Treatment of Antibiotic Pharmaceutical Wastewater Using a Rotating Biological Contactor

Abstract

Rotating biological contactors (RBC) are effective for treating wastewater, while they are rarely reported to be used for treating antibiotic pharmaceutical wastewater (APW). The current study investigates treatment of APW using an RBC. The effects of influent concentration, number of stages, and temperature on the remediation of APW were studied. The results indicated, even at low ambient temperature, 45% COD and 40%NH4+-N removal efficiencies. Moreover, the BOD5removal efficiency was 85%. Microscopic observations illustrated that there were various active microorganisms displayed in the biofilms and their distribution changed from stage to stage. Compared with activated sludge, the biofilms in this study have higher content of dry matter and are easier to dehydrate and settle. Compared with current commercial incineration processes or advanced oxidation processes, RBC can greatly reduce the treatment cost. This research shows RBC is effective for such an inherently biorecalcitrant wastewater even at low ambient temperature.

Kinetics of diclofenac adsorption from aqueous solution on commercial activated carbon

“…There are currently numerous methods for pharmaceuticals removal from water, such as: chemical precipitation, flotation, advanced oxidation processes (Fenton's reagent, photocatalytic oxidation, ultrasonic oxidation, electrochemical oxidation, ozonation, etc. ), membrane separation processes, microfilters osmosis, electrodialysis and biological treatment (Guo et al, 2017;Su et al, 2015). Main disadvantages of these methods are high cost and low efficiency (they are effective only in certain experimental conditions).…”

Primjena i modeliranje sustava s biofilmom u obradi otpadnih voda

“…Dublje slojeve čine mikroorganizmi kojima kisik nije potreban ili oni koji razgrađuju produkte razgradnje vanjskih mikroorganizama te su zaštićeniji od promjena okolišnih uvjeta. [47][48][49] Separacijom organizama po slojevima biofilma u ovisnosti o njihovim funkcijama u obradi otpadnih voda i potrebama za kisikom ili nutrijentima omogućen je neometan rast osjetljivih organizama s manjom brzinom rasta. 48,[50][51][52] Reaktori s biofilmom dijele se u tri kategorije: 27 54 Zhang i sur.…”

“…Uklanjanje je pod utjecajem sastava otpadne vode, početnog opterećenja, temperature procesa i vremena aklimatizacije biofilma. 49…”

Presencia de productos farmacéuticos en el agua y su impacto en el ambiente

“…Asimismo, por la gran importancia ambiental de la presencia de PFs en el agua, en los últimos años se ha investigado sobre diferentes tratamientos aplicables a aguas residuales que contienen PFs, cuyo método principal es la tecnología fisicoquímica que incluye técnicas como la flotación, adsorción de carbón activado, procesos avanzados de oxidación, membrana de separación, coagulación y sedimentación. En teoría, luego del tratamiento secundario, las aguas residuales farmacéuticas no deben ser tratadas por métodos biológicos debido a su poca biodegradabilidad, sin embargo, este método tiene ventajas como el bajo costo, su amigabilidad con el ambiente y su potencial aceptación social 75,76 .…”