The disposal of waste brines has become a major challenge that hinders the wide application of ionexchange resins in the water industry in recent decades. In this study, high sulfate removal efficiency(80%–90%) was achieved at the influent sulfate concentration of 3600 mg/L and 3% NaCl after 145 days in an expanded granular sludge bed(EGSB) reactor. Furthermore, the feasibility of treating synthetic waste brine containing high levels of sulfate and nitrate was investigated in a single EGSB reactor during an operation period of 261 days. The highest nitrate and sulfate loading rate reached 6.38 and 5.78 kg/(m3·day) at SO2-4-S/NO-3-N mass ratio of 4/3, and the corresponding removal efficiency was 99.97% and 82.26% at 3% NaCl, respectively. Meanwhile, 454-pyrosequencing technology was used to analyze the bacterial diversity of the sludge on the 240th day for stable operation of phase X. Results showed that a total of 9194 sequences were obtained, which could be affiliated to 14 phyla, including Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Chlorobi, Bacteroidetes, Synergistetes and so on. Proteobacteria(77.66%) was the dominant microbial population, followed by Firmicutes(12.23%) and Chlorobi(2.71%).
A high-surface-area carbon (KC-1) was prepared from waste polystyrene-based ion exchange resin by KOH activation and used for naphthalene adsorption. The carbon exhibited a good hydrophobic nature with developed porous structure, favoring the adsorption of organic compounds. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and total pore volume of KC-1 were 3442.2 and 1.68 cm 3 /g, respectively, which can be compared with those of KOH-activated carbons prepared from other precursors. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the adsorption of naphthalene onto KC-1. The equilibrium data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Polanyi- Manes isotherms and agreed with the Polanyi-Manes Model. The adsorption of naphthalene depended greatly on the porosity of the carbon, and the dispersive interactions between naphthalene and carbon could be relatively weak. The pH variation in aqueous solution had little effect on the adsorption process. The equilibrium time for 0.04 g/L of carbon dose was around 5 hr. Different models were used to evaluate the kinetic data and the pseudo second-order model was suitable to describe the kinetic process of naphthalene adsorption onto KC-1. Regeneration of spent carbon could be carried out effectively by alcohol treatment. The results indicated that KC-1 was a promising adsorbent for the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from aqueous solutions.
