Advanced treatment of biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater by a novel integration of catalytic ultrasound oxidation and membrane bioreactor

Review on the escalating imperative of zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology for sustainable water management and environmental resilience

This comprehensive review delves into the forefront of wastewater treatment technology, with a specific focus on the revolutionary concept of Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD). (ZLD), underpinned by a sustainable ethos, aspires to accomplish total water reclamation, constituting a pivotal response to pressing environmental issues. The paper furnishes a historical panorama of (ZLD), elucidating its motivating factors and inherent merits. It navigates a spectrum of (ZLD) technologies encompassing thermal methodologies, (ZLD) synergized with Reverse Osmosis (RO), High-Efficiency Reverse Osmosis (HERO), Membrane Distillation (MD), Forward Osmosis (FO), and Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR). Moreover, the study casts a global purview over the deployment status of (ZLD) systems in pursuit of resource recovery, accentuating nations such as the United States, China, India, assorted European Union members, Canada, and Egypt. Meticulous case studies take center stage, underscoring intricate scenarios involving heavily contaminated effluents from challenging sectors including tanneries, textile mills, petroleum refineries, and paper mills. The report culminates by distilling sagacious observations and recommendations, emanating from a collaborative brainstorming endeavor. This compendium embarks on an enlightening journey through the evolution of wastewater treatment, (ZLD)'s ascendancy, and its transformative potential in recalibrating water management paradigms while harmonizing industrial progress with environmental stewardship.

Advances in treatment of coking wastewater - a state of art review

Coking wastewater poses a serious threat to the environment due to the presence of a wide spectrum of refractory substances such as phenolic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic nitrogenous compounds. These toxic substances are difficult to treat using conventional treatment methods alone. In recent years much attention has been given to the effective treatment of coking wastewater. Thus, this review seeks to provide a brief overview of recent developments that have taken place in the treatment of coking wastewater. In addition, this article addresses the complexity and the problems associated with treatment followed by a discussion on biological methods with special focus on bioaugmentation. As coking wastewater is refractory in nature, some of the studies have been related to improving the biodegradability of wastewater. The final section focuses on the integrated treatment methods that have emerged as the best solution for tackling the highly unmanageable coking wastewater. Attention has also been given to emerging microwave technology which has tremendous potential for treatment of coking wastewater.

Effective oxidative degradation of coal gasification wastewater by ozonation: A process study

Coal gasification wastewater (CGW) has attracted considerable industrial attention because of its high toxicity and poor biodegradability. Ozonation is a promising process for CGW treatment. In this study, the effects of ozone concentration, pH, and ozonation time on CGW treatment were investigated. The results confirmed that CGW was degraded effectively and that the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was reduced from 1057 to 362 mgL^-1, utilizing 50 mgL^-1 ozone for 90 min. Further, the color of CGW changed from brown to clear and colorless, and the pH decreased from 8.5 to 4.7. Importantly, molds were observed in the oxidized CGW after 14 d at room temperature (23 ± 2 °C), indicating that CGW is significantly biodegradable by ozonation. The CGW components were extracted with three different organic solvents (chloroform, n-hexane, and benzene), and their compositions were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) before and after ozonation. The results proved that considerable amounts of highly toxic refractory compounds in CGW, such as phenolic compounds, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds (NHCs), were degraded to compounds that included olefins, carboxylic acids, and cycloalkanes, or minerals, which are relatively environmentally benign. Moreover, the number of substances in CGW decreased significantly from 127 to 74 after ozonation. Summarily, ozonation is a promising approach for the treatment of highly toxic refractory wastewater, such as CGW.

A review on the applications of ultrasonic technology in membrane bioreactors

Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) have received increasing attention in the field of wastewater treatment in recent years. However, membrane fouling is the main problem of MBRs, limiting their widespread and large applications. Membrane cleaning methods can be mainly classified into four types including chemical, physical, physico-chemical and biological clean the fouled membrane. In recent years, ultrasonication has been reported as a promising cleaning technique for the membranes fouled in MBRs. Ultrasonic irradiation can clean the fouled membrane by creating important physical phenomena including microjets, microstreams and shock waves. Moreover, the ultrasonic method can be combined with other cleaning methods e.g. chemical cleaning and backwashing in order to improve the cleaning efficiency. It should be noted that the application of ultrasonic in the MBR system is not limited to the cleaning of membrane. The pretreatment of the wastewater by ultrasonic irradiation or ultrasound coupled with other methods, e.g. ozonation, prior to MBR system, can decrease the organic loading of the wastewater and subsequently postpone the fouling of the membrane. This paper critically reviews the recent advances in the applications of ultrasound in MBR systems. Emerging issues associated with application of on-line ultrasound and also hybrid on-line ultrasound for controlling the membrane fouling in MBR systems are critically reviewed. Moreover, application of the ultrasound in ex-situ form for cleaning the fouled membranes and pretreatment of wastewater prior to the MBR system is discussed.

Zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) technology for resource recovery from wastewater: A review

Water resources are becoming scarce meaning that reuse options are receiving more and more attention. In this perspective, zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) is considered as an emerging technique to minimize waste, recover resources, treat toxic industrial waste streams, and mitigate potential water quality impacts in receiving water streams. Although ZLD systems are capable of minimizing contamination of water sources and amplifying water supply, its industrial scale applications are restricted due to their high cost and intensive energy consumption. In ZLD systems, membrane-based technologies are an attractive future strategy for industrial wastewater reclamation. Therefore, this review examines why a greater focus on environmental protection and water security is leading to more widespread adoption of ZLD technology in various industries. We highlight existing ZLD processing schemes, including thermal and membrane-based processes, and discuss their limitations and potential solutions. We also investigated global application of ZLD systems for resource recovery from wastewater. Finally, we discuss the potential environmental impacts of ZLD technologies and provide some focus on future research needs.

Advanced membrane bioreactors systems: New materials and hybrid process design

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is deemed as one of the most powerful technologies for efficient municipal and industrial wastewater treatment around the world. However, low microbial activity of activated sludge and serious membrane fouling still remain big challenges in worldwide application of MBR technology. Nowadays, more and more progresses on the research and development of advanced MBR with new materials and hybrid process are just on the way. In this paper, an overview on the perspective of high efficient strains applied into MBR for biological activity enhancement and fouling reduction is provided first. Secondly, as emerging fouling control strategy, design and fabrication of novel anti-fouling composited membranes are comprehensively highlighted. Meanwhile, hybrid MBR systems integrated with some novel dynamic membrane modules and/or with other technologies like advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are introduced and compared. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of advanced MBRs combined with bioenergy production in wastewater treatment are discussed.

Selective recovery of salt from coal gasification brine by nanofiltration membranes

The selective extraction and concentration of salt from coal gasification brine (CGB) by nanofiltration membranes is a promising technology to achieve near-zero liquid discharge of coal gasification wastewater. To investigate the feasibility of recovery of salts and the interaction of organic compounds, multivalent ions and monovalent ions on the rejection ratio, three nanofiltration membranes (OWNF1, NF270 and Desal-5 DK) with an 1812 spiral-wound module were used in crossflow filtration. The rejection mechanism was analyzed by comparing the rejection performance as a function of the operation pressure (increasing from 1.0 MPa to 2.5 MPa), the concentration (increasing from 10,000 mg/L to 25,000 mg/L) and pH values (increasing from 3.0 to 10.0). The concentrations of anions and cations were determined using an ion chromatographic analyzer and an inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer, respectively. The results show that the rejection of sulfate and the chemical oxygen demand were higher than 92.12% and 78.84%, respectively, at appropriate operation, while negative rejection of chloride was observed in the CGB. The decreasing rejection of organic compounds was due to swelling of the membrane pore in high-concentration solutions. Meanwhile, the organic compounds weakened the negative charge of the membrane active layer, consequently decreasing the ion rejection. More than 85% of the sodium chloride could be recovered, indicating that this technology is suitable for resource recovery from CGB and near-zero liquid discharge of coal gasification industry.

Overview of the state of the art of processes and technical bottlenecks for coal gasification wastewater treatment

CGWW is major waste stream resulting from a number of activities of the low/medium temperature gasification unit that occurs during the production of natural gas. The resulting effluent contains a broad spectrum of organic and inorganic contaminants and exerts a negative influence on the environment, mainly due to the presence of toxic and refractory compounds. So far, various technologies have been applied for treatment of CGWW, while few reviews are available in the literature. Thus, this review attempts to offer a comprehensive picture about CGWW. An overview about pretreatment, biological and advanced processes for treatment of CGWW is presented, and the degradation mechanism of toxic and refractory pollutants is also elaborated. Technical bottlenecks existing in the operation of coal chemical industries, including foam proliferation, odors and biotoxicity risk, are detailed analyzed. Finally, the prospects of treatment for CGWW are discussed based on the concept of "wastewater is money". The review can be provided as an effective technical support for the construction and operation of coal gasification industries.

