Enzymatic degradation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in aquatic plants and relations to biological Fenton reaction

In order to evaluate the removal performance of trace phenolic endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) by aquatic plants, batch and continuous experiments were conducted using floating and submerged plants. The EDCs used in this study were bisphenol A, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 4-tert-octylphenol, pentachlorophenol, and nonylphenol. The feed concentration of each EDC was set at 100 μg/L. Continuous experiments showed that every EDC except pentachlorophenol was efficiently removed by different aquatic plants through the following reaction, catalyzed by peroxidases: EDCs+H(2)O(2)→Products+H(2)O(2). Peroxidases were able to remove phenolic EDCs in the presence of H(2)O(2) over a wide pH range (from 3 to 9). Histochemical localization of peroxidases showed that they were located in every part of the root cells, while highly concentrated zones were observed in the epidermis and in the vascular tissues. Although pentachlorophenol was not removed in the continuous treatment, it was rapidly removed by different aquatic plants when Fe(2+) was added, and this removal occurred simultaneously with the consumption of endogenous H(2)O(2). These results demonstrated the occurrence of a biological Fenton reaction and the importance of H(2)O(2) as a key endogenous substance in the treatment of EDCs and refractory toxic pollutants.     

Preparation of three-bore hollow fiber charged nanofiltration membrane for separation of organics and salts

Three-bore hollow fiber charged nanofiltration (NF) membrane was prepared by interfacial polymerization (IP). The results showed that the flux and rejection of NF membrane prepared in this study increased with the increasing in the operating pressure. The water flux decreased and rejection for obvious dyes increased as the solute concentration increased. The separation factor for mixture of Xylenol orange/NaCl decreased when NaCl concentration in solution increased and could reach to as high as 18. In addition, three-bore hollow fiber charged nanofiltration membrane prepared in this study has excellent stability for strong acid (pH = 3), strong alkali (pH = 11) and high temperature solution (80 °C).     

Transport of target anions, chromate (Cr (VI)), arsenate (As (V)), and perchlorate (ClO4-), through RO, NF, and UF membranes.

Rejection and transport of chromate (Cr (VI)), arsenate (As (V)), and perchlorate (ClO4-) by and through reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, and ultrafiltration were found to be affected by solution pH and ionic strength. In this study, the rejection of these target ionic contaminants increased with increasing pH at the same conductivity (ionic strength) for the tested membranes, regardless of salt type. General trends showed that the rejection followed the order: CaCl2 < KCl < or = K2SO4, at the same pH and conductivity condition. The rejection also significantly decreased as conductivity was increased regardless of the salt type. These results support the notion that a more negative surface charge due to increasing pH and/or decreasing ionic strength (conductivity) enhances rejection; lower molecular weight cut-off also enhances rejection. Measured values of hindered diffusion coefficient through the membrane pores (Dp) for the target contaminants significantly decreased as pH was increased, regardless of salt type at the same conductivity. At the same pH and conductivity, the Dp of the target contaminants follows the order: CaCl2 > KCl > K2SO4, in the presence of different types of salts. The Dp of the target contaminants significantly increased as conductivity was increased regardless of the salt type. The rejection data were modeled by application of a non-equilibrium thermodynamic model. The rejection model has five transport parameters: the molecular transport coefficient (omega), osmotic pressure gradient (deltaII), molecular reflection coefficient (sigma), the average bulk fluid interfacial concentration between the feed and permeate side (C(avg)), and the solvent flux (Jv). The transport parameters were determined by independent measurements (and calculation with minimum assumptions.) Measurements and predictions of the target contaminant transport were in good agreement.     

