Wastewater Purification Systems Research Articles

A Novel Experimental Study and Analysis of Electrocoagulation Process for Textile Wastewater Treatment using Various Sensors with Integration of IoT Monitoring System

One of the basic requirements of living beings is water. Due to globalization, industries consume large amount of water and creates shortage of pure water. In addition, they pollute the existing fresh water resources. Therefore, it is essential to design an effective wastewater purification system. Electrochemical method namely, electrocoagulation paves the way for an effective wastewater purification system. This research focuses on the study and analysis of the textile wastewater purification, using electrocoagulation process. This novel experimental study and analysis was carried out using iron, aluminium and mild steel electrodes for batch, modified batch and continuous process respectively. In these electrocoagulation processes, three major parameters such as colour, turbidity and pH were sensed and monitored using IoT. Colour and Turbidity Removal efficiency were also calculated, which gives satisfying results.

Assessing impacts of sand mining on water quality in Toutsang locality and design of waste water purification system

This paper focuses on assessing and development of water purification system for addressing water quality effects associated with sand mining in Toutsang locality, West-Cameroon. The study approach involved field investigations, laboratory analysis and design of waste water treatment system. Water samples were randomly collected from the study into well-labeled containers and conveyed to Unité de Recherche d’Analyse des Sols et Chimie de l’Environnement, Faculté d’Agronomie et des Sciences Agricoles (FASA) at the University of Dschang for analysis. Results from the physico-chemical analysis show elevated levels of total suspended solids (TSS), magnesium (Mg), turbidity and iron (Fe) in water samples collected downstream of the River close to the mining site, which exceeds the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Based on the results of the physico-chemical analysis, a waste water treatment comprising of sedimentation tanks is proposed to treat waste water from the sand mining site. The designed water treatment system can be used to treat contaminated water from sand mining sites for domestic use. The proposed model tank needs to be implemented to restore Toutsang Water quality for indoor purpose and household use. • Toutsang water quality is accessed through Physico-chemical analysis of Toutsang water samples. • Sand mining activity increases the level of some physico-chemical parameters downstream of Toutsang River close to the mining site as compared to the World Health Organization standards. • Toutsang River contents very important amount of fine sediments in suspension which is the origin of it brownish coloration. • We investigate Toutsang River hydromorphological parameters including water flow, water velocity and water depth. • We design a sedimentation tank for Toutsang River treatment in order for it to become clean and appropriate for indoor and household purposes.

Cluster-Based Communication Protocol and Architecture for a Wastewater Purification System Intended for Irrigation

The remote location of agricultural fields leads to the difficulty of deploying Precision Agriculture (PA) systems as there is no Internet access in those areas. Therefore, the use of long-range wireless technologies such as LoRa can provide connectivity to rural areas and allow monitoring PA systems remotely. In this paper, a heterogeneous architecture and protocol that allows communication with both WiFi and LoRa, including multiple hops in LoRa are presented. The design is based on a tree topology comprised of electronic devices deployed on different areas of interest for PA systems such as the canals of irrigation water, the fields, and the urban areas that generate wastewater. A set of practical tests with different configurations have been performed to determine the correct operation of the proposed protocol. The results show that the consumed bandwidth for both 433 MHz and 868 MHz frequency bands remained within the limits for the most restrictive LoRa configurations. Therefore, different deployment needs can be addressed with the implementation of this proposal. Furthermore, the use of packet transmission delays of 500 ms at the CH node results in high successful packet delivery rates.

Luminescent film: Biofouling investigation of tetraphenylethylene blended polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membrane

Despite the huge contribution of membrane-based brine and wastewater purification systems in today’s life, biofouling still affects sustainability of membrane engineering. Aimed at reducing membrane modules wastage, the need to study biofouling monitoring as one of contributory factors stemmed from the short time between initial attachment and irreversible biofoulant adhesion. Hence, a membrane for monitoring is introduced to determine the right cleaning time by using fluorescent sensing as a non-destructive and scalable approach. The classical solid-state emissive fluorophore, tetraphenylethylene (TPE), was introduced as a sustainable, safe and sensitive fluorescent indicator in order to show the potential of the method, and polyethersulfone (PES) and nonsolvent-induced phase separation method, the most popular material and method, are used to fabricate membrane in industry and academia. Since the employed filler has an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristic, it can track the biofouling throughout the operation. The fabricated membranes have certain characterizations (i.e. morphology assessment, flux, antibiogram, flow cytometry, surface free energy, and protein adsorption) which indicate that hybrid membrane with 5 wt % of TPE has identical biofouling activity compared to neat PES membrane and its optimal luminescence properties make it an appropriate candidate for non-destructive and online biofouling monitoring.

