A newly developed technology for microplastics removal from wastewater

0576825 - ÚCHP 2024 RIV IT eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Spáčilová, Markéta - Dytrych, Pavel - Lexa, M. - Wimmerová, L. - Mašín, P. - Kvaček, R. - Šolcová, Olga
A newly developed technology for microplastics removal from wastewater.
Padova: EUROWASTE, 2023. In: Symposium Proceedings. Padova: EUROWASTE Srl, 2023, č. článku H01. ISBN 9788862650335. ISSN 2282-0027.
[International Symposium on Waste Management and Suustainable Landfilling SARDINIA 2023. Cagliari (IT), 09.10.2023-13.10.2023]
R&D Projects: GA TA ČR(CZ) TN02000044
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/19
Program: StrategieAV
Institutional support: RVO:67985858
Keywords : microplastic * water treatment * bentonite
OECD category: Chemical process engineering

Nowadays, the issue of microplastics is becoming one of the most followed topics. Regarding their increasing occurrence, it is necessary to find new ways to eliminate them. This work is focused on a newly technology development for removal of microplastic from wastewater by
a sorption process. The process would be suitable not only as a tertiary treatment stage in WWTP but also for other types of water, such as industrial and surface water. For this reason, cheap natural materials, such as bentonites and zeolites, were tested as possible sorbents. This study focuses on the selection of possible sorbents as well as on their possible modification to improve the efficiency and durability of sorption. Microplastic particles of the majority of common types of plastics were prepared by an abrasion technique from a variety of plastic items used at home. The abrasion was designed to be similar in microplastic particle sizes and shapes corresponding to the real microplastics found in waters.
The evaluation of the capture efficiency and characterization of microplastics were carried out using a developed methodology consisting of a combination of Raman spectroscopy and SEM/EDX methods. The microplastics removal from waste water was tested not only at the laboratory scale with prepared microplastic particles but also in a developed semi-operational sorption unit under real conditions at a municipal WWTP in the Czech Republic during the year 2022 with the efficacy of over 90%.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0346221