Nanofiltration process of glyphosate simulated wastewater

Nanofiltration separation of glyphosate simulated wastewater was investigated using a DK membrane. The effects of operating parameters and the addition of impurities on membrane performance were studied in detail. It was found that at 20 °C, with a glyphosate concentration of 500 mg/L and pH of 2.96, the glyphosate retention rate and the membrane permeate flux increased slightly with increasing transmembrane pressure. With an increase in operating temperature, the permeate flux increased linearly while the retention rate decreased. The permeate flux and glyphosate retention rate decreased with increasing feed concentration. Within the pH range of 3-5, the glyphosate retention rate decreases with increasing pH and reaches a minimum at the isoelectric point of the membrane, while the permeate flux reaches a maximum level at this point. In the pH range of 5-11, with the increases of pH, the glyphosate retention rate increases and the permeate flux decreases. Glyphosate retention decreases slightly with increasing NaCl and phosphite concentrations. This can be explained in terms of the shielding phenomenon.     

Chlorophenols identification in water using an electronic nose and ANNs (artificial neural networks) classification.

Electronic artificial noses are being developed as systems for the automated detection and classification of odours, vapors and gases. In the food industry, such devices are used as aids for quality control or process-monitoring tools. An electronic nose (EN) is generally composed of a chemical sensing system and a pattern recognition system (e.g. artificial neural network). An EN based on a non-specific conducting polymer array was used to monitor chlorophenols in water samples. Operational parameters for the EN were optimized by a Plackett-Burman factorial design. The experimental parameters studied were: sample volume, platen temperature, sample equilibration time, loop fill time, sample pressurization time and injection time. Optimal experimental conditions were applied to chlorophenols determination and differentiation in ultrapure water samples spiked with the EPA listed chlorophenols. Data analysis was carried out using principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict the chlorophenols presence in water samples. The obtained results showed that it was possible to differentiate the five chlorophenol groups: monochlorophenol, dichlorophenol, trichlorophenol, tetrachlorophenol and pentachlorophenol. Differentiation of chlorophenol groups was based on Mahalanobis distance between the formed clusters. This Mahalanobis distance is designated by the Quality Factor, a value >2 for this quality factor means a good differentiation between the clusters.     

Post-treatment of biologically treated wastewater of agrochemical industry by sulfated chitosan composite nanofiltration membrane

The objective of this study is to treat the biologically treated wastewater using sulfated chitosan/ polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite nanofiltration (NF) membrane to improve agrochemical industry wastewater quality for reuse. Although biological treatment is quite efficient, the wastewater does not meet the reuse criteria. Hence, further treatment to improve the water quality is investigated. Sulfated chitosan composite NF membranes, having a PAN ultrafiltration membrane as the substrate, are prepared by coating and cross-linking methods. The effects of membrane preparation conditions on the rejection and permeation performance of the membranes are studied. The new membranes are characterized by NMR and scanning electron micrograph. Wastewater from agrochemical industry contains high concentrations of organic matter, color, heavy metals and other toxic substances. The operating variables studied are applied pressure (3-15 atm) and feed flowrate (4-16 L/min). It is found that the observed rejection (R(o)) increases with increase in feed pressure at constant feed flowrate. The rejection of cations follows the sequence: R(o)(Zn2+) > R(o)(Ni2+) > R(o)(CU2+) > R(o)(Cd2+) for wastewater. It is observed that the order of solute rejection sequence is inversely proportional to the diffusion coefficients.     

Spatially variable effects of streamflow on water temperature and thermal sensitivity within a salmon-bearing watershed in interior British Columbia,Canada

Warming temperatures can have negative consequences for aquatic organisms, especially cold-adapted fishes such as Pacific salmon. The magnitude of warming is related to the thermal sensitivity of streams in salmon-bearing watersheds (i.e., change in stream temperature for every 1°C increase in air temperature), which can vary based on several factors including streamflow. Management actions to increase streamflow may therefore benefit salmon by decreasing thermal sensitivity. However, the effects of streamflow on thermal sensitivity are often complex, as the temperature of flow inputs can directly increase or decrease temperatures. This study aimed to disentangle the influence of streamflow on thermal sensitivity and stream temperature over 4 years in the Nicola River, a regulated semiarid watershed in south-central British Columbia, Canada. A statistical modeling approach was used to estimate streamflow effects on stream temperatures and thermal sensitivity (i.e., relationship of regional air temperature to stream temperature) at 12 sites from 2018 to 2021. Streamflow had a variable influence on stream temperatures across the watershed via both direct effects and by modulating thermal sensitivity. At a given site, streamflow was generally negatively associated with summer daily mean stream temperature, but the magnitude of its influence varied among locations and years. The influence of streamflow on thermal sensitivity was also highly variable both spatially and temporally. The analysis suggests that there may be complex relationships between streamflow, stream temperature, and thermal sensitivity, which complicates the efficacy of flow as a lever to mitigate high temperatures in regulated systems.     

