Bio-drying of municipal solid waste with high water content by aeration procedures regulation and inoculation

To improve the water content reduction of municipal solid waste with high water content, the operations of supplementing a hydrolytic stage prior to aerobic degradation and inoculating the bio-drying products were conducted. A 'bio-drying index' was used to evaluate the bio-drying performance. For the aerobic processes, the inoculation accelerated organics degradation, enhanced the lignocelluloses degradation rate by 10.4%, and lowered water content by 7.0%. For the combined hydrolytic-aerobic processes, the inoculum addition had almost no positive effect on the bio-drying efficiency, but it enhanced the lignocelluloses degradation rate by 9.6% and strengthened the acidogenesis in the hydrolytic stage. Compared with the aerobic processes, the combined processes had a higher bio-drying index (4.20 for non-inoculated and 3.67 for the inoculated trials). Moreover, the lowest final water content occurred in the combined process without inoculation (50.5% decreased from an initial 72.0%).     

Correlation of enzymatic activity and thermal resistance with hydration state in ungerminated Neurospora conidia.

Ungerminated Neurospora crassa conidia were incubated at 0, 50, and 100% relative humidity, giving rise to conidia in dry, quasi-dry, and wet hydration states, respectively. Metabolic activity was detected by monitoring levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and the soluble-amino acid pools as a function of incubation time. Wet conidia (approximately 65% water content) exhibited significant metabolic activity as evidenced by: (i) reduction of GSSG to GSH, (ii) degradation of GSH, and (iii) changes in the pool sizes of certain amino acids. GSSG accumulated slowly in dry conidia (less than 5% water content) and more rapidly in quasi-dry conidia (approximately 13% water content), indicating that enzymatic reduction of GSSG is inactive in these states. Longevity and thermal resistance were high for dry conidia and low for wet conidia, but were not influenced by variation in GSSG content. The water content of conidia exhibited a hysteresis effect in that at a given relative humidity previously dried conidia attained a lower water content than freshly harvested conidia.     

Remediation of pentachlorophenol-contaminated soil by composting with immobilized Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Summary To reduce and eliminate the hazards of pentachlorophenol (PCP) to the soil, the method of inoculating free and immobilized white rot fungi, Phanerochaete chrysosporium to PCP-polluted soils was investigated. Three parallel beakers A, B, C are adopted with the same components of soil, yard waste, straw and bran for aerated composting to degrade the PCP in soil. A was with no inoculants as control, B was added with the inoculants of immobilized P.␣chrysosporium, C was inoculated with non-immobilized P. chrysosporium, and additionally D contained only PCP-contaminated soils also as control. By contrastive analyses, the feasibility of applying composting to the bioremediation of the PCP-polluted soil was discussed. From the experimental results, it could be seen that the degradation rate of PCP by the immobilized fungi exceeded 50% at day 9, while that of the non-immobilized fungi achieved the same rate at day 16. However, the final degradation rates of PCP for both of them were beyond 90% at day 60 and that the rate of A was much lower than the others. The above data have shown that the degradation effect of inoculating P. chrysosporium was better than that of no inoculation, and that of the immobilized fungi was better than that of non-immobilized ones. Meanwhile, shown by all the indicators the composts of A, B and C were mature and stabilized at the end of the experiment. Therefore, the method of composting with immobilized P.␣chrysosporium is effective for the bioremediation of PCP-contaminated soil.     

