title: Removal and fate of micropollutants in a sponge-based moving bed bioreactor.
abstract: This study investigated the removal of micropollutants using polyurethane sponge as attached-growth carrier. Batch experiments demonstrated that micropollutants could adsorb to non-acclimatized sponge cubes to varying extents. Acclimatized sponge showed significantly enhanced removal of some less hydrophobic compounds (log D<2.5), such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen, and estriol, as compared with non-acclimatized sponge. The results for bench-scale sponge-based moving bed bioreactor (MBBR) system elucidated compound-specific variation in removal, ranging from 25.9% (carbamazepine) to 96.8% (β-Estradiol 17-acetate) on average. In the MBBR system, biodegradation served as a major removal pathway for most compounds. However, sorption to sludge phase was also a notable removal mechanism of some persistent micropollutants. Particularly, carbamazepine, ketoprofen and pentachlorophenol were found at high concentrations (7.87, 6.05 and 5.55 μg/g, respectively) on suspended biosolids. As a whole, the effectiveness of MBBR for micropollutant removal was comparable with those of activated sludge processes and MBRs.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia. Electronic address: wguo@uts.edu.au.
authors.forename: Wenshan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Huu Hao
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.affiliation: Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Long Duc
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Nghiem
authors.affiliation: Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Faisal Ibney
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Hai
authors.affiliation: Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Jinguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Siqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, Australian Institute for Innovative Materials (AIIM), University of Wollongong, Innovation Campus, North Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia.
authors.forename: William Evan
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Price
mesh_terms: D061249:Batch Cell Culture Techniques; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019149:Bioreactors; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012722:Sewage; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Attached-growth; Biodegradation; Micropollutants removal; Moving bed bioreactor (MBBR); Sponge