Evaluation of In-situ Sludge Reduction and Enhanced Nutrient Removal in an Integrated Repeatedly Coupling Aerobic and Anaerobic and Oxic-setting-anaerobic System

Aiming to achieve simultaneous good performances of in-situ sludge reduction and effluent quality,an integrated repeatedly coupling aerobic and anaerobic and oxic-setting-anaerobic system( r CAA + OSA) is developed to reduce sludge production and enhance nutrient removal. Considering the mechanism of in-situ sludge reduction in this r CAA +OSA system,the combined effect of energy uncoupling metabolism and sludge cryptic growth maybe attributed to the higher reduction of biomass. Results show that the maximal sludge reduction in this r CAA + OSA system is obtained when the hydraulic retention time( HRT) is controlled at6. 5 h,which an increase in 16. 67% reduction in excess sludge is achieved compared with OSA system( HRT of 6. 5 h). When compared the performances of effluent qualities,the enhanced nutrient removal efficiencies also can be observed in this r CAA + OSA system. Three-dimensional excitation emission matrix( 3D-EEM)fluorescence spectroscopy is applied to characterize the effluent organic matters( Ef OM) under different HRTs in the OSA and the r CAA+OSA systems. Analyses of 3D-EEM spectra show that more refractory humic-like and fulvic-like components are observed in the effluent of the OSA system. On the basis of these results,simultaneous enhanced in-situ sludge reduction and improved nutrient removal can be obtained in the r CAA +OSA systems.

In-situ sludge reduction based on Mn^(2+)-catalytic ozonation conditioning:Feasibility study and microbial mechanisms

To improve the sludge conditioning efficiency without increasing the ozone dose,an in-situ sludge reduction process based on Mn^(2+)-catalytic ozonation conditioning was proposed.Using ozone conditioning alone as a control,a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor coupled with ozonated sludge recycle was evaluated for its operating performance at an ozone dose of 75 mg O_(3)/g VSS and 1.5 mmol/L Mn^(2+)addition.The results showed a 39.4%reduction in MLSS and an observed sludge yield of 0.236 kg MLSS/kg COD for the O_(3)+Mn^(2+)group compared to the O_(3)group (15.3%and 0.292 kg MLSS/kg COD),accompanied by better COD,NH_(4)^(+)-N,TN and TP removal,improved effluent SS and limited impact on excess sludge properties.Subsequently,activity tests,BIOLOG ECO microplates and 16S rRNA sequencing were applied to elucidate the changing mechanisms of Mn^(2+)-catalytic ozonation related to microbial action:(1) Dehydrogenase activity reached a higher peak.(2) Microbial utilization of total carbon sources had an elevated effect,up to approximately 18%,and metabolic levels of six carbon sources were also increased,especially for sugars and amino acids most pronounced.(3) The abundance of Defluviicoccus under the phylum Proteobacteria was enhanced to 12.0%and dominated in the sludge,they had strong hydrolytic activity and metabolic capacity.Denitrifying bacteria of the genus Ferruginibacter also showed an abundance of 7.6%,they contributed to the solubilization and reduction of sludge biomass.These results could guide researchers to further reduce ozonation conditioning costs,improve sludge management and provide theoretical support.

Reduction process and zinc removal from composite briquettes composed of dust and sludge from a steel enterprise

In this study, composite briquettes were prepared using gravity dust and converter sludge as the main materials; these briquettes were subsequently reduced in a tube furnace at 1000-1300℃ for 5-30 min under a nitrogen atmosphere. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, and carbon content on the metallization and dezincification ratios of the composite briquettes were studied. The reduced com- posite briquettes were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）. The results show that the gravity dust and converter sludge are combined into the composite briquettes and a reasonable combination not only improves the performance of the composite briquettes, but also leads to the reduction with no or little reductant and flux. As the re- action temperature is increased and the reaction time is extended, the metallization and dezincification ratios of the composite briquettes in- crease gradually. When the composite briquettes are roasted at 1300℃ for 30 rain, the metallization ratio and dezineification ratio reaches 91.35% and 99.25%, respectively, indicating that most of the iron oxide is reduced and the zinc is almost completely removed. The carbon content is observed to exert a lesser effect on the reduction process; as the C/O molar ratio increases, the metallization and dezincification ra- tios first increase and then decrease.