Interactions between a seed-borne strain of cucumber mosaic cucumovirus and its lupin host

The relationship between time of inoculation with cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) and the growth, seed production and rate of seed transmission of virus in lupin (Lupinus angustifolius cv. Illyarrie) was studied in field-grown plants. Plants inoculated at the seedling stage (2 days post-emergence) showed 45% mortality. Plants infected through the seed were more stunted than plants inoculated at the seedling stage. Plants inoculated up to the mid-vegetative growth stage (58 days post-emergence) yielded ≤ 27% of the dry matter and ≤ 9% of the seed of healthy plants. Late inoculation (114 days post-emergence) did not affect dry matter yield, but reduced seed yield to 75% of that of healthy plants. Rate of seed transmission depended on the time of inoculation of plants. The maximum rate was 24.5% for plants that were inoculated at the mid-vegetative growth stage (58 days post-emergence). However, early inoculation caused a large reduction in seed yield, and it was shown that plants inoculated at the beginning of flowering (94 days post-emergence) produced greater numbers of infected progeny than plants inoculated at earlier or later times. No relationship was observed between seed weight and transmission of CMV. Infectious CMV was recovered from the embryo, but not from the testa. A simple seed transmission model was used to evaluate several hypothetical epidemics and to determine the time of inoculation which results in greatest rates of seed transmission of CMV. For example, when fewer than 73% of plants in a crop become infected with CMV, then the rate of transmission of virus in crop seeds will be greatest when inoculations are at the beginning of flowering.     

Impact of Water Content and Temperature on the Degradation of Cry1Ac Protein in Leaves and Buds of Bt Cotton in the Soil

Determining the influence of soil environmental factors on degradation of Cry1Ac protein from Bt cotton residues is vital for assessing the ecological risks of this commercialized transgenic crop. In this study, the degradation of Cry1Ac protein in leaves and in buds of Bt cotton in soil was evaluated under different soil water content and temperature settings in the laboratory. An exponential model and a shift-log model were used to fit the degradation dynamics of Cry1Ac protein and estimate the DT₅₀ and DT₉₀ values. The results showed that Cry1Ac protein in the leaves and buds underwent rapid degradation in the early stage (before day 48), followed by a slow decline in the later stage under different soil water content and temperature. Cry1Ac protein degraded the most rapidly in the early stage at 35°C with 70% soil water holding capacity. The DT₅₀ values were 12.29 d and 10.17 d and the DT₉₀ values were 41.06 d and 33.96 d in the leaves and buds, respectively. Our findings indicated that the soil temperature was a major factor influencing the degradation of Cry1Ac protein from Bt cotton residues. Additionally, the relative higher temperature (25°C and 35°C) was found to be more conducive to degradation of Cry1Ac protein in the soil and the greater water content (100%WHC) retarded the process. These findings suggested that under appropriate soil temperature and water content, Cry1Ac protein from Bt cotton residues will not persist and accumulate in soil.     

High rate treatment of terephthalic acid production wastewater in a two-stage anaerobic bioreactor

The feasibility was studied of anaerobic treatment of wastewater generated during purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production in two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor system. The artificial influent of the system contained the main organic substrates of PTA-wastewater: acetate, benzoate, and terephthalate. Three parallel operated reactors were used for the second stage, and seeded with a suspended terephthalate degrading culture, with and without additional methanogenic granular sludge (two different types). The first stage UASB-reactor was seeded with methanogenic granular sludge. Reactors were operated at 37 degrees C and pH 7. During the first 300 days of operation a clear distinction between the biomass grown in both reactor stages was obtained. In the first stage, acetate and benzoate were degraded at a volumetric loading rate of 40 g-COD/L . day at a COD-removal efficiency of 95% within the first 25 days of operation. No degradation of terephthalate was obtained in the first stage during the first 300 days of operation despite operation of the reactor at a decreased volumetric loading rate with acetate and benzoate of 9 g-COD/L . day from day 150. Batch incubation of biomass from the reactor with terephthalate showed that the lag-phase prior to terephthalate degradation remained largely unchanged, indicating that no net growth of terephthalate degrading biomass occurred in the first stage reactor. From day 300, however, terephthalate degradation was observed in the first stage, and the biomass in this reactor could successfully be enriched with terephthalate degrading biomass, resulting in terephthalate removal capacities of 15 g-COD/L . day. Even though no single reason could be identified why (suddenly) terephthalate degradation was obtained after such a long period of operation, it is suggested that the solid retention time as well the prevailing reactor concentrations acetate and benzoate may have played an important role. From day 1 of operation, terephthalate was degraded in the second stage. In presence of methanogenic granular biomass, high terephthalate removal capacities were obtained in these reactors (15 g-COD/L . day) after approximately 125 days of operation. From the results obtained it is concluded that terephthalate degradation is the bottleneck during anaerobic treatment of PTA-wastewater. Pre-removal of acetate and benzoate in staged bioreactor reduces the lag-phase prior to terephthalate degradation in latter stages, and enables high rate treatment of PTA-wastewater.     

