The present study shows the results of solar photo-Fenton oxidation of paracetamol (PCT) and amoxicillin (AMX). Fe2(SO4)3 was used as the source of iron and EDDS as the iron complexing agent, ...employing different doses of hydrogen peroxide. Two aqueous matrices, a synthetic wastewater and real wastewater from El Ejido WWTP effluent (Almeria) were used. In all cases, the process was operated under conditions of natural sunlight.
Results showed that the degradation of both drugs is favoured when the aqueous matrix presents low concentration of carbonates. Under the conditions studied here, degradation percentages above 90% were obtained in the synthetic wastewater and 80% in the actual effluent. The degradation products were determined using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry with hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight analyser. The intermediates detected throughout the oxidative process for both micro-contaminants were mainly products of hydroxylation reactions.
The toxicity of the samples was determined using the bacterium Vibrio fischeri. In the acute toxicity test, it was observed that the bacteria did not undergo inhibition in any of the cases. However, chronic toxicity studies showed that the higher the Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) employed in the assays, the higher the bacterial inhibition.
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•Solar photo-Fenton successfully degraded microcontaminants under natural sunlight and circumneutral pH.•90% and 80% degradation percentages were obtained in the synthetic wastewater and actual effluent.•In acute toxicity tests, bacteria did not undergo inhibition in any of the cases.
For the first time, a continuous flow solar photo-Fenton demonstration plant has been assessed for wastewater reclamation according to the EU 2020/741 regulation. The treated water qualities achieved ...under two operating strategies (acidic and neutral pH) in a 100-m2 raceway pond reactor were explored in terms of liquid depth, iron source, reagent concentrations, and hydraulic residence time over three consecutive days of operation. The results obtained at acidic pH showed removal percentages of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) > 75% and water quality classes B, C and D according to EU regulation at both assessed operating conditions, with treatment capacities up to 1.92 m3 m-2 d-1. At neutral pH with ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe3+-NTA), 50% of CEC removal and only water quality class D were achieved with the most oxidizing condition assessed, giving a treatment capacity of 0.80 m3 m-2 d-1. The treatment capacities obtained in this work, which have never been achieved with solar water treatments, demonstrate the potential of this technology for commercial-scale application.
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•Wastewater reclamation in a solar photo-Fenton demonstration plant was assessed.•The process was performed at acidic pH with FeSO4 and neutral pH with Fe3+-NTA.•Highest reclaimed water quality was achieved at acidic pH.•Treatment capacities up to 1.92 m3m-2day-1 were achieved operating 8 h day-1.
Transformation of organic microcontaminants (OMCs) during wastewater treatments results in the generation of transformation products (TPs), which can be more persistent than parent compounds. Due to ...reuse of reclaimed wastewater (RWW) for crop irrigation, OMCs and TPs are released in soils being capable to translocate to crops. Furthermore, OMCs are also susceptible to transformation once they reach the soil or crops. The recalcitrant antiepileptic carbamazepine (CBZ) and some of its frequently reported TPs have been found in agricultural systems. However, there is no knowledge about the fate in reuse practices of multiple CBZ TPs that can be formed during wastewater treatment processes. For the first time, this work presents a study of the behavior of CBZ TPs generated after a conventional Ultraviolet-C (UVC) treatment in an agricultural environment. The UVC-treated water was used for the irrigation of lettuces grown under controlled conditions. The latter was compared to the fate of TPs generated in the peat and plant by irrigation with non-treated water containing CBZ. A suspect screening strategy was developed to identify the TPs using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time-of-flight (LC-QTOF-MS). The results revealed the presence of 24 TPs, 22 in UVC-treated water, 11 in peat and 9 in lettuce leaves. 4 of the TPs identified in peat (iminostilbene, TP 271B, TP 285A-B); and 3 in leaves (10–11 dihydrocarbamazepine, TP 271A-B) were not previously reported in soils or edible parts of crops, respectively. Comparing the TPs found in peat and lettuces derived from both irrigation conditions, no significant differences regarding TPs formation or occurrence were observed. UVC treatment did not contribute to the formation of different TPs than those generated by transformation or metabolism of CBZ in peat or plant material. This research improves the current knowledge on the fate of CBZ TPs in agricultural systems because of reuse practices.
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•Determination CBZ TPs in agricultural environment by suspect screening LC-QTOF-MS.•A total 24 CBZ TPs were identified, 22 in UVC treated water, 11 in peat and 9 in lettuces.•The suspect screening strategy allowed the confirmation of 7 CBZ TPs in samples.•Reported for the first time 4 CBZ TPs in soil and 3 in edible parts of crops.•No different TPs were identified in lettuce and peat samples irrigated under the different experimental conditions.
A lab scale study has evidenced the potential translocation of non-previously reported CBZ TPs in a lettuce crop irrigated with UVC-treated water which contained CBZ.
