Fermentative hydrogen production from low-value substrates.

Hydrogen is a promising energy source that is believed to replace the conventional energy sources e.g. fossil fuels over years.

Two-stage anaerobic fermentation process for bio-hydrogen and bio-methane production from pre-treated organic wastes.

In this study, the effect of pre-treatments including alkaline, acid and hydrogen peroxide on continuous hydrogen and methane production was investigated. Two different substrates as potatoes and bean wastes were used. Pre-treatment showed positive effect on bio-hydrogen and bio-methane production; higher bio-hydrogen and bio-methane production results using pre-treated samples than the control bioreactors (without pre-treatment), were recorded.

Investigation of biomethylation of arsenic and tellurium during composting.

Though the process of composting features a high microbiological activity, its potential to methylate metals and metalloids has been little investigated so far in spite of the high impact of this process on metal(loid) toxicity and mobility. Here, we studied the biotransformation of arsenic, tellurium, antimony, tin and germanium during composting. Time resolved investigation revealed a highly dynamic process during self-heated composting with markedly differing time patterns for arsenic and tellurium species.

Estimation of landfill emission lifespan using process oriented modeling.

Depending on the particular pollutants emitted, landfills may require service activities lasting from hundreds to thousands of years. Flexible tools allowing long-term predictions of emissions are of key importance to determine the nature and expected duration of maintenance and post-closure activities. A highly capable option represents predictions based on models and verified by experiments that are fast, flexible and allow for the comparison of various possible operation scenarios in order to find the most appropriate one.