Sludge reduction with Tubificidae and the impact on the performance of the wastewater treatment process

To reduce excess sludge, a Tubificidae reactor was combined with an integrated oxidation ditch with vertical circle （IODVC）, and a new integrated system was developed for wastewater treatment, A pilot-scale of this integrated system was tested to investigate the sludge reduction with Tubificidae and the impact on effluent quality and sludge production. The dominant worm was Branchnria Sowerbyi in the Tubificidae reactor after inoculation of Branchnria Sowerbyi and Limnodrilns sp., and the maximal volume density of wet Tubificidae in vessels of the Tubificidae reactor was 17600 g/m^3. Two operational modes, treating the excess sludge （first mode） and the returned sludge （second mode） of IODVC by the Tubificidae reactor, were used in this experiment. The results showed that the excess sludge reduction rate was 46.4% in the first mode, and the average sludge yield of the integrated system was 6.19× 10^-5 kg SS/kg COD in the second mode. Though the sludge returned to IODVC via the Tubificidae reactor, it had little impact on the effluent quality and the sludge characteristics of the IODVC. No new type of recalcitrant substance in the supernatant was discharged into the environment when the sludge was treated by Tubificidae. The experimental results also indicated that no significant changes occurred on the viscosity, specific resistance, and the floc size distribution of the sludge.

Implementing Both Domestic Wastewater Reuse and Sludge Reduction by a Combination of Anaerobic Phase and Membrane bioreactor

The aim of the research was to obtain both an excellent effluent for reuse and a reduced sludge production simultaneously by a combination process of anaerobic phase and Membrane bioreactor （MBR） technology in treating domestic wastewater. During the experimental period of three months, excellent removals for COD, NH3-H, TN were obtained, and mean removals were 91.87%, 96.13%, and 69. 23%, respectively. Whereas, at first 20 days, the removal for TP was only about 15.87%. In the following days, about 30% of raw water was introduced into the anaerobic reactor to supply organics for denitrificatien and release of polyphosphate, then a significant improvement for TP removal was observed, and mean removal of TP increased to 76.35%. During the operational period, it was investigated that the permeate could meet the requirements of several water criteria for reuse except free chlorine, and a mean excess sludge yield coefficient of 0.137 g MLSS/g COD was obtained. Therefore, the predicted goals of permeate for reuse and excess sludge reduction could be both achieved after dosing a certain quantity of disinfectant into the permeate.

Advanced sludge reduction and phosphorous removal process

An advanced sludge reduction process, i.e. sludge reduction and phosphorous removal process, was developed. The results show that excellent sludge reduction and biological phosphorous removal can be achieved perfectly in this system. When chemical oxygen demand ρ（COD） is 332 - 420 mg/L, concentration of ammonia p（NH3-N） is 30 - 40 mg/L and concentration of total phosphorous p（TP） is 6.0 -9.0 mg/L in influent, the system still ensures ρ（COD）〈23 mg/L, ρ（NH3-N）〈3.2 mg/L and ρ（TP）〈0. 72 mg/L in effluent. Besides, when the concentration of dissolved oxygen ρ（DO） is around 1.0 mg/L, sludge production is less than 0. 140 g with the consumption of 1 g COD, and the phosphorous removal exceeds 91 %. Also, 48.4% of total nitrogen is removed by simultaneous nitrification and denitrification.

Sludge Drying and Incineration Method Applied to Sludge Reduction Research

This work takes sludge drying and incineration and pollutant discharge characteristics as the main line of research.With sludge dewatered by a certain sewage plant in southern Jiangsu using machinery and chemical conditioners selected as the research object,the influencing factors such as particle size,drying temperature and sludge reverse-mixing ratio in the sludge drying process were mainly explored,and the best working conditions of sludge drying were further analyzed.On this basis,in-depth research was carried out on the pollutants such as NO_(x),SO_(2),HCl,CO and other pollutants generated in the sludge incineration process by investigating the incineration temperature,sewage,the sludge moisture content and excess air coefficient.The results showed that the best conditions for sludge drying were as follows:particle size 3.5 mm,temperature 210℃and reverse-mixing ratio 25,and the cumulative drying time of the sludge 445.21 min.Through the research on the pollutant emission characteristics of sludge incineration,it was found that the incineration temperature and the moisture content of the sludge had a greater impact on the emission concentrations of NO_(x),SO_(2),HCl,and CO.Among them,the incineration temperature was the key factor that affected the generation of NO_(x),SO_(2),HCl,and CO.

