title: Granular activated carbon for simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation of toxic oil sands process-affected water organic compounds.
abstract: Naphthenic acids (NAs) released into oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) during bitumen processing in Northern Alberta are problematic for oil sands industries due to their toxicity in the environment and resistance to degradation during conventional wastewater treatment processes. Granular activated carbon (GAC) has shown to be an effective media in removing biopersistent organics from wastewater using a combination of adsorption and biodegradation removal mechanisms. A simultaneous GAC (0.4 g GAC/L) adsorption and biodegradation (combined treatment) study was used for the treatment of raw and ozonated OSPW. After 28 days of batch treatment, classical and oxidized NAs removals for raw OSPW were 93.3% and 73.7%, and for ozonated OSPW were 96.2% and 77.1%, respectively. Synergetic effects of the combined treatment process were observed in removals of COD, the acid extractable fraction, and oxidized NAs, which indicated enhanced biodegradation and bioregeneration in GAC biofilms. A bacteria copy number >10(8) copies/g GAC on GAC surfaces was found using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction after treatment for both raw and ozonated OSPW. A Microtox(®) acute toxicity test (Vibrio fischeri) showed effective toxicity removal (>95.3%) for the combined treatments. Therefore, the simultaneous GAC adsorption and biodegradation treatment process is a promising technology for the elimination of toxic OSPW NAs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2W2, Canada.
authors.forename: Md Shahinoor
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2W2, Canada.
authors.forename: Yanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2W2, Canada.
authors.forename: Kerry N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: McPhedran
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2W2, Canada. Electronic address: yang.liu@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2W2, Canada. Electronic address: mgamalel-din@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gamal El-Din
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000416:Alberta; D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000633:toxicity; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D002606:Charcoal; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C006647:asphalt; C046170:naphthenic acid
keywords: Biodegradation; Granular activated carbon; Naphthenic acids; Oil sands process-affected water; Ozonation