Removal of selected nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds in biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater (BPCGW) using the catalytic ozonation process combined with the two-stage membrane bioreactor (MBR)

A critical review on saline wastewater treatment by membrane bioreactor (MBR) from a microbial perspective

This work has reviewed from a microbial perspective and listed the typical studies on MBR techniques for saline wastewater treatments. When the salinity of influent is lower than 10 g/L NaCl, conventional MBR can be easily applied with adjusted operating conditions. For better biodegradation and anti-fouling ability at higher salinities (10-100 g/L), modified and hybrid MBR systems may need to be wisely designed according to the change in the microbial community and contents of EPS/SMP. To treat hypersaline wastewaters with salinities of up to 100 g/L NaCl, inoculation of halophilic bacteria has been applied in MBR works. Microbial community structures in some typical works have been discussed from a microbial perspective to benefit the identification and isolation of halophilic bacteria for future works. The following aspects are also suggested in future MBR research for saline wastewater treatment: (1) The structure design of MBR and the manufacture of advanced membranes; (2) The maintenance of the microbial biodiversity for anti-membrane fouling; (3) The metabolic mechanism for halophilic (or salt-tolerant) microorganisms against salinity shocks; (4) The revolution stage and process of microorganisms during saline wastewater treatment in MBR; (5) The effects of characteristics (cell structure, shape and metabolic pathways) of microorganisms on the salt tolerance; (6) Applying halophilic microorganisms for salinities over 150 g/L NaCl.

Anaerobic bioaugmentation hydrolysis of selected nitrogen heterocyclic compound in coal gasification wastewater

Anaerobic bottle experiments were conducted in parallel for 120 consecutive days to perform the bioaugmentation hydrolysis of selected nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (NHCs) in coal gasification wastewater. Due to enhancement with PAC and Fe(OH)₃@PAC, quinoline, pyridine, and indole were hydrolyzed more effectively. The addition of PAC and Fe(OH)₃@PAC improved the coagulation capacity of microorganisms, which laid a solid foundation for the removal of selected NHCs and the adverse environmental conditions. Anaerobic degradation of the NHCs occurred first through hydrogenation, then through the opening of the nitrogen heterocycles, followed by the release of ammonia nitrogen and finally the opening of the benzene rings. Enriched Acinetobacter, Levilinea, Comamonas, and Longilinea were the main functional groups responsible for the anaerobic biodegradation of the selected NHCs.

Effect of influent pH on hydrolytic acidification performance and bacterial community structure in EGSB for pretreating crotonaldehyde manufacture wastewater after ozonation

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of influent pH on the hydrolytic acidification (HA) performance and microbial community structure in an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) pretreating crotonaldehyde manufacture wastewater (CMW) after ozonation. The results showed that higher chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate (40.1%) and acidification degree (27.6%) were obtained at pH 8.0 than those at pH 6.0 and pH 4.0. The concentration of extractable extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) in the sludge gradually decreased with the pH decreasing from 8.0 to 4.0. A similar change was also observed for the concentration of total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) in the effluent. The optimal detoxification efficiency by the HA process was obtained at pH 8.0, with higher removal efficiency (all higher than 90%) of the main toxic pollutants (crotonaldehyde, 5-formyl-6-methyl-4,5-dihydropyran, etc.) and higher anaerobic biodegradation rate (44.5%) in biochemical methane potential (BMP) assay. Among the predominant genera, the Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas were possibly related to biodegradation of pollutants, since their higher relative abundance also coincided with the better performance of the HA process at pH 8.0.

The role of ultrasound-treated sludge for accelerating quinoline mono-oxygenation

Activated sludge treated by ultrasound was tested as a source of exogenous electron donor to accelerate quinoline mono-oxygenation, which requires an intracellular electron donor (2H). The quinoline-removal rate was proportional to the amount of treated or untreated sludge added in flask experiments, but the best biodegradation kinetics was obtained with a mixture of 25% untreated sludge plus 75% treated sludge. The treated sludge primarily provided exogenous electron donor, while the untreated sludge provided active biomass. A biofilm system also showed the same beneficial effect of treated sludge, and the soluble fraction of the treated sludge had the greatest impact. Using treated sludge instead of a purchased electron donor provides an economic advantage for accelerating the biodegradation of contaminants whose biodegradation is initiated by an oxygenation reaction, such as quinoline.

