Use of lignite slurry as inoculating medium for vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza in chinese potato (Coleus parviflorus)

Tubers of Coleus parviflorus were inoculated with spores of the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus microcarpum. The spores had been suspended in a lignite slurry and stored in a refrigerator for 1–6 months periods. Inoculation took place by soaking the tubers in the slurry for 3 h followed by drying in the shade, subsequent planting of such tubers gave rise to nearly 100% infection even after 6 months of storage.     

Survival of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in the intermediate and final digestion products of biogas plants

Aims

To evaluate the survival of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) during anaerobic digestion (AD), we studied two different biogas plants loaded with manure and slurry from paratuberculosis‐infected dairy herds.

Methods and Results

Both plants were operating under mesophilic conditions, the first with a single digester and the second with a double digester. Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis detection was performed by sampling each stage of the process, specifically the prefermenter, fermenter, liquid digestate and solid digestate stages, for 11 months. In both plants, MAP was isolated from the prefermenter stage. Only the final products, the solid and liquid digestates, of the one‐stage plant showed viable MAP, while no viable MAP was detected in the digestates of the two‐stage plant.

Conclusions

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis showed a significant decrease during subsequent steps of the AD process, particularly in the two‐stage plant. We suggest that the second digester maintained the digestate under anaerobic conditions for a longer period of time, thus reducing MAP survival and MAP load under the culture detection limit.

Significance and Impact of the Study

Our data are unable to exclude the presence of MAP in the final products of the biogas plants, particularly those products from the single digester; therefore, the use of digestates as fertilizers is a real concern related to the possible environmental contamination with MAP.     

Growth kinetics of thermophilic Methanosarcina spp. isolated from full-scale biogas plants treating animal manures

This study determines the growth kinetics of thermophilic strains of Methanosarcina spp. from full-scale thermophilic biogas plants. The complete set of kinetic parameters, including maximum specific growth rate μ(max), half saturation constant K(S), acetate threshold concentration and cell growth yield Y(X/S), were determined for six Methanosarcina strains newly isolated from full-scale reactors and the type strain Methanosarcina thermophila TM-1(T). The kinetic experiments were performed in media supplemented with acetate and activated carbon at the optimum growth temperatures of the individual strains, 50-55 degrees C. The μ(max) values of the isolates were in the range of 0.044-0.064 h(-1), the K(S) ranged from 6.5 to 24.7 mM acetate and the threshold for acetate utilization from 0.11 to 0.40 mM. The cell growth yields of the strains were between 0.78 and 2.97 g dry weight cells mol(-1) acetate. The six isolates exhibited significantly higher μ(max) and had higher affinity to acetate than the type strain M. thermophila TM-1(T). Generally, the affinities of thermophilic Methanosarcina strains tested in this study cover a similar range to those reported in the literature for mesophilic Methanosarcina spp. with acetate as substrate. The strains isolated from plants treating mixtures of animal manures and industrial organic wastes had higher affinity for acetate and lower thresholds than strains isolated from reactors operating solely on manures.     

Biogas plasticization coupled anaerobic digestion: batch test results

Biogas has unique properties for improving the biodegradability of biomass solids during anaerobic digestion (AD). This report presents batch test results of the first investigation into utilizing biogas plasticization to "condition" organic polymers during active digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS). Preliminary design calculations based on polymer diffusion rate limitation are presented. Analysis of the 20 degrees C batch test data determined the first order (k(1)) COD conversion coefficient to be 0.167 day(-1) with a maximum COD utilization rate of 11.25 g L(-1) day(-1). Comparison of these batch test results to typical conventional AD performance parameters showed orders of magnitude improvement. These results show that biogas plasticization during active AD could greatly improve renewable energy yields from biomass waste materials such as MSW RDF, STP sludges, food wastes, animal manure, green wastes, and agricultural crop residuals.     

Water for small‐scale biogas digesters in sub‐Saharan Africa

Biogas could provide a more sustainable energy source than wood fuels for rural households in sub‐Saharan African. However, functioning of biogas digesters can be limited in areas of low water availability. The water required is approximately 50 dm³ day^?1 for each cow and 10 dm³ day^?1 for each pig providing manure to the digester, or 25 (±6) dm³ day^?1 for each person in the household, using a digester volume of 1.3 (±0.3) m³ capita^?1. Here, we consider the potential of domestic water recycling, rainwater harvesting, and aquaculture to supply the water needed for digestion in different countries of sub‐Saharan Africa. Domestic water recycling was found to be important in every country but was usually insufficient to meet the requirements of the digester, with households in 72% of countries need to collect additional water. Rooftop rainwater harvesting also has an important role, iron roofs being more effective than thatched roofs at collecting water. However, even with an iron roof, the size of roof commonly found in sub‐Saharan Africa (15 to 40 m²) is too small to collect sufficient water, requiring an extra area (in m²) for each person of (R/100) (where R is the rainfall in mm). If there is a local market for fish, stocking a pond with tilapia, fed on plankton growing on bioslurry from the digester, could provide an important source of additional income and hold the water required by the digester. In areas where rainfall is low and seasonal, the fishpond might be stocked only in the rainy season, allowing the pond to be covered during the dry period to reduce evaporation. If evaporative losses (E in mm) exceed rainfall, an extra catchment area is needed to maintain the water level in the pond, equivalent to approximately (1.5 × ((E?R)/R)) m² for each person in the household.     

