Modelling of self-sustainable microbial fuel cell type oil sensors based on restricted oxygen transfer and two-population competition.

Oil leaks during oil industrial chain pose threats to the ecosystem. The microbial fuel cell-type oil sensor has been developed for early warning of such issues. Oil contacting with the sensor restricts oxygen availability and triggers correlative signal anomaly which serves as indicative of the oil presence.

On-line monitoring of minor oil spills in natural waters using sediment microbial fuel cell sensors equipped with vertical floating cathodes.

Oil spills near natural water bodies pose considerable threats to aquatic ecosystem and drinking water system. Various detection techniques have been developed to identify the oil pollution in natural waters. These techniques mainly focus on large and major oil spills involving significant changes in environmental characteristics.

Characteristics of rural domestic wastewater with source separation.

Rural domestic wastewater (RDW), one of the non-point pollution sources, has become a significant object related to sanitation improvement and water pollution control in Taihu Lake Basin, China. Current research on RDW characteristics and management with source separation is limited. In this study, a source-separated investigation into the characteristics of RDW was conducted, and the management suggestions were proposed.

Real-time in situ auto-correction of K interference for continuous and long-term NH monitoring in wastewater using solid-state ion selective membrane (S-ISM) sensor assembly.

Potassium ions (K) present in wastewater has caused severe interference for NH monitoring, over-estimation of NH concentration and ultimately leads to extra energy consumption. Past effort for enhancing the selectivity of NH over K were oftentimes complex, costly, or compromised the selectivity and accuracy of the NH ion selective membrane (ISM) sensors. This study targeted this imminent challenge by developing an integrated NH/K auto-correction solid-state ISM (S-ISM) sensor assembly combined with a data-driven model to monitor [NH] under different [NH] and [K] concentrations.

Towards high resolution monitoring of water flow velocity using flat flexible thin mm-sized resistance-typed sensor film (MRSF).

Novel flexible thin mm-sized resistance-typed sensor film (MRSF) fabricated using ink-jet printing technology (IPT) was developed in this study to monitor water flow rate in pipelines in real time mode. The mechanism of MRSF is that the mm-sized interdigitated electrodes made by printing silver nanoparticles on an elastic polyimide film bend under different flow rates, leading to variation of the resistance of the sensor at different degrees of curvature. Continuous flow tests showed that MRSF possessed a high accuracy (0.

Performance and adsorption mechanism of a magnetic calcium silicate hydrate composite for phosphate removal and recovery.

A novel magnetic calcium silicate hydrate composite (FeO@CSH) was proposed for phosphorus (P) removal and recovery from a synthetic phosphate solution, facilitated by a magnetic separation technique. The FeO@CSH material was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), zeta-potential and magnetic curves. The chemical composition and structure of FeO@CSH and the successful surface loading of hydroxyl functional groups were confirmed.

Nitrogen and phosphorus removal processes under different aeration strengths in the principal-type tank of alternate multiple tanks system and process control.

The alternate multiple tanks (AMT) system was a new highly compact sewage treatment with cost-effective balance and automated management. Dissolved oxygen (DO) and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) as monitoring indicators are closely linked to contaminants and controlling strategy. Thus, this paper was to investigate the N and P removal mechanisms and the real-time control under different aeration strengths through the principal-type tank.

Degradation of sulfamethoxazole in bioelectrochemical system with power supplied by constructed wetland-coupled microbial fuel cells.

The removal rate and degradation pathway of Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in bioelectrochemical system (BES) and the elimination dynamics of SMX in a BES driven by stacked constructed wetland-coupled microbial fuel cells (CW-MFCs) were investigated. The results found that SMX (30mgL) was rapidly degraded in the BES, and the SMX removal kinetics was simulated well by a first-order kinetic model (R>0.93).

Effects of calcium on the performance, bacterial population and microbial metabolism of a denitrifying phosphorus removal system.

A sequencing batch reactor was operated to study the effects of influent Ca on the efficiency, bacterial population, and microbial metabolism of denitrifying phosphorus removal system. Results showed that high Ca loading (≥80mg/L) significantly inhibited the performance of simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The abundance of phosphorus removal-related organisms (Dechloromonas and Candidatus Accumulibacter) decreased with increasing Ca concentration from 20 to 140mg/L, while the abundance of glycogen-accumulating organisms and other bacteria increased.

Efficient model calibration method based on phase experiments for anaerobic-anoxic/nitrifying (A2N) two-sludge process.

A systematic calibration and validation procedure for the complex mechanistic modeling of anaerobic-anoxic/nitrifying (A2N) two-sludge system is needed. An efficient method based on phase experiments, sensitivity analysis, and genetic algorithm is proposed here for model calibration. Phase experiments (anaerobic phosphorus release, aerobic nitrification, and anoxic denitrifying phosphate accumulation) in an A2N sequencing batch reactor (SBR) were performed to reflect the process conditions accurately and improve the model calibration efficiency.

Dynamics of antibiotic resistance genes in microbial fuel cell-coupled constructed wetlands treating antibiotic-polluted water.

Microbial fuel cell-coupled constructed wetlands (CW-MFCs) use electrochemical, biological, and ecological functions to treat wastewater. However, few studies have investigated the risks of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) when using such systems to remove antibiotics. Therefore, three CW-MFCs were designed to assess the dynamics of ARGs in filler biofilm and effluent over 5000 h of operation.

Enrichment culture of denitrifying phosphorus removal sludge and its microbial community analysis.

An efficient one-step domestication method with mixed electron acceptors and short-time post-aeration was developed for the enrichment culture of denitrifying phosphorus removal sludge. The acclimation time, performance of nitrogen and phosphorus simultaneous removal and microbial community structure were investigated to reveal the difference among the obtained phosphorus removal sludge using different acclimation ways. Results showed that the proposed method with optimal proportion of nitrite and nitrate could significantly shorten domestication time (28 days) compared with the traditional two-step method (60 days), but exerted nearly no influence on the removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus.