Concentration and Chemical Speciation of Heavy Metals in Sludge and Removal of Metals by Bio-surfactants Application

The concentration and chemical speciation of heavy metals including REEs （rare earth elements）, Th （thorium） and U （uranium） in domestic sludge and electroplating sludge were investigated, and those of the domestic sludge were compared with those of natural soil. Removal of heavy metals in electroplating sludge was studied with bio-surfactants （saponin and sophorolipid） by batch and column experiments. The results suggested that heavy metals have greater concentrations and exist as more relatively unstable fraction in sludge than those in Natural soil. Nonionic saponin is more efficient than sophorolipid for the removal of heavy metals from the electroplating sludge, and mainly reacts with carbonate state （i.e., F3） and Fe-Mn oxide state （i.e., F5） fractions. The recovery efficiency of heavy metals in leachates from the electroplate sludge was attained 88%-97%. Saponin can be reused and be a promising and cost-effective material for the removal of heavy metals in sludge.

Effect of surfactant frequently used in soil flushing on oxygen mass transfer in micro-nano-bubble aeration system

In-site soil flushing and aeration are the typical synergetic remediation technology for contaminated sites.The surfactant present in flushing solutions is bound to affect the aeration efficiency.The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of surfactant frequently used in soil flushing on the oxygen mass transfer in micro-nano-bubble(MNB)aeration system.Firstly,bio-surfactants and chemical surfactants were used to investigate their effects on Sauter mean diameter of bubble(dBS),gas holdup(ε),volumetric mass-transfer coefficient(kLa)and liquid-side mass-transfer coefficient(kL)in the MNB aeration system.Then,based upon the experimental results,the Sardeing's and Frossling's models were modified to describe the effect of surfactant on kL in the MNB aeration.The results showed that,for the twenty aqueous surfactant solutions,with the increase in surfactant concentration,the value of dBS,kLa and kL decreased,while the value ofεand gas-liquid interfacial area(a)increased.These phenomena were mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of immobile bubble surface and the suppression of coalescence in the surfactant solutions.In addition,with the presence of electric charge,MNBs in anionic surfactant solutions were smaller and higher in number than in non-ionic surfactant solutions.Furthermore,the accumulation of surfactant on the gas-liquid interface was more conspicuous for small MNB,so the reduction of kL in anionic surfactant solutions was larger than that in non-ionic surfactant solutions.Besides,the modified Frossling's model predicted the effect of surfactant on kL in MNB aeration system with reasonable accuracy.

Effect of bio-surfactant on municipal solid waste composting process

Bio-surfactant is a new type of surfactant that is produced in microbial metabolism. Adding bio-surfactant during composting process, especially to those contain some toxic substances, has been proved to be a promising way. In this study, Strains Ⅲ(2), a bacterial with high activity to produce bio-surfactant, were isolated firstly. Following comparison experiments with and without adding Strains Ⅲ(2), namely Run 1 and Run R, were conducted, respectively. The experimental results showed that, by adding Strains Ⅲ(2), the surface tension could reduce from 46.5 mN/m to 39.8 mN/m and the corresponding time to maintain the surface tension under 50 mN/m could prolong from 60 h to 90 h. The oxygen uptake rate and total accumulated oxygen consumption with Stains Ⅲ(2) were both higher than those without Strains Ⅲ(2), while the accumulation of H_2S in outlet gas was reduced to around 50% of Run R. Moreover, two additional experiments were also carried out to examine the effects of strains coming from different systems. One is adding Strains Ⅲ(2) with a dose of 0.4%(Run 2), and the other is seedling commercial Strains at the same conditions, the composting experiments showed that: Run 2 was more effective than Run 3, because the commercial Strains can be suppressed significantly in a complex composting system with different pH, high temperature and some of metals. The bio-surfactant was also added into the solid waste, which contained some toxic substances, the corresponding results showed that the remove rate of Hg and sodium pentachlorophenolate(PCP-Na) could be improved highly. Thus, the microenvironment, reactionrate and composting quality could be enhanced effectively by adding bio-surfactant to the composting process.

