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Acute toxicity and chemical evaluation of coking wastewater under biological and advanced physicochemical treatment processes

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Abstract

This study investigated the changes of toxic compounds in coking wastewater with biological treatment (anaerobic reactor, anoxic reactor and aerobic-membrane bioreactor, A1/A2/O-MBR) and advanced physicochemical treatment (Fenton oxidation and activated carbon adsorption) stages. As the biological treatment stages preceding, the inhibition effect of coking wastewater on the luminescence of Vibrio qinghaiensis sp. Nov. Q67 decreased. Toxic units (TU) of coking wastewater were removed by A1/A2/O-MBR treatment process, however approximately 30 % TU remained in the biologically treated effluent. There is a tendency that fewer and fewer residual organic compounds could exert equal acute toxicity during the biological treatment stages. Activated carbon adsorption further removed toxic pollutants of biologically treated effluent but the Fenton effluent increased acute toxicity. The composition of coking wastewater during the treatment was evaluated using the three-dimensional fluorescence spectra, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The organic compounds with high polarity were the main cause of acute toxicity in the coking wastewater. Aromatic protein-like matters in the coking wastewater with low biodegradability and high toxicity contributed mostly to the remaining acute toxicity of the biologically treated effluents. Chlorine generated from the oxidation process was responsible for the acute toxicity increase after Fenton oxidation. Therefore, the incorporation of appropriate advanced physicochemical treatment process, e.g., activated carbon adsorption, should be implemented following biological treatment processes to meet the stricter discharge standards and be safer to the environment.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, 2013AA062705-1), the National Natural Science Funds (No.51308319) and Open Funds from Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse (30916014102). The authors appreciated Professor Zijian Wang from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China, for the luminescence inhibition test.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

    Ma Dehua

  2. School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Liu Cong, Zhu Xiaobiao & Chen Lujun

  3. Key Laboratory of Water Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province, Jiaxing, 314050, China

    Liu Rui & Chen Lujun

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  1. Ma Dehua
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  2. Liu Cong
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  3. Zhu Xiaobiao
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  4. Liu Rui
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  5. Chen Lujun
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Correspondence to Chen Lujun.

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Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand

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Dehua, M., Cong, L., Xiaobiao, Z. et al. Acute toxicity and chemical evaluation of coking wastewater under biological and advanced physicochemical treatment processes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 18343–18352 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6882-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6882-z

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