活性污泥胞外聚合物EPS的影响因素研究

胞外聚合物EPS对活性污泥的表面特性、生物絮凝、沉降及脱水性能等具有重要的影响,主要对污泥负荷Ns,DO,温度,Ca2+,pH及废水水质等因素对EPS的影响进行了研究。试验结果表明:Ns,pH及废水水质对EPS的含量、成分有显著的影响;DO,温度对EPS的影响较小;同时随着进水Ca2+浓度的增加,污泥的EPS,脱氢酶及OUR增加。     

Electrocoagulative treatment of mercury containing aqueous solutions

In recent years, electrocoagulation has been successfully used for wastewater treatment and is efficient in heavy metal ions removal. In the present work, electrocoagulation has been used for the removal of Hg(II) from synthetic wastewaters containing up to 20 mg/L of mercury. The electrode materials used are stainless steel (SS) and aluminum (Al). The effects of operating parameters, viz., current density, time of electrocoagulation, distance between electrodes, initial pH of the solution, presence of electrolyte in the solution and temperature have been studied. It was observed that more than 99% Hg(II) removal can be achieved by keeping the distance between SS and Al electrodes from 2 to 6 cm and initial pH range from 3 to 7. The results show that the pseudo second-order kinetics fits the data well. Also, preliminary cost estimation was reported.     

絮凝法处理斑点叉尾鱼回鱼宰杀废水的研究

通过比较不同絮凝剂对斑点叉尾鱼回鱼宰杀废水的处理效果,得出聚合硫酸铁(PFS)的絮凝效果最佳的结论。并且研究了静置时间、pH值,聚合硫酸铁用量,搅拌时间和温度对处理斑点叉尾鱼回鱼宰杀废水絮凝效果的影响,得出最佳絮凝条件为:静置时间4 h,pH值为9,聚铁用量6 g/L,搅拌时间6min,温度20℃。此时蛋白质,CODCr及SS的去处率分别达到了91.65%,88.42%和99.30%。     

Effect of alternating and direct current in an electrocoagulation process on the removal of cadmium from water

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of AC and DC on the removal of cadmium from water using iron as anode and cathode. The various operating parameters on the removal efficiency of cadmium were investigated. The results showed that the optimum removal efficiency of 98.1 and 97.3% with the energy consumption of 0.734 and 1.413 kWh/kL was achieved at a current density of 0.2 A/dm(2), at pH of 7.0 using AC and DC respectively. The adsorption process follows second order kinetics and the temperature studies showed that adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous in nature.     

Determination and occurrence of organic micropollutants in reverse osmosis treatment for advanced water reuse

The growing demand on water resources has increased the interest in wastewater reclamation for multiple end-use applications such as indirect and direct potable reuse. In these applications, the removal of organic micropollutants is of a greater concern than in conventional wastewater treatment. This article presents a collection of data of trace organic micropollutants in an urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in North East Spain using reverse osmosis (RO) membrane treatment. The RO rejection values of the organic molecules studied with a wide range of solute size and hydrophobicity were determined. Several chromatographic methods monitoring different endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were used. Results indicated that secondary effluents from this Spanish WWTP contained most of the studied organic compounds indicating incomplete removal of organics in the conventional treatment of the plant. However, the rejection of most micropollutants was high for all three RO membrane types (low energy, high rejection, fouling resistant) tested. It was observed that some selected micropollutants were less efficiently removed (e.g. the small and polar and the more hydrophobic) and the molecular weight and membrane material influenced removal efficiencies.     

