Simulation of a coke wastewater nitrification process using a feed-forward neuronal net

A laboratory-scale Activated Sludge System (ASS) was employed for the biodegradation of coke wastewater, which contains high concentrations of ammonium, thiocyanate, phenols and other organic compounds. The well-known kinetics models of Monod or Haldane are not very useful due to inhibition phenomena amongst the pollutants and also, they need the determination of a wide range of parameters to be introduced in the models. In this paper, a feed-forward neural network is outlined to obtain a satisfactory approach for estimating the effluent ammonium concentration of the treatment plan

DEVELOPMENT OF A TREATMENT SYSTEM FOR ANTIBIOTIC WASTEWATER

Antibiotics are emerging contaminants in the aquatic environment because of their adverse effects on aquatic life and humans. The problem that may be created by the presence of antibiotics at low concentration in the environment is the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Antibiotic sources in the environment are antibiotic industry, human excretion and excretion form livestock. No work has been reported on complete treatment of antibiotic wastewater containing amoxicillin, ampicillin and cloxacillin. The overall objective of this work was development of an effective treatment system for antibiotic wastewater from an antibiotic industry producing these antibiotics. The work was conducted in three phases. In Phase I, four advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) (Fenton, photo-Fenton, UV/TiO2 and UV/ZnO) were applied for treatment of amoxicillin, ampicillin and cloxacillin antibiotics in aqueous solution. From a technical point of view, Fenton, photo-Fenton and UV/H2O2/TiO2 processes were able to degrade the antibiotics and improve biodegradability; however, UV/ZnO process did not improve biodegradability. Based on DOC removal, the photo-Fenton process exhibited the highest rate constant (0.029 min-1) followed by the Fenton (0.0144 min-1), UV/ZnO (0.00056 min-1) and UV/H2O2/TiO2 (0.0005 min-1). From an economic point of view, the photo-Fenton process appeared to be the most cost-effective compared to the other studied processes. In Phase II, the feasibility of using three combined AOP and sequencing batch reactor (SBR) (Fenton-SBR, photo-Fenton-SBR and UV/H2O2/TiO2-SBR) for complete treatment of an antibiotic wastewater from a local antibiotic industry producing amoxicillin, ampicillin and cloxacillin, was evaluated. Combined systems were operated for several months to study the effect of AOP and SBR operating conditions on the combined system performance. From a technical point of view, both combined Fenton-SBR and photo-Fenton-SBR systems achieved an overall efficiency of 89% for sCOD removal and the final effluent met the discharge standard. However, the combined UV/H2O2/TiO2-SBR system was not a feasible combined system for treatment of the antibiotic wastewater. From an economic point of view, the combined Fenton-SBR system appeared to be more costviii effective than the combined photo-Fenton-SBR system. The Monod kinetic model was fitted to the results of biodegradation of the Fenton-treated effluent by SBR under the best operating conditions with the kinetic constants kob 0.078 hr-1, YX/S 0.60 and Kd -0.0013 hr-1. The values of kob, YX/S and Kd for biodegradation of the photo- Fenton-treated effluent under the best operating conditions were similar to those of Fenton-treated effluent. In Phase III, artificial neural network (ANN) was applied for modelling, simulation and prediction of the Fenton process performance. ANN predicted results were very close to the experimental results with correlation coefficient of 0.997 and mean square error of 0.000376. The sensitivity analysis showed that all studied variables have strong effect on COD removal and H2O2/Fe2+ molar ratio is the most influential parameter. The study showed that neural network modelling could effectively predict and simulate the behaviour of the Fenton process. The study culminated in development of an effective treatment systems for antibiotic wastewater. From technical and economic point of view, combined Fenton-SBR system was the most effective for treatment of the antibiotic wastewater

Proceedings of the Scientific-Practical Conference "Research and Development - 2016"

talent management; sensor arrays; automatic speech recognition; dry separation technology; oil production; oil waste; laser technolog

Proceedings of the Scientific-Practical Conference "Research and Development - 2016"

talent management; sensor arrays; automatic speech recognition; dry separation technology; oil production; oil waste; laser technolog

13th International Chemical and Biological Engineering Conference (CHEMPOR 2018): book of short abstracts

University of Aveiro and Ordem dos Engenheiros proudly welcome all participants to the 13th International Chemical and Biological Engineering Conference - CHEMPOR 2018. Welcome to Aveiro! During three days, from October 2nd to 4th, more than 370 participants from Industry and Academia gathered at Centro Cultural e de Congressos de Aveiro to discuss recent developments and future directions in different areas of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, biotechnology and biological engineering. CHEMPOR 2018 aims to be a forum for the debate of societal challenges related to energy, the environment, and the efficient use of natural resources and materials, all of which require innovative solutions complying with sustainability criteria. In 2017 Portuguese exports increased circa 11 % reaching the highest value of the Gross Domestic Product (in a time horizon of 23 years). Portugal’s Ministry of Economy estimates that capital-intensive industries (such as chemicals and polymers producers) and manufacturing industries (including food, textile, paper, cork, wood panels and metal producers) account for over 50 % of the overall value of the exportations. In this context, CHEMPOR 2018 emerges as a privileged forum to discuss technological and scientific issues that will promote economic growth through innovation. The Organizing Committee accepted more than 345 communications, of which 83 oral presentations, after peer reviewing. Internationally recognized scientists were invited to deliver 6 Plenary Lectures and 6 Keynote Speeches. On the opening day of CHEMPOR 2018, the Portuguese Minister of Economy, Professor Manuel Caldeira Cabral, made a communication in the presence of dozens of industrial sponsors. Just before the closing session, the Professor Almiro Castro Award (sponsored by PARALAB) was granted , for the second time, and prizes were awarded to the best Oral and Poster Communications presented during the Conference. The Organizing Committee of CHEMPOR 2018 acknowledges all authors for their contributions, all colleagues involved in the organization of the program, and the generosity of all sponsors. We wish you a memorable Conference both scientifically and socially.publishe