| Abstract [eng] |
Water is an integral part of our daily lives. Therefore, clean water must be available to everyone. Pollutants that enter the environment pose a significant threat to human health and the ecosystem as a whole. For this reason, water quality is a growing concern globally, and measures are being taken to apply water treatment not only to traditional but also to advanced methods. Advanced oxidation, biological treatment, membrane filtration, and other technologies are commonly used to remove contaminants from water. These days, much attention is paid to advanced water treatment technologies that help to improve water quality faster, more efficiently, and without requiring significant infrastructure changes. In recent decades, there has been an increasing focus on hydrogels, and they are expected to be suitable for biological water treatment. Hydrogel gel beads have macro-pores that are of a suitable size for immobilizing microorganisms. One of the alternative polymers suitable for the production of gel beads is polyvinyl alcohol. Polyvinyl alcohol gel beads have a three-dimensional gel network bonded by chemical or physical bonds. Polyvinyl alcohol gel beads also have good mechanical resistance and are therefore suitable for long-term use. The production of polyvinyl alcohol gel beads consists of several main steps: preparing a solution of polyvinyl alcohol with additives and dropping it into a crosslinking solution. Sorption studies of the prepared gel beads are performed using UV-VIS spectrophotometric analysis. Different types of gel beads are placed in solutions of different types and concentrations of micro-contaminants, and their sorption is monitored. Gel beads of polyvinyl alcohol with chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol with boric acid are used in the study. Three micro-contaminants were selected for the sorption properties study: sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, and methylene blue. Sorption studies are performed for 300 minutes, and light absorption is monitored. Based on the obtained sorption results, the sorption capacity of the gel beads and reaction rates are calculated. The polyvinyl alcohol gel beads produced are also tested in a biological system. Five reactors filled with mixtures of gel beads and activated sludge are used for this purpose. The study is conducted for seven days, and the changes in the parameters of synthetic wastewater are monitored. In addition, nitrates, phosphates, ammonium, total nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon in the reactors are monitored during biological treatment. |