温度影响下水电站引水隧洞围岩参数试验研究

为了分析岩体热力学参数随温度的变化机制,以某引水隧洞花岗岩为研究对象,通过室内试验分别对岩石的导热系数、比热、热膨胀系数、弹性模量和泊松比等主要热力学参数进行了量测,并对其变化机制进行分析。研究结果表明:(1)花岗岩导热系数随温度变化呈近似抛物线形式,临界温度约为20℃,且低温对导热系数的影响程度较高温时大;(2)在温度变化的条件下,花岗岩比热和热膨胀系数均随温度的升高而增大,具有很好的线性相关性;(3)花岗岩弹性模量随温度的升高大致呈负指数降低;(4)花岗岩泊松比随温度的升高而增大,具有很好的线性相关性;(5)岩石随着温度的变化存在四种效应,即冰融蒸发效应、热胀效应、矿物质变质效应、内部黏结强度减弱效应。     

Multiple responses analysis and modeling of Fenton process for treatment of high strength landfill leachate

Landfill leachate is one of the most recalcitrant wastes for biotreatment and can be considered a potential source of contamination to surface and groundwater ecosystems. In the present study, Fenton oxidation was employed for degradation of stabilized landfill leachate. Response surface methodology was applied to analyze, model and optimize the process parameters, i.e. pH and reaction time as well as the initial concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and ferrous ion. Analysis of variance showed that good coefficients of determination were obtained (R2 > 0.99), thus ensuring satisfactory agreement of the second-order regression model with the experimental data. The results indicated that, pH and its quadratic effects were the main factors influencing Fenton oxidation. Furthermore, antagonistic effects between pH and other variables were observed. The optimum H2O2 concentration, Fe(II) concentration, pH and reaction time were 0.033 mol/L, 0.011 mol/L, 3 and 145 min, respectively, with 58.3% COD, 79.0% color and 82.1% iron removals.     

Electrochemical treatment of Baker's yeast wastewater containing melanoidin: optimization through response surface methodology

Effluents from Baker's yeast production plant contain a high percentage of color and a large amount of organic load. In the present study, Baker's yeast wastewater (BYW) is treated with the electrocoagulation (EC) process using Al electrodes. Operating parameters (pH, current density, color intensity and operating time) are optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). Quadratic models are developed for the responses which are removal efficiencies of color, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) and operating cost (OC). Optimum operating parameters and responses are determined as initial pH 5.2, current density of 61.3 A/m(2) and operation time of 33 min, and 71% of color, 24% of COD, 24% of TOC removal efficiencies and OC of 0.869 €/m(3), respectively. The quadratic model fits for all responses very well with R(2) (>0.95). This paper clearly shows that RSM is able to optimize the operating parameters to maximize the color, COD and TOC removal efficiencies and minimize the OC.     

Determination of processes affecting groundwater quality in the coastal aquifer beneath Puri city, India: a multivariate statistical approach

Variability of groundwater quality parameters is linked to various processes such as weathering, organic matter degradation, aerobic respiration, iron reduction, mineral dissolution and precipitation, cation exchange and mixing of salt water with fresh water. Multivariate statistical analyses such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied to the standardized data set of eleven groundwater quality parameters (i.e. pH, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Fe3+, alkalinity, NO3-, Cl-, SO4(2-), TDS) collected during the post-monsoon and the summer seasons in order to elicit hydrologic and biogeochemical processes affecting water quality in the unconfined aquifer beneath Puri city in eastern India. The application of PCA resulted in four factors explaining 73% variance in post-monsoon and 81% variance in summer. The HCA using Ward's method and squared Euclidean distance measure classified the parameters into four clusters based on their similarities. PCA and HCA allowed interpretation of processes. During both post-monsoon and summer seasons, anthropogenic pollution and organic matter degradation/Fe(III) reduction were found dominant due to contribution from on-site sanitation in septic tanks and soak pits in the city. Cation exchange and mineral precipitation were possible causes for increase in Na+ and decrease in Ca2+ concentration in summer. Fresh water recharge during monsoon and Sea water intrusion in summer are attributed as significant hydrologic processes to variations of the groundwater quality at the study site.     

