Simultaneous determination of dissolved organic nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia using size exclusion chromatography coupled with nitrogen detector

Accurate quantification of dissolved organic nitrogen(DON) has been a challenge due to the cumulative analytical errors in the conventional method via subtracting dissolved inorganic nitrogen species(DIN) from total dissolved nitrogen(TDN). Size exclusion chromatography coupled with an organic nitrogen detector(SEC-OND) has been developed as a direct method for quantification and characterization of DON. However, the applications of SECOND method still subject to poor separations between DON and DIN species and unsatisfied N recoveries of macromolecules. In this study, we packed a series of SEC columns with different lengths and resin materials for separation of different N species and designed an independent vacuum ultraviolet(VUV) oxidation device for complete oxidation converting N species to nitrate. To guarantee sufficient N recoveries, the operation conditions were optimized as oxidation time ≥ 30 min, injection mass(sample concentration × injection volume) < 1000 μL × mg-N/L for macromolecular proteins, and neutral p H mobile eluent. The dissolved O_(2)concentration in SEC mobile phase determined the upper limit of VUV oxidation at a specific oxidation time. Compared to conventional HW50S column(20 × 250 mm),HW40S column(20 × 350 mm) with mobile phase comprising of 1.5 g/L Na2HPO_(4)·2H_(2)O + 2.5g/L KH_(2)PO_(4)(p H = 6.85) could achieve a better separation of DON, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia. When applied to river water, lake water, wastewater effluent, groundwater, and landfill leachate, the SEC-OND method could quantify DON as well as DIN species accurately and conveniently even the DIN/TDN ratio reached 0.98.

Transformation mechanism and fate of dissolved organic nitrogen(DON) in a full-scale drinking water treatment

Dissolved organic nitrogen(DON) has attracted much attention in drinking water treatment due to its potential to produce nitrogenous disinfection by-products(N-DBPs). This work was designed to explore the transformation and fate of DON and dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) in drinking water treatment. The changes of DON and formation of N-DBPs were evaluated along the water treatment route(i.e., pre-ozonation and biologicalcontact oxidation, delivery pipes’ transportation, coagulation-sedimentation, sand filtration, post-ozonation, biological activated carbon, ultrafiltration and disinfection) of drinking water treatment plant(DWTP). The transformation mechanism of DON was comprehensively investigated by molecular weight fractionation, three-dimensional fluorescence, LCOCD(Liquid Chromatography-Organic Carbon Detection), total free amino acids. A detailed comparison was made between concentrations and variations of DON and DIN affected by seasons in the drinking water treatment. Regardless of seasonal variation in raw water concentration, the DON removal trends between different treatment processes remain constant in the present study. Compared to other treatment processes, pre-ozonation and coagulation-sedimentation exhibited the dominant DON removal in different seasons, i.e.,11.13%-14.45% and 14.98%-22.49%, respectively. Contrary, biological-contact oxidation and biological activated carbon negatively impacted the DON removal, in which DON increased by 1.76%-6.49% in biological activated carbon. This may be due to the release of soluble microbial products(SMPs) from bacterial metabolism, which was further validated by the rise of biopolymers in LC-OCD.

Comparison of different valent iron on anaerobic sludge digestion:Focusing on oxidation reduction potential,dissolved organic nitrogen and microbial community

This study compared effects of three different valent iron(Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III))on enhanced anaerobic sludge digestion,focusing on the changes of oxidation reduction potential(ORP),dissolved organic nitrogen(DON),and microbial community.Under the same iron dose in range of 0−160 mg/L after an incubation period of 30 days(d),the maximum methane production rate of sludge samples dosed with respective Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same concentration showed indiscernible differences at each iron dose,regardless of the different iron valence.Moreover,their behavior in changes of ORP,DON and microbial community was different:(1)the addition of Fe^(0) made the ORP of sludge more negative,and the addition of Fe(II)and Fe(III)made the ORP of sludge less negative.However,whether being more or less negative,the changes of ORP may show unobservable effects on methane yield when it ranged from−278.71 to−379.80 mV;(2)the degradation of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly proteins,was less efficient in sludge samples dosed with Fe^(0) compared with those dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)after an incubation period of 30 d.At the same dose of 160 mg/L iron,more cysteine was noted in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)(30.74 mg/L)and Fe(III)(27.92 mg/L)compared with that dosed with Fe^(0)(21.75 mg/L);(3)Fe^(0) particularly promoted the enrichment of Geobacter,and it was 6 times higher than those in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same dose of 160 mg/L iron.

Form Distribution Characteristics of Nitrogen in a Reservoir as Drinking Water Source

Based on field detected water quality data, the distribution characteristics of different forms of nitrogen in a reservoir as drinking water source in Dongguan, which locates at the Pearl River Delta of China, have been analyzed in order to provide theoretical bases for prevention and reduction of eutrophication. The analyzed results show that nitrogen forms in the influent area of the reservoir are given priority to ammonia nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen, whose proportion is more than 45% respectively, and this is probably caused by the pollution of inflow water quality;but in the effluent area, the forms are given priority to nitrate nitrogen, whose proportion is as high as 96% and above;also the proportion of ammonia nitrogen drops by more than 80% during the process from the influent area to the effluent area, and this shows that the natural process of nitrification and denitrification can be well accomplished in the reservoir. We recommend here that to reduce the input amount of ammonia nitrogen and organic nitrogen into the reservoir is the most efficient way to prevent or mitigate eutrophication of water body.

Anaerobic digestion of sludge by different pretreatments:Changes of amino acids and microbial community

Many studies have investigated the effects of different pretreatments on the performance of anaerobic digestion of sludge.However,the detailed changes of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly the release behavior of proteins and the byproducts of protein hydrolysis-amino acids,are rarely known during anaerobic digestion of sludge by different pretreatments.Here we quantified the changes of three types of proteins and 17 types of amino acids in sludge samples solubilized by ultrasonic,thermal,and acid/alkaline pretreatments and their transformation during anaerobic digestion of sludge.Tryptophan protein,aromatic protein I,aromatic protein II,and cysteine were identified as the key dissolved organic nitrogen responsible for methane production during anaerobic digestion of sludge,regardless of the different pretreatment methods.Different from the depletion of other amino acids,cysteine was resistant to degradation after an incubation period of 30 days in all sludge samples.Meanwhile,the“cysteine and methionine metabolism(K00270)”was absent in all sludge samples by identifying 6755 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes assignments of genes hits.Cysteine contributed to the generation of methane and the degradation of acetic,propionic,and n-butyric acids through decreasing oxidation-reduction potential and enhancing biomass activity.This study provided an alternative strategy to enhance anaerobic digestion of sludge through in situ production of cysteine.