ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-14DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0052410.1021/acsestengg.4c00524
Chengpeng Lee, Hau Truong, Khoa Nam Ngo, Ahmed AlSayed, Emily Karen Kin, Stephanie Fuentes, Xiaojue Chen, Haydée De Clippeleir* and George Wells*,
{"title":"Integrating Biological Phosphorus Removal with High-Rate Activated Sludge for Enhanced Settleability and Nutrient Management at Short Solids Retention Times","authors":"Chengpeng Lee, Hau Truong, Khoa Nam Ngo, Ahmed AlSayed, Emily Karen Kin, Stephanie Fuentes, Xiaojue Chen, Haydée De Clippeleir* and George Wells*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0052410.1021/acsestengg.4c00524","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00524https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00524","url":null,"abstract":"<p >High-rate activated sludge (HRAS) processes operate at reduced hydraulic retention time and solids retention time (SRT) to minimize mineralization and enhance sludge digestibility. Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) employs phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs) to uptake soluble phosphorus from wastewater, preventing nutrient pollution. However, the slow growth rates of PAOs relative to the aggressive SRTs (<2 days) commonly used in HRAS present a potential conflict. This study aims to determine the feasible minimum aerobic SRT that maintains biological phosphorus (bio-P) removal, quantify phosphorus removal through biomass assimilation and bio-P pathways, and assess the impact of bio-P selection on HRAS sludge settleability. Two parallel bioreactors were operated for 246 days with real wastewater supplemented with acetate and phosphate to ensure a consistent feed source; one system was operated as an HRAS without EBPR and the other as an integrated HRAS and EBPR. Significantly, integrating EBPR with HRAS improved sludge settleability, leading to an enhancement in carbon capture. In continuous operation, bio-P performance deteriorated at aerobic SRT below 1.9 days and was strongly influenced by the influent’s volatile fatty acid to phosphorus ratio. Interestingly, Bio-P activity tests demonstrate the feasibility of integrating EBPR with HRAS at aerobic SRT as low as 1.1 days. These results highlight the cobenefits of EBPR integration, including enhanced phosphorus removal, carbon redirection, and settleability, underscoring the high potential for resource recovery from wastewater streams.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 2","pages":"377–388 377–388"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143402048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-13DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0056210.1021/acsestengg.4c00562
Giuseppina Oliva, Antonio Buonerba, Aniello Mariniello, Antonis Zorpas, Chi-Wang Li, Vincenzo Belgiorno, Vincenzo Naddeo* and Tiziano Zarra,
{"title":"Revolutionizing Microalgae Harvesting and Cultivation with Living Membranes: A Leap Forward in Optimized Biomass Recovery and Lipid Production","authors":"Giuseppina Oliva, Antonio Buonerba, Aniello Mariniello, Antonis Zorpas, Chi-Wang Li, Vincenzo Belgiorno, Vincenzo Naddeo* and Tiziano Zarra, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0056210.1021/acsestengg.4c00562","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00562https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00562","url":null,"abstract":"<p >A newly designed living membrane filtering module (LMFM) has been applied to promote synergistic cultivation phases and harvesting of <i>Chlorella vulgaris</i> microalgae. The LMFM is based on a living biomembrane intercalated between two woven fabrics made of polyester Dacron that allows an unprecedented simple microalgae recovery from the aqueous cultivation media. A systematic comparison of two systems operated in parallel for biological carbon capture and utilization (bCCU) was executed. The performances of the photobioreactor with a submerged LMFM (membrane photobioreactor, MPBR) were compared to those of a conventional photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation (PBR). PBR and MPBR obtained 92 and 94% carbon dioxide removal yields, respectively. The presence of the membrane did not significantly affect the performance in terms of carbon dioxide removal, which resulted in elimination capacity per stage up to 24.3 ± 4.4 g m<sup>–3</sup> h<sup>–1</sup> in the MPBR. The LMFM indeed afforded a remarkable enhancement in microalgal biomass production and composition in lipids, with lipid concentration up to 36% on dry weight. The produced biomass in the MPBR was almost 80% higher than that obtained in the conventional PBR, and the LMFM allowed an increase of 77% in total lipids. Lipid accumulation was mainly attributed to the increased photon availability in the MPBR. Integrating LMFM in the MPBR enhanced biomass recovery and lipid accumulation, increasing the potentiality of algal-based carbon biofixation as an effective biorefinery technology.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 2","pages":"475–486 475–486"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143402403","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-11DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0082110.1021/acsestengg.4c00821
