INTERNSHIP PROPOSITION 2022 – Engineer (last year) / Master 2
Hybrid process for organic micropollutants removal
Supervisor: Claire ALBASI (claire.albasi@ensiacet.fr)
PhD: Mukhlis ESHAMUDDIN (muhammad.eshamuddin@nereus-water.com)
CONTEXT
According to the “One Health” concept (WHO, May 2019), the persistence in surface waters of some organic micropollutants (MPs, concentration < 1 microg/L), especially from pharmaceutical sources, remains a concern because of their accumulative and toxic effects. In order to degrade these molecules, biological processes, in particular biofilm-based technologies may present various economic and environmental advantages (di Biase et al., 2019). Among those processes, the moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) has recently attracted special attention in the team: Abtahi et al. (2018) obtained remarkable elimination rates and demonstrated that the main pathway of MPs removal is biodegradation (little adsorption and no volatilization), with the majority of their degradation assumed by the biofilm (to a lesser extent by suspended biomass). The hybridization of the biological process (i.e., coupling of MBBR with nanofiltration, NF) is an innovative proposal made by the thesis industrial partner with the aim of optimizing the biodegradation of MPs by modifying operational parameters and configurations. Some studies on the coupling of MBBR and membranes have showed that such configuration has various benefits especially in regard to control of membrane clogging (Luo et al., 2015; Cao, Dezotti, and Bassin, 2016; Jiang et al., 2018; Hylling et al., 2019).
From this context the trainee topic below proposed is large, but it will be focused depending on the background of the candidate, between chemical engineering and bioprocesses.
Bibliographic references:
- OMS, mai 2019 – http://politiquedesante.fr/one-health-monde-sante/
- di Biase, Alessandro, et al. « Moving bed biofilm reactor technology in municipal wastewater treatment: A review. » Journal of environmental management 247 (2019): 849-866
- Abtahi, S Mehran, Maike Petermann, Agathe Juppeau Flambard, Sandra Beaufort, Fanny Terrisse, Thierry Trotouin, Claire Joannis Cassan, and Claire Albasi. 2018. “Micropollutants Removal in Tertiary Moving Bed Biofilm Reactors (MBBRs): Contribution of the Biofilm and Suspended Biomass.” Science of the Total Environment 643: 1464–80.
- Luo, Yunlong, Qi Jiang, Huu H. Ngo, Long D. Nghiem, Faisal I. Hai, William E. Price, Jie Wang, et Wenshan Guo. 2015. « Evaluation of Micropollutant Removal and Fouling Reduction in a Hybrid Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor-Membrane Bioreactor System ». Bioresource Technology 191 (septembre): 355-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.05.073.
- Cao, Sandra M. S., Marcia Dezotti, et João P. Bassin. 2016. « MBBR Followed by Microfiltration and Reverse Osmosis as a Compact Alternative for Advanced Treatment of a Pesticide-Producing Industry Wastewater towards Reuse ». The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 94 (9): 1657-67. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjce.22542.
- Jiang, Qi, Hao H. Ngo, Long D. Nghiem, Faisal I. Hai, William E. Price, Jian Zhang, Shuang Liang, Lijuan Deng, et Wenshan Guo. 2018. « Effect of Hydraulic Retention Time on the Performance of a Hybrid Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor-Membrane Bioreactor System for Micropollutants Removal from Municipal Wastewater ». Bioresource Technology 247 (janvier): 1228-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.09.114.
- Hylling, Ole, Mahdi Nikbakht Fini, Lea Ellegaard-Jensen, Jens Muff, Henrik Tækker Madsen, Jens Aamand, et Lars Hestbjerg Hansen. 2019. « A Novel Hybrid Concept for Implementation in Drinking Water Treatment Targets Micropollutant Removal by Combining Membrane Filtration with Biodegradation ». Science of The Total Environment 694 (décembre): 133710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.133710.
EXPECTED WORK STEPS
- Literature review: from some existing publications, an extended literature review and synthesis will be performed on the coupling of biological process and membrane filtration unit. A special attention could be given on modelling and optimization strategies, through the choice of operating parameters. Another focus of the trainee could deal with the microbial/ enzymes selection/development and methodologies to follow it.
- An experimental pilot (25 l) is setup on a lab scale and has been operating since September 2021 with different types of real wastewater. In each sampling campaigns, the main objectives are to study the influence of recirculation rate and pollution load on the process performances. As of mid-January 2023, the pilot will be fed with hospital effluent, which will be collected from the outlet of a hospital sewage. Several analysis of different biological/ physical/ or chemical characteristics, have to be realized weekly, recorded and plotted to investigate the pilot behaviour. The trainee will take part in this work in accordance with the PhD student schedule. These analysis could be devoted to the biological tank as well as the membrane filtration. A special attention can be paid on the enzymatic activity occurring in accordance with the MP degradation.
- Results synthesis including statistical analysis, plotting, and bioremediation evaluation – modelling the system mass balance dynamic could also be a topic of interest.
- Report
SKILLS
Master/Engineer’s level, process/bioprocesses engineering basics. Knowledge of membrane filtration and/or water treatment concepts and/or knowledge of activated sludge physico-chemistry would be appreciated. Fluent French and English, spoken and written, motivation, perseverance, curiosity. BENEFICIAL for the
TRAINEE
Acquisition of experience at the crossroads between engineering and research on a current topic, Support of experts in water treatment and membrane filtration, Close supervision, pleasant working environment. This work is part of a large research program, SAVE (Station Avancée de Valorisation des effluents – https://filiere-save.com/) including 4 research laboratories and 2 private companies. The trainee will be an actor of this programme advancements.
OTHER INFORMATIONS
The work will take place in Toulouse, in the Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, https://lgc.cnrs.fr/, site (Labège), for 6 months, and on a weekly rhythm of 35 hours/week. The gratification is hourly rate at €3.90 subject to revaluation in 2022. The internship work will be directly supervised by LGC researchers, and will be the subject of weekly progress meetings.
PERSONS to contact (CV and motivation letter)
Claire ALBASI, Laboratoire de Génie Chimique de Toulouse, claire.albasi@ensiacet.fr, 06 62 17 64 65