Fenton treatment (Fe(2+)/H(2)O(2)) and different ozone-based Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) (O(3), O(3)/OH(-) and O(3)/H(2)O(2)) were evaluated as pre-treatment of a mature landfill leachate, in order to improve the biodegradability of its recalcitrant organic matter for subsequent biological treatment. With a two-fold diluted leachate, at optimised experimental conditions (initial pH 3, H(2)O(2) to Fe(2+) molar ratio of 3, Fe(2+) dosage of 4 mmol L(-1), and reaction time of 40 min) Fenton treatment removed about 46% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and increased the five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)) to COD ratio (BOD(5)/COD) from 0.01 to 0.15. The highest removal efficiency and biodegradability was achieved by ozone at higher pH values, solely or combined with H(2)O(2). These results confirm the enhanced production of hydroxyl radical under such conditions. After the application for 60 min of ozone at 5.6 g O(3)h(-1), initial pH 7, and 400 mg L(-1) of hydrogen peroxide, COD removal efficiency was 72% and BOD(5)/COD increased from 0.01 to 0.24. An estimation of the operating costs of the AOPs processes investigated revealed that Fe(2+)/H(2)O(2) was the most economical system (8.2 € m(-3)g(-1) of COD removed) to treat the landfill leachate. This economic study, however, should be treated with caution since it does not consider the initial investment, prices at plant scale, maintenance and labour costs.

Rotating biological contactors (RBCs) constitute a very unique and superior alternative for biodegradable matter and nitrogen removal on account of their feasibility, simplicity of design and operation, short start-up, low land area requirement, low energy consumption, low operating and maintenance cost and treatment efficiency. The present review of RBCs focus on parameters that affect performance like rotational speed, organic and hydraulic loading rates, retention time, biofilm support media, staging, temperature, influent wastewater characteristics, biofilm characteristics, dissolved oxygen levels, effluent and solids recirculation, stepfeeding and medium submergence. Some RBCs scale-up and design considerations, operational problems and comparison with other wastewater treatment systems are also reported.

Mature landfill leachate is typically resistant to biological processes. In order to enhance the biodegradability of a pre-treated mature landfill leachate, ozonation treatments in a lab-scale column were assayed under different ozone concentrations, contact time, initial pH, and hydrogen peroxide concentrations. Degradation of the landfill leachate by ozone was favoured at higher pH values and with the addition of H(2)O(2), both consistent with the enhanced production of the hydroxyl radical under such conditions. The highest organic reduction and biodegradability improvement was observed with the O(3)/H(2)O(2) process at 600 mg H(2)O(2) L(-1). This system was able to remove 63% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 53% of total organic carbon (TOC), 42% of aromatic content (UV(254)) and increased the leachate 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)) to COD ratio from 0.01 to 0.17. Ozone combined with H(2)O(2) contributed significantly to remove and change the recalcitrant organic matter and improved leachate biodegradability, which makes this process very attractive as pre-biological treatment.

Adhesive biocatalytic coatings (biocoatings) have a nanoporous microstructure generated by partially coalesced waterborne polymer particles that entrap highly concentrated living cells in a dry state stabilized by carbohydrate osmo-protectants. Biocoatings can be deposited by high speed coating technologies, aerosol delivery or ink-jet printed in multilayered, patterned coatings on flexible nonporous or nonwoven substrates, preserving 10 10-10 12 non-growing viable microorganisms per m 2 in 2-50 m thick layers. Cells are rehydrated to restore their metabolism. The layers reactive half-life following rehydration can be 1000 s of hours. The planar structure of biocoatings enable uniform illumination of a high concentration of photo-reactive microorganisms or algae and contact these microbe with thin liquid films for efficient mass transfer. This review highlights recent advances in biocoating technology for pollutants degradation, photo-reactive coatings, stabilization of hyperthermophiles for biocatalysis, environmental biosensors, and biocomposite fuel cells. Engineering cells for desiccation tolerance, unveiling the metabolism of nongrowing cells, and engineering the interaction between the cell surface and adhesive polymer binders are fundamental challenges to open the door to vast future applications of biocoatings for environmental sensing and remediation.

