Release of phosphorus through pretreatment of waste activated sludge differs essentially from that of carbon and nitrogen resources: Comparative analysis across four wastewater treatment facilities.

The accumulation of phosphorus in activated sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) provides potential for phosphorus recovery from sewage. This study delves into the potential for releasing phosphorus from waste activated sludge through two distinct treatment methods-thermal hydrolysis and pH adjustment. The investigation was conducted with activated sludge sourced from four WWTPs, each employing distinct phosphorus removal strategies. The findings underscore the notably superior efficacy of pH adjustment in solubilizing sludge phosphorus compared to the prevailing practice of thermal hydrolysis, widely adopted to enhance sludge digestion. The reversibility of phosphorus release within pH fluctuations spanning 2 to 12 implies that the release of sludge phosphorus can be attributed to the dissolution of phosphate precipitates. Alkaline sludge treatment induced the concurrent liberation of COD, nitrogen, and phosphorus through alkaline hydrolysis of sludge biomass and the dissolution of iron or aluminium phosphates, offering potential gains in resource recovery and energy efficiency.

Degradation characteristics of refractory organic matter in naproxen pharmaceutical secondary effluent using vacuum ultraviolet-ozone treatment.

Vacuum ultraviolet-ozone (VUV-O3) treatment was found to be superior to ultraviolet-ozone (UV-O3) treatment in terms of ozone utilization and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) generation when used to treat the secondary effluent (SE) from a naproxen pharmaceutical plant. VUV-O3 treatment was beneficial in terms of decolorization (100%), chemical oxygen demand removal (43.29%), and total organic carbon removal (54.81%). The VUV-O3 process was applicable over a wide pH range, and the presence of various anions had no significant influence on the oxidation efficiency. After treatment, the genotoxicity, unsaturation degree, and polarity of the SE decreased. In addition, the oxidation sensitivities of the fluorescent organic compounds were ranked as follows: humic acid-like > tyrosine-like > fulvic acid-like > tryptophan-like Moreover, the VUV-O3 process effectively converted refractory organic matter (molecular weights, MW > 2000 Da) into short-chain molecules with low MWs. The removal efficiency of dissolved organic matter (DOM) was 63.27%, and 77.27% of the DOM was found to be reactive to VUV-O3 oxidation. The unsaturation, polarity, and compositional complexity of the DOM decreased after VUV-O3 treatment. Finally, it was deduced that the direct O3 oxidation,·OH, O2·- and 1O2 played a role in the VUV-O3 oxidation process.

Ozonation catalyzed by the raw bauxite for the degradation of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole in drinking water.

A kind of inexpensive and environmental friendly mineral, the raw bauxite has been used successfully as a catalyst combined with ozonation in the degradation of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). The catalyst was characterized by using various analytical techniques. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) characterization showed that the raw bauxite containing boehmite (gamma-AlOOH), kaolinite (Al(2)Si(2)O(5)(OH)(4)) and quartz (SiO(2)), and gamma-AlOOH was the major composition. The catalytic ozonation removal effectiveness of TCA was investigated under various physicochemical conditions. Both the adsorption and the single ozonation were not effective for the degradation of TCA, and the presence of the raw bauxite in ozonation enhanced the TCA removal effectiveness. Both the hydroxyl radicals (OH) scavenging experiment and R(ct) characterization confirmed that the generation of OH was accounted for the enhancement of the degradation of TCA. The generation of OH was inhibited faintly by the presence of both natural organic matters (NOMs) and alkalinity in the natural water during catalyzed ozonation with the raw bauxite. The increasing of both the bauxite dosage and the ozone dosage enhanced the removal effectiveness of TCA. The raw bauxite was an efficient green catalyst for TCA degradation in drinking water.

Effect of CeO2 doping on catalytic activity of Fe2O3/gamma-Al2O(3) catalyst for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of azo dyes.

In order to find a catalyst with high activity and stability for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) process under normal condition, with Fe(2)O(3)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) and Fe(2)O(3)-CeO(2)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) catalysts prepared by impregnation method, the effect of CeO(2) doping on the structure and catalytic activity of Fe(2)O(3)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of azo dyes at 25 degrees C and atmospheric pressure is evaluated using BET, SEM, XRF, XRD, XPS and chemical analysis techniques, and test results show that, better dispersion and smaller size of Fe(2)O(3) crystal can be achieved by adding CeO(2), and the content of chemisorbed oxygen can also be increased on the surface of catalyst. CWPO experimental results indicate that azo dyes in simulated wastewater can be efficiently mineralized and the catalytic activity of Fe(2)O(3)-CeO(2)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) can be increased by about 10% compared with that of Fe(2)O(3)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) because of the promotion of the structural and redox properties of the ferric oxide by ceria doped. Leaching tests indicate that Fe(2)O(3)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) and Fe(2)O(3)-CeO(2)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) are stable with a negligible amount of irons found in the aqueous solution after reaction for 2h. It can therefore be concluded from results and discussion that in comparison with Fe(2)O(3)/gamma-Al(2)O(3), Fe(2)O(3)-CeO(2)/gamma-Al(2)O(3) is a suitable catalyst, which can effectively degrade contaminants at normal temperature and atmospheric pressure.

Preparation and characterization of Fe2O3-CeO2-TiO2/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst for degradation dye wastewater.

In order to develop a catalyst with high activity for catalytic wet oxidation (CWO) process at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, Fe2O3-CeO2-TiO2/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst was prepared by consecutive impregnation method and the prepared parameters were optimized. The structure of the catalyst was characterized by BET, XRF, SEM and XPS technologies, and the actual wastewater was used to investigate the catalytic activity of Fe2O3-CeO2-TiO2/gamma-Al2O3 in CWO process. The experimental results showed that the prepared catalyst exhibited good catalytic activity when the doping amount of Ti was 1.0 wt%/o (the weight ratio of Ti to carriers), and the middle product, CeO2-TiO2/gamma-Al2O3, was calcined in 450'C for 2 h. The CWO experiment for treating actual dye wastewater indicated that the COD, color and TOC of actual wastewater were decreased by 62.23%, 50.12% and 41.26% in 3 h, respectively, and the ratio of BODs/COD was increased from 0.19 to 0.30.