Abstract
BACKGROUND: The environmental and health effects caused by oxytetracycline (OTC) contamination of aquatic systems are a serious problem throughout the world. The OTC-contaminated wastewater cannot be treated effectively by conventional anaerobic and aerobic biological treatments. Few studies have investigated the systematic treatment of OTC-contaminated wastewater. RESULTS: A system including micro-electrolysis (ME), an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) and an anoxic/oxic activated sludge process (A/O) could treat OTC production wastewater effectively. First, a ME reactor packed with new ceramic-corrosion-cell fillers, serving as a pretreatment step, was effective in removing residual OTC and enhancing biodegradability of the wastewater. Second, EGSB and A/O reactors played the main role in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH3-N) and chroma (color of the wastewater). After reaching steady state, the coupled ME-EGSB-A/O system removed more than 95.0% of COD, 90.0% of NH3-N and 80.0% of color, and the final effluent met the requirements of the national discharge standard (COD ≤ 500 mg L-1, NH3-N ≤ 45 mg L-1 and chroma ≤ 70; CJ 343-2010, China). CONCLUSION: The coupled ME-EGSB-A/O system could treat the OTC production wastewater effectively. These findings have significant implications for a cost-efficient system in OTC production systematic treatment.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1290-1298 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology |
Volume | 91 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 May 1 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biotechnology
- General Chemical Engineering
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Fuel Technology
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Pollution
- Organic Chemistry
- Inorganic Chemistry