Biochar applied in the removal of emerging contaminants present in wastewater

• Grant number: 18/22393-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: February 01, 2019 - April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Clairmont Feitosa de Lima Gomes
• Grantee: Paulo Clairmont Feitosa de Lima Gomes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Clovis Augusto Ribeiro ; Lorena Oliveira Pires ; Wendell Karlos Tomazelli Coltro

Abstract

Biochar is a carbon-rich solid obtained by heating in atmosphere with little or no oxygen. Biochar is an adsorbent widely applied in agriculture for soil bioremediation, fertilizer slow-release as well as to removal of pathogenic microorganisms, organic and inorganic contaminants in environmental matrices. Besides biochar wide usage, lack of studies are related to theremoval efficiency of emerging contaminants present in wastewaters such as sewage. Emergingcontaminants are present in wastewaters at concentration level ranging from mg/L to ng/L.Ecotoxicological effects are being reported, mainly for pharmaceuticals compounds, which present harmful effects even at concentration levels varying from ¼g/L to ng/L. There is nolegislation to control the discharge of pharmaceuticals compounds in wastewater. Based on this, the aim of this project is to develop a new adsorbent to remove emerging contaminants presentin wastewaters. This research project is focused to evaluate the removal efficiency using sixpharmaceuticals compounds: caffeine, carbamazepine, fluoxetine, venlafaxine, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin. Sugarcane bagasse is a residue obtained from sugar and ethanol production used as heating source or sold by U$ 25,00 per ton. Pelletisation process will be done in a hydraulic press machine followed by torrefaction in a tubular oven or in a muffler with temperature varying from 250 to 290 oC. The pellets obtained will be characterized by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis (C, H, O, N, S), surface area, thermal analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance, zeta potential and isoelectric point in order to establish the removal mechanisms involved. First study is the adsorption capacity in water using batch anaerobic reactors. Each pharmaceutical compound separately at concentration level of 500 ng/L, followed by isotherms evaluations in a concentration from 200 to 900 ng/L. Also, adsorption of all pharmaceutical compounds in inactivated sludge will be evaluated. The last part of this project is the application of biochar as support material to anaerobic sludge in a continuous horizontal fixed-bed reactor. As future perspective to obtain a low-cost adsorbent from industrial residue, environmental friendly, efficient to remove emerging contaminants present in wastewaters. Moreover, biochar as support material to anaerobic sludge in a continuous-flow anaerobic reactors substituting polyurethane foams. (AU)

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARASCO JUNIOR, CESAR AUGUSTO; DA SILVA, BIANCA FERREIRA; LAMARCA, RAFAELA SILVA; FEITOSA DE LIMA GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT. Automated method to determine pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater using on-line solid-phase extraction coupled to LC-MS/MS. ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, JUN 2021. (18/11700-7, 16/03369-3, 14/50945-4, 18/22393-8)

LAMARCA, RAFAELA SILVA; DORLEDO DE FARIA, RICARDO ADRIANO; BOLDRIN ZANONI, MARIA VALNICE; NALIN, MARCELO; FEITOSA DE LIMA GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT; MESSADDEQ, YOUNES. Simple, fast and environmentally friendly method to determine ciprofloxacin in wastewater samples based on an impedimetric immunosensor. RSC ADVANCES, v. 10, n. 4, p. 1838-1847, JAN 12 2020. (18/22393-8, 15/22828-6, 13/07793-6)

MARASCO JUNIOR, CESAR A.; SARTORE, DOUGLAS M.; LAMARCA, RAFAELA S.; DA SILVA, BIANCA F.; SANTOS-NETO, ALVARO J.; GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT F. DE LIMA. On-line solid-phase extraction of pharmaceutical compounds from wastewater treatment plant samples using restricted access media in column-switching liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY B-ANALYTICAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE BIOMEDICAL AND LIFE SCIENCES, v. 1180, AUG 15 2021. (18/22393-8, 18/11700-7, 16/03369-3, 14/50945-4)

MARASCO JUNIOR, CESAR AUGUSTO; DA SILVA, BIANCA FERREIRA; LAMARCA, RAFAELA SILVA; FEITOSA DE LIMA GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT. Automated method to determine pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater using on-line solid-phase extraction coupled to LC-MS/MS. ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, v. 413, n. 20, SI, p. 5147-5160, AUG 2021. (18/11700-7, 14/50945-4, 18/22393-8, 16/03369-3)

LAMARCA, RAFAELA SILVA; FEITOSA DE LIMA GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT. A low cost method for carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin determination in pharmaceutical formulations based on spot-test and smartphone images. Microchemical Journal, v. 152, JAN 2020. (18/22393-8)

LAMARCA, RAFAELA SILVA; FRANCO, DOUGLAS FAZA; NALIN, MARCELO; FEITOSA DE LIMA GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT; MESSADDEQ, YOUNES. Label-Free Ultrasensitive and Environment-Friendly Immunosensor Based on a Silica Optical Fiber for the Determination of Ciprofloxacin in Wastewater Samples. Analytical Chemistry, v. 92, n. 21, p. 14415-14422, NOV 3 2020. (13/07793-6, 16/16900-9, 18/19272-4, 18/22393-8)

LUCHIARI, NATALIA DA COSTA; DA SILVA, GABRIELEN ALVES; MARASCO JUNIOR, CESAR AUGUSTO; FEITOSA DE LIMA GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT. Development of miniaturized fluorimetric device for caffeine determination using a smartphone. RSC ADVANCES, v. 9, n. 60, p. 35033-35038, OCT 30 2019. (18/22393-8, 14/50945-4, 16/03369-3)

SILVA, JOAO PEDRO; IRIKURA, KALLYNI; ZANONI, MARIA VALNICE BOLDRIN; LIMA GOMES, PAULO CLAIRMONT F.. A simple electrogravimetric experimental setup to determine Cu in alloy samples for teaching purposes. CHEMICAL PAPERS, v. 75, n. 2, AUG 2020. (17/12790-7, 14/50945-4, 18/22393-8)