jing; Li, Yulin

2014-01-01

This study presents an efficient strategy based on liquid-liquid extraction, high-speed counter-current chromatography, and preparative HPLC for the rapid enrichment, separation, and purification of four anthraquinones from Rheum tanguticum. A new solvent system composed of petroleum ether/ethyl acetate/water (4:2:1, v/v/v) was developed for the liquid-liquid extraction of the crude extract from R. tanguticum. As a result, emodin, aloe-emodin, physcion, and chrysophanol were greatly enriched in the organic layer. In addition, an efficient method was successfully established to separate and purify the above anthraquinones by high-speed counter-current chromatography and preparative HPLC. This study supplies a new alternative method for the rapid enrichment, separation, and purification of emodin, aloe-emodin, physcione, and chrysophanol. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

[Electricity generation from sweet potato fuel ethanol wastewater using microbial fuel cell technology].

PubMed

Cai, Xiao-Bo; Yang, Yi; Sun, Yan-Ping; Zhang, Liang; Xiao, Yao; Zhao, Hai

2010-10-01

Air cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) were investigated for electricity production from sweet potato fuel ethanol wastewater containing 5000 mg/L of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Maximum power density of 334.1 mW/m2, coulombic efficiency (CE) of 10.1% and COD removal efficiency of 92.2% were approached. The effect of phosphate buffer solution (PBS) and COD concentration on the performance of MFC was further examined. The addition of PBS from 50 mmol/L to 200 mmol/L increased the maximum power density and CE by 33.4% and 26.0%, respectively. However, the COD removal efficiency was not relative to PBS concentration in the wastewater. When the COD increased from 625 mg/L to 10 000 mg/L, the maximum value of COD removal efficiency and the maximum power density were gained at the wastewater strength of 5 000 mg/L. But the CE ranged from 28.9% to 10.3% with a decreasing trend. These results demonstrate that sweet potato fuel ethanol wastewater can be used for electricity generation in MFC while at the same time achieving wastewater treatment. The increasing of PBS concentration can improve the power generation of MFC. The maximum power density of MFC increases with the rise of COD concentration, but the electricity generation will decrease for the acidification of high wastewater concentration.

Electrochemical disinfection of toilet wastewater using wastewater electrolysis cell

PubMed Central

Huang, Xiao; Qu, Yan; Cid, Clément A.; Finke, Cody; Hoffmann, Michael R.; Lim, Keahying; Jiang, Sunny C.

2016-01-01

The paucity of proper sanitation facilities has contributed to the spread of waterborne diseases in many developing countries. The primary goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using a wastewater electrolysis cell (WEC) for toilet wastewater disinfection. The treated wastewater was designed to reuse for toilet flushing and agricultural irrigation. Laboratory-scale electrochemical (EC) disinfection experiments were performed to investigate the disinfection efficiency of the WEC with four seeded microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, recombinant adenovirus serotype 5, and bacteriophage MS2). In addition, the formation of organic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) at the end of the EC treatment was also investigated. The results showed that at an applied cell voltage of +4 V, the WEC achieved 5-log10 reductions of all four seeded microorganisms in real toilet wastewater within 60 min. In contrast, chemical chlorination (CC) disinfection using hypochlorite [NaClO] was only effective for the inactivation of bacteria. Due to the rapid formation of chloramines, less than 0.5-log10 reduction of MS2 was observed in toilet wastewater even at the highest [NaClO] dosage (36 mg/L, as Cl2) over a 1 h reaction. Experiments using laboratory model waters showed that free reactive chlorine generated in situ during EC disinfection process was the main disinfectant responsible for the inactivation of microorganisms. However, the production of hydroxyl radicals [•OH], and other reactive oxygen species by the active bismuth-doped TiO2 anode were negligible under the same electrolytic conditions. The formation of THMs and HAA5 were found to increase with higher applied cell voltage. Based on the energy consumption estimates, the WEC system can be operated using solar energy stored in a DC battery as the sole power source. PMID:26854604

Treatment of Spacecraft Wastewater Using a Hollow Fiber Membrane Biofilm Redox Control Reactor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Daniel P.

2003-01-01

The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate design concepts for biological treatment reactors for the purification of spacecraft wastewater prior to reverse osmosis treatment. The motivating factor is that wastewater recovery represents the greatest single potential reduction in the resupply requirements for crewed space missions. Spacecraft wastewater composition was estimated from the characteristics of the three major component streams: urine/flush water, hygiene water, and atmospheric condensate. The key characteristics of composite spacecraft wastewater are a theoretical oxygen demand of 4519 mg/L, of which 65% is nitrogenous oxygen demand, in a volume of 11.5 liter/crew-day. The organic carbon to nitrogen ratio of composite wastewater is 0.86. Urine represents 93% of nitrogen and 49% of the organic carbon in the composite wastestream. Various bioreaction scenarios were evaluated to project stoichiometric oxygen demands and the ability of wastewater carbon to support denitrification. Ammonia nitrification to the nitrite oxidation state reduced the oxygen requirement and enabled wastewater carbon to provide nearly complete denitrification. A conceptual bioreactor design was established using hollow fiber membranes for bubbleless oxygen transfer in a gravity-free environment, in close spatial juxtaposition to a second interspaced hollow fiber array for supplying molecular hydrogen. Highly versatile redox control and an enhanced ability to engineer syntrophic associations are stated advantages. A prototype reactor was constructed using a microporous hollow fiber membrane module for aeration. Maintaining inlet gas pressure within 0.25 psi of the external water pressure resulted in bubble free operation with no water ingress into hollow fiber lumens. Recommendations include the design and operational testing of hollow fiber bioreactors using: 1) Partial nitrification/nitrite predenitrification; 2) Limited aeration for simultaneous nitrification

Enhanced removal of hazardous dye form aqueous solutions and real textile wastewater using bifunctional chitin/lignin biosorbent.

PubMed

Wawrzkiewicz, Monika; Bartczak, Przemysław; Jesionowski, Teofil

2017-06-01

A new biomaterial based on chitin and lignin was prepared and applied for the removal of hazardous dye C.I. Direct Blue 71 (DB71) from aqueous solutions and wastewaters. The dye sorption on the chitin/lignin biosorbent (Ch/L) was examined depending on the initial dye concentration (50-200mg/L), phase contact time (1-1440min), kind of auxiliaries (NaCl, Na 2 SO 4 , anionic surfactant SDS) and their concentrations (1-20g/L salts, 0.1-0.75g/L SDS), initial solution pH as well as temperature (20-50°C). The equilibrium and kinetic characteristics of C.I. Direct Blue 71 uptake by chitin/lignin followed by the Freundlich isotherm model and the pseudo-second order model rather than the Langmuir, Tempkin models, and pseudo-first order model. C.I. Direct Blue 71 adsorption on chitin/lignin was spontaneous (-2.86 to -8.14kJ/mol) and endothermic (60.1kJ/mol). The possibilities of dye elution and reuse by means of the batch method were investigated and as follows the chemical reaction is an inseparable sorption mechanism. Purification of wastewaters containing direct dyes was made with 91% efficiency after 1h of phase contact time. For comparison, data obtained or obtained results in the DB71-chitin (Ch) system were also presented. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Radioactive Barium Ion Trap Based on Metal-Organic Framework for Efficient and Irreversible Removal of Barium from Nuclear Wastewater.

PubMed

Peng, Yaguang; Huang, Hongliang; Liu, Dahuan; Zhong, Chongli

2016-04-06

Highly efficient and irreversible capture of radioactive barium from aqueous media remains a serious task for nuclear waste disposal and environmental protection. To address this task, here we propose a concept of barium ion trap based on metal-organic framework (MOF) with a strong barium-chelating group (sulfate and sulfonic acid group) in the pore structures of MOFs. The functionalized MOF-based ion traps can remove >90% of the barium within the first 5 min, and the removal efficiency reaches 99% after equilibrium. Remarkably, the sulfate-group-functionalized ion trap demonstrates a high barium uptake capacity of 131.1 mg g(-1), which surpasses most of the reported sorbents and can selectively capture barium from nuclear wastewater, whereas the sulfonic-acid-group-functionalized ion trap exhibits ultrafast kinetics with a kinetic rate constant k2 of 27.77 g mg(-1) min(-1), which is 1-3 orders of magnitude higher than existing sorbents. Both of the two MOF-based ion traps can capture barium irreversibly. Our work proposes a new strategy to design barium adsorbent materials and provides a new perspective for removing radioactive barium and other radionuclides from nuclear wastewater for environment remediation. Besides, the concrete mechanisms of barium-sorbent interactions are also demonstrated in this contribution.

Isolation and characterization of Sphingomonas sp. Y2 capable of high-efficiency degradation of nonylphenol polyethoxylates in wastewater.

PubMed

Bai, Naling; Wang, Sheng; Abuduaini, Rexiding; Zhu, Xufen; Zhao, Yuhua

2016-06-01

Nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPEOs), although banned for decades, are still widely used in manufactories and thus affect human lives. In this study, a highly efficient NPEO-degrading bacterium, Sphingomonas sp. Y2, was isolated from sewage sludge by enrichment culture. Strain Y2 ensured the complete removal of NPEO in 48 h and degraded 99.2 % NPEO (1,000 mg L(-1)) within 30 h at a specific growth rate of 0.73 h(-1) in minimum salt medium. To date, this degradation efficiency is the highest reported for NPEO metabolism by a pure bacterium under this condition. Furthermore, the application of this bacterium to wastewater treatment demonstrated that it metabolized 98.5 % NPEO (1,000 mg L(-1)) within 5 days with a specific growth rate of 2.03 day(-1). The degradation intermediates, identified as nonylphenol, short-chain NPEOs and short-chain nonylphenol polyethoxycarboxylates by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, indicated the sequential exo-cleavage of the EO chain. Additionally, the enzymes involved in the biodegradation were inducible rather than constitutive. Considering that strain Y2 exhibits prominent biodegradation advantages in industrial wastewater treatment, it might serve as a promising potential candidate for in situ bioremediation of contamination by NPEOs and other structurally similar compounds.

Anaerobic digestion of post-hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater for improved energy efficiency of hydrothermal bioenergy processes.

PubMed

Zhou, Yan; Schideman, Lance; Zheng, Mingxia; Martin-Ryals, Ana; Li, Peng; Tommaso, Giovana; Zhang, Yuanhui

2015-01-01

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a promising process for converting wet biomass and organic wastes into bio-crude oil. It also produces an aqueous product referred to as post-hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater (PHWW) containing up to 40% of the original feedstock carbon, which reduces the overall energy efficiency of the HTL process. This study investigated the feasibility of using anaerobic digestion (AD) to treat PHWW, with the aid of activated carbon. Results showed that successful AD occurred at relatively low concentrations of PHWW (≤ 6.7%), producing a biogas yield of 0.5 ml/mg CODremoved, and ∼53% energy recovery efficiency. Higher concentrations of PHWW (≥13.3%) had an inhibitory effect on the AD process, as indicated by delayed, slower, or no biogas production. Activated carbon was shown to effectively mitigate this inhibitory effect by enhancing biogas production and allowing digestion to proceed at higher PHWW concentrations (up to 33.3%), likely due to sequestering toxic organic compounds. The addition of activated carbon also increased the net energy recovery efficiency of AD with a relatively high concentration of PHWW (33.3%), taking into account the energy for producing activated carbon. These results suggest that AD is a feasible approach to treat PHWW, and to improve the energy efficiency of the HTL processes.

Effect of activated sludge culture conditions on Waxberry wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Liang; He, Lingfeng; Zhang, Yongli

2018-03-01

Treated activated sludge is suitable for the treatment of wastewater. Biochemical method is used to treat the wastewater, and the influence of time on the COD index is investigated. The results showed that time had a significant effect on COD, and then affected the performance of activated sludge. Under different time, according to the order of time from short to long, COD decreases in turn. Under the action of activated sludge, the degradation of myrica rubra wastewater samples, after 25 h aeration for 96 h, the effect is better. Under this condition, the COD value was reduced at 72 mg/L, and the COD removal efficiency of myrica rubra wastewater was up to 93.39 %, and reached the two level discharge standard of municipal wastewater treatment.

Simulation of Constructed Wetland in treating Wastewater using Fuzzy Logic Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudarsan, J. S.; Subramani, Sheekha; Rajan, Rajitha J.; Shah, Isha; Nithiyanantham, S.

2018-04-01

Constructed wetlands act as a natural alternative to conventional methods of wastewater treatment. CW are found effective in wastewater containing inorganic matter, organic matter, toxic compounds, metals, nitrogen, phosphorous, heavy metals, organic chemicals, and pathogens. The treatment efficiency by the adaptation of CWs in treatment process is achieved by a complex interaction between plants, microorganisms, soil matrix and substances in the wastewater. Constructed wetland treatment systems are engineered systems designed in such a manner that it could take advantages of those processes occurring in natural wetlands in treating the wastewater concerned, but in a more controlled environment. Petrochemical wastewater was the type of wastewater taken for the study. Characteristics of petrochemical wastewater mainly oil, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical oxygen demand (COD) were selected for treatment in constructed wetland as they are predominant in petrochemical wastewater. The conventional methods followed in the treatment are chemical and biological treatment. In this study, a fuzzy model for water quality assessment has been developed and water quality index value was obtained. The experiment conducted and further analysis using fuzzy logic indicated that interpretation of certain imprecise data can be improved within fuzzy inference system (FIS). Based on the analysis, we could observe that Typha sp contained wetland cell showed greater efficiency in removal of parameters such as COD and BOD than Phragmites sp. wetland cell.

Slip-Effect Functional Air Filter for Efficient Purification of PM2.5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xinglei; Wang, Shan; Yin, Xia; Yu, Jianyong; Ding, Bin

2016-10-01

Fabrication of air filtration materials (AFM) that allow air to easily flow through while retaining particles is a significant and urgent need due to the harmful airborne particulate matter pollution; however, this is still a challenging research area. Herein, we report novel slip-effect functional nanofibrous membranes with decreased air resistance (reduction rate of 40%) due to the slip flow of air molecules on the periphery of nanofibers. This was achieved through careful control over the diameters of electrospun polyacrylonitrile fibers and aperture size of fiber assembly. Fiber assembly with 86% of fiber diameters between 60-100 nm was found to be most effective for slip flow, as these diameters are close to the mean free path of air molecules (65.3 nm). Significantly, an equilibrium factor τ = df/d2 has been introduced to elucidate the effect of distance of adjacent fibers on the drag force of airflow. Furthermore, the most effective aperture size (>3.5 μm) for slip-effect has been determined. Ultimately, the new material displayed low air resistance of 29.5 Pa, high purification efficiency of 99.09%, good transmittance of 77%, and long service life. The successful fabrication of such materials can facilitate the development of high-performance AFMs for various applications.

High-efficiency treatment of PTA wastewater using a biogas jet assisted anaerobic fluidized bed reactor.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Feng, Yangyang; Chen, Yingwen; Li, Peiwen; Zhu, Shemin; Shen, Shubao

2018-02-05

In this paper, a new type of biogas jet assisted anaerobic fluidized bed reactor loaded with a polypropylene carrier has been proposed. There was a clear improvement in the fluidized state due to the biogas assisted input when the gas/water ratio was set at 1:3 with a suitable carrier loading of 60%. When the circulating water flow is 30 L/min assisted with biogas 10 L/min, the mixing time shortens from 26 to 18 s. The performance of anaerobic biodegradation on wastewater treatment was improved largely. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and terepthallic acid removal efficiencies were at 85.4% and 84%, respectively, at hydraulic retention time of 20 h, even when the influent COD concentration was as high as 4224 mg/L. In addition, plenty of microorganisms, attached to the carriers and assumed to be the reason behind the organic biodegradation efficiency of the proposed system, were observed using scanning electron microscopy.

Purification of Plant Receptor Kinases from Plant Plasma Membranes.

PubMed

Lee, Jin Suk

2017-01-01

Receptor kinases play a central role in various biological processes, but due to their low abundance and highly hydrophobic and dynamic nature, only a few of them have been functionally characterized, and their partners and ligands remain unidentified. Receptor protein extraction and purification from plant tissues is one of the most challenging steps for the success of various biochemical analyses to characterize their function. Immunoprecipitation is a widely used and selective method for enriching or purifying a specific protein. Here we describe two different optimized protein purification protocols, batch and on-chip immunoprecipitation, which efficiently isolate plant membrane receptor kinases for functional analysis.

Sequential anaerobic-aerobic biological treatment of colored wastewaters: case study of a textile dyeing factory wastewater.

PubMed

Abiri, Fardin; Fallah, Narges; Bonakdarpour, Babak

2017-03-01

In the present study the feasibility of the use of a bacterial batch sequential anaerobic-aerobic process, in which activated sludge was used in both parts of the process, for pretreatment of wastewater generated by a textile dyeing factory has been considered. Activated sludge used in the process was obtained from a municipal wastewater treatment plant and adapted to real dyeing wastewater using either an anaerobic-only or an anaerobic-aerobic process over a period of 90 days. The use of activated sludge adapted using the anaerobic-aerobic process resulted in a higher overall decolorization efficiency compared to that achieved with activated sludge adapted using the anaerobic-only cycles. Anaerobic and aerobic periods of around 34 and 22 hours respectively resulted in an effluent with chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color content which met the standards for discharge into the centralized wastewater treatment plant of the industrial estate in which the dyeing factory was situated. Neutralization of the real dyeing wastewater and addition of carbon source to it, both of which results in significant increase in the cost of the bacterial treatment process, was not found to be necessary to achieve the required discharge standards.

Efficient electricity production and simultaneously wastewater treatment via a high-performance photocatalytic fuel cell.

PubMed

Liu, Yanbiao; Li, Jinhua; Zhou, Baoxue; Li, Xuejin; Chen, Hongchong; Chen, Quanpeng; Wang, Zhongsheng; Li, Lei; Wang, Jiulin; Cai, Weimin

2011-07-01

A great quantity of wastewater were discharged into water body, causing serious environmental pollution. Meanwhile, the organic compounds in wastewater are important sources of energy. In this work, a high-performance short TiO(2) nanotube array (STNA) electrode was applied as photoanode material in a novel photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) system for electricity production and simultaneously wastewater treatment. The results of current work demonstrate that various model compounds as well as real wastewater samples can be used as substrates for the PFC system. As a representative of model compounds, the acetic acid solution produces the highest cell performance with short-circuit current density 1.42 mA cm(-2), open-circuit voltage 1.48 V and maximum power density output 0.67 mW cm(-2). The STNA photoanode reveals obviously enhanced cell performance compared with TiO(2) nanoparticulate film electrode or other long nanotubes electrode. Moreover, the photoanode material, electrolyte concentration, pH of the initial solution, and cathode material were found to be important factors influencing the system performance of PFC. Therefore, the proposed fuel cell system provides a novel way of energy conversion and effective disposal mode of organics and serves well as a promising technology for wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reuse rate of treated wastewater in water reuse system.

PubMed

Fan, Yao-bo; Yang, Wen-bo; Li, Gang; Wu, Lin-lin; Wei, Yuan-song

2005-01-01

A water quality model for water reuse was made by mathematics induction. The relationship among the reuse rate of treated wastewater (R), pollutant concentration of reused water (Cs), pollutant concentration of influent (C0), removal efficiency of pollutant in wastewater (E), and the standard of reuse water were discussed in this study. According to the experiment result of a toilet wastewater treatment and reuse with membrane bioreactors, R would be set at less than 40%, on which all the concemed parameters could meet with the reuse water standards. To raise R of reuse water in the toilet, an important way was to improve color removal of the wastewater.

Reuse the pulp and paper industry wastewater by using fashionable technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudarshan, K.; Maruthaiya, K.; Kotteeswaran, P.; Murugan, A.

2017-10-01

This proposed method is a promising way, which can be implemented in pulp and paper industries by effective removal of the color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) and the resulting treated water may surely reuse to the other streams. Fourier Transformer Infra Red spectra confirmed the presence of the respective functional groups in the removed pollutants from the wastewater. The efficiency of Non-ferric Alum (NF Alum) and cationic polyacrylamide (C-PAM) with and without power boiler fly ash was also studied. The reduction efficiency of color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) is evaluated at the optimum dosage of NF Alum, fly ash, and C-PAM. At the optimized pH attained from these coagulants using to treat the wastewater, the flocs formation/settling and the pollutant removal efficiency are encouraging and the resulting color of the wastewater is to 40 PtCo units from 330 PtCo units and COD to 66 mg/L from 218 mg/L. While using NF Alum alone with C-PAM for the treatment of wastewater, the highest reduction efficiency of COD is 97 mg/L from 218 mg/L and the color is 60 from 330 PtCo units at pH 4.8 was noted. From these observations, NF Alum and power boiler fly ash with C-PAM can effectively remove the pollutants from the pulp and paper mill wastewater and the water can be reused for other streams.

Magnetic purification of curcumin from Curcuma longa rhizome by novel naked maghemite nanoparticles.

PubMed

Magro, Massimiliano; Campos, Rene; Baratella, Davide; Ferreira, Maria Izabela; Bonaiuto, Emanuela; Corraducci, Vittorino; Uliana, Maíra Rodrigues; Lima, Giuseppina Pace Pereira; Santagata, Silvia; Sambo, Paolo; Vianello, Fabio

2015-01-28

Naked maghemite nanoparticles, namely, surface active maghemite nanoparticles (SAMNs), characterized by a diameter of about 10 nm, possessing peculiar colloidal stability, surface chemistry, and superparamagnetism, present fundamental requisites for the development of effective magnetic purification processes for biomolecules in complex matrices. Polyphenolic molecules presenting functionalities with different proclivities toward iron chelation were studied as probes for testing SAMN suitability for magnetic purification. Thus, the binding efficiency and reversibility on SAMNs of phenolic compounds of interest in the pharmaceutical and food industries, namely, catechin, tyrosine, hydroxytyrosine, ferulic acid, coumaric acid, rosmarinic acid, naringenin, curcumin, and cyanidin-3-glucoside, were evaluated. Curcumin emerged as an elective compound, suitable for magnetic purification by SAMNs from complex matrices. A combination of curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bis-demethoxycurcumin was recovered by a single magnetic purification step from extracts of Curcuma longa rhizomes, with a purity >98% and a purification yield of 45%, curcumin being >80% of the total purified curcuminoids.

[Treatment of acrylate wastewater by electrocatalytic reduction process].

PubMed

Yu, Li-Na; Song, Yu-Dong; Zhou, Yue-Xi; Zhu, Shu-Quan; Zheng, Sheng-Zhi; Ll, Si-Min

2011-10-01

High-concentration acrylate wastewater was treated by an electrocatalytic reduction process. The effects of the cation exchange membrane (CEM) and cathode materials on acrylate reduction were investigated. It indicated that the acrylate could be reduced to propionate acid efficiently by the electrocatalytic reduction process. The addition of CEM to separator with the cathode and anode could significantly improve current efficiency. The cathode materials had significant effect on the reduction of acrylate. The current efficiency by Pd/Nickel foam, was greater than 90%, while those by nickel foam, the carbon fibers and the stainless steel decreased successively. Toxicity of the wastewater decreased considerably and methane production rate in the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test increased greatly after the electrocatalytic reduction process.

Effective swine wastewater treatment by combining microbial fuel cells with flocculation.

PubMed

Ding, Weijun; Cheng, Shaoan; Yu, Liliang; Huang, Haobin

2017-09-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) provide a cost-effective method for treating swine wastewater treatment and simultaneously producing electricity, yet they need to be combined with other wastewater treatment processes to improve the effluent water quality. In this paper, we constructed single-chamber air-cathode MFCs with a compact configuration for nitrogen and COD removal and high electricity production and combined them with a low-cost flocculation process to discharge higher quality wastewater. We show that MFCs could remove ammonia at a rate of 269.2 ± 0.5 g m -3 d -1 (99.1± 0.1% ammonia removal efficiency) with a maximum power density of 37.5 W m -3 and 21.6% of coulombic efficiency at a 40:60 ratio of raw swine wastewater to denitrification effluent of swine wastewater. Up to 82.5 ± 0.5% COD could be removed with MFCs, from 2735 ± 15 mg L -1 to 480 ± 15 mg L -1 , and flocculation further reduced levels to 90 ± 1 mg L -1 for a 96.6 ± 0.2% overall COD removal efficiency of the combination technology. Cost analysis of the combined MFC and flocculation process showed a net economic benefit of $ 0.026 m -3 . In summary, this novel combination wastewater treatment method provides an effective way to treat swine wastewater to low pollutant levels in the effluent at low cost (a net gain). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of a membrane bioreactor for winery wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Bolzonella, D; Fatone, F; Pavan, P; Cecchi, F

2010-01-01

Winery wastewaters are variable in nature and are hard to treat by means of the conventional activated sludge process because of the high organic loading associated with their production, especially during vintage. To face this situation, recently, membrane bioreactors have been widely applied to treat winery wastewaters. In this study, a full-scale membrane bioreactor treated some 110 m(3)/d of wastewater and organic loadings up to 1,600 kg COD per day. The average removal efficiency was 95% while the corresponding sludge yield was only 0.1 kg MLVSS per kg COD removed, as usual for these wastewaters. A detailed analysis of energy consumption showed specific energy demands of 2.0-3.6 kWh/m(3) of treated wastewater or 1 kWh per kg of COD removed.

Improving the large scale purification of the HIV microbicide, griffithsin.

PubMed

Fuqua, Joshua L; Wanga, Valentine; Palmer, Kenneth E

2015-02-22

Griffithsin is a broad spectrum antiviral lectin that inhibits viral entry and maturation processes through binding clusters of oligomannose glycans on viral envelope glycoproteins. An efficient, scaleable manufacturing process for griffithsin active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is essential for particularly cost-sensitive products such as griffithsin -based topical microbicides for HIV-1 prevention in resource poor settings. Our previously published purification method used ceramic filtration followed by two chromatography steps, resulting in a protein recovery of 30%. Our objective was to develop a scalable purification method for griffithsin expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana plants that would increase yield, reduce production costs, and simplify manufacturing techniques. Considering the future need to transfer griffithsin manufacturing technology to resource poor areas, we chose to focus modifying the purification process, paying particular attention to introducing simple, low-cost, and scalable procedures such as use of temperature, pH, ion concentration, and filtration to enhance product recovery. We achieved >99% pure griffithsin API by generating the initial green juice extract in pH 4 buffer, heating the extract to 55°C, incubating overnight with a bentonite MgCl2 mixture, and final purification with Capto™ multimodal chromatography. Griffithsin extracted with this protocol maintains activity comparable to griffithsin purified by the previously published method and we are able to recover a substantially higher yield: 88 ± 5% of griffithsin from the initial extract. The method was scaled to produce gram quantities of griffithsin with high yields, low endotoxin levels, and low purification costs maintained. The methodology developed to purify griffithsin introduces and develops multiple tools for purification of recombinant proteins from plants at an industrial scale. These tools allow for robust cost-effective production and purification of

Advantages of using subsurface flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in space applications: ground-based Mars Base prototype.

PubMed

Nelson, M; Alling, A; Dempster, W F; van Thillo, M; Allen, John

2003-01-01

Research and design of subsurface flow wetland wastewater treatment systems for a ground-based experimental prototype Mars Base facility has been carried out, using a subsurface flow approach. These systems have distinct advantages in planetary exploration scenarios: they are odorless, relatively low-labor and low-energy, assist in purification of water and recycling of atmospheric CO2, and will support some food crops. An area of 6-8 m2 may be sufficient for integration of wetland wastewater treatment with a prototype Mars Base supporting 4-5 people. Discharge water from the wetland system will be used as irrigation water for the agricultural crop area, thus ensuring complete recycling and utilization of nutrients. Since the primary requirements for wetland treatment systems are warm temperatures and lighting, such bioregenerative systems may be integrated into early Mars base habitats, since waste heat from the lights may be used for temperature maintenance in the human living environment. "Wastewater gardens (TM)" can be modified for space habitats to lower space and mass requirements. Many of its construction requirements can eventually be met with use of in-situ materials, such as gravel from the Mars surface. Because the technology requires little machinery and no chemicals, and relies more on natural ecological mechanisms (microbial and plant metabolism), maintenance requirements are minimized, and systems can be expected to have long operating lifetimes. Research needs include suitability of Martian soil and gravel for wetland systems, system sealing and liner options in a Mars Base, and wetland water quality efficiency under varying temperature and light regimes. c2003 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interior microelectrolysis oxidation of polyester wastewater and its treatment technology.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaoyi

2009-09-30

This paper has investigated the effects of interior microelectrolysis pretreatment on polyester wastewater treatment and analyzed its mechanism on COD and surfactant removal. The efficiency of interior microelectrolysis is mainly influenced by solution pH, aeration and reaction time. Contaminants can be removed not only by redox reaction and flocculation in the result of ferrous and ferric hydroxides but also by electrophoresis under electric fields created by electron flow. pH confirms the chemical states of surfactants, Fe(II)/Fe(III) ratio and the redox potential, and thus influences the effects of electrophoresis, flocculation and redox action on contaminant removal. Anaerobic and aerobic batch tests were performed to study the degradation of polyester wastewater. The results imply that interior microelectrolysis and anaerobic pretreatment are lacking of effectiveness if applied individually in treating polyester wastewater in spite of their individual advantages. The interior microelectrolysis-anaerobic-aerobic process was investigated to treat polyester wastewater with comparison with interior microelectrolysis-aerobic process and anaerobic-aerobic process. High COD removal efficiencies have been gotten by the combination of interior microelectrolysis with anaerobic technology and aerobic technology. The results also imply that only biological treatment was less effective in polyester wastewater treatment.

