Excavation and characterization of refuse in closed landfill

Refuse in landfills becomes stabilized as organic matter in refuse degrades and soluble inorganic substances dissolve during their long term stabilization process. In this paper, this process is also referred to as mineralization process and the resultant stabilized refuse referred to as aged refuse. Aged refuse contains a wide spectrum and huge quantity of microorganisms with strong decomposition capability for refractory organic matter present in some wastewater such as leachate. In this study, aged refuse excavated from 2 to 10 years old closed landfill compartments in Shanghai Refuse Landfill is characterized in terms of particulate distribution by screening, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, biodegradable matter. The approaches for redevelopment of both land and aged refuse in the stabilized landfills are proposed.

Three-stage aged refuse biofilter for the treatment of landfill leachate

A field-scale aged refuse （AR） biofilter constructed in Shanghai Refuse Landfill, containing about 7000 m^3 aged refuse inside, was evaluated for its performance in the treatment of landfill leachate. This AR biofilter can be divided into three stages and can manage 50 m^3 landfill leachate per day. The physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of AR were analyzed for evaluating the AR biofilter as leachate treatment host. The results revealed that over 87.8%-96.2% of COD and 96.9%-99.4% of ammonia nitrogen were removed by the three-stage AR biofilter when the infiuent leachate COD and ammonia nitrogen concentration were in the range 5478-10842 mg/L and 811-1582 mg/L, respectively. The final effluent was inodorous and pale yellow with COD and ammonia nitrogen below 267-1020 mg/L and 6-45 mg/L, respectively. The three-stage AR biofilter had efficient nitrification but relative poor denitrification capacity with a total nitrogen （TN） removal of 58%-73%. The external temperature of AR biofilter did not influence the total ammonia nitrogen removal significantly. It was concluded that the scale-up AR biofilter can work very well and can be a promising technology for the treatment of landfill leachate.

Effect of bio-column composed of aged refuse on methane abatement-A novel configuration of biological oxidation in refuse landfill

An experimental bio-column composed of aged refuse was installed around the exhaust pipe as a new way to mitigate methane in refuse landfill.One of the objectives of this work was to assess the effect of aged refuse thickness in bio-column on reducing CH 4 emissions.Over the study period,methane oxidation was observed at various thicknesses,5 cm （small size）,10 cm （middle size） and 15 cm （large size）,representing one to three times of pipeline diameters.The middle and large size both showed over 90% methane conversion,and the highest methane conversion rate of above 95% occurred in the middle-size column cell.Michaelis-Menten equation addressed the methanotrophs diffusion in different layers of the bio-columns.Maximum methanotrophic activity （V max） measured at the three thicknesses ranged from 6.4 × 10 3 to 15.6 × 10 3 units,and the half-saturation value （K M） ranged from 0.85% to 1.67%.Both the highest V max and K M were observed at the middle-size of the bio-column,as well as the largest methanotrophs population,suggesting a significant efficiency of methane mitigation happened in the optimum zone with greatest affinity and methanotrophic bacteria activities.Therefore,bio-column is a potential style for methane abatement in landfill,and the aged refuse both naturally formed and artificially placed in the column plays a critical role in CH 4 emission.

Effect of leachate recycling and inoculation on the biochemical characteristics of municipal refuse in landfill bioreactors

Activity development of key groups of enzymes involved in municipal refuse decomposition was measured in laboratory landfill bioreactors with and without leachate recycling and inoculation for about 210 days. The results showed that the enzymes (amylase, protease, cellulase, lipase and pectinase) were present in fresh refuse but at low values and positively affected by leachate recycling and refuse inoculation. The total average of cellulase activity in digesters D3 operated with leachate recycling but no inoculation, D4 and D5 operated with leachate recycling and inoculation was much higher than that in digesters D1 and D2 without leachate recycling and inoculation by 88%—127%, 117%—162% and 64%—98%. The total average of protease activity was higher in digester D4 than that in digesters D1, D2, D3 and D5 by 63%, 39%, 24% and 24%, respectively, and the positive effect of leachate recycling and inoculation on protease activity of landfilled refuse mainly was at the first two months. The total average of amylase activity was higher in digesters D3, D4 and D5 than that in digesters D1 and D2 by 83%—132%, 96%—148% and 81%—129%. During the early phase of incubation, the stimulatory effect of inoculation on lipase activity was measured, but refuse moisture was the main factor affecting lipase activity of landfilled refuse. The inoculation, initial and continuous inoculation of microorganisms existing in leachate, was the mainly stimulatory factor affecting pectinase activity of landfilled refuse.

