Analysis and anaerobic degradation of wool scouring and olive oil mill wastewaters

Summary Two types of fatty industrial wastewaters, wool scouring effluents (WSE) and olive oil mill effluents (OME) were analysed (lipids, phenols and COD), and were then treated anaerobically in laboratory-scale fixed bed filters. Approximately 50% of the organic compounds in both wastewaters was degraded at two days of hydraulic residence time. A higher biogas production was obtained when using OME rather than WSE. This experimental study confirmed that anaerobic digestion can be considered as a roughing treatment in a multi-step process for industrial fatty wastewaters.     

Synthesis of dimeric phenylethanoids isolated from olive oil mill wastewaters

Two dimeric phenylethanoids isolated from olive oil mill wastewaters have been synthesized from cathecol, tyrosol and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid.     

Improvement of biodegradability of industrial wastewaters by radiation treatment

Summary In order to evaluate the use of gamma-ray treatment as a pretreatment to conventional biological methods, the effects of gamma-irradiation on biodegradability (BOD₅/COD) of textile and pulp wastewaters were investigated. For all wastewaters studied in this work, the efficiency of treatment based on TOC removal was insignificant even at an absorbed dose of 20 kGy. However, the change of biodegradability was noticeable and largely dependent on the chemical property of wastewaters and the absorbed dose of gamma-rays. For textile wastewaters, gamma-ray treatment increased the biodegradability of desizing effluent due to degradation of polymeric sizing agents such as polyvinyl alcohol. Interestingly, the weight-loss showed the highest value of 0.97 at a relatively low dose of 1 kGy. This may be caused by the degradation of less biodegradable ethylene glycol prior to terephthalic acid decomposition. For pulp wastewater, the gamma-ray treatment did not improve the biodegradability of cooking and bleaching of C/D effluents. However, the biodegradability of bleaching E1 and final effluents was abruptly increased up to 5 kGy then slowly decreased as the absorbed dose was increased. The initial increase of biodegradability may be induced by the decomposition of refractory organic compounds such as chlorophenols, which are known to be the main components of bleaching C/D and final effluents.     

Aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability of polymer films and physico-chemical characterization

Aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation of four different kinds of polymers, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, a starch/polycaprolactone blend (Mater-bi^®) and poly(butadiene adipate-co-terephthalate) (Eastar bio^®) has been studied in the solid state under aerobic conditions and in the liquid phase under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.Several standard test methods (ISO 14851, ISO 14853, ASTM G 21-90 and ASTM G 22-76 and NF X 41-514) were used to determine the biodegradability. To determine the efficiency of the biodegradation of polymers, quantitative (mass variations, oxygen uptake, pressure variations, biogas generation and composition, biodegradation percentages) and qualitative (variation of T_g and T_f, variation of molar mass by SEC, characterization by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy) analyses were made and materials were characterized before and after 28 days of degradation.After 28 days, the degradation of materials depends on the material and on the test conditions used. The degradation is better under aerobic conditions, in particular for Mater-bi and polycaprolactone. Nevertheless, we can notice that it is the amorphous part of the polymer which is more attacked by the micro-organisms but, after 28 days, they do not seem to cleave macromolecules inside the material: bacteria attack the surface of the polymer and seem to consume the macromolecules one after another (there is no significant variation in the molar mass and no difference between FTIR and NMR spectra before degradation and after 28 days of degradation).     

Electrochemical treatment of olive oil mill wastewater

The possibility of oxidizing at a PbO2 anode the phenols and polyphenols, present in the olive oil mill wastewater, has been studied as a pretreatment for the submission of such wastewater to the traditional biological treatments. The results obtained operating at current densities ranging 500 to 2000 A/m2 show that it is possible to reduce the concentration of the phenolic components, which interfere with the biological treatments, down to low values without decreasing too much the total organic content of the wastewater.     

The recovery of biophenols from wastewaters of olive oil production

In this article, the phenolic composition of wastewaters prepared from different cultivars of Olea europaea have been described. The main aim is the recovery of these compounds for technological utilization.     

Comparison of polyphenol extractions from olive pomace and solid fraction of olive mill waste water

The solid fraction of olive mill waste water (OMWW) was separated from OMWW and then the solutes in the solid fraction of OMWW were extracted with ethanol. The detection of polyphenols in the ethanol extract showed the presence of polyphenols in the solid fraction of OMWW. Effects of solvent-to-solid ratio, extraction and agitation time on the extraction of polyphenols from the solid fraction of OMWW were examined and the maximum amount of polyphenol was extracted from the solid fraction of OMWW with a solvent-to-solid ratio of 15 at 70?min of extraction and 10?min of agitation time. Percent yields and purities of the polyphenols extracted from solid fraction of OMWW were higher than those of the polyphenols extracted from olive pomace with ethanol at 70?min of extraction and 10?min of agitation time with solvent-to-solid ratio of 15.     

