Search results for "Bioreactor"

Co-digestion of energy crops and industrial confectionery by-products with cow manure: batch-scale and farm-scale evaluation.

2002

The possible co-digestion of energy crops and industrial confectionery by-products with cow manure was evaluated firstly, through long-term batch experiments and secondly, in a farm-scale digester. In batch assays, digestion with mesophilically digested cow manure as inoculum resulted in specific methane yields (m3 kg−1 VSadded waste) of 0.35 for grass hay (particle size <1.0 cm); 0.26 for oats (0.5 cm) and 0.21 for clover (2.0 cm) harvested at vegetative stage and 0.14 (2.0 cm) for clover harvested at flowering stage. Specific methane yields (m3 kg−1 VSadded waste) for confectionery by-products were 0.37 for chocolate, 0.39 for black candy and 0.32 for confectionery raw material. Ou…

Evanescent wave-initiated photopolymerisation as a new way to create monolithic open-tubular capillary columns: use as enzymatic microreactor for on-…

2010

Evanescent wave-initiated photopolymerisation in an optically wave guiding PTFE-coated fused silica capillary using light-emitting diode as a light source, is established here as a way to fabricate monolithic porous layer open-tubular capillary columns with a potential in capillary separation methods; application of the obtained open-tubular columns as enzymatic microreactors for on-line protein digestion is demonstrated.

Biological minimization of excess sludge in a membrane bioreactor: Effect of plant configuration on sludge production, nutrient removal efficiency an…

Anaerobic digestion of grass silage in batch leach bed processes for methane production.

2007

Abstract Anaerobic digestion of grass silage in batch leach bed reactors, with and without a second stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, was evaluated. Sixty six percent of the methane potential in grass was obtained within the 55 days solids retention time in the leach bed–UASB process without pH adjustment, whereas in the one-stage leach bed process 20% of the methane potential in grass was extracted. In two-stage operation, adjustment of the pH of influent to the leach bed reactor to 6 with HCl led to inhibition of both hydrolysis/acidogenesis and methanogenesis. In the leach bed–UASB process 39% of the carbohydrates and 58% of the acid soluble lignin were solubilised wi…

Particle size distribution and biomass growth in a submerged membrane bioreactor

2006

Submerged membrane bioreactors (MBR)associate in a single treatment unit a process ofbiological treatment and a phase of solid/liquidseparation by membrane filtration. Due to reduced membrane porosity, suspendedsolids and large amount of bacteria and virusesmay be retained in the reactor; consequently, highbiomass concentration is generally established inthe system. Indeed, this latter circumstance leadsto obtain a system able to operate with a low F/Mand high SRT and hence, as a result, a low sludgeproduction. In technical literature, the definition of fou-lants in MBR systems is a controversial task.More specifically, the influence of TSS onmixed liquor filterability has not been yet full…

Study of aerobic granular sludge stability in a continuous-flow membrane bioreactor.

2015

A granular continuous-flow membrane bioreactor with a novel hydrodynamic configuration was developed to evaluate the stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS). Under continuous-flow operation (Period I), AGS rapidly lost their structural integrity resulting in loose and fluffy microbial aggregates in which filamentous bacteria were dominant. The intermittent feeding (Period II) allowed obtaining the succession of feast and famine conditions that favored the increase in AGS stability. Although no further breakage occurred, the formation of new granules was very limited, owing to the absence of the hydraulic selection pressure. These results noted the necessity to ensure, on the one hand the…

Modelling Nannochloropsis gaditana Growth in Reactors with Different Geometries, Determination of Kinetic Parameters and Biochemical Analysis in Resp…

2022

Microalgae are unicellular and photosynthetic microorganisms which grow thanks to inorganic salts, CO2 and light, and find applications in several fields thanks to their variety. The industrial application of microalgae has not often been fully exploited because of a lack of information about how microalgae respond to inputs and to different growth environments. In the present work a model able to predict the microalgae growth in reactors with different geometries was developed. We combined a Monod-like model for the specific growth rate with the Lambert-Beer law of homogeneous light distribution in thick photobioreactors. Kinetic parameters related to the cultivation of the microalga Nanno…

A new plant wide modelling approach for the reduction of greenhouse Gas emission from wastewater treatment plants

2017

Recent studies about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions show that sewer collection systems and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are anthropogenic GHG potential sources. Therefore, they contribute to the climate change and air pollution. This increasing interest towards climate change has led to the development of new tools for WWTP design and management. This paper presents the first results of a research project aiming at setting-up an innovative mathematical model platform for the design and management of WWTPs. More specifically, the study presents the project’s strategy aimed at setting-up a plant-wide mathematical model which can be used as a tool for reducing/controlling GHG from WWTP.…

Scale-up and viscosity effects on gas–liquid mass transfer rates in unbaffled stirred tanks

2018

Abstract The interest in the process industry on unbaffled stirred tanks has greatly expanded in the last years because they may bring about significant advantages in a number of applications, including biochemical, food and pharmaceutical processes where the presence of baffles is undesirable for several reasons. Despite their application potential, unbaffled vessels still lack fundamental information, due to the fact that only recently their capabilities have started being dug out. The lack of information on scale up effects is possibly the main reason hindering practical applications. In this work the influence of vessel size and liquid viscosity on the mass transfer performance in unbaf…

Carbon and nutrient biological removal in a University of Cape Town membrane bioreactor: Analysis of a pilot plant operated under two different C/N r…

2016

Abstract The effect of the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio variation in a University of Cape Town Membrane bioreactor (UCT-MBR) was investigated. The experimental campaign was divided into two phases, each characterized by a different C/N ratio (namely, 10 and 5, Phase I and Phase II, respectively). The UCT-MBR pilot plant was analysed in terms of carbon and nutrients removal, biomass respiratory activity, activated sludge features and membrane fouling. The results highlighted that the nutrients removal was significantly affected by the decrease of the C/N ratio during the Phase II. The biological carbon removal was also affected by the low C/N value during the Phase II. Indeed, the average …