Release behavior of iodine during leaching and calcination of phosphate rock.

A series of experiments of column leaching under different pHs (pH 1.8, 3.8, 6.5, and 8.5) and calcination at different temperatures (200-1100 °C) were carried out for evaluation of release behavior of iodine in phosphate rock. The modes of occurrence of iodine in the phosphate rock and its leaching and calcination residues were extracted with sequential chemical extraction. Iodine in solution and solid samples was measured with ion chromatography (IC) and pyrohydrolysis combined ion chromatography (PIC), respectively. Mineralogical compositions of phosphate rock and the leached and calcined residues were determined by XRD (X-ray diffraction) and FT-IR (Fourier infrared spectrum). The results show that iodine in phosphate rock occurred in a descending order of significance, as forms of residual, carbonate bound, ion-exchange, organic bound, Fe-Mn oxide bound, and water soluble. Under pH 1.8, 3.8, 6.5, and 8.5, the release iodine may almost reach the maximum at the leaching time of 65, 93, 90, and 165 h, with leaching rates of 5.28%, 1.24%, 0.550%, and 1.08% and the average iodine concentrations in the leachates of 2300 µg/L, 378 µg/L, 164 µg/L, and 189 µg/L, respectively. The forms of the leached iodine were mostly ion-exchange and carbonate-bound iodine under pH 1.8 and water soluble and ion-exchange iodine under pH 3.8, 6.5, and 8.5. By calcination, the total iodine was released rapidly in 200-300 °C and 700-1000 °C, and almost released completely at 1000 °C, with a leaching rate of 96.6%. The ion-exchange and organic-bound iodine were, respectively, released at 200-1000 °C and at less than 300 °C; the carbonate-bound and residual iodine were mainly released at more than 700 °C. The release iodine in phosphate rock leached by natural water and calcined at a high temperature may lead to the increase of iodine concentration of water body and atmosphere.

Low energy consumption electrically regenerated ion-exchange for water desalination.

A new regeneration method of ion exchange resin named Adjacent Bed Electrically Regenerated Ion-exchange (ABERI) was proposed to eliminate the environmental impact of traditional chemical regeneration and improve the economy of replacing chemical regeneration with electrical regeneration. The desalting operation of ABERI was the same as the conventional mixed bed. When the resins were exhausted, anion and cation resins were separated and then packed in a dedicated regenerator adjacently. The resins were regenerated by the H+ and OH- ions produced from a pair of electrodes installed on both sides of the resin bed. By optimizing the regeneration time, current, and feed water flow rate, the energy consumption of ABERI was 0.38 kWh/m3 water; that is, 54% of that of another electrical regeneration technology, membrane-free electrodeionization (MFEDI). Compared with MFEDI, the quality and quantity of purified water produced after regeneration were improved. In ABERI, the average conductivity and the volume (times of bed volumes) of the purified water are 0.9 µS/cm and 109; that is, 75 and 133% of that of MFEDI, respectively. The preliminary economic analysis showed that ABERI offers the potential to regenerate ion exchange resin in an eco-friendly and cost-effective manner.

Biosorption of high-concentration Cu (II) by periphytic biofilms and the development of a fiber periphyton bioreactor (FPBR).

In this study, a kind of microbial aggregates: periphytic biofilms were used for Cu removal and immobilized onto fiber for developing a novel bioreactor. Results show that periphyton can effectively entrap Cu at initial concentrations of 2-20mgL-1 due to the overproduction of EPS and porous structure of periphyton, and biosorption was the primary mechanism of Cu removal. Cu (mainly Cu3(OH)42+, Cu2(OH)22+ and Cu2+) adsorption onto periphytic biofilms followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The biosorption process fitted the Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich Isotherm models well and was thermodynamically spontaneous. The fiber substrate used in the periphyton bioreactor greatly increased the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of the system. This study indicates that immobilization of periphytic biofilms onto fiber for novel bioreactor development is a feasible way of entrapping high-concentration Cu from wastewater.

[Distribution of Redox Zone at Different Water Layers in the Presence of Periphyton and the Responsible Microorganisms].

So far, many types of carriers (such as artificial mat, industrial soft carriers) have been widely used in removing pollutants, purifying water quality via the periphyton attached on the surface of these carriers. In the presence of periphyton, the distribution of redox zone at different water layers is directly or indirectly associated with the removal rate of pollutants. Therefore, it is more practically significant to study the distribution of redox zone at different water layers and the microbial diversity in the presence of periphyton. In this study, the pilot experiment was performed in a simulated water column bioreactor. Firstly, the eutrophic water collected from XuanWu Lake was added into the simulated water column bioreactor. The industrial soft carriers were then suspended into the water column in order to enhance the growth of periphyton. After periphyton gained a steady growth state, the oxidation reduction zones (redox zones) and the responsible microorganisms at different water layers were monitored. The results showed that five sequent redox zones (i. e. oxygen reduction, nitrate reduction, iron reduction, methanogenic and sulfate reduction zones, respectively) appeared in different water layers from top-down in the presence of periphyton and their responsible terminal electron acceptors were O2, NO3(-), Fe3+, CO2 and SO4(2-) respectively. The indicators of the different zones were DO, NO2(-), Fe(2+), HCO3(-) and sulfide, and the highest concentrations were 11.290 mg x L(-1), 4.950 mg x L(-1), 38.326 mg x L(-1), 120.000 mg x L(-1) and 12.180 mg x L(-1), respectively. The results of microbiological characteristics tested by Biolog EcoPlate technology revealed that there were significant differences in the composition, metabolic activity, carbon utilization of periphyton at different water layers, causing the difference in the distribution of redox zones at different water layers. These findings implies that study on the distribution of redox zones and microbiological characteristics in the presence of periphyton provides a better understanding that periphyton is capable of improving water quality at different layer, and also provides some theoretical basis for the development of technology for purifying water quality based on periphyton.