Biochemical methane potential tests using water hyacinth (WH), pretreated water hyacinth (PWH), and Hydrilla verticillata (HV) as substrates using sewage media were explored. This study replaced the freshwater required to prepare the slurry for AD of organic solid waste with domestic sewage. Cow dung was used as the inoculum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo combat the persistent environmental issues resulting from eutrophication, it is necessary to scavenge excess phosphorous levels from aquatic ecosystems. In response, a cationic adsorbent was prepared by modifying agrowaste-derived natural biomacromolecule; nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant. Comprehensive characterization through XRD, FTIR, HR-SEM, SEM-EDX, BET and XPS demonstrated that quaternizing NFC significantly improved its surface chemistry by introducing substantial quaternary ammonium groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study explores why large-scale biogas plants are not widely installed in India despite the wealth of biomass resources. The methodology includes an extensive literature review and surveyed biogas experts in different sectors, such as private, public, and academic, to identify and rank key obstacles using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy-AHP techniques. Overall, 27 barrier elements were identified across six different categories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
September 2024
Coal mining activities greatly damage water resources, explicitly concerning water quality. The adverse effects of coal mining and potential routes for contaminants to migrate, either through surface water or infiltration, into the groundwater table. Dealing with pollution from coal mining operations is a significant surface water contamination concern.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn investigation was conducted on the electrocoagulation treatment of high-strength young landfill leachate using an electrode made of aluminium in a batch electrochemical cell reactor. An iron sheet of 1 m⨯1 m⨯1.1 m (L: B: H) was used to construct the two landfill simulating reactors, both the reactors were operated at different conditions, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnvironmental contamination from petroleum refinery operations has increased due to the rapid population growth and modernization of society, necessitating urgent repair. Microbial remediation of petroleum wastewater by prominent bacterial cultures holds promise in circumventing the issue of petroleum-related pollution. Herein, the bacterial culture was isolated from petroleum-contaminated sludge samples for the valorization of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and biodegradation of petroleum wastewater samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe high lignin content and low bulk density of wheat straw pose challenges for biogas production. To overcome these hurdles, pretreatment and biomass pelletization have emerged as viable options. Thus, this research aims to reduce the recalcitrant nature of WS by employing various thermal pretreatment techniques and identifying the optimum parameters (temperature and time).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgricultural residues such as rice straw (RS) are desirable raw materials for biogas generation. However, the recalcitrant nature of RS hinders biogas production, and its low bulk density increases storage space requirements, transportation needs, and overall costs. These challenges could be resolved by pretreatment and pelletization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study explores the viability of utilizing municipal solid waste (MSW) and legacy waste as a renewable energy source through pyrolysis, akin to solid fuels. The heating value of MSW and legacy waste were found to be 37737.89 and 40432.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisinfection by-products (DBPs) are one of the significant emerging contaminants that have caught the attention of researchers worldwide due to their pervasiveness. Their presence in drinking water, even in shallow concentrations (in levels of parts per billion), poses considerable health risks. Therefore, it is crucial to understand their kinetics to understand better their formation and persistence in the water supply systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rapid expansion of the pig industry and the concurrent increase in pig units have posed a significant waste management challenge, particularly in the form of piggery waste. In this study, the potential of three different bulking agents (sawdust, dry leaves, and rice straw) for the biodegradation of piggery waste was evaluated through rotary drum composting (RDC). Following the composting time of 20 days, evaluations of macro and micronutrient concentrations and the C/N ratio revealed stable, matured compost that could be used in farming.