Yunjeong Lee, Jeehyun Chung, Jiyoon Cho, Jiyun Han, Alim Jang, Hye-Jin Lee, Seok Won Hong* and Changha Lee*,
{"title":"Activated Persulfate Oxidation as Pretreatment for Quantification of Microplastics in Natural Water","authors":"Yunjeong Lee, Jeehyun Chung, Jiyoon Cho, Jiyun Han, Alim Jang, Hye-Jin Lee, Seok Won Hong* and Changha Lee*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0082110.1021/acsestengg.4c00821","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00821https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00821","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The detrimental impact of microplastics (MPs) in natural water on human health and the environment has directed considerable attention toward the development of the corresponding quantification methods. However, the accurate quantification of MPs in natural water requires a meticulous sample pretreatment to distinguish them from other particulates. To address this need, we developed a rapid and simple pretreatment procedure based on heat- and base-activated persulfate oxidation, coupled with fluorescence microscopy. The pretreatment conditions were optimized by adjusting the reaction temperature and base concentration. The brief (15 min) persulfate treatment effectively degraded nonplastic microparticles (non-MPs) but minimally affected the physicochemical properties of polyethylene (PE)-MPs. Consequently, pretreating a mixture of PE-MPs and non-MPs in deionized (DI) water and various natural waters enabled the selective quantification of PE-MPs. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-MPs, and UV-aged PE-MPs underwent negligible changes during the persulfate treatment, thereby indicating the feasibility of using the method across various types of MPs. In addition, the properties of MPs in natural water were simulated by considering the formation of biofilms and the adsorption of impurities, both of which can interfere with MP analysis. The activated persulfate oxidation separated bioaggregated MPs into individual particles by degrading the biofilms and removed adsorbed impurities, such as natural organic matter and clay minerals, from the surfaces of MPs.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 5","pages":"1131–1139 1131–1139"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143921351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-09DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0068210.1021/acsestengg.4c00682
Bhupendra Kumar Singh, Nurul Syiffa Mahzan and Wooyong Um*,
{"title":"Synthesized Ettringite for Sequestration of Inorganic 14C from the Waste Solution","authors":"Bhupendra Kumar Singh, Nurul Syiffa Mahzan and Wooyong Um*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0068210.1021/acsestengg.4c00682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00682https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00682","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Carbon-14 (<sup>14</sup>C), a radionuclide generated in a nuclear power plant’s operation, is a serious environmental threat due to its long half-life (5730 years) and potential mobility in the environment. Herein, we present the sequestration behavior of inorganic <sup>14</sup>C as carbonate (CO<sub>3</sub><sup>2–</sup>) and bicarbonate (HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>) species from a simulated waste solution using synthesized ettringite under various experimental conditions. The ettringite was synthesized via the solution route and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, N<sub>2</sub> adsorption/desorption isotherms, and FE-SEM/EDS analyses. Synthesized ettringite exhibited an efficient inorganic <sup>14</sup>C removal capacity (∼92–94%) as compared to CO<sub>3</sub><sup>2–</sup> and HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> anions from the waste solution. The mechanism for the sequestration of CO<sub>3</sub><sup>2–</sup> and HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> anions from the waste solution using ettringite suggested that the removal of CO<sub>3</sub><sup>2–</sup> and HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> anions was achieved via ligand exchange and framework dissolution–precipitation, respectively. To investigate the <sup>14</sup>C retention