Removal Efficiency Of Organic Contaminants Research Articles

New solution for predicting the removal efficiency of organic contaminants by UV/ H2O2: From a case study of 1H-benzotriazole

Rapid prediction of the removal efficiency and energy consumption of organic contaminants under various operating conditions is crucial for advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) in industrial application. In this study, 1H-Benzotriazole (BTZ, CAS: 95-14-7) is selected as a model micropollutant, a validated incorporated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model is employed to comprehensively investigate the impacts of initial concentrations of H2O2, BTZ and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (i.e., [DOC]0, [BTZ]0 and [DOC]0), as well as the effective UV lamp power P and volumetric flow rate Qv. Generally, the operation performance depends on [DOC]0 and [BTZ]0 in similar trends, but with quantitatively different ways. The increase in [H2O2]0 and P/Qv can promote •OH generation, leading to the elimination of BTZ. It is worth noting that P/Qv is found to be linearly correlated with the removal order of BTZ (ROBTZ) under specific conditions. Based on this finding, the degradation of other potential organic contaminants with a wide range of rate constants by UV/H2O2 is further investigated. A model for predicting energy consumption for target removal rates of organic pollutants is established from massive simulation data for the first time. Additionally, a handy Matlab app is first developed for convenient application in water treatment. This work proposes a new operable solution for fast predicting operation performance and energy consumption for the removal of organic contaminants in industrial applications of advanced oxidation processes.

Differences among active toluene-degrading microbial communities in farmland soils with different levels of heavy metal pollution.

Heavy metals can severely influence the mineralisation of organic pollutants in a compound-polluted environment. However, to date, no study has focused on the effects of heavy metals on the active organic pollutant-degrading microbial communities to understand the bioremediation mechanism. In this study, toluene was used as the model organic pollutant to explore the effects of soils with different levels of heavy metal pollution on organic contaminant degradation in the same area via stable isotope probing (SIP) and 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Heavy metals can seriously affect toluene biodegradation and regulate the abundance and diversity of microbial communities. SIP revealed a drastic difference in the community structure of active toluene degraders between the unpolluted and heavy metal-polluted soils. All SIP-identified degraders were assigned to nine bacterial classes, among which Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacilli were shared by both treatments. Among all active degraders, Nitrospira, Nocardioides, Conexibacteraceae, and Singulisphaera were linked to toluene biodegradation for the first time. Notably, the type of active degrader and microbial diversity were strongly related to biodegradation efficiency, indicating their key role in toluene biodegradation. Overall, heavy metals can affect the microbial diversity and alter the functional microbial communities in soil, thereby influencing the removal efficiency of organic contaminants. Our findings provide novel insights into the biodegradation mechanism of organic pollutants in heavy metal-polluted soils and highlight the biodiversity of microbes involved in toluene biodegradation in compound-polluted environments.

Merits and Limitations of Radical vs. Nonradical Pathways in Persulfate-Based Advanced Oxidation Processes.

Urbanization and industrialization have exerted significant adverse effects on water quality, resulting in a growing need for reliable and eco-friendly treatment technologies. Persulfate (PS)-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are emerging as viable technologies to treat challenging industrial wastewaters or remediate groundwater impacted by hazardous wastes. While the generated reactive species can degrade a variety of priority organic contaminants through radical and nonradical pathways, there is a lack of systematic and in-depth comparison of these pathways for practical implementation in different treatment scenarios. Our comparative analysis of reaction rate constants for radical vs. nonradical species indicates that radical-based AOPs may achieve high removal efficiency of organic contaminants with relatively short contact time. Nonradical AOPs feature advantages with minimal water matrix interference for complex wastewater treatments. Nonradical species (e.g., singlet oxygen, high-valent metals, and surface activated PS) preferentially react with contaminants bearing electron-donating groups, allowing enhancement of degradation efficiency of known target contaminants. For byproduct formation, analytical limitations and computational chemistry applications are also considered. Finally, we propose a holistically estimated electrical energy per order of reaction (EE/O) parameter and show significantly higher energy requirements for the nonradical pathways. Overall, these critical comparisons help prioritize basic research on PS-based AOPs and inform the merits and limitations of system-specific applications.

