Evaluating water quality and fouling propensity in a pilot-scale ceramic membrane bioreactor treating municipal wastewater subjected to increasing salinity levels.

This study aims to optimize the removal of carbon and nitrogen pollutants from saline municipal wastewater using both membrane-based and biological treatment methods. It examines a pilot-scale sequential aerobic ceramic membrane bioreactor (AeCMBR) under various salinity levels (0-20 g NaCl/L) to assess biological processes and fouling behavior. While high COD removal rates of (≈90%) were consistently achieved, ammoniacal nitrogen removal dropped from 82 to 55% at 15 g NaCl/L, despite increased oxygenation flow rates. Notably, the biomass quickly adapted to salinity changes. Indicators such as mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), mixed liquor suspended volatiles (MLVSS), MLVSS/MLSS ratio, and sludge volume index (SVI) showed no significant correlation with increasing salt concentrations. Soluble microbial product (SMP) production was also unaffected by rising salinity levels. The transmembrane pressure (TMP) fluctuated, with the most pronounced trend at 15 g NaCl/L, even after reducing the flux from 20 to 15 L/m2/h. The primary fouling mechanism observed was reversible cake deposition. Overall, this research enhances our understanding of short-term operational impacts on AeCMBR performance as a function of different salinity levels.

Synthetic organic antibiotics residues as emerging contaminants waste-to-resources processing for a circular economy in China: Challenges and perspective.

Synthetic antibiotics have been known for years to combat bacterial antibiotics. But their overuse and resistance have become a concern recently. The antibiotics reach the environment, including soil from the manufacturing process and undigested excretion by cattle and humans. It leads to overburden and contamination of the environment. These organic antibiotics remain in the environment for a very long period. During this period, antibiotics come in contact with various flora and fauna. The ill manufacturing practices and inadequate wastewater treatment cause a severe problem to the water bodies. After pretreatment from pharmaceutical industries, the effluents are released to the water bodies such as rivers. Even after pretreatment, effluents contain a significant number of antibiotic residues, which affect the living organisms living in the water bodies. Ultimately, river contaminated water reaches the ocean, spreading the contamination to a vast environment. This review paper discusses the impact of synthetic organic contamination on the environment and its hazardous effect on health. In addition, it analyzes and suggests the biotechnological strategies to tackle organic antibiotic residue proliferation. Moreover, the degradation of organic antibiotic residues by biocatalyst and biochar is analyzed. The circular economy approach for waste-to-resource technology for organic antibiotic residue in China is analyzed for a sustainable solution. Overall, the significant challenges related to synthetic antibiotic residues and future aspects are analyzed in this review paper.

Progress in valorisation of agriculture, aquaculture and shellfish biomass into biochemicals and biomaterials towards sustainable bioeconomy.

The recurrent environmental and economic issues associated with the diminution of fossil fuels are the main impetus towards the conversion of agriculture, aquaculture and shellfish biomass and the wastes into alternative commodities in a sustainable approach. In this review, the recent progress on recovering and processing these biomass and waste feedstocks to produce a variety of value-added products via various valorisation technologies, including hydrolysis, extraction, pyrolysis, and chemical modifications are presented, analysed, and discussed. These technologies have gained widespread attention among researchers, industrialists and decision makers alike to provide markets with bio-based chemicals and materials at viable prices, leading to less emissions of CO2 and sustainable management of these resources. In order to echo the thriving research, development and innovation, bioresources and biomass from various origins were reviewed including agro-industrial, herbaceous, aquaculture, shellfish bioresources and microorganisms that possess a high content of starch, cellulose, lignin, lipid and chitin. Additionally, a variety of technologies and processes enabling the conversion of such highly available bioresources is thoroughly analysed, with a special focus on recent studies on designing, optimising and even innovating new processes to produce biochemicals and biomaterials. Despite all these efforts, there is still a need to determine the more cost-effective and efficient technologies to produce bio-based commodities.