capacity onto ettringite, the study also performed desorption experiments in simulated groundwater (SGW) and the obtained results suggested that the desorption % of both anions was significantly lowered (7 and 4.5% for HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> and CO<sub>3</sub><sup>2–</sup> anions, respectively) in SGW. We believe that our results will be highly significant in interpreting the immobilization behavior of dissolved inorganic <sup>14</sup>C as bicarbonate and carbonate anions present in alkaline waste solutions/aqueous environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 3","pages":"792–804 792–804"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143608982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Flash Joule Heating Upgraded Li Leaching of Residues from Spent LiFePO4 Cathodes for Superior Catalytic Degradation of Pollutants","authors":"Hua Shang, Wenting Yang, Zhelin He, Jiewen Luo, Fengbo Yu, Chao Jia and Xiangdong Zhu*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0064510.1021/acsestengg.4c00645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00645https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00645","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The rapid development of new energy sources has produced large quantities of battery-derived spent LiFePO<sub>4</sub> cathodes (SLICs), whose recycling has attracted growing attention in recent years. Previous SLICs recycling approaches have focused on the recovery of Li resources, neglecting the Fe-enriched residues obtained after Li recovery. Generally, Fe-enriched residues cannot be effectively converted to active Fe species using traditional methods, thereby limiting their upgrading. This study uses the emerging flash Joule heating (FJH) technology to upgrade Fe-enriched residues, and its performance was independent of Li leaching pathways. Common Li leaching protocols were initially applied to extract Li and produce residues enriched with FeC<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>, FeO(OH), FePO<sub>4</sub>, and Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>. Subsequently, ultrahigh temperature and electrical stripping were performed by FJH treatment, promoting Fe–O bond breakage within the various Fe phases and generating low-coordinated Fe<sup>0</sup> nanoparticles, as confirmed by extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. The unique low-coordinated Fe<sup>0</sup> nanoparticles present in the FJH-derived composites promoted the enhanced catalytic degradation of chloramphenicol following peroxydisulfate activation, in relation to that achieved through traditional pyrolysis-derived composites. Furthermore, the developed continuous FJH process demonstrated the potential for the large-scale recycling of Fe-enriched residues and promoted the conversion of Fe-enriched residues after Li recovery.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 3","pages":"724–731 724–731"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143608981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-08DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0072410.1021/acsestengg.4c00724
Amir Akbari, Lauren F. Greenlee and Bruce E. Logan*,
{"title":"A Modified Donnan Dialysis Process Using Sacrificial Magnesium Plates to Improve Phosphorus Recovery and Capture Ammonium and Potassium for Use as a Liquid Fertilizer","authors":"Amir Akbari, Lauren F. Greenlee and Bruce E. Logan*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0072410.1021/acsestengg.4c00724","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00724https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00724","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Donnan dialysis (DD) processes can be used to leverage the electrochemical potential gradient across ion exchange membranes to recover targeted nutrients from liquid waste streams. However, the slow separation rate of diffusion-based systems limits their practical applications. To accelerate phosphorus recovery rates, we used a modified Donnan dialysis (MDD) system that incorporated a sacrificial magnesium (Mg(s)) plate in the feed chamber. Using a second adjoining chamber, we simultaneously recovered ammonium (NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>) and potassium (K<sup>+</sup>) transported across the cation exchange membrane (CEM), producing a solution that could be used as a liquid fertilizer. Comparisons between MDD and DD across 1×, 5×, and 10× feed concentrations demonstrated that the MDD system captured P efficiently, achieving removal efficiencies of up to 99.6% within 60 min, primarily as struvite (plate surface area to reactor volume ratio of 8.9 m²/m³). Despite a slight reduction in K<sup>+</sup> and NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> diffusion through the CEM due to struvite reactions in the feed, the simultaneous capture of K<sup>+</sup> and NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> in the solid and liquid phases improved their overall recovery by up to 33.6%. These results show the feasibility of the MDD process, which offers both solid and liquid fertilizers from a single operation with improved P recovery rates.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 4","pages":"922–931 922–931"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143814457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-07DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0070710.1021/acsestengg.4c00707
