Simulating Effluent Organic Matter Competition in Micropollutant Adsorption onto Activated Carbon Using a Surrogate Competitor.

Adsorption onto activated carbon is a promising option for removing organic micropollutants (OMPs) from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents. The heterogeneity of activated carbons and adsorption competition between OMPs and adsorbable compounds of the effluent organic matter (EfOM) complicate the prediction of OMP removals. Thus, reliable and simple test systems are desirable. For this study, batch experiments with powdered activated carbon (PAC) were carried out to examine methyl orange (MO) as a selected surrogate competitor to simulate EfOM adsorption competition. MO solutions were spiked with carbamazepine (CBZ) as an indicator substance for well-adsorbing OMPs. On the basis of CBZ adsorption isotherms in WWTP effluents, MO concentrations for batch test solutions with identical adsorption competition toward CBZ were calculated. The calculations were performed according to an empirical model of CBZ adsorption in the presence of MO, since predictions employing the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) proved to be inaccurate. Comparative batch tests with five different PACs were conducted with WWTP effluent and respective MO batch test solutions. Except for one PAC, the achieved CBZ removals were very similar in WWTP effluent and the test solution. Additionally, a universal correlation between MO and CBZ removals was found for four PACs.

Microbial community structure and function during abnormal curve development of substrate-induced respiration measurements.

Soil respiration measurements are an established method to test the abundance, activity and vitality of the soil microorganisms. However, abnormal progressions of soil respiration curves impede a clear interpretation of the data. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the microbial structure during the formation of phenomena like double peaks and terraces by analysis of the PLFA composition (phospholipid fatty acid composition). Moreover, 13C labeled glucose was used as substrate; therefore it was possible to measure delta13C values both within the PLFA fraction as well as within the carbon dioxide evolved during respiration. As contaminants trinitrotoluene, cycloheximide, and hexadecane were used. The results showed that the appearance of double peaks was mainly related to the growth of fungi with the marker 18:2delta9,12 due to a toxic effect of trinitrotoluene and cycloheximide. In contrast, the phenomenon of terrace formation was related to the utilization of hexadecane as a carbon source mainly by bacteria.

Assessment of microbial respiratory activity of a manufactured gas plant soil after remediation using sunflower oil.

Microbial activity of a manufactured gas plant (MGP) soil, as well as remaining oil degradability, before and after remediation using sunflower oil was assessed. A sandy soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was collected from an MGP site in Berlin, Germany. Column solubilizations of PAHs from the field-moist soil and air-dried soil using sunflower oil as an extractant at an oil/soil ratio of 2:1 (v/m) were carried out to compare PAH removals from the soil under these two conditions. After column solubilizations, portions of untreated soil (UTS), solubilized field-moist soil (SFMS), and solubilized air-dried soil (SADS) were amended with nutrients. Both nutrient amended and unamended soil samples were subjected to soil respiratory measurement. Soil respiration parameters, such as basal respiration rate, nutrient-induced respiration rate, lag time, exponential growth rate, respiratory activation quotient, peak maximum time, and cumulative CO2 evolution were calculated from the soil respiration curves. The parameters were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least-significance difference (LSD). Results showed that the impact of soil moisture on the PAH removals was quite significant, with the SADS showing higher PAH removals and the SFMS showing lower ones. There were significant differences between the respiration parameters with respect to the UTS, SFMS, and SADS. Basal respiration rate, nutrient-induced respiration rate, and exponential growth rate were lower for the SFMS and SADS relative to the UTS. Lag time and peak maximum time were higher for the SFMS and SADS relative to the UTS. Exponential growth rate was higher for the SFMS relative to the SADS. These parameters demonstrated that soil microbial activity was reduced at the onset of the test, because a lot of bioavailable materials for microbial growth were removed by sunflower oil. On the other hand, cumulative CO2 evolutions in the SFMS and SADS were higher than that in the UTS, indicating that soil respiration was activated after soil microorganisms got acclimatized to the remaining sunflower oil, and remaining sunflower oil was biodegradable.