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Effect of Aerobic Granular Sludge Concentrations on Adsorption and Biodegradation to Oxytetracycline

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Abstract

The aerobic granular sludge (AGS) technology has shown a great potential for effectively removing oxytetracycline (OTC) from wastewater in an environmentally friendly way. In this study, the removal mechanism of OTC by the AGS process was investigated. The results showed that AGS has adsorption behavior to OTC and biodegradation at the same time. The adsorption process of OTC by AGS that before acclimation fits the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption process by AGS that after acclimation complied well with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The adsorption included the boundary layer diffusion, the diffusion of OTC in AGS pores, and the adsorption of OTC on the inner surface of AGS. The adsorption capacity of AGS to OTC was affected by the mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration of AGS. When the AGS concentration was 10 g/L MLSS, the adsorption effects of AGS on OTC were better. AGS showed outstanding biodegradation abilities after its adaptation to OTC, and the biodegradation ratio of AGS to OTC was 77%. Thirteen kinds of intermediate products formed during OTC degradation were detected, and accordingly, the biodegradation pathway of OTC was constructed. The results will promote the wide application of AGS biological treatment technology.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Funding

This work was supported by the grant Major Project of National Water Pollution Control and Governance of Science and Technology (2017ZX07401001), [Shenzhen Scientific Research Foundation for High-level Talent] (Grant numbers KQJSCX20180328165658476), [Shenzhen Scientific Fundamental Research Foundation] (Grant numbers JCYJ20180306171843211 and JCYJ20180306172051662), [Shenzhen Demonstration Project] (Grant numbers KCXFZ202002011006362). Partial financial support was received from [the National Natural Science Foundation of China] (Grant numbers 21667017), [the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology] (Grant numbers QA201817), [Postdoctoral Scientific Research Developmental Fund of Heilongjiang Province] (Grant numbers LBH-Q18061).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Application and Environmental Pollution Control, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Xiaochun Wang, Ji Li & Xiaolei Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Xiaochun Wang, Zhonglin Chen, Jimin Shen & Jing Kang

Authors
  1. Xiaochun Wang
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  2. Ji Li
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  3. Xiaolei Zhang
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  4. Zhonglin Chen
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  5. Jimin Shen
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  6. Jing Kang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Xiaochun Wang; The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xiaochun Wang; Conceptualization, Methodology, Software were performed by Ji Li; The Writing- Reviewing and Editing were written by Xiaolei Zhang; The Formal analysis and Supervision were performed by Zhonglin Chen; The Visualization and Investigation were performed by Jimin Shen; The Software and Validation performed by Jing Kang; All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaolei Zhang.

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Wang, X., Li, J., Zhang, X. et al. Effect of Aerobic Granular Sludge Concentrations on Adsorption and Biodegradation to Oxytetracycline. Water Air Soil Pollut 232, 184 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05140-0

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