Removal of Organic Micro-pollutants Present in the Effluent of Wastewater Treatment Plant by Zeolite Granules

Master thesis (2021)

Authors

S. Jiang Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Contributors

L.C. Rietveld Water Management (graduation committee member)

Sebastiaan Heijman Sanitary Engineering - (mentor)

J.B. van Lier Sanitary Engineering - (graduation committee member)

Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Civil Engineering & Geosciences

To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b909784a-5d17-431d-abc7-7619eb64773a

More Info

expand_more

Published Date

10-01-2021

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Abstract

Zeolites can be used for the adsorption of organic micropollutants (OMPs) from water. In this research, the potential applications of zeolite granules for OMP removal in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were discovered. The adsorption of 18 target OMPs by zeolite granules was fully studied in batch and column experiments. The adsorption capacity and kinetics of OMPs in demineralised water (DW) and secondary effluent from WWTP (WW matrix) were investigated. A prediction model of OMP breakthrough curves in zeolite packed columns was established and evaluated.
It was found that the adsorption of OMPs by zeolite granules in batch and column experiments was influenced by OMP species, water matrices and operational parameters (e.g., superficial velocity and contact time). Positively charged OMPs were better adsorbed by zeolite granules than neutral and negatively charged OMPs. In most cases, the adsorption capacity and kinetics of OMPs were reduced in WW matrix, which led to an earlier breakthrough in columns. On the contrary, WW matrix enhanced the adsorption capacity and kinetics of a few negatively charged OMPs, such as diclofenac and clofibric acid.
Higher zeolite dosage resulted in faster OMP adsorption kinetics.
Column experiments showed that 12 of the 18 target OMPs could be effectively removed at the EBCT of 12 min, achieving removal efficiencies of 50% over 10 days. The mathematic model for the prediction of OMP breakthrough curves was optimized by applying larger kinetic constants obtained from the batch experiment. It was predicted an EBCT of 15 min is an alternative for a 7-day operation to remove OMPs sufficiently by zeolite packed columns.

Files

Final_Report.pdf

(pdf | 10.3 Mb)

Unknown license