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The food and beverage industries in Mexico generate substantial effluents, including nejayote, cheese-whey, and tequila vinasses, which pose significant environmental challenges due to their extreme physicochemical characteristics and excessive organic load. This study aimed to assess the potential of Chlorella vulgaris in bioremediating these complex wastewaters while also producing added-value compounds. A UV mutagenesis treatment (40 min) enhanced C. vulgaris adaptability to grow in the effluent conditions. Robust growth was observed in all three effluents, with nejayote identified as the optimal medium. Physicochemical measurements conducted pre- and post-cultivation revealed notable reductions of pollutants in nejayote, including complete removal of nitrogen and phosphates, and an 85 % reduction in COD. Tequila vinasses exhibited promise with a 66 % reduction in nitrogen and a 70 % reduction in COD, while cheese-whey showed a 17 % reduction in phosphates. Regarding valuable compounds, nejayote yielded the highest pigment (1.62 mg·g-1) and phenolic compound (3.67 mg·g-1) content, while tequila vinasses had the highest protein content (16.83 %). The main highlight of this study is that C. vulgaris successfully grew in 100 % of the three effluents (without additional water or nutrients), demonstrating its potential for sustainable bioremediation and added-value compound production. When grown in 100 % of the effluents, they become a sustainable option since they don't require an input of fresh water and therefore do not contribute to water scarcity. These findings offer a practical solution for addressing environmental challenges in the food and beverage industries within a circular economy framework.

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Aiming the decentralization of monitoring policies and to facilitate the work of researchers, mainly in developing countries, the present method deals with the explanation of a simple and rapid protocol for chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis through the use of digital smartphone devices coupled with a camera and a free app available for Android operating system that recognizes HSV (hue, saturation, value). The calibration of the method is done based on the theoretical values of potassium hydrogen phthalate for a proper and reliable build of the calibration curve by using the smartphone-based technique and the digested samples of COD. The coefficient of determination (R2) attained a value upper than 0.99, providing a high confidence levels, and the method achieved 97% of average accuracy in samples with COD values ranging from 0 to 150 mg L-1. Finally, the procedure here presented can be a great support for scientific laboratories and monitoring policies, once it can efficiently substitute expensive spectrophotometers and can improve and ensure the sustainable management of water sanitation, which is one of the sustainable goals proposed by the United Nations.•COD measurements, based on the use of a simple smartphone with a camera, can be a promising way for environmental analysis when spectrophotometers are not available, such as decentralized approaches.•The use of smartphone protocol is a novel initiative to fulfill sustainable development goal 6 on clean water and sanitation.•The smartphone is capable to read the difference of HSV values efficiently and can substitute the use of expensive spectrophotometers.

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This study aims to develop a cheap method for the evaluation of quality of water or the assessment of the treatment of water by chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements throughout the use of the HSV color model in digital devices. A free application installed on a smartphone was used for analyzing the images in which the colors were acquired before to be quantified. The proposed method was also validated by the standard and spectrophotometric methods, demonstrating that no significant statistical differences were attained (average accuracy of 97 %). With these results, the utilization of this smartphone-based method for COD analysis was used/evaluated, for first time, by treating electrochemically a real water matrix with substantial organic and salts content using BDD and Pt/Ti anodes. Aiming to understand the performance of both anodes, bulk experiments were performed under real pH by applying current densities (j) of 15, 30, and 60 mA cm-2. COD abatement results (which were achieved with this novel smart water security solution) clearly showed that different organic matter removal efficiencies were achieved, depending on the electrocatalytic material used as well as the applied current density (42 %, 45 %, and 85 % for Ti/Pt while 93 %, 97 % and total degradation for BDD by applying 15, 30, and 60 mA cm-2, respectively). However, when the persulfate-mediated oxidation approach was used, with the addition of 2 or 4 g Na2SO4 L-1, COD removal efficiencies were enhanced, obtaining total degradation with 4 g Na2SO4 L-1 and by applying 15 mA cm-2. Finally, this smartphone imaging-based method provides a simple and rapid method for the evaluation of COD during the use of electrochemical remediation technology, developing and decentralizing analytics technologies for smart water solutions which play a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6).