Improvement of the operation processes of electrotechnology wastewater purification systems under the energy efficiency criterion

Improvement of the operation processes of electrotechnology wastewater purification systems under the energy efficiency criterion

Linking Microbial Community Composition in Treated Wastewater with Water Quality in Distribution Systems and Subsequent Health Effects.

The increases in per capita water consumption, coupled in part with global climate change have resulted in increased demands on available freshwater resources. Therefore, the availability of safe, pathogen-free drinking water is vital to public health. This need has resulted in global initiatives to develop sustainable urban water infrastructure for the treatment of wastewater for different purposes such as reuse water for irrigation, and advanced waste water purification systems for domestic water supply. In developed countries, most of the water goes through primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments combined with disinfectant, microfiltration (MF), reverse osmosis (RO), etc. to produce potable water. During this process the total bacterial load of the water at different stages of the treatment will decrease significantly from the source water. Microbial diversity and load may decrease by several orders of magnitude after microfiltration and reverse osmosis treatment and falling to almost non-detectable levels in some of the most managed wastewater treatment facilities. However, one thing in common with the different end users is that the water goes through massive distribution systems, and the pipes in the distribution lines may be contaminated with diverse microbes that inhabit these systems. In the main distribution lines, microbes survive within biofilms which may contain opportunistic pathogens. This review highlights the role of microbial community composition in the final effluent treated wastewater, biofilms formation in the distribution systems as the treated water goes through, and the subsequent health effects from potential pathogens associated with poorly treated water. We conclude by pointing out some basic steps that may be taken to reduce the accumulation of biofilms in the water distribution systems.

Optimizing real swine wastewater treatment with maximum carbohydrate production by a newly isolated indigenous microalga Parachlorella kessleri QWY28

In this study, a newly discovered microalga Parachlorella kessleri QWY28 with a superior ability to treat real swine wastewater, was isolated and explored. The optimal culture conditions of 30 °C and 600 μmol/m2·s were set to improve the practical application potential, achieving maximum pollutant removal efficiencies of 88% COD, 95% TN and almost 100% TP, with carbohydrate production at 646 mg/L·d. These results present the highest efficiencies reported to date, for non-sterilized real swine wastewater without pretreatment. These findings support the practical feasibility of combined microalgal swine wastewater purification and energy production systems.

Techno-economic analysis of a decentralized wastewater treatment plant operating in closed-loop. A Finnish case study

The study analyzes a potential to improve the local waste and wastewater management in a Finnish community. The Lappeenranta wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is used as a case study. Two different technological setups are considered for improving the wastewater treatment plant. These are used to construct four alternative wastewater reclamation scenarios. The mass and energy balances for the considered scenarios are developed and used as input for the profitability evaluation. The utilization of the sewage sludge from the WWTP and municipal solid waste fraction that cannot be recycled for the generation of heat and electricity at the CHP plant is investigated with the aim to improve the economic performance of the wastewater treatment facility. The studied scenarios are initially compared based on their investment and operational costs. The cost of water treatment increases significantly in the case of the investigated tertiary treatment systems: higher amounts of chemicals and electricity are needed to improve the water quality. At the same time, the study indicates that the profitability of a WWTP integrated with a CHP plant can be reasonably high in a wide range of likely price scenarios for alternative wastewater purification systems. The results of the analysis showed a significant potential for the investigated wastewater reclamation systems to improve the efficiency of solid waste and wastewater management in the community.

Detection of Saturated Fatty Acids Associated with a Self-Healing Synthetic Biological Membrane Using Fiber-Enhanced Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering.

The Synthetic Biological Membrane (SBM) project at NASA Ames developed a portable, self-repairing wastewater purification system. The self-repair process relies upon secreted fatty acids from a genetically engineered organism. However, solubilized fatty acids are difficult to detect using conventional methods. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was used to successfully detect solubilized fatty acids with the following limits of detection: 10-9, 10-8, 10-9, and 10-6 M for decanoic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid, respectively. Additionally, hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) was applied as the sampling device together with SERS to develop in situ surveillance of the production of fatty acids. Using SERS + HCPCF yielded an 18-fold enhancement in SERS signal for the CH2 twist peak at 1295 cm-1 as compared to SERS alone. The results will help the SBM project to integrate a self-healing wastewater purification membrane into future water recycling systems.

