Zhenhong Liu

Preparation and characterization of activated carbon produced from rice straw by (NH4)2HPO4 activation

Effects of different pretreatment protocols in (NH(4))(2)HPO(4) activation of rice straw on porous activated carbon evolution were evaluated. The pore structure, morphology and surface chemistry of obtained activated carbons were investigated by nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was found that pretreatment combining impregnation with (NH(4))(2)HPO(4) and preoxidation could significantly affect the physicochemical properties of prepared activated carbons. The apparent surface area and total pore volume as high as 1154 m(2)/g and 0.670 cm(3)/g were obtained respectively, when combined process of impregnation followed by preoxidation at 200°C and activation at 700°C was carried out. Meanwhile, the activated carbon yield and maximum methylene blue adsorption capacity up to 41.14% and 129.5 mg/g were achieved, respectively. The results exhibited that (NH(4))(2)HPO(4) could be an effective activating agent for producing activated carbons from rice straw.

Impacts of coexisting antibiotics, antibacterial residues, and heavy metals on the occurrence of erythromycin resistance genes in urban wastewater

Antibiotic resistance is a global challenge and represents a growing threat on human health worldwide. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are generally considered as hotspots for control and/or dissemination of antibiotic resistance. The role of antibiotics, antibacterial residues, and heavy metals played on the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance is still not well understood. Here, the occurrence of antibiotics (i.e., macrolides, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, and quinolones), antibacterial residues (i.e., triclosan), as well as heavy metals (i.e., cadmium, chromium, copper, zinc, lead, and nickel) in urban wastewater was investigated. Also, the abundances of erythromycin resistance genes (ERY-ARGs) including ere(A), ere(B), mef(A)/mef(E), erm(A), erm(B), erm(C), and msr(A)/msr(B) genes were screened. A relationship between certain antibiotics, antibacterial residues, and heavy metals and ERY-ARGs was demonstrated. ERY presented significant correlations (0.883 < r < 0.929, P < 0.05) with ere(A), ere(B), and mef(A)/mef(E) genes, while tetracycline exhibited a significant correlation (r = 0.829, P < 0.05) with erm(B) genes. It is noteworthy that triclosan correlated significantly (0.859 < r < 0.956, P < 0.05) with ere(A), ere(B), mef(A)/mef(E), and erm(B) genes. In addition, significantly positive correlations (0.823 < r < 0.871, P < 0.05) were observed between zinc and lead and certain ERY-ARGs (i.e., ere(B), mef(A)/mef(E), erm(B), etc.). Further investigations should be involved to elucidate the co-selection and/or cross-selection mechanisms due to co-existence of these selective factors in urban wastewater.

Performance and fouling characterization of a five-bore hollow fiber membrane in a membrane bioreactor for the treatment of printing and dyeing wastewater:

Filtration performance and fouling behavior of a five-bore hollow fiber membrane was investigated in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating printing and dyeing wastewater. A normal single-bore hollow fiber membrane module was used in the same bioreactor for comparison. During an operation over 30 days, the results of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color removals demonstrated that the five-bore membrane was favorable for this wastewater treatment. The critical flux (Jc) of the five-bore membrane and the single-bore membrane was determined at 21 and 15 L/(m2·h), respectively, using a flux-step method. During a steady running at sub-critical flux of 10 L/(m2·h) without cleaning for 50 days, the average increasing rates of trans-membrane pressure (TMP) for five-bore and single-bore membranes were 0.356 kPa/d and 0.444 kPa/d, respectively, indicating that the five-bore membrane had better fouling resistance. The total resistance values of five-bore membrane and single-bore membrane were 8.68 and 14.1 m−1, respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) results confirmed the cake layer resistance for five-bore membrane was much lower than single-bore membrane. It was expected that the membrane structure, especially the membrane diameter, influenced the anti-fouling property of five-bore membrane.

Modeling Dissolved Oxygen Effects on Biological Nutrient Removal in a Sequencing Batch Reactor with Activated Sludge Model 2d

The simulation software developed by C++ Build language based on activated sludge model 2d (ASM2d) was carried out to address the effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) on the behavior of biological nutrient removal in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system. Changes of COD, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations could be reliably predicted according to the time arrangement of every phase adapted to the SBR conditions. Better performance of biological nutrient removal could be achieved as long as DO concentration was above 1.5 mg/L. If DO concentration was at a low level <1 mg/L, the growth and activity of microbes would be inhibited, especially for nitrifying organisms and phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). Consequently, the nutrient removal performance of the process would be affected significantly. Therefore, maintaining DO concentration above 1.5 mg/L in the SBR activated sludge system was adaptive.

How does iron facilitate the aerated biofilter for tertiary simultaneous nutrient and refractory organics removal from real dyeing wastewater

Textile dyeing wastewater is characterized by low biodegradability and high nitrogen strength, which is difficult to meet the increasingly stringent discharge requirements. Therefore, the tertiary nutrient and refractory organics removal is considered and aerated biofilter is often adopted. However, the aerobic condition and carbon source shortage restrict tertiary biological nitrogen removal. In this study, iron scrap was introduced as the filter medium to enhance the pollutant removal capacity, and three aerobic biofilters were constructed. Biofilter Fe-CE was filled with iron scrap and ceramisite; biofilter Fe-AC was added with iron scrap and granular activated carbon, and biofilter CE only had ceramisite to pad as control system. After the biofilters were acclimatized by synthetic wastewater and actual dyeing wastewater, the optimal operation parameters based on nitrogen removal were determined as pH 7, gas-water ratio 5:1, hydraulic retention time 8 h and C/N ratio 8.5:1. The iron scraps improved total nitrogen (TN) removal significantly, with TN removal efficiency of 68.7% and 57.3% in biofilter Fe-AC and biofilter Fe-CE, comparing with biofilter CE of 29.9%. Additionally, phosphorus and COD had better removal performance as well when iron scrap existed. Further investigation interpreted the reason for irons facilitating effect on tertiary nutrient and refractory organics removal. The introduction of iron scrap made the habitat conditions such as pH values, DO concentrations and biomass contents inside the biofilters change towards the direction beneficial for pollutant elimination especially for nitrogen removal. In iron containing biofilters, the majority of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic pollutants were removed in the iron scrap layers, and more pollutants types appeared, implying that iron triggered pollutants to go through more diverse degradation or transformation pathways. Moreover, the phylum Proteoabcteria dominated in samples of ceramisite-containing biofilters, with abundances more than 40%. The iron scrap existence increased the abundances of phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, and triggered higher abundance of denitrification bacteria.

Oxidation of Cefalexin by Permanganate: Reaction Kinetics, Mechanism, and Residual Antibacterial Activity

The oxidation of cefalexin (CFX), a commonly used cephalosporin antibiotic, was investigated by permanganate (PM) in water. Apparent second-order rate constant of the reaction between CFX and PM was determined to be 12.71 ± (1.62) M−1·s−1 at neutral pH. Lower pH was favorable for the oxidation of CFX by PM. The presence of Cl− and HCO3− could enhance PM-induced oxidation of CFX, whereas HA had negligible effect on CFX oxidation by PM. PM-induced oxidation of CFX was also significant in the real wastewater matrix. After addition of bisulfite (BS), PM-induced oxidation was significantly accelerated owing to the generation of Mn(III) reactive species. Product analysis indicated oxidation of CFX to three products, with two stereoisomeric sulfoxide products and one di-ketone product. The thioether sulfur and double bond on the six-membered ring were the reactive sites towards PM oxidation. Antibacterial activity assessment indicated that the activity of CFX solution was significantly reduced after PM oxidation.