Formation of disinfection by-products during sodium hypochlorite cleaning of fouled membranes from membrane bioreactors

doi:10.1007/s11783-021-1389-3

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2021, Vol. 15

Issue (5) : 102 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1389-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Formation of disinfection by-products during sodium hypochlorite cleaning of fouled membranes from membrane bioreactors

Hao Wang¹, Defang Ma¹(

), Weiye Shi^2,³, Zhiyu Yang¹, Yun Cai¹, Baoyu Gao¹

¹. Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
². No.1 Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources of Shandong Province, Jinan 250014, China
³. Shandong Engineering Laboratory for High-Grade Fe Ores Exploration and Exploitation, Jinan 250014, China

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Abstract

•HAAs was dominant among the DBPs of interest.

•Rising time, dose, temperature and pH raised TCM and HAAs but reduced HANs and HKs.

•Low time, dose and temperature and non-neutrality pH reduced toxic risks of DBPs.

•The presence of EPS decelerated the production of DBPs.

•EPS, particularly polysaccharides were highly resistant to chlorine.

Periodic chemical cleaning with sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) is essential to restore the membrane permeability in a membrane bioreactor (MBR). However, the chlorination of membrane foulants results in the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), which will cause the deterioration of the MBR effluent and increase the antibiotic resistance in bacteria in the MBR tank. In this study, the formation of 14 DBPs during chemical cleaning of fouled MBR membrane modules was investigated. Together with the effects of biofilm extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), influences of reaction time, NaClO dosage, initial pH, and cleaning temperature on the DBP formation were investigated. Haloacetic acids (HAAs) and trichloromethane (TCM), composed over 90% of the DBPs, were increasingly accumulated as the NaClO cleaning time extended. By increasing the chlorine dosage, temperature, and pH, the yield of TCM and dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) was increased by up to a factor of 1‒14, whereas the yields of haloacetonitriles (HANs) and haloketones (HKs) were decreased. Either decreasing in the chlorine dosage and cleaning temperature or adjusting the pH of cleaning reagents toward acidic or alkaline could effectively reduce the toxic risks caused by DBPs. After the EPS extraction pretreatment, the formation of DBPs was accelerated in the first 12 h due to the damage of biofilm structure. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) images showed that EPS, particularly polysaccharides, were highly resistant to chlorine and might be able to protect the cells exposed to chlorination.

Keywords MBR Biofouling EPS Chemical cleaning DBPs CLSM

Corresponding Author(s): Defang Ma

Issue Date: 08 January 2021

Cite this article:

Hao Wang,Defang Ma,Weiye Shi, et al. Formation of disinfection by-products during sodium hypochlorite cleaning of fouled membranes from membrane bioreactors[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2021, 15(5): 102.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-021-1389-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2021/V15/I5/102

Fig.1 Effects of reaction time on the formation of (A) THMs, (B) HANs, (C) HKs and TCNM, and (D) HAAs during NaClO cleaning of fouled membranes from an MBR. Reaction conditions: Chlorine dosage was 1000 mg/L; Temperature was 25±0.1°C; Initial pH was 3.0.

Fig.2 Effects of (A) chlorine dosage, (B) initial pH, and (C) temperature on the formation of DBPs during NaClO cleaning of fouled membranes from an MBR. The data were obtained after 24 h of cleaning. The temperature was 25±0.1°C and the initial pH was 7.0±0.1 unless explicitly stated.

Fig.3 Effects of reaction time (A), chlorine dosage (B), initial pH (C), and temperature (D) on the integrated toxic risk values of DBPs formed during cleaning of MBR membranes with NaClO solution. Reaction conditions (A): Chlorine dosage was 1000 mg/L; Temperature was 25±0.1°C; Initial pH was 3.0; (B): The data were obtained after 24 h of cleaning; The temperature was 25±0.1°C and the initial pH was 7.0±0.1. (C): The data were obtained after 24 h of cleaning; Chlorine dosage was 1000 mg/L; The temperature was 25±0.1°C. (D): The data were obtained after 2 h of cleaning; Chlorine dosage was 1000 mg/L and the initial pH was 7.0±0.1.

Fig.4 Effects of biofilm EPS on the formation of THMs during cleaning of fouled membranes with NaClO solutions. Reaction conditions: Chlorine dosage was 1000 mg/L; Initial pH was about 12.0. Control represents the fouled membrane module taken from MBR tank without any treatment; EPS- represents the total cells without EPS.

Fig.5 (A) CLSM z-stack 3-D images of fouling layer including proteins (FITC, green), a-D-glucopyranose polysaccharides (Con A, light blue), b-D-glucopyranose polysaccharides (calcofluor white, blue), and total cells (SYTO 63, red) at (B) 2µm and (C) 12 µm above the substrate at different cleaning times, (a) t = 0 min; (b) t = 15 min; (c) t = 60 min; The image area is 638.9mm × 638.9mm. Cleaning conditions: Chlorine dosage was 1000 mg/L; Initial pH was 12.0±0.1.

Fig.6 The integrated fluorescence intensities of proteins, a- and b-D-glucopyranose polysaccharides, and total cells calculated from CLSM images. The sampling area is 638.9 mm × 638.9 mm × 10 mm.

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