Degradation characteristics of two typical N-heterocycles in ozone process: Efficacy, kinetics, pathways, toxicity and its application to real biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater

Ozonation of pyridine and indole was investigated both in aqueous solution and biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater (BPCGW). Experimental results showed that the removal of indole was hardly affected by pH value. Direct reaction rate constant of ozone with pyridine increased from 0.18 M^-1 s^-1 (protonated pyridine) to 3.03 M^-1 s^-1 (molecular pyridine), and that with molecular indole was 8.6 × 10⁵ M^-1 s^-1. Seven and five transformation intermediates were observed for pyridine and indole, respectively. Ozonation pathways were proposed as hydroxylation, opening and cleavage of the aromatic ring. It was found that ammonia nitrogen (NH₃N) increased by 3.3 mg L^-1 in ozone process, suggesting the broken of the CN bonds of pyridine, indole and other N-heterocyclic compounds. In terms of biochemical oxygen demand to chemical oxygen demand (BOD₅/COD), toxicity and resazurin dehydrogenase activity (DHA), the biodegradability was improved after ozone treatment, indicating the possibility of ozone combined with biosystem for the treatment of BPCGW. The results of gas chromatograph and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) indicated that primary products during first 10 min might lead to the obstinate toxicity, which was further proved by US Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) test. This study would assist in obtaining a better understanding of the application of ozonation pretreatment in BPCGW.

Advanced treatment of biologically pretreated coal chemical industry wastewater using the catalytic ozonation process combined with a gas-liquid-solid internal circulating fluidized bed reactor

This paper investigated the performance of the combined system of catalytic ozonation and the gas-liquid-solid internal circulating fluidized bed reactor for the advanced treatment of biologically pretreated coal chemical industry wastewater (CCIW). The results indicated that with ozonation alone for 60min, the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD) could reach 34%. The introduction of activated carbon, pumice, γ-Al₂O₃ carriers improved the removal performance of COD, and the removal efficiency was increased by 8.6%, 4.2%, 2%, respectively. Supported with Mn, the catalytic performance of activated carbon and γ-Al₂O₃ were improved significantly with COD removal efficiencies of 46.5% and 41.3%, respectively; however, the promotion effect of pumice supported with Mn was insignificant. Activated carbon supported with Mn had the best catalytic performance. The catalytic ozonation combined system of MnO_X/activated carbon could keep ozone concentration at a lower level in the liquid phase, and promote the transfer of ozone from the gas phase to the liquid phase to improve ozonation efficiency.

Recent advances in degradation of chloronitrophenols

Chloronitrophenols (CNPs) constitute a group of environmental pollutants that are widely distributed in our surrounding environment due to human based activities. This group of chemicals is highly toxic to living beings due to its mutagenic and carcinogenic nature. Examples include 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol, 4-chloro-2-nitrophenol, 2-chloro-5-nitrophenol, 4-chloro-3-nitrophenol and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol. Several methods including advanced oxidation processes, adsorption and bacterial degradation have been used for degradation of CNPs. Among, bacterial degradation is an eco-friendly and effective way to degrade CNPs. Several bacterial metabolic pathways have been proposed for degradation of CNPs and their genes and enzymes have been identified in bacteria. These bacteria were able to degrade CNPs in broth culture and soil. Therefore, CNPs-degrading bacteria are suitable candidates for bioremediation of CNPs-contaminated sites. Few CNP-degrading bacteria exhibited chemotaxis towards CNPs to enhance their biodegradation. The present review summarizes recent progress in degradation of CNPs.

Highly efficient one-step advanced treatment of biologically pretreated coking wastewater by an integration of coagulation and adsorption process

A novel integrated process of coagulation and adsorption was proposed for the advanced treatment of biologically pretreated coking wastewater. Results of laboratory, pilot, and industrial-scale experiments indicated that this one-step novel process can remove biorefractory pollutants, achieving the maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) and cyanide removals of around 85.3% and 99.4%, respectively. Its effluent could meet the corresponding discharge standards without any further treatment, i.e., COD <30mg/L, cyanide <0.1mg/L, and improved effluent safety (lower toxicity). The easy operation and high efficiency of this method reflect its engineering-application potential in the tertiary treatment of coking wastewater.

Removal of selected nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds in biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater (BPCGW) using the catalytic ozonation process combined with the two-stage membrane bioreactor (MBR)

Three identical anoxic-aerobic membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were operated in parallel for 300 consecutive days for raw (R₁), ozonated (R₂) and catalytic ozonated (R₃) biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater (BPCGW) treatment. The results demonstrated that catalytic ozonation process (COP) applied asa pretreatment remarkably improved the performance of the unsatisfactory single MBR. The overall removal efficiencies of COD, NH₃-N and TN in R₃ were 92.7%, 95.6% and 80.6%, respectively. In addition, typical nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds (NHCs) of quinoline, pyridine and indole were completely removed in the integrated process. Moreover, COP could alter sludge properties and reshape microbial community structure, thus delaying the occurrence of membrane fouling. Finally, the total cost for this integrated process was estimated to be lower than that of single MBR. The results of this study suggest that COP is a good option to enhance pollutants removal and alleviate membrane fouling in the MBR for BPCGW treatment.

