Design optimization of bimetal-modified biochar for enhanced phosphate removal performance in livestock wastewater using machine learning.

Journal: Bioresource technology
PMID:

Abstract

Mg-modified biochar shows high adsorption performance under weakly acidic and neutral water conditions. However, its phosphate removal efficiency markedly decreases in naturally alkaline wastewater, such as that released in livestock farming (anaerobic wastewater with a high phosphate concentration). This research employed six machine learning models to predict and optimize the phosphate removal performance of bimetal-modified biochar (i.e., Mg-Ca/Al/Fe/La) to develop material design strategies suitable for achieving high removal efficiency in alkaline wastewater. Random forest, gradient boosting regressor, and extreme gradient boosting models achieved high prediction accuracy (R > 0.98). Model predictions and experimental validations indicated that Mg-Ca-modified biochar still maintained high adsorption capacity under acidic conditions and could effectively realize phosphate adsorption under alkaline conditions, with a removal rate of 99.33 %. Overall, this research focuses on material performance optimization using machine learning, offering insights and methods for developing biochar materials for practical water-treatment applications.

Authors

  • Weilin Fu
    Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany. weilin.fu@fau.de.
  • Xia Yao
    Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China; Institute of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.
  • Lisheng Zhang
    Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China.
  • Jien Zhou
    Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China; Dali Comprehensive Experimental Station of Environmental Protection Research and Monitoring Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Dali Original Seed Farm), Dali 671004, China.
  • Xueyan Zhang
    National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China.
  • Tian Yuan
    Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • Shiyu Lv
    Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China; Dali Comprehensive Experimental Station of Environmental Protection Research and Monitoring Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Dali Original Seed Farm), Dali 671004, China.
  • Pu Yang
    School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, Cornell University, 232 Rhodes Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853-3801, USA.
  • Kerong Fu
    Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China.
  • Yingqiu Huo
    College of Information Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China. Electronic address: fallying@nwsuaf.edu.cn.
  • Feng Wang
    Department of Oncology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, China.