Application of Pier Waste Sludge for Catalytic Activation of Proxy-monosulfate and Phenol Elimination From a Petrochemical Wastewater

This investigation aimed to remove phenol from a real wastewater (taken from a petrochemical company) by activating peroxy-monosulfate (PMS) using catalysts extracted from pier waste sludge. The physical and chemical properties of the catalyst were evaluated by FE-SEM/EDS, XRD, FTIR, and TGA/DTG tests. The functional groups of O-H, C-H, CO32-, C-H, C-O, N-H, and C-N were identified on the catalyst surface. Also, the crystallinity of the catalyst before and after reaction with petrochemical wastewater was 103.4 nm and 55.8 nm, respectively. Operational parameters of pH (3-9), catalyst dose (0-100 mg/L), phenol concentration (50-250 mg/L), and PMS concentration (0-250 mg/L) were tested to remove phenol. The highest phenol removal rate (94%) was obtained at pH=3, catalyst dose of 80 mg/L, phenol concentration of 50 mg/L, PMS concentration of 150 mg/L, and contact time of 150 min. Phenol decomposition in petrochemical wastewater followed the first-order kinetics (k> 0.008 min-1, R2> 0.94). Based on the reported results, it was found that the pH factor is more important than other factors in phenol removal. The catalyst stability test was performed for up to five cycles and phenol removal in the fifth cycle was reduced to 42%. Also, the energy consumption in this study was 77.69 kw.h/m3. According to the results, the pier waste sludge catalyst/PMS system is a critical process for eliminating phenol from petrochemical wastewater.

Assessment of Phenol Detoxification by Rhodococcus aetherivorans UСM Ac-602 Using the Phytotesting Method

Monoaromatic compounds are related to widespread pollutants of soil and groundwater. Among them phenol is one of the most toxic and carcinogenic compounds. Therefore biodestruction of phenol is of much importance for environment protection. The use of metabolic potential of microorganisms for depolluting environment is a safe and economical alternative to widely used physicochemical methods. Aim. To assess efficacy of phenol detoxification with strain Rhodococcus aetherivorans UСM Ac-602 using the phytotesting method. Methods. Bacteria were cultivated in liquid mineral medium with initial concentration of phenol 500, 750 and 1000 mg/L as a single source of carbon and energy. Cultivation time was 24 h, 48 h and 72 h respectively. Phytotoxicity was determined in express-test with use of seeds of spring wheat variety “Pecheryanka” (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant seeds were incubated by temperature 20±2°C during 7 days in Petri dishes with filter paper treated with respective phenol aqueous solutions or post-fermentative cultural fluids (PFCFs). PFCFs were obtained after cultivation of strain in growth medium with same concentration of phenol. Morphometric parameters of wheat were assessed against control plants cultivated on distilled water. Comparative analysis of samples toxicity and toxicity class determination was performed according to Kabirov method by calculation of index of test factor toxicity (ITF). Results. Phenol aqueous solutions and PFCFs were much different in effect on wheat. Phenol solutions 500 and 700 mg/L have shown significant inhibitory effect on all initial growth parameters of test plants. The weakest growth inhibition was induced by phenol concentration of 500 mg/L which caused decrease in number of germinated seeds by 59.6%, shoot length – by 59.7%, root length – by 84.5%, sprout dry weight – by 35.0%. In the presence of phenol concentration of 750 mg/L these indicators increased by 7−30%; roots of test plants were the most sensitive to effect of phenol. Phenol concentration of 1000 mg/L caused total seed mortality. Unlike phenol aqueous solutions PFCFs have shown insignificant effect on all morphometric indicators of plants compared to control. Similar effects on plants were observed in the presence of PFCFs obtained from cultivation of strain R. aetherivorans UСM Ac-602 in the growth medium with initial concentrations of phenol of 500 and 750 mg/L. Under the influence of these PFCFs, the number of germinated seeds decreased on average by 15.8%, root length decreased by 19.8%, at the same time shoot length and their dry weight increased by 17.8% and 7.2% respectively. More negative effect on wheat was shown by PFCF obtained after strain cultivation on medium with phenol concentration 1000 mg/L. It caused reduction in number of germinated seeds by 18.0 %, shoot length – by 25.3%, root length – by 29.0%, sprout dry weight – by 7.2%. For phenol aqueous solutions ITFs had much lower values 0–0.40 than for PFCFs (0.71–1.0). Conclusions. Based on data obtained in this research it was concluded that strain R. aetherivorans UCM Ac-602 performs active detoxification of high-concentrated phenol-containing media. Analysis of calculation results for ITF medium values (ITFm) had shown that under the influence of studied strain there was a decrease in toxicity of phenol solutions (500, 750 and 1000 mg/L). According to Kabirov toxicity scale it was assessed that toxicity of phenol solutions with initial values of classes II (high) and I (very high) was decreased to IV (low) and V (normal level). Our results demonstrate ecological safety of the end products of phenol destruction with strain R. aetherivorans UCM AC-602 and prospects of its use in biotechnologies for environment detoxification from phenol pollutions.