Electrocatalysts with atomic-level site for nitrate reduction to ammonia

Ammonia(NH_(3))is an important raw material for modern agriculture and industry,being widely demanded to sustain the sustainable development of modern society.Currently,the industrial production methods of NH_(3),such as the traditional Haber-Bosch process,have drawbacks including high energy consumption and significant carbon dioxide emissions.In recent years,the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction(NO_(3)RR)powered by intermittent renewable energy sources has gradually become a multidisciplinary research hotspot,as it allows for the efficient synthesis of NH_(3)under mild conditions.In this review,we focus on the research of electrocatalysts with atomic-level site,which have attracted attention due to their extremely high atomic utilization efficiency and unique structural characteristics in the field of NO_(3)RR.Firstly,we introduce the mechanism of nitrate reduction for ammonia synthesis and discuss the in-situ characterization techniques related to the mechanism study.Secondly,we review the progress of the electrocatalysts with atomic-level site for nitrate reduction and explore the structure-activity relationship to guide the rational design of efficient catalysts.Lastly,the conclusions of this review and the challenges and prospective of this promising field are presented.

In-situ self-templated preparation of porous core-shell Fe_(1-x)S@N,S co-doped carbon architecture for highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction

Transition metal compound(TMC)/carbon hybrids,as prospering electrocatalyst,have attracted great attention in the field of oxygen reduction reaction(ORR).Their morphology,structure and composition often play a crucial role in determining the ORR performance.In this work,we for the first time report the successful fabrication of porous core-shell Fe_(1-x)S@N,S co-doped carbon(Fe_(1-x)S@NSC-t,t represents etching time)by a novel in-situ self-template induced strategy using Fe3O4 nanospheres and pyrrole as sacrificial self-template.The post-polymerization of pyrrole can be accomplished by the Fe^(3+)released through the etching of Fe_(3)O_(4) by HCl acid.Thus,the etching time has a significant effect on the morphology,structure,composition a nd ORR performance of Fe_(1-x)S@NSC-t.Based on the cha racterizations,we find Fe_(1-x)S@NSC-24 can realize effective and balanced combination of Fe_(1-x)S and NSC,possessing porous core-shell architecture,optimized structure defect,specific surface area and doped heteroatoms configurations(especially for pyridinic N,graphitic N and Fe-N structure).These features thus lead to outstanding catalytic activity and cycling stability towards ORR.Our work provides a good guidance on the design of TMC/carbon-based electrodes with unique stable morphology and optimized structure and composition.

Preparation of Phenolic Resin/Silver Nanocomposites via in-situ Reduction

Resol type phenolic resin/silver nanocomposite was prepared by in-situ reduction method, in which the curing of phenolic resin and the formation of silver nano-particles took place simultaneously. The silver ions were reduced completely to silver nanoparticles, which were dispersed homogeneously in the resin matrix with narrow size distribution.

Recycle of valuable products from oily cold rolling mill sludge

Oily cold rolling mill （CRM） sludge contains lots of iron and alloying elements along with plenty of hazardous organic components, which makes it as an attractive secondary source and an environmental contaminant at the same time. The compound methods of ＂vacuum distillation ＋ oxidizing roasting＂ and ＂vacuum distillation ＋ hydrogen reduction＂ were employed for the recycle of oily cold rolling mill sludge. First, the sludge was dynamically vacuum distilled in a rotating furnace at 50 r/rain and 600℃ for 3 h, which removed almost hazardous organic components, obtaining 89.2wt% ferrous resultant. Then, high purity ferric oxide powders （99.2wt%） and reduced iron powders （98.9wt%） were obtained when the distillation residues were oxidized and reduced, respectively. The distillation oil can be used for fuel or chemical feedstock, and the distillation gases can be collected and reused as a fuel.

Sulphur-doped ordered mesoporous carbon with enhanced electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction

Metal-free, heteroatom functionalized carbon-based catalysts have made remarkable progress in recent years in a wide range of applications related to energy storage and energy generation. In this study, high surface area mesoporous ordered sulphur doped carbon materials are obtained via one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of carbon/SBA-15 composite after removal of in-situ synthesized hard template SiO2. 2-thiophenecarboxy acid as sulphur source gives rise to sulphur doping level of 5.5 wt%. Comparing with pristine carbon, the sulphur doped mesoporous ordered carbon demonstrates improved electro-catalytic activity in the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solution. (C) 2016 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

A Review of In‑Situ Techniques for Probing Active Sites and Mechanisms of Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Reactions

Electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)is one of the most important reactions in electrochemical energy technologies such as fuel cells and metal–O2/air batteries,etc.However,the essential catalysts to overcome its slow reaction kinetic always undergo a complex dynamic evolution in the actual catalytic process,and the concomitant intermediates and catalytic products also occur continuous conversion and reconstruction.This makes them difficult to be accurately captured,making the identification of ORR active sites and the elucidation of ORR mechanisms difficult.Thus,it is necessary to use extensive in-situ characterization techniques to proceed the real-time monitoring of the catalyst structure and the evolution state of intermediates and products during ORR.This work reviews the major advances in the use of various in-situ techniques to characterize the catalytic processes of various catalysts.Specifically,the catalyst structure evolutions revealed directly by in-situ techniques are systematically summarized,such as phase,valence,electronic transfer,coordination,and spin states varies.In-situ revelation of intermediate adsorption/desorption behavior,and the real-time monitoring of the product nucleation,growth,and reconstruction evolution are equally emphasized in the discussion.Other interference factors,as well as in-situ signal assignment with the aid of theoretical calculations,are also covered.Finally,some major challenges and prospects of in-situ techniques for future catalysts research in the ORR process are proposed.