Soil water deficit and vegetation restoration in the refuse dumps of the Heidaigou open-pit coal mine,Inner Mongolia,China

The sustainability of ecosystem restoration of refuse dumps in open-pit coal mines depends on plant species selection, their configuration, and the optimal usage of water resources. This study is based on field experiments in the northern refuse dump of the Heidaigou open-pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia of China established in 1995. Eight plant configurations, including trees, shrubs, grasses, and their combinations, as well as the adjacent community of natural vegetation, were selected. The succession of the revegetated plants, soil water storage, the spatiotemporal distribution of plant water deficits degree and its compensation degree were also studied. Results indicated that the vegetation cover （shrubs and herbaceous cover）, richness, abundance, soil nutrients （soil organic matter, N and P）, and biological soil crust coverage on the soil surface are significantly influenced by the vegetation configurations. The average soil water storage values in the shrub ＋ grass and grass communities throughout the growing season are 208.69 mm and 206.55 mm, which are the closest to that of in the natural vegetation community （215.87 mm）. Plant water deficits degree in the grass and shrub ＋ grass communities were the lowest, but the degrees of water deficit compensation in these configuration were larger than those of the other vegetation configurations. Differences in plant water deficit degree and water compensation among the different config- urations were significant （P 〈0.05）. Plant water deficit degrees were predominantly minimal on the surface, increased with increasing soil depth, and remained stable at 80 cm soil depth. The soil moisture compensation in the natural vegetation, shrub ＋ grass, and grass communities changed at 10%, while that in other vegetation communities changed between 20% and 40%. Overall, we conclude that the shrub ＋ grass and grass configuration modes are the optimal vegetation restoration models in terms of ecohydrology for future ecological engineering projects.

Froth flotation of refuse coal fines and process optimization using 2D surface plots

Refuse coal fines of size <500 μm was collected from a metallurgical coal preparation plant located in the eastern coalfield region of India. The coal was beneficiated using froth flotation technique to recover clean coal with ash content of about 20% with the highest possible yield. Diesel oil as collector and pine oil as frother were used. Box-Behnken statistical design was followed for analyzing the performance at varying pulp density, collector and frother dosage. Results were discussed using 2D surface plots. Response function predictions determined by the regression analysis show coefficient of correlation(R^2) for yield and the ash content as 0.72 and 0.86, respectively. The highest yield of 45.79% is obtained at pulp density 10%, collector dose 2 kg/t and frother dose 1.5 kg/t. The lowest ash content of 18.9% is obtained at pulp density 10%, collector dose 1 kg/t and frother dose 1 kg/t.

Combustion Characteristics of Solid Refuse Fuels from Different Waste Sources

In the production(as co-fuel or alone)of solid refuse fuel(SRF),knowledge about the characteristics of the raw materials is required for an ecofriendly and effective combustion process.SRFs are commonly produced by drying combustible waste and removing incombustible matter,resulting in a higher combustibility as compared to the original waste.However,the characteristics of SRFs may highly vary depending on where and from which materials they were produced.Thus,we investigated the characteristics of various SRFs using thermogravimetric analysis(TGA).As a TGA sample is commonly small,on the scale of milligrams,and,unlike homogeneous fuels,SRFs are heterogeneous,individual SRF samples analysed with this method may not represent the bulk material,and sample properties may vary significantly between batches.Therefore,we further performed combustion experiments using a small-scale combustor and sample sizes from 1 to 10 g.To optimise SRF combustor design and determine the SRF characteristics,proximate,elemental,heating value,TG,and differential thermogravimetric analyses were conducted,and weight losses and gas concentrations at different temperatures were measured upon combustion.The lower heating values of the three analysed SRFs were 20,976,16,873,and 19,762 kJ/kg,and their Cl contents were 0.89,0.95,and 1.27 wt.%(legal criterion[Cl]<2.0 wt.%).TGA and small combustor experiments showed that complete weight loss was achieved below 500°C.However,CO was detected until 620°C.