Phenol removal by enhanced electrocoagulation process with persulfate salt

Introduction. Phenol is classified as priority pollutant. Phenol and its derivatives are stable in water, environmental contamination, and health concerns that are used as raw material in many chemical industries. This study investigated the removal of phenol by the reactivity of free sulfate radicals (SO4•–), activated by electrochemically generated Fe2+/Fe3+ ions which furthermore are evaluated to destroy phenol in aqueous solution. Materials and methods. In the present experimental study, electrocoagulation reactor by iron electrodes is used in the pre­sence of persulfate ions to phenol removing from aqueous solutions. In this regard, the effect of four independent variables including pH, electric current, persulfate dosage, and initial phenol concentration were studied on phenol removal. Results. The study determined the optimum conditions for maximum phenol removal using electro-persulfate process (EPS) as pH 3, 7.4 mM persulfate dosage, 27.78 mA/cm2 current density, and 100 mg/L initial phenol concentration at 30-min reaction time. The results showed that the efficiency of phenol removal was directly related to the initial persulfate dosage. In addition, the pH values, less than the phenol pKa, has slight effect onto the phenol removal. However, it was inversely correlated with a highly alkaline pH and higher phenol concentration. Conclusions. The study concluded that electro-persulfate process is an effective and robust process that can be used for handling of phenol containing wastewater.

PHENOL removal in refinery wastewater using mixed oxides prepared by green synthesis

Mixed solid oxides are known for their excellent catalytic property and applications in environmental remediation. This study presents a green-synthesis route for magnesium oxide–titanium oxide, a mixed oxide here demonstrated to possess high performance of phenol removal from hydrocarbon refinery process wastewater. Mixed oxide (MgO-TiO2) was prepared by using the whole extract from leaves of Piliostigma Thonningii as reducing agent. A structural attribute of the mixed oxide was investigated using X-ray Diffractometer, High-Resolution Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray. Petroleum refinery raw wastewater having phenol concentration of 19.961 mg/L was treated using the green-synthesized mixed oxide. Adsorptive phenols removal up to 99.5% was achieved with a dosage of 0.04 g/100 mL at temperature of 35 °C, and contact time of 1.167 h. By this, the treated water meets the standard acceptable phenol concentration (0.1 mg/L) in wastewater of hydrocarbon refinery.

Plasma generation using dielectric barrier discharge reactor for phenol degradation in batik wastewater

Batik wastewater contains phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are hematotoxic, hepatotoxic, and capable of causing mutagenesis and carcinogenesis in humans and other living organisms. Therefore, phenol compounds need to be degraded. This study uses plasma electrolysis method with Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) reactor to degrade phenolic compounds in Batik wastewater. The purpose of this study was to characterize the Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) reactor, to determine the effect of voltage and type of catalyst on phenol concentration, and to determine the interaction between voltage and catalyst type on the response of phenol concentration through analysis of variance (ANOVA). The result obtained from the characterization of the reactor is ignition voltage at 1400 Volt. The best degradation results of phenolic compounds were obtained in the treatment of Batik wastewater with FeSO4 catalyst at 2600 Volt. The phenol reduction in the best conditions reached 88.73%. Based on analysis of variance (ANOVA), voltage and quadratic catalyst variables affect the response of phenol concentrations in batik waste.

