Effect of the C/N Ratio on Biodegradation of Ciprofloxacin and Denitrification from Low C/N Wastewater as Assessed by a Novel 3D-BER System

Mahdi Hassan, Guangcan Zhu, Zhonglian Yang, Yongze Lu, Yan Lang, Liying Gong and Huang Shan
Additional contact information
Mahdi Hassan: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Guangcan Zhu: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Zhonglian Yang: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Yongze Lu: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Yan Lang: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Liying Gong: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Huang Shan: School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Emerging pollutants in the form of pharmaceuticals have drawn international attention during the past few decades. Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is a common drug widely found in effluents from hospitals, industrial and different wastewater treatment plants, as well as rivers. In this work, the lab-scale 3D-BER system was established, and more than 90% of the antibiotic CIP was removed from Low C/N wastewater. The best results were obtained with the current intensity being taken into account, and a different C/N ratio significantly improved the removal of CIP and nitrates when the ideal conditions were C/N = 1.5–3.5, pH = 7.0–7.5 and I = 60 mA. The highest removal efficiency occurred when CIP = 94.2%, NO 3 − -N = 95.5% and total nitrogen (TN) = 84.3%, respectively. In this novel system, the autotrophic-heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria played a vital role in the removal of CIP and an enhanced denitrification process. Thus, autotrophic denitrifying bacteria uses CO 2 and H 2 as carbon sources to reduce nitrates to N 2 . This system has the assortment and prosperous community revealed at the current intensity of 60 mA, and the analysis of bacterial community structure in effluent samples fluctuates under different conditions of C/N ratios. Based on the results of LC-MS/MS analysis, the intermediate products were proposed after efficient biodegradation of CIP. The microbial community on biodegrading was mostly found at phylum, and the class level was dominantly responsible for the NO 3 − -N and biodegradation of CIP. This work can provide some new insights towards the biodegradation of CIP and the efficient removal of nitrates from low C/N wastewater treatment through the novel 3D-BER system.

Keywords: biodegradation of ciprofloxacin; 3D-BER system; denitrification; microbial communities; low C/N wastewater treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7611/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7611/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7611-:d:414001

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().