Abstract
Nitrogen and heavy metals can co-occur in various industrial wastewaters such as coke-oven wastewater. Removal of these contaminants is important, but cost-efficient removal technology is limited. In this study, we examined the usefulness of nitrate-dependent ferrous iron oxidation (NDFO) for the simultaneous removal of nitrate and heavy metals (iron and zinc), by using an NDFO strain Pseudogulbenkiania sp. NH8B. Based on the batch culture assays, nitrate, Fe, and Zn were successfully removed from a basal medium as well as coke-oven wastewater containing 5 mM nitrate, 10 mM Fe(II), and 10 mg/L Zn. Zinc in the water was most likely co-precipitated with Fe(III) oxides produced during the NDFO reaction. Simultaneous removal of nitrate, Fe, and Zn was also achieved in a continuous-flow reactor fed with a basal medium containing 10 mM nitrate, 5 mM Fe(II), 4 mM acetate, and 10 mg/L Zn. However, when the reactor is fed with coke-oven wastewater supplemented with 10 mM nitrate, 5 mM Fe(II), 4 mM acetate, and 10 mg/L ZnCl2, the reactor performance significantly decreased, most likely due to the inhibition of bacterial growth by thiocyanate or organic contaminants present in the coke-oven wastewater. Use of mixed culture of NDFO bacteria and thiocyanate/organic-degrading denitrifiers should help improve the reactor performance.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 127838 |
Journal | Chemosphere |
Volume | 262 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported, in part, by Steel Foundation for Environmental Protection Technology, Japan, and by the Minnesota's Discovery, Research and InnoVation Economy (MnDRIVE) initiative of the University of Minnesota.
Funding Information:
This work was supported, in part, by Steel Foundation for Environmental Protection Technology, Japan , and by the Minnesota’s Discovery, Research and InnoVation Economy (MnDRIVE) initiative of the University of Minnesota .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Coke-oven wastewater
- Denitrification
- Heavy metals
- Nitrate-dependent ferrous iron oxidation
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article