Removal of inorganic chemical species and organic matter from slaughterhouse wastewater via calcium acetate synthesized from eggshell

Sustainable removal of nutrients (n and p) in a wastewater treatment plant, with eggshell (biocalcium)

Biological treatments have become insufficient to treat municipal wastewater with greater toxicity and excess nitrogen and phosphate species, thus affecting the organisms that consume the water. In this work, a process was implemented for the removal of nutrients through three stages: stage A, complete aeration (24 h, 43 months); stage B, decreased aeration (12 h, 17 months); and stage C, decreased aeration with biocalcium (12 h, 19 months). The addition of biocalcium from eggshell promoted the formation of flocks, which resulted in the removal of nitrites (61 %), nitrates (84 %), total nitrogen (57 %), total phosphorus (8.3 %), sedimentable solids (50 %), total suspended solids (69 %), BOD5 (76 %), helminth eggs (50 %) and fecal coliforms (54 %). The statistical analyses in the three stages indicated that there is a strong correlation between the concentration of fats and oils and the removal of sedimentable solids and total suspended solids, since these parameters were correlated by 97 and 89 %, respectively. Sedimentable solids were correlated with total suspended solids by 94 %, while nitrates and total nitrogen were correlated 92 %, which favors the removal of nutrients in wastewater. The increase in the concentration of nitrogen in the sludge in stage C generated a C:N ratio of 7.98. This ratio shows that the sludge is feasible for use as a mediator of soils and a biofertilizer because of the high contents of calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen. In addition, biocalcium promoted the precipitation of hydroxyapatite, struvite, calcite and quartz. In general, the three stages of the treatment contributed to the stabilization of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in an efficient, economical, and safe way.

Characterization of Slaughterhouse Wastewater and Development of Treatment Techniques: A Review

Commercialization in the meat-processing industry has emerged as one of the major agrobusiness challenges due to the large volume of wastewater produced during slaughtering and cleaning of slaughtering facilities. Slaughterhouse wastewater (SWW) contains proteins, fats, high organic contents, microbes, and other emerging pollutants (pharmaceutical and veterinary residues). It is important to first characterize the wastewater so that adequate treatment techniques can be employed so that discharge of this wastewater does not negatively impact the environment. Conventional characterization bulk parameters of slaughterhouse wastewater include pH, color, turbidity, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), total suspended solids (TSS), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and coliform counts. Characterization studies conducted have revealed the effects of the pollutants on microbial activity of SWW through identification of toxicity of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Due to the high-strength characteristics and complex recalcitrant pollutants, treatment techniques through combined processes such as anaerobic digestion coupled with advanced oxidation process were found to be more effective than stand-alone methods. Hence, there is need to explore and evaluate innovative treatments and techniques to provide a comprehensive summary of processes that can reduce the toxicity of slaughterhouse wastewater to the environment. This work presents a review of recent studies on the characterization of SWW, innovative treatments and technologies, and critical assessment for future research.

Ultrasound-assisted preparation of calcium malate and its absorption

In this experiment, response surface methodology was used to study the preparation of malic acid calcium salt from bovine bones assisted by ultrasonication. The results showed that the optimum conditions for ultrasound-assisted preparation of calcium malate from bovine bone were as follows: solid-liquid ratio 1:15, solid-acid ratio 1:1.5, ultrasonic power 200 W, ultrasonic temperature 35°C, and ultrasonication time 17 min. The efficiency of calcium recovery was 66.16%, and the purity was 92.54%. After three ultrasonic treatments of 17 min each, the calcium malate conversion rate of bovine bone reached 95.73%. Animal experiments showed that feeding bovine bone-derived calcium malate significantly increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and bone calcium content, reduced tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity, and maintained the balance of serum calcium and phosphorus. These results indicated that the ultrasonic method effectively ionized calcium in bovine bone, which provides a reference point for the industrial production of calcium products with bovine bone as the raw material.

Phosphate removal from food industry wastewater by chemical precipitation treatment with biocalcium eggshell

The physicochemical treatment (PT) of food industry wastewater was investigated. In the first stage, calcium magnesium acetate (CaMgAc₄) was synthesized using eggshell (biocalcium), magnesium oxide and acetic acid in a 1:1:1 stoichiometric ratio. In the synthesis process, the thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔS and ΔG) indicated that the reaction was endothermic and spontaneous. The samples were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). CaMgAc₄ was used to precipitate the phosphate matter. IR analysis revealed that the main functional groups were representative of the acetate compounds and the presence of OH^- groups and carbonates. In the physicochemical treatment, a response surface design was used to determine the variables that influence the process (pH, t, and concentration), and the response variable was phosphorus removal. The treatments were carried out in the wastewater industry with an initial concentration of 658 mg/L TP. The optimal conditions of the precipitation treatment were pH 12, time 12 min, and a CaMgAc₄ concentration of 13.18 mg/L. These conditions allowed the total elimination (100%) of total phosphorus and phosphates, 81.43% BOD₅ and 81.0% COD, 98.9% turbidity, 95.01% color, and 92% nitrogen matter.