Application of cation-exchange membranes for characterisation and imaging ammonia-oxidising bacteria in soils

Combined SHARON and ANAMMOX processes for ammoniacal nitrogen stabilisation in landfill bioreactors

Stabilisation of ammoniacal nitrogen from solid waste and leachate significantly improved by combining novel processes like SHARON (single reactor system for high activity ammonia removal over nitrite) and ANAMMOX (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) with advantages of lower carbon requirements, aeration and N₂O emissions. This paper deals with establishing combined SHARON-ANAMMOX processes in situ pilot-scale landfill bioreactors (LFBR). Molecular analysis in LFBR with changes in nitrogen, hydrazine, hydroxylamine confirmed aerobic and anaerobic ammonium oxidising bacteria (AOB & ANAMMOX) as key players in SHARON-ANAMMOX processes. In situ SHARON-ANAMMOX process was established in LFBR with total nitrogen and ammoniacal nitrogen removal efficiency of 84% and 71%, respectively at NLR of 1.2 kgN/m³/d in 147 d, compared to ammoniacal nitrogen removal of 49% at NLR of 1.0 kgNH₄-N/m³/d in 336 d feasible in Control LFBR. Nitrogen massbalance demonstrated in situ SHARON-ANAMMOX advantageous than control LFBR with higher nitrogen transformation to N₂ (50.8%) and lower residual nitrogen in solid waste (7.7%).

Biogas production and methanogenic archaeal community in mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic co-digestion processes

Over 258 Mt of solid waste are generated annually in Europe, a large fraction of which is biowaste. Sewage sludge is another major waste fraction. In this study, biowaste and sewage sludge were co-digested in an anaerobic digestion reactor (30% and 70% of total wet weight, respectively). The purpose was to investigate the biogas production and methanogenic archaeal community composition in the anaerobic digestion reactor under meso- (35-37 °C) and thermophilic (55-57 °C) processes and an increasing organic loading rate (OLR, 1-10 kg VS m(-3) d(-1)), and also to find a feasible compromise between waste treatment capacity and biogas production without causing process instability. In summary, more biogas was produced with all OLRs by the thermophilic process. Both processes showed a limited diversity of the methanogenic archaeal community which was dominated by Methanobacteriales and Methanosarcinales (e.g. Methanosarcina) in both meso- and thermophilic processes. Methanothermobacter was detected as an additional dominant genus in the thermophilic process. In addition to operating temperatures, the OLRs, the acetate concentration, and the presence of key substrates like propionate also affected the methanogenic archaeal community composition. A bacterial cell count 6.25 times higher than archaeal cell count was observed throughout the thermophilic process, while the cell count ratio varied between 0.2 and 8.5 in the mesophilic process. This suggests that the thermophilic process is more stable, but also that the relative abundance between bacteria and archaea can vary without seriously affecting biogas production.

Biogasification of biowaste and sewage sludge--measurement of biogas quality

Biogas quality, the presence of some trace components (siloxanes, sulfur compounds, volatile organic compounds, VOCs) in biogas, is in a decisive role when determining the biogas utilization and the purification requirements and equipments. In the present work, the effects of process changes related to reactor loading variations on the concentrations of selected trace compounds in biogas were studied. Source separated biowaste and sewage sludge were co-digested in a mesophilic pilot reactor (200 L) for four months during which the organic load was stepwise increased. The results showed that the process worked steadily up to the load of 8 kgVS m(-3)d(-1). Also the community composition of methanogenic archae stayed largely unaffected by the load increase, and was at all stages typical for a mesophilic biogasification process. Gaseous concentrations of siloxanes, hydrogen sulfide and most VOCs remained at a constant low level, showing no sensitivity to variations in the load and related process changes. However, the total siloxane concentration in the biogas was dependent on feed quality, and the detected concentrations require removal prior to use in turbines or fuel cells. Otherwise, after the removal of siloxanes, the biogas studied in this work is well applicable in various electricity production options, like in gas engines, turbines, microturbines and fuel cells.

Nitrification in polluted soil fertilized with fast- and slow-releasing nitrogen: a case study at a refinery landfarming site

The nitrifying activity and the effect of fertilization with urea and methylene urea were studied in a landfarming site. The site has been operative over 20 years and maintained by heavy nitrogen fertilization. The landfarming soil contained 4-6% (w/w) oil. The nitrate accumulation was 20-50mg NO3-N day(-1)kg(-1) observed after methylene urea fertilization of 889 g Nm(-2). Nitrification ex situ (in laboratory conditions) was 8.8 mg NO3-N day(-1) kg(-1) in the presence of 380 mg kg(-1) NH4+-N. The half-saturation concentration of nitrification was more than 200 mg NH4+-N kg(-1). The results show that nitrification was active in soil with high oil concentration. Urea fertilization of 893 g Nm(-2) caused an increase of soil NH4+-N concentration up to 5500 mg kg(-1) and pH>8.5. This led to inhibition of nitrification, which persisted after NH4+ concentration decreased below 200mg NH4+ kg(-1).

Activity, diversity and population size of ammonia-oxidising bacteria in oil-contaminated landfarming soil

Chemolithotrophic ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) present in oil-contaminated landfarming soil were studied over two growing seasons in 1999 and 2000. The number of AOB (4-9 x 10(5) cellsg(-1) of dry soil) determined with the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) and the rate of potential ammonium oxidation (0.05-0.28 microg NO2(-)-N g(-1) of dry soil h(-1)) indicated the presence of stable AOB populations. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiling and sequence analysis of PCR-amplified AOB 16S rRNA genes showed dominance of Nitrosospira-like sequences in clusters 2 and 3. The present results from the chronically oil-contaminated landfarming soil support the suggested importance of Nitrosospira-like AOB in terrestrial environments.