Low Salinity Wastewater Research Articles

Statistical uncertainty quantification to augment CDI electrode design and operation optimization

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is considered to be one of the most promising technologies to deionize water with low/medium concentration. Great attention has been paid to improve its performance by optimizing electrode architectures and operation conditions. However, no guidelines are built for developing such strategies due to the nonlinear impact of the parameters concerning electrodes and operations. Therefore, our work quantitatively reveals the influence of some key parameters involving electrode characteristics, operation conditions and ion properties using the statistical analysis based on uncertainty quantification. We find the porosity solely has a small influence on all the performance metrics. But the pore might play a significant role by the pore size distribution and connectivity that greatly determine the effective diffusion coefficient of salt ions. The high diffusion coefficient obviously raises the salt adsorption by facilitating ion transport, which also reduces the energy consumption while most of the consumed energy could even be recovered. The current exerts an opposite influence by shortening the charging period in the constant current (CC) mode. The salt concentration in the inflow water increases the adsorption capacity but decreases the removal efficiency. The decreased removal efficiency requires less external energy, enabling the usage of CDI as an economic pre-treatment unit. We highlight the ion transport resistance and its influence on CDI performance by acting upon charging time in the CC mode. We also suggest the application of the constant voltage mode to the low-salinity wastewater instead of the CC mode due to the high resistance. Our work addressed the importance of proper electrode and operation condition for high desalination performance and energy efficiency.

High recovery, energy efficient wastewater desalination

Here, we show that high permeability and good fouling resistance can save substantial energy and maximize freshwater output for reverse osmosis (RO) desalination of low-salinity wastewater, via both theoretical and experimental demonstrations. First, module-scale modelling revealed that at reasonably low feed salinity, the specific energy consumption (SEC) drops by > 60% when water permeability is increased from 2 to 7 L m−2 hr−1 bar−1. Optimization of different operating parameters was further performed to maximize the energy efficiency and process capacity, and suitable salt rejection to maintain permeate quality was evaluated. Next, we synthesized zwitterionic copolymers of different molecular weight and fabricated hollow fiber membranes with a pure water permeability of 8.6 L m−2 hr−1 bar−1, 98.5% rejection to NaCl, and excellent fouling resistance. 85% water recovery, 56% energy saving and 25% reduction of membrane area were demonstrated for treating membrane bioreactor (MBR) filtrate from a local water reclamation plant.

Industrial wastewater volume reduction through osmotic concentration: Membrane module selection and process modeling

Osmotic concentration (OC), a form of forward osmosis (FO) but without draw solution recovery, can be applied for reducing wastewater disposal volumes in the oil & gas industry. Within this industry, wastewater is often disposed of by injection through disposal wells into deep underground reservoirs. By reducing wastewater disposal volumes, the sustainability of the disposal reservoir is improved. In this application of OC, seawater or brine from a desalination plant serves as the draw solution and the diluted seawater is discharged to the sea. This study compared 3 commercial hollow-fiber FO membranes (CTA, TFC, aquaporin proteins) for reducing the volume of low salinity wastewater generated during liquified natural gas (LNG) production. Additionally, a model was developed to predict the performance of commercial full-scale membranes by identifying optimum operating conditions, taking into consideration the trade-off between feed concentration factor and water flux. Bench-scale tests were conducted using synthetic and actual wastewater from an LNG facility to evaluate OC technology performance and validate model predictions.Based on model results with a feed mimicking the salinity of actual wastewater, a 4x concentration factor produced a reasonable compromise between feed recovery and draw solution dilution and was considered the optimum for future tests. At higher concentration factors, the increased dilution of the draw solution negatively impacted flux. In bench tests with real wastewater, the TFC chemistry had a ≈5x higher water flux (9.7 vs. 1.9 L/m2-h) and a ≈3x lower specific reverse solute flux (192 vs. 551 mg/L) compared to the CTA chemistry. However, both membranes showed less than 5% fouling and a specific forward organic solute flux of less than 0.5 mg/L of total organic carbon (TOC). Pilot testing for >50 h showed stable performance, comparable to bench scale data and model predictions.

