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Transformation of di-n-butyl phthalate in an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic leachate treatment process

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Abstract

Transformation of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) was investigated in anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (A/A/O) leachate treatment processes. Good removal was achieved under A/A/O conditions. Although the DBP removal was affected by the initial DBP concentration, the overall DBP removal efficiencies for this system were high (> 94%). Only traces of DBP remained in the effluent. The results of mass balance calculations indicated that approximately 33.7–50.7% of the DBP was degraded by the activated sludge, 48.9–64.9% accumulated in the system, and 0.4–1.4% was contained in the final effluent. This confirms that biodegradation and adsorption to activated sludge are both major mechanisms for DBP removal from leachate. The results of correlations between the DBP removal efficiencies and leachate contaminants indicated that the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) may be key factors influencing the biodegradation of DBP. Half of the DBP in the system adsorbs on the activated sludge. This differs from previous studies in which DBP was mostly biodegraded. DBP is not completely removed when it adsorbs onto sludge. Therefore, methods for decreasing DBP adsorption and increasing the biodegradation efficiencies of the leachate treatment processes should be investigated in future.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 51678531, 51878617, 51778579, and 21876165). We thank Gabrielle David, Ph.D., from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Recycling and Eco-treatment of Waste Biomass of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Chengran Fang, Hongzhi Mao & Lanhui Jiang

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Yuyang Long

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  1. Chengran Fang
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Correspondence to Chengran Fang.

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Fang, C., Mao, H., Jiang, L. et al. Transformation of di-n-butyl phthalate in an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic leachate treatment process. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 22, 221–227 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00930-5

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