Enhancing mercury removal across air pollution control devices for coal-fired power plants by desulfurization wastewater evaporation.

PubMed

Bin, Hu; Yang, Yi; Cai, Liang; Yang, Linjun; Roszak, Szczepan

2017-10-09

Desulfurization wastewater evaporation technology is used to enhance the removal of gaseous mercury (Hg) in conventional air pollution control devices (APCDs) for coal-fired power plants. Studies have affirmed that gaseous Hg is oxidized and removed by selective catalytic reduction (SCR), an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) in a coal-fired thermal experiment platform with WFGD wastewater evaporation. Effects of desulfurization wastewater evaporation position, evaporation temperature and chlorine ion concentration on Hg oxidation were studied as well. The Hg 0 oxidation efficiency was increased ranging from 30% to 60%, and the gaseous Hg removal efficiency was 62.16% in APCDs when wastewater evaporated before SCR. However, the Hg 0 oxidation efficiency was 18.99% and the gaseous Hg removal efficiency was 40.19% in APCDs when wastewater evaporated before ESP. The results show that WFGD wastewater evaporation before SCR is beneficial to improve the efficiency of Hg oxidized and removed in APCDs. Because Hg 2+ can be easily removed in ACPDs and WFGD wastewater in power plants is enriched with chlorine ions, this method realizes WFGD wastewater zero discharge and simultaneously enhances Hg removal in APCDs.

Evaluation of nutrient removal efficiency and microbial enzyme activity in a baffled subsurface-flow constructed wetland system

Treesearch

Lihua Cui; Ying Ouyang; Wenjie Gu; Weozhi Yang; Qiaoling Xu

2013-01-01

In this study, the enzyme activities and their relationships to domestic wastewater purification are investigated in four different types of subsurface-flow constructed wetlands (CWs), namely the traditional horizontal subsurface-flow, horizontal baffled subsurface-flow, vertical baffled subsurface-flow, and composite baffled subsurface-flow CWs. Results showed that...

Soft drink wastewater treatment by electrocoagulation-electrooxidation processes.

PubMed

Linares Hernández, Ivonne; Barrera Díaz, Carlos; Valdés Cerecero, Mario; Almazán Sánchez, Perla Tatiana; Castañeda Juárez, Monserrat; Lugo Lugo, Violeta

2017-02-01

The aim of this work was to implement a coupled system, a monopolar Electrocoagulation (EC)-Electrooxidation (EO) processes, for the treatment of soft drink wastewater. For the EC test, Cu-Cu, anode-cathode were used at current densities of 17, 51 and 68 mA cm -2 . Only 37.67% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 27% of total organic carbon (TOC) were removed at 20 min with an optimum pH of 8, this low efficiency can be associated with the high concentration of inorganic ions which inhibit the oxidation of organic matter due to their complexation with copper ions. Later EO treatment was performed with boron-doped diamond-Cu electrodes and a current density of 30 Am -2 . The coupled EC-EO system was efficient to reduce organic pollutants from initial values of 1875 mg L -1 TOC and 4300 mg L -1 COD, the removal efficiencies were 75% and 85%, respectively. Electric energy consumption to degrade a kilogram of a pollutant in the soft drink wastewater using EC was 3.19 kWh kg -1 TOC and 6.66 kWh kg -1 COD. It was concluded that the coupled system EC-EO was effective for the soft drink wastewater treatment, reducing operating costs and residence time, and allowing its reuse in indirect contact with humans, thus contributing to the sustainable reuse as an effluent of industrial wastewater.

Treatment of Wastewater From Car Washes Using Natural Coagulation and Filtration System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Gheethi, A. A.; Mohamed, R. M. S. R.; Rahman, M. A. A.; Johari, M. R.; Kassim, A. H. M.

2016-07-01

Wastewater generated from carwash is one of the main wastewater resources, which contribute effectively in the increasing of environmental contamination due to the chemical characteristics of the car wastes. The present work aimed to develop an integrated treatment system for carwash wastewater based on coagulation and flocculation using Moringa oleifera and Ferrous Sulphate (FeSO4.7H2O) as well as natural filtration system. The carwash wastewater samples were collected from carwash station located at Parit Raja, Johor, Malaysia. The treatment system of car wash wastewater was designed in the lab scale in four stages included, aeration, coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation and filtration. The coagulation and flocculation unit was carried out using different dosage (35, 70, 105 and 140 mg L-1) of M. oleifera and FeSO4.7H2O, respectively. The efficiency of the integrated treatment system to treat carwash wastewater and to meet Environmental Quality Act (EQA 1974) was evaluated based on the analysis of pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and turbidity (NTU). The integrated treatment system was efficient for treatment of raw carwash wastewater. The treated carwash wastewaters meet EQA 1974 regulation 2009 (Standards A) in the term of pH and DO while, turbidity and COD reduced in the wastewater to meet Standards B. The integrated treatment system designed here with natural coagulant (M. oleifera) and filtration unit were effective for primary treatment of carwash wastewater before the final disposal or to be reused again for carwash process.

Efficient expression and purification of a protease from the common cold virus, human rhinovirus type 14

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leong, L. E.-C.; Walker, P. A.; Porter, A. G.

1992-08-01

The protease (3C pro) from human rhinovirus serotype-14 (HRV-14) has been cloned and efficiently expressed in E. coli. A straightforward single-step purification of the recombinant 3C pro has been achieved by fusing the protein to the car☐y-terminus of the glutathione-S-transferase from Schistosoma japonicum. Modifications made to the 5' end of the PCR fragment coding for the 3C pro have allowed the specific cleavage of the fusion protein using thrombin to yield mature 3C pro with the correct amino-terminal amino acid. This protease has been shown to be active when assayed using synthetic peptides corresponding to the natural cleavage recognition sequences within the polyprotein. Other substrates are being developed for this protease for possible use in the screening of inhibitors of 3C pro. Sufficient protease 3C pro has been purified for initial attempts at crystallization.

Cost-Based Optimization of a Papermaking Wastewater Regeneration Recycling System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Long; Feng, Xiao; Chu, Khim H.

2010-11-01

Wastewater can be regenerated for recycling in an industrial process to reduce freshwater consumption and wastewater discharge. Such an environment friendly approach will also lead to cost savings that accrue due to reduced freshwater usage and wastewater discharge. However, the resulting cost savings are offset to varying degrees by the costs incurred for the regeneration of wastewater for recycling. Therefore, systematic procedures should be used to determine the true economic benefits for any water-using system involving wastewater regeneration recycling. In this paper, a total cost accounting procedure is employed to construct a comprehensive cost model for a paper mill. The resulting cost model is optimized by means of mathematical programming to determine the optimal regeneration flowrate and regeneration efficiency that will yield the minimum total cost.

The Adsorption Capacity of GONs/CMC/Fe3O4 Magnetic Composite Microspheres and Applications for Purifying Dye Wastewater

PubMed Central

Lv, Shenghua; Zhu, Linlin; Li, Ying; Jia, Chunmao; Sun, Shiyu

2017-01-01

Graphene oxide nanosheets (GONs)/carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC)/Fe3O4 magnetic composite microspheres (MCMs) were prepared by enclosing Fe3O4 particles with CMC and GONs in turn. The microstructures of GONs and GONs/CMC/Fe3O4 MCMs were characterized by FTIR, XRD, TEM, and SEM. The effects of GON content, pH value, and adsorption time on the adsorption capacity of the MCMs were investigated. The results show that the GONs/CMC/Fe3O4 MCMs have a greater specific surface area and a strong adsorption capacity for dye wastewater. Meanwhile, the adsorption mechanism was investigated, and the results accorded with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich isotherm model. The search results indicate that GONs/CMC/Fe3O4 MCMs can be used to purify dye wastewater and has an important potential use in the practical purification of dye wastewater. PMID:28772419

Solar photocatalytic treatment of synthetic municipal wastewater.

PubMed

Kositzi, M; Poulios, I; Malato, S; Caceres, J; Campos, A

2004-03-01

The photocatalytic organic content reduction of a selected synthetic municipal wastewater by the use of heterogeneous and homogeneous photocatalytic methods under solar irradiation has been studied at a pilot-plant scale at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria. In the case of heterogeneous photocatalysis the effect of catalysts and oxidants concentration on the decomposition degree of the wastewater was examined. By an accumulation energy of 50 kJL(-1) the synergetic effect of 0.2 gL(-1)TiO(2) P-25 with hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and Na(2)S(2)O(8) leads to a 55% and 73% reduction of the initial organic carbon content, respectively. The photo-fenton process appears to be more efficient for this type of wastewater in comparison to the TiO(2)/oxidant system. An accumulation energy of 20 kJL(-1) leads to 80% reduction of the organic content. The presence of oxalate in the Fe(3+)/H(2)O(2) system leads to an additional improvement of the photocatalytic efficiency.

Biological treatment of winery wastewater: an overview.

PubMed

Andreottola, G; Foladori, P; Ziglio, G

2009-01-01

The treatment of winery wastewater can realised using several biological processes based both on aerobic or anaerobic systems using suspended biomass or biofilms. Several systems are currently offered by technology providers and current research envisages the availability of new promising technologies for winery wastewater treatment. The present paper intends to present a brief state of the art of the existing status and advances in biological treatment of winery wastewater in the last decade, considering both lab, pilot and full-scale studies. Advantages, drawbacks, applied organic loads, removal efficiency and emerging aspects of the main biological treatments were considered and compared. Nevertheless in most treatments the COD removal efficiency was around 90-95% (remaining COD is due to the un-biodegradable soluble fraction), the applied organic loads are very different depending on the applied technology, varying for an order of magnitude. Applied organic loads are higher in biofilm systems than in suspended biomass while anaerobic biofilm processes have the smaller footprint but in general a higher level of complexity.

Electrochemical disinfection of toilet wastewater using wastewater electrolysis cell.

PubMed

Huang, Xiao; Qu, Yan; Cid, Clément A; Finke, Cody; Hoffmann, Michael R; Lim, Keahying; Jiang, Sunny C

2016-04-01

The paucity of proper sanitation facilities has contributed to the spread of waterborne diseases in many developing countries. The primary goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using a wastewater electrolysis cell (WEC) for toilet wastewater disinfection. The treated wastewater was designed to reuse for toilet flushing and agricultural irrigation. Laboratory-scale electrochemical (EC) disinfection experiments were performed to investigate the disinfection efficiency of the WEC with four seeded microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, recombinant adenovirus serotype 5, and bacteriophage MS2). In addition, the formation of organic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAA5) at the end of the EC treatment was also investigated. The results showed that at an applied cell voltage of +4 V, the WEC achieved 5-log10 reductions of all four seeded microorganisms in real toilet wastewater within 60 min. In contrast, chemical chlorination (CC) disinfection using hypochlorite [NaClO] was only effective for the inactivation of bacteria. Due to the rapid formation of chloramines, less than 0.5-log10 reduction of MS2 was observed in toilet wastewater even at the highest [NaClO] dosage (36 mg/L, as Cl2) over a 1 h reaction. Experiments using laboratory model waters showed that free reactive chlorine generated in situ during EC disinfection process was the main disinfectant responsible for the inactivation of microorganisms. However, the production of hydroxyl radicals [OH], and other reactive oxygen species by the active bismuth-doped TiO2 anode were negligible under the same electrolytic conditions. The formation of THMs and HAA5 were found to increase with higher applied cell voltage. Based on the energy consumption estimates, the WEC system can be operated using solar energy stored in a DC battery as the sole power source. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Slip-Effect Functional Air Filter for Efficient Purification of PM2.5

PubMed Central

Zhao, Xinglei; Wang, Shan; Yin, Xia; Yu, Jianyong; Ding, Bin

2016-01-01

Fabrication of air filtration materials (AFM) that allow air to easily flow through while retaining particles is a significant and urgent need due to the harmful airborne particulate matter pollution; however, this is still a challenging research area. Herein, we report novel slip-effect functional nanofibrous membranes with decreased air resistance (reduction rate of 40%) due to the slip flow of air molecules on the periphery of nanofibers. This was achieved through careful control over the diameters of electrospun polyacrylonitrile fibers and aperture size of fiber assembly. Fiber assembly with 86% of fiber diameters between 60–100 nm was found to be most effective for slip flow, as these diameters are close to the mean free path of air molecules (65.3 nm). Significantly, an equilibrium factor τ = df/d2 has been introduced to elucidate the effect of distance of adjacent fibers on the drag force of airflow. Furthermore, the most effective aperture size (>3.5 μm) for slip-effect has been determined. Ultimately, the new material displayed low air resistance of 29.5 Pa, high purification efficiency of 99.09%, good transmittance of 77%, and long service life. The successful fabrication of such materials can facilitate the development of high-performance AFMs for various applications. PMID:27748419

Two-year survey of specific hospital wastewater treatment and its impact on pharmaceutical discharges.

PubMed

Wiest, Laure; Chonova, Teofana; Bergé, Alexandre; Baudot, Robert; Bessueille-Barbier, Frédérique; Ayouni-Derouiche, Linda; Vulliet, Emmanuelle

2018-04-01

It is well known that pharmaceuticals are not completely removed by conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. Hospital effluents are of major concern, as they present high concentrations of pharmaceutically active compounds. Despite this, these specific effluents are usually co-treated with domestic wastewaters. Separate treatment has been recommended. However, there is a lack of information concerning the efficiency of separate hospital wastewater treatment by activated sludge, especially on the removal of pharmaceuticals. In this context, this article presents the results of a 2-year monitoring of conventional parameters, surfactants, gadolinium, and 13 pharmaceuticals on the specific study site SIPIBEL. This site allows the characterization of urban and hospital wastewaters and their separate treatment using the same process. Flow proportional sampling, solid-phase extraction, and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry were used in order to obtain accurate data and limits of quantification consistent with ultra-trace detection. Thanks to these consolidated data, an in-depth characterization of urban and hospital wastewaters was realized, as well as a comparison of treatment efficiency between both effluents. Higher concentrations of organic carbon, AOX, phosphates, gadolinium, paracetamol, ketoprofen, and antibiotics were observed in hospital wastewaters compared to urban wastewaters. Globally higher removals were observed in the hospital wastewater treatment plant, and some parameters were shown to be of high importance regarding removal efficiencies: hydraulic retention time, redox conditions, and ambient temperature. Eleven pharmaceuticals were still quantified at relevant concentrations in hospital and urban wastewaters after treatment (e.g., up to 1 μg/L for sulfamethoxazole). However, as the urban flow was about 37 times higher than the hospital flow, the hospital contribution appeared relatively low compared to

Potential dual use of biochar for wastewater treatment and soil amelioration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marschner, Bernd; Werner, Steffen; Alfes, Karsten; Lübken, Manfred

2013-04-01

Irrigating crops with wastewater from open drainage channels is a common practice in urban agricultural production in many dry regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. While the wastewater-borne nutrients reduce the need for inputs of mineral fertilizers or manures and thus reduce production costs, wastewater-borne pathogens and contaminants pose a health risk for the producers and consumers of the crops. Furthermore, the input of nutrients with the irrigation water may greatly exceed crop requirements and thus lead to unproductive leaching losses of nutrients. It is generally acknowledged that biochar additions can increase the soil's sorption and retention capacity for nutrients and water. However, positive effects on crop production are generally only observed, if this is combined with mineral fertilizers or manures due to the low nutrient content of biochars. Biochar possibly also has a high potential for use in water purification, replacing the coal-based activated carbon as a sorbent for contaminants and pathogens. It was therefore hypothesized that biochar can be used for pathogen removal from wastewater while at the same time being loaded with nutrients and contaminants. If contaminants are of minor concern the "loaded" biochar can be used as a soil amendment, providing not only long-term sorption capacity but also nutrients. Experiments were conducted with pyrochar from Miscanthus, rice husks and wood chips, which strongly differed in elemental composition, MIR-DRIFT spectra, surface charge properties and sorption potential for DOC and phosphate. When used as top filter layer in a sand column system, the biochars effectively reduced E. coli concentrations from raw wastewater by up to 2 log units. While biochars from rice husks and Miscanthus accumulated N substantially, wood chip biochar showed no N retention. On the other hand, P accumulation was most pronounced for wood chip biochar. Ongoing incubation experiments with the "loaded" and fresh biochar in

Efficiency of wastewater treatment in SBR and IFAS-MBSBBR systems in specified technological conditions.

PubMed

Sytek-Szmeichel, K; Podedworna, J; Zubrowska-Sudol, M

2016-01-01

The objective of this study is to compare wastewater treatment effectiveness in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and integrated fixed-film activated sludge-moving-bed sequencing batch biofilm reactor (IFAS-MBSBBR) systems in specific technological conditions. The comparison of these two technologies was based on the following assumptions, shared by both series, I and II: the reactor's active volume was 28 L; 8-hour cycle of reactor's work, with the same sequence and duration of its consecutive phases; and the dissolved oxygen concentration in the aerobic phases was maintained at a level of 3.0 mg O2/L. For both experimental series (I and II), comparable effectiveness of organic compound (chemical oxygen demand (COD)) removal, nitrification and biological phosphorus removal has been obtained at levels of 95.1%, 97% and 99%, respectively. The presence of the carrier improved the efficiency of total nitrogen removal from 86.3% to 91.7%. On the basis of monitoring tests, it has been found that the ratio of simultaneous denitrification in phases with aeration to the total efficiency of denitrification in the cycle was 1.5 times higher for IFAS-MBSBBR.

Highly efficient indoor air purification using adsorption-enhanced-photocatalysis-based microporous TiO2 at short residence time.

PubMed

Lv, Jinze; Zhu, Lizhong

2013-01-01

A short residence time is a key design parameter for the removal of organic pollutants in catalyst-based indoor air purification systems. In this study, we synthesized a series of TiO2 with different micropore volumes and studied their removal efficiency of indoor carbonyl pollutants at a short residence time. Our results indicated that the superior adsorption capability of TiO2 with micropores improved its performance in the photocatalytic degradation of cyclohexanone, while the photocatalytic removal of the pollutant successfully kept porous TiO2 from becoming saturated. When treated with 1 mg m(-3) cyclohexanone at a relatively humidity of 18%, the adsorption amount on microporous TiO2 was 5.4-7.9 times higher than that on P25. Removal efficiency via photocatalysis followed'the same order as the adsorption amount: TiO2-5 > TiO2-20 > TiO2-60 > TiO2-180 > P25. The advantage of microporous TiO2 over P25 became more pronounced when the residence time declined from 0.072 to 0.036 s. Moreover, as the concentration of cyclohexanone deceased from 1000 ppb to 500 ppb, removal efficiency by microporous TiO2 increased more rapidly than P25.

Magnetic techniques for the isolation and purification of proteins and peptides

PubMed Central

Safarik, Ivo; Safarikova, Mirka

2004-01-01

Isolation and separation of specific molecules is used in almost all areas of biosciences and biotechnology. Diverse procedures can be used to achieve this goal. Recently, increased attention has been paid to the development and application of magnetic separation techniques, which employ small magnetic particles. The purpose of this review paper is to summarize various methodologies, strategies and materials which can be used for the isolation and purification of target proteins and peptides with the help of magnetic field. An extensive list of realised purification procedures documents the efficiency of magnetic separation techniques. PMID:15566570

A systematic methodology for the robust quantification of energy efficiency at wastewater treatment plants featuring Data Envelopment Analysis.

PubMed

Longo, S; Hospido, A; Lema, J M; Mauricio-Iglesias, M

2018-05-10

This article examines the potential benefits of using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for conducting energy-efficiency assessment of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). WWTPs are characteristically heterogeneous (in size, technology, climate, function …) which limits the correct application of DEA. This paper proposes and describes the Robust Energy Efficiency DEA (REED) in its various stages, a systematic state-of-the-art methodology aimed at including exogenous variables in nonparametric frontier models and especially designed for WWTP operation. In particular, the methodology systematizes the modelling process by presenting an integrated framework for selecting the correct variables and appropriate models, possibly tackling the effect of exogenous factors. As a result, the application of REED improves the quality of the efficiency estimates and hence the significance of benchmarking. For the reader's convenience, this article is presented as a step-by-step guideline to guide the user in the determination of WWTPs energy efficiency from beginning to end. The application and benefits of the developed methodology are demonstrated by a case study related to the comparison of the energy efficiency of a set of 399 WWTPs operating in different countries and under heterogeneous environmental conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical purification of lanthanides for low-background experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boiko, R. S.

2017-10-01

There are many potentially active isotopes among the lanthanide elements which are possible to use for low-background experiments to search for double β decay, dark matter, to investigate rare α and β decays. These kind of experiments require very low level of radioactive contamination, but commercially available compounds of lanthanides are always contamined by uranium, thorium, radium, potassium, etc. A simple chemical method based on liquid-liquid extraction has been applied for the purification of CeO2, Nd2O3 and Gd˙2O˙3 from radioactive traces. Detailed schemes of purification procedure are described. Measurements by using HPGe spectrometry demonstrate high efficiency in K, Ra, Th, U contaminations reduction on at least one order of magnitude.

Nickel-Salen supported paramagnetic nanoparticles for 6-His-target recombinant protein affinity purification.

PubMed

Rashid, Zahra; Ghahremanzadeh, Ramin; Nejadmoghaddam, Mohammad-Reza; Nazari, Mahboobeh; Shokri, Mohammad-Reza; Naeimi, Hossein; Zarnani, Amir-Hassan

2017-03-24

In this research, a simple, efficient, inexpensive, rapid and high yield method for the purification of 6×histidine-tagged recombinant protein was developed. For this purpose, manganese ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized through a co-precipitation method and then they were conveniently surface-modified with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in order to prevent oxidation and form high density of hydroxyl groups. Next, the salen ligand was prepared from condensation reaction of salicylaldehyde and 3-aminopropyl (trimethoxy) silane (APTMS) in 1:1 molar ratio; followed by complexation with Ni(OAc) 2 .4H 2 O. Finally, the prepared Ni(II)-salen complex conjugated to silica coated MNPs and MnFe 2 O 4 @SiO 2 @Ni-Salen complex nanoparticles were obtained. The functionalized nanoparticles were spherical with an average diameter around 70nm. The obtained MNPs had a saturation magnetization about 54 emu/g and had super paramagnetic character. These MNPs were used efficiently to enrich recombinant histidine-tagged (His-tagged) protein-A from bacterial cell lysate. In about 45min, highly pure His-tagged recombinant protein was obtained, as judged by SDS-PAGE analysis and silver staining. The amount of target protein in flow through and washing fractions was minimal denoting the high efficiency of purification process. The average capacity of the matrix was found to be high and about 180±15mgg -1 (protein/MnFe 2 O 4 @SiO 2 @Ni-Salen complex). Collectively, purification process with MnFe 2 O 4 @SiO 2 @Ni-Salen complex nanoparticles is rapid, efficient, selective and whole purification can be carried out in only a single tube without the need for expensive systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Decomposition and biodegradability enhancement of textile wastewater using a combination of electron beam irradiation and activated sludge process.

PubMed

Mohd Nasir, Norlirubayah; Teo Ming, Ting; Ahmadun, Fakhru'l-Razi; Sobri, Shafreeza

2010-01-01

The research conducted a study on decomposition and biodegradability enhancement of textile wastewater using a combination of electron beam irradiation and activated sludge process. The purposes of this research are to remove pollutant through decomposition and to enhance the biodegradability of textile wastewater. The wastewater is treated using electron beam irradiation as a pre-treatment before undergo an activated sludge process. As a result, for non-irradiated wastewater, the COD removal was achieved to be between 70% and 79% after activated sludge process. The improvement of COD removal efficiency increased to 94% after irradiation of treated effluent at the dose of 50 kGy. Meanwhile, the BOD(5) removal efficiencies of non-irradiated and irradiated textile wastewater were reported to be between 80 and 87%, and 82 and 99.2%, respectively. The maximum BOD(5) removal efficiency was achieved at day 1 (HRT 5 days) of the process of an irradiated textile wastewater which is 99.2%. The biodegradability ratio of non-irradiated wastewater was reported to be between 0.34 and 0.61, while the value of biodegradability ratio of an irradiated wastewater increased to be between 0.87 and 0.96. The biodegradability enhancement of textile wastewater is increased with increasing the doses. Therefore, an electron beam radiation holds a greatest application of removing pollutants and also on enhancing the biodegradability of textile wastewater.

Management of wastewater from the vegetable dehydration industry in Egypt--a case study.

PubMed

El-Gohary, Fatma; El-Kamah, Hala; Abdel Wahaab, Rifaat; Mahmoud, Mohamed; Ibrahim, Hamdy A

2012-01-01

Management of wastewater from the vegetable dehydration industry was the subject of this study. A continuous monitoring programme for wastewater was carried out for almost four months. The characterization of the wastewater indicated that the vegetable dehydration wastewater contains moderate concentrations of organics, solids and nutrients. The wastewater was subjected to three different treatment processes, namely aerobic treatment, anaerobic treatment and chemical coagulation-flocculation treatment. For aerobic treatment, the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS) was accomplished within 5 h, and no further reduction was observed after that, with the steady state COD and BOD5 removal efficiencies being 95% +/- 10% and 97% +/- 8%, respectively. For anaerobic treatment, the removal efficiencies for COD, BOD5 and TSS were 67-81%, 70-86% and 56-69%, respectively at hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 5, 6 and 8 h. Chemical coagulation-flocculation treatment also achieved good results. The COD removal efficiency was 72%, 51% and 75% for ferric chloride (56 g/m3 of wastewater), lime (140 g/m3 of wastewater) and ferric chloride aided with lime (100 g/m3 for ferric chloride and 200 g/m3 for lime), respectively. The corresponding TSS removal values were 92% +/- 17%, 20% +/- 7% and 93% +/- 9%. Based on the available results and the seasonally operated mode of this industry in Egypt, the chemical coagulation-flocculation process is therefore considered to be moste applicable from a technical point of view and for the simplicity of operation and maintenance.

Experimentation on the anaerobic filter reactor for biogas production using rural domestic wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leju Celestino Ladu, John; Lü, Xi-wu; Zhong, Zhaoping

2017-08-01

The biogas production from anaerobic filter (AF) reactor was experimented in Taihu Lake Environmental Engineering Research Center of Southeast University, Wuxi, China. Two rounds of experimental operations were conducted in a laboratory scale at different Hydraulic retention time (HRT) and wastewater temperature. The biogas production rate during the experimentation was in the range of 4.63 to 11.78 L/d. In the first experimentation, the average gas production rate was 10.08 L/d, and in the second experimentation, the average gas production rate was 4.97 L/d. The experimentation observed the favorable Hydraulic Retention Time and wastewater temperature in AF was three days and 30.95°C which produced the gas concentration of 11.78 L/d. The HRT and wastewater temperature affected the efficiency of the AF process on the organic matter removal and nutrients removal as well. It can be deduced from the obtained results that HRT and wastewater temperature directly affects the efficiency of the AF reactor in biogas production. In conclusion, anaerobic filter treatment of organic matter substrates from the rural domestic wastewater increases the efficiency of the AF reactor on biogas production and gives a number of benefits for the management of organic wastes as well as reduction in water pollution. Hence, the operation of the AF reactor in rural domestic wastewater treatment can play an important element for corporate economy of the biogas plant, socio-economic aspects and in the development of effective and feasible concepts for wastewater management, especially for people in rural low-income areas.

Biological nitrification/denitrification of high sodium nitrite (navy shipyard) wastewater.

PubMed

Kamath, S; Sabatini, D A; Canter, L W

1991-01-01

In the hydroblasting of ships' boiler tubes, a wastewater high in nitrite (as high as 1200 mg litre(-1)) is produced by the US Navy. This research has evaluated the use of a suspended-growth biological system to treat this wastewater by denitrification. Two biological treatment configurations were evaluated (direct denitrification versus nitrification/denitrification) with nitrification/denitrification producing better nitrite removal efficiencies (54 to 62% versus 40%, respectively). The introduction of metals (cadmium, chromium, lead, copper and iron) in concentrations typical for this wastewater did not inhibit the nitrite removal efficiencies. The influent metal concentrations ranged from 0.02 mg litre(-1) for cadmium to 22 mg litre(-1) for iron and the metal removal efficiencies ranged from 4.8% for cadmium to 50% for copper. Increasing sludge age resulted in improved nitrite removal efficiencies (52%, 57% and 74% for sludge ages of 4, 6 and 8 days, respectively). The resulting biokinetic constants were similar to those reported by others for lower influent concentrations of nitrite or nitrate (Ygs=0.02 mg/mg; Ygn=0.16 mg/mg; Yb=0.8 mg/mg; and b=0.006 h(-1)).

Automated high throughput microscale antibody purification workflows for accelerating antibody discovery

PubMed Central

Luan, Peng; Lee, Sophia; Paluch, Maciej; Kansopon, Joe; Viajar, Sharon; Begum, Zahira; Chiang, Nancy; Nakamura, Gerald; Hass, Philip E.; Wong, Athena W.; Lazar, Greg A.

