Advances in Energy-Producing Anaerobic Biotechnologies for Municipal Wastewater Treatment

Municipal wastewater treatment has long been known as a high-cost and energy-intensive process that destroys most of the energy-containing molecules by spending energy and that leaves little energy and few nutrients available for reuse, Over the past few years, some wastewater treatment plants have tried to revamp themselves as ＂resource factories,＂ enabled by new technologies and the upgrading of old technologies. In particular, there is an renewed interest in anaerobic biotechnologies, which can convert organic matter into usable energy and preserve nutrients for potential reuse. However, considerable technological and economic limitations still exist. Here, we provide an overview of recent advances in several cutting-edge anaerobic biotechnologies for wastewater treatment, including enhanced side- stream anaerobic sludge digestion, anaerobic membrane bioreactors, and microbial electrochemical systems, and discuss future challenges and opportunities for their applications. This review is intended to provide useful information to guide the future design and optimization of municipal wastewater treatment processes.

Optimum municipal wastewater treatment plant design with consideration of uncertainty

A newly developed model for the optimum municipal wastewater treatment plant(MWTP) design is presented. Through introducing the interval variables, the model attempts to consider the effects of uncertainties caused by the fluctuation of the wastewater quality and quantity during the design of MWTP. The model solution procedure is illustrated in detail, and a numerical example is given to verify the feasibility and advantage of the model. Furthermore, the possibility of the model application is briefly outlined.

Reed-wetland beds for municipal wastewater treatment

The performance of 11 reed-wetland beds for municipal wastewater treatment is described in this paper. The interrelation between pollutants removal (BOD5, SS, N and P) and hydraulic loading rate, organic loading rate, hydraulic retention time as well as the seasonal variation could be found in this study. The treatment efficiencies of reed beds are better than the secondary treatment standards with high and steady nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The total nitrogen and phosphorus of the final effluent are less than 10 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L, respectively.

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from municipal wastewater treatment plants in China:A plant-level and technology-specific study

Wastewater treatment is an important source of greenhouse gases(GHGs).Yet large uncertainties remain in the quantification of GHG emissions from municipal wastewater treatment plants(MWWTPs)in China.A high-resolution and technology-specific emission inventory is still lacking to support mitigation strategies of MWWTPs.Here we develop a plant-level and technology-based MWWTP emission inventory for China covering 8703 plants and 19 treatment technology categories by compiling and harmonizing the most up-to-date facility-level databases.China's methane(CH_(4))and nitrous oxide(N_(2)O)emissions from MWWTPs in 2020 are estimated to be 150.6 Gg and 22.0 Gg,respectively,with the uncertainty range of-30%to 37%and-30%to 26%at 95%confidence interval.We find an emission inequality across cities,with the richest cities emitting two times more CH_(4)and N_(2)O per capita from municipal wastewater treatment than the poorest cities.The emitted CH_(4)and N_(2)O are dominated by Anaerobic/Anoxic/Oxic-,Sequencing Batch Reactor-,Oxidation Ditch-,and Anoxic/Oxic-based MWWTPs of less than 20 years old.Considering the relatively young age structure of China's MWWTPs,the committed emissions highlight the importance of reducing on-site GHG emissions by optimization of operating conditions and innovation management.The emission differences among our estimates,previous studies,and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines are largely attributed to the uncertainties in emission factors,implying the urgent need for more plant-integrated measurements to improve the accuracy of emission accounting.

Monitoring of 943 organic micropollutants in wastewater from municipal wastewater treatment plants with secondary and advanced treatment processes

To perform a systematic survey on the occurrence and removal of micropollutants during municipal wastewater treatment, 943 semi-volatile organic chemicals in 32 wastewater samples including influents of secondary treatments, secondary effluents and final effluents（effluents of advanced treatments）, which were collected from seven full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plants（MWTPs） in China, were examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（GC-MS） coupled with an automated identification and quantification system with a database（AIQS-DB）. In total, 196 and 145 chemicals were detected in secondary and final effluents, respectively. The majority of the total concentrations（average removal efficiency, 87.0%±5.9%） of the micropollutants were removed during secondary treatments. However, advanced treatments achieved different micropollutant removal extents from secondary effluents depending on the different treatment processes employed. Highly variable removal efficiencies of total concentrations（32.7%–99.3%） were observed among the different advanced processes. Among them,ozonation-based processes could remove 70.0%–80.9% of the total concentrations of studied micropollutants. The potentially harmful micropollutants, based on their detection frequency and concentration in secondary and final effluents, were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons（PAHs）（2-methylnaphthalene, fluoranthene, pyrene, naphthalene and phenanthrene）, phosphorus flame retardants（tributyl phosphate（TBP）, tris（2-chloroethyl）phosphate（TCEP） and tris（1,3-dichloro-2-propyl） phosphate（TDCP））, phthalates（bis（2-ethylhexyl）phthalate（DEHP））, benzothiazoles（benzothiazole,2-（methylthio）-benzothiazol, and 2（3H）-benzothiazolone） and phenol. This study indicated that the presence of considerable amounts of micropollutants in secondary effluent creates the need for suitable advanced treatment before their reuse.