Batch washing of saturated hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from crude oil contaminated soils using bio-surfactant

Desorption of total saturated fractions(i.e. SAT, defined for this study as the summation of the concentrations of the saturated hydrocarbon from n-C10 to n-C26) and polycyclic aromatic fractions(i.e. PAH, defined as the summation of the concentrations of all polycyclic aromatic fractions including the 16 EPA priority PAH) in two types of soils subjected to the changes of p H and salinity and different bio-surfactant concentrations were investigated. In general, compared with the experiments without bio-surfactant addition, adding rhamnolipid to crude oil-water systems at concentrations above its critical micelle concentration(CMC) values benefits SAT and PAH desorption. The results indicate that the change of p H could have distinct effects on rhamnolipid performance concerning its own micelle structure and soil properties. For loam soil, the adsorption of non-aqueous phase liquid(NAPL) and rhamnolipid would be the principle limiting factors during the NAPL removal procedure. For sand soil, less amount of rhamnolipid is adsorbed onto soil. Thus, with the increase of salinity, the solubilization and desorption of rhamnolipid solution are more significant. In summary, the p H and salt sensitivity of the bio-surfactant will vary according to the specific structure of the surfactant characteristics and soil properties.

Microbial diversity and functionally distinct groups in produced water from the Daqing Oilfield,China

The microbial community structure and functionally distinct groups in three kinds of produced water samples from the shallow,mesothermic and low-salinity Daqing oil reservoir were systematically evaluated using both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods.Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA genes indicated that the bacterial library was dominated by Acinetobacter and Arcobacter and the archaeal community was dominated by Methanosaeta and Methanolinea.Two isolated methanogens were closely related with Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus and Methanoculleus receptaculi.The fermentative bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas,Haloanaerobium,Alcalibacter,Arcobacter,and Pannonibacter.The predominant nitrate-reducing bacteria fell within the genus Pseudomonas.The dominant members of the cultured hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria were phylogenetically associated with Micrococcus,Pseudomonas,and Bacillus.Enrichments of biosurfactants and biopolymer producing groups mainly yielded Pseudomonas,Bacillus,and Acenitobacter-related members.The functional groups related to polymer degradation were also affiliated with Pseudomonas and Bacillus.Results from this study provide the fresh insight into the diversity of microbial communities in Daqing petroleum reservoirs.The vast pool of functional strains retrieved in this study was presumed to include the promising strains that could be applied in microbial-enhanced oil recovery in future.

On the role of medium components in bio-surfactant production from Achromobacter xylos

This paper,for the first time,reports the optimization of the critical medium components for bio-surfactant production from achromobacter xylos strain GSR21 using statistical experimental design.Response surface methodology(RSM)was employed to determine the optimal levels of process variables(agar powder,yeast extract,FeSO_(4)7H_(2)O,and KH_(2)PO_(4)).Central composite design(CCD)of RSM was used to study the four variables at five levels,and bio-surfactant concentration was measured as response.Regression coefficients were calculated by regression analysis,and the model equation was determined.R^(2) value for bio-surfactant(g/L)was tested to be 0.7222,indicating that the model fitted well with the experimental results.Verification of the mathematical model was conducted by performing the experiment with the predicted optimized values,and bio-surfactant yield was found to be 9.69 g/L.Validation of the predicted model was fitted 96.9%with the experimental results conducted under the optimum conditions.Agar powder and yeast extract was identified as efficient components for bio-surfactant(achromobacter xylos GSR21)production.

One pot synthesis of TiO_2:Eu^(3+) hierarchical structures as a highly specific luminescent sensing probe for the visualization of latent fingerprints

In the present work, TiO2:Eu^(3+) (1 mol%e11 mol%) nano powders(NPs) were prepared via a facile one-pot hydrothermal method by using Epigallocatechin Gallate(EGCG) as bio-surfactant. The optimized TiO2:Eu^(3+) (5 mol%) NPs can be used as fluorescent labeling agent for visualizing of latent fingerprints(LFPs) on various porous and non-porous surfaces. The obtained results exhibit well defined ridge details with high sensitivity, selectivity, and low background hindrance which show greater advantages as compared to conventional powders. We demonstrated the viability of high-performance security labels thorough excellent luminescence for practical anti-mimetic applications. Morphology of the prepared samples is highly dependent on pH, concentration of the bio-surfactant, temperature and time durations.Photoluminescence(PL) emission spectra exhibit intense red emission at ~ 615 nm due to electric dipole transition(~5 D_0/~7 F_2). Photometric(CIE and CCT) results clearly show the intense warm red emission of the optimized samples. Therefore, this work offers a superior and universal luminescent label, which can be applied to visualize miniature LFPs particulars for individualization and consequently display great prospective in forensic investigation.