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT To rapidly find “best-in-class” antibody therapeutics, it has become essential to develop high throughput (HTP) processes that allow rapid assessment of antibodies for functional and molecular properties. Consequently, it is critical to have access to sufficient amounts of high quality antibody, to carry out accurate and quantitative characterization. We have developed automated workflows using liquid handling systems to conduct affinity-based purification either in batch or tip column mode. Here, we demonstrate the capability to purify >2000 antibodies per day from microscale (1 mL) cultures. Our optimized, automated process for human IgG1 purification using MabSelect SuRe resin achieves ∼70% recovery over a wide range of antibody loads, up to 500 µg. This HTP process works well for hybridoma-derived antibodies that can be purified by MabSelect SuRe resin. For rat IgG2a, which is often encountered in hybridoma cultures and is challenging to purify via an HTP process, we established automated purification with GammaBind Plus resin. Using these HTP purification processes, we can efficiently recover sufficient amounts of antibodies from mammalian transient or hybridoma cultures with quality comparable to conventional column purification. PMID:29494273

Nanocellulose-Based Materials for Water Purification

PubMed Central

Voisin, Hugo; Bergström, Lennart; Liu, Peng; Mathew, Aji P.

2017-01-01

Nanocellulose is a renewable material that combines a high surface area with high strength, chemical inertness, and versatile surface chemistry. In this review, we will briefly describe how nanocellulose is produced, and present—in particular, how nanocellulose and its surface modified versions affects the adsorption behavior of important water pollutants, e.g., heavy metal species, dyes, microbes, and organic molecules. The processing of nanocellulose-based membranes and filters for water purification will be described in detail, and the uptake capacity, selectivity, and removal efficiency will also be discussed. The processing and performance of nanocellulose-based membranes, which combine a high removal efficiency with anti-fouling properties, will be highlighted. PMID:28336891

A balanced microbiota efficiently produces methane in a novel high-rate horizontal anaerobic reactor for the treatment of swine wastewater.

PubMed

Duda, Rose Maria; da Silva Vantini, Juliana; Martins, Larissa Scattolin; de Mello Varani, Alessandro; Lemos, Manoel Victor Franco; Ferro, Maria Inês Tiraboschi; de Oliveira, Roberto Alves

2015-12-01

A novel combination of structurally simple, high-rate horizontal anaerobic reactors installed in series was used to treat swine wastewater. The reactors maintained stable pH, alkalinity, and volatile acid levels. Removed chemical oxygen demand (COD) represented 68% of the total, and the average specific methane production was 0.30L CH4 (g removed CODtot)(-1). In addition, next-generation sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR analyses were used to explore the methane-producing Archaea and microbial diversity. At least 94% of the sludge diversity belong to the Bacteria and Archaea, indicating a good balance of microorganisms. Among the Bacteria the Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the most prevalent phyla. Interestingly, up to 12% of the sludge diversity belongs to methane-producing orders, such as Methanosarcinales, Methanobacteriales and Methanomicrobiales. In summary, this system can efficiently produce methane and this is the first time that horizontal anaerobic reactors have been evaluated for the treatment of swine wastewater. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crystallization techniques in wastewater treatment: An overview of applications.

PubMed

Lu, Haijiao; Wang, Jingkang; Wang, Ting; Wang, Na; Bao, Ying; Hao, Hongxun

2017-04-01

As a by-product of industrial or domestic activities, wastewater of different compositions has caused serious environmental problems all over the world. Facing the challenge of wastewater treatment, researchers have begun to make use of crystallization techniques in wastewater treatment. Crystallization techniques have many advantages, such as high efficiency, energy saving, low costs, less space occupation and so on. In recent decades, crystallization is considered as one of promising techniques for wastewater treatment, especially for desalination, water and salt recovery. It has been widely used in engineering applications all over the world. In this paper, various crystallization techniques in wastewater treatment are summarized, mainly including evaporation crystallization, cooling crystallization, reaction crystallization, drowning-out crystallization and membrane distillation crystallization. Overall, they are mainly used for desalination, water and salt recovery. Their applications, advantages and disadvantages were compared and discussed in detail. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of time on dyeing wastewater treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Tingjin; Chen, Xin; Xu, Zizhen; Chen, Xiaogang; Shi, Liang; He, Lingfeng; Zhang, Yongli

2018-03-01

The preparation of carboxymethylchitosan wrapping fly-ash adsorbent using high temperature activated fly ash and sodium carboxymethyl chitosan (CWF), as with the iron-carbon micro-electrolysis process simulation and actual printing and dyeing wastewater. The effects of mixing time and static time on decolorization ratio, COD removing rate and turbidness removing rate were investigated. The experimental results show that the wastewater stirring times on the decolorization rate and COD removal rate and turbidity removal rate influence, with increasing of the stirring time, three showed a downward trend, and reached the peak at 10 min time; wastewater time on the decolorization ratio and COD removing efficiency and turbidness removing rate influence, along with standing time increase, three who declined and reached the maximum in 30min time.

Treatment of hydraulic fracturing wastewater by wet air oxidation.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Yan, Xiuyi; Zhou, Jinghui; Ma, Jiuli

2016-01-01

Wastewater produced by hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas production is characterized by high salinity and high chemical oxygen demand (COD). We applied a combination of flocculation and wet air oxidation technology to optimize the reduction of COD in the treatment of hydraulic fracturing wastewater. The experiments used different values of flocculant, coagulant, and oxidizing agent added to the wastewater, as well as different reaction times and treatment temperatures. The use of flocculants for the pretreatment of fracturing wastewater was shown to improve treatment efficiency. The addition of 500 mg/L of polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and 20 mg/L of anionic polyacrylamide (APAM) during pretreatment resulted in a COD removal ratio of 8.2% and reduced the suspended solid concentration of fracturing wastewater to 150 mg/L. For a solution of pretreated fracturing wastewater with 12 mL of added H2O2, the COD was reduced to 104 mg/L when reacted at 300 °C for 75 min, and reduced to 127 mg/L when reacted at the same temperature for 45 min while using a 1 L autoclave. An optimal combination of these parameters produced treated wastewater that met the GB 8978-1996 'Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard' level I emission standard.

Investigating the Energy-Water Usage Efficiency of the Reuse of Treated Municipal Wastewater for Artificial Groundwater Recharge.

PubMed

Fournier, Eric D; Keller, Arturo A; Geyer, Roland; Frew, James

2016-02-16

This project investigates the energy-water usage efficiency of large scale civil infrastructure projects involving the artificial recharge of subsurface groundwater aquifers via the reuse of treated municipal wastewater. A modeling framework is introduced which explores the various ways in which spatially heterogeneous variables such as topography, landuse, and subsurface infiltration capacity combine to determine the physical layout of proposed reuse system components and their associated process energy-water demands. This framework is applied to the planning and evaluation of the energy-water usage efficiency of hypothetical reuse systems in five case study regions within the State of California. Findings from these case study analyses suggest that, in certain geographic contexts, the water requirements attributable to the process energy consumption of a reuse system can exceed the volume of water that it is able to recover by as much as an order of magnitude.

Ion-exchange chromatography purification of extracellular vesicles.

PubMed

Kosanović, Maja; Milutinović, Bojana; Goč, Sanja; Mitić, Ninoslav; Janković, Miroslava

2017-08-01

Despite numerous studies, isolating pure preparations of extracellular vesicles (EVs) has proven challenging. Here, we compared ion-exchange chromatography (IEC) to the widely used sucrose density gradient (SDG) centrifugation method for the purification of EVs. EVs in bulk were isolated from pooled normal human amniotic fluid (AF) by differential centrifugation followed by IEC or sucrose density gradient separation. The purity of the isolated EVs was evaluated by electrophoresis and lectin blotting/immuno blotting to monitor the distribution of total proteins, different EVs markers, and selected N-glycans. Our data showed efficient separation of negatively charged EVs from other differently charged molecules, while comparative profiling of EVs using SDG centrifugation confirmed anion-exchange chromatography is advantageous for EV purification. Finally, although this IEC-based method was validated using AF, the approach should be readily applicable to isolation of EVs from other sources as well.

Comparative study on the efficiency of peracetic acid and chlorine dioxide at low doses in the disinfection of urban wastewaters.

PubMed

De Luca, Giovanna; Sacchetti, Rossella; Zanetti, Franca; Leoni, Erica

2008-01-01

A comparison was made between the efficiency of low doses of peracetic acid (PAA: 1.5 mg/l) and chlorine dioxide (ClO(2): 1.5 and 2.0 mg/l) in the disinfection of secondary effluents of a wastewater treatment plant. Peracetic acid was seen to be more active than chlorine dioxide and less influenced by the organic content of the waste. Both PAA and ClO(2) (2.0 mg/l) lead to a higher reduction in total and faecal coliforms and E. coli than in phages (somatic coliphages and F-specific RNA bacteriophages) and enterococci. Detection of faecal coliforms and E. coli should therefore be accompanied by a search for these more resistant microorganisms when assessing the conformity of wastewater for irrigation use, or for discharge into surface waters. Coliphages are also considered suitable indicators of the presence of enteric viruses. Although the application of low doses of both disinfectants offers advantages in terms of costs and produces not significant quantities of byproducts, it is not sufficient to obtain wastewater suitable for irrigation according to the Italian norms (E. coli < 10/100 ml in 80 % of samples and <100/100 ml in the remaining samples). Around 65 % of the samples, however, presented concentrations of E. coli lower than the limit of 5,000/100 ml established by Italian norms for discharge into surface waters.

Sequential use of bentonites and solar photocatalysis to treat winery wastewater.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Eva; Márquez, Gracia; Carpintero, Juan Carlos; Beltrán, Fernando J; Alvarez, Pedro

2008-12-24

The sequential use of low-cost adsorbent bentonites and solar photocatalysis to treat winery wastewater has been studied. Three commercial sodium-bentonites (MB-M, MB-G, and MB-P) and one calcium-bentonite (Bengel) were characterized and used in this study. These clay materials were useful to totally remove turbidity (90-100%) and, to a lesser extent, color, polyphenols (PPh), and soluble chemical oxygen demand (CODS) from winery wastewater. Both surface area and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of bentonite had a positive impact on treatment efficiency. The effect of pH on turbidity removal by bentonites was studied in the 3.5-12 pH range. The bentonites were capable of greatly removing turbidity from winery wastewater at pH 3.5-5.5, but removal efficiency decreased with pH increase beyond this range. Settling characteristics (i.e., sludge volume index (SVI) and settling rate) of bentonites were also studied. Best settling properties were observed for bentonite doses around 0.5 g/L. The reuse of bentonite for winery wastewater treatment was found not to be advisable as the turbidity and PPh removal efficiencies decreased with successive uses. The resulting wastewater after bentonite treatment was exposed to solar radiation at oxic conditions in the presence of Fe(III) and Fe(III)/H2O2 catalysts. Significant reductions of COD, total organic carbon (TOC), and PPh were achieved by these solar photocatalytic processes.

Antifouling grafting of ceramic membranes validated in a variety of challenging wastewaters.

PubMed

Mustafa, Ghulam; Wyns, Kenny; Buekenhoudt, Anita; Meynen, Vera

2016-11-01

Compared to traditional separation and purification techniques, membrane filtration is particularly beneficial for the treatment of wastewater streams such as pulp and paper mill effluents (PPME), olive oil wastewater (OOWW) and oil/gas produced water (PW). However, severe membrane fouling can be a major issue. In this work, the use of ceramic membranes and the potential for the broad applicability of a recently developed antifouling grafting was evaluated to tackle this issue. To this end, the fouling behavior of native and grafted membranes was tested in the selected difficult wastewater streams, both in dead-end and in cross-flow mode. In addition, the quality of the produced permeate water was determined to assess the overall performance of the investigated membranes for reuse or recycling of the treated wastewater. The obtained results show that grafting significantly enhances the antifouling tendency of the ceramic membranes. Particularly, the membrane grafted with methyl groups using the Grignard technique (MGR), showed in all cases no or negligible fouling as compared to the native membrane. As a consequence, the process flux or filtration capacity of the MGR membrane in cross-flow is always higher and more stable than the native membrane, even though the grafting lowers the pure water flux. Hence, the inert character of the MGR membrane is repeatedly proven and shown to be broadly applicable and generic for anti-fouling, without loss in permeate quality. Moreover, in case of OOWW, the quality of the MGR permeate is even better than that of the native membrane due to its lower fouling. All results can be explained taking into account the physico-chemical properties of foulants and membranes, as shown in previous work. In conclusion, the use of MGR membranes could provide an optimum economical solution for the treatment of the selected challenging wastewaters. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimizing TOC and COD removal for the biodiesel wastewater by electrocoagulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanattı, N. Pınar; Şengil, İ. Ayhan; Özdemir, Abdil

2018-05-01

In this study, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and the total organic carbon content (TOC) in biodiesel wastewater iron and aluminum electrodes arranged in a bipolar position. In the EC of the biodiesel wastewater, the effects of the supporting electrolyte, initial pH, electrolysis time and current density were examined. The results showed that the majority of the pollutants in the biodiesel wastewater were effectively removed when the iron or aluminum electrodes were used as a sacrificial anode. The highest COD and TOC removal efficiencies were successfully obtained with the iron electrode. COD removal efficiencies are 91.74 and 90.94% for iron and aluminum electrode, respectively. In the same way, TOC removal efficiencies were obtained as 91.79 and 91.98% for the iron and aluminum electrodes, respectively, at initial pH of 6, the current density of 0.3226 mA/cm2, NaCl concentration 1 g/L and 1 min of operating time.

A comprehensive review on utilization of wastewater from coffee processing.

PubMed

Rattan, Supriya; Parande, A K; Nagaraju, V D; Ghiwari, Girish K

2015-05-01

The coffee processing industry is one of the major agro-based industries contributing significantly in international and national growth. Coffee fruits are processed by two methods, wet and dry process. In wet processing, coffee fruits generate enormous quantities of high strength wastewater requiring systematic treatment prior to disposal. Different method approach is used to treat the wastewater. Many researchers have attempted to assess the efficiency of batch aeration as posttreatment of coffee processing wastewater from an upflow anaerobic hybrid reactor (UAHR)-continuous and intermittent aeration system. However, wet coffee processing requires a high degree of processing know-how and produces large amounts of effluents which have the potential to damage the environment. Characteristics of wastewater from coffee processing has a biological oxygen demand (BOD) of up to 20,000 mg/l and a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of up to 50,000 mg/l as well as the acidity of pH below 4. In this review paper, various methods are discussed to treat coffee processing wastewaters; the constitution of wastewater is presented and the technical solutions for wastewater treatment are discussed.

Purification of liquid metal systems with sodium coolant from oxygen using getters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozlov, F. A.; Konovalov, M. A.; Sorokin, A. P.

2016-05-01

For increasing the safety and economic parameters of nuclear power stations (NPSs) with sodium coolant, it was decided to install all systems contacting radioactive sodium, including purification systems of circuit I, in the reactor vessel. The performance and capacity of cold traps (CTs) (conventional element of coolant purification systems) in these conditions are limited by their volume. It was proposed to use hot traps (HTs) in circuit I for coolant purification from oxygen. It was demonstrated that, at rated parameters of the installation when the temperature of the coolant streamlining the getter (gas absorber) is equal to 550°C, the hot trap can provide the required coolant purity. In shutdown modes at 250-300°C, the performance of the hot trap is reduced by four orders of magnitude. Possible HT operation regimes for shutdown modes and while reaching rated parameters were proposed and analyzed. Basic attention was paid to purification modes at power rise after commissioning and accidental contamination of the coolant when the initial oxygen concentration in it reached 25 mln-1. It was demonstrated that the efficiency of purification systems can be increased using HTs with the getter in the form of a foil or granules. The possibility of implementing the "fast purification" mode in which the coolant is purified simultaneously with passing over from the shutdown mode to the rated parameters was substantiated.

Treatment of wastewater from flue gas desulphurization plants in the Netherlands

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vredenbregt, L.H.J.; Brugghen, F.W. van der; Enoch, G.D.

1995-06-01

In the Netherlands, all coal fired boilers of power stations are equipped with a wet lime(stone)-gypsum flue gas desulphurization (FGD) installation in order to fulfill the emission demands for SO{sub 2}. These wet FGD installations produce a wastewater stream containing impurities like suspended solids and traces of heavy metals like As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se and Za. As the target values stated by the licensing authorities are very stringent, most of these heavy metals and suspended solids have to be removed to very low concentration levels. Therefore, a very efficient treatment method, based on coprecipitation ofmore » heavy metal hydroxides and sulphides, which was developed by KEMA, has been installed at all, the coal fired power plants. This paper describes the operational experiences until now with these wastewater treatment installations at two coal fired power plants using sea-water for make-up and one using fresh water. The following aspects will be discussed in more detail: reliability of the wastewater treatment processes both with respect to removal efficiency of heavy metals and suspended solids and plant operation itself influence of a changing composition of the wastewater on the performance of these wastewater treatment installations. Finally, also the impact of co-firing of the sludge produced in these wastewater treatment installations will be discussed.« less

Mechanism of Electro-Coagulation with Al/Fe Periodically Reversing Treating Berberine Pharmaceutical Wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhaonan; Liu, Zheng; Hu, Xiaomin

2017-05-01

The method of treating pharmaceutical wastewater by electro-coagulation with Al/Fe periodically reversing (ECPR) was proposed based on traditional electrochemical method. The principle of ECPR was generalized. Mechanism of ECPR to treat berberine pharmaceutical wastewater was investigated. Treatability and mechanism studies were conducted under laboratory conditions. For berberine wastewater (800 mg/L), decolourization efficiency and COD removal efficiency were highest to 98% and 95% respectively when voltage was 8V, reaction time was 60 min, alternating period was 10 S electrolyte concentration was 0.015 mol/L, stirring speed was 750 rpm, pH value was 3-10 and distance between two plates was 0.6 cm. For removal berberine, flocculation, floatation and oxidation provided 73%, 8% and 18% removal efficiency, which can be inferred by analysing UV-visible absorption spectrum, acidification experiment, EDTA shielding experiment, structure-activity relationship, oxidation and floatation. Meanwhile decolourization and COD removal conformed to apparent pseudo-first order and zero-order kinetics for 200mg/L and 400-1000 mg/L berberine wastewater respectively.

Natural treatment system models for wastewater management: a study from Hyderabad, India.

PubMed

Sonkamble, Sahebrao; Wajihuddin, Md; Jampani, Mahesh; Sarah, S; Somvanshi, V K; Ahmed, Shakeel; Amerasinghe, Priyanie; Boisson, Alexandre

2018-01-01

Wastewater generated on a global scale has become a significant source of water resources which necessitates appropriate management strategies. However, the complexities associated with wastewater are lack of economically viable treatment systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries. While many types of treatment systems are needed to serve the various local issues, we propose natural treatment systems (NTS) such as natural wetlands that are eco-friendly, cost-effective, and can be jointly driven by public bodies and communities. In order for it to be part of wastewater management, this study explores the NTS potential for removal of pollutants, cost-effectiveness, and reuse options for the 1.20 million m 3 /day of wastewater generated in Hyderabad, India. The pilot study includes hydro-geophysical characterization of natural wetland to determine pollutant removal efficiency and its effective utilization for treated wastewater in the peri-urban habitat. The results show the removal of organic content (76-78%), nutrients (77-97%), and microbes (99.5-99.9%) from the wetland-treated wastewater and its suitability for agriculture applications. Furthermore, the wetland efficiency integrated with engineered interventions led to the development of NTS models with different application scenarios: (i) constructed wetlands, (ii) minimized community wetlands, and (iii) single outlet system, suitable for urban, peri-urban and rural areas, respectively.

Opportunities for Automated Demand Response in California Wastewater Treatment Facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aghajanzadeh, Arian; Wray, Craig; McKane, Aimee

Previous research over a period of six years has identified wastewater treatment facilities as good candidates for demand response (DR), automated demand response (Auto-­DR), and Energy Efficiency (EE) measures. This report summarizes that work, including the characteristics of wastewater treatment facilities, the nature of the wastewater stream, energy used and demand, as well as details of the wastewater treatment process. It also discusses control systems and automated demand response opportunities. Furthermore, this report summarizes the DR potential of three wastewater treatment facilities. In particular, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has collected data at these facilities from control systems, submetered processmore » equipment, utility electricity demand records, and governmental weather stations. The collected data were then used to generate a summary of wastewater power demand, factors affecting that demand, and demand response capabilities. These case studies show that facilities that have implemented energy efficiency measures and that have centralized control systems are well suited to shed or shift electrical loads in response to financial incentives, utility bill savings, and/or opportunities to enhance reliability of service. In summary, municipal wastewater treatment energy demand in California is large, and energy-­intensive equipment offers significant potential for automated demand response. In particular, large load reductions were achieved by targeting effluent pumps and centrifuges. One of the limiting factors to implementing demand response is the reaction of effluent turbidity to reduced aeration at an earlier stage of the process. Another limiting factor is that cogeneration capabilities of municipal facilities, including existing power purchase agreements and utility receptiveness to purchasing electricity from cogeneration facilities, limit a facility’s potential to participate in other DR activities.« less

Cultivation of aerobic granular sludge for rubber wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Rosman, Noor Hasyimah; Nor Anuar, Aznah; Othman, Inawati; Harun, Hasnida; Sulong Abdul Razak, Muhammad Zuhdi; Elias, Siti Hanna; Mat Hassan, Mohd Arif Hakimi; Chelliapan, Shreesivadass; Ujang, Zaini

2013-02-01

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) was successfully cultivated at 27±1 °C and pH 7.0±1 during the treatment of rubber wastewater using a sequential batch reactor system mode with complete cycle time of 3 h. Results showed aerobic granular sludge had an excellent settling ability and exhibited exceptional performance in the organics and nutrients removal from rubber wastewater. Regular, dense and fast settling granule (average diameter, 1.5 mm; settling velocity, 33 m h(-1); and sludge volume index, 22.3 mL g(-1)) were developed in a single reactor. In addition, 96.5% COD removal efficiency was observed in the system at the end of the granulation period, while its ammonia and total nitrogen removal efficiencies were up to 94.7% and 89.4%, respectively. The study demonstrated the capabilities of AGS development in a single, high and slender column type-bioreactor for the treatment of rubber wastewater. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Succinonitrile Purification Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

The Succinonitrile (SCN) Purification Facility provides succinonitrile and succinonitrile alloys to several NRA selected investigations for flight and ground research at various levels of purity. The purification process employed includes both distillation and zone refining. Once the appropriate purification process is completed, samples are characterized to determine the liquidus and/or solidus temperature, which is then related to sample purity. The lab has various methods for measuring these temperatures with accuracies in the milliKelvin to tenths of milliKelvin range. The ultra-pure SCN produced in our facility is indistinguishable from the standard material provided by NIST to well within the stated +/- 1.5mK of the NIST triple point cells. In addition to delivering material to various investigations, our current activities include process improvement, characterization of impurities and triple point cell design and development. The purification process is being evaluated for each of the four vendors to determine the efficacy of each purification step. We are also collecting samples of the remainder from distillation and zone refining for analysis of the constituent impurities. The large triple point cells developed will contain SCN with a melting point of 58.0642 C +/- 1.5mK for use as a calibration standard for Standard Platinum Resistance Thermometers (SPRTs).

COMPARISON OF ESCHERICHIA COLI, TOTAL COLIFORM, AND FECAL COLIFORM POPULATIONS AS INDICATORS OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT EFFICIENCY

EPA Science Inventory

Escherichia coli, total coliform, and fecal coliform data were collected from two wastewater treatment facilities, a subsurface constructed wetlands, and the receiving stream. Results are presented from individual wastewater treatment process streams, final effluent and river sit...

Treatment of duck house wastewater by a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor system for sustainable duck production.

PubMed

Su, Jung-Jeng; Huang, Jeng-Fang; Wang, Yi-Lei; Hong, Yu-Ya

2018-06-15

The objective of this study is trying to solve water pollution problems related to duck house wastewater by developing a novel duck house wastewater treatment technology. A pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system using different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) for treating duck house wastewater was developed and applied in this study. Experimental results showed that removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand in untreated duck house wastewater was 98.4, 98.4, 87.8, and 72.5% for the different HRTs of 5, 3, 1, and 0.5 d, respectively. In addition, removal efficiency of biochemical oxygen demand in untreated duck house wastewater was 99.6, 99.3, 90.4, and 58.0%, respectively. The pilot-scale SBR system was effective and deemed capable to be applied to treat duck house wastewater. It is feasible to apply an automatic SBR system on site based on the previous case study of the farm-scale automatic SBR systems for piggery wastewater treatment.

Anaerobic microbial fuel cell treating combined industrial wastewater: Correlation of electricity generation with pollutants.

PubMed

Abbasi, Umara; Jin, Wang; Pervez, Arshid; Bhatti, Zulfiqar Ahmad; Tariq, Madiha; Shaheen, Shahida; Iqbal, Akhtar; Mahmood, Qaisar

2016-01-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a new technology that not only generates energy but treats wastewater as well. A dual chamber MFC was operated under laboratory conditions. Wastewater samples from vegetable oil industries, metal works, glass and marble industries, chemical industries and combined industrial effluents were collected and each was treated for 98h in MFC. The treatment efficiency for COD in MFC was in range of 85-90% at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 96h and had significant impact on wastewater treatment as well. The maximum voltage of 890mV was generated when vegetable oil industries discharge was treated with columbic efficiency of 5184.7C. The minimum voltage was produced by Glass House wastewater which was 520mV. There was positive significant co-relation between COD concentration and generated voltage. Further research should be focused on the organic contents of wastewater and various ionic species affecting voltage generation in MFC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in a municipal wastewater treatment plant: mass balance and removal processes.

PubMed

Gao, Pin; Ding, Yunjie; Li, Hui; Xagoraraki, Irene

2012-06-01

Occurrence and removal efficiencies of fifteen pharmaceuticals were investigated in a conventional municipal wastewater treatment plant in Michigan. Concentrations of these pharmaceuticals were determined in both wastewater and sludge phases by a high-performance liquid chromatograph coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer. Detailed mass balance analysis was conducted during the whole treatment process to evaluate the contributing processes for pharmaceutical removal. Among the pharmaceuticals studied, demeclocycline, sulfamerazine, erythromycin and tylosin were not detected in the wastewater treatment plant influent. Other target pharmaceuticals detected in wastewater were also found in the corresponding sludge phase. The removal efficiencies of chlortetracycline, tetracycline, sulfamerazine, acetaminophen and caffeine were >99%, while doxycycline, oxytetracycline, sulfadiazine and lincomycin exhibited relatively lower removal efficiencies (e.g., <50%). For sulfamethoxazole, the removal efficiency was approximately 90%. Carbamazepine manifested a net increase of mass, i.e. 41% more than the input from the influent. Based on the mass balance analysis, biotransformation is believed to be the predominant process responsible for the removal of pharmaceuticals (22% to 99%), whereas contribution of sorption to sludge was relatively insignificant (7%) for the investigated pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Purification of crime scene DNA extracts using centrifugal filter devices

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The success of forensic DNA analysis is limited by the size, quality and purity of biological evidence found at crime scenes. Sample impurities can inhibit PCR, resulting in partial or negative DNA profiles. Various DNA purification methods are applied to remove impurities, for example, employing centrifugal filter devices. However, irrespective of method, DNA purification leads to DNA loss. Here we evaluate the filter devices Amicon Ultra 30 K and Microsep 30 K with respect to recovery rate and general performance for various types of PCR-inhibitory crime scene samples. Methods Recovery rates for DNA purification using Amicon Ultra 30 K and Microsep 30 K were gathered using quantitative PCR. Mock crime scene DNA extracts were analyzed using quantitative PCR and short tandem repeat (STR) profiling to test the general performance and inhibitor-removal properties of the two filter devices. Additionally, the outcome of long-term routine casework DNA analysis applying each of the devices was evaluated. Results Applying Microsep 30 K, 14 to 32% of the input DNA was recovered, whereas Amicon Ultra 30 K retained 62 to 70% of the DNA. The improved purity following filter purification counteracted some of this DNA loss, leading to slightly increased electropherogram peak heights for blood on denim (Amicon Ultra 30 K and Microsep 30 K) and saliva on envelope (Amicon Ultra 30 K). Comparing Amicon Ultra 30 K and Microsep 30 K for purification of DNA extracts from mock crime scene samples, the former generated significantly higher peak heights for rape case samples (P-values <0.01) and for hairs (P-values <0.036). In long-term routine use of the two filter devices, DNA extracts purified with Amicon Ultra 30 K were considerably less PCR-inhibitory in Quantifiler Human qPCR analysis compared to Microsep 30 K. Conclusions Amicon Ultra 30 K performed better than Microsep 30 K due to higher DNA recovery and more efficient removal of PCR-inhibitory substances. The

Comparison of the efficiencies of attached- versus suspended-growth SBR systems in the treatment of recycled paper mill wastewater.

