1
|
Majumder A, Otter P, Röher D, Bhatnagar A, Khalil N, Gupta AK, Bresciani R, Arias CA. Combination of advanced biological systems and photocatalysis for the treatment of real hospital wastewater spiked with carbamazepine: A pilot-scale study. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 351:119672. [PMID: 38042072 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/04/2023]
Abstract
Over the past few decades, the increase in dependency on healthcare facilities has led to the generation of large quantities of hospital wastewater (HWW) rich in chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), ammonia, recalcitrant pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), and other disease-causing microorganisms. Conventional treatment methods often cannot effectively remove the PhACs present in wastewater. Hence, hybrid processes comprising of biological treatment and advanced oxidation processes have been used recently to treat complex wastewater. The current study explores the performance of pilot-scale treatment of real HWW (3000 L/d) spiked with carbamazepine (CBZ) using combinations of moving and stationary bed bio-reactor-sedimentation tank (MBSST), aerated horizontal flow constructed wetland (AHFCW), and photocatalysis. The combination of MBSST and AHFCW could remove 85% COD, 93% TSS, 99% ammonia, and 30% CBZ. However, when the effluent of the AHFCW was subjected to photocatalysis, an enhanced CBZ removal of around 85% was observed. Furthermore, the intermediate products (IPs) formed after the photocatalysis was also less toxic than the IPs formed during the biological processes. The results of this study indicated that the developed pilot-scale treatment unit supplemented with photocatalysis could be used effectively to treat HWW.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Abhradeep Majumder
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India
| | | | | | - Amit Bhatnagar
- Department of Separation Science, LUT School of Engineering Science, LUT University, Sammonkatu 12, Mikkeli, FI-50130, Finland
| | - Nadeem Khalil
- Environmental Engineering Section, Department of Civil Engineering Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202001, India
| | - Ashok Kumar Gupta
- Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India.
| | | | - Carlos A Arias
- Department of Biology, Aquatic Biology, Ole Worms Allé 1, Bldg 1135, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ishaq A, Said MIM, Azman SB, Houmsi MR, Isah AS, Jagun ZT, Mohammad SJ, Bello AAD, Abubakar UA. The influence of various chemical oxygen demands on microbial fuel cells performance using leachate as a substrate. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2024:10.1007/s11356-024-32090-x. [PMID: 38285261 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-32090-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs), hailed as a promising technology, hold the potential to combat various wastewater pollutants while simultaneously converting their chemical energy into electricity through biocatalysts. This study explores the applicability of a dual compartment MFC (DC-MFC) under varying conditions, targeting the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from landfill leachate and electricity generation. In this setup, anaerobic sludge from a wastewater treatment plant serves as the inoculum in the anode compartment of the MFC, with a Nafion117 membrane acting as the separator between MFC units. The cathode compartments are filled with distilled water and continually aerated for 24 h to enhance air supply. The study assesses the MFC's performance across different COD concentrations, focusing on COD removal, power generation, and Coulombic efficiency. The findings reveal that COD removal efficiency is notably enhanced at higher concentrations of organic matter. Specifically, at a COD concentration of 3325.0 mg L-1, the MFC exhibited the highest COD removal efficiency (89%) and maximum power density (339.41 mWm-2), accompanied by a Coulombic efficiency of 25.5%. However, as the initial substrate concentration increased to 3825 mg L-1, the efficiency decreased to 72%, with a Coulombic efficiency of 13.56% and a power density of 262.34 mWm-2. Optical density levels increased due to bacterial growth at ambient temperature and neutral pH, reflecting the dynamic microbial response within the system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aliyu Ishaq
- Department of Water & Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81300, Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
- Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna, 1045, Zaria, Nigeria
| | - Mohd Ismid Mohd Said
- Department of Water & Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81300, Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
| | - Shamila Binti Azman
- Department of Water & Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81300, Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
| | - Mohammed Rajab Houmsi
- New Era and Development in Civil Engineering Research Group, Scientific Research Center, AlAyen University, Thi-Qar, Nasiriyah, 64001, Iraq
| | - Abubakar Sadiq Isah
- Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna, 1045, Zaria, Nigeria
| | - Zainab Toyin Jagun
- Department of Real Estate, School of Built Environment Engineering And Computing, Leeds Beckett University, City Campus, Leeds, UK.
| | - Shamsuddeen Jumande Mohammad
- Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna, 1045, Zaria, Nigeria
| | - Al Amin Danladi Bello
- Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna, 1045, Zaria, Nigeria
| | - Umar Alfa Abubakar
- School of Engineering, Technology, and Design, Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1QU, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Youssef YA, Abuarab ME, Mahrous A, Mahmoud M. Enhanced degradation of ibuprofen in an integrated constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell: treatment efficiency, electrochemical characterization, and microbial community dynamics. RSC Adv 2023; 13:29809-29818. [PMID: 37829716 PMCID: PMC10566547 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra05729a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past few decades, there has been a growing concern regarding the fate and transport of pharmaceuticals, particularly antibiotics, as emerging contaminants in the environment. It has been proposed that the presence of antibiotics at concentrations typically found in wastewater can impact the dynamics of bacterial populations and facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance. The efficiency of currently-used wastewater treatment technologies in eliminating pharmaceuticals is often insufficient, resulting in the release of low concentrations of these compounds into the environment. In this study, we addressed these challenges by evaluating how different influent ibuprofen (IBU) concentrations influenced the efficiency of a laboratory-scale, integrated constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) system seeded with Eichhornia crassipes, in terms of organic matter removal, electricity generation, and change of bacterial community structure compared to unplanted, sediment MFC (S-MFC) and abiotic S-MFC (AS-MFC). We observed that the addition of IBU (5 mg L-1) resulted in a notable decrease in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and electricity generation, suggesting that high influent IBU concentrations caused partial inhibition for the electroactive microbial community due to its complexity and aromaticity. However, CW-MFC could recover from IBU inhibition after an acclimation period compared to unplanted S-MFC, even though the influent IBU level was increased up to 20 mg L-1, suggesting that plants in CW-MFCs have a beneficial role in relieving the inhibition of anode respiration due to the presence of high levels of IBU; thus, promoting the metabolic activity of the electroactive microbial community. Similarly, IBU removal efficiency for CW-MFC (i.e., 49-62%) was much higher compared to SMFC (i.e., 29-42%), and AS-MFC (i.e., 20-22%) during all experimental phases. In addition, our high throughput sequencing revealed that the high performance of CW-MFCs compared to S-MFC was associated with increasing the relative abundances of several microbial groups that are closely affiliated with anode respiration and organic matter fermentation. In summary, our results show that the CW-MFC system demonstrates suitability for high removal efficiency of IBU and effective electricity generation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Youssef A Youssef
- Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University Giza 12613 Egypt
| | - Mohamed E Abuarab
- Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University Giza 12613 Egypt
| | - Ahmed Mahrous
- Agricultural Engineering Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University Giza 12613 Egypt
| | - Mohamed Mahmoud
- Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre 33 El-Buhouth St., Dokki Cairo 12311 Egypt
| |
Collapse
|