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Toxics
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Advanced Processes for Wastewater Treatment
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Advanced Processes for Wastewater Treatment

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Toxicity Reduction and Environmental Remediation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (13 September 2024) | Viewed by 4635

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xueqing Shi

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Guest Editor
School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 400233, China
Interests: persistent organic pollutants; biotoxicity; wastewater treatment; carbon neutral
Dr. Weilong Song

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Interests: membrane separation; water reuse; advanced oxidation processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Binghan Xie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Marine Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai, Weihai 264209, China
Interests: novel wastewater treatment process; resource recovery; environmental chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Under the background of carbon neutral and ecosystem health recovery, a number of advanced processes have emerged in the field of wastewater treatment. Nowadays, the concept of “blue water factory” proposes that on top of treated water reuse, the pollutants from wastewater including chemical energy, biopolymers, nitrogen, phosphorus and cellulose should be recovered and reused through novel and advanced processes. Therefore, it is time for us to move forward from cost reduction or efficiency enhancement to the maximization of value recovery/generation through wastewater treatment. The aim of this Special Issue on “Advanced Processes for Wastewater Treatment” is to publish high-quality papers of original research or review articles addressing, but not limited to, the following topics: (i) novel processes for high-efficiency wastewater treatment with minimal environmental impact; (ii) transformation and toxicity evaluation of POPs, PAHs or other hazardous pollutants from wastewater through the treatment process; and (iii) resource recovery and reuse from wastewater by physical, chemical or biological means. Studies that are designed using a large-scale or long-term framework will be given high priority.

Prof. Dr. Xueqing Shi
Dr. Weilong Song
Dr. Binghan Xie
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • carbon neutral
  • persistent organic pollutants
  • emerging pollutants/new pollutants
  • resource recovery
  • water reuse
  • oxidative technologies
  • sorption technologies
  • bioreactor technologies
  • membrane-based technologies
  • toxicity index