Effects of influent salinity on water purification and greenhouse gas emissions in lab-scale constructed wetlands.

Salinity has a significant impact on the sewage treatment efficiency of constructed wetlands (CWs), as well as affecting the greenhouse gas emissions of CWs. A lab-scale CW simulation system was constructed to observe the treatment efficiency and greenhouse gas flux occurring in CWs at different influent salinities (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%). The results show that (1) the removal rates of COD, TN, NH4+-N, NO3--N, and TP reach the highest at salinity of 0 or 0.5%. And the lowest removal rates are all at a salinity of 2.0%. (2) The emission flux of CO2, CH4, and N2O in CWs varies with an increase in salinity. The trends of CO2 and CH4 emission flux were consistent with those of COD reduction rate. However, it was opposite for N2O flux to that of TN, NH4+-N, and NO3--N removal rate. Affected by salinity, the greenhouse gas emission flux in this study is generally lower than what was reported in literature. (3) Correlation analysis showed that CO2 and CH4 emission fluxes were positively correlated with the COD reduction rate. N2O emission flux was negatively correlated with the removal rates of TN, NH4+-N, and NO3--N. The results suggest that different pollutants are inhibited by salinity to different degrees. COD is more affected by salinity than nitrogen and phosphorus, while nitrogen is more easily inhibited by salinity than phosphorus. CWs can have a high removal rate of pollutants in treating low-salinity wastewater. Although increased salinity reduces treatment efficiency of wastewater to some extent, it also inhibits the emission of CO2 and CH4.

Membrane capacitive deionization for low-salinity desalination in the reclamation of domestic wastewater effluents

This study aims to investigate the feasibility of desalinating secondary effluent from a domestic wastewater treatment plant (DWTP) using membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) for reclamation purposes. The desalination performance of a MCDI stack with 10 pairs of 20 cm × 20 cm activated carbon electrodes was evaluated in single-pass mode. As evidenced, the MCDI stack outperformed the capacitive deionization stack. The water quality characteristics of the inflows and product water were also analyzed. Our results revealed that MCDI can effectively remove undesired ions such as calcium and nitrate from the DWTP effluent for water reclamation. In particular, the solution conductivity of the product water was observed to be as low as 1.27 μS/cm. Removal of the ions was easily performed by the electrostatic field-assisted deionization process. The use of MCDI for low-salinity wastewater reclamation demonstrated favorable energy performance with a low volumetric energy input and a molar energy input of 0.12 kWh/m3 and 0.03 kWh/mole, respectively; and the energy efficiency of this system is expected to be further improved by energy recovery or incorporation of energy-producing processes. These results are indicative of the benefits of using MCDI as part of the treatment processes for the reclamation of wastewater with low salinity.

Calcium ion- and rhamnolipid-mediated deposition of soluble matters on biocarriers

Start-up of biofilm process initiated by the deposition of soluble matters on biocarriers is a very important yet time-consuming procedure. However, rapid start-up methods especially in the enhancement of soluble matters deposition have been rarely addressed. In this study, a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) was applied to investigate the influences of calcium ion and rhamnolipid (RL) on the deposition of soluble matters from real and synthetic industrial wastewaters with different configurations of organics (bovine serum albumin and sodium alginate) and ionic strength on the model biocarriers polystyrene and polyamide. Results showed that deposition was effectively promoted by the addition of Ca2+ and along with the increase in Ca2+ content. However, RL enhanced the deposition effectively only in hyperhaline wastewater through breaking hydration repulsion and decreased the deposition in low-salinity wastewater, and its influence to the deposited layer property exhibited characteristics of negative feedback. The combined use of Ca2+ and RL had a better enhancement effect than that of separate use and the mechanism involved can not be soundly explained only by Derjaguin−Landau−Verwey−Overbeek (DLVO) theory. The strategy of mediating the deposition of soluble matters on different biocarriers by adding Ca2+ and RL has important implications for regulating biofilm formation to accelerate the start-up process in attached-growth bioreactors.

