Removal and Fouling Influence of Microplastics in Fertilizer Driven Forward Osmosis for Wastewater Reclamation
Ziyan Wang,
Keqiang Liu,
Ya Gao,
Guanhua Li,
Zhenyu Li,
Quanfu Wang,
Liwei Guo,
Tong Liu,
Mohammed A. Al-Namazi,
Sheng Li
Affiliations
Ziyan Wang
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Membrane Materials and Separation Technologies, Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511458, China
Keqiang Liu
Water Conservancy Development Research Center, Taihu Basin Authority, Ministry of Water Resources, Shanghai 200080, China
Ya Gao
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Membrane Materials and Separation Technologies, Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511458, China
Guanhua Li
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Membrane Materials and Separation Technologies, Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511458, China
Zhenyu Li
College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712199, China
Quanfu Wang
School of Marine Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Weihai 264209, China
Liwei Guo
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Membrane Materials and Separation Technologies, Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511458, China
Tong Liu
Nanjing Zhongpeng Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210026, China
Mohammed A. Al-Namazi
Desalination Technologies Research Institute (DTRI), Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Al-Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia
Sheng Li
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Membrane Materials and Separation Technologies, Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511458, China
Insufficient removal of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) may exert negative effects on the environment and human health during wastewater reclamation. The fertilizer-driven forward osmosis (FDFO) is an emerging potential technology to generate high-quality water for irrigation of hydroponic systems. In this study, the removal of MPs/NPs by the FDFO process together with their impact on FDFO membrane fouling was investigated, due to FDFO’s low molecular weight cut-off and energy requirement by using fertilizer as draw solution. Plastic particles with two different sizes (100 nm and 1 μm) and extracellular polymers released by real wastewater bacteria were utilized as model compounds for FDFO performance comparison. Results show that FDFO membrane system could generate high-quality irrigation water with only fertilizer, completely removing extracellular polymers, MPs and NPs from wastewater. It was found that the MPs and NPs themselves do not cause a significant membrane fouling. Moreover, it could help to reduce the membrane fouling caused by extracellular substances. That is probably because MPs and NPs helped to form a loose and porous fouling layer. Therefore, the FDFO process could be a long-term stable (low fouling) process for the reclamation of wastewater with high-quality requirements.