PubMed

Muhamad, Mohd Hafizuddin; Sheikh Abdullah, Siti Rozaimah; Abu Hasan, Hassimi; Abd Rahim, Reehan Adnee

2015-11-01

The complexity of residual toxic organics from biologically treated effluents of pulp and paper mills is a serious concern. To date, it has been difficult to choose the best treatment technique because each of the available options has advantages and drawbacks. In this study, two different treatment techniques using laboratory-scale aerobic sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were tested with the same real recycled paper mill effluent to evaluate their treatment efficiencies. Two attached-growth SBRs using granular activated carbon (GAC) with and without additional biomass and a suspended-growth SBR were used in the treatment of real recycled paper mill effluent at a chemical oxygen demand (COD) level in the range of 800-1300 mg/L, a fixed hydraulic retention time of 24 h and a COD:N:P ratio of approximately 100:5:1. The efficiency of this biological treatment process was studied over a 300-day period. The six most important wastewater quality parameters, namely, chemical oxygen demand (COD), turbidity, ammonia (expressed as NH3-N), phosphorus (expressed as PO4(3)-P), colour, and suspended solids (SS), were measured to compare the different treatment techniques. It was determined that these processes were able to almost completely and simultaneously eliminate COD (99%) and turbidity (99%); the removals of NH3-N (90-100%), PO4(3)-P (66-78%), colour (63-91%), and SS (97-99%) were also sufficient. The overall performance results confirmed that an attached-growth SBR system using additional biomass on GAC is a promising configuration for wastewater treatment in terms of performance efficiency and process stability under fluctuations of organic load. Hence, this hybrid system is recommended for the treatment of pulp and paper mill effluents. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An efficient process for wastewater treatment to mitigate free nitrous acid generation and its inhibition on biological phosphorus removal

PubMed Central

Zhao, Jianwei; Wang, Dongbo; Li, Xiaoming; Yang, Qi; Chen, Hongbo; Zhong, Yu; An, Hongxue; Zeng, Guangming

2015-01-01

Free nitrous acid (FNA), which is the protonated form of nitrite and inevitably produced during biological nitrogen removal, has been demonstrated to strongly inhibit the activity of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs). Herein we reported an efficient process for wastewater treatment, i.e., the oxic/anoxic/oxic/extended-idle process to mitigate the generation of FNA and its inhibition on PAOs. The results showed that this new process enriched more PAOs which thereby achieved higher phosphorus removal efficiency than the conventional four-step (i.e., anaerobic/oxic/anoxic/oxic) biological nutrient removal process (41 ± 7% versus 30 ± 5% in abundance of PAOs and 97 ± 0.73% versus 82 ± 1.2% in efficiency of phosphorus removal). It was found that this new process increased pH value but decreased nitrite accumulation, resulting in the decreased FNA generation. Further experiments showed that the new process could alleviate the inhibition of FNA on the metabolisms of PAOs even under the same FNA concentration. PMID:25721019

Protein body-inducing fusions for high-level production and purification of recombinant proteins in plants.

PubMed

Conley, Andrew J; Joensuu, Jussi J; Richman, Alex; Menassa, Rima

2011-05-01

For the past two decades, therapeutic and industrially important proteins have been expressed in plants with varying levels of success. The two major challenges hindering the economical production of plant-made recombinant proteins include inadequate accumulation levels and the lack of efficient purification methods. To address these limitations, several fusion protein strategies have been recently developed to significantly enhance the production yield of plant-made recombinant proteins, while simultaneously assisting in their subsequent purification. Elastin-like polypeptides are thermally responsive biopolymers composed of a repeating pentapeptide 'VPGXG' sequence that are valuable for the purification of recombinant proteins. Hydrophobins are small fungal proteins capable of altering the hydrophobicity of their respective fusion partner, thus enabling efficient purification by surfactant-based aqueous two-phase systems. Zera, a domain of the maize seed storage protein γ-zein, can induce the formation of protein storage bodies, thus facilitating the recovery of fused proteins using density-based separation methods. These three novel protein fusion systems have also been shown to enhance the accumulation of a range of different recombinant proteins, while concurrently inducing the formation of protein bodies. The packing of these fusion proteins into protein bodies may exclude the recombinant protein from normal physiological turnover. Furthermore, these systems allow for quick, simple and inexpensive nonchromatographic purification of the recombinant protein, which can be scaled up to industrial levels of protein production. This review will focus on the similarities and differences of these artificial storage organelles, their biogenesis and their implication for the production of recombinant proteins in plants and their subsequent purification. © 2011 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal © 2011 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied

Artificial intelligence based model for optimization of COD removal efficiency of an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor in the saline wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Picos-Benítez, Alain R; López-Hincapié, Juan D; Chávez-Ramírez, Abraham U; Rodríguez-García, Adrián

2017-03-01

The complex non-linear behavior presented in the biological treatment of wastewater requires an accurate model to predict the system performance. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an artificial intelligence (AI) model, based on the combination of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and genetic algorithms (GAs), to find the optimum performance of an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB) for saline wastewater treatment. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was predicted using conductivity, organic loading rate (OLR) and temperature as input variables. The ANN model was built from experimental data and performance was assessed through the maximum mean absolute percentage error (= 9.226%) computed from the measured and model predicted values of the COD. Accordingly, the ANN model was used as a fitness function in a GA to find the best operational condition. In the worst case scenario (low energy requirements, high OLR usage and high salinity) this model guaranteed COD removal efficiency values above 70%. This result is consistent and was validated experimentally, confirming that this ANN-GA model can be used as a tool to achieve the best performance of a UASB reactor with the minimum requirement of energy for saline wastewater treatment.

[FTIR and 13C NMR Analysis of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) in the Treatment Process of Tannery Wastewater].

PubMed

Fan, Chun-hui; Zhang, Ying-chao; Tang, Ze-heng; Wang, Jia-hong

2015-05-01

wastewater is significant to understand the purification mechanism of contaminants in tannery wastewater.

Enhancement of Treatment Efficiency of Recalcitrant Wastewater Containing Textile Dyes Using a Newly Developed Iron Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 Heterogeneous Catalyst

PubMed Central

Ahmad, Mushtaq; Asghar, Anam; Abdul Raman, Abdul Aziz; Wan Daud, Wan Mohd Ashri

2015-01-01

Fenton oxidation, an advanced oxidation process, is an efficient method for the treatment of recalcitrant wastewaters. Unfortunately, it utilizes H2O2 and iron-based homogeneous catalysts, which lead to the formation of high volumes of sludge and secondary pollutants. To overcome these problems, an alternate option is the usage of heterogeneous catalyst. In this study, a heterogeneous catalyst was developed to provide an alternative solution for homogeneous Fenton oxidation. Iron Zeolite Socony Mobile-5 (Fe-ZSM-5) was synthesized using a new two-step process. Next, the catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis and tested against a model wastewater containing the azo dye Acid Blue 113. Results showed that the loading of iron particles reduced the surface area of the catalyst from 293.59 to 243.93 m2/g; meanwhile, the average particle size of the loaded material was 12.29 nm. Furthermore, efficiency of the developed catalyst was evaluated by performing heterogeneous Fenton oxidation. Taguchi method was coupled with principal component analysis in order to assess and optimize mineralization efficiency. Experimental results showed that under optimized conditions, over 99.7% degradation and 77% mineralization was obtained, with a 90% reduction in the consumption of the developed catalyst. Furthermore, the developed catalyst was stable and reusable, with less than 2% leaching observed under optimized conditions. Thus, the present study proved that newly developed catalyst has enhanced the oxidation process and reduced the chemicals consumption. PMID:26517827

Enhancement of Treatment Efficiency of Recalcitrant Wastewater Containing Textile Dyes Using a Newly Developed Iron Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 Heterogeneous Catalyst.

PubMed

Ahmad, Mushtaq; Asghar, Anam; Abdul Raman, Abdul Aziz; Wan Daud, Wan Mohd Ashri

2015-01-01

Fenton oxidation, an advanced oxidation process, is an efficient method for the treatment of recalcitrant wastewaters. Unfortunately, it utilizes H2O2 and iron-based homogeneous catalysts, which lead to the formation of high volumes of sludge and secondary pollutants. To overcome these problems, an alternate option is the usage of heterogeneous catalyst. In this study, a heterogeneous catalyst was developed to provide an alternative solution for homogeneous Fenton oxidation. Iron Zeolite Socony Mobile-5 (Fe-ZSM-5) was synthesized using a new two-step process. Next, the catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis and tested against a model wastewater containing the azo dye Acid Blue 113. Results showed that the loading of iron particles reduced the surface area of the catalyst from 293.59 to 243.93 m2/g; meanwhile, the average particle size of the loaded material was 12.29 nm. Furthermore, efficiency of the developed catalyst was evaluated by performing heterogeneous Fenton oxidation. Taguchi method was coupled with principal component analysis in order to assess and optimize mineralization efficiency. Experimental results showed that under optimized conditions, over 99.7% degradation and 77% mineralization was obtained, with a 90% reduction in the consumption of the developed catalyst. Furthermore, the developed catalyst was stable and reusable, with less than 2% leaching observed under optimized conditions. Thus, the present study proved that newly developed catalyst has enhanced the oxidation process and reduced the chemicals consumption.

Bioremediation of domestic and industrial wastewaters integrated with enhanced biodiesel production using novel oleaginous microalgae.

PubMed

Arora, Neha; Patel, Alok; Sartaj, Km; Pruthi, Parul A; Pruthi, Vikas

2016-10-01

The study illustrates the synergistic potential of novel microalgal, Chlamydomonas debaryana IITRIND3, for phycoremediation of domestic, sewage, paper mill and dairy wastewaters and then subsequent utilisation of its biomass for biodiesel production. Among these wastewaters, maximum lipid productivity (87.5 ± 2.3 mg L -1  day -1 ) was obtained in dairy wastewater with removal efficiency of total nitrogen, total phosphorous, chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon to be 87.56, 82.17, 78.57 and 85.97 %, respectively. Metal ions such as sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium were also removed efficiently from the wastewaters tested. Pigment analysis revealed loss of chlorophyll a while increase in carotenoid content in algal cells cultivated in different wastewaters. Biochemical data of microalgae grown in different wastewaters showed reduction in protein content with an increase in carbohydrate and lipid contents. The major fatty acids in algal cells grown in dairy wastewater were C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:2 and C18:3. The physical properties of biodiesel derived from microalgae grown in dairy wastewater were in compliance with the ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 fuel standards and were comparable to plant oil methyl esters.

Occurrence and fate of organic contaminants during onsite wastewater treatment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Conn, K.E.; Barber, L.B.; Brown, G.K.; Siegrist, R.L.

2006-01-01

Onsite wastewater treatment systems serve approximately 25% of the U.S. population. However, little is known regarding the occurrence and fate of organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs), including endocrine disrupting compounds, during onsite treatment. A range of OWCs including surfactant metabolites, steroids, stimulants, metal-chelating agents, disinfectants, antimicrobial agents, and pharmaceutical compounds was quantified in wastewater from 30 onsite treatment systems in Summit and Jefferson Counties, CO. The onsite systems represent a range of residential and nonresidential sources. Eighty eight percent of the 24 target compounds were detected in one or more samples, and several compounds were detected in every wastewater sampled. The wastewater matrices were complex and showed unique differences between source types due to differences in water and consumer product use. Nonresidential sources generally had more OWCs at higher concentrations than residential sources. Additional aerobic biofilter-based treatment beyond the traditional anaerobic tank-based treatment enhanced removal for many OWCs. Removal mechanisms included volatilization, biotransformation, and sorption with efficiencies from 99% depending on treatment type and physicochemical properties of the compound. Even with high removal rates during confined unit onsite treatment, OWCs are discharged to soil dispersal units at loadings up to 20 mg/m2/d, emphasizing the importance of understanding removal mechanisms and efficiencies in onsite treatment systems that discharge to the soil and water environments. ?? 2006 American Chemical Society.

Artificial intelligence models for predicting the performance of biological wastewater treatment plant in the removal of Kjeldahl Nitrogen from wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manu, D. S.; Thalla, Arun Kumar

2017-11-01

The current work demonstrates the support vector machine (SVM) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) modeling to assess the removal efficiency of Kjeldahl Nitrogen of a full-scale aerobic biological wastewater treatment plant. The influent variables such as pH, chemical oxygen demand, total solids (TS), free ammonia, ammonia nitrogen and Kjeldahl Nitrogen are used as input variables during modeling. Model development focused on postulating an adaptive, functional, real-time and alternative approach for modeling the removal efficiency of Kjeldahl Nitrogen. The input variables used for modeling were daily time series data recorded at wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in Mangalore during the period June 2014-September 2014. The performance of ANFIS model developed using Gbell and trapezoidal membership functions (MFs) and SVM are assessed using different statistical indices like root mean square error, correlation coefficients (CC) and Nash Sutcliff error (NSE). The errors related to the prediction of effluent Kjeldahl Nitrogen concentration by the SVM modeling appeared to be reasonable when compared to that of ANFIS models with Gbell and trapezoidal MF. From the performance evaluation of the developed SVM model, it is observed that the approach is capable to define the inter-relationship between various wastewater quality variables and thus SVM can be potentially applied for evaluating the efficiency of aerobic biological processes in WWTP.

Recycling of treated domestic effluent from an on-site wastewater treatment system for hydroponics.

PubMed

Oyama, N; Nair, J; Ho, G E

2005-01-01

An alternative method to conserve water and produce crops in arid regions is through hydroponics. Application of treated wastewater for hydroponics will help in stripping off nutrients from wastewater, maximising reuse through reduced evaporation losses, increasing control on quality of water and reducing risk of pathogen contamination. This study focuses on the efficiency of treated wastewater from an on-site aerobic wastewater treatment unit. The experiment aimed to investigate 1) nutrient reduction 2) microbial reduction and 3) growth rate of plants fed on wastewater compared to a commercial hydroponics medium. The study revealed that the chemical and microbial quality of wastewater after hydroponics was safe and satisfactory for irrigation and plant growth rate in wastewater hydroponics was similar to those grown in a commercial medium.

Very large scale monoclonal antibody purification: the case for conventional unit operations.

PubMed

Kelley, Brian

2007-01-01

Technology development initiatives targeted for monoclonal antibody purification may be motivated by manufacturing limitations and are often aimed at solving current and future process bottlenecks. A subject under debate in many biotechnology companies is whether conventional unit operations such as chromatography will eventually become limiting for the production of recombinant protein therapeutics. An evaluation of the potential limitations of process chromatography and filtration using today's commercially available resins and membranes was conducted for a conceptual process scaled to produce 10 tons of monoclonal antibody per year from a single manufacturing plant, a scale representing one of the world's largest single-plant capacities for cGMP protein production. The process employs a simple, efficient purification train using only two chromatographic and two ultrafiltration steps, modeled after a platform antibody purification train that has generated 10 kg batches in clinical production. Based on analyses of cost of goods and the production capacity of this very large scale purification process, it is unlikely that non-conventional downstream unit operations would be needed to replace conventional chromatographic and filtration separation steps, at least for recombinant antibodies.

Bioprocessing for elimination antibiotics and hormones from swine wastewater.

PubMed

Cheng, D L; Ngo, H H; Guo, W S; Liu, Y W; Zhou, J L; Chang, S W; Nguyen, D D; Bui, X T; Zhang, X B

2018-04-15

Antibiotics and hormones in swine wastewater have become a critical concern worldwide due to the severe threats to human health and the eco-environment. Removal of most detectable antibiotics and hormones, such as sulfonamides (SAs), SMs, tetracyclines (TCs), macrolides, and estrogenic hormones from swine wastewater utilizing various biological processes were summarized and compared. In biological processes, biosorption and biodegradation are the two major removal mechanisms for antibiotics and hormones. The residuals in treated effluents and sludge of conventional activated sludge and anaerobic digestion processes can still pose risks to the surrounding environment, and the anaerobic processes' removal efficiencies were inferior to those of aerobic processes. In contrast, membrane bioreactors (MBRs), constructed wetlands (CWs) and modified processes performed better because of their higher biodegradation of toxicants. Process modification on activated sludge, anaerobic digestion and conventional MBRs could also enhance the performance (e.g. removing up to 98% SMs, 88.9% TCs, and 99.6% hormones from wastewater). The hybrid process combining MBRs with biological or physical technology also led to better removal efficiency. As such, modified conventional biological processes, advanced biological technologies and MBR hybrid systems are considered as a promising technology for removing toxicants from swine wastewater. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation of the wastewater temperature in sewers with TEMPEST.

PubMed

Dürrenmatt, David J; Wanner, Oskar

2008-01-01

TEMPEST is a new interactive simulation program for the estimation of the wastewater temperature in sewers. Intuitive graphical user interfaces assist the user in managing data, performing calculations and plotting results. The program calculates the dynamics and longitudinal spatial profiles of the wastewater temperature in sewer lines. Interactions between wastewater, sewer air and surrounding soil are modeled in TEMPEST by mass balance equations, rate expressions found in the literature and a new empirical model of the airflow in the sewer. TEMPEST was developed as a tool which can be applied in practice, i.e., it requires as few input data as possible. These data include the upstream wastewater discharge and temperature, geometric and hydraulic parameters of the sewer, material properties of the sewer pipe and surrounding soil, ambient conditions, and estimates of the capacity of openings for air exchange between sewer and environment. Based on a case study it is shown how TEMPEST can be applied to estimate the decrease of the downstream wastewater temperature caused by heat recovery from the sewer. Because the efficiency of nitrification strongly depends on the wastewater temperature, this application is of practical relevance for situations in which the sewer ends at a nitrifying wastewater treatment plant.

Conductive diamond electrochemical oxidation of caffeine-intensified biologically treated urban wastewater.

PubMed

Martín de Vidales, María J; Millán, María; Sáez, Cristina; Pérez, José F; Rodrigo, Manuel A; Cañizares, Pablo

2015-10-01

In this work, the usefulness of Conductive Diamond Electrochemical Oxidation (CDEO) to degrade caffeine in real urban wastewater matrixes was assessed. The oxidation of actual wastewater intensified with caffeine (from 1 to 100 mg L(-1)) was studied, paying particular attention to the influence of the initial load of caffeine and the differences observed during the treatment of caffeine in synthetic wastewater. The results showed that CDEO is a technology that is capable of efficiently degrading this compound even at very low concentrations and that it can even be completely depleted. Profiles of the ionic species of S (SO4(2-)), N (NH4(+), NO3(-)) and Cl (ClO(-), ClO3(-) and ClO4(-)) were monitored and explained for plausible oxidation mechanisms. It was observed that the efficiency achieved is higher in the treatment of real wastewater than in the oxidation of synthetic wastewater because of the contribution of electrogenerated oxidant species such as hypochlorite. The formation of chlorate and perchlorate during electrochemical processes was observed, and a combined strategy to prevent this important drawback was successfully tested based on the application of low current densities with the simultaneous dosing of hydrogen peroxide. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Post treatment of antibiotic wastewater by adsorption on activated carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mullai, P.; Rajesh, V.

2018-02-01

The most common method of treating industrial wastewater involves biomethanation in anaerobic digesters. This biological treatment process is ineffective in color removal and it requires post-treatment methods. The color is the first contaminant in wastewater which affects the water bodies in several ways. As the anaerobically digested antibiotic wastewater was found with color, an attempt was made to remove color using granulated activated carbon as an adsorbent. Experiments were carried out in batch reactors to find out the color removal efficiency of the wastewater at four different dosages such as 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg of adsorbent material at each of the four different initial concentrations of effluent like 1956, 1450, 1251 and 1040 mg COD/L. The steady state values of color removal efficiencies were 96.6, 97.64, 98.64 and 99.63%, respectively, using 100 mg of activated carbon under shaking condition at the end of the 120th min. The effect of contact time on the percentage of color removal was also studied. It was observed that the adsorption of effluent obtained equilibrium at 120 minutes. The equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms.

Influence of voltage input to heavy metal removal from electroplating wastewater using electrocoagulation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wulan, D. R.; Cahyaningsih, S.; Djaenudin

2017-03-01

In medium capacity, electroplating industry usually treats wastewater until 5 m3 per day. Heavy metal content becomes concern that should be reduced. Previous studies performed electrocoagulation method on laboratory scale, either batch or continuous. This study was aimed to compare the influence of voltage input variation into heavy metal removal in electroplating wastewater treatment using electrocoagulation process on laboratory-scale in order to determine the optimum condition for scaling up the reactor into pilot-scale. The laboratory study was performed in 1.5 L glass reactor in batch system using wastewater from electroplating industry, the voltage input varied at 20, 30 and 40 volt. The electrode consisted of aluminium 32 cm2 as sacrifice anode and copper 32 cm2 as cathode. During 120 min electrocoagulation process, the pH value was measured using pH meter, whereas the heavy metal of chromium, copper, iron, and zinc concentration were analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Result showed that removal of heavy metals from wastewater increased due to the increasing of voltage input. Different initial concentration of heavy metals on wastewater, resulted the different detention time. At pilot-scale reactor with 30 V voltage input, chromium, iron, and zinc reached removal efficiency until 89-98%, when copper reached 79% efficiency. At 40V, removal efficiencies increased on same detention time, i.e. chromium, iron, and zinc reached 89-99%, whereas copper reached 85%. These removal efficiencies have complied the government standard except for copper that had higher initial concentration in wastewater. Kinetic rate also calculated in this study as the basic factor for scaling up the process.

Treatment of oily port wastewater effluents using the ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide photodecomposition system.

PubMed

Siedlecka, Ewa Maria; Stepnowski, Piotr

2006-08-01

This paper presents the nonselective degradation of mechanically pretreated oily wastewater by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the presence and absence of UV irradiation. The effect of chemical oxidation on wastewater biodegradability was also examined. The exclusive use of H2O2 photolyzed by daylight results in quite efficient degradation rates for the low peroxide concentrations used. Higher hydrogen peroxide concentrations inhibit degradation of organic contaminants in the wastewater. The degradation rates of all contaminants are relatively high with an advanced oxidation system (UV/H2O2), but degradation efficiencies are not distinguishably different when 20 or 45 minutes of UV irradiation is used. The excess of H2O2 used in the process can inhibit phenolic degradation and may lead to the formation of a new phenolic fraction. The biodegradability of port wastewater did not increase significantly following the application of the advanced oxidation process.

Treatment of textile wastewater by submerged membrane bioreactor: In vitro bioassays for the assessment of stress response elicited by raw and reclaimed wastewater.

PubMed

Friha, Inès; Bradai, Mohamed; Johnson, Daniel; Hilal, Nidal; Loukil, Slim; Ben Amor, Fatma; Feki, Firas; Han, Junkuy; Isoda, Hiroko; Sayadi, Sami

2015-09-01

The performance of a pilot-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) system for the treatment of textile wastewater was investigated. The MBR was continuously operated for 7 months. Very high treatment efficiencies were achieved (color, 100%; chemical oxygen demand (COD), 98%; biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 96%; suspended solids (SS), 100%). Furthermore, the MBR treatment efficiency was analyzed from a toxicological-risk assessment point of view, via different In vitro bioassays using Caco-2 cells, a widely used cell model in toxicological studies. Results showed that MBR treatment significantly reduced the raw textile wastewater (RTWW) cytotoxicity on Caco-2 cells by 53% for a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2 days. Additionally, the RTWW-induced disruption in the barrier function (BF) of the Caco-2 cell monolayer was also significantly reduced after MBR treatment under a HRT of 2 days (no disruption of BF was observed). Moreover, the effect of RTWW and treated wastewater on stress response was investigated using different stress genes: AHSA1, HSPD1, HSPA1A, HSPA5 and HSPA8. The cell exposure to RTWW significantly increased the expression of all used stress genes; interestingly, the treated wastewater (HRT 2 days) did not show any significant modulation of the stress genes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Continuous Purification of Colloidal Quantum Dots in Large-Scale Using Porous Electrodes in Flow Channel.

PubMed

Lim, Hosub; Woo, Ju Young; Lee, Doh C; Lee, Jinkee; Jeong, Sohee; Kim, Duckjong

2017-02-27

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) afford huge potential in numerous applications owing to their excellent optical and electronic properties. After the synthesis of QDs, separating QDs from unreacted impurities in large scale is one of the biggest issues to achieve scalable and high performance optoelectronic applications. Thus far, however, continuous purification method, which is essential for mass production, has rarely been reported. In this study, we developed a new continuous purification process that is suitable to the mass production of high-quality QDs. As-synthesized QDs are driven by electrophoresis in a flow channel and captured by porous electrodes and finally separated from the unreacted impurities. Nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared absorption spectroscopic data clearly showed that the impurities were efficiently removed from QDs with the purification yield, defined as the ratio of the mass of purified QDs to that of QDs in the crude solution, up to 87%. Also, we could successfully predict the purification yield depending on purification conditions with a simple theoretical model. The proposed large-scale purification process could be an important cornerstone for the mass production and industrial use of high-quality QDs.

Continuous Purification of Colloidal Quantum Dots in Large-Scale Using Porous Electrodes in Flow Channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Hosub; Woo, Ju Young; Lee, Doh Chang; Lee, Jinkee; Jeong, Sohee; Kim, Duckjong

2017-11-01

Colloidal Quantum dots (QDs) afford huge potential in numerous applications owing to their excellent optical and electronic properties. After the synthesis of QDs, separating QDs from unreacted impurities in large scale is one of the biggest issues to achieve scalable and high performance optoelectronic applications. Thus far, however, continuous purification method, which is essential for mass production, has rarely been reported. In this study, we developed a new continuous purification process that is suitable to the mass production of high-quality QDs. As-synthesized QDs are driven by electrophoresis in a flow channel and captured by porous electrodes and finally separated from the unreacted impurities. Nuclear magnetic resonance and ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared absorption spectroscopic data clearly showed that the impurities were efficiently removed from QDs with the purification yield, defined as the ratio of the mass of purified QDs to that of QDs in the crude solution, up to 87%. Also, we could successfully predict the purification yield depending on purification conditions with a simple theoretical model. The proposed large-scale purification process could be an important cornerstone for the mass production and industrial use of high-quality QDs.

Municipal-wastewater treatment using upflow-anaerobic filters.

PubMed

Manariotis, loannis D; Grigoropoulos, Sotirios G

2006-03-01

Three 12.5-L upflow-anaerobic filters (AF), with ceramic-saddle, plastic-ring, and crushed-stone packing, were used to evaluate the sustained treatment of municipal wastewater. The reactors were initially fed dogfood-fortified wastewater and then raw municipal wastewater, and operated at 25.4 degrees C (32 months) and 15.5 degrees C (2 months). During 23 months, the AF units treated municipal wastewater (mean chemical oxygen demand [COD] 442 mg/L and total suspended solids [TSS] 247 mg/L), the hydraulic retention time (HRT) ranged from 3.1 to 0.30 d (empty bed), and the organic loading rate ranged from 0.115 to 1.82 kg COD/m3d. At the higher temperature and an HRT (void volume) of 1.0 d, COD and TSS removals ranged from 74 to 79% and 95 to 96%, respectively; however, efficiencies declined substantially at HRT values less than 0.4 d. Reactor performance, under the same hydraulic and organic loadings, deteriorated with time and was adversely affected by lower temperature.

[Research on the treatment of wastewater containing PVA by ozonation-activated sludge process].

PubMed

Xing, Xiao-Qiong; Huang, Cheng-Lan; Liu, Min; Chen, Ying

2012-11-01

The wastewater containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was characterized with poor biodegradability, and was difficult to remove. In order to find an economically reasonable and practical technology, the research on the removal efficiency of different concentration wastewater containing PVA by ozonation-activated sludge process was studied, and the result was compared with the traditional activated sludge process. The results showed that the ozonation-activated sludge process was not suitable for treating influent with COD below 500 mg x L(-1) and the wastewater PVA concentration was 10-30 mg x L(-1). When the influent COD was between 500-800 mg x L(-1) and the PVA concentration was 15-60 mg x L(-1), the system had advantages on dealing with this kind of wastewater, and the average removal efficiency of COD and PVA were 92.8% and 57.4%, which were better than the traditional activated sludge process 4.1% and 15.2% respectively. In addition, the effluent concentrations of COD could keep between 30-60 mg x L(-1). When the influent COD was 1 000-1 200 mg x L(-1) and the PVA concentration was 20-70 mg x L(-1), the average removal efficiencies of COD and PVA were 90.9% and 45.3%, which were better than the traditional activated sludge process 12.8% and 12.1% respectively, but the effluent should to be further treated. Compared with the traditional activated sludge process, ozonation-activated sludge process had high treatment efficiency, stable running effect, and effectively in dealing with industrial wastewater containing PVA.

Treatment of HMX-production wastewater in an aerobic granular reactor.

PubMed

Zhang, Jin-Hua; Wang, Min-Hui; Zhu, Xiao-Meng

2013-04-01

Aerobic granules were applied to the treatment of HMX-production wastewater using a gradual domestication method in a SBR. During the process, the granules showed a good settling ability, a high biomass retention rate, and high biological activity. After 40 days of stable operation, aerobic granular sludge performed very effectively in the removal of carbon and nitrogen compounds from HMX-production wastewater. Organic matter removal rates up to 97.57% and nitrogen removal efficiencies up to 80% were achieved during the process. Researchers conclude that using aerobic granules to treat explosive wastewater has good prospects for success.

A fluidized bed membrane bioelectrochemical reactor for energy-efficient wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Li, Jian; Ge, Zheng; He, Zhen

2014-09-01

A fluidized bed membrane bioelectrochemical reactor (MBER) was investigated using fluidized granular activated carbon (GAC) as a mean of membrane fouling control. During the 150-day operation, the MBER generated electricity with contaminant removal from either synthetic solution or actual wastewater, as a standalone or a coupled system. It was found that fluidized GAC could significantly reduce transmembrane pressure (TMP), although its function as a part of the anode electrode was minor. When the MBER was linked to a regular microbial fuel cell (MFC) for treating a wastewater from a cheese factory, the MFC acted as a major process for energy recovery and contaminant removal, and the coupled system removed more than 90% of chemical oxygen demand and >80% of suspended solids. The analysis showed that the ratio of energy recovery and consumption was slightly larger than one, indicating that the coupled system could be theoretically energy neutral. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dissolved air flotation of polishing wastewater from semiconductor manufacturer.