Selective adsorption and bioavailability relevance of the cyclic organics in anaerobic pretreated coal pyrolysis wastewater by lignite activated coke

This study originally investigated the selective adsorption of cyclic organics in APCPW by LAC, corresponding to the change of the bioavailability. As a product from low rank coal, LAC showed more oxygen (O)-containing groups and mesoporous structure than PAC. Adsorption mechanisms were analyzed by equilibrium isotherms and kinetics models combined with physicochemical properties of adsorbent and adsorbates. The results indicated that selectivity of LAC was dominated by chemical interaction and its mesoporous, and was enhanced by hydrophobicity of adsorbates. In addition, PAC and LAC were applied for the treatment of APCPW. Compared with PAC, LAC adsorption exhibited superior removal efficiency of Tph, TOC and TN at 85.90%, 91.15% and 51.64%, respectively. Furthermore, preferential adsorption of biotoxic and bioresistant cyclic organics by LAC was further proved by GC-MS analysis, resulting in increased bioavailability of APCPW. Specifically, LAC exerted sustained detoxication capacity until 86.50% reduction of TU by D. magna evaluation, and lowered toxicity rank (TU = 4.51, classIII) to T. pyriformis than that after PAC adsorption (TU > 10, ClassIV). Meanwhile, biodegradability was also improved by 9.17% after LAC adsorption. Lastly, LAC would exhibit great economic benefits as an alternative for PAC in subsequent process after anaerobic pretreatment.

Discrimination of typical cyclic compounds and selection of toxicity evaluation bioassays for coal gasification wastewater (CGW) based on toxicity mechanism of actions (MOAs)

This paper originally investigated toxicity discrimination of typical cyclic compounds and bioassays selection on toxicity evaluation for coal gasification wastewater (CGW) effluent with mechanism-oriented investigation. Initially, representative cyclic toxicants were selected and classified with quantitative structure-toxicity relationship (QSTR). Nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (NHCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were basically discriminated as nonpolar narcotics with significant correlation to hydrophobicity (p < 0.05, R² = 0.8668-0.9635), while phenols were regarded as polar narcotics and reactive compounds due to slight correlation to hydrophobicity (p > 0.05, R² < 0.5). Furthermore, specific mechanism of actions (MOAs) to various organisms revealed that phenols were discriminated as critical source of acute toxicity in CGW, with short-term visible and irreversible damage. However, NHCs and PAHs, which exerted accumulation toxicity rather than acute toxicity, might result in potential mutagenicity and unpredictable risk along the food chain. Afterwards, based on species sensitivity to typical toxicants and application in real CGW effluent, non-applicability of Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) was validated in toxicity evaluation. While Daphnia magna (D. magna) was suggested as a toxicity bioassay in entire effluent due to the highest sensitivity and applicability. Tetrahymena thermophile (T. pyriformis) might be applicable in effluent with low biodegradability due to similar evaluation results (TU = 8.90) to D. magna (TU = 6.67) in aerobic effluent. Finally, the relationship between toxicity and bioavailability based on typical pollutants and model species illustrated necessity for dualism toxicity-biodegradability investigation on CGW.

Potential enhancement of direct interspecies electron transfer for anaerobic degradation of coal gasification wastewater using up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) with nitrogen doped sewage sludge carbon assisted

Waste sewage sludge was converted into the novel conductive material of nitrogen doped sewage sludge carbon (N-SC) to enhance anaerobic degradation of coal gasification wastewater (CGW). The results indicated that N-SC played a significant role in enhanced efficiencies, with chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency increased by 25.4%, methane production rate improved by 68.1% and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) decreased by 37.5% than that of controlled reactor. The conductivity, activity of electron transport, and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of anaerobic sludge were remarkably enhanced with N-SC, which promoted sludge granulation and supplied better conductive environment for microorganisms. The microbial community analysis revealed that potential enhancement of direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) was achieved by electrical connection between enriched Geobacter, Pseudomonas and Methanosaeta with N-SC assisted, which enhanced the anaerobic degradation of CGW. Moreover, anaerobic degradation with N-SC had higher capacity to resist acidic shocks, facilitating the process stability.

