Zhou Sining, Qiao Lei, Jia Yanyan, Khanal Samir Kumar, Sun Lianpeng, Lu Hui
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology (Sun Yat-sen University), Guangzhou, PR China.
School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, PR China.
Water Res. 2025 Apr 1;273:123006. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.123006. Epub 2024 Dec 19.
The pharmaceutical industry plays a crucial role in driving global economic growth but also poses substantial environmental challenges, particularly in the efficient treatment of production wastewater. This study investigates the efficacy of micro-nano bubble (MNB) ozonation for treating high-strength ibuprofen (IBU)-laden wastewater (49.9 ± 2.3 mg/L) and mitigating its inhibitory effects on the anaerobic digestion (AD) of intralipid (IL)-laden wastewater. Our findings demonstrated that MNB ozonation achieved a 99.0 % removal efficiency of IBU within 70 min, significantly surpassing the 69.8 % efficiency observed with conventional ozonation under optimal conditions. Both conventional and MNB ozonation primarily transformed IBU through oxidation processes, including hydroxylation and the conversion of CH bonds to C = O groups, along with carbon cleavage. However, MNB ozonation markedly reduced the toxicity of IBU-laden wastewater by further transforming toxic by-products, particularly under mildly alkaline conditions (pH 7.2 and 9.0). This reduction in toxicity led to a significant improvement in subsequent AD performance; specifically, a 70-min MNB ozonation pretreatment enhanced methane production by 48.1 %, increased chemical oxygen demand removal by 35.6 %, and reduced fatty acid accumulation compared to the control without pretreatment. Additionally, the effluent from MNB ozonation positively impacted the microbial community, particularly by enriching syntrophic bacteria and methanogens. Overall, these findings offered new insights into the behavior and toxicity of IBU oxidation by-products in both conventional and MNB ozonation processes. Furthermore, this study proposed a novel strategy for the combined treatment of IBU- and IL-laden wastewaters, establishing a robust foundation for advancing MNB ozonation technology in engineered pharmaceutical wastewater treatment.
制药行业在推动全球经济增长方面发挥着关键作用，但也带来了重大的环境挑战，特别是在生产废水的有效处理方面。本研究调查了微纳米气泡（MNB）臭氧化处理高浓度含布洛芬（IBU）废水（49.9±2.3毫克/升）的效果，以及减轻其对含脂肪乳剂（IL）废水厌氧消化（AD）的抑制作用。我们的研究结果表明，MNB臭氧化在70分钟内实现了IBU去除率99.0%，显著超过了在最佳条件下传统臭氧化观察到的69.8%的效率。传统臭氧化和MNB臭氧化主要通过氧化过程转化IBU，包括羟基化以及CH键向C=O基团的转化，还有碳裂解。然而，MNB臭氧化通过进一步转化有毒副产物，显著降低了含IBU废水的毒性，特别是在弱碱性条件（pH 7.2和9.0）下。毒性的降低导致后续AD性能有显著改善；具体而言，与未经预处理的对照相比，70分钟的MNB臭氧化预处理使甲烷产量提高了48.1%，化学需氧量去除率提高了35.6%，并减少了脂肪酸积累。此外，MNB臭氧化的出水对微生物群落有积极影响，特别是通过富集互营细菌和产甲烷菌。总体而言，这些发现为传统和MNB臭氧化过程中IBU氧化副产物的行为和毒性提供了新的见解。此外，本研究提出了一种联合处理含IBU和IL废水的新策略，为在工程制药废水处理中推进MNB臭氧化技术奠定了坚实基础。