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This work characterizes two alternative materials to substitute the most expensive microbial fuel cells (MFCs) components: proton exchange membrane (PEM) and cathode. Crude glycerol biodegradation was studied in MFCs using a clay cup as a PEM and activated carbon and camphor carbon mixture (CAC) as a cathode. The cathode performance was compared with Platinum on carbon cloth. Two clay cup single-chamber MFCs were operated with each cathode and fed with 2000 mg/L of crude glycerol. Electrochemical properties were characterized by linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and chronoamperometry. Biodegradation efficiencies were estimated with the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal percentage. MFCs with CAC showed a maximum power density of 100 mW/m2. This result was a 43.47% power response regarding MFCs with Platinum. COD removal efficiencies of 94% were achieved in 37 days for both cells. The Columbic efficiencies were 24.04% and 22.78% for the MFCs with Platinum and CAC. The economic analysis showed a cost of USD 9.97 for MFCs with CAC. This cost is five times lower than when using Platinum. MFCs utilizing clay cups and CAC showed an acceptable performance for the bioenergy production from crude glycerol biodegradation above all economic advantage in the cell cost.

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The analysis of chemical oxygen demand (COD) plays an important role in measuring water pollution, but it normally has a high ecological price. Advances in image acquisition and processing techniques enable the use of mobile devices for analytical purposes. Here, the PhotoMetrix PRO application was used for image acquisition and multivariate analysis. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the results compared to the standard method, with no adverse effect of the volume reduction. The cost of analysis and waste generation were reduced by one third, while the analysis time was reduced by one fifth. The miniaturized method was successfully employed in the analysis of several matrices and for the evaluation of advanced oxidation processes. The AGREE score was improved by 25% due to miniaturization. For these reasons, the miniaturized PhotoMetrix PRO method is a suitable option for COD analysis, being less hazardous to the environment due to reductions in the chemicals used and in waste generation.

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This paper proposes and develops a protocol for measuring the aerobic granulation potential of sludge, aiming to provide an affordable and simple alternative that can facilitate the development of aerobic granulation technology. In this sense, the protocol comprises a set of parameters and considerations that interact to create a controlled environment and stimulate cell population clustering. All of this is done in the context of procedural simplicity, low cost, and the speed at which results are obtained. The protocol is essentially a three-stage method: preparation of the substrate, adaptation of the inoculum, and implementation of the protocol. Simple parameters were measured to evaluate the granulation process: SVI, settling velocity, and morphological parameters. The protocol was validated according to optimal ranges and criteria previously established in the literature. For this purpose, an activated sludge inoculum from a domestic wastewater treatment plant was submitted to the protocol, obtaining an optimal response of the biomass (SVI5 =13.90 mL g-1, settling velocity= 25,79 m h-1, Diameter > 0.2 mm) in a relatively short time (7 d). The results show that this protocol can constitute a tool for evaluation and decision-making using traditional laboratory equipment and is applicable at different scales.

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In the present work, oil sludge was subjected to the process of stabilization by solidification, the objective was to indicate maximum permissible limits of chemical demand for oxygen and oils and greases to evaluate the resulting material. A factorial design was used with the addition of three repetitions at the central point, to evaluate the performance of different percentage of residue and different curing times. The factors adopted were the percentage of oil sludge and the curing time. This material was evaluated using contaminants immobilization tests. From the leached and solubilized liquid, the concentration of the contaminants was determined and the environmental assessment was also carried out through the analysis of chemical demand for oxygen and oils and greases. One of the contributions of this work was to propose the maximum allowable limit for chemical oxygen demand, which is 1,000 (one thousand) milligrams per litre and, for oil and grease content, 100 (one hundred) milligrams per litre, both for the leaching test. For the solubilization test, 10 (ten) milligrams per litre were proposed for chemical oxygen demand and 1 (one) milligrams per litre for the oil and grease content. It was observed that the best results are obtained, when lower values of percentage of oil sludge were used and longer cure time. This work allows to affirm that the proposal of limits of environmental evaluation contributes to assure an adequate disposition and use of the cement matrix, that is the final product of the oily residue stabilized by solidification.

