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Lutzu GA, Concas A, Dunford NT. Characterization of hypersaline Oklahoma native microalgae cultivated in flowback and produced water: growth profile and contaminant removal. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 2024; 47:665-681. [PMID: 38589569 DOI: 10.1007/s00449-024-02992-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
This work explores the potential of three hypersaline native microalgae strains from Oklahoma, Geitlerinema carotinosum, Pseudanabaena sp., and Picochlorum oklahomensis, for simultaneous treatment of flowback (FW) and produced wastewater (PW) and the production of algal biomass. The quality of wastewater before and after treatment with these microalgae strains was evaluated and a characterization of algal biomass in terms of moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash contents was assessed. The experimental results indicated how all the microalgae strains were able to grow in both FW and PW, revealing their potential for wastewater treatment. Although algal biomass production was limited by nutrient availability both in PW and FW, a maximum biomass concentration higher than 1.35 g L-1 were achieved by the three strains in two of the PWs and one of the FWs tested, with Pseudanabaena sp. reaching nearly 2 g L-1. Interestingly, higher specific growth rates were obtained by the two cyanobacteria strains G. carotinosum and Pseudanabaena sp. when cultivated in both PW and FW, compared to P. oklahomensis. The harvested algal biomass contained a significant amount of energy, even though it was significantly reduced by the very high salt content. The energy content fell within the recommended range of 16-17 MJ kg-1 for biomass as feedstock for biofuels. The algal treatment resulted in the complete removal of ammonia from the wastewater and a significant reduction in contaminants, such as nitrate, phosphate, boron, and micronutrients like zinc, manganese, and iron.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Antonio Lutzu
- Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center, FAPC Room 13, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078-6055, USA.
- Teregroup Srl, Via David Livingstone 37, 41123, Modena, MO, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Concas
- Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Cagliari, Piazza d'Armi, 09123, Cagliari, CA, Italy
- Interdepartmental Center of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CINSA), University of Cagliari, Via San Giorgio 12, 09124, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Nurhan Turgut Dunford
- Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center, FAPC Room 13, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078-6055, USA
- Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078-6055, USA
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Bishop BA, Alam MS, Flynn SL, Chen N, Hao W, Ramachandran Shivakumar K, Swaren L, Gutierrez Rueda D, Konhauser KO, Alessi DS, Robbins LJ. Rare Earth Element Adsorption to Clay Minerals: Mechanistic Insights and Implications for Recovery from Secondary Sources. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:7217-7227. [PMID: 38588505 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c00974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
The energy transition will have significant mineral demands and there is growing interest in recovering critical metals, including rare earth elements (REE), from secondary sources in aqueous and sedimentary environments. However, the role of clays in REE transport and deposition in these settings remains understudied. This work investigated REE adsorption to the clay minerals illite and kaolinite through pH adsorption experiments and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). Clay type, pH, and ionic strength (IS) affected adsorption, with decreased adsorption under acidic pH and elevated IS. Illite had a higher adsorption capacity than kaolinite; however, >95% adsorption was achieved at pH ∼7.5 regardless of IS or clay. These results were used to develop a surface complexation model with the derived binding constants used to predict REE speciation in the presence of competing sorbents. This demonstrated that clays become increasingly important as pH increases, and EXAFS modeling showed that REE can exist as both inner- and outer-sphere complexes. Together, this indicated that clays can be an important control on the transport and enrichment of REE in sedimentary systems. These findings can be applied to identify settings to target for resource extraction or to predict REE transport and fate as a contaminant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendan A Bishop
- Department of Geology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
| | - Md Samrat Alam
- Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Québec, Quebec G1K 9A9, Canada
| | - Shannon L Flynn
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Ning Chen
- Canadian Light Source Inc., University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X4, Canada
| | - Weiduo Hao
- State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Early Life and Environment, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, P. R. China
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 1-26 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Karthik Ramachandran Shivakumar
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 1-26 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Logan Swaren
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 1-26 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Daniela Gutierrez Rueda
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 1-26 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Kurt O Konhauser
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 1-26 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Daniel S Alessi
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, 1-26 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
| | - Leslie J Robbins
- Department of Geology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
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Baig U, Waheed A. An efficient and simple strategy for fabricating a polypyrrole decorated ceramic-polymeric porous membrane for purification of a variety of oily wastewater streams. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 219:114959. [PMID: 36535398 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
A ceramic-polymeric membrane was fabricated through in-situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole (Py) on alumina (Al2O3) ceramic ultrafiltration support. The establishment of polypyrrole (PPy) active layer on the ceramic support led to a new PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane. Various salient features such as surface wettability, surface morphology, composition and functional goups of PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane were determined by various characterization techniques water contact angle (WCA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis and attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR). The PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane showed superhydrophilic nature owing to its under water oil contact angle of ≥160° (superoleophobic). Thanks to stable deposition of PPy active layer on ceramic support, the membrane retained a separation efficiency of >99% for O/W emulsions at varied transmembrane pressures ranging from 0.5 bar to 2 bar with a feed concentration of 125 ppm of oil in water. Moreover, the PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane exhibited an ideal behaviour to the applied transmembrane pressure with a linear increase from 380 LMH to 2112 LMH in permeate flux as the pressure increased from 0.5 bar to 2 bar. As the concentration of oil was raised from 50 ppm to 250 ppm, the separation efficeincy separation remained at >99%. From among the different types of oils (Motor oil, Diesel oil and Crude oil) to mimic the oily waste water streams, the permeate flux was found to be highest in case of motor oil with a value reaching to 1690 LMH at 1 bar. The stability test revealed that the PPy coated ceramic-polymeric membrane was able to separate >99% of 125 ppm O/W surfactant stabilized emulsion for a period of 420 min.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umair Baig
- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Abdul Waheed
- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
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