In-situ construction of bifunctional MIL-125(Ti)/BiOI reactive adsorbent/photocatalyst with enhanced removal efficiency of organic contaminants

Employing green and efficient technology to remove contaminants remains to be exploited. Adsorption and photocatalysis are deemed to overcome this issue. In this work, MIL-125(Ti)/BiOI nanocomposite were synthesized via a moderate solvothermal treatment and employed for the adsorption and degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline (TC) from water. The combination of high surface reactivity of MIL-125(Ti) with photoactivity of BiOI result in i) quick reactive adsorption of RhB and TC and ii) succeeding photodegradation of RhB and TC. The maximum adsorption capacity of RhB and TC could reach 89.49 mg g−1 and 67.29 mg g−1 over 20 wt% MIL-125(Ti)/BiOI, much higher than BiOI and MIL-125(Ti). And the kinetic rate constants of RhB and TC degradation were approximately 21.6 and 3.3 times than single BiOI. The Ti3+-Ti4+ intervalence electron transfer and favourable interface contact are responsible for highly improved charge separation efficiency, which contribute to the enhancement of photocatalytic efficiency. Our research extends the knowledge into constructing bifunctional nanocomposite with considerable potential application for abatement of various organic contaminants.

Removal efficiency of organic contaminants in landfill leachate contaminated groundwater under oxygen micro–nano bubble aeration

Oxygen micro–nano bubble (MNB) aeration was used to treat landfill leachate contaminated groundwater.

Efficient removal of sulfamethoxazole by resin-supported zero-valent iron composites with tunable structure: Performance, mechanisms, and degradation pathways

Nanoscale zero-valent iron loaded polymer-based composites (D201-nZVI) are effective materials for the removal of inorganic contaminants from water. However, the removal efficiency of organic contaminants and the role of the distribution of nZVI in the performance of the composites still remains unclear. Herein, four resin-supported nZVI composites with different nZVI distributions (D1, D2, D3, and D4) were prepared and used for sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation. The four composites, D1–D4, demonstrated a high efficiency of SMX removal (99.02%, 94.61%, 89.00%, and 86.28%, respectively, at pH 5.0). In addition, the performance of D201-nZVI only dropped by approximately 10% after five cycles, indicating its strong potential for practical application. On the basis of kinetic and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectral analyses, this study showed that the formation of hydroxyl radicals (⋅OH) and superoxide radicals (⋅O2-) is the main mechanism of SMX degradation. Finally, based on six major degradation intermediates of SMX, five possible degradation pathways were proposed, including the coupling of N-centered radicals, demethylation, the isomerization of isoxazole rings, the oxidation of amino groups, and the S–N bond cleavage in the D201-nZVI system. These results are not only important for better understanding the role of Fe distribution in the removal of SMX but are also crucial for the potential application of D201-nZVI composites with a different Fe distribution in many other scenarios.

A coupled ODE-diffusion modeling framework for removing organic contaminants in crops using a simple household method

Organic contaminants are frequently detected in fresh crops and can cause severe damage to human health. To help control this risk, we introduce a diffusion-based model framework for estimating the removal efficiency for organic contaminants in fresh crops using a simple water soaking method. The framework was developed based on the diffusion coefficient of the organic contaminants, and its application indicates that the removal factor (RF) for organic contaminants has an inverse-exponential relationship with log Kow (Kow is the octanol-water partition coefficient), which thermodynamically restricts the removal efficiency for chemicals with large steady state log Kow. Additionally, the diffusion coefficient of the chemical in water affects the kinetic removal efficiency. For example, the RF simulated for glyphosate, which has a relatively high diffusion coefficient, is 0.592 (61.9% of the steady state RF) after soaking for 1 h, while the RF of lindane is 0.224, which is only 25.0% of the steady state RF. However, if a refreshing method is applied, the RF of lindane can be significantly improved even if more potatoes are used in the water bowl, and this has been demonstrated theoretically with the refreshing function. Model validation indicates that the macro properties of crops, e.g., the active area through which crop tissues interact with water, have a larger impact on the results than do the micro-properties of crops and the physiochemical properties of the organic contaminants. Comparison of our results with those of other studies shows that the simulated ranges for some pesticides compare well with experimental data collected using other household washing methods. However, for other pesticides such as HCB and DDT, the simulated results and current studies are inconsistent due to physical interactions between the water and crop tissues not considered in our model.

