One-Step Removal of Calcium, Magnesium, and Nickel in Desalination by Alcaligenes aquatilis via Biomineralization
1
College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Institute of Marine Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
2
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Crystals 2019, 9(12), 633; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst9120633
Received: 12 October 2019 / Revised: 16 November 2019 / Accepted: 26 November 2019 / Published: 28 November 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crystal Growth in Environmental Protection, Remediation, and Health)
In desalination, a high level of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) ions in seawater can cause scale deposition on the reverse osmosis membranes and water treatment systems. This process can significantly affect the efficiency of desalination. In addition, heavy metals in seawater affect human health. Therefore, Alcaligenes aquatilis from seawater was used to remove Ca, Mg, and nickel (Ni) by microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). The purification system was then analyzed by ionic analysis and surface characterization. This study shows that the bacteria can utilize amino acids to produce carbonate and form precipitates with a high removal rate. MICP via A. aquatilis removed 91.8%, 68.5%, and 92.2% of the initial soluble Ca, Mg, and Ni, respectively. Furthermore, A. aquatilis can remove ammonium after the MICP process under oxygen-rich conditions. Therefore, we provide interesting insight into the use of Alcaligenes (in the absence of urea) to improve the seawater quality in the process of desalination.
Keywords:
Alcaligenes aquatilis; MICP; desalination; calcium; magnesium; nickel
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Dong, Y.; Guo, Z.; Guo, N.; Liu, T. One-Step Removal of Calcium, Magnesium, and Nickel in Desalination by Alcaligenes aquatilis via Biomineralization. Crystals 2019, 9, 633.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