Laboratory investigation of biodegradability of a polyurethane foam under anaerobic conditions

Polyurethane (PU) foams can be used in many remediation applications as an isolation material to prevent the release of hazardous materials into the environment. The integrity of a PU foam was investigated in this study using short-term accelerated laboratory experiments including bioavailability assays, soil burial experiments, and accelerated bioreactors to determine the fate of PU foam in the soil where anaerobic processes are dominant. The experimental results have shown that the studied PU foam is likely not biodegradable under anaerobic conditions. Neither weight loss nor a change in the tensile strength of the PU material after biological exposure was observed. The FT-IR chemical signature of the PU foams was also nearly identical before and after biological exposure. The composition of the PU material (aromatic polyester and polyether PU) used in this study could have played a significant role in its resistance to microbial attack during the short-term accelerated experiments.     

Aerobic and anaerobic digestion of processed municipal solid waste

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Effective disposal of municipal solid wastes (MSW) through biological processes must focus on the maximal reduction in bulk. Since cellulose is a major...     

Optimizing the logistics of anaerobic digestion of manure

Electrical power production from the combustion of biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) of manure is a means of recovering energy from animal waste. We evaluate the lowest cost method of moving material to and from centralized AD plants serving multiple confined feeding operations. Two areas are modeled, Lethbridge County, Alberta, Canada, an area of concentrated beef cattle feedlots, and Red Deer County, Alberta, a mixed-farming area with hog, dairy, chicken and beef cattle farms, and feedlots. We evaluate two types of AD plant: ones that return digestate to the source confined feeding operation for land spreading (current technology), and ones that process digestate to produce solid fertilizer and a dischargeable water stream (technology under development). We evaluate manure and digestate trucking, trucking of manure with return of digestate by pipelines, and pipelining of manure plus digestate. We compare the overall cost of power from these scenarios to farm or feedlot-based AD units. For a centralized AD plant with digestate return for land spreading the most economical transport option for manure plus digestate is by truck for the mixed-farming area and by pipelines for the concentrated feedlot area. For a centralized AD plant with digestate processing, the most economical transport option is trucking of manure for both cases.However, for the concentrated feedlot area, pipeline transport of manure is close in cost to trucking, and the impact of truck congestion would likely lead to selection of pipeline transport. For the mixed-farming area, centralized AD is more economical than for any individual farm or feedlot unit. For the concentrated feedlot area, a centralized AD plant is less economical than a feedlot-based AD unit more than 55,000 head (digestate return) and 300,000 head (digestate processing). The study demonstrates the viability of centralized AD plants vs farm-based units in most farming environments, and that careful analysis of the cost of pipeline vs truck transport of manure and digestate is required on a case-by-case basis.     

Decolorization of olive mill waste-waters by free and immobilizedPhanerochaete chrysosporium cultures

This paper describes the decolorization and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of olive mill waste-waters (OMW) byPhanerochaete chrysosporium grown in agitated submerged cultures. WhenP. chrysosporium was cultivated in the form of pellet, no decolorization of crude OMW was observed. Decolorization occured only after removing by ultrafiltration, the high-mol-wt (HM) polyphenolic fraction (> 60 kDa). The use of high lignin peroxidase (LiP) producing medium yielded the highest levels of OMW decolorization and COD removal. In this case, extensive depolymerization and subsequent accumulation of phenolics with intermediates molecular weight were observed. Furthermore, increasing the concentration of the HM fraction decreased the color and COD removals. The decolorizing activity was lost when the concentration of the HM fraction reached 25% (v/v). Consequently, LiP activity was found to be completely inhibited in the presence of HM fraction, but not with the low-mol-wt (LM) polyphenolic fraction (<8 kDa). The use ofP. chrysosporium immobilized on polyurethane foam resulted in efficient decolorization of crude OMW. Moreover, the addition of an induction medium was shown to perform several repeated batch cultures for OMW decolorization and COD removal.     

Toxic effects of selected industrial solvents in batch and continuous anaerobic reactors

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Acetone and ethyl acetate were readily degraded in batch reactors containing anaerobic solids from an industrial reactor at concentrations to 1000 mg/L;...     

Treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewaters with poly aluminium chloride and bagasse fly ash

The present study deals with the use of poly aluminium chloride (PAC) as a coagulant and bagasse fly ash (BFA), which is generated in sugar mills, as an adsorbent for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and colour of pulp and paper mill effluents. Under optimal conditions of pH 3 and initial PAC dosage of 3 g/l, about 80% COD removal and 90% colour removal were obtained. The optimal conditions for the adsorptive removal of COD and colour with BFA were pH 4 and BFA dosage of 2 g/l. Under these conditions, COD and colour removal were, respectively, 50 and 55%. Adsorptive removal of COD by BFA followed second-order kinetics. Intra-particle diffusion was found to be rate controlling. Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms were found to fit the equilibrium adsorption data with BFA. Two-stage treatment using PAC (3 g/l) as a coagulant in the first stage and BFA (2 g/l) as an adsorbent in the second stage gave the combined COD and colour removal of nearly 87 and 95%, respectively, for different effluents without any pH adjustment. Two-stage adsorptive treatment using BFA (2 g/l) in both the stages gave a combined COD and colour removal of about 70%. The sludge obtained can be dewatered by centri-clarifiers, dried, briquetted and incinerated to recover its energy content.     