Daichi Takami, Taku Kishimura, Yasutaka Kuwahara* and Hiromi Yamashita*,
{"title":"Photothermal Approach on Chemical Looping Method for Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction Using Defective Molybdenum Oxide","authors":"Daichi Takami, Taku Kishimura, Yasutaka Kuwahara* and Hiromi Yamashita*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0070710.1021/acsestengg.4c00707","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00707https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00707","url":null,"abstract":"<p >CO<sub>2</sub> conversion technologies utilizing solar light have garnered significant attention for establishing sustainable societies. Despite the extensive investigation of photothermal approaches, the effect of direct light irradiation on oxygen carriers on the reverse water gas shift chemical looping (RWGS-CL) reaction has not yet been explored. In this study, we investigated the effects of light irradiation on the activity of Pt-loaded metal oxides in the RWGS-CL reaction at 473 K. The Pt/MoO<sub>3–<i>x</i></sub> material exhibited remarkable activity for the photo-assisted RWGS-CL reaction, which was attributed to its high concentration of oxygen vacancies and photothermal property. Moreover, it is notable that the light-induced heating was more effective than uniform heating in the exothermic H<sub>2</sub>-reduction step due to the preferable temperature gradient in the material. This study opens up new potentials for the photothermal-assisted CL method, including the separation of the endothermic and exothermic processes of reactions and the strategic use of light-induced temperature gradients.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 4","pages":"864–873 864–873"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143814456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-04DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0062610.1021/acsestengg.4c00626
Meiirzhan Nurmyrza, Seunghee Han and Woojin Lee*,
{"title":"Sustainable Removal of Aqueous Hg(II) by Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-Derived Co/NC Using Optimized Thermal Desorption","authors":"Meiirzhan Nurmyrza, Seunghee Han and Woojin Lee*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0062610.1021/acsestengg.4c00626","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00626https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00626","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The effectiveness of materials in aqueous contaminant treatment technologies by sorptive removal relies on their ability to be reused and their removal efficiency. Thermal desorption stands out as a promising method to improve the reusability of these materials. In this study, Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-67 (ZIF-67) derived Cobalt N-Doped Carbon (Co/NC) and metal-impregnated (Ru, Pt, and Pd) Co/NC nanoparticles have been synthesized and tested for the effective removal of aqueous Hg(II) and its reusability by thermal desorption. Reduced Co/NC efficiently removed Hg(II), adsorbing 99.9% of aqueous Hg(II) in 2.5 min through pyridinic-N adsorption sites and Co<sup>0</sup> reducing Hg(0) on the surface. The testing of various metals (Ru, Pt, and Pd) on the surface of Co/NC showed that Pd(4%)-Co/NC achieved the highest reactivity with a maximum adsorption capacity of 49.93 mgg<sup>–1</sup> using the Langmuir model. Pd(8%)-Co/NC showed the highest adsorbed Hg(0) (79.1%) and fastest removal kinetics (135.52 g mg<sup>–1</sup> min<sup>–1</sup>). The Pd(4%)-Co/NC catalyst retained its durability and stability, eliminating 99.9% of the aqueous Hg species throughout 10 consecutive cycles. The 80.11% and 85.4% of adsorbed Hg were recovered by thermal desorption at 500 °C on Pd(4%)-Co/NC and Co/NC surfaces, respectively. Pd(4%)-Co/NC displayed notable promise as a sustainable catalyst for Hg(II) reductive removal in wastewater treatment technologies, emphasizing its enduring effectiveness and reuse potential for practical engineering applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 3","pages":"678–690 