Mixotrophic cultivation of Chlorella for local protein production using agro-food by-products.

A local strain of Chlorella vulgaris was cultivated by using cheese whey (CW), white wine lees (WL) and glycerol (Gly), coming from local agro-industrial activities, as C sources (2.2gCL) to support algae production under mixotrophic conditions in Lombardy. In continuous mode, Chlorella increased biomass production compared with autotrophic conditions by 1.

Dark fermentation, anaerobic digestion and microbial fuel cells: An integrated system to valorize swine manure and rice bran.

This work describes how dark fermentation (DF), anaerobic digestion (AD) and microbial fuel cells (MFC) and solid-liquid separation can be integrated to co-produce valuable biochemicals (hydrogen and methane), bioelectricity and biofertilizers. Two integrated systems (System 1: AD+MFC, and System 2: DF+AD+MFC) are described and compared to a traditional one-stage AD system in converting a mixture (COD=124±8.1gO2kg(-1)Fresh Matter) of swine manure and rice bran.

Short mechanical biological treatment of municipal solid waste allows landfill impact reduction saving waste energy content.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of full scale MBT process (28 d) in removing inhibition condition for successive biogas (ABP) production in landfill and in reducing total waste impact. For this purpose the organic fraction of MSW was treated in a full-scale MBT plant and successively incubated vs. untreated waste, in simulated landfills for one year.

Mechanical biological treatment of organic fraction of MSW affected dissolved organic matter evolution in simulated landfill.

The aim of this paper was to study the evolution of DOM during 1 year of observation in simulated landfill, of aerobically treated vs. untreated organic fraction of MSW. Results obtained indicated that aerobic treatment of organic fraction of MSW permitted getting good biological stability so that, successive incubation under anaerobic condition in landfill allowed biological process to continue getting a strong reduction of soluble organic matter (DOM) that showed, also, an aromatic character.

The use of the dynamic respiration index to predict the potential MSW-leachate impacts after short term mechanical biological treatment.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of short full scale MBT process (28 d) getting a biological stability of DRI < 1000 mg O(2) kg VS(-1) h(-1), on the impact of leachate produced in simulated landfill. As consequence of that, waste was processed by full scale MBT and both untreated and treated waste were successively incubated in simulated landfills for 1 year. Leachates were collected at different incubation times and characterized.

Perspective on the use of humic acids from biomass as natural surfactants for industrial applications.

In the context of renewable vs. non-renewable sources of chemical compounds, the development of natural surfactants as a substitute for synthetic surfactants in technological applications is an important issue. In addition, as synthetic surfactants can persist in the environment causing toxic effects, the use of natural products presents a possibility to minimize impact on the environment.

On-field study of anaerobic digestion full-scale plants (part I): an on-field methodology to determine mass, carbon and nutrients balance.

The mass balance (input/output mass flows) of full-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) processes should be known for a series of purposes, e.g. to understand carbon and nutrients balances, to evaluate the contribution of AD processes to elemental cycles, especially when digestates are applied to agricultural land and to measure the biodegradation yields and the process efficiency.

Assessing amendment and fertilizing properties of digestates from anaerobic digestion through a comparative study with digested sludge and compost.

Digestate, with biogas represents the final products of anaerobic digestion (AD). The methane-rich biogas is used to produce electricity and heat, whereas the digestate could be valorized in agriculture. Contrarily to well-recognized biomasses such as digested sludge and compost, the properties of the digestate are not well known and its agricultural use remains unexplored.

Nanometer-scale structure of alkali-soluble bio-macromolecules of maize plant residues explains their recalcitrance in soil.

The quantity and quality of plant litter in the soil play an important role in the soil organic matter balance. Besides other pedo-climatic aspects, the content of recalcitrant molecules of plant residues and their chemical composition play a major role in the preservation of plant residues. In this study, we report that intrinsically resistant alkali-soluble bio-macromolecules extracted from maize plant (plant-humic acid) (plant-HA) contribute directly to the soil organic matter (OM) by its addition and conservation in the soil.

Studying soil organic matter using 13C CP-MAS NMR: the effect of soil chemical pre-treatments on spectra quality and representativity.

(13)C CP-MAS NMR spectroscopy is a technique that has proved to be useful in studying soil organic matter (SOM). Nevertheless, NMR spectra exhibit a weak signal and have very low resolution due to: the low natural abundance of (13)C (1.1% of C) in SOM, the generally low SOM content of soils, and the presence of paramagnetic impurities.