Methane yield of biomass from extensive grassland is affected by compositional changes induced by order of arrival

Low‐input grassland biomass from marginal and other slightly more fertile sites can be used for energy production without competing with food or fodder production. The effect of grassland diversity on methane yield has received some attention, but we do not know how community assembly may affect methane yield from grassland biomass. However, methane yields determine the potential economic value of a bioenergy substrate. Hence, a better understanding of how plant community assembly affects methane yield would be important. We measured biomass production and methane yield in the second year of a grassland field experiment which manipulated the order of arrival of different plant functional groups (forbs, grasses or legumes sown first and all sown simultaneously) and sown diversity (9 vs. 21 species). The order of arrival of the plant functional groups significantly determined the relative dominance of each group which in turn mainly explained the variance in aboveground biomass production. Differences in area‐specific methane yields were driven by differences in biomass production and which plant functional groups dominated a plot. When grasses were sown first, legumes and grasses codominated a plot and the highest area‐specific methane yield was obtained. Overall, the results indicate that altering the order of arrival affected the community functional and species composition (and hence methane yields) much more than sown diversity. Our study shows that a combined use of positive biodiversity effects and guided plant community assembly may be able to optimize methane yields under field conditions. This may allow a guided, sustainable, and lucrative use of grassland biomass for biogas production in the future.     

A novel mathematical model of solid-state digestion

The proposed model of solid-state digestion assumes the development of a distinct zone of depleted waste around each viable seed particle. Biodegradation is envisaged to occur chiefly in thin shells at the interface between depleted and raw waste, at a rate proportional to the interfacial area. These shells are estimated to expand at a constant 5 cm/year. The reaction thus accelerates following a square law until neighbouring shells meet. Deceleration is then rapid as the shells merge. The proposed model agrees with available lysimeter data; first-order decay kinetics do not.     

H2O2预处理胜利褐煤镜质组的生物产气研究

【目的】研究H₂O₂处理对煤中镜质组生物产气的影响。【方法】选择内蒙古胜利褐煤作为研究对象,以实验室前期富集保存的产甲烷微生物作为出发菌群,首先通过浮选对煤炭进行显微组分分离(高镜质组GJ、中镜质组ZJ和低镜质组DJ),并对煤的物化性质进行表征,然后在固液比1:15、H₂O₂浓度10%、预处理时间30 d条件下用H₂O₂处理不同镜质组含量的样品,再以处理前后的原煤及残煤进行生物产气实验。采用气相色谱、X射线衍射和傅里叶变换红外光谱等方法分析H₂O₂处理前后产气及煤的物化性质变化。【结果】经过H₂O₂预处理后,煤中镜质组的含量有所下降,挥发成分增加,固定碳减少,H₂O₂与高镜质组煤样反应更剧烈,氧含量增加,碳含量减少。未经过处理的煤在100 d时产甲烷量为GJ＞ZJ＞DJ,分别为174.24、164.31、135.52 μmol/g煤,而经过H₂O₂预处理的煤在20 d后停止产气,最终产甲烷量分别为39.63、39.61、41.55μmol/g煤,比原煤产气减少了77.26%、75.89%和69.34%。随着镜质组含量的增加,经过H₂O₂处理后的煤样芳香环层片的层间距d₀₀₂、单层层片的延展度L_a和层片的堆叠度L_c减小,而芳香层数N增加,表明晶核结构变小。经过H₂O₂处理后煤芳烃碳、芳香族、C=O基团和C=C基团所占比例增加,芳环缩合度增大,含氧官能团变多。【结论】利用H₂O₂长时间处理使煤基质中较易被微生物利用的有机质结构减少,从而降低了产气能力。     

云南热带户用沼气池的原核生物群落结构研究

【目的】揭示云南热带农村户用沼气池中的原核生物(细菌和古菌)的群落结构特征。【方法】采用16S r RNA基因克隆文库技术对云南(北)热带代表性气候区的户用沼气池中的原核生物(细菌和古菌)多样性进行研究。【结果】得到细菌330条有效序列,划分为108个OTUs,文库覆盖度为81.5%;古菌有效序列185条,划分为17个OTUs,文库覆盖度为97.8%。通过Gen Bank数据库进行相似性比对与系统发育分析,结果表明:大部分细菌为未知细菌(Unclassified bacteria,占24.19%),优势细菌类群归属拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes,占23.58%)、绿弯菌门(Chloroflexi,占21.46%)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes,占13.91%)和变形菌门(Proteobacteria,占8.74%);古菌主要的优势类群为乙酸盐营养型的甲烷八叠球菌目(Methanosarcinales)的鬃毛甲烷菌属(Methanosaeta,占76.75%);此外还检测到少量未培养的泉古菌门细菌(Crenarchaeota,占9.19%)。【结论】云南(北)热带代表性气候区的农村户用沼气池中的微生物种类十分丰富,不同微生物种类的丰度存在明显差异,并存在明显优势种群,且细菌比古菌具有更丰富的多样性。