PubMed

Liu, J C; Lien, C Y

2006-01-01

The feasibility of the dissolved air flotation (DAF) process in treating chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) wastewater was evaluated in this study. Wastewater from a local semiconductor manufacturer was sampled and characterised. Nano-sized silica (77.6 nm) with turbidity of 130 +/- 3 NTU was found in the slightly alkaline wastewater with traces of other pollutants. Experimental results indicated removal efficiency of particles, measured as suspended particle or turbidity, increased with increasing concentration of cationic collector cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). When CTAB concentration was 30 mg/L, pH of 6.5 +/- 0.1 and recycle ratio of 30%, very effective removal of particles (> 98%) was observed in saturation pressure range of 4 to 6 kg/cm2, and the reaction proceeded faster under higher pressure. Similarly, the reaction was faster under the higher recycle ratio, while final removal efficiency improved slightly as the recycle ratio increased from 20 to 40%. An insignificant effect of pH on treatment efficiency was found as pH varied from 4.5 to 8.5. The presence of activator, Al3+ and Fe3+, enhanced the system performance. It is proposed that CTAB adsorbs on silica particles in polishing wastewater through electrostatic interaction and makes particles more hydrophobic. The increase in hydrophobicity results in more effective bubble-particle collisions. In addition, flocculation of silica particles through bridging effect of collector was found; it is believed that flocculation of particles also contributed to flotation. Better attachment between gas bubble and solid, higher buoyancy and higher air to solid ratio all lead to effective flotation.

Implications of Changes in Water Use, Population, and Climate on Performance and Planning of Wastewater Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, L. M.; Samaras, C.; VanBriesen, J.

2016-12-01

The installation of water-efficient indoor appliances and fixtures - such as those meeting standards set by the 1992 Energy Policy Act - has led to a significant decline in residential water use over the past 30 years. Other water conservation strategies, like leak repair and greywater reuse, have also contributed to changes in the amount of potable water used by cities. These changes affect downstream systems like wastewater collection and treatment. During the 1970s drought in California, mandatory water conservation measures led to a reduction in wastewater flows by up to 60%, leading to an increase in pipe corrosion, solids settling, and odor due to lower flow velocities. Performance and design of wastewater systems over time is, however, a complex system affected by external drivers, like climate, population and land use, policy and public changes that influence water use, and water utility practices such as maintenance and green infrastructure installation that can reduce flows into the system. This research demonstrates how the use of active water management, e.g. measures that increase water use efficiency or decrease the amount of infiltration and inflow (I&I), may help offset exogenous factors, preventing or delaying the need for upgrades to existing water infrastructure systems. This is evaluated through a scenario analysis of flows to a wastewater treatment Plant, located in Portland, Oregon. Future wastewater flows were projected to 2040 using potential changes in per capita wastewater production, industrial wastewater production, population growth, and ranges of infiltration and inflow. Results show that with current efficiency trends in Portland, rapid population growth could be offset, leading to stabilization of wastewater flows over the next several decades, and elimination of the need for capital expansion. Climate drivers leading to an increase in stormwater inflows have the potential to outweigh declines in wastewater due to efficiency; yet the

Winery wastewater treatment using the land filter technique.

PubMed

Christen, E W; Quayle, W C; Marcoux, M A; Arienzo, M; Jayawardane, N S

2010-08-01

This study outlines a new approach to the treatment of winery wastewater by application to a land FILTER (Filtration and Irrigated cropping for Land Treatment and Effluent Reuse) system. The land FILTER system was tested at a medium size rural winery crushing approximately 20,000 tonnes of grapes. The approach consisted of a preliminary treatment through a coarse screening and settling in treatment ponds, followed by application to the land FILTER planted to pasture. The land FILTER system efficiently dealt with variable volumes and nutrient loads in the wastewater. It was operated to minimize pollutant loads in the treated water (subsurface drainage) and provide adequate leaching to manage salt in the soil profile. The land FILTER system was effective in neutralizing the pH of the wastewater and removing nutrient pollutants to meet EPA discharge limits. However, suspended solids (SS) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) levels in the subsurface drainage waters slightly exceeded EPA limits for discharge. The high organic content in the wastewater initially caused some soil blockage and impeded drainage in the land FILTER site. This was addressed by reducing the hydraulic loading rate to allow increased soil drying between wastewater irrigations. The analysis of soil characteristics after the application of wastewater found that there was some potassium accumulation in the profile but sodium and nutrients decreased after wastewater application. Thus, the wastewater application and provision of subsurface drainage ensured adequate leaching, and so was adequate to avoid the risk of soil salinisation. Crown Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A highly efficient, stable, durable, and recyclable filter fabricated by femtosecond laser drilling of a titanium foil for oil-water separation.

PubMed

Ye, Sen; Cao, Qiang; Wang, Qingsong; Wang, Tianyuan; Peng, Qing

2016-11-21

It has been a long standing challenge to efficiently separate oil and water since prehistoric times, and now it has become even more desirable in oily wastewater purification and oil spill cleanup. Here we introduce a super oil-water separation filter with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, fabricated using femtosecond laser micro-hole drilling of a titanium foil. Such a simply-made filter, without any modification, can achieve a separation efficiency exceeding 99% in eight typical oil-water mixtures. It remains highly efficient after 40 cycles of recycling and after suffering erosion by corrosive media. Furthermore, the used filter, polluted with oil, could be recovered by ultraviolet illumination. The flux of filtered water is tunable by simply selecting the aperture of the microhole or the spacing between adjacent microholes. Such advanced functionality is due to roughness and the TiO 2 layers on the ablated surface during fabrication. With superhydrophilic and superoleophobic surfaces, this oil-water filer is also suitable for applications in anti-fouling, anti-smudge, anti-fog, and self-cleaning.

A highly efficient, stable, durable, and recyclable filter fabricated by femtosecond laser drilling of a titanium foil for oil-water separation

PubMed Central

Ye, Sen; Cao, Qiang; Wang, Qingsong; Wang, Tianyuan; Peng, Qing

2016-01-01

It has been a long standing challenge to efficiently separate oil and water since prehistoric times, and now it has become even more desirable in oily wastewater purification and oil spill cleanup. Here we introduce a super oil–water separation filter with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, fabricated using femtosecond laser micro-hole drilling of a titanium foil. Such a simply-made filter, without any modification, can achieve a separation efficiency exceeding 99% in eight typical oil–water mixtures. It remains highly efficient after 40 cycles of recycling and after suffering erosion by corrosive media. Furthermore, the used filter, polluted with oil, could be recovered by ultraviolet illumination. The flux of filtered water is tunable by simply selecting the aperture of the microhole or the spacing between adjacent microholes. Such advanced functionality is due to roughness and the TiO2 layers on the ablated surface during fabrication. With superhydrophilic and superoleophobic surfaces, this oil-water filer is also suitable for applications in anti-fouling, anti-smudge, anti-fog, and self-cleaning. PMID:27869194

The use of mathematical models in teaching wastewater treatment engineering.

PubMed

Morgenroth, E; Arvin, E; Vanrolleghem, P

2002-01-01

Mathematical modeling of wastewater treatment processes has become increasingly popular in recent years. To prepare students for their future careers, environmental engineering education should provide students with sufficient background and experiences to understand and apply mathematical models efficiently and responsibly. Approaches for introducing mathematical modeling into courses on wastewater treatment engineering are discussed depending on the learning objectives, level of the course and the time available.

Phytoremediation of industrial mines wastewater using water hyacinth.

PubMed

Saha, Priyanka; Shinde, Omkar; Sarkar, Supriya

2017-01-02

The wastewater at Sukinda chromite mines (SCM) area of Orissa (India) showed high levels of toxic hexavalent chromium (Cr VI). Wastewater from chromium-contaminated mines exhibit potential threats for biotic community in the vicinity. The aim of the present investigation is to develop a suitable phytoremediation technology for the effective removal of toxic hexavalent chromium from mines wastewater. A water hyacinth species Eichhornia crassipes was chosen to remediate the problem of Cr (VI) pollution from wastewater. It has been observed that this plant was able to remove 99.5% Cr (VI) of the processed water of SCM in 15 days. This aquatic plant not only removed hexavalent Cr, but is also capable of reducing total dissolved solids (TDS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and other elements of water also. Large-scale experiment was also performed using 100 L of water from SCM and the same removal efficiency was achieved.

Phytoremediation of industrial mines wastewater using water hyacinth

PubMed Central

Saha, Priyanka; Shinde, Omkar; Sarkar, Supriya

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The wastewater at Sukinda chromite mines (SCM) area of Orissa (India) showed high levels of toxic hexavalent chromium (Cr VI). Wastewater from chromium-contaminated mines exhibit potential threats for biotic community in the vicinity. The aim of the present investigation is to develop a suitable phytoremediation technology for the effective removal of toxic hexavalent chromium from mines wastewater. A water hyacinth species Eichhornia crassipes was chosen to remediate the problem of Cr (VI) pollution from wastewater. It has been observed that this plant was able to remove 99.5% Cr (VI) of the processed water of SCM in 15 days. This aquatic plant not only removed hexavalent Cr, but is also capable of reducing total dissolved solids (TDS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and other elements of water also. Large-scale experiment was also performed using 100 L of water from SCM and the same removal efficiency was achieved. PMID:27551860

Decision making tools for selecting sustainable wastewater treatment technologies in Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wongburi, Praewa; Park, Jae K.

2018-05-01

Wastewater consists of valuable resources that could be recovered or reused. Still it is under threat because of ineffective wastewater management and systems. In Thailand, less than 25% of wastewater generated may be treated while then rest is inadequately treated and sent back directly into waterbodies or the environment. Furthermore, the technologies that have been applied may be inefficient and unsustainable. Efficiency, sustainability, and simplicity are important concepts when designing an appropriate wastewater treatment system in developing countries. The objectives of this study were to review and evaluate wastewater treatment technologies and propose a method to improve or select an appropriate technology. An expert system in Excel® program was developed to determine the best solution. Sensitivity analysis was applied to compare and assess uncertainty factors. Due to the different conditions of each area, the key factor of interest was varied. Furthermore, Robust Decision Making tool was applied to determine the best way to improve existing wastewater treatment facility and to choose the most appropriate wastewater treatment technology.

Treatment of Arctic wastewater by chemical coagulation, UV and peracetic acid disinfection.

PubMed

Chhetri, Ravi Kumar; Klupsch, Ewa; Andersen, Henrik Rasmus; Jensen, Pernille Erland

2017-02-16

Conventional wastewater treatment is challenging in the Arctic region due to the cold climate and scattered population. Thus, no wastewater treatment plant exists in Greenland, and raw wastewater is discharged directly to nearby waterbodies without treatment. We investigated the efficiency of physicochemical wastewater treatment, in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Raw wastewater from Kangerlussuaq was treated by chemical coagulation and UV disinfection. By applying 7.5 mg Al/L polyaluminium chloride (PAX XL100), 73% of turbidity and 28% phosphate was removed from raw wastewater. E. coli and Enterococcus were removed by 4 and 2.5 log, respectively, when UV irradiation of 0.70 kWh/m 3 was applied to coagulated wastewater. Furthermore, coagulated raw wastewater in Denmark, which has a chemical quality similar to Greenlandic wastewater, was disinfected by peracetic acid or UV irradiation. Removal of heterotrophic bacteria by applying 6 and 12 mg/L peracetic acid was 2.8 and 3.1 log, respectively. Similarly, removal of heterotrophic bacteria by applying 0.21 and 2.10 kWh/m 3 for UV irradiation was 2.1 and greater than 4 log, respectively. Physicochemical treatment of raw wastewater followed by UV irradiation and/or peracetic acid disinfection showed the potential for treatment of arctic wastewater.

Azolla-Anabaena's behaviour in urban wastewater and artificial media--influence of combined nitrogen.

PubMed

Costa, M L; Santos, M C R; Carrapiço, F; Pereira, A L

2009-08-01

The results of using the nitrogen fixing symbiotic system Azolla-Anabaena to improve the quality of treated urban wastewater, particularly on what concerns phosphorus removal efficiencies (40-65%), obtained in continuous assays performed during the past few years and presented earlier, were very promising. Nevertheless, the presence of combined nitrogen in some wastewaters can compromise the treatment efficiency. The main goal of this work was to compare plants behaviour in wastewater and in mineral media with and without added nitrogen. Azolla filiculoides's specific growth rates in wastewater and in mineral media without added nitrogen or with low nitrate concentration were very similar (0.122 d(-1)-0.126 d(-1)), but decreased in the presence of ammonium (0.100 d(-1)). The orthophosphate removal rate coefficients were similar in all the growth media (0.210 d(-1)-0.232 d(-1)), but ammonium removal rate coefficient in wastewater was higher (0.117 d(-1)) than in mineral medium using that source of nitrogen (0.077 d(-1)). The ammonium present in wastewater, despite its high concentration (34 mg NL(-1)), didn't seem to inhibit growth and nitrogen fixation, however, in mineral media, ammonium (40 mg NL(-1)) was found to induce, respectively, 18% and 46% of inhibition.

An experimental investigation of wastewater treatment using electron beam irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emami-Meibodi, M.; Parsaeian, M. R.; Amraei, R.; Banaei, M.; Anvari, F.; Tahami, S. M. R.; Vakhshoor, B.; Mehdizadeh, A.; Fallah Nejad, N.; Shirmardi, S. P.; Mostafavi, S. J.; Mousavi, S. M. J.

2016-08-01

Electron beam (EB) is used for disinfection and treatment of different types of sewage and industrial wastewater. However, high capital investment required and the abundant energy consumed by this process raise doubts about its cost-effectiveness. In this paper, different wastewaters, including two textile sewages and one municipal wastewater are experimentally studied under different irradiation strategies (i.e. batch, 60 l/min and 1000 m3/day) in order to establish the reliability and the optimum conditions for the treatment process. According to the results, EB improves the efficiency of traditional wastewater treatment methods, but, for textile samples, coagulation before EB irradiation is recommended. The cost estimation of EB treatment compared to conventional methods shows that EB has been more expensive than chlorination and less expensive than activated sludge. Therefore, EB irradiation is advisable if and only if conventional methods of textile wastewater treatment are insufficient or chlorination of municipal wastewater is not allowed for health reasons. Nevertheless, among the advanced oxidation processes (AOP), EB irradiation process may be the most suitable one in industrial scale operations.

Purification of phage display-modified bacteriophage T4 by affinity chromatography

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Affinity chromatography is one of the most efficient protein purification strategies. This technique comprises a one-step procedure with a purification level in the order of several thousand-fold, adaptable for various proteins, differentiated in their size, shape, charge, and other properties. The aim of this work was to verify the possibility of applying affinity chromatography in bacteriophage purification, with the perspective of therapeutic purposes. T4 is a large, icosahedral phage that may serve as an efficient display platform for foreign peptides or proteins. Here we propose a new method of T4 phage purification by affinity chromatography after its modification with affinity tags (GST and Histag) by in vivo phage display. As any permanent introduction of extraneous DNA into a phage genome is strongly unfavourable for medical purposes, integration of foreign motifs with the phage genome was not applied. The phage was propagated in bacteria expressing fusions of the phage protein Hoc with affinity tags from bacterial plasmids, independently from the phage expression system. Results Elution profiles of phages modified with the specific affinity motifs (compared to non-specific phages) document their binding to the affinity resins and effective elution with standard competitive agents. Non-specific binding was also observed, but was 102-105 times weaker than the specific one. GST-modified bacteriophages were also effectively released from glutathione Sepharose by proteolytic cleavage. The possibility of proteolytic release was designed at the stage of expression vector construction. Decrease in LPS content in phage preparations was dependent on the washing intensity; intensive washing resulted in preparations of 11-40 EU/ml. Conclusions Affinity tags can be successfully incorporated into the T4 phage capsid by the in vivo phage display technique and they strongly elevate bacteriophage affinity to a specific resin. Affinity chromatography can be

MBBR evaluation for oil refinery wastewater treatment, with post-ozonation and BAC, for wastewater reuse.

PubMed

Schneider, E E; Cerqueira, A C F P; Dezotti, M

2011-01-01

This work evaluated the performance of a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) in the treatment of an oil refinery wastewater. Also, it investigated the possibility of reuse of the MBBR effluent, after ozonation in series with a biological activated carbon (BAC) column. The best performance of the MBBR was achieved with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6 hours, employing a bed to bioreactor volume ratio (V(B)/V(R)) of 0.6. COD and N-NH₄(+) MBBR effluent concentrations ranged from 40 to 75 mg L⁻¹ (removal efficiency of 69-89%) and 2 to 6 mg L⁻¹ (removal efficiency of 45-86%), respectively. Ozonation carried out for 15 min with an ozone concentration of 5 mg L⁻¹ was able to improve the treated wastewater biodegradability. The treatment performance of the BAC columns was practically the same for ozonated and non ozonated MBBR effluents. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content of the columns of the activated carbon columns (CAG) was in the range of 2.1-3.8 mg L⁻¹, and the corresponding DOC removal efficiencies were comprised between 52 and 75%. The effluent obtained at the end of the proposed treatment presented a quality, which meet the requirements for water reuse in the oil refinery.

Microalgae-based advanced municipal wastewater treatment for reuse in water bodies.

PubMed

Wang, Jing-Han; Zhang, Tian-Yuan; Dao, Guo-Hua; Xu, Xue-Qiao; Wang, Xiao-Xiong; Hu, Hong -Ying

2017-04-01

Reuse of secondary municipal effluent from wastewater treatment plants in water bodies could effectively alleviate freshwater resource shortage. However, excessive nutrients must be efficiently removed to prevent eutrophication. Compared with other means of advanced wastewater treatment, microalgae-based processes display overwhelming advantages including efficient and simultaneous N and P removal, no requirement of additional chemicals, O 2 generation, CO 2 mitigation, and potential value-added products from harvested biomass. One particular challenge of microalgae-based advanced municipal wastewater treatment compared to treatment of other types of wastewater is that concentrations of nutrients and N:P ratios in secondary municipal effluent are much lower and imbalanced. Therefore, there should be comprehensive considerations on nutrient removal from this specific type of effluent. Removal of nutrients and organic substances, and other environmental benefits of microalgae-based advanced municipal wastewater treatment systems were summarized. Among the existing studies on microalgal advanced nutrient removal, much information on major parameters is absent, rendering performances between studies not really comparable. Mechanisms of microalgae-based nitrogen and phosphorus removal were respectively analyzed to better understand advanced nutrient removal from municipal secondary effluent. Factors influencing microalgae-based nutrient removal were divided into intrinsic, environmental, and operational categories; several factors were identified in each category, and their influences on microalgal nutrient removal were discussed. A multiplicative kinetic model was integrated to estimate microalgal growth-related nutrient removal based majorly on environmental and intrinsic factors. Limitations and prospects of future full-scale microalgae-based advanced municipal wastewater treatment were also suggested. The manuscript could offer much valuable information for future

Renewable energy for the aeration of wastewater ponds.

PubMed

Hobus, I; Hegemann, W

2003-01-01

The application of a decentralised renewable energy supply for the aeration of wastewater ponds, and the influence of an unsteady oxygen supply on the specific conversion rate and biocoenose was investigated. With the discontinuous aeration the specific conversion rate is increased as compared to facultative ponds. The estimation of the microorganisms consortia was done with in situ hybridisation techniques. A significant shift in the bacteria population with the chosen specific probes for anaerobic, sulphate reducing and nitrifying bacteria could not be detected. Wastewater ponds have sufficient buffer volume to compensate for the fluctuating energy supply. But the efficiency of the energy supply of a photovoltaic plant decreases in shallow lakes (d < 1.5 m) corresponding to a high oxygen production of algae. For the layout of the individual components: photovoltaic and wind power plant, energy management, aeration system and wastewater pond, a simulation model was developed and tested. The application of renewable energy for the aeration of wastewater ponds is a useful alternative for the redevelopment of overloaded ponds as well as the construction of new wastewater ponds, especially in areas with an inadequate central electricity grid and a high availability of wind and solar energy.

The bubble method of water purification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, B. M.; Babaeva, N. Yu.; Naidis, G. V.; Panov, V. A.; Saveliev, A. S.; Son, E. E.; Tereshonok, D. V.

2018-02-01

The processes of water purification from admixture molecules are analyzed. The purification rate is limited due to a low diffusion coefficient of the admixture molecules in water. At non-small concentrations of the admixture molecules, the water purication can proceed through association of molecules in condensed nanoparticles which fall on the bottom of the water volume. The rate of association may be increased in an external electric field, but in reality this cannot change significantly the rate of the purification process. The bubble method of water purification is considered, where air bubbles formed at the bottom of the water volume, transfer admixture molecules to the interface. This method allows one to clean small water volumes fast. This mechanism of water purification is realized experimentally and exhibits the promises of the bubble purification method.

Comparing Nutrient Removal from Membrane Filtered and Unfiltered Domestic Wastewater Using Chlorella vulgaris

PubMed Central

Mayhead, Elyssia; Llewellyn, Carole A.; Fuentes-Grünewald, Claudio

2018-01-01

The nutrient removal efficiency of Chlorella vulgaris cultivated in domestic wastewater was investigated, along with the potential to use membrane filtration as a pre-treatment tool during the wastewater treatment process. Chlorella vulgaris was batch cultivated for 12 days in a bubble column system with two different wastewater treatments. Maximum uptake of 94.18% ammonium (NH4-N) and 97.69% ortho-phosphate (PO4-P) occurred in 0.2 μm membrane filtered primary wastewater. Membrane filtration enhanced the nutrient uptake performance of C. vulgaris by removing bacteria, protozoa, colloidal particles and suspended solids, thereby improving light availability for photosynthesis. The results of this study suggest that growing C. vulgaris in nutrient rich membrane filtered wastewater provides an option for domestic wastewater treatment to improve the quality of the final effluent. PMID:29351200

When water saving limits recycling: Modelling economy-wide linkages of wastewater use.

PubMed

Luckmann, Jonas; Grethe, Harald; McDonald, Scott

2016-01-01

The reclamation of wastewater is an increasingly important water source in parts of the world. It is claimed that wastewater recycling is a cheap and reliable form of water supply, which preserves water resources and is economically efficient. However, the quantity of reclaimed wastewater depends on water consumption by economic agents connected to a sewage system. This study uses a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to analyse such a cascading water system. A case study of Israel shows that failing to include this linkage can lead to an overestimation of the potential of wastewater recycling, especially when economic agents engage in water saving. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lightweight, Mesoporous, and Highly Absorptive All-Nanofiber Aerogel for Efficient Solar Steam Generation.

PubMed

Jiang, Feng; Liu, He; Li, Yiju; Kuang, Yudi; Xu, Xu; Chen, Chaoji; Huang, Hao; Jia, Chao; Zhao, Xinpeng; Hitz, Emily; Zhou, Yubing; Yang, Ronggui; Cui, Lifeng; Hu, Liangbing

2018-01-10

The global fresh water shortage has driven enormous endeavors in seawater desalination and wastewater purification; among these, solar steam generation is effective in extracting fresh water by efficient utilization of naturally abundant solar energy. For solar steam generation, the primary focus is to design new materials that are biodegradable, sustainable, of low cost, and have high solar steam generation efficiency. Here, we designed a bilayer aerogel structure employing naturally abundant cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) as basic building blocks to achieve sustainability and biodegradability as well as employing a carbon nanotube (CNT) layer for efficient solar utilization with over 97.5% of light absorbance from 300 to 1200 nm wavelength. The ultralow density (0.0096 g/cm 3 ) of the aerogel ensures that minimal material is required, reducing the production cost while at the same time satisfying the water transport and thermal-insulation requirements due to its highly porous structure (99.4% porosity). Owing to its rationally designed structure and thermal-regulation performance, the bilayer CNF-CNT aerogel exhibits a high solar-energy conversion efficiency of 76.3% and 1.11 kg m -2 h -1 at 1 kW m -2 (1 Sun) solar irradiation, comparable or even higher than most of the reported solar steam generation devices. Therefore, the all-nanofiber aerogel presents a new route for designing biodegradable, sustainable, and scalable solar steam generation devices with superb performance.

The use of ozone, ozone plus UV radiation, and aerobic microorganisms in the purification of some agro-industrial wastewaters.

PubMed

Benitez, F Javier; Acero, Juan L; Gonzalez, Teresa; Garcia, Juan

2002-08-01

The oxidation of the pollutant organic matter present in wastewaters generated during different stages in the black table-olive industry was investigated by using ozone alone or combined with UV radiation; by using aerobic microorganisms; and finally, by aerobic degradation of the previously ozonated wastewaters. In the ozonation processes, the removal of substrate (COD) and aromatic compounds, the decreases in BOD5 and pH, and the ozone consumed in the reaction were evaluated. A kinetic study was conducted that led to the evaluation of the stoichiometric ratio for the chemical reaction, as well as the rate constants for the substrate reduction and ozone disappearance. In the single aerobic degradation treatment, the evolution of substrate and biomass was monitored during the process, and a kinetic study was performed by applying the Contois model to the experimental data, giving the specific biokinetic constant, the cell yield coefficient, and the rate constant for the microorganism death phase. Finally, a combined process was performed, consisting in the aerobic degradation of pre-ozonated wastewaters, and the effect of such chemical pretreatment on the substrate removal and kinetic parameters of the later biological stage is discussed.

An efficient dye-sensitized BiOCl photocatalyst for air and water purification under visible light irradiation.

PubMed

Li, Guisheng; Jiang, Bo; Xiao, Shuning; Lian, Zichao; Zhang, Dieqing; Yu, Jimmy C; Li, Hexing

2014-08-01

A photosensitized BiOCl catalyst was found to be effective for photocatalytic water purification and air remediation under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). Prepared by a solvothermal method, the BiOCl crystals possessed a 3D hierarchical spherical structure with the highly active facets exposed. When sensitized by Rhodamine B (RhB), the photocatalyst system was more active than N-doped TiO2 for breaking down 4-chlorophenol (4-CP, 200 ppm) and nitric monoxide (NO, 500 ppb). The high activity could be attributed to the hierarchical structure (supplying feasible reaction tunnels for adsorption and transition of reactants or products) and the efficient exposure of the {001} facets. The former provides an enriched oxygen atom density that promotes adsorption of cationic dye RhB, and creates an oxygen vacancy state. The HO˙ and ˙O2(-) radicals produced from the injected electrons from the excited dye molecule (RhB*) into the conduction band of BiOCl were responsible for the excellent photocatalytic performance of the RhB-BiOCl system.

Enhancing the auto-flocculation of photosynthetic bacteria to realize biomass recovery in brewery wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Lu, Haifeng; Dong, Shan; Zhang, Guangming; Han, Ting; Zhang, Yuanhui; Li, Baoming

2018-02-15

Photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) wastewater treatment technology can simultaneously realize wastewater purification and biomass production. The produced biomass contains high value-added products, which can be used in medical and agricultural industry. However, because of the small size and high electronegativity, PSB are hard to be collected from wastewater, which hampers the commercialization of PSB-based industrial processes. Auto-flocculation is a low cost, energy saving, non-toxic biomass collection method for microbiology. In this work, the influence factors with their optimal levels and mechanism for enhancing the auto-flocculation of PSB were investigated in pure cultivation medium. Then PSB auto-flocculation performance in real brewery wastewater was probed. Results showed that Na + concentration, pH and light intensity were three crucial factors except the initial inoculum sizes and temperature. In the pure medium cultivation system, the optimal condition for PSB auto-flocculation was as follows: pH was 9.5, inoculum size was 420 mg l -1 , Na + concentration was 0.067 mol l -1 , light intensity was 5000 lux, temperature was 30°C. Under the optimal condition, the auto-flocculation ratio and biomass recovery reached 85.0% and 1488 mg l -1 , which improved by 1.67-fold and 2.14-fold compared with the PSB enrichment cultivation conditions, respectively. Mechanism analysis showed that the protein/polysaccharides ratio and absolute Zeta potential value had a liner relationship. For the brewery wastewater treatment, under the above optimal condition, the chemical oxygen demand removal reached 94.3% with the auto-flocculation ratio and biomass recovery of 89.6% and 1510 mg l -1 , which increased 2.75-fold and 2.77-fold, respectively.

Spatial Characteristics and Driving Factors of Provincial Wastewater Discharge in China

PubMed Central

Chen, Kunlun; Liu, Xiaoqiong; Ding, Lei; Huang, Gengzhi; Li, Zhigang

2016-01-01

Based on the increasing pressure on the water environment, this study aims to clarify the overall status of wastewater discharge in China, including the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of wastewater discharge and its driving factors, so as to provide reference for developing “emission reduction” strategies in China and discuss regional sustainable development and resources environment policies. We utilized the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) method to analyze the characteristics of the spatio-temporal distribution of the total wastewater discharge among 31 provinces in China from 2002 to 2013. Then, we discussed about the driving factors, affected the wastewater discharge through the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method and classified those driving factors. Results indicate that: (1) the total wastewater discharge steadily increased, based on the social economic development, with an average growth rate of 5.3% per year; the domestic wastewater discharge is the main source of total wastewater discharge, and the amount of domestic wastewater discharge is larger than the industrial wastewater discharge. There are many spatial differences of wastewater discharge among provinces via the ESDA method. For example, provinces with high wastewater discharge are mainly the developed coastal provinces such as Jiangsu Province and Guangdong Province. Provinces and their surrounding areas with low wastewater discharge are mainly the undeveloped ones in Northwest China; (2) The dominant factors affecting wastewater discharge are the economy and technological advance; The secondary one is the efficiency of resource utilization, which brings about the unstable effect; population plays a less important role in wastewater discharge. The dominant driving factors affecting wastewater discharge among 31 provinces are divided into three types, including two-factor dominant type, three-factor leading type and four-factor antagonistic type. In addition

Spatial Characteristics and Driving Factors of Provincial Wastewater Discharge in China.

