Hybrid sequential treatment of aromatic hydrocarbon-polluted effluents using non-ionic surfactants as solubilizers and extractants.
A treatment train combining a biological and a physical approach was investigated for the first time in order to remediate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)-polluted effluents. Given the hydrophobic nature of these contaminants, the presence of non-ionic surfactants is compulsory to allow their bioavailability. The presence of these surfactants also entails an advantage in order to ease contaminant removal by the formation of aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The segregation ability of environmentally benign salts such as potassium tartrate, citrate, and oxalate was discussed for extracting phenanthrene (PHE), pyrene (PYR), and benzo[a]anthracene (BaA). The biological remediation efficiency reached circa 60% for PHE and PYR, and more than 80% for BaA. The coupling of ATPS subsequent stage by using potassium citrate allowed increasing the total PAH remediation yields higher than 97% of PAH removal. The viability of the proposed solution was investigated at industrial scale by using the software tool SuperPro Designer.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
M S
MS
Álvarez
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Instituto de Tecnología Química e Biológica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2780-256 Oeiras, Portugal.
F
F
Moscoso
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
A
A
Rodríguez
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
M A
MA
Sanromán
Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain. Electronic address: deive@uvigo.es.
F J
FJ
Deive
D003198:Computer Simulation; D007477:Ions; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012212:Rheology; D012492:Salts / Q000737:chemistry; D012995:Solubility; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
D007477:Ions; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012492:Salts; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
ATPS; Benzoanthracene; Effluent treatment; Phenanthrene; Pyrene