Sonoprecipitation dispersion of ZnO nanoparticles over graphene oxide used in photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution: Influence of irradiation time and power

In this paper, ZnO/Graphene Oxide (ZnO/GO) is synthesized via ultrasound assisted precipitation method and the effect of power and ultrasound time irradiation is studied on photocatalyst properties. The synthesized samples are used for methylene blue (MB) degradation as an organic water pollutant. Physicochemical properties of the samples are investigated by XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET-BJH, FTIR and DRS techniques. Moreover, pH_pzc of the sample with the best performance is calculated to study the effect of acidity on the photocatalyst efficiency in photocatalytic process. Ultrasound has a positive effect on photocatalyst performance that is because of its effect on distribution of particles and semiconductor band gap, but it has no effect on photostability of the nanocomposite. Sonication has modified distribution of particles by enhancing the active sites for oxidation process. Making structural gaps by ultrasound irradiation increases available surface area which has a similar effect on photocatalyst performance. Graphene oxide as electron collector and transporter prevents electron-hole recombination and it can be an acceptable reason for enhancement at photocatalyst performance. Finally, some of operational parameters such as pH, photocatalyst loading and dye concentration are investigated.

Biotoxicity assessment and toxicity mechanism on coal gasification wastewater (CGW): A comparative analysis of effluent from different treatment processes

Even though coal gasification wastewater (CGW) treated by various biochemical treatment processes generally met the national discharge standard, its potential biotoxicity was still unknown. Therefore, in this study, bioassay with Tetrahymena thermophila (T. thermophila) was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the variation of biotoxicity in raw CGW and the treated effluent from lab-scale micro-electrolysis integrated with biological reactor (MEBR), single iron-carbon micro-electrolysis (ICME) and conventional activated sludge (CAS) processes. The results illustrated that raw CGW presented intensive acute toxicity with 24 h EC₅₀ value of 8.401% and toxic unit (TU) value of 11.90. Moreover, it performed significant cell membrane destruction and DNA damage even at 10% dilution concentration. The toxicant identification results revealed that multiple toxic polar compounds such as phenolic, heterocyclic and polycyclic aromatic compounds were the main contributors for biotoxicity. Furthermore, these compounds could accelerate oxidative stress, thereby inducing oxidative damage of cell membrane and DNA. As for treated effluent, TU value was decreased by 90.58% in MEBR process. An effective biotoxicity reduction was achieved in MEBR process owing to high removal efficiency in polar organic toxicants. In contrast, effluent from ICME and CAS processes presented relatively high acute toxicity and genotoxicity, because various heterocyclic and polycyclic aromatic compounds were difficult to be degraded in these processes. Therefore, it was suggested that MEBR was a potential and feasible process for improving CGW treatment and minimizing ecological risk.

Overview of the state of the art of processes and technical bottlenecks for coal gasification wastewater treatment

CGWW is major waste stream resulting from a number of activities of the low/medium temperature gasification unit that occurs during the production of natural gas. The resulting effluent contains a broad spectrum of organic and inorganic contaminants and exerts a negative influence on the environment, mainly due to the presence of toxic and refractory compounds. So far, various technologies have been applied for treatment of CGWW, while few reviews are available in the literature. Thus, this review attempts to offer a comprehensive picture about CGWW. An overview about pretreatment, biological and advanced processes for treatment of CGWW is presented, and the degradation mechanism of toxic and refractory pollutants is also elaborated. Technical bottlenecks existing in the operation of coal chemical industries, including foam proliferation, odors and biotoxicity risk, are detailed analyzed. Finally, the prospects of treatment for CGWW are discussed based on the concept of "wastewater is money". The review can be provided as an effective technical support for the construction and operation of coal gasification industries.

