Publications by authors named "Zhang Zhaoji"

Lacustrine shale gas represents a promising frontier in the future development of shale gas resources. However, research on the characterization of lacustrine shale gas produced water (SGPW) remains scarce. In this study, we characterized the geochemical properties of both marine and lacustrine SGPW (MSGPW and LSGPW) and assessed their dissolved organic matter (DOM) components using fluorescence EEM spectroscopy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates the combined effects of microplastics (MPs) and cadmium (Cd) on aquatic life, using the ciliate Paramecium caudatum and zebrafish as model organisms.
  • Findings reveal that MPs with Cd can enter zebrafish bodies through the food chain, leading to various harmful effects, including metabolic changes, delayed development, and DNA damage.
  • The research highlights the need to assess the ecological risks of MPs and their potential impact on food safety and human health due to pollutant accumulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Results showed that co-exposure to MPs/NPs and Cd led to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), decreased antioxidant enzyme activity, and significant oxidative damage, ultimately reducing ciliate carbon biomass.
  • * Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that the co-exposure resulted in severe DNA damage and disruptions in key metabolic processes, suggesting greater ecological risks to marine life from combined plastic and heavy metal contamination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Micro/nano-plastics (MPs/NPs) combined with heavy metals (HMs) represent a significant ecological threat to marine life, particularly affecting the food chain and microbial loop.
  • A study on the interaction of these contaminants revealed that exposure to MPs/NPs and cadmium (Cd) resulted in a 75.8% decrease in carbon biomass of the marine predator Tigriopus japonicus, alongside increased oxidative stress and cellular damage.
  • Transcriptome analysis showed significant gene expression changes related to inflammation and apoptosis, with nano-plastics combined with Cd proving to be more toxic than micro-plastics with Cd, emphasizing the need for further research on these combined threats to oceanic ecosystems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Protozoan ciliates can negatively affect microalgae productivity during cultivation, prompting a study on sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) as a control method.
  • SDBS at concentrations of 160 mg/L and 100 mg/L effectively managed ciliate populations like Euplotes vannus and Uronema marinum, helping restore the growth vitality of microalgae species Synechococcus and Chlorella.
  • The study revealed that SDBS not only reduces ciliate populations but also affects metabolic processes in microalgae, indicating its potential for improving the productivity and management of microalgae ecosystems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs) have shown great potential for the treatment of shale gas produced water (SGPW). In this study, we investigated the transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during EAOPs of SGPW and the formation of toxic halogenated by-products at various current densities, using fluorescence spectroscopy and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. We found that the priority of DOM removal was terrestrial humic-like > microbial humic-like > protein-like substances.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Produced water (PW) is the largest waste stream generated by hydraulic fracturing in an unconventional shale gas reservoir. Oxidation processes (OPs) are frequently used as advanced treatment method in highly complicated water matrix treatments. However, the degradation efficiency is the main focus of research, organic compounds and their toxicity have not been properly explored.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • EAOP is effective for treating tough industrial waste, but it creates harmful chlorinated byproducts that limit its use.
  • Researchers tested EAOP on landfill leachate and found that the toxicity of the byproducts ranked from harmful active chlorine to less harmful chlorates and organochlorines.
  • The study identified specific bacteria that can help reduce these toxic byproducts, suggesting that EAOP can be safely applied in real-world wastewater treatment by managing these chlorinated substances effectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The vegetation deterioration and pollution expansion from non-ferrous metal tailings pond have been found in many countries leading to water soil erosion and human health risk. Conventional ecological remediation technologies of mine tailings such as capping were costly and elusive. This study provided an economic and effective model as an alternative by substrate amelioration and vegetation restoration.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The waste product phosphogypsum (PG) is produced in phosphoric acid production processes. Its storage requires large amounts of land resources and poses serious environmental risks. In this work, detailed experimental research was carried out to investigate the potential reuse of PG after calcination modification as a novel building material for cast-in-place concrete products.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Anammox bacteria can metabolize short-chain fatty acids, but their role in carbon utilization during mixotrophic processes is not fully understood.
  • This study used advanced techniques like genome-resolved metagenomics and DNA stable isotope probing to analyze an Anammox process with acetate.
  • Researchers identified essential genes related to acetate metabolism and noted that "Candidatus Jettenia caeni" played a significant role in carbon utilization, emphasizing its importance in treating wastewater with low organic matter and ammonia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Shale gas-produced water (PW), the waste fluid generated during gas production, contains a large number of organic contaminants and high salinity matrix. Previous studies generally focused on the end-of-pipe treatment of the PW and ignored the early collection process. In this study, the transformation of the molecular composition and microbial community structure of the PW in the transportation and storage process (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Obligate aerobic methanotrophs can oxidize methane and participate in denitrification under low oxygen conditions, but the specifics of this process in aerobic methane oxidation (AME-D) remain underexplored.