Mechanistic insight into N_2O formation during NO reduction by NH_3 over Pd/CeO_2 catalyst in the absence of O_2

N2O is a major by-product emitted during low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3(NH3-SCR), which causes a series of serious environmental problems. A full understanding of the N2O formation mechanism is essential to suppress the N2O emission during the low-temperature NH3-SCR, and requires an intensive study of this heterogeneous catalysis process. In this study, we investigated the reaction between NH3 and NO over a Pd/CeO2 catalyst in the absence of O2, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, NH3-temperature-programmed desorption, NO-temperature-programmed desorption, and in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Our results indicate that the N2O formation mechanism is reaction-temperature-dependent. At temperatures below 250 ℃, the dissociation of HON, which is produced from the reaction between surface H· adatoms and adsorbed NO, is the key process for N2O formation. At temperatures above 250 ℃,the reaction between NO and surface N·, which is produced by NO dissociation, is the only route for N2O formation, and the dissociation of NO is the rate-determining step. Under optimal reaction conditions, a high performance with nearly 100% NO conversion and 100% N2 selectivity could be achieved. These results provide important information to clarify the mechanism of N2O formation and possible suppression of N2 O emission during low-temperature NH3-SCR.

Experimental Study on Three-phase Separation of Oily Sludge

Three-phase centrifuge was used to process oily sludge,and the requirement of mud,oil and water three-phase separation was satisfied through the optimization of parameters. The results showed that when the input quantity was lower than 5 m^3/h,the optimal operation parameters of the three-phase centrifuge are shown as follows: the frequency of the main motor and vice motor was 33 and 30 Hz respectively,and the flocculant flow was 0. 7 m^3/h,while the oily sludge temperature was 55 ℃. Water content in the separated sludge decreased from 98% to lower than 70%,and the goal of reduction and harmless treatment of oily sludge could be achieved,which could provide essential conditions for subsequent resource utilization and could be used to guide industrial production.

Slope analysis based on local strength reduction method and variable-modulus elasto-plastic model

Employing an ideal elasto-plastic model,the typically used strength reduction method reduced the strength of all soil elements of a slope.Therefore,this method was called the global strength reduction method(GSRM).However,the deformation field obtained by GSRM could not reflect the real deformation of a slope when the slope became unstable.For most slopes,failure occurs once the strength of some regional soil is sufficiently weakened; thus,the local strength reduction method(LSRM)was proposed to analyze slope stability.In contrast with GSRM,LSRM only reduces the strength of local soil,while the strength of other soil remains unchanged.Therefore,deformation by LSRM is more reasonable than that by GSRM.In addition,the accuracy of the slope's deformation depends on the constitutive model to a large degree,and the variable-modulus elasto-plastic model was thus adopted.This constitutive model was an improvement of the Duncan–Chang model,which modified soil's deformation modulus according to stress level,and it thus better reflected the plastic feature of soil.Most importantly,the parameters of the variable-modulus elasto-plastic model could be determined through in-situ tests,and parameters determination by plate loading test and pressuremeter test were introduced.Therefore,it is easy to put this model into practice.Finally,LSRM and the variable-modulus elasto-plastic model were used to analyze Egongdai ancient landslide.Safety factor,deformation field,and optimal reinforcement measures for Egongdai ancient landslide were obtained based on the proposed method.

Research progress of precise structural regulation of single atom catalyst for accelerating electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction

The development and utilization of renewable clean energy can effectively solve the two major problems of energy and environment. As an efficient power generation device that converts hydrogen energy into electric energy, fuel cell has attracted more and more attention. For fuel cells, the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) at the cathode is the core reaction, and the design and development of high-performance ORR catalysts remain quite challenging. Since the microenvironment of the active center of single atom catalysts(SACs) has an important influence on its catalytic performance, it has been a research focus to improve the ORR activity and stability of electrocatalysts by adjusting the structure of the active center through reasonable structural regulation methods. In this review, we reviewed the preparation and structure–activity relationship of SACs for ORR. Then, the structural precision regulation methods for improving the activity and stability of ORR electrocatalysts are discussed. And the advanced in-situ characterization techniques for revealing the changes of active sites in the electrocatalytic ORR process are summarized. Finally, the challenges and future design directions of SACs for ORR are discussed. This work will provide important reference value for the design and synthesis of SACs with high activity and stability for ORR.