Electron beam pretreatment of sewage sludge before anaerobic digestion

The pretreatment of waste-activated sludge (WAS) by electron beam irradiation was studied in order to improve anaerobic sludge digestion. The irradiation dose of the electron beam was varied from 0.5 to 10 kGy. Batch and continuous-flow stirred tank reactors (CFSTRs) were operated to evaluate the effect of the electron beam pretreatment on anaerobic sludge digestion. Approximately 30–52% of the total chemical oxygen demand (COD) content of the WAS was solubilized within 24 h after electron beam irradiation. A large quantity of soluble COD, protein, and carbohydrates leached out from cell ruptures caused by the electron beam irradiation. Volatile fatty acids production from the irradiated sludge was approx 90% higher than that of the unirradiated sludge. The degradation of irradiated sewage sludge was described by two distinct first-order decay rates (k ₁ and k ₂). Most initial decay reaction accelerated within 10 d, with an average k ₁ of 0.06/d for sewage sludge irradiated at all dosages. The mean values for the long-term batch first-order decay coefficient (k ₂) were 0.025/d for irradiated sewage sludge and 0.007/d for unirradiated sludge. Volatile solids removal efficiency of the control reactor fed with unirradiated sewage sludge at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 d was almost the same as that of the CFSTRs fed with irradiated sludge at an HRT of 10 d. Therefore, disintegration of sewage sludge cells using electron beam pretreatment could reduce the reactor solid retention time by half.     

Quick assessment of the economic value of olive mill waste water

Background

Olive biophenols are emerging as a valued class of natural products finding practical application in the food, pharmaceutical, beverage, cosmetic and nutraceutical industries due to their powerful biological activity which includes antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Olive mill waste water (OMWW), a by-product in olive oil manufacturing, is rich in biophenols such as hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol. The amount of biophenols depends on the cultivar, the geographical area of cultivation, and the seasonal conditions. The goal of this study was to develop a straightforward method to assess the economic value of OMWW via quantification of hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol.

Results

The amount of hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol phenolic compounds in the OMWW from four different cultivars grown in four different regions of Sicily was analyzed using liquid–liquid and solid–liquid analytical protocols developed ad hoc. Results showed significant differences amongst the different cultivars and their geographical origin. In all samples, the concentration of hydroxytyrosol was generally from 2 to 10 times higher than that of tyrosol. In general, the liquid–liquid extraction protocol gave higher amounts of extracted biophenols. The cultivar Cerasuola had the highest amount of both hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol. The cultivar Nocellara Etnea had the lowest content of both biophenols.

Conclusions

A quick method to assess the economic value of olive mill waste water via quantification of hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol in olive phenolic enriched extracts is now available.

     

Bleacing of olive mill wastewater by clay in the presence of hydrogen peroxide

Treatment of olive mill wastewater (OMW) with clayey soils in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) allows the elimination of phenolic compounds responsible for the black-brownish color of this industrial effluent. The aim of this research was to define optimal physicochemical parameters for the bleaching of OMW with clay in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Two clayey soil powders were tested (A and B) and the results obtained indicate that high bleaching could be reached after 24 hours exposure of OMW to 7 % (W/V) clay material A in the presence of 0.5 % (V/V) hydrogen peroxide. Under these conditions, the bleaching led to about 87 % decrease of polyphenols (PF) and a 66 % decrease of the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). The structure of clay and its concentration in iron salts have an effective adsorbent and catalytic effect on the removal of the majority of polyphenols.     

Speciation of heavy metals in sewage sludge after mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion

Two types of sewage sludge anaerobic digestion were carried out: mesophilic and thermophilic. Metal speciation analysis was performed revealing some changes in the chemical form of the metals during the stabilization process of sludge. After both methane fermentation processes, a comparable level of organic matter distribution was obtained (≈ 40 %). The amount of produced methane during thermophilic and mesophilic digestion was 560 mL of CH4 and 580 mL of CH₄ from 1 g of removed organic matter, respectively. Low concentration of heavy metal ions in the liquid phase of sludge was observed. Metal ions precipitated and remained bound throughout the stabilization process. No accumulation of heavy metals in the mobile fractions of sludge (exchangeable and carbonate) was observed for either digestion process. The highest increase of zinc, copper, nickel, cadmium, and chromium concentration was observed in the organic-sulfide fraction, whereas the highest increase of lead was found in the residual fraction.     

Effect of metals on anaerobic digestion of water hyacinth-cattle dung

The effect of several salts, FeCl₃, NiCl₂, CoCl₂, CuCl₂, and ZnCl₂, on anaerobic digestion of water hyacinth-cattle dung was examined. Among the salts studied, FeCl₃ caused a more than 60% increase in gas production with a high methane content.