黄孢原毛平革菌对黄瓜连作土壤酚酸物质的降解

研究了黄孢原毛平革菌对黄瓜连作土壤中对羟基苯甲酸、香草酸及阿魏酸的降解及连作障碍修复作用.结果表明,在摇瓶条件下,黄孢原毛平革菌在8 d内,对3种酚酸的降解率都达99％以上. 在连续种植7年黄瓜的大棚土壤中,施入黄孢原毛平革菌菌剂后,土壤中3种酚酸的含量都有所降低,降解率为54.46%. 与对照相比,修复土壤真菌数量变化无明显规律. 修复处理后黄瓜株高、茎粗、鲜质量及干质量无明显变化,黄瓜根部病害明显减轻,枯萎病及根结线虫病相对病情指数分别降低10.2%和14.6%.表明施入黄孢原毛平革菌剂对黄瓜连作障碍的解除具有一定的效果.     

Anaerobic storage as a pretreatment for enhanced biodegradability of dewatered sewage sludge

Dewatered sewage sludge is often stored still before further processing and final disposal. This study showed that anaerobic storage of dewatered sewage sludge could hydrolyze organic matter from the sludge matrix, and increase soluble organic acid content from 90 to 2400 mg/L and soluble organic carbon content from 220 to 1650 mg/L. Correspondingly, the contents of proteins, celluloses and hemicelluloses were reduced by 2-9%. Applying anaerobic storage markedly enhanced the efficiency of the subsequent bio-drying process on stored sludge. Correspondingly, biogas and odor gas were produced immediately after commencing the sludge storage. Anaerobic storage with odor control can be applied as a pretreatment process for dewatered sewage sludge in wastewater treatment plants.     

Grain filling in relation to monocarpic senescence of wheat in varying source-sink ratios

Flag leaf removal at any stage of grain growth hastened senescence (reduction in chlorophyll content) of the sterile glumes whereas a removal of the latter did not alter senescence of the former. Kernel mass, grain mass per ear, harvest index and sink activity reduced more conspicuously by the removal of glumes than by the flag leaf removal. Removal of grains hastened senescence of the glumes only, although protein content increased at a later grain removal in the majority of source organs. Moisture contents of the developing grains were mostly reduced by the removal of either the flag leaf or the glumes, though flag leaf removal at anthesis affected it the most. Protein levels of the developing grains reduced at harvest only when the glumes were removed at anthesis but sugar levels in later phases always decreased irrespective of the time of removal and nature of the source organs.     

Biological Processing of Pine Logs for Pulp and Paper Production with Phlebiopsis gigantea

Phlebiopsis gigantea (=Phanerochaete gigantea) is a white rot fungus that rapidly colonizes cut stumps, stems, and branches of pine. Two laboratory and several field studies showed that inoculation of red pine logs, Pinus resinosa, with P. gigantea reduced the pitch content of wood, facilitated bark removal, modified wood cells, and controlled detrimental sapstain. Isolations from inoculated logs revealed up to 100 and 80% colonization of the sapwood by P. gigantea after 8 weeks in the field and 32 days in the laboratory, respectively. Logs colonized by P. gigantea in both the laboratory and field showed a 9 to 71% reduction in pitch content, as well as a significant enhancement of bark removal. Examination with Simons' stain of refined wood fibers from inoculated logs revealed an increase in cell wall porosity. Blue stain fungi that cause dark discoloration of the sapwood were inhibited by inoculation with P. gigantea. These studies demonstrate that biological processing of logs with P. gigantea can result in substantial benefits to the pulp and papermaking process.     