Removal of ciprofloxacin from aqueous solutions by ionic surfactant-modified carbon nanotubes

Ionic surfactants may impact removal efficiency of organic contaminants from aqueous solution, but research regarding the adsorption mechanisms on surfactant-modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was limited. In this study, three multi-walled and one single-walled CNTs were used as adsorbents to investigate the adsorption behavior and mechanisms of ciprofloxacin (CIP) on CNTs modified by ionic surfactants (cationic CTAB (Cetyltrimethylamnonium bromide) or anionic SDS (Sodium dodecyl sulfate)). More than 80% (82–88%) of the total removed CIP on CTAB-modified CNTs occurred within the first 6 h, much higher than that on SDS-modified CNTs (57–78%). Modeling adsorption kinetics demonstrated that CIP adsorption on surfactant-modified CNTs was controlled by multiple and faster processes, and both external mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion are limiting factors. Relative to SDS, CTAB was significantly (P < 0.001) concentration-dependent in suppressing CIP removal. Besides, the increase in 1/n values of Freundlich model with increasing CTAB concentration suggested that CTAB could be a stronger competitor for CIP adsorption. Hydrophobic interactions predominated zwitterionic CIP adsorption on all CNTs tested, while electrostatic interactions could help control ionizable CIP adsorption on surfactant-modified CNTs depending upon pH. CIP adsorption on modified SWCNTs significantly declined with increasing ionic strength from 1 mM to 100 mM relative to those multi-walled CNTs because the more favorable aggregation of SWCNTs reduced the CIP adsorption, irrespective of which surfactant was added. Significant desorption hysteresis of adsorbed CIP released by SDS and water was observed, but not by CTAB, by which 32.6–54.4% of adsorbed CIP were removed. For SDS-modified CNTs, the mean release ratio (RR) followed an order of MWCNTs (0.075) > MHCNTs (0.058) > SWCNTs (0.057) > MCCNTs (0.049), significantly (P < 0.001) lower than CTAB-CNTs (0.37–0.56). It can be predicted that the tested surfactants co-existing with CNTs depress removal efficiency of diverse contaminants similar to CIP in aqueous systems.

생물학적 호기성필터를 이용한 소규모 하수처리시스템에 관한 연구

The biological aerated filter (BAF) reactor is regarded as an effective biological wastewater treatment method. It can remove pollutants by carrier filtration and biodegradation. Due to its advantages, which include high biomass retention, tolerance to toxicity, excellent removal efficiency, and slurry separation, BAF has been widely used to remove COD, NH4 + -N, phosphorus, and other harmful organic substances. In this study, the BAF reactor was used to remove organic contaminants of domestic wastewater of Korea at both the benchand pilot-scale. The main objectives of this study are to: (i) investigate the removal efficiency of organic contaminants (ex. COD, nitrate, phosphorus) in BAF reactors at both scales; (ii) characterize the small-scale wastewater treatment plant using the BAF reactor. The concentration of COD in the influent increased from 69 to 246 mg/L. During the operation period, the final effluent concentration of COD remained maximum 4.0 mg/L, and the average removal efficiency was above 88%. The present study investigated the removal efficiencies of COD, TN, TP and NH4 + -N from smelting wastewater by BAF system. When treating wastewater in both bench and pilot-scale reactors, the BAF worked well.

Removal of organic contaminants and toxiciy from industrial effluents using freezing processes

Removal efficiency of organic contaminants and reduction of toxicity (Microtox) in the secondary petroleum refinery and pulp mill effluents using two freezing processes, unidirectional downward freezing (UDF) and the spray freezing, was evaluated in this experimental study. The effect of the freezing temperature, initial feed water impurity concentration, mixing of the freezing liquid and the duration of freezing on the impurity removal efficiency was examined. Effective removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) causing materials from both effluents, color causing materials in the pulp mill effluent, and removal of linoeic and abietic acids in the meltwater of the spray ice was achieved by freezing only 70% of the feed water. Close association of effluent toxicity with TOC and COD concentrations was observed when EC 20 was used to measure the toxicity. Mixing of the freezing liquid significantly improved the impurity removal efficiency of the UDF process, reduced the influence of freezing temperature and initial feed water impurity concentration. Greater impurity removal efficiency was observed for the spray ice with longer storage time. The impurity removal efficiency of the spray freezing process was similar to that of the UDF without mixing.

Removal efficiency of organic contaminants on Si wafer surfaces by the N 2O ECR plasma technique

The organic contamination by volatile organics outgassed from the plastic wafer storage is one of the very important concerns in ultra clean processing of silicon surface. In this study, silicon surfaces have been artificially contaminated by above kind of volatile organics and subsequent cleaning has been performed by N 2O electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma treatment with different exposure times. A trace amount of contaminants on the silicon surface has been measured by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The results indicate that efficient removal of organic contaminants from the semiconductor surface can be achieved with a short time exposure of N 2O ECR plasma.