Inner-pore reduction nucleation of palladium nanoparticles in highly conductive wurster-type covalent organic frameworks for efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalysis

Covalent organic frameworks(COFs)have emerged as a class of promising supports for electrocatalysis because of their advantages including good crystallinity,highly ordered pores,and structural diversity.However,their poor conductivity represents the main obstruction to their practical application.Here,we reported a novel synthesis strategy for synergistically endowing a triphenylamine-based COFs with improved electrical conductivity and excellent catalytic activity for oxygen reduction,via the in-situ redox deposition and confined growth of palladium nanoparticles inside the porous structure of COFs using reductive triphenylamine frameworks as reducing agent;meanwhile,the triphenylamine unit was oxidized to radical cation structure and affords radical cation COFs with conductivity as high as3.2*10^(-1) S m^(-1).Such a uniform confine palladium nanoparticle on highly conductive COFs makes it an efficient electrocatalyst for four-electron oxygen reduction reaction(4e-ORR),showing excellent activities and fast kinetics with a remarkable half-wave potential(E_(1/2))of 0.865 V and an ultralow Tafel slope of 39.7 mV dec^(-1) in alkaline media even in the absence of extra commercial conductive fillers.The generality of this strategy was proved by preparing the different metal and metal alloy nanoparticles supported on COFs(Au@COF,Pt@COF,AuPd@COF,AgPd@COF,and PtPd@COF)using reductive triphenylamine frameworks as reducing agent.This work not only provides a facile strategy for the fabrication of highly conductive COF supported ORR electrocatalysts,but also sheds new light on the practical application of Zn-air battery.

Numerical Simulation of Sludge Combustion in TTF Precalciner

The research method of computational fluid dynamics(CFD)is used to study the technology of burning sludge in cement precalciner.The simulation results show that the flow field in the TTF precalciner is stable,the spray effect is good,and no raw meal collapse occurs.The special structure of the TTF(Trinal-sprayed)precalciner allows the pulverized coal and sludge to fully exchange heat with the flue gas and burn.When there is no sludge burning in the furnace,the decomposition rate can reach 92.1%,and the maximum temperature of the precalciner can reach 1600 K.When the moisture content of the sludge is constant,as the amount of sludge increases,the overall furnace temperature shows a downward trend and the minimum temperature at the precalciner outlet can be reduced to 1080 K.The phenomenon shows that sludge has a great influence on furnace temperature.In order to ensure that the decomposition rate of the raw meal is not less than 85%,the decomposition rate of the raw meal under different conditions is calculated.It was found that the sludge input can be about S-20%when the mositure content of the sludge is 50%.Moreover,when the water content of the sludge is 60%,the burning amount of sludge cannot be higher than S-20%,which ensures the normal decomposition of cement.The addition of sludge reduces the temperature in the precalciner and further inhibits the generation of thermal NO_(x).The reduction of CO content produced by incomplete combustion of pulverized coal indicates that CO suppresses the production of fuel-type NO_(x).The NO_(x) concentration at the gooseneck is as low as 522 mg/Nm3.Additionally,it was also found that when the sludge input is fixed,the NO_(x) concentration decreases with the moisture content of the sludge increasing,indirectly proving the inhibitory effect of H2O on NO_(x).

Dephosphorization mechanism of prolonged sludge age SBBR treating saline and high-phosphorus wastewater

Prolonged sludge age sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) without sludge discharge appears high performance phosphorus removal in treating saline and high-phosphorus wastewater,which cannot be explained by traditional biological dephosphorization theory. The new path and mechanism of phosphorus removal was discussed on the phosphorus balance of phosphorus removal system without sludge discharge. Phosphorus balance in sludge was studied on 26 running cycles of the phosphorus reduction system. The results show that there is only 0.12 mg/g poly-P in sludge at the end of each reaction period,not phosphorus uptake by polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs). It is found that 41.8 mg/L of external phosphorus gets lost per day averagely,and 155 mg of internal phosphorus in sludge gets lost. The matrix bound phosphine in sludge achieves 36.04 mg/kg measured by alkaline digestion,and there is 18.44 mg/kg in +1 valence state,a intermediate,in sludge. This implies that the phosphorus removal system of prolonged sludge age SBBR without sludge discharge is a phosphate reduction,and the path of dephosphorization is phosphate→hypophosphite→phosphine.