Experimental analysis of a continuously operated reverse electrodialysis unit fed with wastewaters

Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) is one of the most promising technologies to convert salinity gradient chemical energy into electricity. RED units are traditionally operated with natural streams as river water and seawater thereby limiting the spread of the technology in sites far from coastal areas. Aim of the present work is that of exploring and expanding feed possibilities for RED systems by employing waste streams. Thus, an experimental study was performed by testing, for the first time, a Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) unit fed with a high salinity wastewater originated in a fish canning factory, and a low salinity wastewater from a sewage treatment plant. Uninterrupted, long duration experiments were carried out to evaluate time-evolution of the key electrical parameters. Power output was monitored over time along with pumping losses and electrical resistance. The effect of chemical backwashing was analysed in order to assess process maintenance. Results showed that fouling issues have a crucial impact on process performance and should be properly addressed before operating RED units fed by waste streams.

Impacts of blending on dilution of negatively buoyant brine discharge in a shallow tidal sea

A fine-resolution three-dimensional hydrodynamic model is applied to study the dilution of desalination brine discharged into a tidal sea. Based on given inflow rate and salinity excess of discharge brine, this study explores variations in mid-field dilutions when other low-salinity wastewater is added to the discharge. Findings reveal that this blending leads to a decrease in dilution in the mixing zone and therefore to higher levels of pollutants in this zone, while, on the other hand, the mixing zone occupies a smaller area. The reason is that the discharge of brine creates a density-driven flow that operates to partially remove effluent from the discharge location. This removal is less efficient for the decrease in density excess of the discharge. Hence, in an ambient sea of moderate mixing, blending can be expected to increase the risk of marine pollution in the mixing zone.

Nitrogen sources and sinks in a wastewater impacted saline aquifer beneath the Florida Keys, USA

Groundwater wells surrounding a high volume advance treatment wastewater (ATW) disposal well in the Florida Keys were monitored for nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium concentrations over a 14 month period. Nutrient concentrations in the shallow subsurface (9 m) show a bimodal distribution between the low salinity wastewater plume and the ambient brackish to saline groundwaters. High NO 3 − concentrations are found within the ATW plume while the highest NH 4 + concentrations are found in shallow wells outside of the plume. Evidence suggests that the overlying mud layer unique to this study site contributes the bulk of the NH 4 + observed in these wells. NO 3 − concentrations at 9 m wells varied by a factor of four in response to concurrent variations in ATW NO 3 − loads over the coarse of the study. Estimated NO 3 − uptake rates varied from 32 ± 29 to 98 ± 69 and did not directly correlate with ATW NO 3 − loading as we hypothesized. We estimate that 70 ± 34% of the NO 3 − from the treatment plant is removed from solution in the subsurface of the study site. Considerable decreases in NO 3 − concentration and enrichment of 15NO 3 − was observed in many wells, indicating significant denitrification or anaerobic ammonium oxidation is occurring in the subsurface. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations, distributions, and 15N compositions indicate that denitrification is likely the dominant mechanism for N removal in the ATW plume at Key Colony Beach, Florida.

Treatment of industrial wastewater from an alumina plant by membrane technology (II)

The experimental results of producing deionized water for the themoelectric factory from two types of the industrial wastewater of an alumina plant by using membrane technology are reported in this paper. For the treatment of the industrial wastewater with high salinity and pH value, the combination of electrodialysis (ED) and reverse osmosis (RO) is utilized, while for the treatment of the low-salinity wastewater with low pH value, RO is directly used. The research results show that the above-mentioned methods are effective. The technological process of the wastewater treatment with the capacity of 120 tons is designed on the basis of the experimental results.