Repeatedly using the decomposition product of struvite by ultrasound stripping to remove ammonia nitrogen from landfill leachate

In this study, the decomposition of struvite by ultrasound stripping and the recycle use of the decomposition product for the treatment of landfill leachate were investigated. The results indicated that when the decomposition of struvite by ultrasound stripping was performed at 55°C for 40min, the ammonium in the struvite could be almost completely eliminated from the solution system. The characterization analysis showed that magnesium phosphate and the dissolved phosphate ions were the main active derivatives. Approximately 90% of the total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) in landfill leachate can be removed by reusing the decomposition product at pH 9 for 60min. Repeated use of the struvite decomposition product revealed that the TAN removal efficiency decreased with an increase in the number of recycles. However, in the process of multiple recycling, about 90% of TAN removal could be maintained by supplementing a certain amount of the preformed struvite to the solution for every recycle. An economic analysis demonstrated that 79.3% of the treatment cost could be saved by the proposed process compared to the non-recycling process.

3DEEM spectroscopy analysis to assess the EPS composition in different carriers in HMBR systems

A hybrid membrane bioreactor (HMBR) with biological band carriers (Reactor A) and an HMBR with suspended honeycomb carriers (Reactor B) were conducted in parallel to investigate the effects of different carriers on extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Composition and concentration of EPS were examined by three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3DEEM) fluorescence spectra and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). 3DEEM spectra demonstrated that the main organic substances of the EPS in two reactors were protein-like, humic acid-like and fulvic acid-like substances. The fluorescence intensity (FI) indicated that the protein-like composition was dominant in EPS, and its intensity in reactor B was stronger than that in A (392.94 > 250.25). Results of the FI identified from the 3DEEM by PARAFAC showed that the EPS in two reactors included two humic acid-like compositions C1 (230, 320/406 nm), C2 (250, 360/440 nm) and one protein-like C4 (230, 280/340 nm), while C3 was fulvic acid-like (220/429 nm) and protein-like (230/357 nm) in reactor A and B, respectively. The proportion and FI of protein-like substances in reactor B were higher than that in A. Consequently, it was concluded that reactor A could control the membrane fouling effectively, compared with reactor B.

Advanced treatment of biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater by a novel integration of three-dimensional catalytic electro-Fenton and membrane bioreactor

Laboratorial scale experiments were conducted to investigate a novel system three-dimensional catalytic electro-Fenton (3DCEF, catalyst of sewage sludge based activated carbon which loaded Fe3O4) integrating with membrane bioreactor (3DCEF-MBR) on advanced treatment of biologically pretreated coal gasification wastewater. The results indicated that 3DCEF-MBR represented high efficiencies in eliminating COD and total organic carbon, giving the maximum removal efficiencies of 80% and 75%, respectively. The integrated 3DCEF-MBR system significantly reduced the transmembrane pressure, giving 35% lower than conventional MBR after 30 days operation. The enhanced hydroxyl radical oxidation and bacteria self repair function were the mechanisms for 3DCEF-MBR performance. Therefore, the integrated 3DCEF-MBR was expected to be the promising technology for advanced treatment in engineering applications.

A novel integration of three-dimensional electro-Fenton and biological activated carbon and its application in the advanced treatment of biologically pretreated Lurgi coal gasification wastewater

A novel integrated process with three-dimensional electro-Fenton (3D EF) and biological activated carbon (BAC) was employed in advanced treatment of biologically pretreated Lurgi coal gasification wastewater. SAC-Fe (sludge deserved activated carbon from sewage and iron sludge) and SAC (sludge deserved activated carbon) were used in 3D EF as catalytic particle electrodes (CPEs) and in BAC as carriers respectively. Results indicated that 3D EF with SAC-Fe as CPEs represented excellent pollutants and COLOR removals as well as biodegradability improvement. The efficiency enhancement attributed to generating more H2O2 and OH. The integrated process exhibited efficient performance of COD, BOD5, total phenols, TOC, TN and COLOR removals at a much shorter retention time, with the corresponding concentrations in effluent of 31.18, 6.69, 4.29, 17.82, 13.88mg/L and <20 times, allowing discharge criteria to be met. The integrated system was efficient, cost-effective and ecological sustainable and could be a promising technology for engineering applications.