PubMed

Chen, Kunlun; Liu, Xiaoqiong; Ding, Lei; Huang, Gengzhi; Li, Zhigang

2016-12-09

Based on the increasing pressure on the water environment, this study aims to clarify the overall status of wastewater discharge in China, including the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of wastewater discharge and its driving factors, so as to provide reference for developing "emission reduction" strategies in China and discuss regional sustainable development and resources environment policies. We utilized the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) method to analyze the characteristics of the spatio-temporal distribution of the total wastewater discharge among 31 provinces in China from 2002 to 2013. Then, we discussed about the driving factors, affected the wastewater discharge through the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method and classified those driving factors. Results indicate that: (1) the total wastewater discharge steadily increased, based on the social economic development, with an average growth rate of 5.3% per year; the domestic wastewater discharge is the main source of total wastewater discharge, and the amount of domestic wastewater discharge is larger than the industrial wastewater discharge. There are many spatial differences of wastewater discharge among provinces via the ESDA method. For example, provinces with high wastewater discharge are mainly the developed coastal provinces such as Jiangsu Province and Guangdong Province. Provinces and their surrounding areas with low wastewater discharge are mainly the undeveloped ones in Northwest China; (2) The dominant factors affecting wastewater discharge are the economy and technological advance; The secondary one is the efficiency of resource utilization, which brings about the unstable effect; population plays a less important role in wastewater discharge. The dominant driving factors affecting wastewater discharge among 31 provinces are divided into three types, including two-factor dominant type, three-factor leading type and four-factor antagonistic type. In addition, the

Floating treatment wetlands for domestic wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Faulwetter, J L; Burr, M D; Cunningham, A B; Stewart, F M; Camper, A K; Stein, O R

2011-01-01

Floating islands are a form of treatment wetland characterized by a mat of synthetic matrix at the water surface into which macrophytes can be planted and through which water passes. We evaluated two matrix materials for treating domestic wastewater, recycled plastic and recycled carpet fibers, for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nitrogen removal. These materials were compared to pea gravel or open water (control). Experiments were conducted in laboratory scale columns fed with synthetic wastewater containing COD, organic and inorganic nitrogen, and mineral salts. Columns were unplanted, naturally inoculated, and operated in batch mode with continuous recirculation and aeration. COD was efficiently removed in all systems examined (>90% removal). Ammonia was efficiently removed by nitrification. Removal of total dissolved N was ∼50% by day 28, by which time most remaining nitrogen was present as NO(3)-N. Complete removal of NO(3)-N by denitrification was accomplished by dosing columns with molasses. Microbial communities of interest were visualized with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) by targeting specific functional genes. Shifts in the denitrifying community were observed post-molasses addition, when nitrate levels decreased. The conditioning time for reliable nitrification was determined to be approximately three months. These results suggest that floating treatment wetlands are a viable alternative for domestic wastewater treatment.

Preparative isolation and purification of seven isoflavones from Belamcanda chinensis.

PubMed

Lee, Yeon Sil; Kim, Seon Ha; Kim, Jin Kyu; Lee, Sanghyun; Jung, Sang Hoon; Lim, Soon Sung

2011-01-01

Isoflavonoids from Belamcanda chinensis are known to have a number of physiological benefits including anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and anti-mutagenic properties. However, there have been no reports on the effective isolation and purification of isoflavonoids from B. chinensis. To develop an efficient method for the preparative isolation and purification of isoflavones from B. chinensis by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). A two-step HSCCC isolation method was developed using solvent system of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-2-propanol-methanol-water (5:6:2:3.5:6, v/v) and of ethyl acetate-methanol-water (10:2:9, v/v). FLASH purification system (45% methanol, isocratic) was also used for further purification. The purities and chemical structures of the isolated compounds were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA), electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), ¹H- and ¹³C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR) and nuclear overhauser enhancement (NOE). HSCCC was successfully used for the preparative separation and purification of seven isoflavones, including tectoridin (145.4 mg, 97.5%), iridin (77.9 mg, 94.0%), irilin D (42.0 mg, 92.0%), tectorigenin (294.1 mg, 98.6%), iristectorigenin A (86.8 mg, 93.4%), irigenin (141.8 mg, 95.8%) and irisflorentin (73.4 mg, 94.7%) from the rhizomes of B. chinensis. Two isoflavone glycosides and five isoflavone derivatives were successfully isolated and purified from the crude methanol extract of dried rhizomes of the B. chinensis by HSCCC. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Construction and Operation Costs of Wastewater Treatment and Implications for the Paper Industry in China.

PubMed

Niu, Kunyu; Wu, Jian; Yu, Fang; Guo, Jingli

2016-11-15

This paper aims to develop a construction and operation cost model of wastewater treatment for the paper industry in China and explores the main factors that determine these costs. Previous models mainly involved factors relating to the treatment scale and efficiency of treatment facilities for deriving the cost function. We considered the factors more comprehensively by adding a regional variable to represent the economic development level, a corporate ownership factor to represent the plant characteristics, a subsector variable to capture pollutant characteristics, and a detailed-classification technology variable. We applied a unique data set from a national pollution source census for the model simulation. The major findings include the following: (1) Wastewater treatment costs in the paper industry are determined by scale, technology, degree of treatment, ownership, and regional factors; (2) Wastewater treatment costs show a large decreasing scale effect; (3) The current level of pollutant discharge fees is far lower than the marginal treatment costs for meeting the wastewater discharge standard. Key implications are as follows: (1) Cost characteristics and impact factors should be fully recognized when planning or making policies relating to wastewater treatment projects or technology development; (2) There is potential to reduce treatment costs by centralizing wastewater treatment via industrial parks; (3) Wastewater discharge fee rates should be increased; (4) Energy efficient technology should become the future focus of wastewater treatment.

Biosorption of Nickel from Industrial Wastewater using Zygnema sp.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivaprakash, Kanchana; Blessi T. L., Adlin; Madhavan, Jeyanthi

2015-12-01

Contamination of water sources with heavy metals is a very important pollution problem in the current scenario. Biosorption is an effective method for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters. In this study, the removal of Nickel(II) ions from electroplating industrial wastewater using biosorbent prepared from fresh water algal biomass Zygnema was investigated under batch mode. The sorption efficiency of nickel on Zygnema sp. was evaluated as a function of time, pH and sorbent dosage. The Nickel(II) uptake was dependent on initial pH with pH 3 being the optimum value. For 100 mg/L initial Nickel(II) concentration, sorption equilibrium was attained at a contact time of 100 min. The sorbent dosage affected the biosorption efficiency and maximum removal of 76.4 % was obtained at a dosage of 7.5 g/L. From the performance studies, algal biosorbent Zygnema is found to be a valuable material for the removal of Nickel from industrial wastewater and a better substitute for the conventional adsorbents.

Pharmaceuticals and consumer products in four wastewater treatment plants in urban and suburb areas of Shanghai.

PubMed

Sui, Qian; Wang, Dan; Zhao, Wentao; Huang, Jun; Yu, Gang; Cao, Xuqi; Qiu, Zhaofu; Lu, Shuguang

2015-04-01

Ten pharmaceuticals and two consumer products were investigated in four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Shanghai, China. The concentrations of target compounds in the wastewater influents ranged from below the limit of quantification (LOQ) to 9340 ng/L, with the frequency of detection of 31-100%, and the removal efficiencies were observed to be -82 to 100% in the four WWTPs. Concentrations of most target compounds (i.e. diclofenac, caffeine, metoprolol, sulpiride) in the wastewater influents were around three to eight times higher in urban WWTPs than in suburb ones, probably due to the different population served and lifestyles. Mean concentrations of target compounds in the wastewater influent generally decreased by 5-76% after rainfall due to the dilution of raw sewage by rainwater, which infiltrated into the sewer system. In the WWTPs located in the suburb area, the increased flow of wastewater influent led to a shortened hydraulic retention time (HRT) and decreased removal efficiencies of some compounds. On the contrary, the influence of rainfall was not significant on the removal efficiencies of investigated compounds in urban WWTPs, probably due to the almost unchanged influent flow, good removal performance, or bypass system employed.

Occurrence of antibiotics in pharmaceutical industrial wastewater, wastewater treatment plant and sea waters in Tunisia.

PubMed

Tahrani, Leyla; Van Loco, Joris; Ben Mansour, Hedi; Reyns, Tim

2016-04-01

Antibiotics are among the most commonly used group of pharmaceuticals in human medicine. They can therefore reach surface and groundwater bodies through different routes, such as wastewater treatment plant effluents, surface runoff, or infiltration of water used for agricultural purposes. It is well known that antibiotics pose a significant risk to environmental and human health, even at low concentrations. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of aminoglycosides and phenicol antibiotics in municipal wastewaters, sea water and pharmaceutical effluents in Tunisia. All analysed water samples contained detectable levels of aminoglycoside and phenicol antibiotics. The highest concentrations in wastewater influents were observed for neomycin and kanamycin B (16.4 ng mL(-1) and 7.5 ng mL(-1), respectively). Chloramphenicol was found in wastewater influents up to 3 ng mL(-1). It was observed that the waste water treatment plants were not efficient in completely removing these antibiotics. Chloramphenicol and florfenicol were found in sea water samples near aquaculture sites at levels up to, respectively, 15.6 ng mL(-1) and 18.4 ng mL(-1). Also aminoglycoside antibiotics were found near aquaculture sites with the highest concentration of 3.4 ng mL(-1) for streptomycin. In pharmaceutical effluents, only gentamycin was found at concentrations up to 19 ng mL(-1) over a sampling period of four months.

Microbial Diversity in Soil Treatment Systems for Wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Cuyk, S.; Spear, J.; Siegrist, R.; Pace, N.

2002-05-01

There is an increasing awareness and concern over land based wastewater system performance with respect to the removal of bacteria and virus. The goal of this work is to describe and identify the organismal composition of the microbiota in the applied wastewater effluent, the rich biomat that develops at the infiltrative surface, and in the soil percolate in order to aid in the understanding of bacterial and virus purification in soil treatment systems. The traditional reliance on pure culture techniques to describe microbiota is circumvented by the employment of a molecular approach. Microbial community characterization is underway based on cloning and sequencing of 16S rRNA genes for phylogenetic analyses, to determine the nature and quantity of microbiota that constitute these ecosystems. Knowledge of the organisms naturally present can influence the design and treatment capacity of these widely used land based systems. Laboratory, intermediate and field scale systems are currently under study. Since human pathogens are known to exist in sewage effluents, their removal in wastewater infiltration systems and within the underlying soil are in need of a more fundamental understanding. The relationship between design parameters and environmental conditions, including a microbial characterization, is essential for the prevention of contamination in groundwater sources. Preliminary results indicate the presence of uncultured organisms and phylogenetic kinds that had not been detected in these systems using other methods. Acinetobacter johnsonii and Acrobacter cryaerophilus were the two dominant species found in septic tank effluent, comprising 20% and 11% of the library respectively. In soil samples collected from the infiltrative surface of a column dosed with STE, there was no dominant bacterial species present. Percolate samples collected from the outflow of the column showed that a tuber borchii symbiont, a common soil microorganism, dominated the bacterial

Caffeine, an anthropogenic marker for wastewater comtamination of surface waters.

PubMed

Buerge, Ignaz I; Poiger, Thomas; Müller, Markus D; Buser, Hans-Rudolf

2003-02-15

The suitability of caffeine as a chemical marker for surface water pollution by domestic wastewaters was assessed in this study. Caffeine concentrations in influents and effluents of Swiss wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs, 7-73 and 0.03-9.5 microg/L, respectively) indicated an efficient elimination of 81-99.9%. Corresponding loads in untreated wastewater showed small variations when normalized forthe population discharging to the WWTPs (15.8 +/- 3.8 mg person(-1) d(-1)), reflecting a rather constant consumption. WWTP effluent loads were considerably lower (0.06 +/- 0.03 mg person(-1) d(-1)), apart from installations with low sludge age (< or = 5 d, loads up to 4.4 mg person(-1) d(-1)). Despite the efficient removal in most WWTPs, caffeine was ubiquitously found in Swiss lakes and rivers (6-250 ng/ L), except for remote mountain lakes (<2 ng/L; analytical procedure for wastewater and natural waters: SPE, GC-MS-SIM or GC-MS-MS-MRM, internal standard 13C3-labeled caffeine). Caffeine concentrations in lakes correlated with the anthropogenic burden by domestic wastewaters, demonstrating the suitability of caffeine as a marker. A mass balance for Greifensee revealed that approximately 1-4% of the wastewaters had been discharged without treatment, presumably on rainy days when the capacity of WWTPs had been exceeded. For Zürichsee, it could be shown that the monthly inputs of caffeine correlated with precipitation data. The depth- and seasonal-dependent concentrations in this lake were adequately rationalized by a numerical model considering flushing, biodegradation, and indirect photodegradation via HO. radicals as elimination processes and caffeine inputs as fitting variables.

Enhanced biodegradation of methylhydrazine and hydrazine contaminated NASA wastewater in fixed-film bioreactor.

PubMed

Nwankwoala, A U; Egiebor, N O; Nyavor, K

2001-01-01

The aerobic biodegradation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wastewater that contains mixtures of highly concentrated methylhydrazine/hydrazine, citric acid and their reaction product was studied on a laboratory-scale fixed film trickle-bed reactor. The degrading organisms, Achromobacter sp., Rhodococcus B30 and Rhodococcus J10, were immobilized on coarse sand grains used as support-media in the columns. Under continuous flow operation, Rhodococcus sp. degraded the methylhydrazine content of the wastewater from a concentration of 10 to 2.5 mg/mL within 12 days and the hydrazine from approximately 0.8 to 0.1 mg/mL in 7 days. The Achromobacter sp. was equally efficient in degrading the organics present in the wastewater, reducing the concentration of the methylhydrazine from 10 to approximately 5 mg/mL within 12 days and that of the hydrazine from approximately 0.8 to 0.2 mg/mL in 7 days. The pseudo first-order rate constants of 0.137 day(-1) and 0.232 day(-1) were obtained for the removal of methylhydrazine and hydrazine, respectively, in wastewater in the reactor column. In the batch cultures, rate constants for the degradation were 0.046 and 0.079 day(-1) for methylhydrazine and hydrazine respectively. These results demonstrate that the continuous flow bioreactor afford greater degradation efficiencies than those obtained when the wastewater was incubated with the microbes in growth-limited batch experiments. They also show that wastewater containing hydrazine is more amenable to microbial degradation than one that is predominant in methylhydrazine, in spite of the longer lag period observed for hydrazine containing wastewater. The influence of substrate concentration and recycle rate on the degradation efficiency is reported. The major advantages of the trickle-bed reactor over the batch system include very high substrate volumetric rate of turnover, higher rates of degradation and tolerance of the 100% concentrated NASA wastewater. The

Biodegradation of endocrine disruptors in urban wastewater using Pleurotus ostreatus bioreactor.

PubMed

Křesinová, Zdena; Linhartová, Lucie; Filipová, Alena; Ezechiáš, Martin; Mašín, Pavel; Cajthaml, Tomáš

2018-07-25

The white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus HK 35, which is also an edible industrial mushroom commonly cultivated in farms, was tested in the degradation of typical representatives of endocrine disrupters (EDCs; bisphenol A, estrone, 17β-estradiol, estriol, 17α-ethinylestradiol, triclosan and 4-n-nonylphenol); its degradation efficiency under model laboratory conditions was greater than 90% within 12 days and better than that of another published strain P. ostreatus 3004. A spent mushroom substrate from a local farm was tested for its applicability in various batch and trickle-bed reactors in degrading EDCs in model fortified and real communal wastewater. The reactors were tested under various regimes including a pilot-scale trickle-bed reactor, which was finally tested at a wastewater treatment plant. The result revealed that the spent substrate is an efficient biodegradation agent, where the fungus was usually able to remove about 95% of EDCs together with suppression of the estrogenic activity of the sample. The results showed the fungus was able to operate in the presence of bacterial microflora in wastewater without any substantial negative effects on the degradation abilities. Finally, a pilot-scale trickle-bed reactor was installed in a wastewater treatment plant and successfully operated for 10days, where the bioreactor was able to remove more than 76% of EDCs present in the wastewater. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Emerging usage of electrocoagulation technology for oil removal from wastewater: A review.

PubMed

An, Chunjiang; Huang, Gordon; Yao, Yao; Zhao, Shan

2017-02-01

Electrocoagulation is a simple and efficient treatment method involving the electrodissolution of sacrificial anodes and formation of hydroxo-metal products as coagulants, while the simultaneous production of hydrogen at the cathode facilitates the pollutant removal by flotation. Oil is one of the most important hydrocarbon products in the modern world. It can cause environmental pollution during various stages of production, transportation, refining and use. Electrocoagulation treatment is particularly effective for destabilization of oil-in-water emulsions by neutralizing charges and bonding oil pollutants to generated flocs and hydrogen bubbles. The development of electrocoagulation technologies provided a promising alternative for oil removal from wastewater. This paper presents a review of emerging electrochemical technologies used for treating oil-containing wastewater. It includes a brief description of the oily wastewater origin and characteristics. The treatment processes developed so far for oily wastewater and the electrocoagulation mechanisms are also introduced. This paper summarizes the current applications of electrocoagulation for oil removal from wastewater. The factors that influence the electrocoagulation treatment efficiencies as well as the process optimization and modeling studies are discussed. The state-of-the-art and development trends of electrocoagulation process for oil removal are further introduced. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of gradual transition of substrate on performance of flat-panel air-cathode microbial fuel cells to treat domestic wastewater.

PubMed

Park, Younghyun; Park, Seonghwan; Nguyen, Van Khanh; Kim, Jung Rae; Kim, Hong Suck; Kim, Byung Goon; Yu, Jaecheul; Lee, Taeho

2017-02-01

In order to confirm the effects of the low conductivity and biodegradability of wastewater, flat-panel air-cathode microbial fuel cells (FA-MFCs) were operated by supplying substrates with different volume ratios of domestic wastewater mixed with an artificial medium: the artificial medium only, 25% wastewater, 50% wastewater, 75% wastewater, 100% of wastewater with 500mg-COD/L by adding acetate, and raw domestic wastewater (230mg-COD/L). With the increase of wastewater ratio, the maximum power density and organic removal efficiency decreased from 187 to 60W/m 3 and 51.5 to 37.4%, respectively, but the Coulombic efficiency was maintained in the range of 18.0-18.9%. The FA-MFCs could maintain their low internal resistances and overcome the decreasing conductivity. The acetate concentration was more important than the total organics for power production. This study suggests that the FA-MFC configuration has great applicability for practical applications when supplied by domestic wastewater with low conductivity and biodegradability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plasmid pVAX1-NH36 purification by membrane and bead perfusion chromatography.

PubMed

Franco-Medrano, Diana Ivonne; Guerrero-Germán, Patricia; Montesinos-Cisneros, Rosa María; Ortega-López, Jaime; Tejeda-Mansir, Armando

2017-03-01

The demand for plasmid DNA (pDNA) has increased in response to the rapid advances in vaccines applications to prevent and treat infectious diseases caused by virus, bacteria or parasites, such as Leishmania species. The immunization protocols require large amounts of supercoiled plasmid DNA (sc-pDNA) challenging the development of efficient and profitable processes for capturing and purified pDNA molecules from large volumes of lysates. A typical bioprocess involves four steps: fermentation, primary recovery, intermediate recovery and final purification. Ion-exchange chromatography is one of the key operations in the purification schemes of pDNA owing the chemical structure of these macromolecules. The goal of this research was to compare the performance of the final purification step of pDNA using ion-exchange chromatography on columns packed with Mustang Q membranes or perfusive beads POROS 50 HQ. The experimental results showed that both matrixes could separate the plasmid pVAX1-NH36 (3936 bp) from impurities in clarified Escherichia coli lysates with an adequate resolution. In addition, a 24- and 21-fold global purification factor was obtained. An 88 and 63% plasmid recuperation was achieved with ion-exchange membranes and perfusion beads, respectively. A better understanding of perfusion-based matrices for the purification of pDNA was developed in this research.

STEP wastewater treatment: a solar thermal electrochemical process for pollutant oxidation.

PubMed

Wang, Baohui; Wu, Hongjun; Zhang, Guoxue; Licht, Stuart

2012-10-01

A solar thermal electrochemical production (STEP) pathway was established to utilize solar energy to drive useful chemical processes. In this paper, we use experimental chemistry for efficient STEP wastewater treatment, and suggest a theory based on the decreasing stability of organic pollutants (hydrocarbon oxidation potentials) with increasing temperature. Exemplified by the solar thermal electrochemical oxidation of phenol, the fundamental model and experimental system components of this process outline a general method for the oxidation of environmentally stable organic pollutants into carbon dioxide, which is easily removed. Using thermodynamic calculations we show a sharply decreasing phenol oxidation potential with increasing temperature. The experimental results demonstrate that this increased temperature can be supplied by solar thermal heating. In combination this drives electrochemical phenol removal with enhanced oxidation efficiency through (i) a thermodynamically driven decrease in the energy needed to fuel the process and (ii) improved kinetics to sustain high rates of phenol oxidation at low electrochemical overpotential. The STEP wastewater treatment process is synergistic in that it is performed with higher efficiency than either electrochemical or photovoltaic conversion process acting alone. STEP is a green, efficient, safe, and sustainable process for organic wastewater treatment driven solely by solar energy. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Heterogeneous photocatalysis and its potential applications in water and wastewater treatment: a review.

PubMed

Ahmed, Syed Nabeel; Haider, Waseem

2018-08-24

There has been a considerable amount of research in the development of sustainable water treatment techniques capable of improving the quality of water. Unavailability of drinkable water is a crucial issue especially in regions where conventional drinking water treatment systems fail to eradicate aquatic pathogens, toxic metal ions and industrial waste. The research and development in this area have given rise to a new class of processes called advanced oxidation processes, particularly in the form of heterogeneous photocatalysis, which converts photon energy into chemical energy. Advances in nanotechnology have improved the ability to develop and specifically tailor the properties of photocatalytic materials used in this area. This paper discusses many of those photocatalytic nanomaterials, both metal-based and metal-free, which have been studied for water and waste water purification and treatment in recent years. It also discusses the design and performance of the recently studied photocatalytic reactors, along with the recent advancements in the visible-light photocatalysis. Additionally, the effects of the fundamental parameters such as temperature, pH, catalyst-loading and reaction time have also been reviewed. Moreover, different techniques that can increase the photocatalytic efficiency as well as recyclability have been systematically presented, followed by a discussion on the photocatalytic treatment of actual wastewater samples and the future challenges associated with it.

Air Stripping Designs and Reactive Water Purification Processes for the Lunar Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boul, Peter J.; Lange, Kevin; Conger, Bruce; Anderson, Molly

2010-01-01

Air stripping designs are considered to reduce the presence of volatile organic compounds in the purified water. Components of the wastewater streams are ranked by Henry's Law Constant and the suitability of air stripping in the purification of wastewater in terms of component removal is evaluated. Distillation processes are modeled in tandem with air stripping to demonstrate the potential effectiveness and utility of these methods in recycling wastewater on the Moon. Scaling factors for distillation and air stripping columns are presented to account for the difference in the lunar gravitation environment. Commercially available distillation and air stripping units which are considered suitable for Exploration Life Support are presented. The advantages to the various designs are summarized with respect to water purity levels, power consumption, and processing rates. An evaluation of reactive distillation and air stripping is presented with regards to the reduction of volatile organic compounds in the contaminated water and air. Among the methods presented, an architecture is presented for the evaluation of the simultaneous oxidation of organics in air and water. These and other designs are presented in light of potential improvements in power consumptions and air and water purities for architectures which include catalytic activity integrated into the water processor. In particular, catalytic oxidation of organics may be useful as a tool to remove contaminants that more traditional distillation and/or air stripping columns may not remove. A review of the current leading edge at the commercial level and at the research frontier in catalytically active materials is presented. Themes and directions from the engineering developments in catalyst design are presented conceptually in light of developments in the nanoscale chemistry of a variety of catalyst materials.

Purification of contaminated paddy fields by clean water irrigation over two decades.

PubMed

Tai, Yiping; Lu, Huanping; Li, Zhian; Zhuang, Ping; Zou, Bi; Xia, Hanping; Wang, Faming; Wang, Gang; Duan, Jun; Zhang, Jianxia

2013-10-01

Paddy fields near a mining site in north part of Guangdong Province, PR China, were severely contaminated by heavy metals as a result of wastewater irrigation from the tailing pond. The following clean water irrigation for 2 decades produced marked rinsing effect, especially on Pb and Zn. Paddy fields continuously irrigated with wastewater ever since mining started (50 years) had 1,050.0 mg kg−1 of Pb and 810.3 mg kg−1 of Zn for upper 20 cm soil, in comparison with 215.9 mg kg−1 of Pb and 525.4 mg kg−1 of Zn, respectively, with clean water irrigation for 20 years. Rinsing effect mainly occurred to a depth of upper 40 cm, of which the soil contained highest metals. Copper and Cd in the farmlands were also reduced due to clean water irrigation. Higher availability of Pb might partly account for more Pb transferred from the tailing pond to the farmland and also more Pb removal from the farmland as a result of clean water irrigation. Neither rice in the paddy field nor dense weeds in the uncultivated field largely took up the metals. However, they might contribute to activate metals differently, leading to a different purification extent. Rotation of rice and weed reduced metal retention in the farmland soil, in comparison with sole rice growth. Harvesting of rice grain (and partially rice stalk) only contributed small fraction of total amount of removed metal. In summary, heavy metal in paddy field resulting from irrigation of mining wastewater could be largely removed by clean water irrigation for sufficient time.

Occurrence of cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide in aqueous environment and their removal by biological and abiotic wastewater treatment processes.

PubMed

Česen, Marjeta; Kosjek, Tina; Laimou-Geraniou, Maria; Kompare, Boris; Širok, Brane; Lambropolou, Dimitra; Heath, Ester

2015-09-15

Cytostatic drug residues in the aqueous environment are of concern due to their possible adverse effects on non-target organisms. Here we report the occurrence and removal efficiency of cyclophosphamide (CP) and ifosfamide (IF) by biological and abiotic treatments including advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). Cyclophosphamide was detected in hospital wastewaters (14-22,000 ng L(-1)), wastewater treatment plant influents (19-27 ng L(-1)) and effluent (17 ng L(-1)), whereas IF was detected only in hospital wastewaters (48-6800 ng L(-1)). The highest removal efficiency during biological treatment (attached growth biomass in a flow through bioreactor) was 59 ± 15% and 35 ± 9.3% for CP and IF, respectively. Also reported are the removal efficiencies of both compounds from wastewater using hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), ozonation (O3) and/or UV, either individually or in combination with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Hydrodynamic cavitation did not remove CP and IF to any significant degree. The highest removal efficiencies: 99 ± 0.71% for CP and 94 ± 2.4% for IF, were achieved using UV/O3/H2O2 at 5 g L(-1) for 120 min. When combined with biological treatment, removal efficiencies were >99% for both compounds. This is the first report of combined biological and AOP treatment of CP and IF from wastewater with a removal efficiency >99%. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Carbon sequestration in surface flow constructed wetland after 12 years of swine wastewater treatment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Constructed wetlands used for the treatment of swine wastewater may potentially sequester significant amounts of carbon. In past studies, we evaluated the treatment efficiency of wastewater in marsh-pond-marsh design wetland system. The functionality of this system was highly dependent on soil carbo...

Pharmaceutical grey water footprint: Accounting, influence of wastewater treatment plants and implications of the reuse.

PubMed

Martínez-Alcalá, Isabel; Pellicer-Martínez, Francisco; Fernández-López, Carmen

2018-05-15

Emerging pollutants, including pharmaceutical compounds, are producing water pollution problems around the world. Some pharmaceutical pollutants, which mainly reach ecosystems within wastewater discharges, are persistent in the water cycle and can also reach the food chain. This work addresses this issue, accounting the grey component of the water footprint (GWF P ) for four of the most common pharmaceutical compounds (carbamazepine (CBZ), diclofenac (DCF), ketoprofen (KTP) and naproxen (NPX)). In addition, the GWF C for the main conventional pollutants is also accounted (nitrate, phosphates and organic matter). The case study is the Murcia Region of southeastern Spain, where wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) purify 99.1% of the wastewater discharges and there is an important direct reuse of the treated wastewater in irrigation. Thus, the influence of WWTPs and reuse on the GWF is analysed. The results reveal that GWF P , only taking into account pharmaceutical pollutants, has a value of 301 m 3 inhabitant -1 year -1 ; considering only conventional pollutants (GWF C ), this value increases to 4718 m 3 inhabitant -1 year -1 . So, the difference between these values is such that in other areas with consumption habits similar to those of the Murcia Region, and without wastewater purification, conventional pollutants may well establish the value of the GWF. On average, the WWTPs reduce the GWF C by 90% and the GWF P by 26%. These different reductions of the pollutant concentrations in the treated effluents show that the GWF is not only due to conventional pollutants, and other contaminants can became critical, such as the pharmaceutical pollutants. The reuse further reduces the value of the GWF for the Murcia Region, by around 43.6%. However, the reuse of treated wastewater is controversial, considering the pharmaceutical contaminants and their possible consequences in the food chain. In these cases, the GWF of pharmaceutical pollutants can be used to provide a

40 CFR 63.133 - Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 10 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks. 63.133 Section 63.133 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... Chemical Manufacturing Industry for Process Vents, Storage Vessels, Transfer Operations, and Wastewater...

40 CFR 63.133 - Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 10 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks. 63.133 Section 63.133 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... Chemical Manufacturing Industry for Process Vents, Storage Vessels, Transfer Operations, and Wastewater...

40 CFR 63.133 - Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 9 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks. 63.133 Section 63.133 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... Chemical Manufacturing Industry for Process Vents, Storage Vessels, Transfer Operations, and Wastewater...