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•Solar photo-Fenton process was operated in continuous mode to remove micropollutants.•At high irradiances liquid depth up to 15cm doesn't affect process performance.•>80% ...micropollutant removal in wastewater was attained at 40min of residence time.•450Lm−2day−1 were treated at 40min of residence time in a 5cm-deep reactor.•A new line of research on the optimisation of continuous solar photo-Fenton process.
The removal of micropollutants (MPs) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) secondary effluents by solar photo-Fenton is commonly carried out with low concentrations of iron and hydrogen peroxide due to the low pollutant concentration (ngL−1). This led to two main consequences being observed: short treatment times (tens of minutes) and excess of photons when using 5cm-diameter tubular reactors. To make better use of most of the photons reaching the reactor surface, the use of raceway pond reactors (RPRs) with longer light path length was implemented successfully. However, little attention was paid to the treatment time itself and the photo-Fenton process was applied in batch mode despite filling and emptying stages being much longer than reaction time. This paper deals with the performance of the solar photo-Fenton process in RPRs operated in continuous mode to remove MPs in WWTP secondary effluents. In this regard, first the continuous degradation of a model emerging contaminant, the pesticide Acetamiprid (ACTM), was studied in a synthetic secondary effluent at pH 2.8. Next, real secondary effluents were treated at two liquid depths, 5 and 15cm and three hydraulic residence times (HRTs), 80, 40 and 20min. Reactant concentrations were 5.5mgL−1 Fe2+ and 30mgL−1 H2O2 giving rise to a treated wastewater volume of 450Lm−2day−1 for a 5cm-deep RPR operated in continuous mode at 40min HRT for 6h a day in winter, with 84% MP removal and 66% hydrogen peroxide conversion. As far as the authors know, this is the first report on the solar photo-Fenton process operated in continuous mode displaying its advantages with regard to the batch operation.
Continuous flow solar photo-Fenton process has been carried out at demonstration scale at flow rates up to 18 m3 h−1 as an advanced treatment for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern, ...CECs. A 100-m2 raceway pond reactor, RPR, has been built in the WWTP of Almeria city, Spain. The fluid dynamics study showed plug-flow in the reactor channels and perfect mixing in the bends and paddlewheel sections, giving rise to long mixing times. Consequently, for CEC removal the RPR was operated in continuous flow mode at 1 h of hydraulic residence time and acidic pH, with 0.1 mM FeSO4 and 1.47 mM H2O2. Liquid depth was set at 10 cm in winter and 18 cm in summer, achieving > 85% of CEC removal in both cases. For the first time, CEC removal by solar photo-Fenton has been demonstrated under real operational conditions paving the way for its commercial application.
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•The solar photo-Fenton process has been implemented at large scale for CEC removal.•More than 85% CECs were removed from secondary effluents in a 100-m2 RPR.•144 m3 day−1 operating 8 h day−1 with 18 cm of liquid depth at 60 min of HRT.•Kinetics and RPR flow pattern play an important role when scaling up the process.
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•4 different SR-AOPs were tested at pilot scale for real wastewater reclamation.•PMS/H2O2/UV-A (molar ratio 1:3) treatments enhances disinfection performance.•PMS/H2O2/UV-A does not ...improve CECs and ARGs removal compared with PMS/UV-A.•PMS/O3 removes 94% of the CECs, 6 out of the 8 ARGs, and provides simultaneous disinfection.•Despite the high efficiency of PMS/O3 system, it showed higher phytotoxicity.
Wastewater reuse addresses water scarcity, but contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) pose health and environmental risks. The European Union (EU) has enacted Regulation (EU) 2020/741, establishing wastewater reuse standards for agriculture. This study evaluates for the first time the effectiveness of four sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs), based on the combination of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with O3 and H2O2, applied at pilot plant, for the simultaneous elimination of microorganisms, CECs, and ARGs, in actual urban wastewater treatment plant (UWWTP) effluents. The system PMS/H2O2/UV-A improved the disinfection effectiveness, compared to PMS/UV-A, especially using a molar ratio 1:3 (0.5 mM PMS:1.5 mM H2O2), achieving complete elimination of total aerobic microorganisms in 90 min. However, this double oxidation system, does not improve CECs removal compared to PMS/UV-A in neither of the two molar ratios studied (1:1 or 1:3), and none of these treatments significantly reduced the prevalence of ARGs. However, the PMS/O3 system demonstrated the ability to remove total aerobic microorganisms in 20 min and Escherichia coli in 5 min, 94 % of CECs, and 6 out of the 8 ARGs, demonstrating to be the most effective treatment. However, the system showed phytotoxicity, inhibiting seed growth by 10–30 %, probably associated with the by-products formed in the reaction between organic matter and ozone. This result highlights that SR-AOPs are promising processes with the capability to achieve the simultaneous removal of different contaminant groups, reducing the risks associated with wastewater reuse. Their application at larger scales is increasingly closer.