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The production of carbohydrate-enriched biomass from waste streams as a sustainable biofuel precursor is a noteworthy endeavor. This study investigates the long-term microalgae cultivated under low domestic wastewater loads and different hydraulic retention times (HRT) in a semi-continuous photobioreactor. The influence of operational conditions, the microalgae interaction with carbon, nutrients availability, and microbial population in terms of carbohydrate content were elucidated. The results revealed that the operation at similar low nutrients and carbon loads maintained at three different hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 10, 8, and 6 days caused different patterns in nutrients uptake and biomass composition. Particularly, the carbohydrate accumulation was greatly influenced by the unbalance in the N:P ratios than complete depletion of the nutrients. Hence, during the period operated at HRT of 10 d, high nutrients removal efficiencies were observed while gradually increasing carbohydrate content up to 57% in dry cell weight (DCW). Afterward, the decrease to 8 and 6 d of HRT showed lower nutrient consumption with depleted alkalinity, reaching an appreciably high carbohydrate accumulation of up to 46%, and 56%, respectively. The biomass concentration decreased in the order of HRT of 10, 8, and 6 days. This study demonstrated that microalgae adapted to low carbon and nutrient loads could still accumulate high carbohydrate at shorter HRT using domestic wastewater as substrate.

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This research has been focused on the removal of two anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac (DCF) and ibuprofen (IBU), by a continuous catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) process using a lab-synthesized nanomagnetic catalyst (Fe3O4/MWCNTs). The central composite rotatable design (CCRD) method was used to study the effect of DCF and IBU concentration (expressed as theoretical oxygen demand (ThOD) between 0 and 52.5 mg L-1) and of the feed stream pH (from 3 to 7) on the removal of total organic carbon (TOC) and the concentration of aromatic compounds (Arm) and total phenolic compounds (TP) by CWPO. It could be observed that DCF was preferably removed from the DCF-IBU aqueous mixture at pH values ranging from 3 to 5. In addition, feed stream pH had a significant effect on the pollutants removal, as well as on TOC, TP and aromatic compounds removal, observing an increasing in the pollutants degradation when feed stream pH decreased from 7 to 3. Quadratic models predicted for response variable, such as TOC, TP and aromatic compounds removal, and their maximum model-predicted removal values were of 90.0, 80.2 and 90.0%, respectively. Finally, as a proof of concept, three environmentally-relevant aqueous matrices, spiked with DCF-IBU mixture, were treated. In this case, relatively high TOC degradation values were found after 20 h reaction time (ca. 57.7, 73.9 and 54.5% in surface water, WWTP effluent and hospital wastewater, respectively). This work deals the first study about DCF-IBU removal in aqueous solution by CWPO, as well as a continuous study using real wastewater that allow to extend the experimental results to a real scenario.

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Radiation-induced degradation of chlorobenzene was conducted at 0.1, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 mmol/dm3 concentrations in aerated environment and at 1.0 mmol/dm3 in oxygen-free and N2O-saturated solutions. The results demonstrated that the elimination of chloride is important when the solution is oxygen free, because the [Formula: see text] attacks at the ipso position of the chloro group produces hydrochloric acid. The degradation was affected to a large extent by the concentration and to a lesser extent by the presence or absence of oxygen in the solutions which were irradiated. Thereby, the degradation occurred faster in the solutions with air and without oxygen and more slowly in the saturated solution with N2O. Some by-products were identified using an HPLC-UV-mass system. In addition, it was found that there is a linear correlation between the ln C/C0 and the dose, indicating that the radiolytic degradation followed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. The radiolytic oxidation was followed by the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test. The COD decreases when the solute concentration increases. The COD results were for a 0.47 mmol/dm3 of 5.94 mg O2 dm-3 kGy-1 and for 0.09 mmol/dm3 of 7.45 mg O2 dm-3 kGy-1.