40 CFR 63.133 - Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 10 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Process wastewater provisions-wastewater tanks. 63.133 Section 63.133 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... Chemical Manufacturing Industry for Process Vents, Storage Vessels, Transfer Operations, and Wastewater...

An improved method for purification of recombinant truncated heme oxygenase-1 by expanded bed adsorption and gel filtration.

PubMed

Hu, Hong-Bo; Wang, Wei; Han, Ling; Zhou, Wen-Pu; Zhang, Xue-Hong

2007-03-01

Recombinant truncated human heme oxygenase-1 (hHO-1) expressed in Escherichia coli was efficiently separated and purified from feedstock by DEAE-ion exchange expanded bed adsorption. Protocol optimization of hHO-1 on DEAE adsorbent resulted in adsorption in 0 M NaCl and elution in 150 mM NaCl at a pH of 8.5. The active enzyme fractions separated from the expanded bed column were further purified by a Superdex 75 gel filtration step. The specific hHO-1 activity increased from 0.82 +/- 0.05 to 24.8 +/- 1.8 U/mg during the whole purification steps. The recovery and purification factor of truncated hHO-1 of the whole purification were 72.7 +/- 4.7 and 30.2 +/- 2.3%, respectively. This purification process can decrease the demand on the preparation of feedstock and simplify the purification process.

A high-efficiency denitrification bioreactor for the treatment of acrylonitrile wastewater using waterborne polyurethane immobilized activated sludge.

PubMed

Dong, Honghong; Wang, Wei; Song, Zhaozheng; Dong, Hao; Wang, Jianfeng; Sun, Shanshan; Zhang, Zhongzhi; Ke, Ming; Zhang, Zhenjia; Wu, Wei-Min; Zhang, Guangqing; Ma, Jie

2017-09-01

The performance of a laboratory-scale, high-efficiency denitrification bioreactor (15L) using activated sludge immobilized by waterborne polyurethane in treating acrylonitrile wastewater with high concentration of nitrate nitrogen (249mg/L) was investigated. The bioreactor was operated at 30°C for 220days. Batch denitrification experiments showed that the optimal operation parameters were C/NO 3 - -N molar ratio of 2.0 using sodium acetate as electron donor and carrier filling rate of 20% (V/V) in the bioreactor. Stable performance of denitrification was observed with a hydraulic retention time of 30 to 38h. A volumetric removal rate up to 2.1kgN/m 3 ·d was achieved with a total nitrogen removal efficiency of 95%. Pyrosequencing results showed that Rhodocyclaceae and Pseudomonadaceae were the dominant bacterial families in the immobilized carrier and bioreactor effluent. The overall microbial diversity declined as denitrifiers gradually dominated and the relative abundance of other bacteria decreased along with testing time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multimodal charge-induction chromatography for antibody purification.

PubMed

Tong, Hong-Fei; Lin, Dong-Qiang; Chu, Wen-Ning; Zhang, Qi-Lei; Gao, Dong; Wang, Rong-Zhu; Yao, Shan-Jing

2016-01-15

Hydrophobic charge-induction chromatography (HCIC) has advantages of high capacity, salt-tolerance and convenient pH-controlled elution. However, the binding specificity might be improved with multimodal molecular interactions. New ligand W-ABI that combining tryptophan and 5-amino-benzimidazole was designed with the concept of mutimodal charge-induction chromatography (MCIC). The indole and benzimidazole groups of the ligand could provide orientated mutimodal binding to target IgG under neutral pH, while the imidazole groups could induce the electrostatic repulsion forces for efficient elution under acidic pH. W-ABI ligand was coupled successfully onto agarose gel, and IgG adsorption behaviors were investigated. High affinity to IgG was found with the saturated adsorption capacity of 70.4 mg/ml at pH 7, and the flow rate of mobile phase showed little impact on the dynamic binding capacity. In addition, efficient elution could be achieved at mild acidic pH with high recovery. Two separation cases (IgG separation from albumin containing feedstock and monoclonal antibody purification from cell culture supernatant) were verified with high purity and recovery. In general, MCIC with the specially-designed ligand is an expanding of HCIC with improved adsorption selectivity, which would be a potential alternative to Protein A-based capture for the cost-effective purification of antibodies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electricity Production and Characterization of High-Strength Industrial Wastewaters in Microbial Fuel Cell.

PubMed

Cetinkaya, Afsin Y; Ozdemir, Oguz Kaan; Demir, Ahmet; Ozkaya, Bestami

2017-06-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) convert electrochemical energy into electrical energy immediately and have a big potential usage for the same time wastewater treatment and energy recovery via electro-active microorganisms. However, MFCs must be efficiently optimized due to its limitations such as high cost and low power production. Finding new materials to increase the cell performance and reduce cost for MFC anodes is mandatory. In the first step of this study, different inoculation sludges such as anaerobic gum industry wastewater, anaerobic brewery wastewater and anaerobic phosphate were tested, and MFC that was set up with anaerobic gum industry wastewater inoculation sludge exhibited the highest performance. In the second step of this study, various wastewaters such as chocolate industry, gum industry and slaughterhouse industry were investigated for anode bacteria sources. Several electrochemical techniques have been employed to elucidate how wastewaters affect the MFCs' performance. Among all the mentioned wastewaters, the best performance was achieved by the MFCs fed with slaughterhouse wastewater; this device produced a maximum power density of 267 mW·m -2 .

Examination of the operator and compensator tank role in urban wastewater treatment using activated sludge method.

PubMed

Mokhtari Azar, Akbar; Ghadirpour Jelogir, Ali; Nabi Bidhendi, Gholam Reza; Zaredar, Narges

2011-04-01

No doubt, operator is one of the main fundaments in wastewater treatment plants. By identifying the inadequacies, the operator could be considered as an important key in treatment plant. Several methods are used for wastewater treatment that requires spending a lot of cost. However, all investments of treatment facilities are usable when the expected efficiency of the treatment plant was obtained. Using experienced operator, this goal is more easily accessible. In this research, the wastewater of an urban community contaminated with moderated, diluted and highly concentrated pollution has been treated using surface and deep aeration treatment method. Sampling of these pilots was performed during winter 2008 to summer 2009. The results indicate that all analyzed parameters were eliminated using activated sludge and surface aeration methods. However, in activated sludge and deep aeration methods in combination with suitable function of operator, more pollutants could be eliminated. Hence, existence of operator in wastewater treatment plants is the basic principle to achieve considered efficiency. Wastewater treatment system is not intelligent itself and that is the operator who can organize even an inefficient system by its continuous presence. The converse of this fact is also real. Despite the various units and appropriate design of wastewater treatment plant, without an operator, the studied process cannot be expected highly efficient. In places frequently affected by the shock of organic and hydraulic loads, the compensator tank is important to offset the wastewater treatment process. Finally, in regard to microbial parameters, existence of disinfection unit is very useful.

Recycling of Ammonia Wastewater During Vanadium Extraction from Shale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Qihua; Zhang, Yimin; Liu, Tao; Huang, Jing

2018-03-01

In the vanadium metallurgical industry, massive amounts of ammonia hydroxide or ammonia salt are added during the precipitation process to obtain V2O5; therefore, wastewater containing a high level of NH4 + is generated, which poses a serious threat to environmental and hydrologic safety. In this article, a novel process was developed to recycle ammonia wastewater based on a combination of ammonia wastewater leaching and crystallization during vanadium extraction from shale. The effects of the NH4 + concentration, temperature, time and liquid-to-solid ratio on the leaching efficiencies of vanadium, aluminum and potassium were investigated, and the results showed that 93.2% of vanadium, 86.3% of aluminum and 96.8% of potassium can be leached from sulfation-roasted shale. Subsequently, 80.6% of NH4 + was separated from the leaching solution via cooling crystallization. Vanadium was recovered via a combined method of solvent extraction, precipitation and calcination. Therefore, ammonia wastewater was successfully recycled during vanadium extraction from shale.

Paradigms of mangroves in treatment of anthropogenic wastewater pollution.

PubMed

Ouyang, Xiaoguang; Guo, Fen

2016-02-15

Mangroves have been increasingly recognized for treating wastewater from aquaculture, sewage and other sources with the overwhelming urbanization trend. This study clarified the three paradigms of mangroves in disposing wastewater contaminants: natural mangroves, constructed wetlands (including free water surface and subsurface flow) and mangrove-aquaculture coupling systems. Plant uptake is the common major mechanism for nutrient removal in all the paradigms as mangroves are generally nitrogen and phosphorus limited. Besides, sediments accrete and provide substrates for microbial activities, thereby removing organic matter and nutrients from wastewater in natural mangroves and constructed wetlands. Among the paradigms, the mangrove-aquaculture coupling system was determined to be the optimal alternative for aquaculture wastewater treatment by multi-criterion decision making. Sensitivity analysis shows variability of alternative ranking but underpins the coupling system as the most environment-friendly and cost-efficient option. Mangrove restoration is expected to be achievable if aquaculture ponds are planted with mangrove seedlings, creating the coupling system. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fungal-assisted algal flocculation: application in wastewater treatment and biofuel production.

PubMed

Muradov, Nazim; Taha, Mohamed; Miranda, Ana F; Wrede, Digby; Kadali, Krishna; Gujar, Amit; Stevenson, Trevor; Ball, Andrew S; Mouradov, Aidyn

2015-01-01

The microalgal-based industries are facing a number of important challenges that in turn affect their economic viability. Arguably the most important of these are associated with the high costs of harvesting and dewatering of the microalgal cells, the costs and sustainability of nutrient supplies and costly methods for large scale oil extraction. Existing harvesting technologies, which can account for up to 50% of the total cost, are not economically feasible because of either requiring too much energy or the addition of chemicals. Fungal-assisted flocculation is currently receiving increased attention because of its high harvesting efficiency. Moreover, some of fungal and microalgal strains are well known for their ability to treat wastewater, generating biomass which represents a renewable and sustainable feedstock for bioenergy production. We screened 33 fungal strains, isolated from compost, straws and soil for their lipid content and flocculation efficiencies against representatives of microalgae commercially used for biodiesel production, namely the heterotrophic freshwater microalgae Chlorella protothecoides and the marine microalgae Tetraselmis suecica. Lipid levels and composition were analyzed in fungal-algal pellets grown on media containing alternative carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus sources from wheat straw and swine wastewater, respectively. The biomass of fungal-algal pellets grown on swine wastewater was used as feedstock for the production of value-added chemicals, biogas, bio-solids and liquid petrochemicals through pyrolysis. Co-cultivation of microalgae and filamentous fungus increased total biomass production, lipid yield and wastewater bioremediation efficiency. Fungal-assisted microalgal flocculation shows significant potential for solving the major challenges facing the commercialization of microalgal biotechnology, namely (i) the efficient and cost-effective harvesting of freshwater and seawater algal strains; (ii) enhancement of total oil

Denitrifying bioreactor clogging potential during wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Christianson, Laura E; Lepine, Christine; Sharrer, Kata L; Summerfelt, Steven T

2016-11-15

Chemoheterotrophic denitrification technologies using woodchips as a solid carbon source (i.e., woodchip bioreactors) have been widely trialed for treatment of diffuse-source agricultural nitrogen pollution. There is growing interest in the use of this simple, relatively low-cost biological wastewater treatment option in waters with relatively higher total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) such as aquaculture wastewater. This work: (1) evaluated hydraulic retention time (HRT) impacts on COD/TSS removal, and (2) assessed the potential for woodchip clogging under this wastewater chemistry. Four pilot-scale woodchip denitrification bioreactors operated for 267 d showed excellent TSS removal (>90%) which occurred primarily near the inlet, and that COD removal was maximized at lower HRTs (e.g., 56% removal efficiency and 25 g of COD removed per m 3 of bioreactor per d at a 24 h HRT). However, influent wastewater took progressively longer to move into the woodchips likely due to a combination of (1) woodchip settling, (2) clogging due to removed wastewater solids and/or accumulated bacterial growth, and (3) the pulsed flow system pushing the chips away from the inlet. The bioreactor that received the highest loading rate experienced the most altered hydraulics. Statistically significant increases in woodchip P content over time in woodchip bags placed near the bioreactor outlets (0.03 vs 0.10%P 2 O 5 ) and along the bioreactor floor (0.04 vs. 0.12%P 2 O 5 ) confirmed wastewater solids were being removed and may pose a concern for subsequent nutrient mineralization and release. Nevertheless, the excellent nitrate-nitrogen and TSS removal along with notable COD removal indicated woodchip bioreactors are a viable water treatment technology for these types of wastewaters given they are used downstream of a filtration device. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of immobilized metal membrane affinity chromatography for purification of an immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody.

PubMed

Serpa, Gisele; Augusto, Elisabeth Fátima Pires; Tamashiro, Wirla Maria Silva Cunha; Ribeiro, Mariana Borçoe; Miranda, Everson Alves; Bueno, Sônia Maria Alves

2005-02-25

The large scale production of monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) has gaining increased relevance with the development of the hybridoma cell culture in bioreactors creating a need for specific efficient bioseparation techniques. Conventional fixed bead affinity adsorption commonly applied for McAbs purification has the drawback of low flow rates and colmatage. We developed and evaluated a immobilized metal affinity chromatographies (IMAC) affinity membrane for the purification of anti-TNP IgG(1) mouse McAbs. We immobilized metal ions on a poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol) hollow fiber membrane (Me(2+)-IDA-PEVA) and applied it for the purification of this McAbs from cell culture supernatant after precipitation with 50% saturation of ammonium sulphate. The purity of IgG(1) in the eluate fractions was high when eluted from Zn(2+) complex. The anti-TNP antibody could be eluted under conditions causing no loss of antigen binding capacity. The purification procedure can be considered as an alternative to the biospecific adsorbent commonly applied for mouse IgG(1) purification, the protein G-Sepharose.

Phycoremediation of Tannery Wastewater Using Microalgae Scenedesmus Species.

PubMed

Ajayan, Kayil Veedu; Selvaraju, Muthusamy; Unnikannan, Pachikaran; Sruthi, Palliyath

2015-01-01

A number of microalgae species are efficient in removing toxicants from wastewater. Many of these potential species are a promising, eco-friendly, and sustainable option for tertiary wastewater treatment with a possible advantage of improving the economics of microalgae cultivation for biofuel production. The present study deals with the phycoremediation of tannery wastewater (TWW) using Scenedesmus sp. isolated from a local habitat. The test species was grown in TWW under laboratory conditions and harvested on the 12th day. The results revealed that the algal biomass during the growth period not only reduced the pollution load of heavy metals (Cr-81.2-96%, Cu-73.2-98%, Pb-75-98% and Zn-65-98%) but also the nutrients (NO3 >44.3% and PO4 >95%). Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrums of Scenedesmus sp. biomass revealed the involvement of hydroxyl amino, carboxylic and carbonyl groups. The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopic analysis (EDS) revealed the surface texture, morphology and element distribution of the biosorbent. Furthermore, the wastewater generated during wet-blue tanning process can support dense population of Scenedesmus sp., making it a potential growth medium for biomass production of the test alga for phycoremediation of toxicants in tannery wastewaters.

TiO2-Based Advanced Oxidation Nanotechnologies For Water Purification And Reuse

EPA Science Inventory

TiO₂ photocatalysis, one of the UV-based advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) and nanotechnologies (AONs), has attracted great attention for the development of efficient water treatment and purification systems due to the effectiveness of TiO₂ to generate ...

Strep-Tagged Protein Purification.

PubMed

Maertens, Barbara; Spriestersbach, Anne; Kubicek, Jan; Schäfer, Frank

2015-01-01

The Strep-tag system can be used to purify recombinant proteins from any expression system. Here, protocols for lysis and affinity purification of Strep-tagged proteins from E. coli, baculovirus-infected insect cells, and transfected mammalian cells are given. Depending on the amount of Strep-tagged protein in the lysate, a protocol for batch binding and subsequent washing and eluting by gravity flow can be used. Agarose-based matrices with the coupled Strep-Tactin ligand are the resins of choice, with a binding capacity of up to 9 mg ml(-1). For purification of lower amounts of Strep-tagged proteins, the use of Strep-Tactin magnetic beads is suitable. In addition, Strep-tagged protein purification can also be automated using prepacked columns for FPLC or other liquid-handling chromatography instrumentation, but automated purification is not discussed in this protocol. The protocols described here can be regarded as an update of the Strep-Tag Protein Handbook (Qiagen, 2009). © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The efficiency of gravity distribution devices for on-site wastewater treatment systems.

PubMed

Patel, T; O'Luanaigh, N; Gill, L W

2008-01-01

A detailed analysis of different types of gravity distribution devices, designed to split on-site wastewater effluent equally between percolation trenches, has been carried out both in the laboratory and also in the field under realistic loading conditions. Five different types of distribution device have been compared: a V-notch distribution box, stilling chamber box, T-splitters with and without baffles and tipping bucket device. The trials carried out in the laboratory with clean water showed that flow distribution for all devices was sensitive to both the off-level installation angles and variable flow rates, with the most stable performance achieved using the T-splitters with baffles and tipping bucket devices. In parallel to this, the on-site flow regime experienced at two sites was continuously monitored using a tipping bucket and data-logger over eighteen month periods, finding that the most common flow rates at the distribution unit were in the range of 0.1-2.5 L/min. The on-site performance of these devices receiving both septic tank and secondary treated effluent showed that significant solid deposition and biofilm development had severely affected the equal distribution between the trenches, hence highlighting the need for regular maintenance to ensure efficient performance over time after installation. IWA Publishing 2008.

Secretory immunoglobulin purification from whey by chromatographic techniques.

PubMed

Matlschweiger, Alexander; Engelmaier, Hannah; Himmler, Gottfried; Hahn, Rainer

2017-08-15

Secretory immunoglobulins (SIg) are a major fraction of the mucosal immune system and represent potential drug candidates. So far, platform technologies for their purification do not exist. SIg from animal whey was used as a model to develop a simple, efficient and potentially generic chromatographic purification process. Several chromatographic stationary phases were tested. A combination of two anion-exchange steps resulted in the highest purity. The key step was the use of a small-porous anion exchanger operated in flow-through mode. Diffusion of SIg into the resin particles was significantly hindered, while the main impurities, IgG and serum albumin, were bound. In this step, initial purity was increased from 66% to 89% with a step yield of 88%. In a second anion-exchange step using giga-porous material, SIg was captured and purified by step or linear gradient elution to obtain fractions with purities >95%. For the step gradient elution step yield of highly pure SIg was 54%. Elution of SIgA and SIgM with a linear gradient resulted in a step yield of 56% and 35%, respectively. Overall yields for both anion exchange steps were 43% for the combination of flow-through and step elution mode. Combination of flow-through and linear gradient elution mode resulted in a yield of 44% for SIgA and 39% for SIgM. The proposed process allows the purification of biologically active SIg from animal whey in preparative scale. For future applications, the process can easily be adopted for purification of recombinant secretory immunoglobulin species. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wastewater treatment for nutrient removal with Ecuadorian native microalgae.

PubMed

Benítez, María Belén; Champagne, Pascale; Ramos, Ana; Torres, Andres F; Ochoa-Herrera, Valeria

2018-04-12

The aim of this project was to study the feasibility of utilizing native microalgae for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, as a potential secondary wastewater treatment process in Ecuador. Agitation and aeration batch experiments were conducted using synthetic secondary wastewater effluent, to determine nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies by a native Ecuadorian microalgal strain. Experimental results indicated that microalgal cultures could successfully remove nitrogen and phosphorus. [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] removal efficiencies of 52.6 and 55.6%, and 67.0 and 20.4%, as well as [Formula: see text] production efficiencies of 87.0 and 93.1% were reported in agitation and aeration photobioreactors, respectively. Aeration was not found to increase the nutrient removal efficiency of [Formula: see text]. Moreover, in the case of [Formula: see text], a negative impact was observed, where removal efficiencies decreased by a factor of 3.3 at higher aeration rates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the removal of nutrients by native Ecuadorian Chlorella sp., hence the results of this study would indicate that this native microalgal strain could be successfully incorporated in a potential treatment process for nutrient removal in Ecuador.

Occurrence, removal and release characteristics of dissolved brominated flame retardants and their potential metabolites in various kinds of wastewater.

PubMed

Kim, Un-Jung; Lee, In-Seok; Oh, Jeong-Eun

2016-11-01

The dissolved phase compound and congener specific distribution characteristics of three widely used brominated flame retardants (BFRs) comprising 27 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), 12 hydroxylated and methoxylated metabolites (OH- and MeO-BDEs), 3 hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) were investigated in influents and effluents of various kinds of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), with varying source of wastewater and type of treatment, and nearby rivers in Korea. The concentration of total BFRs were the highest in industrial WWTPs nearby large industrial complexes specialized in heavy chemicals. The distribution of BFRs was differed according to composition of wastewater, with predominance of TBBPA in WWTPs with higher portion of inflowing industrial wastewater. Among HBCD diastereomers, γ-HBCD was dominant in industrial wastewater as consistent to the previous reports, however, similar contribution of α- and γ-HBCD was found in sewage and human wastewater. Through treatment process, PBDEs were the most effectively removed with a mean removal efficiency of 68.3%. HBCDs and TBBPA had removal efficiencies of 41.3% and 48.7%, respectively. The lowest removal efficiency (10.3%) was observed for PBDE metabolites and their concentration in effluent of human wastewater was even increased at maximum 1.9 fold compared with influent, implying the possibility of transformation during treatment. The estimated dissolved phase daily load of PBDEs was highest in sewage while that of TBBPA was highest in industrial wastewater. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Chemical oxygen demand reduction in coffee wastewater through chemical flocculation and advanced oxidation processes.

PubMed

Zayas Pérez, Teresa; Geissler, Gunther; Hernandez, Fernando

2007-01-01

The removal of the natural organic matter present in coffee processing wastewater through chemical coagulation-flocculation and advanced oxidation processes (AOP) had been studied. The effectiveness of the removal of natural organic matter using commercial flocculants and UV/H2O2, UV/O3 and UV/H2O2/O3 processes was determined under acidic conditions. For each of these processes, different operational conditions were explored to optimize the treatment efficiency of the coffee wastewater. Coffee wastewater is characterized by a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and low total suspended solids. The outcomes of coffee wastewater treatment using coagulation-flocculation and photodegradation processes were assessed in terms of reduction of COD, color, and turbidity. It was found that a reduction in COD of 67% could be realized when the coffee wastewater was treated by chemical coagulation-flocculation with lime and coagulant T-1. When coffee wastewater was treated by coagulation-flocculation in combination with UV/H2O2, a COD reduction of 86% was achieved, although only after prolonged UV irradiation. Of the three advanced oxidation processes considered, UV/H2O2, UV/O3 and UV/H2O2/O3, we found that the treatment with UV/H2O2/O3 was the most effective, with an efficiency of color, turbidity and further COD removal of 87%, when applied to the flocculated coffee wastewater.

Energy intensity modeling for wastewater treatment technologies.

PubMed

Molinos-Senante, María; Sala-Garrido, Ramón; Iftimi, Adina

2018-07-15

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are energy intensive facilities; therefore increased pressure has been placed on managers and policy makers to reduce the facilities' energy use. Several studies were conducted to compare the energy intensity (EI) of WWTPs, which showed large dispersion in EI among the facilities. In the present study, the degree EI influenced WWTPs was tested using a set of technical variables by modeling the EI of a 305 WWTP sample grouped into five secondary treatment technologies. Results indicated the following two major findings: i) WWTPs using conventional activated sludge, extended aeration, trickling biofilters, and biodisks exhibited significant economies of scale in energy use; and ii) pollutant removal efficiency demonstrated low impacts on WWTP EI. The methodology and results of this study are of value to policy makers in planning new WWTPs and developing management plans to improve energy efficiency of wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Development of supported liquid membrane techniques for the monitoring of trace levels of organic pollutants in wastewaters and water purification systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Msagati, Titus A. M.; Mamba, Bhekie B.

The supported liquid membrane (SLM) extraction technique has been developed and successfully used for the monitoring of trace quantities of ionisable organic contaminants, including 17β-estradiol and its metabolites, testosterones and their methyl ester derivatives, benzimidazole anthelmintic antibiotics and sulphonamides in aquatic systems. A number of parameters which control the mass transfer in the supported liquid membrane extraction process such as donor and acceptor pH, extraction time and the type of organic liquid membrane were optimised to enhance the efficiency of the liquid membrane in the removal of these compounds. The method developed gave very low detection limits (0.3 ng/l to 2.4 ng/l for 17β-estradiol and its metabolites; between 1 μg/l and 20 μg/l for sulphonamides; and between 0.1 ng/l and 10 ng/l for benzimidazole anthelmintic compounds). The SLM method showed good linearity, reproducibility and repeatability values and is therefore suitable for routine monitoring of such compounds in water and wastewater systems.

Treatment of textile wastewater by a hybrid electrocoagulation/nanofiltration process.

PubMed

Aouni, Anissa; Fersi, Cheïma; Ben Sik Ali, Mourad; Dhahbi, Mahmoud

2009-09-15

Untreated effluents from textile industries are usually highly coloured and contain a considerable amount of contaminants and pollutants. Stringent environmental regulation for the control of textile effluents is enforced in several countries. Previous studies showed that many techniques have been used for the treatment of textile wastewater, such as adsorption, biological treatment, oxidation, coagulation and/or flocculation, among them coagulation is one of the most commonly used techniques. Electrocoagulation is a process consisting in creating metallic hydroxide flocks within the wastewater by the electrodissolution of soluble anodes, usually made of iron or aluminium. This method has been practiced for most of the 20th century with limited success. In recent years, however, it started to regain importance with the progress of the electrochemical processes and the increase in environmental restrictions in effluent wastewater. This paper examines the use of electrocoagulation treatment process followed by nanofiltration process of a textile effluent sample. The electrocoagulation process was studied under several conditions such as various current densities and effect of experimental tense. Efficiencies of COD and turbidity reductions and colour removal were studied for each experiment. The electrochemical treatment was indented primarily to remove colour and COD of wastewater while nanofiltration was used to further improve the removal efficiency of the colour, COD, conductivity, alkalinity and total dissolved solids (TDS). The experimental results, throughout the present study, have indicated that electrocoagulation treatment followed by nanofiltration processes were very effective and were capable of elevating quality of the treated textile wastewater effluent.

Food-processes wastewaters treatment using food solid-waste materials as adsorbents or absorbents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapti, Ilaira; Georgopoulos, Stavros; Antonopoulou, Maria; Konstantinou, Ioannis; Papadaki, Maria

2016-04-01

The wastewaters generated by olive-mills during the production of olive oil, wastewaters from a dairy and a cow-farm unit and wastewaters from a small food factory have been treated by means of selected materials, either by-products of the same units, or other solid waste, as absorbents or adsorbents in order to identify the capacity of those materials to remove organic load and toxicity from the aforementioned wastewaters. The potential of both the materials used as absorbents as well as the treated wastewaters to be further used either as fertilizers or for agricultural irrigation purposes are examined. Dry olive leaves, sheep wool, rice husks, etc. were used either in a fixed-bed or in a stirred batch arrangemen,t employing different initial concentrations of the aforementioned wastewaters. The efficiency of removal was assessed using scpectrophotometric methods and allium test phytotoxicity measurements. In this presentation the response of each material employed is shown as a function of absorbent/adsorbent quantity and kind, treatment time and wastewater kind and initial organic load. Preliminary results on the potential uses of the adsorbents/absorbents and the treated wastewaters are also shown. Keywords: Olive-mill wastewaters, dairy farm wastewaters, olive leaves, zeolite, sheep wool

Biological treatment of wastewaters from a dye manufacturing company using a trickling filter.

PubMed

Kornaros, M; Lyberatos, G

2006-08-10

The aim of this work was to assess the effectiveness of a biological trickling filter for the treatment of wastewaters produced by a company manufacturing organic dyes and varnishes. The combined wastewater effluent was fed to a pilot-scale trickling filter in two feeding modes, continuously and as a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The biodegradability of the diluted wastewaters that were subjected to physicochemical treatment, using Ca(OH)(2) and FeSO(4), was initially studied using a continuously operated trickling filter. The system efficiency ranged up to 60-70% for a hydraulic loading of 1.1 m(3)/m(2)day and up to 80-85% for a hydraulic loading 0.6 m(3)/m(2)day. A stable chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 60-70% was achieved even in the case of undiluted wastewater at a hydraulic loading of 1.1 m(3)/m(2)day. The effectiveness of biological treatment of a mixture of the company's main wastewater streams was also examined. The microorganisms developed in the trickling filter were able to efficiently remove COD levels up to 36,000 mg/L, under aerobic conditions at pH values between 5.5 and 8.0. Depending on the operating conditions of the system, about 30-60% of the total COD removal was attributed to air stripping caused by the air supply at the bottom of the filter, whereas the rest of the COD was clearly removed through biological action. The proposed biological treatment process based on a trickling filter, which was operated either continuously or even better in an SBR mode, appears as a promising pretreatment step for coping with dye manufacturing wastewaters in terms of removing a significant portion of the organic content.

