Inhibition kinetics of salt-affected wetland for municipal wastewater treatment

A mathematical model was developed in order to describe the system behavior and performance of a constructed wetland (CW) treatment under salt-affected conditions. The rate of biodegradation of organic wastes was modeled using the first-order kinetics while the effect of salt concentrations was accounted by growth inhibition. Experimental data were used to determine model constants of the mathematical model. The experimental units were planted with cattail (Typha angustifolia) and fed with spiked municipal wastewater. The hydraulic retention time varied from 12 to 120 h and wastewater conductivity was in the range of 4-32 mS/cm. At specified conditions the model was found to well describe the trend of the experimental data in terms of BOD removal with the Pearson correlation of 0.872. The model also permits construction of a nomograph which can be used to aid the design and prediction of CW treatment under salt-affected conditions.     

Catalytic activity and characterization of Fe–Zn–Mg–Al hydrotalcites in biohydrogen production

Four different M²⁺–Mg–Al hydrotalcite (HT) materials were investigated for their effect on biohydrogen enhancement, where M²⁺ is Fe and/or Zn. HTs were synthesized by the coprecipitation method and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The effect of Fe–Zn–Mg–Al HTs dose (0–833 mg/L) on hydrogen production was investigated in batch tests using sucrose-fed anaerobic mixed culture at 37 °C. The best catalytic activity was observed on Mg–Al HT at 167 mg/L with the maximum hydrogen yield of 2.30 ± 0.37 mol H₂/mol sucrose, which was 44% higher than the control. The major metabolites detected in the test were acetic acid (3.6 g/L), butyric acid (4.1 g/L), and lactic acid (0.5 g/L). The basic properties of the different catalysts played an important role in stimulating or inhibiting the activity of hydrogen producing bacteria. Calcined Mg–Al HT did not promote biohydrogen production, suggesting that the catalytic enhancement was related to immobilization of bacteria in the electrostatically charged HT interlayers.