Constructed wetlands for the treatment of organic pollutants

Constructed wetlands (wetland treatment systems) are wetlands designed to improve water quality. They use the same processes that occur in natural wetlands but have the flexibility of being constructed. As in natural wetlands vegetation, soil and hydrology are the major components. Different soil types and plant species are used in constructed wetlands. Regarding hydrology surface flow and subsurface flow constructed wetlands are the main types. Subsurface flow constructed wetlands are further subdivided into horizontal or vertical flow. Many constructed wetlands deal with domestic wastewater where BOD and COD (Biochemical and Chemical Oxygen Demand respectively) are used as a sum parameter for organic matter. However, also special organic compounds can be removed. The objectives are to summarise the state-of-the-art on constructed wetlands for treatment of specific organic compounds, to the present the lack of knowledge, and to derive future research needs. Case studies in combination with a literature review are used to summarise the available knowledge on removal processes for specific organic compounds. Case studies are presented for the treatment of wastewaters contaminated with aromatic organic compounds, and sulphonated anthraquinones, olive mill wastewater, landfill leachate, and groundwater contaminated with hydrocarbons, cyanides, chlorinated volatile organics, and explosives. In general the removal efficiency for organic contaminants is high in all presented studies. Constructed wetlands are an effective and low cost way to treat water polluted with organic compounds. There is a lack of knowledge on the detailed removal pathways for most of the contaminants. Removal rates as well as optimal plant species are substance-specific, and also typically not available. If a constructed wetland provides different environmental conditions and uses different plant species the treatment efficiency can be improved. There is a great need to lighten the black box ‘constructed wetland’ to obtain performance data for both microbial activity and the contribution of the plants to the overall removal process. Also genetic modified plants should be considered to enhance the treatment performance of constructed wetlands for specific compounds.

Comparison of the removal efficiency for organic contaminants on silicon wafers stored in plastic boxes between UV/O 3 and ECR oxygen plasma cleaning methods

When wafers are stored in a plastic storage box to protect them from airborne contaminants, volatile organics from the polymeric construction material adsorb onto the wafer surface. Both UV/O 3 and ECR oxygen plasma techniques have been found to completely remove these organic contaminants adsorbed on the silicon surfaces up to the detection limit. After cleaning, Si wafers were characterized using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Organic contaminants were eliminated more efficiently by the ECR oxygen plasma technique than the UV/O 3 technique when they were employed under optimum process conditions.

Removal efficiency of organic contaminants on Si wafer by dry cleaning using UV/O 3 and ECR plasma

The removal efficiency of the organic contaminants existing on the surface of silicon wafers by a dry cleaning method using UV/O 3 and ECR plasma is discussed in this paper. After cleaning, Si wafers are characterized by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and atomic force microscropy (AFM). In UV/O 3 cleaning, the exposure time to reach the detection limit for organic contaminants in ATR-FTIR is about 10 min and the RMS surface roughness reduces with increasing exposure time. In ECR hydrogen plasma cleaning, the RMS surface roughness reduces significantly with increasing the exposure time but the removal of organic contaminants from the silicon wafer is not very effective. In ECR oxygen plasma cleaning, the exposure times to reach both the detection limit and the lowest RMS roughness are 40 and 10 s, respectively, and the optimum exposure time is suggested to be 30–40 s, considering both the effects of cleaning and surface roughening. Therefore, dry cleaning using ECR oxygen plasma seems to be more effective than that using ECR hydrogen plasma or the UV/O 3 cleaning for the removal of organic contaminants. Also, the removal mechanisms of the organic contaminants in UV/O 3 and ECR plasma cleanings are discussed in detail.

Oxidative Processes Occurring When Pulsed High Voltage Discharges Degrade Phenol in Aqueous Solution

In this investigation, results obtained using a pulsed discharge for organic compound removal are presented. The degradation of phenol by a streamer corona discharge and spark discharge, the effects of hydrogen peroxide additive on removal efficiency, and photochemical oxidation by ultraviolet light from the discharge plasma channel were investigated. The intermediate products and final byproducts formed by the spark discharge were also studied. A preliminary study of the degradation mechanism inside and outside the plasma channel was carried out. It was found that the removal efficiency of organic contaminants in the aqueous solution was higher for the spark discharge than for the streamer corona discharge and was greatly influenced by the discharge type and additive. The energy efficiency was the highest (6.91 × 10-3 μmol/J) for the case with hydrogen peroxide injection and spark discharge. The main intermediate products produced by the spark discharge during the treatment process were hydroquinone, pyrocatechol, and p-benzoquinone. These intermediate products disappeared when the treatment time was increased.