Comparison of microbial community composition and activity in sulfate-reducing batch systems remediating mine drainage

Five microbial inocula were evaluated in batch tests for the ability to remediate mine drainage (MD). Dairy manure (DM), anaerobic digester sludge, substrate from the Luttrell (LUTR) and Peerless Jenny King (PJK) sulfate-reducing permeable reactive zones (SR-PRZs) and material from an MD-treatment column that had been inoculated with material from a previous MD-treatment column were compared in terms of sulfate and metal removal and pH neutralization. The microbial communities were characterized at 0, 2, 4, 9, and 14 weeks using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to quantify all bacteria and the sulfate-reducing bacteria of the genus Desulfovibrio. The cultures inoculated with the LUTR, PJK, and DM materials demonstrated significantly higher rates of sulfate and metal removal, and contained all the microorganisms associated with the desired functions of SR-PRZs (i.e., polysaccharide degradation, fermentation, and sulfate reduction) as well as a relatively high proportion of Desulfovibrio spp. These results demonstrate that inoculum influences performance and also provide insights into key aspects of inoculum composition that impact performance. This is the first systematic biomolecular examination of the relationship between microbial community composition and MD remediation capabilities.     

Degradation efficiency and molecular size alteration during the aerobic microbial treatment of lignite pyrolysis deposit water

 Investigations into aerobic biological degrada-tion were carried out as part of an extensive programme designed to facilitate the cheap remediation of a pyrolysis waste-water deposit. Attention was focused on the processes of carbon conversion by different populations. The susceptibility of a body of lignite-processing deposit water to microbiological degradation was examined in batch investigations in a Sapromat system and in continuous bench-scale fermenter cultivations, with respect to nutrient supply, inoculation culture and molecular size distribution. It was found that degradation best occurs with an adapted mixed culture. The autochthonous culture removes 30% less dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and has a 40% higher specific oxygen demand. A shortage of phosphorus, investigated with a view to avoiding additional eutrophication problems in the open water in the case of in situ remediation, causes reduced DOC degrada-tion and significantly higher specific oxygen demand. The biological process is overlapped by abiotic oxidation. During aerobic treatment, a concentration of colour-giving aromatic substances of between 0.5 kDa and 5 kDa was observed. This phenomenon is caused by the oxidation of low- and high-molecular-mass compounds. The removal of DOC is limited to 65% and mainly occurs in the range below 0.5 kDa (30%) and in the 0.5–1 kDa range (12%); the removal is negligible in the ranges 1–3 kDa (0.8%) and 3–5 kDa (2%) and a little higher in the ranges 5 kDa–0.3 μm (5%) and above 0.3 μm (6%). In the investigations it was discovered that DOC removal causes in the ranges below 0.5 kDa, 0.5–1 kDa and 5 kDa–0.3 μm mainly as a result of degradation, but the range above 0.3 μm is chiefly caused by bioadsorption. Aerobic microbiological treatment is able to remove most low-molecular-mass substances. In order to remove the macromolecular and colour-giving part of the deposit water, an additional treatment stage, e.g. flocculation, is required. Received: 10 October 1995/Received revision: 9 January 1996/Accepted: 15 January 1996     

Nodule Structure and Functioning in Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum) as Affected by Salt Stress

Cicer arietinum L. plants raised in sand culture under natural light were subjected to salinity stress induced by mixture of NaCl, CaCl₂, MgCl₂ and MgSO₄ (40, 60 or 80 meq dm^-3). Acetylene reduction activity (ARA) of nodules, leghemoglobin content and nodule structure were followed 55, 75 and 85 d after sowing. ARA declined significantly under salt treatments and the lowest ARA was observed at day 85 after sowing. Decrease in ARA was consistent with decreased nodule leghemoglobin content. The leghemoglobin content of control plants decreased by 50 % at day 85 indicating senescence of nodules. This senescence was further accelerated by salt treatment after which the leghemoglobin content fell to negligible levels. The structural changes associated with salt stress were mainly reduction in size of the nodules, decreased meristematic zone, reduced number and degradation of symbiosomes, reduced intercellalar spaces and deposition of electron dense material in the intercellular spaces in the cortex of nodules.     

Effect of water extraction on sugars recovery from steam exploded olive tree pruning

Biomass of olive tree pruning can be considered a suitable raw material for the production of ethanol due to its high content of potentially fermentable carbohydrates. However its high extractives content could cause condensation reactions between extractives and acid insoluble lignin during pretreatment, hindering the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated material. In this work, the effect of extractives removal before steam explosion of olive tree pruning was evaluated. The objectives are to recover as much glucose as possible in the extraction stage and to avoid the condensation reactions. The effect of temperature and time of water extracted material on sugars recovery was studied using a response surface method according to a central composite design. Extractive removal previous to steam explosion resulted in 20% more total sugars recovery in comparison to a material without water extraction stage.     

Effect of pH-neutralized leachate recirculation on a combined hydrolytic–aerobic biopretreatment for municipal solid waste

Four trials with different durations (1, 2, 3 and 4 days) of neutralized leachate recirculation and a control with distilled water recirculation for 4 days were set up to investigate the effect of recirculation duration on MSW biopretreatment by a combined hydrolytic–aerobic process. Results showed that recirculation could enhance water removal and organics degradation rates and thus lead to a lower water content of biopretreated materials, when compared with the control. Recirculation with duration of 4 days had the highest rates of water removal (83.7%) and organics degradation (62.1%) and lowest final water content (43.1%) due to the elimination of acid inhibition. As a result, recirculation with duration of 4 days had the highest sorting efficiency (75%) and heating value (10570 kJ/kg) and lowest respiration activity (98.6 mgO₂/g). Thereby, neutralized leachate recirculation with duration of 4 days was suggested to pretreat municipal solid waste with high water content.     

A rotational drum fermentation system with water flushing for enhancing hydrolysis and acidification of solid organic wastes

In this work, fresh soybean meal was used as the substrate for both batch and continuous experiments in a rotational drum fermentation (RDF) system to characterize the acidogenic process of solid organic waste degradation at high unionized volatile acid (U-VA) level and evaluate the effect of water flushing on the acidogenic performance. The experiments were conducted under mesophilic condition with a reaction time of 20 days. The results of the batch experiment showed that U-VA had a growing adverse effect on the volatile acid (VA) production and hydrolysis of the substrate as the initially added U-VA concentration increased (0, 5, 15, 25 g/L). VA formation deteriorated drastically when the initial U-VA concentration exceeded 5 g/L. VS degradation ratios decreased from 43.8% to 7.3%, and the hydrolysis rate constants varied between 28.8 and 3.8 x 10(-3)/d in response to the initial U-VA concentration. In the continuous experiment, two cascade process configurations (CP1 and CP2) without and with VA removal by water flushing, respectively, were developed. The results showed that the hydrolysis rate constants and VS degradation ratios were 13.1 x 10(-3)/d and 23%, respectively, in CP2, while only 9.1 x 10(-3)/d and 16.7% in CP2. Compared to CP1, the VA spectrum varied little in CP2 with water flushing. It suggested that the higher U-VA level had a significant inhibition on the acidogenic process of solid organic waste degradation, and the VA removal by water flushing improved the acidogenic performance.     

Decolourisation of a synthetic textile effluent using a bacterial consortium

In the present study we examined the performance of a thermoalkalophilic bacterial consortium, where the predominant strain was Bacillus sp. SF, in the degradation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5). We used a reactor working in continuous mode and investigated the effects of pH, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and several added salts on colour and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reductions. For the chosen operational conditions (pH 9, 55 degrees C and HRT of 12 h) the efficiencies achieved were 91.2 +/- 0.8 % for colour removal and 81.2% for COD removal. The system tolerated, with no significant decrease in colour removal efficiency, 30 g/L Na(2)SO(4), Na(2)CO(3) or NaCl. The latter two salts, however, led to a reduction in COD removal of 30% and 50%, respectively. The system proved to be very effective in the decolourisation of C.I. RB5 under alkaline conditions and at a comparatively high temperature.     

