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Removal mechanism of low-concentration Cr (VI) in a submerged membrane bioreactor activated sludge system

  • Environmental biotechnology
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An Erratum to this article was published on 15 May 2015

Abstract

Removal mechanism of low-concentration Cr (VI) (0.4 mg/L) was studied in a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) activated sludge system. SMBR was operated with the synthetic wastewater containing 0.4 mg/L Cr (VI). Bio-removal and inactivation batch experiments were also carried out for studying the low-concentration Cr (VI) removal mechanism. SMBR activated sludge system recovered rapidly from the 0.4 mg/L Cr (VI) shock to achieve the excellent removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and NH4 +-N. Sulfuricurvum kujiense grew quickly in the bacterial community of activated sludge after Cr (VI) addition. Cr (VI) was mainly removed by the adsorption of extracellular polymeric substances, probably in the form as R2(SOH+)2 .CrO4 2−. Only few of Cr (VI) was transferred into Cr (III) under aerobic condition. All the results indicated that the sulfur was probably involved in 0.4 mg/L Cr (VI) removal process in SMBR.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Pillar Program (2013BAD21B03), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China Scholarship Council, and the 111 Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Siqing Xia, Lijie Zhou & Zhiqiang Zhang

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Lijie Zhou & Slawomir W. Hermanowicz

  3. Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Zhiqiang Zhang

  4. National High-end Foreign Expert Program, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Slawomir W. Hermanowicz

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  1. Siqing Xia
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  2. Lijie Zhou
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Correspondence to Lijie Zhou.

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Xia, S., Zhou, L., Zhang, Z. et al. Removal mechanism of low-concentration Cr (VI) in a submerged membrane bioreactor activated sludge system. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 5351–5360 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6590-5

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