Gang Wen

Oxidative degradation of organic pollutants in aqueous solution using zero valent copper under aerobic atmosphere condition.

Oxidative degradation of organic pollutants and its mechanism were investigated in aqueous solution using zero valent copper (ZVC) under aerobic atmosphere condition. Diethyl phthalate (DEP) was completely oxidized after 120 min reaction by ZVC at initial pH 2.5 open to the air. DEP degradation followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics after the lag period, and the degradation rate of DEP increased gradually with the increase of ZVC dosage, and the decrease of initial pH from 5.8 to 2.0. ZVC required a shorter induction time and exhibited persistent oxidation capacity compared to that of zero valent iron and zero valent aluminium. The mechanism investigation showed that remarkable amount of Cu(+)/Cu(2+) and H2O2 were formed in ZVC acidic system, which was due to the corrosive dissolution of ZVC and the concurrent reduction of oxygen. The addition of tert-butanol completely inhibited the degradation of DEP and the addition of Fe(2+) greatly enhanced the degradation rate, which demonstrated that hydroxyl radical was mainly responsible for the degradation of DEP in ZVC acidic system under aerobic atmosphere condition, and the formation of hydroxyl radical was attributed to the Fenton-like reaction of in situ formed Cu(+) with H2O2.

Characteristic mechanism of ceramic honeycomb catalytic ozonation enhanced by ultrasound with triple frequencies for the degradation of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution.

Ceramic honeycomb catalytic ozonation enhanced by ultrasound with triple frequencies was carried out in semi-continuous mode to investigate the degradation efficiency of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution. The combination process can enhance remarkably the degradation efficiency of nitrobenzene compared to the additive effects of single operations, and the degradation of nitrobenzene follows the mechanism of hydroxyl radical (OH) oxidation. The enhancement function is even more pronounced in the presence of ultrasound with orthogonal triple frequencies due to the obvious synergetic effect which can accelerate the transformation and the decomposition of ozone, increase the utilization efficiency of ozone, and enhance the initiation of OH and the formation of H2O2, resulting in the rapid formation of an increasing diversity of byproducts and the higher degree of mineralization of total organic carbon. The investigation of enhanced mechanism indicates the introduction of ultrasound can prevent deactivation by continuously cleaning the surface of catalyst, and can accelerate the cleavage of the bond as well as speed up the diffusion of oxidative intermediate from the heterogeneous surface to the aqueous solution due to the weakening of the bond derived from the ultrasonic shock, leading to the production of the synergetic effect among ozone, ceramic honeycomb and ultrasound.

BioMig—A Method to Evaluate the Potential Release of Compounds from and the Formation of Biofilms on Polymeric Materials in Contact with Drinking Water

In contact with water, polymeric materials (plastics) release compounds that can support suspended microbial growth and/or biofilm formation. The different methods presently used in the European Union to test plastics take 7-16 weeks to obtain a result. In industry, this delays material and product development as well as quality testing. Therefore, we developed a method package (BioMig) that allows testing of plastic materials with high reproducibility in 2 weeks for their potential biofilm (or biomass) formation and release of carbonaceous migration products when in contact with water. BioMig consists of (i) an extended migration potential test (seven times for 24 h at 60 °C), based on the European norm EN 12873-1 and the German UBA (Umweltbundesamt) guideline, and (ii) a biomass formation potential (BFP) test (14 days at 30 °C), which is a modified version of the Dutch biofilm production potential test. In the migration potential test, the amount of carbon released into water by the specimen is quantified by monitoring total and assimilable organic carbon over time; furthermore, the modular design of the test also allows one to assess additional parameters such as pathogen growth potential on the migration water or toxic effects on microbial growth. Flow cytometry (FCM)-based total cell counting (TCC) is used to quantify microbial growth in suspension and on surfaces after removal with mild sonication without affecting cell integrity. The BFP test allows one to determine both the planktonic (pBFP) and the sessile (sBFP) cell fractions. The sBFP consists of surface-attached cells after removal (>90% efficiency). Results for four standard test materials (PE-Xa, PE-Xc, EPDM 2%, and EPDM 20%), plus positive (PVC-P) and negative (glass) controls are presented. FCM-based TCC demonstrates that the release of growth-supporting carbon and proliferation of surface-attached cells stops increasing and stabilizes after 14 days of incubation; this allows for faster assessment of growth-supporting properties of plastics with BioMig compared to established tests.

Relationship between acceleration of hydroxyl radical initiation and increase of multiple-ultrasonic field amount in the process of ultrasound catalytic ozonation for degradation of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution.

The synergetic effect between ozone and ultrasound can enhance the degradation of nitrobenzene and removal efficiency of TOC in aqueous solution, and the degradation of nitrobenzene follows the mechanism of hydroxyl radical (OH) oxidation. Under the same total ultrasonic power input condition, the degradation rate of nitrobenzene (kNB), the volumetric mass transfer coefficient of ozone (kLa), and the initiation rate of OH (kOH) increases with introduction of additional ultrasonic field (1-4) in the process of ozone/ultrasound. The increasing amount of ultrasonic fields accelerates the decomposition of ozone, leading to the rapid appearance of the maximum equilibrium value and the decrease in the accumulation concentration of ozone in aqueous solution with the increasing reaction time. The increase in mass transfer of gaseous ozone dissolved into aqueous solution and the acceleration in the decomposition of ozone in aqueous solution synchronously contribute to the increase of kLa. The investigation of mechanism confirms that the increasing amount of ultrasonic fields yields the increase in cavitation activity that improves the mass transfer and decomposition of ozone, resulting in acceleration of OH initiation, which determines the degradation of nitrobenzene in aqueous solution.