Bioaugmentation potential of a newly isolated strain Sphingomonas sp. NJUST37 for the treatment of wastewater containing highly toxic and recalcitrant tricyclazole

In order to develop an effective bioaugmentation strategy for the removal of highly toxic and recalcitrant tricyclazole from wastewater, a tricyclazole degrading strain was firstly successfully isolated and identified as Sphingomonas sp. NJUST37. In batch reactors, 100 mg L^-1 tricyclazole could be completely removed within 102 h, which was accompanied by significant biomass increase, TOC and COD removal, as well as toxicity reduction. Chromatography analysis and density functional theory simulation indicated that monooxygenation occurred firstly, followed by triazole ring cleavage, decyanation reaction, hydration reaction, deamination, dihydroxylation and final mineralization reaction. Tricyclazole biodegradation condition by NJUST37 was optimized in terms of temperature, pH, tricyclazole concentration and additional carbon and nitrogen sources. After the inoculation of NJUST37 into a pilot-scale powdered activated carbon treatment tank treating real fungicide wastewater, tricyclazole removal efficiency increased to higher than 90%, demonstrating the great potential of NJUST37 for bioaugmentation particularly on tricyclazole biodegradation in practice.

Microbial nitrate removal in biologically enhanced treated coal gasification wastewater of low COD to nitrate ratio by coupling biological denitrification with iron and carbon micro-electrolysis

Mixotrophic denitrification coupled biological denitrification with iron and carbon micro-electrolysis (IC-ME) is a promising emerging bioprocess for nitrate removal of biologically enhanced treated coal gasification wastewater (BECGW) with low COD to nitrate ratio. TN removal efficiency in R1 with IC-ME assisted was 16.64% higher than R2 with scrap zero valent iron addition, 23.05% higher than R3 with active carbon assisted, 30.51% higher than R4 with only active sludge addition, 80.85% higher than R5 utilizing single IC-ME as control. Fe²⁺ generated from IC-ME decreased the production of N₂O and enriched more Nitrate-reducing Fe(Ⅱ) oxidation bacteria (NRFOB) Acidovorax and Thiobacillus, which could convert nitrate to nitrogen gas. And the presence of Fe³⁺, as the Fe²⁺ oxidation product, could stimulate the growth of Fe(III)-reducing strain (FRB) that indicated by redundancy analysis. Microbial network analysis demonstrated FRB Geothrix had a co-occurrence relationship with other bacteria, revealing its dominant involvement in nitrate removal of BECGW.

Enhanced degradation of phenolic compounds in coal gasification wastewater by a novel integration of micro-electrolysis with biological reactor (MEBR) under the micro-oxygen condition

The aim of this work was to study an integration of micro-electrolysis with biological reactor (MEBR) for strengthening removal of phenolic compounds in coal gasification wastewater (CGW). The results indicated MEBR achieved high efficiencies in removal of COD and phenolic compounds as well as improvement of biodegradability of CGW under the micro-oxygen condition. The integrated MEBR process was more favorable to improvement of the structural stability of activated sludge and biodiversity of specific functional microbial communities. Especially, Shewanella and Pseudomonas were enriched to accelerate the extracellular electron transfer, finally facilitating the degradation of phenolic compounds. Moreover, MEBR process effectively relieved passivation of Fe-C filler surface and prolonged lifespan of Fe-C filler. Accordingly, the synergetic effect between iron-carbon micro-electrolysis (ICME) and biological action played a significant role in performance of the integrated process. Therefore, the integrated MEBR was a promising practical process for enhancing CGW treatment.

Recent advances in degradation of chloronitrophenols

Chloronitrophenols (CNPs) constitute a group of environmental pollutants that are widely distributed in our surrounding environment due to human based activities. This group of chemicals is highly toxic to living beings due to its mutagenic and carcinogenic nature. Examples include 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol, 4-chloro-2-nitrophenol, 2-chloro-5-nitrophenol, 4-chloro-3-nitrophenol and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol. Several methods including advanced oxidation processes, adsorption and bacterial degradation have been used for degradation of CNPs. Among, bacterial degradation is an eco-friendly and effective way to degrade CNPs. Several bacterial metabolic pathways have been proposed for degradation of CNPs and their genes and enzymes have been identified in bacteria. These bacteria were able to degrade CNPs in broth culture and soil. Therefore, CNPs-degrading bacteria are suitable candidates for bioremediation of CNPs-contaminated sites. Few CNP-degrading bacteria exhibited chemotaxis towards CNPs to enhance their biodegradation. The present review summarizes recent progress in degradation of CNPs.