Selective separation of nutrients and volatile fatty acids from food wastes using electrodialysis and membrane contactor for resource valorization.

Transport and selectivity parameters describe the quantity and purity of nutrients and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) separated from fermentation media. However, the complexity of fermentation media and low nutrient concentrations hinder the optimal conditions of such parameters. Exploring technologies to overcome such limitations is crucial for selectively separating VFAs from nutrients in fermented media.

Fate of organic micropollutants during brackish water desalination for drinking water production in decentralized capacitive electrodialysis.

Capacitive electrodialysis (CED) is an emerging and promising desalination technology for decentralized drinking water production. Brackish water, often used as a drinking water source, may contain organic micropollutants (OMPs), thus raising environmental and health concerns. This study investigated the transport of OMPs in a fully-functional decentralized CED system for drinking water production under realistic operational conditions.

Non-steady diffusion and adsorption of organic micropollutants in ion-exchange membranes: effect of the membrane thickness.

There is no efficient wastewater treatment solution for removing organic micropollutants (OMPs), which, therefore, are continuously introduced to the Earth's surface waters. This creates a severe risk to aquatic ecosystems and human health. In emerging water treatment processes based on ion-exchange membranes (IEM), transport of OMPs through membranes remains unknown.

Transport of organic solutes in ion-exchange membranes: Mechanisms and influence of solvent ionic composition.

Ion-exchange membrane (IEM)-based processes are used in the industry or in the drinking water production to achieve selective separation. The transport mechanisms of organic solutes/micropollutants (i.e.

Complete oxidation of organic waste under mild supercritical water oxidation by combining effluent recirculation and membrane filtration.

Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is a technology that can oxidize various organic (wet) wastes into CO. Complete oxidation of specific organics with SCWO goes in tandem with tailored conditions, typically involving elevated operating temperatures, long residence times, high oxidizer-to-waste ratios, or a combination of those, which promote difficulties, e.g.

Data on ion-exchange membrane fouling by humic acid during electrodialysis.

This data paper aims to provide data on the effect of the process settings on the fouling of an electrodialysis pilot installation treating a sodium chloride solution (0.1 M and 0.2 M) in the presence of humic acid (1 g/L).

Electrochemically Induced Precipitation Enables Fresh Urine Stabilization and Facilitates Source Separation.

Source separation of urine can enable nutrient recycling, facilitate wastewater management, and conserve water. Without stabilization of the urine, urea is quickly hydrolyzed into ammonia and (bi)carbonate, causing nutrient loss, clogging of collection systems, ammonia volatilization, and odor nuisance. In this study, electrochemically induced precipitation and stabilization of fresh urine was successfully demonstrated.

Electrochemical tap water softening: A zero chemical input approach.

Electrochemical water softening was proposed as a sustainable alternative for ion exchange softening, avoiding the input of salt to drinking water and the production of a concentrated brine. Here we demonstrated two novel modes of operation combining an electrochemical cell with a fluidized bed crystallizer. The first approach relied on an electrochemical cell consisting of an anode and cathode separated by a cation or anion exchange membrane.

High-rate activated sludge systems combined with dissolved air flotation enable effective organics removal and recovery.

High-rate activated sludge (HRAS) systems typically generate diluted sludge which requires further thickening prior to anaerobic digestion (AD), besides the need to add considerable coagulant and flocculant for the solids separation. As an alternative to conventional gravitational settling, a dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit was coupled to a HRAS system or a high-rate contact stabilization (HiCS) system. The HRAS-DAF system allowed up to 78% removal of the influent solids, and the HiCS-DAF 67%.

Refinery and concentration of nutrients from urine with electrodialysis enabled by upstream precipitation and nitrification.

Human urine is a valuable resource for nutrient recovery, given its high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but the compositional complexity of urine presents a challenge for an energy-efficient concentration and refinery of nutrients. In this study, a pilot installation combining precipitation, nitrification and electrodialysis (ED), designed for one person equivalent (1.2 L d), was continuously operated for ∼7 months.

Physical-chemical treatment of rainwater runoff in recovery and recycling companies: lab-scale investigation.

Scrap material recovery and recycling companies are producing wastewater in which common pollutants (such as COD, nutrients and suspended solids), toxic metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) frequently can exceed the discharge limits. Lab-scale optimisation of different possible physical-chemical treatment techniques was performed on the wastewater originating from three different companies in view of further testing at pilot-scale testing and implementation at full-scale. The lab-scale tests demonstrate that sedimentation or hydrocyclone treatment as stand-alone technique cannot be used for proper treatment of this type of wastewater.

Development of hydrophilic GO-ZnO/PES membranes for treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater.

Membrane application in water reclamation is challenged by fouling which deteriorates membrane performance in terms of permeate flux and solute rejection. Several studies focusing on antifouling membranes incorporated with nanoparticles have been carried out, but these membranes are not yet a viable solution due to their high energy requirements and inability to completely remove or degrade trace organic compounds (TOrCs). Therefore, this study aims at fabricating polyethersulfone (PES) membranes for treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater by using a unique membrane synthesis approach.

Effect of oxidation and catalytic reduction of trace organic contaminants on their activated carbon adsorption.

The combination of ozonation and activated carbon (AC) adsorption is an established technology for removal of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs). In contrast to oxidation, reduction of TrOCs has recently gained attention as well, however less attention has gone to the combination of reduction with AC adsorption. In addition, no literature has compared the removal behavior of reduction vs.

Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis-Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO) Hybrids: A Critical Review.

Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising membrane technology to combine seawater desalination and water reuse. More specifically, in a FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process, high quality water recovered from the wastewater stream is used to dilute seawater before RO treatment. As such, lower desalination energy needs and/or water augmentation can be obtained while delivering safe water for direct potable reuse thanks to the double dense membrane barrier protection.

Energy efficient treatment of A-stage effluent: pilot-scale experiences with shortcut nitrogen removal.

Energy autarky of sewage treatment plants, while reaching chemical oxygen demand (COD) and N discharge limits, can be achieved by means of shortcut N-removal. This study presents the results of a shortcut N-removal pilot, located at the biological two-'stage (high/low rate) wastewater treatment plant of Breda, The Netherlands. The pilot treated real effluent of a high-rate activated sludge (COD/N = 3), fed in a continuous mode at realistic loading rates (90-100 g N/(m(3)·d)).

The effect of redox conditions and adaptation time on organic micropollutant removal during river bank filtration: A laboratory-scale column study.

This study investigated the redox dependent removal and adaptive behaviour of a mixture of 15 organic micropollutants (OMPs) in laboratory-scale soil columns fed with river water. Three separate pilot systems were used consisting of: (1) two columns, (2) ten columns and (3) twenty two columns to create oxic, suboxic (partial nitrate removal) and anoxic (complete nitrate removal). The pilot set-up has some unique features--it can simulate fairly long residence times (e.

A predictive multi-linear regression model for organic micropollutants, based on a laboratory-scale column study simulating the river bank filtration process.

This study investigated relationships between OMP biodegradation rates and the functional groups present in the chemical structure of a mixture of 31 OMPs. OMP biodegradation rates were determined from lab-scale columns filled with soil from RBF site Engelse Werk of the drinking water company Vitens in The Netherlands. A statistically significant relationship was found between OMP biodegradation rates and the functional groups of the molecular structures of OMPs in the mixture.

The effect of feed water dissolved organic carbon concentration and composition on organic micropollutant removal and microbial diversity in soil columns simulating river bank filtration.

This study investigated organic micropollutant (OMP) biodegradation rates in laboratory-scale soil columns simulating river bank filtration (RBF) processes. The dosed OMP mixture consisted of 11 pharmaceuticals, 6 herbicides, 2 insecticides and 1 solvent. Columns were filled with soil from a RBF site and were fed with four different organic carbon fractions (hydrophilic, hydrophobic, transphilic and river water organic matter (RWOM)).

A laboratory-scale column study comparing organic micropollutant removal and microbial diversity for two soil types.

Unlabelled: This study investigated sorption and biodegradation behaviour of 20 organic micropollutants (OMPs) in lab-scale columns filled with two types of soil (fed with the same water quality) simulating river bank filtration (RBF) under oxic conditions. Retardation factors and OMP biodegradation rates were similar for the two soils that were characterised by a different cationic exchange capacity, organic matter and sand/silt/clay content. This result was supported by the microbial community composition (richness, evenness) of the two soils that became more similar as a result of feeding both columns with the same water quality.

Physical-chemical treatment of rainwater runoff in recovery and recycling companies: Pilot-scale optimization.

Pilot-scale optimisation of different possible physical-chemical water treatment techniques was performed on the wastewater originating from three different recovery and recycling companies in order to select a (combination of) technique(s) for further full-scale implementation. This implementation is necessary to reduce the concentration of both common pollutants (such as COD, nutrients and suspended solids) and potentially toxic metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and poly-chlorinated biphenyls frequently below the discharge limits. The pilot-scale tests (at 250 L h(-1) scale) demonstrate that sand anthracite filtration or coagulation/flocculation are interesting as first treatment techniques with removal efficiencies of about 19% to 66% (sand anthracite filtration), respectively 18% to 60% (coagulation/flocculation) for the above mentioned pollutants (metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and poly chlorinated biphenyls).

Increasing RO efficiency by chemical-free ion-exchange and Donnan dialysis: Principles and practical implications.

Ion-exchange (IEX) and Donnan dialysis (DD) are techniques which can selectively remove cations, limiting scaling in reverse osmosis (RO). If the RO concentrate could be recycled for regeneration of these pre-treatment techniques, RO recovery could be largely increased without the need for chemical addition or additional technologies. In this study, two different RO feed streams (treated industrial waste water and simple tap water) were tested in the envisioned IEX-RO and DD-RO hybrids including RO concentrate recycling.

Properties governing the transport of trace organic contaminants through ion-exchange membranes.

Ion exchange membranes could provide a solution to the selective separation of organic and inorganic components in industrial wastewater. The phenomena governing the transport of organics through the IEM however, are not yet fully understood. Therefore, the transport of trace organic contaminants (TOrCs) as a model for a wide variety of organic compounds was studied under different conditions.

Leaching behaviour of different scrap materials at recovery and recycling companies: full-, pilot- and lab-scale investigation.

Scrap material recovery and recycling companies are confronted with waste water that has a highly fluctuating flow rate and composition. Common pollutants, such as COD, nutrients and suspended solids, potentially toxic metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and poly chlorinated biphenyls can exceed the discharge limits. An analysis of the leaching behaviour of different scrap materials and scrap yard sweepings was performed at full-scale, pilot-scale and lab-scale in order to find possible preventive solutions for this waste water problem.

Microbial odor profile of polyester and cotton clothes after a fitness session.

Clothing textiles protect our human body against external factors. These textiles are not sterile and can harbor high bacterial counts as sweat and bacteria are transmitted from the skin. We investigated the microbial growth and odor development in cotton and synthetic clothing fabrics.