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2328 KiB  
Article
Prediction of Biochar Adsorption of Uranium in Wastewater and Inversion of Key Influencing Parameters Based on Ensemble Learning
by Zening Qu, Wei Wang and Yan He
Toxics 2024, 12(10), 698; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12100698 - 26 Sep 2024
Viewed by 699
Abstract
With the rapid development of industrialization, the problem of heavy metal wastewater treatment has become increasingly serious, posing a serious threat to the environment and human health. Biochar shows great potential for application in the field of wastewater treatment; however, biochars prepared from [...] Read more.
With the rapid development of industrialization, the problem of heavy metal wastewater treatment has become increasingly serious, posing a serious threat to the environment and human health. Biochar shows great potential for application in the field of wastewater treatment; however, biochars prepared from different biomass sources and experimental conditions have different physicochemical properties, resulting in differences in their adsorption capacity for uranium, which limits their wide application in wastewater treatment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to deeply explore and optimize the key parameter settings of biochar to significantly improve its adsorption capacity. This paper combines the nonlinear mapping capability of SCN and the ensemble learning advantage of the Adaboost algorithm based on existing experimental data on wastewater treatment. The accuracy of the model is evaluated by metrics such as coefficient of determination (R2) and error rate. It was found that the Adaboost–SCN model showed significant advantages in terms of prediction accuracy, precision, model stability and generalization ability compared to the SCN model alone. In order to further improve the performance of the model, this paper combined Adaboost–SCN with maximum information coefficient (MIC), random forest (RF) and energy valley optimizer (EVO) feature selection methods to construct three models, namely, MIC-Adaboost–SCN, RF-Adaboost–SCN and EVO-Adaboost–SCN. The results show that the prediction model with added feature selection is significantly better than the Adaboost–SCN model without feature selection in each evaluation index, and EVO has the most significant effect on feature selection. Finally, the correlation between biochar adsorption properties and production parameters was discussed through the inversion study of key parameters, and optimal parameter intervals were proposed to improve the adsorption properties. Providing strong support for the wide application of biochar in the field of wastewater treatment helps to solve the urgent environmental problem of heavy metal wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Processes for Wastewater Treatment)
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15 pages, 3731 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Tetracycline Adsorption Using KOH-Modified Biochar Derived from Waste Activated Sludge in Aqueous Solutions
by Jiazheng Ding, Jiahao Liang, Qinghong Wang, Xiang Tan, Wenyu Xie, Chunmao Chen, Changgang Li, Dehao Li, Jin Li and Xiaoqing Chen
Toxics 2024, 12(10), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12100691 - 25 Sep 2024
Viewed by 898
Abstract
Antibiotic pollution poses a serious environmental concern worldwide, posing risks to ecosystems and human well-being. Transforming waste activated sludge into adsorbents for antibiotic removal aligns with the concept of utilizing waste to treat waste. However, the adsorption efficiency of these adsorbents is currently [...] Read more.
Antibiotic pollution poses a serious environmental concern worldwide, posing risks to ecosystems and human well-being. Transforming waste activated sludge into adsorbents for antibiotic removal aligns with the concept of utilizing waste to treat waste. However, the adsorption efficiency of these adsorbents is currently limited. This study identified KOH modification as the most effective method for enhancing tetracycline (TC) adsorption by sludge biochar through a comparative analysis of acid, alkali, and oxidant modifications. The adsorption characteristics of TC upon unmodified sludge biochar (BC) as well as KOH-modified sludge biochar (BC-KOH) were investigated in terms of equilibrium, kinetics, and thermodynamics. BC-KOH exhibited higher porosity, greater specific surface area, and increased abundance of oxygen-based functional groups compared to BC. The TC adsorption on BC-KOH conformed the Elovich and Langmuir models, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 243.3 mg/g at 298 K. The adsorption mechanisms included ion exchange, hydrogen bonding, pore filling, and electrostatic adsorption, as well as π-π interactions. Interference with TC adsorption on BC-KOH was observed with HCO3−, PO43−, Ca2+, and Mg2+, whereas Cl−, NO3−, and SO42− ions exhibited minimal impact on the adsorption process. Following three cycles of utilization, there was a slight 5.94% reduction in the equilibrium adsorption capacity, yet the adsorption capacity remained 4.5 times greater than that of unmodified sludge BC, underscoring its significant potential for practical applications. This research provided new insights to the production and application of sludge biochar for treating antibiotic-contaminated wastewater. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Processes for Wastewater Treatment)
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12 pages, 3182 KiB  
Article
Synergy between Nitrogen Removal and Fermentation Bacteria Ensured Efficient Nitrogen Removal of a Mainstream Anammox System at Low Temperatures
by Jiaru Zhi, Guocheng Ma, Xueqing Shi, Guoqing Dong, Deshuang Yu, Jianhua Zhang, Yu Zhang, Jiawen Li, Xinchao Zhao, Haizheng Xia, Xinyu Chen, Zhuoya Tian and Yuanyuan Miao
Toxics 2024, 12(9), 629; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12090629 - 26 Aug 2024
Viewed by 851
Abstract
Simultaneous partial nitrification, anammox, denitrification, and fermentation (SNADF) is a novel process achieving simultaneous advanced sludge reduction and nitrogen removal. The influence of low temperatures on the SNADF reactor was explored to facilitate the application of mainstream anammox. When temperature decreased from 32 [...] Read more.
Simultaneous partial nitrification, anammox, denitrification, and fermentation (SNADF) is a novel process achieving simultaneous advanced sludge reduction and nitrogen removal. The influence of low temperatures on the SNADF reactor was explored to facilitate the application of mainstream anammox. When temperature decreased from 32 to 16 °C, efficient nitrogen removal was achieved, with a nitrogen removal efficiency of 81.9–94.9%. Microbial community structure analysis indicated that the abundance of Candidatus Brocadia (dominant anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB) in the system) increased from 0.03% to 0.18%. The abundances of Nitrospira and Nitrosomonas increased from 1.6% and 0.16% to 2.5% and 1.63%, respectively, resulting in an increase in the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) to nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) abundance ratio from 0.1 to 0.64. This ensured sufficient nitrite for AnAOB, promoting nitrogen removal. In addition, Candidatus Competibacter, which plays a role in partial denitrification, was the dominant denitrification bacteria (DNB) and provided more nitrite for AnAOB, facilitating AnAOB enrichment. Based on the findings from microbial correlation network analysis, Nitrosomonas (AOB), Thauera, and Haliangium (DNB), and A4b and Saprospiraceae (fermentation bacteria), were center nodes in the networks and therefore essential for the stability of the SNADF system. Moreover, fermentation bacteria, DNB, and AOB had close connections in substrate cooperation and resistance to adverse environments; therefore, they also played important roles in maintaining stable nitrogen removal at low temperatures. This study provided new suggestions for mainstream anammox application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Processes for Wastewater Treatment)
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16 pages, 3177 KiB  
Article
Persulfate–Based Advanced Oxidation Process for Chlorpyrifos Degradation: Mechanism, Kinetics, and Toxicity Assessment
by Youxin Xu, Chenxi Zhang, Haobing Zou, Guangrong Chen, Xiaomin Sun, Shuguang Wang and Huifang Tian
Toxics 2024, 12(3), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12030207 - 9 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1680
Abstract
Persulfate-based advanced oxidation process has been proven to be a promising method for the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos (CPY) degradation in wastewater treatment. However, due to the limitation for the short-lived intermediates detection, a comprehensive understanding for the degradation pathway remains unclear. To address [...] Read more.
Persulfate-based advanced oxidation process has been proven to be a promising method for the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos (CPY) degradation in wastewater treatment. However, due to the limitation for the short-lived intermediates detection, a comprehensive understanding for the degradation pathway remains unclear. To address this issue, density functional theory was used to analyze the degradation mechanism of CPY at the M06-2X/6-311++G(3df,3pd)//M06-2X/6-31+G(d,p) level, and computational toxicology methods were employed to explore the toxicity of CPY and its degradation products. Results show that hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and sulfate radicals (SO4•−) initiate the degradation reactions by adding to the P=S bond and abstracting the H atom on the ethyl group, rather than undergoing α-elimination of the pyridine ring in the persulfate oxidation process. Moreover, the addition products were attracted and degraded by breaking the P–O bond, while the abstraction products were degraded through dealkylation reactions. The transformation products, including 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridynol, O,O-diethyl phosphorothioate, chlorpyrifos oxon, and acetaldehyde, obtained through theoretical calculations have been detected in previous experimental studies. The reaction rate constants of CPY with ·OH and SO4•− were 6.32 × 108 and 9.14 × 108 M−1·s−1 at room temperature, respectively, which was consistent with the experimental values of 4.42 × 109 and 4.5 × 109 M−1 s−1. Toxicity evaluation results indicated that the acute and chronic toxicity to aquatic organisms gradually decreased during the degradation process. However, some products still possess toxic or highly toxic levels, which may pose risks to human health. These research findings contribute to understanding the transformation behavior and risk assessment of CPY in practical wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Processes for Wastewater Treatment)
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