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BACKGROUND: The amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) gradually increased along with the rapid development of modern cities. A large amount of landfill leachate are generated with excessive chemical oxygen demand (COD), which create a great deal of pressure on the environment-friendly treatment process. Anaerobic digestion is an ideal technique to solve the above problem. RESULTS: A thermophilic granular sludge was successfully adapted for anaerobic digestion of MSW leachate (from an aging large-scale landfill) for methane production. The COD degradation efficiency improved by 81.8%, while the methane production rate reached 117.3 mL CH4/(g VS d), which was 2.34-fold more than the control condition. The bacterial and archaeal communities involved in the process were revealed by 16S rRNA gene high-throughput pyrosequencing. The richness of the bacterial community decreased in the process of thermophilic granular sludge, while the archaeal community structure presented a reverse phenomenon. The bacterial genus, Methanosaeta was the most abundant during the mesophilic process, while Methanobacterium, Methanoculleus, Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina were more evenly distributed. The more balanced community distribution between hydrogenotrophic and acetotrophic methanogens implied a closer interaction between the microbes, which further contributed to higher methane productivity. The detailed relationship between the key functional communities and anaerobic digestion performances were demonstrated via the multivariate canonical correspondence analysis. Conclusions: With the assistance of adaptive thermophilic granular sludge, microbial community structure was more evenly distributed, while both of COD degradation rate and methane production was improved during anaerobic digestion of MSW landfill leachate.

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We modified and evaluated the performance of a CuO/Cu electrochemical electrode for chemical oxygen demand (COD) determination by covering it with a Nafion (Nf) film. The resulting modified CuONf/Cu electrode sensor was used for the electrochemical determination of COD in river, slaughterhouse and estuarine water samples in order to evaluate its performance for this particular task. It was compared with the CuO/Cu sensor with no Nafion. The main electrochemical characteristics of interest, resistance, sensitivity, accuracy and reproducibility, were assessed by means of Linear Sweep Voltammetry using glucose as a standard. Results of these essays indicate that the procedure used produced smooth and firmly attached Nf films covering the whole copper surface. This sensor was shown to be resistant to interferences and effective in electro-oxidation of a wide range of organic compounds and therefore very useful for COD determination. Using the newly developed CuONf/Cu electrode an analytical linear range of 50 to 1000 mg·L-1 COD, with a detection limit of 2.11 mg·L-1 (n = 6) COD was achieved. The comparison shows that the CuONf/Cu sensor is more appropriate for COD determination than its counterpart with no Nafion.

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OBJECTIVE: Our study evaluated the performance of different two-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) prototypes, operated with variable distance between electrodes and Nafion membrane and specific inoculum concentration, applied for vinasse treatment. RESULTS: The performance of the developed MFC resulted in a maximum current density of 1200 mA m-2 and power density of 800 mW m-2 in a period of 61 days. MFC performed a chemical oxygen demand removal at a rate ranging from 51 to 60%. CONCLUSIONS: Taking our preliminary results into consideration, we concluded that the MFC technology presents itself as highly promising for the treatment of vinasse.

