Activated carbons from pine nut production residues for pharmaceutical compounds removal from urban wastewaters in the framework of LIFE IMPETUS project

Abstract

LIFE Impetus project (LIFE14 ENV/PT/000739) aims at demonstrating feasible measures for improving the control of pharmaceutical compounds (PhCs) in urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with conventional activated sludge (CAS) treatment. Namely, strategies based on chemically enhanced barriers, with adsorbent and/or coagulant addition, are underway. Nuts production generates high amounts of lignocellulosic residues that are known to be good activated carbon biomass precursors, namely due to their high carbon content and hardness. Aiming to contribute to a sustainable and circular economy, sub-products of Portuguese pine nut production – i.e. pine nut shell and pine cone – were evaluated as precursors for the synthesis of activated carbon (AC) materials by steam activation. The novel adsorbent materials are being successfully tested, along with commercial counterparts, for the improvement of WWTPs barriers against PhCs in order to search for cost-effective and resource efficient solutions based on existing infrastructures. The tests are being performed with secondary effluents spiked with representative PhCs, thus allowing to evaluate the performance of the novel and commercial carbon adsorbents in competition scenario (i.e. inorganic background, organic matter competition and multi-pharmaceuticals).