Detection of Saturated Fatty Acids Associated with a Self-Healing Synthetic Biological Membrane Using Fiber-Enhanced Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering.

The Synthetic Biological Membrane (SBM) project at NASA Ames developed a portable, self-repairing wastewater purification system. The self-repair process relies upon secreted fatty acids from a genetically engineered organism. However, solubilized fatty acids are difficult to detect using conventional methods. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was used to successfully detect solubilized fatty acids with the following limits of detection: 10-9 M, 10-8 M, 10-9 M, and 10-6 M for decanoic acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid, respectively. Additionally, hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) was applied as the sampling device together with SERS to develop in situ surveillance of the production of fatty acids. Using SERS + HCPCF yielded an 18 fold enhancement in SERS signal for the CH2 twist peak at 1295 cm-1 as compared to SERS alone. The results will help the SBM project to integrate a self-healing wastewater purification membrane into future water recycling systems.

Design, Prototyping, and Assessment of a Wastewater Closed-Loop Recovery and Purification System

Efforts to decrease the water use within industry are mandatory to pursue product and process sustainability. Particularly, the European Union (EU) is at the top level for water consumption in industry, while some sectors, such as the food and beverage (F&B), are highly water-intensive with hundreds of liters per hour of consumed and, then, drained water. This article provides a systematic overview of the most innovative insights coming from an EU Eco-Innovation project dealing with greening the F&B industry through the design, prototyping, technical, economic, and environmental assessment of a wastewater closed-loop recovery and purification system. The system, tailored for a standard mid-size F&B company using 2–3 billion L/year of raw water, collects, purifies and recirculates the key produced wastewater streams with an overall recovery efficiency of about 56%. The proposed purification technology comes from the most efficient combination of membrane-based filtration methods, reverse osmosis (RO), and ultraviolet modules. Evidence from the technical design, full-scale on-site technology prototyping, net-present-value (NPV) analysis and system life-cycle-assessment (LCA) are presented concluding about the convenience of adopting the proposed solution to reduce costs and impacts on the environment.

Heavy Metal Removal from Domestic Wastewater Employing Live Eichhornia Crassipes

This study uses naturally growing water hyacinth for wastewater purification system, this is an alternative technique of heavy metal remediation. These plants enhance the removal of pollutants by consuming part of them in the form of the plant nutrients. The vascular plants cultured in such treatment system perform several functions, including assimilation and storing contaminates, transporting O2 to root zone, and providing a substrate for microbial activity, canal containing floating macrophytes. This applies to municipal wastewater, in particular, where treatment units of different size can be applied at the pollution source and consumes less energy for the running. The effectiveness of wastewater purification by different plants was tested on laboratory and pilot scales. The aquatic plants system offers an environmentally friendly and cost effective technology, which have been used for removing Cadmium, Iron and Copper from wastewater. Batch experiments verified that the plants are capable of decreasing all tested indicators for water quality to levels that permit the use of purified water for irrigation, which poses serious problems in various locations throughout the country. It is shown that mixture of wastewater from in front of Gautam Budha University canal/ Greater Noida’s canal wastewater and Galgotias University sewage treatment plants. The removal efficiency of the Cadmium, Iron and Copper is 74.52%, 75.31% and 67.75% in greater Noida’s canal and 73.72%, 74.99 % and 68.37% in Galgotias University’s wastewater respectively.

Two different purification systems at Istanbul-Tuzla and Adana-Kozan, their characterizations.

In most developed countries, wastewater treatment plants are presently utilizing efficient purification technology meeting the sufficiency requirements of quality and quantity. However, in developing countries, the number of wastewater treatment plants is limited. As a result, the establishment of a connection between the wastewater collection system and wastewater purification plants is increasingly becoming a top priority for researchers. The aim of this article is to analyze wastewater collection and purification systems and establish the links between these two processes. In the present study, the efficiency of the present purification system at the Istanbul-Tuzla and Adana-Kozan plants was investigated with the aim of enhancing their performance. The findings pertaining to the model sewage system revealed a decrease in NH3-N by 20-70%, total nitrogen (T-N) by 25-75%, biological oxygen demand (BOD5) by 50-60%, chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 35-55% and suspended solids (SS) by 55-85%. As a result of studies performed in the Tuzla sewage treatment system, we can confirm that T-N decreased by 50-75%, suspended solid particles by 24-57%, and BOD5 by 34-57%, while 35-55% of COD was removed. Similarly, in the canal exit at Kоzan, BOD5 decreased by 40-55%, COD by 30-50%, SS by 25-45% and T-N by 5-40%.

