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Water
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Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment
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Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 20189

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Xuliang Zhuang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Interests: nitrogen cycle; microbial ecology; constructed wetlands; watershed management; wastewater treatment; aquatic ecology; wastewater reuse and resource recovery; quorum sensing; partial nitrification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, global warming has become one of the major challenges facing the sustainable development of human society, which increasingly prompted plenty of efforts to reduce carbon footprints. Among them, carbon neutrality is attracting more and more attention in various industries. In terms of wastewater treatment industry, the carbon emissions of which account for ~2% of the total emissions of the whole society, the achievement of carbon neutrality has a practical significance in curbing global climate change. Generally, carbon neutral wastewater treatment is often interpreted as the carbon neutrality of WWTPs, which can be obtained by reducing energy demand (electricity, heat, chemicals, fossil fuels, transport, energy) and GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O), and recovering energy and resource. Related researches and technologies are rapidly recent years. The energy efficiency and GHG mitigation performance of advanced wastewater treatment process, such as partial nitrification, anammox, and aerobic granular sludge, are also getting more and more attention. On the other hand, life cycle carbon neutrality of wastewater treatment, including wastewater production, collection, transportation and treatment, and the following improvement processes after discharge of treated wastewater, such as water environment treatment and aquatic ecosystem restoration, has been adopted by researchers during the last few years.

This special issue invites the submission of original research papers or review papers covering the latest findings and progresses in this field. The below issues related to carbon neutrality and wastewater treatment are welcomed:

  1. Carbon neutrality and water environment treatment and aquatic ecosystem restoration
  2. Greenhouse gas emission during wastewater treatment
  3. Advanced wastewater treatment process, greenhouse gas emission and carbon neutrality
  4. Greenhouse gas reduction technologies during wastewater treatment
  5. Resource and energy recovery from wastewater treatment and carbon neutrality
  6. Greenhouse gas emission and reduction during wasted sludge treatment

Prof. Dr. Xuliang Zhuang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nCarbon neutrality
  • greenhouse gas
  • wastewater
  • anammox
  • partial nitrification
  • resource recovery
  • energy recovery
  • wasted sludge
  • water environment treatment
  • aquatic ecosystem restoration