Facilitating a sustainable transition process, whether on a global or local scale, entails crafting an energy mix tailored to meet the specific needs of users. The objective is to pinpoint the most ...effective future strategy that optimizes both socio-economic benefits and sustainability. To tackle these challenges, a plethora of modeling tools now exists to evaluate various scenarios prior to implementation. However, it is worth noting that modeling tools are primarily geared towards economic optimization, exemplified by the open-source energy modeling system, OSeMOSYS. This paper proposes an optimization methodology encompassing economic, energetic, and environmental sustainability, introducing the most widely referenced estimator as an economic additional cost using the weight sum and monetization methodology. The ramifications of integrating these different estimators in terms of energy matrix design, costs, and emissions are thoroughly evaluated. Furthermore, the optimal selection criteria are delineated based on users’ anticipated objectives. To ensure the reproducibility of the study, we present an exercise utilizing data from Atlantis framework, which shares characteristics of both developing and developed nations. The main results indicate that implementing sustainability, despite not causing significant variations in overall costs (¡0.5%), leads to a 35% decrease in emissions. However, there is a 14.5% increase in investment costs, while residual costs rise by 6%.
•Novel Methodology Proposal Integrated on the OSeMOSYS Tool.•Multi-Criteria Optimization including sustainability estimators criteria.•Estimators for energy, economic, and environmental sustainability are integrated.•Impact on Decision-Making of a sustainable energy system.•The sustainable transition does not entail a notable increase in the total cost.
Some pollutants can be resistant to wastewater treatment, hence becoming a risk to aquatic and terrestrial biota even at the very low concentrations (ng L
−1
–μg L
−1
) they are commonly found at. ...Tertiary treatments are used for micropollutant removal but little is known about the ecotoxicity of the treated effluent. In this study, a municipal secondary effluent was treated by a solar photo-Fenton reactor at initial neutral pH in a raceway pond reactor, and ecotoxicity was evaluated before and after micropollutant removal. Thirty-nine micropollutants were identified in the secondary effluent, mainly pharmaceuticals, with a total concentration of ≈80 μg L
−1
. After treatment, 99 % microcontaminant degradation was reached. As for ecotoxicity reduction, the assayed organisms showed the following sensitivity levels:
Tetrahymena thermophila > Daphnia magna > Lactuca sativa > Spirodela polyrhiza ≈ Vibrio fischeri.
The initial effluent showed an inhibitory effect of 40 % for
T. thermophila
and 20 % for
D. magna
. After 20 min of photo-Fenton treatment, no toxic effect was observed for
T. thermophila
and toxicity dropped to 5 % for
D. magna
.
Graphical abstract
Ecotoxicity removal by solar photo-Fenton at neutral pH.
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•A modified QuEChERS method has been validated for simultaneous determination of 74 microcontaminants in crops.•Different extraction conditions were tested to accommodate the highest number of ...analytes.•The analysis of real samples irrigated with wastewater verified the applicability of the method.•Up to 12 compounds were found to be uptaken by lettuce and radish crops, five of them had not been previously reported.
Reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural purposes can mitigate water stress in some regions where the lack of water is an extended problem. However, the environmental long-term consequences of this practice are still unknown. It is demonstrated that using reclaimed water for irrigation lead to accumulation and translocation of some microcontaminants (MCs) in soil and crops. However, so far, only a small group of contaminants has been investigated. This study aims to develop and validate a simple and efficient multiresidue method based on QuEChERs (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective and Rugged) extraction coupled to liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The novelty of the study relays in the large number of MCs analyzed (74), some of them not previously investigated, in three commodities (lettuce, radish and strawberry). Optimized conditions yielded good results for the three commodities under study. Up to 84% of the compounds were recovered within a 70–120% range, with good repeatability (relative standard deviations below 20% in most cases). Method detection (MDLs) and quantification limits (MQLs) ranged from 0.01 to 2 ng/g. The proposed method was successfully applied to assess the potential uptake of MCs by lettuce and radish crops irrigated with wastewater under controlled conditions for 3 and 1.5 months, respectively. 12 compounds were detected in the crops with concentrations ranging from 0.03 to 57.6 ng/g. N-Formyl-4-aminoantipyrine (4FAA) was the most concentrated compound. The application of this method demonstrated for the first time the accumulation of 5 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) not previously reported: 4FAA, N-Acetyl-4-aminoantipyrine (4AAA), hydrochlorothiazide, mepivacaine and venlafaxine.
The goal of the DIRAC experiment at CERN (PS212) is to measure the π+π− atom lifetime with 10% precision. Such a measurement would yield a precision of 5% on the value of the S-wave ππ scattering ...lengths combination |a0−a2|. Based on part of the collected data we present a first result on the lifetime, τ=2.91−0.62+0.49×10−15 s, and discuss the major systematic errors. This lifetime corresponds to |a0−a2|=0.264−0.020+0.033mπ−1.
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