Search results for "Bioengineering"
showing 10 items of 1963 documents
Effect of additives on process stability of mesophilic anaerobic monodigestion of pig slaughterhouse waste
2012
The effect of two additives on anaerobic monodigestion of pig slaughterhouse waste was studied in three laboratory scale continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) operated for 242-284 days at 35°C. A higher organic loading rate (OLR), namely 2.25 kg volatile solids (VS)/m(3)d with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 30 d was feasible with an additive containing Fe, HCl and trace elements while an OLR of 1.5 kg VS/m(3)d (HRT 30 d) led to instabilities in CSTR with an additive consisting of Fe and HCl and in CSTR without additives. Methane yields of ca. 700 dm(3) CH(4)/kg VS(fed) were obtained in all reactors under stable conditions. Both additives decreased H(2)S concentration of the biogas…
Mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion of rendering plant and slaughterhouse wastes.
2011
Co-digestion of rendering and slaughterhouse wastes was studied in laboratory scale semi-continuously fed continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) at 35 and 55 °C. All in all, 10 different rendering plant and slaughterhouse waste fractions were characterised showing high contents of lipids and proteins, and methane potentials of 262-572 dm(3)CH(4)/kg volatile solids(VS)(added). In mesophilic CSTR methane yields of ca 720 dm(3) CH(4)/kg VS(fed) were obtained with organic loading rates (OLR) of 1.0 and 1.5 kg VS/m(3) d, and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 50 d. For thermophilic process, the lowest studied OLR of 1.5 kg VS/m(3) d, turned to be unstable after operation of 1.5 HRT, due to ac…
Moving bed membrane bioreactors for carbon and nutrient removal: The effect of C/N variation
2017
In this paper, an experimental campaign was carried out on a University of Cape Town Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge Membrane Bioreactor (UCT-IFAS-MBR) pilot plant. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the influent C/N ratio on the system performance in terms of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, biomass viability (through respirometry), activated sludge features and membrane filtration properties. The experiments were organized into three phases, characterized by a variation of the C/N ratio (namely, Phase I: C/N= 5, Phase II: C/N =10; Phase III: C/N = 2). The results highlighted that the system performance was significantly affected by C/N ratio. The rem…
Effect of pH, substrate and free nitrous acid concentrations on ammonium oxidation rate.
2012
Respirometric techniques have been used to determine the effect of pH, free nitrous acid (FNA) and substrate concentration on the activity of the ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) present in an activated sludge reactor. With this aim, bacterial activity has been measured at different pH values (ranging from 6.2 to 9.7), total ammonium nitrogen concentrations (ranging from 0.1 to 10 mg TAN L-1) and total nitrite concentrations (ranging from 3 to 43 mg NO2-N L-1). According to the results obtained, the most appropriate kinetic expression for the growth of AOB in activated sludge reactors has been established. Substrate half saturation constant and FNA and pH inhibition constants have been obt…
Effect of intracellular P content on phosphate removal in Scenedesmus sp. Experimental study and kinetic expression
2014
The present work determines the effect of phosphorus content on phosphate uptake rate in a mixed culture of Chlorophyceae in which the genus Scenedesmus dominates. Phosphate uptake rate was determined in eighteen laboratory batch experiments, with samples taken from a progressively more P-starved culture in which a minimum P content of 0.11% (w/w) was achieved. The results obtained showed that the higher the internal biomass P content, the lower the phosphate removal rate. The highest specific phosphate removal rate was 6.5 mgPO4 P gTSS -1 h -1 . Microalgae with a P content around 1% (w/w) attained 10% of this highest removal rate, whereas those with a P content of 0.6% (w/w) presented 50% …
Chemical composition of lipophilic extractives from grey alder (Alnus incana)
2013
The chemical composition of the lipophilic extractives in the hexane extracts from grey alder bark, knotwood, and cones has been investigated by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The efficiency of two extraction methods was compared. The highest amount of lipophilic extractives (about 9% of o.d. material) was observed in grey alder cone, while the lowest (about 3%) was found in knotwood. The three different morphological parts of alder showed significant differences not only in the content but also in composition of extractives, namely fatty acids, triglycerides, and triterpenes. The main identified compounds were triterpenoids (lupen-3-one, lupeol, betulone, betu…
The overproduction of 2,4-DTBP accompanying to the lack of available form of phosphorus during the biodegradative utilization of aminophosphonates by…
2014
Although information about the ability of some filamentous fungi to biodegrade organophosphonates is available, the knowledge about accompanying changes in fungal metabolism is very limited. The aim of our study was to determine the utilization of the chosen, structurally diverse aminophosphonates by Aspergillus terreus (Thom), in the context of the behaviour of this fungus while growing in unfavourable conditions, namely the lack of easily available phosphates. We found that all the studied compounds were utilized by fungus as nutritive sources of phosphorus, however, their effect on the production of fungal biomass depended on their structure. We also observed an interesting change in the…
Evaluation of the optimal activation parameters for almond shell bio-char production for capacitive deionization
2020
Abstract A study on a possible new biomass waste to be used as electrode material for capacitive deionization (CDI) processes was performed. Raw almond shells were pyrolyzed at 800, 900 and 1000 °C and then activated through CO2. Carbon activation is used to develop porosity inside the material, increasing the specific surface area and the adsorption performances. In this work, authors tried to correlate the effects of pyrolysis and activation temperature on the ion storage capacity. Results from the desalination tests indicated that the best performance in terms of ion adsorption was obtained when the bio-char was activated at the temperature of 900 °C. Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) and Barr…
A pilot-scale study of struvite precipitation in a stirred tank reactor: Conditions influencing the process
2008
Currently, the two most developed techniques for recovering phosphorus from wastewater consist of the formation of calcium phosphates and struvite (MgNH(4)PO(4).6H(2)O). In this work the influence of the operational conditions on the struvite precipitation process (pH in the reactor, hydraulic retention time, and magnesium:phosphorus, nitrogen:phosphorus, and calcium:magnesium molar ratios) have been studied. Twenty-three experiments with artificial wastewater were performed in a stirred reactor. In order to obtain the pH value maintenance during the crystallization process, a fuzzy logic control has been developed. High phosphorus removal efficiencies were reliably achieved precipitating t…
Theoretical and practical aspects of chemical functionalization of carbon nanofibers (CNFs): DFT calculations and adsorption study
2011
The nitric acid-functionalized commercial carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were comprehensively studied by instrumental (XRD, BET, SEM, TGA) and theoretical (DFT calculations) methods. The detailed surface study revealed the variation in the characteristics of functionalized CNFs, such as a decreased (up to 34%) surface area and impacted structural, electronic and chemical properties. The effects of functional groups were studied by comparison with pristine nanofibers. The results showed that the C-C bond lengths of the modified CNFs varied significantly. Chemical functionalization altered the frontier orbitals of the pristine material, and therefore altered the nature of their interactions with ot…