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPetroleum refinery sludge, an egregious solid residue generated from the wastewater treatment plants poses an environmental hazard owing to its intricate hydrocarbon composition, necessitating competent treatment for secure disposal. The study proposes a green solution through anaerobic co-digestion of nitrogen-rich petroleum refinery sludge (PS) with carbon-rich yard waste (YW), balancing the nutrients and moisture content for efficient microbial proliferation. Using Central Composite Design-Response Surface Methodology, 1 L batch experiments were conducted with varying carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratios and pH to achieve maximum biogas yield within 50 days of co-digestion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, agricultural soil which is a non-renewable natural resource must be carefully managed. Heavy metals present in agricultural soil may imperil food security and instigate extreme risks to human health. Organic wastes have been long known for valuable amendments to soil thereby, improving overall soil health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe most frequent strategy for solid waste management, adopted across the globe is landfill. Through microbial decomposition municipal solid waste degrades, producing end products such as carbon dioxide, methane, volatile organic compounds, and leachate. High levels of organic waste and heavy metals content in leachate can cause pervasive damage to the ecosystem and contaminate groundwater.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEichhornia crassipes is a common, abundant aquatic weed biomass found globally. The present study examined optimum biodegradation procedures through batch studies (550 L rotating drum composter) and the resulting best combination on a large scale (5000 L rotary drum composter). The pilot scale rotary drum reactor was commenced with cow manure and then treated for 3 months with 250 kg/day of homogenously mixed E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Green Deal, which emphasizes zero-waste economies, and waste recycling in construction and building materials, has arisen due to significant worldwide needs for solid waste recovery and usage. This ambitious study focuses on recycling mixed construction and demolition (C&D) waste into burnt bricks and investigating the influence of firing temperature. While pursuing its objectives, this is dependent on raw material characterization and burnt-brick product quality assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe rigid lignocellulosic structure of Lantana camara impedes the hydrolysis phase and reduces the biogas production during anaerobic digestion of Lantana camara. Hence, the current study focuses on the impact of various heating pretreatment techniques, viz., hot air oven (HAO), autoclave (ATC), hot water bath (HWB), and microwave (MCW) on L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater serves numerous purposes besides drinking, such as irrigation and industrial usage. Most water quality indices developed have primarily focused on drinking water quality. However, assessing other functionalities of water bodies is also equally essential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study investigated the stabilization of fresh sewage sludge through a dual-stage biodegradation process; rotary drum composting in series with vermicomposting. After thermophilic exposure in a rotary drum composter, the partially degraded feedstock was separated into S1 without vermiculture, S2 and S3 with Eudrilus eugeniae and Eisenia fetida vermi-monocultures, respectively. The S3-derived vermicompost exhibited an 80% and 88% reduction in CO and ammonium-nitrogen evolution rates, respectively, demonstrating the expedient stabilization of sludge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetal pollution in benthic sediments was fractionated and modelled to quantify the risk of anthropogenic activities on river ecosystems. In this study, the individual contamination factor (ICF) and the global contamination factor (GCF) were used to measure the contamination levels in the sediments. On the other hand, the mobility factor (MF) was used to quantify the mobility of heavy metals in benthic river sediments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe bioconversion of Parthenium hysterophorus was performed through rotary drum composter and examined the mechanism of humification and heavy metals immobilization in the process. The 20th day compost contains a significant increase in humic substances of 28.7% compared to the initial day mix.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParthenium hysterophorus is a toxic terrestrial weed with its erratic behavior brought on by the presence of toxic compounds. A numerous works have been conducted on the complete eradication of this weed, but due to the residuals exists in soil, the weed re-grows. Current study therefore aims at examining the transformation of this weed by an in-vessel composting approach (rotary drum composter) and the evaluation of toxicity characteristics using Vigna radiata and Allium cepa as bioindicators.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study investigates the biodegradation of two potentially toxic terrestrial weeds Parthenium hysterophorus and Lantana camara, implementing a novel two-stage biodegradation technique; Rotary drum composting followed by vermicomposting (RV). The RV approach was refined for a 7-day thermophilic degradation in an in-vessel rotary drum composter, followed by a 20-day mesophilic degradation utilizing Eisenia fetida and Eudrilus eugeniae vermi-monocultures. However, rotary drum composting (RDC) was performed for both the weeds (for 27 days), facilitating only initial thermophilic degradation to compare the efficacy of the RV technique.
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