Using coagulation to restrict microbial re-growth in tap water by phosphate limitation in water treatment

Extensive microbial re-growth in a drinking water distribution system can deteriorate water quality. The limiting factor for microbial re-growth in a tap water produced by a conventional drinking water treatment plant in China was identified by determining the microbial re-growth potential (MRP) by adding different nutrients to stimulate growth of a natural microbial consortium as inoculum and flow-cytometric enumeration. No obvious change of MRP was found in tap water after addition of carbon, whereas, a 1- to 2-fold increase of MRP was observed after addition of phosphate (P). This clearly demonstrated that microbial re-growth in this tap water was limited by P. Most of the re-grown microbial flora (>85%) consisted of high nucleic acid content cells. A subsequent investigation of the MRP in the actual water treatment plant demonstrated that coagulation was the crucial step for decreasing MRP and producing P-limited water. Therefore, a comparison concerning the control of MRP by three different coagulants was conducted. It showed that all the three coagulants efficiently reduced the MRP and shifted the limitation regime from C to P, but the required dose was different. The study shows that it is feasible to restrict microbial re-growth by P limitation using coagulation in water treatment.

Inactivation of three genera of dominant fungal spores in groundwater using chlorine dioxide: Effectiveness, influencing factors, and mechanisms

Fungi in aquatic environments received more attention recently; therefore, the characteristics of inactivation of fungal spores by widely used disinfectants are quite important. Nonetheless, the inactivation efficacy of fungal spores by chlorine dioxide is poorly known. In this study, the effectiveness of chlorine dioxide at inactivation of three dominant genera of fungal spores isolated from drinking groundwater and the effects of pH, temperature, chlorine dioxide concentration, and humic acid were evaluated. The inactivation mechanisms were explored by analyzing the leakage of intracellular substances, the increase in extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and proteins as well as the changes in spore morphology. The kinetics of inactivation by chlorine dioxide fitted the Chick-Watson model, and different fungal species showed different resistance to chlorine dioxide inactivation, which was in the following order: Cladosporium sp.>Trichoderma sp. >Penicillium sp., which are much more resistant than Escherichia coli. Regarding the three genera of fungal spores used in this study, chlorine dioxide was more effective at inactivation of fungal spores than chlorine. The effect of disinfectant concentration and temperature was positive, and the impact of pH levels (6.0 and 7.0) was insignificant, whereas the influence of water matrices on the inactivation efficiency was negative. The increased concentration of characteristic extracellular substances and changes of spore morphology were observed after inactivation with chlorine dioxide and were due to cell wall and cell membrane damage in fungal spores, causing the leakage of intracellular substances and death of a fungal spore.

Using Iron-Manganese Co-Oxide Filter Film to Remove Ammonium from Surface Water

An iron-manganese co-oxide filter film (MeOx) has been proven to be a good catalyst for the chemical catalytic oxidation of ammonium in groundwater. Compared with groundwater, surface water is generally used more widely and has characteristics that make ammonium removal more difficult. In this study, MeOx was used to remove ammonium from surface water. It indicated that the average ammonium removal efficiency of MeOx was greater than 90%, even though the water quality changed dramatically and the water temperature was reduced to about 6–8 °C. Then, through inactivating microorganisms, it showed that the removal capability of MeOx included both biological (accounted for about 41.05%) and chemical catalytic oxidation and chemical catalytic oxidation (accounted for about 58.95%). The investigation of the characterizations suggested that MeOx was formed by abiotic ways and the main elements on the surface of MeOx were distributed homogenously. The analysis of the catalytic oxidation process indicated that ammonia nitrogen may interact with MeOx as both ammonia molecules and ammonium ions and the active species of O2 were possibly •O and O2−.

The simultaneous removal of ammonium and manganese from surface water by MeOx: Side effect of ammonium presence on manganese removal

Manganese and ammonium pollution in surface water sources has become a serious issue. In this study, a pilot-scale filtration system was used to investigate the effect of ammonium on manganese removal during the simultaneous removal of ammonium and manganese from surface water using a manganese co-oxide filter film (MeOx). The results showed that the manganese removal efficiency of MeOx in the absence of ammonium was high and stable, and the removal efficiency could reach 70% even at 5.5 °C. When the influent ammonium concentration was lower than 0.7 mg/L, ammonium and manganese could be removed simultaneously. However, at an ammonium concentration of 1.5 mg/L, the manganese removal efficiency of the filter gradually decreased with time (from 96% to 46.20%). Nevertheless, there was no impact of manganese on ammonium removal. The mechanism by which ammonium negatively affected manganese removal was investigated, demonstrating that ammonium affected manganese removal mainly through two possible mechanisms. On one hand, the decreased pH caused by ammonium oxidation was unfavorable for the oxidation of manganese by MeOx; on the other hand, the presence of ammonium slowed the growth of new MeOx and retarded the increase in the specific surface area of the MeOx-coated sand, and induced changes in the morphology and crystal structure of MeOx. Consequently, the manganese removal efficiency of the filter decreased when ammonium was present in the inlet water.