Article
Environmental Sciences
Lenno van den Berg, Mario Pronk, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Merle K. de Kreuk
Summary: This study compared four methods to measure the density of granular sludge in a full-scale plant treating domestic sewage, and assessed the effect of salinity on granule density. Most methods yielded reliable results, as long as the effect of salinity was considered.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sadiye Kosar, Onur Isik, Busra Cicekalan, Hazal Gulhan, Ece Sagir Kurt, Ezgi Atli, Safak Basa, Hale Ozgun, Ismail Koyuncu, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Mustafa Evren Ersahin
Summary: This study investigated the impact of settling prior to the aerobic granular sludge (AGS) process on granulation and treatment performance. The results showed that granulation was achieved in both stages, with over 92% COD removal efficiency in each stage. However, settling prior to the AGS process led to a decrease in nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Vojtech Kouba, Kamila Hurkova, Klara Navratilova, Dana Kok, Andrea Benakova, Michele Laureni, Patricie Vodickova, Tomas Podzimek, Petra Lipovova, Laura van Niftrik, Jana Hajslova, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, David Gregory Weissbrodt, Jan Bartacek
Summary: This study investigates the adaptation mechanisms of anammox bacteria to low temperatures. Shorter ladderane lipids were found to play a key role in low-temperature adaptation. Ca. Scalindua and Ca. Kuenenia exhibited different ladderane lipid profiles compared to Ca. Brocadia, suggesting their adaptability to low temperatures. Additionally, the study proposes new mechanisms, including ladderanes with absent phosphatidyl headgroup, for the low-temperature adaptation of anammox bacteria.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Mrinal Roy, Case M. van Genuchten, Luuk Rietveld, Doris van Halem
Summary: This research investigated a new approach to enhance the removal of arsenic from contaminated groundwater. The results showed that the addition of hydrogen peroxide under anaerobic conditions significantly improved the removal efficiency of arsenic. This was partly due to the enhanced oxidation of arsenic by hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, the study found that the crystallinity of the generated iron oxides decreased and the specific surface area increased when hydrogen peroxide was added, which further enhanced the removal of arsenic.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Noor Jehan Gulamussen, Daniel Donse, Andre Marques Arsenio, Sebastiaan Gerard Jozef Heijman, Louis Cornelis Rietveld
Summary: Global need for optimizing water use, with reclaimed water potentially used in industrial applications despite challenges such as high hardness and fouling agents present in treated wastewater, requiring a combination of softening and micro-filtration for effective treatment.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Laurence Strubbe, Edward J. H. van Dijk, Pascalle J. M. Deenekamp, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Eveline I. P. Volcke
Summary: In the pursuit of reducing carbon footprint and energy costs, energy efficiency is crucial. This study focused on aerobic granular sludge reactors and found that they consume up to 50% less energy compared to conventional activated sludge systems. The study also investigated the dynamic behavior of the alpha factor and identified exchange ratio and temperature as the main influencing factors on its rate of increase during the aeration phase.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sadiye Kosar, Onur Isik, Busra Cicekalan, Hazal Gulhan, Seyma Cingoz, Mustafa Yoruk, Hale Ozgun, Ismail Koyuncu, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Mustafa Evren Ersahin
Summary: Achieving a neutral/positive energy balance without compromising discharge standards is a key goal in wastewater treatment plants. This study explores the coupling of high-rate activated sludge (HRAS) process with aerobic granular sludge (AGS) process as an energy-efficient pre-treatment option. The results show that feeding the AGS process with a mixture of HRAS process effluent and raw municipal wastewater can increase energy recovery potential and maintain high effluent quality.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jose Andres Araya-Obando, Luuk C. Rietveld, Daniel E. Kelly-Coto, Andrea Quesada-Gonzalez, Andrey Caballero-Chavarria, Luis G. Romero-Esquivel
Summary: Biofilters are effective for drinking water treatment, but the ripening time for manganese removal is a concern. The influence of flow regime on the ripening time of virgin pumice media was investigated. Flow-through columns achieved effective manganese removal (>90%) after 8 days, while recirculating columns took 23 days. The start-up in recirculating regime reduced water consumption by about 50% compared to flow-through regime.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Amir Tabakovic, Jeremy Lemmens, Jelmer Tamis, Dave van Vliet, Sayeda Nahar, Willem Suitela, Mark van Loosdrecht, Greet Leegwater
Summary: Bitumen is essential in asphalt pavements for its binding properties and ability to restore damage caused by traffic loading. With the decline in crude oil production, there is a need to find environmentally sustainable alternatives for bitumen modifiers. This paper investigates the potential use of the bio-based co-polymer PHBV as an alternative bitumen modifier and presents positive results from various tests.
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Navid Ahmadi, Mona Abbasi, Ali Torabian, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Joel Ducoste
Summary: The transformation of four pharmaceuticals in a moving bed biofilm reactor was investigated under different COD/N ratios. Changes in the COD/N ratio influenced the competition between heterotrophic and nitrifying communities, resulting in shifts in microbial populations and composition in the biofilms. Autotrophic conditions exhibited higher transformation rates, indicating the importance of nitrification.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Characterization & Testing
Nam Kyeun Kim, Debes Bhattacharyya, Mark van Loosdrecht, Yuemei Lin
Summary: This research developed a bio-based flame retardant using a biopolymer derived from wastewater sludge to enhance the fire performance of polypropylene (PP). The study found that the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from wastewater sludge played a significant role in improving the char formation of PP composite. The incorporation of the bio-based flame retardant restricted the vertical burning characteristics of PP and improved its tensile moduli.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Hanadi A. Jasim, Wijdan Nazar Ibraheim, Mukhalad Bassim Ibraheem, Mohammed Raheem Shakir, Ghaith Eddin AbdAljaleel, Basil Abdulzahra Abbas
Summary: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common bacterial infection in children, but diagnosis is challenging due to non-specific symptoms. This study aimed to identify UTI-causing bacteria and assess incidence based on age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Among 80 children, 42.55% were male and 57.5% were female. Fever (62.5%) was the most common symptom, while dysuria, frequency, and flank pain were also reported. Gram-negative bacteria, especially E. coli, were the most common uropathogens. In conclusion, E. coli was the most common uropathogen in children with UTI during this study.
JOURNAL OF POPULATION THERAPEUTICS AND CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Bin Lin, Luuk C. Rietveld, Lu Yao, Sebastiaan G. J. Heijman
Summary: This study demonstrates that Fenton cleaning in ceramic nanofiltration can effectively remove cake layer fouling on the membrane, but has limited efficacy in removing adsorptive fouling. The findings provide new insights into the evaluation and optimization of oxidative cleaning in ceramic NF for water treatment.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Quan H. Le, Peter J. T. Verheijen, Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht, Eveline I. P. Volcke
Summary: This study focuses on the application of data reconciliation to dynamic wastewater treatment processes. The researchers studied the SHARON partial nitritation process and found that splitting the long-term dynamic data into subsets corresponding to different pseudo-steady-state operations improved the detection of gross errors and allowed for a higher number of variables to be reconciled. They also discovered that the infiltration of air and errors in grab sampling had a significant impact on calculating N2O emissions.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
T. Prot, W. Pannekoek, C. Belloni, A. Dugulan, R. Hendrikx, L. Korving, M. C. M. van Loosdrecht
Summary: The study found that vivianite can be efficiently formed in undigested activated sludge, and phosphorus recovery can be achieved without the use of a sludge digester. Additionally, recovering vivianite from undigested sludge can reduce waste disposal and mitigate vivianite scaling formation.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)