Meher Rajanandini, Matheshwaran M, Sharma Naresh Kumar
Department of Biotechnology, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Sriviliputhur, India.
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India.
Environ Technol. 2025 Aug;46(20):4047-4059. doi: 10.1080/09593330.2025.2485353. Epub 2025 Mar 31.
The growing demand for surgical cotton in the healthcare sector has led to increased production in southern Tamil Nadu, generating effluents that pose environmental risks due to their chemical composition. Unlike conventional textile effluents, surgical cotton processing wastewater is distinct for its lack of colour additive, but it exhibits high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and contains significant inorganic pollutants, necessitating tailored treatment strategies. Despite extensive research on textile wastewater, effective solutions for surgical cotton effluents remain underexplored. This research bridges this gap by exploring a novel synergic method, algae-bacterial symbiosis combined with photocatalytic degradation for real surgical cotton effluent, in order to ultimately improve the removal ability of the contaminants. The general aim was to study the performance of three continuous reactor, a photocatalytic reactor, a biological rector and coupled biological-photocatalytic (CBPCR) reactor in the degradation of surgical cotton processing effluent during 30 days. The treatment efficacy was measured by observing the removal rates of inorganic nutrient, COD, and microbial growth. It was concluded that the CBPCR system successfully removed nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, and COD by 90%, 87%, 75%, and 93% respectively. In particular, the system fostered vigorous growth of both microalgae and bacteria, as indicated by a total chlorophyll concentration of 20.1 ± 0.91 mg/L and a dry cell weight of 1.81 ± 0.09 g/L. This paper shows the feasibility of the CBPCR system as a green, sustainable strategy for the treatment of surgical cotton effluent and as such fills a gap in current practice of industrial wastewater treatment.
医疗保健领域对手术棉的需求不断增长，导致印度泰米尔纳德邦南部的产量增加，产生的废水因其化学成分而带来环境风险。与传统纺织废水不同，手术棉加工废水因缺乏颜色添加剂而独具特点，但它具有高化学需氧量（COD）且含有大量无机污染物，因此需要量身定制的处理策略。尽管对纺织废水进行了广泛研究，但针对手术棉废水的有效解决方案仍未得到充分探索。本研究通过探索一种新型协同方法——藻类 - 细菌共生结合光催化降解处理实际手术棉废水，来弥补这一差距，以最终提高污染物的去除能力。总体目标是研究三种连续反应器，即光催化反应器、生物反应器和耦合生物 - 光催化（CBPCR）反应器在30天内对手术棉加工废水的降解性能。通过观察无机养分、COD的去除率以及微生物生长情况来衡量处理效果。结果表明，CBPCR系统分别成功去除了90%的硝酸盐、87%的磷酸盐、75%的氨和93%的COD。特别是，该系统促进了微藻和细菌的旺盛生长，总叶绿素浓度为20.1±0.91mg/L，干细胞重量为1.81±0.09g/L。本文展示了CBPCR系统作为一种绿色、可持续的策略处理手术棉废水的可行性，填补了当前工业废水处理实践中的空白。