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Industrial wastewaters from pig slaughtering plants (PSPs) generated in the slaughtering process could have an environmental impact, if discharged to a receiving water body without any treatment. In this study, a Chilean Thraustochytrid (TH) strain, a class of marine protist, was used for the bioremediation of piggery slaughterhouse wastewater (SWW). According to the physicochemical analysis of the residue, it was characterized by an initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 9610 mg L-1, 18,625 mg L-1 of oil and grease, 1639 mg L-1 of total nitrogen, 149 mg L-1 of total phosphorus, and 82.41 mg L-1 of total iron. Growth studies were conducted to evaluate the growth and biomass production of the strain on residue-based media and its subsequent bioremediation ability. After 5-7 days of fermentation, the results showed that COD of the medium supernatant was reduced by 56.29% (4200 mg L-1), while oil and grease had a significant decrease about 99% (18 mg L-1), and the content of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total iron were also decreased by 63.27% (602 mg L-1), 97.55% (3.65 mg L-1) and 60.35% (30.88 mg L-1), respectively. With these results, it was concluded that VAL-B1 can be used for the bioremediation of industrial wastewater from PSPs, and therefore THs could contribute to regulate the environmental pollution.

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RESUMO A remoção de poluentes de efluentes industriais de forma efetiva e economicamente viável ainda é um desafio. Dessa forma, o presente trabalho propôs investigar a tecnologia de eletrocoagulação (EC) para o tratamento de efluente têxtil utilizando corrente contínua pulsada (CCP). A metodologia de superfície de resposta Box-Behnken foi utilizada para analisar e otimizar as condições operacionais, visando à máxima remoção de demanda química de oxigênio (DQO). Os experimentos foram realizados com um volume reacional de 2,6 L, em modo batelada. Diante dos resultados obtidos, a configuração ótima considerada foi: velocidade de agitação = 200 rpm, frequência dos pulsos = 1.000 Hz e espaçamento entre os eletrodos = 1 mm, em 50 minutos de EC. Nessas condições foi obtida uma remoção de DQO de 81,23% (valor remanescente de 152 mg O2.L-1). Em adição, verificou-se que o processo de EC também é eficaz para a redução de cor, turbidez, sólidos suspensos totais, sulfato e sulfeto. A concentração de íons cloreto não foi alterada durante a EC, apresentando-se como um aspecto favorável para a reutilização do efluente tratado no próprio processo produtivo têxtil, o qual demanda uma elevada concentração de NaCl.

ABSTRACT The effective and economically viable removal of industrial wastewater pollutants is still a challenge. Thus, this study proposed to investigate the electrocoagulation technology (EC) for the treatment of textile effluent using pulsed direct current (CCP). The methodology of Box-Behnken response surface was used to analyze and optimize the operating conditions, aimed at maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal. The experiments were performed with a reaction volume of 2.6 L in batch mode. Based on these results, the optimal configuration was: agitation speed = 200 rpm, frequency of pulses = 1,000 Hz and spacing between electrodes = 1 mm, in 50 minutes of EC. Under these conditions it was obtained a COD removal of 81.23% (remainder value of 152 mg O2.L-1). In addition, it was found that the EC process is also effective for reduction of color, turbidity, total suspended solids, sulfate and sulfide. The concentration of chloride ions was not modified during the EC, presenting itself as a favorable aspect for the reuse of treated wastewater in the textile production process itself, which demands a high concentration of NaCl.

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RESUMO A contaminação por despejos de efluentes industriais têxteis tem sido uma preocupação emergente de pesquisadores e ambientalistas, pois esses apresentam composição extremamente heterogênea e grande quantidade de material tóxico e recalcitrante, o que dificulta seu tratamento. Durante o processamento têxtil, uma ampla gama de corantes é liberada e alguns desses, como os azo corantes, que se caracterizam pela função azo (-N=N-) ligada a grupos aromáticos e podem ser tóxicos, carcinogênicos e/ou mutagênicos. Em vista disso, esta pesquisa teve como principal objetivo avaliar os benefícios da utilização de um reator anaeróbio tipo reator anaeróbico de fluxo ascendente com manta de lodo (UABS), seguido de processo oxidativo avançado (POA) do tipo Fenton na degradação de cor e demanda química de oxigênio (DQO) de efluente sintético de indústria têxtil. Com os resultados, foram verificadas remoções de DQO em torno de 82,0% para o reator UASB e de 95,6% para o conjunto. A cor alcançou 96,1% de remoção no reator UASB e 100,0% ao final do processo.