Occurrence and migration of microplastics and plasticizers in different wastewater and sludge treatment units in municipal wastewater treatment plant

Microplastics(MPs)and plasticizers,such as phthalate esters(PAEs),were frequently detected in municipal wastewater treatment plants(MWTP).Previous research mainly studied the removal of MPs and PAEs in wastewater.However,the occurrence of MPs and PAEs in the sludge was generally ignored.To comprehensively investigate the occurrence and the migration behaviors of MPs and PAEs in MWTP,a series of representative parameters including the number,size,color,shape of MPs,and the concentrations of PAEs in wastewater and sludge were systematically investigated.In this study,the concentrations of MPs in the influent and effluent were 15.46±0.37 and 0.30±0.14 particles/L.The MP removal efficiency of 98.1%was achieved and about 73.8%of MPs were accumulated in the sludge in the MWTP.The numbers of MPs in the sludge before and after digestion were 4.40±0.14 and 0.31±0.01 particles/g(dry sludge),respectively.Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(ATR FT-IR)analysis showed that the main types of MPs were polyethylene terephthalate(PET),polypropylene(PP),polyethylene(PE),and polystyrene(PS).Six PAEs,including phthalate(DMP),diethyl phthalate(DEP),diisobutyl phthalate(DIBP),ortho dibutyl phthalate(DBP),butyl benzyl phthalate(BBP),and bis(2-ethyl)hexyl phthalate(DEHP),were detected in the MWTP.The concentrations of total PAEs(ΣPAEs)in the influent and effluent were 76.66 and 6.28μg/L,respectively.The concentrations ofΣPAEs in the sludge before and after digestion were 152.64 and 31.70μg/g,respectively.In the process of thermal hydrolysis,the number and size of MPs decreased accompanied by the increase of the plasticizer concentration.

Recent advances in membrane bioreactor technology for wastewater treatment in China

Since the introduction of the membrane bioreactor(MBR)in China in the early 1990s,remarkable progress has been achieved on the research and application of this technology.China has now become one of the most active fields in the world in this regard.This review outlines the development of MBR-based processes in China and their performance of treating municipal and industrial wastewaters.Since membrane fouling is a critical operational problem with MBR processes,this paper also proposes updated understanding of fouling mechanisms and strategies of fouling control,which are mainly compiled from publications of Chinese researchers.As for the commercial application of MBR in the country,the latest statistics of large-scale MBR plants(>10000 m^(3)·d^(–1))are provided,and the growth trend of total treatment capacity as well as its driving force is analyzed.

Construction and application of the Synechocystis sp.PCC6803-ftnA in microbial contamination control in a coupled cultivation and wastewater treatment

Inspired by iron fertilization experiments in HNLC（high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll） sea areas,we proposed the use of iron-rich engineered microalgae for microbial contaminant control in iron-free culture media. Based on the genome sequence and natural transformation system of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, ftn A（encoding ferritin） was selected as our target gene and was cloned into wild-type Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. Tests at the molecular level confirmed the successful construction of the engineered Synechocystis sp. PCC6803-ftn A. After Fe3＋-EDTA pulsing, the intracellular iron content of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803-ftn A was significantly enhanced, and the algae was used in the microbial contamination control system. In the coupled Synechocystis sp. PCC6803-ftn A production and municipal wastewater（MW, including Scenedesmus obliquus and Bacillus） treatment, Synechocystis sp. PCC6803-ftn A accounted for all of the microbial activity and significantly increased from 70% of the microbial community to 95%.These results revealed that while the stored iron in the Synechocystis sp. PCC6803-ftn A cells was used for growth and reproduction of this microalga in the MW, the growth of other microbes was inhibited because of the iron limitation, and these results provide a new method for microbial contamination control during a coupling process.

Rat cardiomyocyte H9c2(2-1)-based sulforhodamine B assay as a promising in vitro method to assess the biological component of effluent toxicity

The treatment of wastewaters is crucial to maintain the ecological status of receiving waters,and thereby guarantee the protection of aquatic life and human health.Wastewater quality evaluation is conventionally based on physicochemical parameters,but increasing attention has been paid to integrate physicochemical and biological data.Nevertheless,the regulatory use of fish in biological testing methods has been subject to various ethical and cost concerns,and in vitro cell-based assays have thus become an important topic of interest.Hence,the present study intends:(a) to evaluate the efficiency of two different sample pre-concentration techniques (lyophilisation and solid phase extraction) to assess the toxicity of municipal effluents on rat cardiomyoblast H9c2(2-1) cells,and (b) maximizing the use of the effluent sample collected,to estimate the environmental condition of the receiving environment.The gathered results demonstrate that the H9c2(2-1) sulforhodamine B-based assay is an appropriate in vitro method to assess biological effluent toxicity,and the best results were attained by lyophilising the sample as pre-treatment.Due to its response,the H9c2(2-1) cell line might be a possible alternative in vitro model for fish lethal testing to assess the toxicity of municipal effluents.The physicochemical status of the sample suggests a high potential for eutrophication,and iron exceeded the permissible level for wastewater discharge,possibly due to the addition of ferric chloride for wastewater treatment.In general,the levels of carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole are higher than those reported for other countries,and both surpassed the aquatic protective values for long-term exposure.