基于CFD的水电站压力前池流 态特性研究

以某水电站压力前池为研究对象,采用RNG K - s瑞流模型和运用CFD ( computational fluid dynamics)方法对压力前池的流态特性进行三维数值研究。通过对水电站全甩负荷、一台机组增负荷、两台机组依次增负荷三种典型工况下压力前池流态特性的数值分析,揭示了压力前池流态分布和水位变化特性。结果表明:在全甩负荷和增负荷工况下,压力前池内虽出现回流漩涡但进水口水流流态较好、水位波动稳定,从而为压力前池水力优化设计提供了依据。     

Removal of manganese from water using combined chelation/membrane separation systems.

The addition of the chelating polymer polyacrylic acid (PAA) to assist in the removal of manganese from groundwater by membranes was investigated using membranes with different pore sizes under various operating conditions. Negligible manganese removal was achieved with the UF and NF membranes at acidic pH values, but removals exceeding 90% could be achieved at elevated pH (pH 9), presumably due to the formation of manganese hydroxides. Mn removal increased substantially when PAA was added to the feed solution, due to chelation of Mn by the PAA and rejection of the chelates by the membranes. The chelate could be broken at acidic pH, releasing free PAA that could then be separated from the Mn ions and reused. Smaller PAA molecules were lost in the first regeneration cycle, but negligible PAA was lost in subsequent cycles. In the systems with PAA, nitrate ions were rejected more efficiently than in the PAA-free systems, presumably because of electrical repulsion between nitrate ions and PAA sorbed on the membrane surface. With increasing PAA dose, the volumetric flux first decreased and then increased; the latter result was accompanied by a change in the physical-chemical form of the polymers, as indicated by an increase in turbidity.     

Electro-thermal treatment optimization of high concentration ammonia nitrogen by gaseous oxidation in liquid phase (GOLP)

This study is focused on optimizing the treatment parameters for high concentration ammonia using gaseous oxidation in liquid phase (GOLP). The conversion of ammonia was achieved electrothermally over mono-crystalline silicon supported CoOx catalyst. The experimental results demonstrated that factors including the co-anions, pH of the solutions, air flowrate and the current showed apparent influences on the ammonia removal. The higher the Cl(-) concentration and/or current, the better the efficiency of ammonia degradation. The increase of the air flowrate would increase the ammonia removal accordingly. And it was also observed that the pH declined during the ammonia conversion, and the neutral and alkaline pH were beneficial to the ammonia removal. The preliminary cost analysis based on lab data was also provided for future reference.     

Effect of operating temperature on performance of microbial fuel cell

The performance of dual chambered mediator-less microbial fuel cell (MFC) operated under batch mode was evaluated under different operating temperatures, ranging between 20 and 55 degrees C, with step increase in temperature of 5 degrees C. Synthetic wastewater with sucrose as carbon source having chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 519-555 mg/L was used in the study. Temperature was a crucial factor in the performance of MFCs for both COD removal and electricity production. The MFC demonstrated highest COD removal efficiency of 84% and power density normalized to the anode surface area of 34.38 mW/m2 at operating temperature of 40 degrees C. Higher VSS to SS ratio was observed at the operating temperature between 35 and 45 degrees C. Under different operating temperatures the observed sludge yield was in the range of 0.05 to 0.14 g VSS/g COD removed. The maximum Coulombic and energy efficiencies were obtained at 40 degrees C, with values of 7.39 and 13.14%, respectively. Internal resistance of the MFC decreased with increase in operating temperature. Maximum internal resistance of 1,150 omega was observed when the MFC was operated at 20 degrees C; whereas the minimum internal resistance (552 omega) was observed at 55 degrees C.