Characterization and biological abatement of diffuse methane emissions and odour in an innovative wastewater treatment plant.

An innovative and patented process for medium-high strength sewage which comprises an anaerobic step followed by a hybrid anoxic-aerobic chamber and a final ultrafiltration stage was characterized in terms of methane fugitive emissions as well as odours. The operation at ambient temperature implies higher methane content in the liquid anaerobic effluent, which finally causes concentrations around 0.01-2.

Environmental assessment of different biofilters for the treatment of gaseous streams.

Biological techniques have been considered as an interesting alternative to treat gaseous streams from industrial processes. In this work, the performance of biofilters was evaluated from an environmental point of view by using Life Cycle Assessment methodology. More specifically, the potential impacts of four biofilters packed with different organic materials: spherical clay pellets covered with compost, a mixture of coconut fibre and sludge based carbon, peat and heather and pine bark have been quantified.

[Trends in semen quality in a non-industrialized population from the Salamanca area, Spain, during the last 30 years].

Background And Objective: The objective was to analyze the secular trend in semen quality over the past 30 years (1978-2007) in a population-based study in Salamanca, Western Spain. Information about this issue in non-industrialized areas of Southern Europe is lacking.

Subjects And Methods: We analyzed semen quality in 612 consecutive healthy normospermic subjects derived to our unit for andrologic evaluation.

Development and application of a hybrid inert/organic packing material for the biofiltration of composting off-gases mimics.

The performance of three biofilters (BF1-BF3) packed with a new hybrid (inert/organic) packing material that consists of spherical argyle pellets covered with compost was examined in different operational scenarios and compared with a biofilter packed with pine bark (BF4). BF1, BF2 and BF4 were inoculated with an enriched microbial population, while BF3 was inoculated with sludge from a wastewater treatment plant. A gas mixture containing ammonia and six VOCs was fed to the reactors with N-NH(3) loads ranging from 0 to 10 g N/m(3)h and a VOCs load of around 10 g C/m(3)h.