The removal of nitrate from a mature landfill leachate with high nitrate load in a lab-scale anoxic rotating biological contactor (RBC) was studied. Under a phosphorus-phosphate concentration of 10 mg P-PO 4 3− L −1 and nitrogen-nitrate concentrations above 530 mg N-NO 3 − L −1 the reactor achieved nitrogennitrate removal efficiencies close to 100%, without nitrite or nitrous oxide accumulation. Although the reactor presented a very good denitrification performance, the effluent carbon concentration was still above the legal discharge value. In order to increase the biodegradability of the leachate recalcitrant carbon load, a pre-ozonation was further investigated. The pre-ozonation led to a total organic carbon (TOC) removal of 28%. The sequence of treatments, leachate ozonation followed by RBC denitrification did not affect the denitrification efficiency. In fact, it was possible to attain a denitrification rate of 123 mg N-NO 3 − L −1 h −1. The moderate decrease in the carbon load of the final effluent indicated that some recalcitrant compounds were still present after ozonation. The anoxic RBC showed to be a promising technology for removing nitrate from landfill leachate.

The denitrification performance of a lab-scale anoxic rotating biological contactor (RBC) using landfill leachate with high nitrate concentration was evaluated. Under a carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) of 2, the reactor achieved N-NO(3)(-) removal efficiencies above 95% for concentrations up to 100 mg N-NO(3)(-) l(-1). The highest observed denitrification rate was 55 mg N-NO(3)(-) l(-1) h(-1) (15 g N-NO(3)(-) m(-2) d(-1)) at a nitrate concentration of 560 mg N-NO(3)(-) l(-1). Although the reactor has revealed a very good performance in terms of denitrification, effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations were still high for direct discharge. The results obtained in a subsequent experiment at constant nitrate concentration (220 mg N-NO(3)(-) l(-1)) and lower C/N ratios (1.2 and 1.5) evidenced that the organic matter present in the leachate was non-biodegradable. A phosphorus concentration of 10 mg P-PO(4)(3-) l(-1) promoted autotrophic denitrification, revealing the importance of phosphorus concentration on biological denitrification processes.

Rotating biological contactors (RBCs) have been used as an efficient fixed film method of treating wastewater due to its advantages such as low energy and land requirements or simplicity of operation. In this article, we firstly describe the operation, benefits and drawbacks, hydrodynamics and typical applications of these bioreactors, and then review the main factors affecting their performance. Some aspects about RBC design and scale‐up, the main operational problems and their resolution are presented. The comparison of the performance of RBCs with other wastewater treatment systems as well as costs considerations and prospects are also discussed.

The presence of nitrate in water and wastewater is a serious environmental problem. Anoxic rotating biological contactors (RBC) are a promising novel technology for nitrate removal. In this study the effect of two carbon/nitrogen (C/N) molar ratios (1.5 and 3.0) on denitrification, using acetate as a carbon source, were investigated in an anoxic bench-scale RBC, treating synthetic wastewater. The effect of different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) and different nitrogen and carbon influent concentrations on the reactor performance, at constant C/N, were also analysed. The average removal efficiency in terms of nitrogen-nitrate was about 90.4% at C/N = 1.5, lowering to 73.7% at C/ N = 3.0. Considering carbon-acetate removal, overall efficiencies of 82.0% and 63.6% were attained at C/N ratios of 1.5 and 3.0, respectively. The increase in nitrogen-nitrate (from 50 to 100 mg N-NO3- L(-1)) and carbon-acetate influent concentrations and the decrease in HRT, keeping C/N constant, had a slight negative effect in terms of substrate removal. It was found that, for the tested conditions, the use of C/N = 1.5 is advantageous to denitrification. The anoxic RBC was significantly effective at reducing nitrate concentrations within a relatively short HRT. These reactors may be a feasible option for the treatment of nitrate-rich wastewaters.