ABSTRACT Contamination by textile industrial wastewater discharges has been an emerging concern of researchers and environmentalists, as they have extremely heterogeneous composition and loads of toxic and recalcitrant material, which complicates treatment. In the textile processing, a wide range of dye is released and some of these, such as dyes, azo, characterized by the feature azo (-N=N-) attached to aromatic groups and may be toxic, carcinogenic and/or mutagenic. In view of this, this research aimed to evaluate the benefits of using an anaerobic reactor type anaerobic reactor upflow sludge blanket (UABS), followed by advanced oxidation process (AOP) type Fenton in color degradation and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of synthetic textile industry effluent. From the results of COD removal was observed at around 82.0% for the UASB reactor and 95.6% for the group. The color reached 96.1% removal in UASB reactor and 100.0% at the end of the process.

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Application of an electrocoagulation process (EC) for the elimination of AB194 textile dye from synthetic and textile wastewater (effluent) contaminated with AB194 dye, was carried out using aluminum anodes at two different initial pH values. Tafel studies in the presence and absence of the dye were performed. The aluminum species formed during the electrolysis were quantified by atomic absorption, and the flocs formed in the process were analyzed by HPLC-MS. Complete removal of AB194 from 1.0 L of solution was achieved applying low densities current at initial pH values of 4.0 and 8.0. The removal of AB194 by EC was possible with a short electrolysis time, removing practically 100% of the total organic carbon content and chemical oxygen demand. The final result was completely discolored water lacking dye and organic matter. An effluent contaminated with 126 mg L(-1) AB194 dye from a Chilean textile industry was also treated by EC under optimized experimental conditions, yielding discolored water and considerably decreasing the presence of organic compounds (dye + dyeing additives), with very low concentrations of dissolved Al(3+). Analysis of flocs showed the presence of the original dye without changes in its chemical structure.

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Background Deproteinized potato wastewater and glycerol are two by-products which are difficult to dispose. The objective of this study was to determine the ability of Rhodotorula glutinis to use glycerol and nitrogen compounds present in deproteinized potato wastewater and to evaluate the ability of simultaneous biodegradation of potato wastewater and glycerol via microbiological methods. Results It has been found that R. glutinis used glycerol and potato wastewater as a source of carbon and nitrogen, respectively. The highest degree of glycerol content (70.6%) reduction was found after cultivation of the investigated strain using a medium with 5% glycerol. In this medium, a significant reduction in the total protein content, estimated at 61%, was observed. The process of 72 h cultivation of yeast in a medium containing potato wastewater and 5% glycerol reduced the chemical oxygen demand (COD) more than 77%. Supplementation of media with high doses of glycerol (i.e. 20 and 25%) led to decreased metabolic activity in the yeast strain tested. Conclusion It has been found that there is a possibility of simultaneous biodegradation of potato wastewater and glycerol during the cultivation of R. glutinis.

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An easy, fast and environment-friendly method for COD determination in water is proposed. The procedure is based on the oxidation of organic matter by the H2O2/Fe(3-x)Co(x)O4 system. The Fe(3-x)Co(x)O4 nanoparticles activate the H2O2 molecule to produce hydroxyl radicals, which are highly reactive for oxidizing organic matter in an aqueous medium. After the oxidation step, the organic matter amounts can be quantified by comparing the quantity of H2O2 consumed. Moreover, the proposed COD method has several distinct advantages, since it does not use toxic reagents and the oxidation reaction of organic matter is conducted at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Method detection limit is 2.0 mg L(-1) with intra- and inter-day precision lower than 1% (n=5). The calibration graph is linear in the range of 2.0-50 mg L(-1) with a sample throughput of 25 samples h(-1). Data are validated based on the analysis of six contaminated river water samples by the proposed method and by using a comparative method validated and marketed by Merck, with good agreement between the results (t test, 95%).

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