Coexistence of Substituted Phenols Reduces the Fouling Ability of Phenol in Non-aqueous Solvents

The electrooxidation of phenol showed different rate of deactivation by varying the concentration of substituted phenols (4-chlorophenol, 4-methoxyphenol, 4-tert-butylphenol). This was due to the more favourable solubility properties of the product copolymers compared with poly(phenyleneoxide) the product which forms when only unsubstituted phenol is present. The nature of substituent, switching potential and oxidation potentials of the studied phenols were significant in prevention of electrode fouling. The best reproducibility could be achived upon addition of 4-chlorophenol. This offered a possibility for estimation of phenol concentration in non-aqueous systems.

Removal of Phenol from Aqueous Solution Using Internal Microelectrolysis with Fe-Cu: Optimization and Application on Real Coking Wastewater

Fe-Cu materials were synthesized using the chemical plating method from Fe powder and CuSO4 5% solution and then characterized for surface morphology, composition and structure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The as-synthesized Fe-Cu material was used for removal of phenol from aqueous solution by internal microelectrolysis. The internal electrolysis-induced phenol decomposition was then studied with respect to various parameters such as pH, time, Fe-Cu material weight, phenol concentration and shaking speed. The optimal phenol decomposition (92.7%) was achieved under the conditions of (1) a pH value of phenol solution of 3, (2) 12 h of shaking at the speed of 200 rpm, (3) Fe-Cu material weight of 10 g/L, (4) initial phenol concentration of 100.98 mg/L and (5) at room temperature (25 ± 0.5 °C). The degradation of phenol using Fe-Cu materials obeyed the second-order apparent kinetics equation with a reaction rate constant of k of 0.009 h−1L mg−1. The optimal process was then tested against real coking wastewater samples, resulting in treated wastewater with favorable water indicators. Current findings justify the use of Fe-Cu materials in practical internal electrolysis processes.

Utilization of hydrochar derived from waste paper sludge through hydrothermal liquefaction for the remediation of phenol contaminated industrial wastewater

Hydrothermal liquefaction derived hydrochar produced from industrial paper sludge was used as an adsorbent to remove phenol derivatives from an industrial wastewater stream. Removal efficiency for phenol was determined using synthetic solutions (10–150 ppm) using batch adsorption experiments at a constant solution pH (8), temperature (25 ± 2 °C) and rotary speed (150 rpm). The adsorption of phenol onto hydrochar followed a Freundlich isotherm and could be described with pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Analysis of the adsorption mechanisms showed that particle film mass transport was the rate-determining step in the adsorption process. A COD removal efficiency of 31 ± 1% was achieved for the industrial wastewater stream. All phenol components in the wastewater stream could be removed, but not all organic acids and cyclic ketones. The performance of the paper sludge-based hydrochar compared well with that of activated carbon (44% COD removal). The final phenol concentration in the wastewater stream was below the acceptable phenol concentration for industrial effluents (1 mg/L). The results show that paper sludge can be converted to a valuable marketable commodity that could reduce waste management costs for a paper mill, while also reducing the cost of expensive adsorbents.

Activity of Laccase Enzyme Present in the Phenol-Contaminated Sediments of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System, Philippines

Laccases are enzymes produced by different microbes like bacteria and fungi. These enzymes are members of the family of oxidases and are capable of oxidizing phenolics into non-toxic forms. Sediments were collected from the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System, specifically from the sampling area connected to leather tanneries, which directly dump their effluents into the river. This study aimed to determine the presence of laccase activity of sediments of Meycauayan River where effluents of leather factories and tanneries are directly dumped. Concentration of the phenolic compounds from five collection sites were measured. Collected phenol - contaminated sediments were tested for laccase activity using ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)). Laccase was extracted from the collected sediments and used for the degradation of phenol. Reduction of phenol concentration by the extracted laccase reached 79.82% to as high as90.84%with a starting phenol concentration of 27.5 mmol per sample. Three strains of phenol-degrading ligninolytic bacteria closely related to Lysinibacillus xylanilyticus, Lysinibacillus fusiformisss, and Lysinibacillus sphaericuswere identified to be present in the river’s sediment which could produce laccase and facilitate degradation of phenol.