Effect of White Charcoal on COD Reduction in Wastewater Treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pijarn, Nuchanaporn; Butsee, Manipa; Buakul, Kanokwan; Seng, Hasan; Sribuarai, Tinnphat; Phonprasert, Pongtep; Taneeto, Kla; Atthameth, Prasertsil

2017-06-01

The objective of this study is to compare the COD reduction in wastewater between using coconut shell and coconut spathe white charcoal from Khlong Wat NongPra-Ong, Krathumbaen, SamutSakhon province, Thailand. The waste water samples were collected using composite sampling method. The experimental section can be divided into 2 parts. The first part was study the optimum of COD adsorption time using both white charcoals. The second part was study the optimum amount of white charcoal for chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction. The pre-treatment of wastewater was examined in parameters include temperature, alkalinity (pH), conductivity, turbidity, suspended solid (SS), total dissolved solid (TDS), and COD. The results show that both white charcoals can reduce COD of wastewater. The pH of pre-treatment wastewater had pH 9 but post-treatment wastewaters using both white charcoals have pH 8. The COD of pre-treatment wastewater had COD as 258 mg/L but post-treatment wastewater using coconut shell white charcoal had COD steady at 40 mg/L in 30 min and the amount of white charcoals 4 g. The COD of post-treatment wastewater using coconut spathe white charcoal had COD steady at 71 mg/L in 30 min and the amount of white charcoals 4 g. Therefore comparison of COD reduction between coconut shell white charcoal versus coconut spathe white charcoal found that the coconut shell white charcoal had efficiency for COD reduction better than coconut spathe white charcoal.

Nitrification of an industrial wastewater in a moving-bed biofilm reactor: effect of salt concentration.

PubMed

Vendramel, Simone; Dezotti, Marcia; Sant'Anna, Geraldo L

2011-01-01

Nitrification of wastewaters from chemical industries can pose some challenges due to the presence of inhibitory compounds. Some wastewaters, besides their organic complexity present variable levels of salt concentration. In order to investigate the effect of salt (NaCl) content on the nitrification of a conventional biologically treated industrial wastewater, a bench scale moving-bed biofilm reactor was operated on a sequencing batch mode. The wastewater presenting a chloride content of 0.05 g l(-1) was supplemented with NaCl up to 12 g Cl(-) l(-1). The reactor operation cycle was: filling (5 min), aeration (12 or 24h), settling (5 min) and drawing (5 min). Each experimental run was conducted for 3 to 6 months to address problems related to the inherent wastewater variability and process stabilization. A PLC system assured automatic operation and control of the pertinent process variables. Data obtained from selected batch experiments were adjusted by a kinetic model, which considered ammonia, nitrite and nitrate variations. The average performance results indicated that nitrification efficiency was not influenced by chloride content in the range of 0.05 to 6 g Cl(-) l(-1) and remained around 90%. When the chloride content was 12 g Cl(-) l(-1), a significant drop in the nitrification efficiency was observed, even operating with a reaction period of 24 h. Also, a negative effect of the wastewater organic matter content on nitrification efficiency was observed, which was probably caused by growth of heterotrophs in detriment of autotrophs and nitrification inhibition by residual chemicals.

Preparative isolation, fast centrifugal partition chromatography purification and biological activity of cajaflavanone from Derris ferruginea stems.

PubMed

Morel, Sylvie; Landreau, Anne; Nguyen, Van Hung; Derbré, Séverine; Grellier, Philippe; Pape, Patrice Le; Pagniez, Fabrice; Litaudon, Marc; Richomme, Pascal

2012-01-01

The Derris genus is known to contain flavonoid derivatives, including prenylated flavanones and isoflavonoids such as rotenoids, which are generally associated with significant biological activity. To develop an efficient preparative isolation procedure for bioactive cajaflavanone. Fast centrifugal partition chromatography (FCPC) was optimised to purify cajaflavanone from Derris ferruginea stems in a single step as compared to fractionation from the cyclohexane extract by successive conventional solid-liquid chromatography procedures. The purification yield, purity, time and solvent consumption per procedure are described. The anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-leishmanial, anti-plasmodial, anti-oxidant activities and the inhibition of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) by cajaflavanone accumulation are described. FCPC enabled cajaflavanone purification in a single separation step, yielding sufficient quantities to perform in vitro biological screening. Interestingly, cajaflavanone had an inhibitory effect on the formation of AGEs, without displaying any in vitro anti-oxidant activity. A simple and efficient procedure, in comparison with other preparative methods, for bioactive cajaflavone purification has been developed using FCPC. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development of a preprototype times wastewater recovery subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roebelen, G. J., Jr.; Dehner, G. F.

1982-01-01

A three-man wastewater recovery preprototype subsystem using a hollow fiber membrane evaporator with a thermoelectric heat pump to provide efficient potable water recovery from wastewater on extended duration space flights was designed, fabricated, and tested at one-gravity. Low power, compactness and gravity insensitive operation are featured in this vacuum distillation subsystem. The tubular hollow fiber elements provide positive liquid/gas phase control with no moving parts, and provide structural integrity, improving on previous flat sheet membrane designs. A thermoelectric heat pump provides latent energy recovery. Application and integration of these key elements solved problems inherent in all previous reclamation subsystem designs.

Pulsed corona discharge for improving treatability of coking wastewater.

PubMed

Liu, Ming; Preis, Sergei; Kornev, Iakov; Hu, Yun; Wei, Chao-Hai

2018-02-01

Coking wastewater (CW) contains toxic and macromolecular substances that inhibit biological treatment. The refractory compounds remaining in biologically treated coking wastewater (BTCW) provide chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color levels that make it unacceptable for reuse or disposal. Gas-phase pulsed corona discharge (PCD) utilizing mostly hydroxyl radicals and ozone as oxidants was applied to both raw coking wastewater (RCW) and BTCW wastewater as a supplemental treatment. The energy efficiency of COD, phenol, thiocyanate and cyanide degradation by PCD was the subject of the research. The cost-effective removal of intermediate oxidation products with addition of lime was also studied. The energy efficiency of oxidation was inversely proportional to the pulse repetition frequency: lower frequency allows more effective utilization of ozone at longer treatment times. Oxidative treatment of RCW showed the removal of phenol and thiocyanate at 800 pulses per second from 611 to 227mg/L and from 348 to 86mg/L, respectively, at 42kWh/m 3 delivered energy, with substantial improvement in the BOD 5 /COD ratio (from 0.14 to 0.43). The COD and color of BTCW were removed by 30% and 93%, respectively, at 20kWh/m 3 , showing energy efficiency for the PCD treatment exceeding that of conventional ozonation by a factor of 3-4. Application of lime appeared to be an effective supplement to the PCD treatment of RCW, degrading COD by about 28% at an energy input of 28kWh/m 3 and the lime dose of 3.0kg/m 3 . The improvement of RCW treatability is attributed to the degradation of toxic substances and fragmentation of macromolecular compounds. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

An innovative integrated oxidation ditch with vertical circle (IODVC) for wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Xia, Shi-bin; Liu, Jun-xin

2004-01-01

The oxidation ditch process is economic and efficient for wastewater treatment, but its application is limited in case where land is costly due to its large land area required. An innovative integrated oxidation ditch with vertical circle (IODVC) system was developed to treat domestic and industrial wastewater aiming to save land area. The new system consists of a single-channel divided into two ditches(the top one and the bottom one by a plate), a brush, and an innovative integral clarifier. Different from the horizontal circle of the conventional oxidation ditch, the flow of IODVC system recycles from the top zone to the bottom zone in the vertical circle as the brush is running, and then the IODVC saved land area required by about 50% compared with a conventional oxidation ditch with an intrachannel clarifier. The innovative integral clarifier is effective for separation of liquid and solids, and is preferably positioned at the opposite end of the brush in the ditch. It does not affect the hydrodynamic characteristics of the mixed liquor in the ditch, and the sludge can automatically return to the down ditch without any pump. In this study, experiments of domestic and dye wastewater treatment were carried out in bench scale and in full scale, respectively. Results clearly showed that the IODVC efficiently removed pollutants in the wastewaters, i.e., the average of COD removals for domestic and dye wastewater treatment were 95% and 90%, respectively, and that the IODVC process may provide a cost effective way for full scale dye wastewater treatment.

Treatment of winery wastewater by physicochemical, biological and advanced processes: a review.

PubMed

Ioannou, L A; Li Puma, G; Fatta-Kassinos, D

2015-04-09

Winery wastewater is a major waste stream resulting from numerous cleaning operations that occur during the production stages of wine. The resulting effluent contains various organic and inorganic contaminants and its environmental impact is notable, mainly due to its high organic/inorganic load, the large volumes produced and its seasonal variability. Several processes for the treatment of winery wastewater are currently available, but the development of alternative treatment methods is necessary in order to (i) maximize the efficiency and flexibility of the treatment process to meet the discharge requirements for winery effluents, and (ii) decrease both the environmental footprint, as well as the investment/operational costs of the process. This review, presents the state-of-the-art of the processes currently applied and/or tested for the treatment of winery wastewater, which were divided into five categories: i.e., physicochemical, biological, membrane filtration and separation, advanced oxidation processes, and combined biological and advanced oxidation processes. The advantages and disadvantages, as well as the main parameters/factors affecting the efficiency of winery wastewater treatment are discussed. Both bench- and pilot/industrial-scale processes have been considered for this review. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Strong ion exchange in centrifugal partition extraction (SIX-CPE): effect of partition cell design and dimensions on purification process efficiency.

PubMed

Hamzaoui, Mahmoud; Hubert, Jane; Reynaud, Romain; Marchal, Luc; Foucault, Alain; Renault, Jean-Hugues

2012-07-20

The aim of this article was to evaluate the influence of the column design of a hydrostatic support-free liquid-liquid chromatography device on the process efficiency when the strong ion-exchange (SIX) development mode is used. The purification of p-hydroxybenzylglucosinolate (sinalbin) from a crude aqueous extract of white mustard seeds (Sinapis alba L.) was achieved on two types of devices: a centrifugal partition chromatograph (CPC) and a centrifugal partition extractor (CPE). They differ in the number, volume and geometry of their partition cells. The SIX-CPE process was evaluated in terms of productivity and sinalbin purification capability as compared to previously optimized SIX-CPC protocols that were carried out on columns of 200 mL and 5700 mL inner volume, respectively. The objective was to determine whether the decrease in partition cell number, the increase in their volume and the use of a "twin cell" design would induce a significant increase in productivity by applying higher mobile phase flow rate while maintaining a constant separation quality. 4.6g of sinalbin (92% recovery) were isolated from 25 g of a crude white mustard seed extract, in only 32 min and with a purity of 94.7%, thus corresponding to a productivity of 28 g per hour and per liter of column volume (g/h/LV(c)). Therefore, the SIX-CPE process demonstrates promising industrial technology transfer perspectives for the large-scale isolation of ionized natural products. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An integrated anaerobic digestion and UV photocatalytic treatment of distillery wastewater.

PubMed

Apollo, Seth; Onyango, Maurice S; Ochieng, Aoyi

2013-10-15

Anaerobic up-flow fixed bed reactor and annular photocatalytic reactor were used to study the efficiency of integrated anaerobic digestion (AD) and ultraviolet (UV) photodegradation of real distillery effluent and raw molasses wastewater (MWW). It was found that UV photodegradation as a stand-alone technique achieved colour removal of 54% and 69% for the distillery and MWW, respectively, with a COD reduction of <20% and a negligible BOD reduction. On the other hand, AD as a single treatment technique was found to be effective in COD and BOD reduction with efficiencies of above 75% and 85%, respectively, for both wastewater samples. However, the AD achieved low colour removal efficiency, with an increase in colour intensity of 13% recorded when treating MWW while a colour removal of 51% was achieved for the distillery effluent. The application of UV photodegradation as a pre-treatment method to the AD process reduced the COD removal and biogas production efficiency. However, an integration in which UV photodegradation was employed as a post-treatment to the AD process achieved high COD removal of above 85% for both wastewater samples, and colour removal of 88% for the distillery effluent. Thus, photodegradation can be employed as a post-treatment technique to an AD system treating distillery effluent for complete removal of the biorecalcitrant and colour imparting compounds. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tandem SUMO fusion vectors for improving soluble protein expression and purification.

PubMed

Guerrero, Fernando; Ciragan, Annika; Iwaï, Hideo

2015-12-01

Availability of highly purified proteins in quantity is crucial for detailed biochemical and structural investigations. Fusion tags are versatile tools to facilitate efficient protein purification and to improve soluble overexpression of proteins. Various purification and fusion tags have been widely used for overexpression in Escherichia coli. However, these tags might interfere with biological functions and/or structural investigations of the protein of interest. Therefore, an additional purification step to remove fusion tags by proteolytic digestion might be required. Here, we describe a set of new vectors in which yeast SUMO (SMT3) was used as the highly specific recognition sequence of ubiquitin-like protease 1, together with other commonly used solubility enhancing proteins, such as glutathione S-transferase, maltose binding protein, thioredoxin and trigger factor for optimizing soluble expression of protein of interest. This tandem SUMO (T-SUMO) fusion system was tested for soluble expression of the C-terminal domain of TonB from different organisms and for the antiviral protein scytovirin. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Purification-Free, Target-Selective Immobilization of a Protein from Cell Lysates.

PubMed

Cha, Jaehyun; Kwon, Inchan

2018-02-27

Protein immobilization has been widely used for laboratory experiments and industrial processes. Preparation of a recombinant protein for immobilization usually requires laborious and expensive purification steps. Here, a novel purification-free, target-selective immobilization technique of a protein from cell lysates is reported. Purification steps are skipped by immobilizing a target protein containing a clickable non-natural amino acid (p-azidophenylalanine) in cell lysates onto alkyne-functionalized solid supports via bioorthogonal azide-alkyne cycloaddition. In order to achieve a target protein-selective immobilization, p-azidophenylalanine was introduced into an exogenous target protein, but not into endogenous non-target proteins using host cells with amber codon-free genomic DNAs. Immobilization of superfolder fluorescent protein (sfGFP) from cell lysates is as efficient as that of the purified sfGFP. Using two fluorescent proteins (sfGFP and mCherry), the authors also demonstrated that the target proteins are immobilized with a minimal immobilization of non-target proteins (target-selective immobilization). © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nutrient Removal from Wastewater Using Microalgae: A Kinetic Evaluation and Lipid Analysis.

PubMed

Babu, Anjana; Katam, Keerthi; Gundupalli, Marttin Paulraj; Bhattacharyya, Debraj

2018-06-01

  The objective of this study was to examine the performance of mixed microalgal bioreactors in treating three different types of wastewaters-kitchen wastewater (KWW), palm oil mill effluent (POME), and pharmaceutical wastewater (PWW) in semi-continuous mode and to analyze the lipid content in the harvested algal biomass. The reactors were monitored for total nitrogen and phosphate removal at eight solid retention times (SRTs): 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 days. The nutrient uptake kinetic parameters were quantified using linearized Michaelis-Menten and Monod models at steady-state conditions. The nutrient removal efficiency and lipid production were found to be higher in KWW when compared with the other wastewaters. Saturated fatty acids (C16:0, C18:0, and C18:1) accounted for more than 60% of the algal fatty acids for all the wastewaters. The lipid is, therefore, considered suitable for synthesizing biodiesel.

Optimized Expression and Purification for High-Activity Preparations of Algal [FeFe]-Hydrogenase

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yacoby, I.; Tegler, L. T.; Pochekailov, S.

2012-04-01

Recombinant expression and purification of metallo-enzymes, including hydrogenases, at high-yields is challenging due to complex, and enzyme specific, post-translational maturation processes. Low fidelities of maturation result in preparations containing a significant fraction of inactive, apo-protein that are not suitable for biophysical or crystallographic studies. We describe the construction, overexpression and high-yield purification of a fusion protein consisting of the algal [2Fe2S]-ferredoxin PetF (Fd) and [FeFe]-hydrogenase HydA1. The maturation of Fd-HydA1 was optimized through improvements in culture conditions and media components used for expression. We also demonstrated that fusion of Fd to the N-terminus of HydA1, in comparison to the C-terminus,more » led to increased expression levels that were 4-fold higher. Together, these improvements led to enhanced HydA1 activity and improved yield after purification. The strong binding-affinity of Fd for DEAE allowed for two-step purification by ion exchange and StrepTactin affinity chromatography. In addition, the incorporation of a TEV protease site in the Fd-HydA1 linker allowed for the proteolytic removal of Fd after DEAE step, and purification of HydA1 alone by StrepTactin. In combination, this process resulted in HydA1 purification yields of 5 mg L{sup -1} of culture from E. coli with specific activities of 1000 U (U = 1 {micro}mol hydrogen evolved mg{sup -1} min{sup -1}). The [FeFe]-hydrogenases are highly efficient enzymes and their catalytic sites provide model structures for synthetic efforts to develop robust hydrogen activation catalysts. In order to characterize their structure-function properties in greater detail, and to use hydrogenases for biotechnological applications, reliable methods for rapid, high-yield expression and purification are required.« less

Efficient and versatile one-step affinity purification of in vivo biotinylated proteins: Expression, characterization and structure analysis of recombinant human glutamate carboxypeptidase II

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tykvart, J.; Sacha, P.; Barinka, C.

2012-02-07

Affinity purification is a useful approach for purification of recombinant proteins. Eukaryotic expression systems have become more frequently used at the expense of prokaryotic systems since they afford recombinant eukaryotic proteins with post-translational modifications similar or identical to the native ones. Here, we present a one-step affinity purification set-up suitable for the purification of secreted proteins. The set-up is based on the interaction between biotin and mutated streptavidin. Drosophila Schneider 2 cells are chosen as the expression host, and a biotin acceptor peptide is used as an affinity tag. This tag is biotinylated by Escherichia coli biotin-protein ligase in vivo.more » We determined that localization of the ligase within the ER led to the most effective in vivo biotinylation of the secreted proteins. We optimized a protocol for large-scale expression and purification of AviTEV-tagged recombinant human glutamate carboxypeptidase II (Avi-GCPII) with milligram yields per liter of culture. We also determined the 3D structure of Avi-GCPII by X-ray crystallography and compared the enzymatic characteristics of the protein to those of its non-tagged variant. These experiments confirmed that AviTEV tag does not affect the biophysical properties of its fused partner. Purification approach, developed here, provides not only a sufficient amount of highly homogenous protein but also specifically and effectively biotinylates a target protein and thus enables its subsequent visualization or immobilization.« less

Effects of L-arginine on solubilization and purification of plant membrane proteins.

PubMed

Arakawa, Junji; Uegaki, Masamichi; Ishimizu, Takeshi

2011-11-01

Biochemical analysis of membrane proteins is problematic at the level of solubilization and/or purification because of their hydrophobic nature. Here, we developed methods for efficient solubilization and purification of membrane proteins using L-arginine. The addition of 100 mM of basic amino acids (L-arginine, L-lysine, and L-ornithine) to a detergent-containing solubilization buffer enhanced solubilization (by 2.6-4.3 fold) of a model membrane protein-polygalacturonic acid synthase. Of all the amino acids, arginine was the most effective additive for solubilization of this membrane protein. Arginine addition also resulted in the best solubilization of other plant membrane proteins. Next, we examined the effects of arginine on purification of a model membrane protein. In anion-exchange chromatography, the addition of arginine to the loading and elution buffers resulted in a greater recovery of a membrane protein. In ultrafiltration, the addition of arginine to a protein solution significantly improved the recovery of a membrane protein. These results were thought to be due to the properties of arginine that prevent aggregation of hydrophobic proteins. Taken together, the results of our study showed that arginine is useful for solubilization and purification of aggregate-prone membrane proteins. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improved purification of immunoglobulin G from plasma by mixed-mode chromatography.

PubMed

Chai, Dong-Sheng; Sun, Yan; Wang, Xiao-Ning; Shi, Qing-Hong

2014-12-01

Efficient loading of immunoglobulin G in mixed-mode chromatography is often a serious bottleneck in the chromatographic purification of immunoglobulin G. In this work, a mixed-mode ligand, 4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) aniline, was coupled to Sepharose Fast Flow to fabricate AN SepFF adsorbents with ligand densities of 15-64 mmol/L, and the chromatographic performances of these adsorbents were thoroughly investigated to identify a feasible approach to improve immunoglobulin G purification. The results indicate that a critical ligand density exists for immunoglobulin G on the AN SepFF adsorbents. Above the critical ligand density, the adsorbents showed superior selectivity to immunoglobulin G at high salt concentrations, and also exhibited much higher dynamic binding capacities. For immunoglobulin G purification, both the yield and binding capacity increased with adsorbent ligand density along with a decrease in purity. It is difficult to improve the binding capacity, purity, and yield of immunoglobulin G simultaneously in AN SepFF chromatography. By using tandem AN SepFF chromatography, a threefold increase in binding capacity as well as high purity and yield of immunoglobulin G were achieved. Therefore, the tandem chromatography demonstrates that AN SepFF adsorbent is a practical and feasible alternative to MEP HyperCel adsorbents for immunoglobulin G purification. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Microalgal cultivation in wastewater from the fermentation effluent in Riboflavin (B2) manufacturing for biodiesel production.

PubMed

Sun, Xuefei; Wang, Cunwen; Li, Zihao; Wang, Weiguo; Tong, Yanjie; Wei, Jiang

2013-09-01

In this work, the acclimation of Chlorella pyrenoidosa in diluted wastewater was studied to produce biomass and remove chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia-N and phosphorous. The results indicated that the optimal conditions (the volume ratio of wastewater, light intensity, culture temperature, CO2 concentration in feeding gas) which could influence the wastewater treatment efficiency were 0.05, 250 photons m(-2) s(-1), 28 °C and 5%, respectively. Under these conditions, the removal efficiency of COD reached up to 89.2%, while the total nitrogen and total phosphorous decreased by 64.52% and 82.20%, respectively. With the second treatment, COD in the wastewater was further reduced to less than 100 mg/L while it was only reduced to 542.9 mg/L after the first treatment. The treated wastewater could be discharged directly or subjected to for further treatment for recycling. In addition, 1.25 g/L of the biomass and 38.27% (dry basis, w%) of lipid content were reached after microalgal cultivation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Current status of urban wastewater treatment plants in China.

PubMed

Zhang, Q H; Yang, W N; Ngo, H H; Guo, W S; Jin, P K; Dzakpasu, Mawuli; Yang, S J; Wang, Q; Wang, X C; Ao, D

2016-01-01

The study reported and analyzed the current state of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in urban China from the perspective of treatment technologies, pollutant removals, operating load and effluent discharge standards. By the end of 2013, 3508 WWTPs have been built in 31 provinces and cities in China with a total treatment capacity of 1.48×10(8)m(3)/d. The uneven population distribution between China's east and west regions has resulted in notably different economic development outcomes. The technologies mostly used in WWTPs are AAO and oxidation ditch, which account for over 50% of the existing WWTPs. According to statistics, the efficiencies of COD and NH3-N removal are good in 656 WWTPs in 70 cities. The overall average COD removal is over 88% with few regional differences. The average removal efficiency of NH3-N is up to 80%. Large differences exist between the operating loads applied in different WWTPs. The average operating loading rate is approximately 83%, and 52% of WWTPs operate at loadings of <80%, treating up to 40% of the wastewater generated. The implementation of discharge standards has been low. Approximately 28% of WWTPs that achieved the Grade I-A Discharge Standard of Pollutants for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant (GB 18918-2002) were constructed after 2010. The sludge treatment and recycling rates are only 25%, and approximately 15% of wastewater is inefficiently treated. Approximately 60% of WWTPs have capacities of 1×10(4)m(3)/d-5×10(4)m(3)/d. Relatively high energy consumption is required for small-scale processing, and the utilization rate of recycled wastewater is low. The challenges of WWTPs are discussed with the aim of developing rational criteria and appropriate technologies for water recycling. Suggestions regarding potential technical and administrative measures are provided. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A novel method for purification of the endogenously expressed fission yeast Set2 complex.

PubMed

Suzuki, Shota; Nagao, Koji; Obuse, Chikashi; Murakami, Yota; Takahata, Shinya

2014-05-01

Chromatin-associated proteins are heterogeneously and dynamically composed. To gain a complete understanding of DNA packaging and basic nuclear functions, it is important to generate a comprehensive inventory of these proteins. However, biochemical purification of chromatin-associated proteins is difficult and is accompanied by concerns over complex stability, protein solubility and yield. Here, we describe a new method for optimized purification of the endogenously expressed fission yeast Set2 complex, histone H3K36 methyltransferase. Using the standard centrifugation procedure for purification, approximately half of the Set2 protein separated into the insoluble chromatin pellet fraction, making it impossible to recover the large amounts of soluble Set2. To overcome this poor recovery, we developed a novel protein purification technique termed the filtration/immunoaffinity purification/mass spectrometry (FIM) method, which eliminates the need for centrifugation. Using the FIM method, in which whole cell lysates were filtered consecutively through eight different pore sizes (53-0.8μm), a high yield of soluble FLAG-tagged Set2 was obtained from fission yeast. The technique was suitable for affinity purification and produced a low background. A mass spectrometry analysis of anti-FLAG immunoprecipitated proteins revealed that Rpb1, Rpb2 and Rpb3, which have all been reported previously as components of the budding yeast Set2 complex, were isolated from fission yeast using the FIM method. In addition, other subunits of RNA polymerase II and its phosphatase were also identified. In conclusion, the FIM method is valid for the efficient purification of protein complexes that separate into the insoluble chromatin pellet fraction during centrifugation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Separation and purification of fructooligosaccharides on a zeolite fixed-bed column.

PubMed

Kuhn, Raquel Cristine; Mazutti, Marcio Antonio; Maugeri Filho, Francisco

2014-04-01

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS), a well-known prebiotic product, are obtained by enzymatic synthesis and consist of a mixture of mono- and disaccharides. In this work, a methodology for their separation and purification was developed using a zeolite fixed-bed column. The effects of column temperature (40-60°C), eluent flow rate (0.10-0.14 mL/min), injected to bed volume percent ratio (2.6-5.1%), and ethanol concentration in the eluent (40-60%, v/v) were investigated using a fractionary factorial design (2(4-1)), having the separation efficiency and purity as target responses. Additional experiments were performed as well, where the temperature and ethanol concentration were studied in a central composite design (2(2)). In this work, the zeolite fixed-bed column was shown to be a good alternative for FOS purification, allowing a FOS purity of 90% and separation efficiency of 6.86 between FOS and glucose, using an eluent at 45°C with 60% ethanol concentration. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Removal of veterinary antibiotics from wastewater by electrocoagulation.

PubMed

Baran, Wojciech; Adamek, Ewa; Jajko, Marcin; Sobczak, Andrzej

2018-03-01

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of veterinary antibiotic removal from wastewater using an electrocoagulation method. The removal efficiency of ampicillin, doxycycline, sulfathiazole and tylosin; the antibiotic degradation degree after electrolysis; and the toxicity and qualitative composition of antibiotic solutions after electrocoagulation were determined in the experiments. HPLC-QTOF was used for quantitative and qualitative determination. The eco-toxicity was assessed using the MARA ® assay. After electrocoagulation, the concentration of ampicillin, doxycycline, sulfathiazole and tylosin in wastewater decreased 3.6 ± 3.2%, ∼100%, 3.3 ± 0.4% and 3.1 ± 0.3%, respectively. Doxycycline was the only antibiotic effectively removed from wastewater during electrocoagulation. Simultaneously, part of this antibiotic underwent oxidative degradation. As a result of this process, the eco-toxicity in the reaction environment decreased. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Simultaneous enzymatic hydrolysis and anaerobic biodegradation of lipid-rich wastewater from poultry industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dors, Gisanara; Mendes, Adriano A.; Pereira, Ernandes B.; de Castro, Heizir F.; Furigo, Agenor

2013-03-01

Simultaneous enzymatic hydrolysis and anaerobic biodegradation of lipid-rich wastewater from poultry industry with porcine pancreatic lipase at different concentrations (from 1.0 to 3.0 g L-1) were performed. The efficiency of the enzymatic pretreatment was measured by the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal and formation of methane. All samples pretreated with lipase showed a positive effect on the COD removal and formation of methane. After 30 days of anaerobic biodegradation the methane production varied from 569 ± 95 to 1,101 ± 10 mL for crude wastewater and pretreated at 3.0 g L-1 enzyme, respectively. COD removal of wastewater supplemented at different enzyme concentrations was found to be threefold higher than crude wastewater. The use of lipases seems to be a promising alternative for treating lipid-rich wastewaters such as those from the poultry industry.

Graphene-Based Standalone Solar Energy Converter for Water Desalination and Purification.

PubMed

Yang, Yang; Zhao, Ruiqi; Zhang, Tengfei; Zhao, Kai; Xiao, Peishuang; Ma, Yanfeng; Ajayan, Pulickel M; Shi, Gaoquan; Chen, Yongsheng

2018-01-23

Harvesting solar energy for desalination and sewage treatment has been considered as a promising solution to produce clean water. However, state-of-the-art technologies often require optical concentrators and complicated systems with multiple components, leading to poor efficiency and high cost. Here, we demonstrate an extremely simple and standalone solar energy converter consisting of only an as-prepared 3D cross-linked honeycomb graphene foam material without any other supporting components. This simple all-in-one material can act as an ideal solar thermal converter capable of capturing and converting sunlight into heat, which in turn can distill water from various water sources into steam and produce purified water under ambient conditions and low solar flux with very high efficiency. High specific water production rate of 2.6 kg h -1 m -2 g -1 was achieved with near ∼87% under 1 sun intensity and >80% efficiency even under ambient sunlight (<1 sun). This scalable sheet-like material was used to obtain pure drinkable water from both seawater and sewage water under ambient conditions. Our results demonstrate a competent monolithic material platform providing a paradigm change in water purification by using a simple, point of use, reusable, and low-cost solar thermal water purification system for a variety of environmental conditions.

An integrated approach for monitoring efficiency and investments of activated sludge-based wastewater treatment plants at large spatial scale.