10 / 2023-04-25 09:52:44

Fates of artificial sweetener during the wastewater treatment plant and its degradation during sewage sludge composting added with kaolin

Sewage sludge; Composting; Kaolin; Acesulfame; Sucralose; Sewage sludge

Fates of artificial sweetener during the wastewater treatment plant and its degradation during the sewage sludge composting added with kaolin

Jishao Jiang, Rui Hou, Huilin Cui, Dou Yu

School of Environment, Henan Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Control, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environmental Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, PR China



Artificial sweeteners are a kind of sugar substitute products used in many industries, and almost all artificial sweeteners accessed in wastewater treatment plants. However, the fates of artificial sweetener during the wastewater treatment plants were still unclear. In the present study, the fates of acesulfame (ACE) and sucralose (SUC)in influent, effluent, and sewage sludge were investigated in Xiaoshangzhuang wastewater treatment plants. Meanwhile, the sewage sludge was also used to conduct the effects of study the effects of Micron-Kaolin (Mic-KL) and Nano-Kaolin (Nano-KL) on the nitrogen transformation and degradation of ACE and SUC during the composting process. The results showed that the mean concentrations of ACE in the influent and effluent·were·1637·and·298ng/L, and the percentage of ACE removal were·82.0%. The mean concentration of SUC in the influent and effluent were 1896·and 267ng/L, thus the percentage of SUC removal were 85.9%. However, the sewage sludge with·the moisture content·of:80%·accumulated large amounts of sweeteners, and the cumulative rates of ACE and SUC were 76.6% and 75.5%, respectively. During the process of SS composting, the additions of Mic-KL and Nano-KL reduced NH₃ emissions by 30.2% and 45.3%, respectively, and N₂O emissions by 38.4% and 38.9%, respectively. The Mic-KL and Nano-KL treatments increased NO₃-N of the end compost by 18.7% and 32.1% compared with the CK, respectively, meanwhile reduced TN loss. Finally, the degradation rates of ACE and SUC in sewage sludge composted with Mic-KL and Na-KL treatments were 84.6% and 89.5%, respectively. In conclusion, the addition of kaolin could effectively inhibit N loss and promote the degradations of ACE and SUC during the SS composing process.

Keywords: Sewage sludge; Composting; Kaolin; Acesulfame; Sucralose