The Brookside Farm Wetland Ecosystem Treatment (WET) System: A Low-Energy Methodology for Sewage Purification, Biomass Production (Yield), Flood Resilience and Biodiversity Enhancement

Wastewater from domestic developments, farms and agro-industrial processing can be sources of pollution in the environment; current wastewater management methods are usually machine-based, and thus energy consuming. When Permaculture Principles are used in the creation of water purification and harvesting systems, there can be multiple environmental and economic benefits. In the context of energy descent, it may be considered desirable to treat wastewater using minimal energy. The constructed wetland design presented here is a low-entropy system in which wastewater is harvested and transformed into lush and productive wetland, eliminating the requirement for non-renewable energy in water purification, and also maximising benefits: biodiversity, flood resilience and yield. In permaculture design, the high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous compounds in sewage are viewed as valuable nutrients, resources to be harvested by a constructed wetland ecosystem and converted into useful yield. Similarly, rainwater runoff is not viewed as a problem which can cause flooding, but as a potential resource to be harvested to provide a yield. This paper presents a case study, with both water quality and productivity data, from Brookside Farm UK, where the use of Permaculture Design Principles has created a combined wastewater management and purification system, accepting all site water.

Electrophoretic Deposition of Titanium Dioxide Thin Films for Photocatalytic Water Purification Systems

In this study, electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique was used to deposit titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films on conducting glass substrates for application in water purification from organic contaminants. Phenol was used as a model pollutant. The EPD suspension related parameters and deposition conditions were first optimized for good quality film deposits. The suspension stability and deposition conditions that result in good adherence of TiO2 particles to the substrate with homogeneous film coatings, is ethanol with a pH of 3.0, a TiO2 solid loading of 4.0 wt%, a 0.2 wt% iodine concentration in the solvent and a deposition voltage of 20.0V in a time of 210.0s. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 thin films decreases exponentially with the ultraviolet light (UV) illumination time and it is also dependent on film thickness, sintering temperature and the intensity of the UV light. Highest rate of photocatalytic activity is observed at an optimal film thickness of 95.0 ± 2.0µm sintered at 300.0°C. The implications of these results are discussed for design of inexpensive waste water purification systems for light industries before discharge into the ecosystem.

Variations of growth, nitrogen accumulation and nitrogen use efficiency among 18 willow clones under two nitrogen regimes

Willows (Salix spp.) have excellent capacity for acquiring nutrients, and are widely used for removing excess nutrients in wastewater purification system. In this study, 18 willow clones were evaluated in terms of growth parameters, nitrogen (N) accumulation and N use efficiency under two N regimes (low N and high N) with a sand culture system. Clonal differences were observed in biomass production, relative growth rate, N accumulation and use efficiency under two N regimes, which were contributed to the clone level. For all clones, nitrogen use efficiency was lower under high N condition than under low N condition. Nitrogen removal efficiency differed by 7-fold (low N regime) and 10-fold (high N regime) based on shoot N contents between the lowest and the highest clone. Among all the clones, J799 had the highest N content in shoots, showing largest N removal potential. These results confirmed that growth analysis and nutrient use strategy are efficient method of selecting Salix clones for improving the N removal potential.

Ecological Aquaculture Wastewater Purification Engineering Design of Microcirculation Running Water Breeding System

This study finds that the four kinds of aquatic plants ofIpomoea aquatica(IA), Eichhornia crassipes(EC), Alternanthera philoxeroides(AP) andSagittaria sagittifolia(SS) have the significant effect on the purification of aquaculture wastewater through the contrast monitoring in the outdoor natural environment condition. The removal rates of the four kinds of aquatic plants are 91.37%, 94.27%, 58.64%, 90.26%, 92.67%, 100%;87.41%, 94.69%, 54.09%, 82.82%, 88.36%, 100%;83.09%, 94.91%, 51.36%, 86.67%, 87.36%, 100%;93.52%, 95.59%, 60.45%, 90.68%, 93.58%, 100% respectively to TN, TP, CODMn, NH4+-N, NO3--N, NO2--N in 10d trial period. On this basis, this study uses the aquatic plants, ozone measurement and control instrument and pump to build an ecological aquaculture wastewater purification system, it is applied in the high density running water breeding of theClarias leather, channel catfish, grass carpandOdontobutis potamophila. We harvest the adult fish 47.2 Kg per square meter, the output value is 566.91 yuan and the profit is 136.76 yuan, so it has the significant economic and ecological benefits and it explores a new model for the development of "water-saving, zero emissions" aquaculture.

