Publications by authors named "Franziska Kirchen"

Organic micropollutants (OMP) are ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems and have a proven negative impact on the environment and drinking water resources. To remove OMP from municipal wastewater, the use of superfine Powdered Activated Carbon (sPAC) (d = 1.0 µm) compared to Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) (d = 30.

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Granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration is a commonly used method for advanced wastewater treatment. Filters can be operated continuously or discontinuously, with continuous operation not requiring feed flow interruption for backwashing and circulation (B/C). This study investigated the influence of B/C on the effluent quality of continuous filters.

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The use of powdered activated carbon (PAC) is a common process in advanced wastewater treatment to remove micropollutants. Retention and separation of PAC is essential as PAC loaded with micropollutants should not be released into the environment. Determining the activated carbon (AC) residual in the effluent poses a challenge, as there is currently no on-line measurement method.

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Article Synopsis
  • Microplastics are found everywhere in the environment, particularly in wastewater and treatment plants, which are significant sources of microplastic pollution in aquatic systems.
  • This study analyzed the mass concentrations of microplastics in secondary effluents from four German municipal wastewater treatment plants and evaluated the effectiveness of various post-treatment systems in removing these particles.
  • Results showed that most treatment methods had removal efficiencies above 94%, except for one continuous upflow Granulated Activated Carbon filter, which only removed about 1.9% of microplastics.
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