RESUMO
Environmental reclamation of Canada's oil sands tailings ponds is among the single largest water treatment challenges globally. The toxicity of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) has been associated with its dissolved organics, a complex mixture of naphthenic acid fraction components (NAFCs). Here, we evaluated solar treatment with buoyant photocatalysts (BPCs) as a passive advanced oxidation process (P-AOP) for OSPW remediation. Photocatalysis fully degraded naphthenic acids (NAs) and acid extractable organics (AEO) in 3 different OSPW samples. However, classical NAs and AEO, traditionally considered among the principal toxicants in OSPW, were not correlated with OSPW toxicity herein. Instead, nontarget petroleomic analysis revealed that low-polarity organosulfur compounds, composing <10% of the total AEO, apparently accounted for the majority of waters' toxicity to fish, as described by a model of tissue partitioning. These findings have implications for OSPW release, for which a less extensive but more selective treatment may be required than previously expected.
RESUMO
Hexavalent chromium in industrial wastewater is a major concern due to its extreme toxicity. This study investigates the removal of Cr(VI) using viable anaerobic granular biomass as a biosorbent. The effect of Cr(VI) concentration on biogas content and COD removal using batch studies indicated that the phase II (methanogenic-rich) culture was more sensitive than the phase I (acidogenic-rich) culture. Toxicity indices for both cultures using COD removal were developed based on linear-log interpolation. The median inhibition Cr(VI) concentration (IC(50)), for phase II cultures was found to be 263mg/L, while that for phase I cultures was 309mg/L. A sorption study was conducted on viable and non-viable (dried) phase I-rich biomass: both followed the Langmuir model. In addition, the biosorption capacity for metabolically inhibited biomass was 25% less indicating some level of cellular uptake associated with Cr(VI) removal. This study demonstrated the potential for a two-phase anaerobic treatment system for a Cr(VI)-contaminated effluent.