Synthesis and photocatalytic performance of PVA/TiO2/graphene‐MWCNT nanocomposites for dye removal

ABSTRACTTiO2/graphene‐MWCNT nanocomposite was prepared using solvothermal reaction for the effective distribution of TiO2 nanoparticles on carbonaceous materials. TiO2/graphene‐MWCNT nanocomposite was immobilized in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix for a convenient recovery after wastewater purification. MWCNT was incorporated in a nanocomposite not only to prevent the restacking of graphene but also to increase the electron transfer from TiO2. The detailed characterization of the nanocomposite was performed using SEM, EDX, XRD, XPS, and FTIR. The photocatalytic performance of PVA/TiO2/graphene‐MWCNT nanocomposite was investigated by UV spectroscopy on the basis of degradation of organic pollutants. PVA/TiO2/graphene‐MWCNT nanocomposite showed improved photocatalytic decomposition of more than 70% of residual dye left in case of using PVA/TiO2/graphene nanocomposite due to the improved electron transfer and the higher adsorption of organic pollutants. PVA/TiO2/graphene‐MWCNT nanocomposite was suitable as a promising material for the recyclable photocatalytic wastewater purification system. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40715.

Eoetvoesia caeni gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from an activated sludge system treating coke plant effluent

A novel bacterium, PB3-7B(T), was isolated on phenol-supplemented inorganic growth medium from a laboratory-scale wastewater purification system that treated coke plant effluent. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain PB3-7B(T) belonged to the family Alcaligenaceae and showed the highest pairwise sequence similarity to Parapusillimonas granuli Ch07(T) (97.5%), Candidimonas bauzanensis BZ59(T) (97.3%) and Pusillimonas noertemannii BN9(T) (97.2%). Strain PB3-7B(T) was rod-shaped, motile and oxidase- and catalase-positive. The predominant fatty acids were C(16 : 0), C(17 : 0) cyclo, C(19 : 0) cyclo ω8c and C(14 : 0) 3-OH, and the major respiratory quinone was Q-8. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain PB3-7B(T) was 59.7 mol%. The novel bacterium can be distinguished from closely related type strains based on its urease activity and the capacity for assimilation of glycerol and amygdalin. On the basis of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular data, strain PB3-7B(T) is considered to represent a new genus and species, for which the name Eoetvoesia caeni gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Eoetvoesia caeni is PB3-7B(T) ( = DSM 25520(T) = NCAIM B 02512(T)).

Synergistic Water-Treatment Reactors Using a TiO2-Modified Ti-Mesh Filter

The recent applications of a TiO2-modified Ti-mesh filter (TMiP™) for water purification are summarized with newly collected data including biological assays as well as sewage water treatment. The water purification reactors consist of the combination of a TMiP, a UV lamp, an excimer VUV lamp, and an ozonation unit. The water purification abilities of the reactor were evaluated by decomposition of organic contaminants, inactivation of waterborne pathogens, and treatment efficiency for sewage water. The UV-C/TMiP/O3 reactor disinfected E. coli in aqueous suspension in approximately 1 min completely, and also decreased the number of E. coli in sewage water in 15 min dramatically. The observed rate constants of 7.5 L/min and 1.3 L/min were calculated by pseudo-first-order kinetic analysis respectively. Although organic substances in sewage water were supposed to prevent the UV-C/TMiP/O3 reactor from purifying water, the reactor reduced E. coli in sewage water continuously. On the other hand, although much higher efficiencies for decomposition of organic pollutants in water were achieved in the excimer/TMiP reactor, the disinfection activity of the reactor for waterborne pathogens was not as effective as the other reactors. The difference of efficiency between organic pollutants and waterborne pathogens in the excimer/TMiP reactor may be due to the size, the structure, and the decomposition mechanism of the organic pollutants and waterborne pathogens. These results show that a suitable system assisted by synergy of photocatalysts and other technologies such as ozonation has a huge potential as a practical wastewater purification system.