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3642 KiB  
Article
“Sea Anemone”-like CeFe Oxides for High-Efficient Phosphate Removal
by Xiaoying Tan, Pingping Dong, Hongping Min, Jinxue Luo, Wenhai Huang, Xiaodong Wang, Qingqing Li and Qile Fang
Water 2022, 14(15), 2445; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14152445 - 07 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1644
Abstract
The excessive release of phosphorus is a prime culprit for eutrophication and algal bloom in the aquatic environment, and there is always an urgent need to develop effective methods to deal with phosphorus pollution. Ce-based oxide is a type of compelling adsorbent for [...] Read more.
The excessive release of phosphorus is a prime culprit for eutrophication and algal bloom in the aquatic environment, and there is always an urgent need to develop effective methods to deal with phosphorus pollution. Ce-based oxide is a type of compelling adsorbent for phosphate removal, and a self-templating strategy is used to construct high-performance Ce-based oxides for phosphate adsorption in this study. A “sea anemone”-like CeFe cyanometallate (CM) with a 3D microstructure is fabricated to provide a precursor for synthesizing CeFe-based oxides (CeFe-CM-T) by high-temperature pyrolysis. The as-prepared CeFe-CM-T maintains the “sea anemone” morphology well and has abundant micropores/mesopores, which render its superior phosphate adsorption capacity 1~2 orders of magnitude higher than that of the commercial CeO2 and Fe3O4 materials. Moreover, CeFe-CM-T shows high selectivity for phosphate removal when it co-exists with other anions and natural organic matter and exhibits excellent recycling performance. It demonstrates that both Ce3+ and Ce4+ are reserved in the oxides, where Ce3+ serves as the main active site for phosphate capture, which forms stable Ce-PO4 compounds via a ligand-exchange mechanism. Thus, the self-templating strategy using CM as a precursor is a potential method for synthesizing porous Ce-based oxides for phosphate removal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment)
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13 pages, 3895 KiB  
Article
Facile Synthesis of MOFs-Templated Carbon Aerogels with Enhanced Tetracycline Adsorption Performance
by Yan Kong, Kun Han, Yuan Zhuang and Baoyou Shi
Water 2022, 14(3), 504; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14030504 - 08 Feb 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2120
Abstract
Three-dimensional aerogels have great potential for antibiotic removal from aqueous solution due to their excellent solution mass transfer channels and special morphology. Herein, the metal ions were bound with alginate to form alginate-Fe, alginate-Cu, and alginate-Fe-Cu hydrogels, then they were used as nucleation [...] Read more.
Three-dimensional aerogels have great potential for antibiotic removal from aqueous solution due to their excellent solution mass transfer channels and special morphology. Herein, the metal ions were bound with alginate to form alginate-Fe, alginate-Cu, and alginate-Fe-Cu hydrogels, then they were used as nucleation sites for metal organic framework (MOF) growth to obtain MAlgs gels, respectively. Considering the aqueous environmental stability of MOFs particles, the alginate and MOF particles in MAlgs aerogels were pyrolyzed as templates to obtain the derived carbon aerogel CMAlgs. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of MAlgs-Fe-Cu aerogel was higher than that of MAlg-Cu and MAlg-Fe aerogels, up to ~130 mg·g−1. The adsorption performance of carbon aerogel CMAlg-Cu decreased obviously because of the decrease of pore size and oxygen-containing functional groups. The adsorption process is a combination of physical adsorption and chemical adsorption. In addition, CMAlgs aerogels exhibit better recyclability than MAlgs aerogels. This work provides a new strategy for fabricating MOFs-templated in-situ grown carbon aerogels for water purification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment)
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12 pages, 2805 KiB  
Article
Energy Consumption and Carbon Footprint of Greek Wastewater Treatment Plants
by Nikos Goliopoulos, Daniel Mamais, Constantinos Noutsopoulos, Argyri Dimopoulou and Christos Kounadis
Water 2022, 14(3), 320; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14030320 - 21 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3483
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) exhibit significant energy consumption and produce large amounts of Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG emissions). Energy efficiency and reduction in GHG emissions in WWTPs have become important issues, especially in view of the climate crisis. The core objective of this [...] Read more.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) exhibit significant energy consumption and produce large amounts of Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG emissions). Energy efficiency and reduction in GHG emissions in WWTPs have become important issues, especially in view of the climate crisis. The core objective of this work is to assess the energy and carbon footprint of Greek WWTPs and to propose methods to improve energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions. Data were collected from 31 Greek WWTPs with an average treatment capacity between 250 and 3,650,000 population equivalents (PE). The total population served by the 31 WWTPs was over 6,000,000, which is more than half of the population in Greece with access to WWTPs. Based on the results, the annual average energy consumption for small, medium and large WWTPs equals 137 kWh/PE, 48 kWh/PE and 32 kWh/PE, respectively. Accordingly, annual average GHG emissions, both biogenic and non-biogenic in small, medium and large WWTPs are equal to 207 kgCO2e/PE, 144 kgCO2e/PE and 89 kgCO2e/PE, respectively. Annual average on-site GHG emissions are equal to 56.5 kgCO2e/PE, while the average off-site GHG emissions account for 16.9 kgCO2e/PE. Based on the results, acceptable and attainable targets for WWTPs energy consumption and GHG emissions are proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment)
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13 pages, 2545 KiB  
Article
The Recycling of Acid Wastewater with High Concentrations of Organic Matter: Recovery of H2SO4 and Preparation of Activated Carbon
by Xingyun Hu, Linghao Kong, Feng Zhu and Xianjia Peng
Water 2022, 14(2), 183; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14020183 - 10 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2246
Abstract
Little work has been focused on the recycling of hazardous acid waste with high concentrations of organic matter from petroleum refining. This study developed an innovative, effective, and simple method for the recycling of acid waste that can successfully resolve this significant problem [...] Read more.
Little work has been focused on the recycling of hazardous acid waste with high concentrations of organic matter from petroleum refining. This study developed an innovative, effective, and simple method for the recycling of acid waste that can successfully resolve this significant problem in industry. After parameter optimization, the optimal process is as follows. (1) Through heat treatment at 170 °C, liquid acid waste was transformed into solid; (2) by washing the solids, 70% by weight of sulfuric acid was recycled; and (3) the solid residue after washing was activated by alkali (NaOH or KOH) at an alkali and organic carbon ratio of 2:1, at a temperature of 650 °C for 60 min, producing superior-grade activated carbon with a specific surface area of 1378 m2/g, a pore volume of 0.5107 cm2/g, an iodine number of 1800 mg/g, and a methylene blue adsorption capacity of 240 mg/g. Thus, in this way, both waste sulfuric acid and organic impurities are turned into valuable resources, and no hazardous waste gypsum residues are generated. This method both reduces carbon emissions and recycles valuable resources, which is of important environmental and economic significance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment)
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Review