  • A methanotrophic consortium was cultivated in a specialized bioreactor, achieving a significant nitrite removal rate of about 50 mg N/L/d.
  • Metagenomics techniques identified Methylomonas as the key player in methane oxidation and partial denitrification, revealing important genes related to nitrogen reduction processes and suggesting a possible connection between methanotrophy and denitrification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Tannery sludge usually has high content of trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) and ammonium-nitrogen (NH-N). It is important to make a critical evaluation of the releasing behaviors of Cr(III) and NH-N from tannery sludge before its use on improving soil fertility in agricultural applications. For this purpose, static batch and dynamic leaching experiments with different mathematical models were carried out to simulate the Cr(III) and NH-N releasing kinetics from tannery sludge sampled in a typical tannery disposal site in North China, and their influencing factors were also discussed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study examined the impact of a 12-hour pH shift to 11.0 on a microbial community in the CANON process, finding a rapid drop in nitrogen removal efficiency initially.
  • After 107 days of recovery, the community shifted from Firmicutes dominance to Planctomycetes, which made up 64.62% of the microbes, indicating self-restoration potential.
  • The research also found that increased nitrogen loading positively correlated with various performance metrics, emphasizing the roles of heme c content and quorum sensing in enhancing microbial functionality post-shock.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Roxarsone, an organoarsenic feed additive, is quickly degraded by a specific group of anaerobic bacteria.
  • The study isolated an effective bacterial consortium and tested its ability to degrade roxarsone at varying concentrations (50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) over time.
  • Results showed that degradation efficiency increased with higher concentrations, with complete degradation occurring within 28 to 44 hours, while the bacteria community structure evolved based on the roxarsone levels, highlighting Lysinibacillus, Alkaliphilus, and Proteiniclasticum as key players.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Due to the large area of agricultural soils contaminated by Cd worldwide, cost-effective and practical method for safety food production are necessary. The roles of micronutrient on reducing Cd accumulation in crops are recently introduced. In the current study, a pot-culture experiment in the greenhouse was conducted to study the foliar spraying of Se (NaSeO) and Zn (ZnSO) on physiological and growth parameters, as well as Cd concentrations in wheat plants grown in Cd-contaminated soil.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on how the anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) process is affected by organic matter, revealing that N-removal efficiency dropped significantly under certain conditions.
  • After being exposed to COD shocks, the anammox process took between 8 to 20 days to show operational recovery, with full recovery noted at 40 days.
  • The research utilized various assessment methods, including isotope labeling, to reliably measure anammox recovery and its contribution to nitrogen loss after disturbances.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Free nitrous acid combined with potassium ferrate (FNA + PF) significantly enhances the solubilization and biochemical methane potential of WAS, achieving a maximum removal rate of 56.17% for total suspended solids.
  • * The use of FNA + PF pretreatment not only increases methane production from 61.22 L CH/kg VSS to 147.07 L CH/kg VSS but also improves the diversity and stability of microbial communities, suggesting its effectiveness in reducing WAS and boosting methane generation during anaerobic digestion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A spontaneous development of full-scale anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process was seldom reported, and its operational parameters could supply references in actual applications. This engineered case indicated that anammox process was suitable for treating relatively high-strength ammonium and organics wastewater due to niche differentiation of biofilm. Results of isotope labelling showed that anammox contributed approximately 40% to N-loss in aerobic unit, but this value increased to 78.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study explored how chemical oxygen demand (COD) and the COD/nitrogen (COD/N) ratio affect the effectiveness of the anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) process in removing nitrogen from wastewater.
  • Results indicated that while an increase in organic substrates boosted nitrogen removal efficiency, it actually reduced the anammox pathway's contribution, especially with excess total nitrogen (TN) levels above 600 mg/L.
  • It was found that maintaining a specific COD around 300 mg/L is crucial, as high COD levels could hinder anammox activity and that COD plays a more significant role than the COD/N ratio in stabilizing the anammox process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Struvite crystallization has been considered a promising approach to recover phosphorus from wastewater. However, its practical application is limited, probably because of the high cost of magnesium (Mg). In this study, a comprehensive economic analysis was conducted using five Mg sources (MgCl, MgSO, MgO, Mg(OH), and bittern) during the operation of a pilot-scale fluidized bed reactor (FBR), using swine wastewater as the case matrix.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Two newly isolated aerobic denitrifying bacterial strains ( sp. GA and sp. GP) were co-cultured to investigate the synergy of carbon and nitrogen removal of different functional bacteria.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Free nitrous acid (FNA) is a promising chemical reagent for excess sludge reduction. The distinctive properties of FNA treatment on waste activated sludge (WAS) disposal have previously been demonstrated, however, the cellular response, permeabilization, and disruption caused by low-concentration FNA and the direct cell solubilization of WAS using concentrated FNA should be better understood. In this study, the parameters that influence the sludge solubilization efficiency were optimized over a wide range of FNA concentrations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF