Microbial interactions and nitrogen removal performance in an intermittently rotating biological contactor treating mature landfill leachate.

Developing efficient landfill leachate treatment is still necessary to reduce environmental risks. However, nitrogen removal in biological treatment systems is often poor or costly. Studying biofilms in anoxic/aerobic zones of rotating biological contactors (RBC) can elucidate how microbial interactions confer resistance to shock loads and toxic substances in leachate treatment.

Semi-empirical models for remote estimating colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in a productive tropical estuary.

Inland waters are important components of the global carbon cycle as they regulate the flow of terrestrial carbon to the oceans. In this context, remote monitoring of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) allows for analyzing the carbon content in aquatic systems. In this study, we develop semi-empirical models for remote estimation of the CDOM absorption coefficient at 400 nm (a) in a tropical estuarine-lagunar productive system using spectral reflectance data.

Biohydrogen production in an AFBR using sugarcane molasses.

This study evaluated an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor to produce hydrogen from sugarcane molasses of 25 g-COD L. The reactor of 1.2 L working volume contained shredded tires as support material.

Nitrification in multistage horizontal flow treatment wetlands for landfill leachate treatment.

One of the key challenges in landfill leachate treatment is removing organic matter (OM) and ammonium nitrogen (NH-N) at a low cost. To evaluate the feasibility of treatment wetlands for diluted (3:10) landfill leachate treatment with OM and NH-N oxidation, a lab-scale shallow subsurface horizontal flow system (HF wetland) comprised of two units operated in series was assessed as post-treatment of partial ammonia stripping system. A HF wetland planted with Heliconia psittacorum (HP) and an unplanted HF wetland (control) were supplemented with micronutrients and monitored under the influence of hydraulic retention time (HRT), pH, and the plant presence on performance.

Influence of recirculation over COD and N-NH removals from landfill leachate by horizontal flow constructed treatment wetland.

Treatment of landfill leachate is a challenge due to its complex chemical composition and high recalcitrance and because of high costs for conventional wastewater treatment. In our study, leachate from the Landfill, Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil, was treated at a laboratory scale with a horizontal subsurface flow constructed treatment wetland (HF-CTW) operating under a recirculation regime. Two units planted with (HP) and (CP), and one unplanted control unit were assessed.

Anaerobic degradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in fluidized bed reactor by microbial consortia in different support materials.

Four anaerobic fluidized bed reactors filled with activated carbon (R1), expanded clay (R2), glass beads (R3) and sand (R4) were tested for anaerobic degradation of LAS. All reactors were inoculated with sludge from a UASB reactor treating swine wastewater and were fed with a synthetic substrate supplemented with approximately 20 mg l(-1) of LAS, on average. To 560 mg l(-1) COD influent, the maximum COD and LAS removal efficiencies were mean values of 97+/-2% and 99+/-2%, respectively, to all reactors demonstrating the potential applicability of this reactor configuration for treating LAS.