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10 pages, 1095 KiB  
Review
Engineering Microbial Consortia towards Bioremediation
by Xianglong Li, Shanghua Wu, Yuzhu Dong, Haonan Fan, Zhihui Bai and Xuliang Zhuang
Water 2021, 13(20), 2928; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13202928 - 19 Oct 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3958
Abstract
Bioremediation is a sustainable remediation technology as it utilizes microorganisms to convert hazardous compounds into their less toxic or non-toxic constituent elements. This technology has achieved some success in the past decades; however, factors involving microbial consortia, such as microbial assembly, functional interactions, [...] Read more.
Bioremediation is a sustainable remediation technology as it utilizes microorganisms to convert hazardous compounds into their less toxic or non-toxic constituent elements. This technology has achieved some success in the past decades; however, factors involving microbial consortia, such as microbial assembly, functional interactions, and the role of member species, hinder its development. Microbial consortia may be engineered to reconfigure metabolic pathways and reprogram social interactions to get the desired function, thereby providing solutions to its inherent problems. The engineering of microbial consortia is commonly applied for the commercial production of biomolecules. However, in the field of bioremediation, the engineering of microbial consortia needs to be emphasized. In this review, we will discuss the molecular and ecological mechanisms of engineering microbial consortia with a particular focus on metabolic cross-feeding within species and the transfer of metabolites. We also discuss the advantages and limitations of top-down and bottom-up approaches of engineering microbial consortia and their applications in bioremediation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment)
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13 pages, 3772 KiB  
Review
Application of Internal Carbon Source from Sewage Sludge: A Vital Measure to Improve Nitrogen Removal Efficiency of Low C/N Wastewater
by Huacai Wang, Cancan Jiang, Xu Wang, Shengjun Xu and Xuliang Zhuang
Water 2021, 13(17), 2338; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13172338 - 26 Aug 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5031
Abstract
Biological nitrogen removal from wastewater is widely used all over the world on account of high efficiency and relatively low cost. However, nitrogen removal efficiency is not optimized when the organic matter has inadequate effect for the lack of a sufficient carbon source [...] Read more.
Biological nitrogen removal from wastewater is widely used all over the world on account of high efficiency and relatively low cost. However, nitrogen removal efficiency is not optimized when the organic matter has inadequate effect for the lack of a sufficient carbon source in influent. Although addition of an external carbon source (e.g., methanol and acetic acid) could solve the insufficient carbon source problem, it raises the operating cost of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). On the other hand, large amounts of sludge are produced during biological sewage treatment, which contain high concentrations of organic matter. This paper reviews the emerging technologies to obtain an internal organic carbon resource from sewage sludge and their application on improving nitrogen removal of low carbon/nitrogen wastewater of WWTPs. These are methods that could solve the insufficient carbon problem and excess sludge crisis simultaneously. The recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from treated sludge before recycling as an internal carbon source should also be emphasized, and the energy and time consumed to treat sludge should be reduced in practical application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Neutrality and Wastewater Treatment)
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