Changes in nitrogen fractions and proteolytic activities in the cotyledons of germinating lentils

Changes in ninhydrin positive material, free amino acids and protein content during germination of seeds of Lens culinaris Med. have been studied. Ninhydrin positive material and free amino acids reached their highest concentration at the fifth day of germination. Total protein which represents 21% of the total dry weight of the lentil cotyledons, suffers a degradation of only 24% in seven days of germination; in the same period of time, reserve proteins underwent a degradation of 69%, legumin being the more abundant at the start, and the more rapidly depleted. Five different classes of proteolytic activities have been reported in lentil cotyledons: caseinolytic, active against the reserve proteins of the lentil cotyledons themselves, aminopeptidase, peptidehydrolase, carboxypeptidase and dipeptidase. The removal of the axis did not seem to exert any significant influence on the enzymatic activity.     

Time dependent degradation of mixture of structurally different azo and non azo dyes by using Galactomyces geotrichum MTCC 1360

Galactomyces geotrichum MTCC 1360, a yeast species showed 88% ADMI (American dye manufacturing institute) removal of mixture of structurally different dyes (Remazol red, Golden yellow HER, Rubine GFL, Scarlet RR, Methyl red, Brown 3 REL, Brilliant blue) (70 mg l⁻¹) within 24 h at 30 °C and pH 7.0 under shaking condition (120 rpm). Glucose (0.5%) as a carbon source was found to be more effective than other sources used. The medium with metal salt (CaCl₂, ZnSO₄, FeCl₃, MgCl₂, CuSO₄) (0.5 mM) showed less ADMI removal as compared to control, but did not inhibit complete decolorization. The presence of tyrosinase, NADH-DCIP reductase and induction in laccase activity during decolorization indicated their role in degradation. HPTLC (High performance thin layer chromatography) analysis revealed the removal of individual dyes at different time intervals from dye mixture, indicating preferential degradation of dyes. FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and HPLC (High performance liquid chromatography) analysis of samples before and after decolorization confirmed the biotransformation of dye. The reduction of COD (Chemical oxygen demand) (69%), TOC (Total organic carbon) (43%), and phytotoxicity study indicated the conversion of complex dye molecules into simpler oxidizable products having less toxic nature.     

玉米芯、竹炭及油枯吸附-海藻酸钠包埋施氏假单胞菌PFS-4对二氯喹啉酸的降解

采用玉米芯、竹炭及油枯吸附-海藻酸钠包埋对分离到的施氏假单胞菌PFS-4进行复合固定.采用正交试验对固定化条件进行优化,研究了固定化菌剂及游离菌体对二氯喹啉酸的降解效果.结果表明: 固定化菌剂制备的最佳条件为:海藻酸钠质量分数为4%、吸附载体比例(玉米芯∶竹炭∶油枯)为1∶2∶1、CaCl₂质量分数为3%、交联时间4 h.固定化菌剂在温度为30 ℃、初始pH=7的条件下,经6 d培养后,对浓度为800 mg·L^-1的二氯喹啉酸降解率为91.4%,而游离菌体的降解率为72.8%.将游离菌体和固定化菌剂用于实际污水及土壤处理时,固定化菌剂对水中及土壤中二氯喹啉酸去除率仍能分别达到84.2%和74.3%.研究结果表明,载体及其联结方式对土壤中二氯喹啉酸去除产生显著影响,翻动频率与土壤中二氯喹啉酸的去除率呈显著正相关.因此,玉米芯、竹炭及油枯吸附-海藻酸钠复合固定施氏假单胞菌PFS-4对不良环境具有较好的缓冲性能,对二氯喹啉酸污染水体及土壤原位生态修复具有潜力.