678–690"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00626","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143609020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Novel AOA-SNDPRr Process for Simultaneous Wastewater Treatment, Phosphorus Recovery, and In Situ Sludge Reduction with Ultralong Sludge Retention Time","authors":"Qiulai He*, Jinfeng Li, Meng Wang, Zhiyi Xie, Peng Bi, Peng Xu, Jingwei Ma*, Baokun Xu and Hongyu Wang, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0081210.1021/acsestengg.4c00812","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00812https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00812","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Successive side-stream phosphorus recovery challenges the stable enhanced biological phosphorus (P) removal process due to stripping of P from sludge. In this study, a novel anaerobic/oxic/anoxic simultaneous nitrification, denitrification, and phosphorus removal integrating side-stream recovery process (AOA-SNDPRr) was proposed and operated under ultralong sludge retention time (SRT, 120–140 d). Results showed that effective and stable carbon, nitrogen, and P removal was obtained. High P contents within sludge (15–30 mg P/g MLSS) were kept even after an 80 day continuous extraction, thus supporting considerable anaerobic P concentrations (10–30 mg/L). Up to 81.60% of influent P was harvested, and in <i>situ</i> sludge reduction by 63.2% was enhanced with a low observed sludge yield (<i>Y</i><sub>obs</sub>) of 0.015 g MLSS/g chemical oxygen demand under a 50% extraction ratio. Interestingly, a long-time operation witnessed spontaneous sludge granulation. Abundant extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), particularly viscous polysaccharides (PS), were stimulated. A 16S rDNA sequence demonstrated that overwhelmingly dominated <i>Candidatus_Competibacter</i> soared to 20.18%–25.91% without deteriorating biological P removal. Negligible impact on functional genes for poly-P/Gly synthesis and decomposition was found. Overall, the AOA-SNDPRr process with long SRT was proved to be a sustainable approach targeting three goals of reliable wastewater treatment, efficient phosphorus recovery, and dramatic in <i>situ</i> sludge minimization.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 4","pages":"855–863 855–863"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143814465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS ES&T engineeringPub Date : 2025-01-02DOI: 10.1021/acsestengg.4c0072610.1021/acsestengg.4c00726
Jens Blotevogel, Justin P. Joyce, Olivia L. Hill and Anthony K. Rappé*,
{"title":"Headgroup Dependence and Kinetic Bottlenecks of Gas-Phase Thermal PFAS Destruction","authors":"Jens Blotevogel, Justin P. Joyce, Olivia L. Hill and Anthony K. Rappé*, ","doi":"10.1021/acsestengg.4c0072610.1021/acsestengg.4c00726","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00726https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.4c00726","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Recent studies of thermal PFAS destruction have reported seemingly incoherent temperatures and products, often because decomposition pathways are highly dependent on the respective experimental system. Here, we applied highly accurate DLPNO–CCSD(T) coupled cluster calculations to isolate and identify the major processes during thermal PFAS destruction in the gas phase, with relevance to incineration, thermal oxidation, and other thermal treatment technologies in which PFAS and their volatile decomposition products desorb into the gas phase. All investigated perfluoroalkyl acids decompose via unimolecular headgroup loss, either through HF elimination or homolytic bond cleavage as a function of headgroup type. In contrast, all investigated fluorotelomers undergo initial hydrogen abstraction from the characteristic C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub> moiety by hydroxyl radicals under representative incineration conditions, followed by radical decomposition. Subsequent formation of perfluoroalkanes, including CF<sub>4</sub>, can then be prevented by supplying sufficient hydrogen donors such as hydrocarbon fuel and water as well as by scavenging released fluorine. This leads to the generation of stable 1<i>H</i>-perfluoroalkanes. While parent PFAS decomposition proceeds at gas-phase temperatures ≤700 °C, carbon–carbon cleavage of 1<i>H</i>-perfluoroalkanes requires up to ∼950 °C at 2 s gas residence time, making this step the kinetic bottleneck on the way to complete thermal PFAS mineralization.</p>","PeriodicalId":7008,"journal":{"name":"ACS ES&T engineering","volume":"5 4","pages":"910–921 910–921"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143814441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}