Degradation of Refuse in Hybrid Bioreactor Landfill

Objective To explore the process of refuse decomposition in hybrid bioreactor landfill. Methods The bioreactor landfill was operated in sequencing of facultative-anaerobic and aerobic conditions with leachate recirculation, pH, COD, and ammonia in the leachate and pH, biodegradable organic matter （BDM）, and cation exchange capacity （CEC） in refuse were detected. Results CEC increased gradually with the degradation of refuse, which was negatively correlated with BDM. COD and ammonia in the leachate was declined to 399.2 mg L^-1 and 20.6 mg N L^-1, respectively, during the 357-day operation. The respective concentrations of ammonia and COD were below the second and the third levels of current discharge standards in China. Conclusion The refuse is relatively stable at the end of hybrid bioreactor landfill operation. Most of the readily biodegradable organic matter is mineralized in the initial phase of refuse degradation, whereas the hard-biodegradable organic matter is mainly humidified in the maturity phase of refuse degradation.

Classification of Domestic Refuse in Medical Institutions Based on Transfer Learning and Convolutional Neural Network

The problem of domestic refuse is becoming more and more serious with the use of all kinds of equipment in medical institutions.This matter arouses people’s attention.Traditional artificial waste classification is subjective and cannot be put accurately;moreover,the working environment of sorting is poor and the efficiency is low.Therefore,automated and effective sorting is needed.In view of the current development of deep learning,it can provide a good auxiliary role for classification and realize automatic classification.In this paper,the ResNet-50 convolutional neural network based on the transfer learning method is applied to design the image classifier to obtain the domestic refuse classification with high accuracy.By comparing the method designed in this paper with back propagation neural network and convolutional neural network,it is concluded that the CNN based on transfer learning method applied in this paper with higher accuracy rate and lower false detection rate.Further,under the shortage situation of data samples,the method with transfer learning and ResNet-50 training model is effective to improve the accuracy of image classification.

Ecological Restoration Design of Refuse Landfill——A Case Study of Landscape Planning of Beichen Shuangkou Refuse Landfill in Tianjin City

Refuse landfill plays an important role in daily life,but also brings serious pollution.By investigating environment pollution of Beichen Shuangkou Refuse Landfill in Tianjin City,this paper put forward major problems of this refuse landfill,and suggestions for turning it into a landscape system with regeneration and renewing capacity,so as to provide references for ecological restoration and landscaping of similar damaged land resources.

Study of Engineering Characteristics of Coal Refuse Foundation

Coal refuse in a natural state is a kind of loose medium with inherent physical and chemical properties. It can be used after compaction as materials for foundation of buildings. Based on the results of numerical analysis and experiments, a study is successfully made in this paper to reveal the compression, load-bearing and anti-mining de formation characteristics. The obtained results are of great significance in guiding the miniug operations under surface buildings erected on pre-paved refuse foundations.

Absorption of phosphorus from wastewater by aged refuse excavated from municipal solid waste landfill

Municipal solid waste(refuse) landfill stabilizes as the refuse degrades. After years of biodegradation, the refuse in the landfill becomes stabilized and aged, which may vary with the local climate, humidity, and composition of refuse placed. In this work, it is found that the refuse with an age of over 8 years at Shanghai Refuse Landfill has been significantly stabilized and sufficiently aged and is thus suitable for excavation. The 8 year old aged refuse is mechanically screened, and the fine fractions of refuse(aged refuse) with a diameter less than 2 cm are then used as a biological absorbent for removal of both inorganic and organic phosphorus in livestock wastewater and prepared aqueous solution. It is proved that the aged refuse is very effective for the quantitative removal of both types of phosphorus. The absorption mechanism is proposed. It is considered that phosphorus is firstly absorbed onto the surface of the aged refuse and then used as a substrate for the growth of microorganisms which ultimately leave the aged refuse as sludge.

Decliners of provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling: Characteristics of participants who refused HIV testing in a population survey in Zambia

Objective: To assess the prevalence of HIV infection, to highlight HIV-testing refusal rates among participants in a population-based tuberculosis survey and to assess the implication for programme implementation.Methods: This cross-sectional study on the characteristics of participants who refused HIV testing was conducted in a national survey in Zambia. All eligible participants were aged above 15 years and included in the analysis.Results: Out of the 44 791 tuberculosis survey participants, 14 164(31.6%) refused to participate in HIV testing. The unemployed, rural dwellers, married, and those aged 15-24 years were associated with higher refusal rates.Conclusions: Strategies to improve HIV testing acceptance are necessary. Qualitative research is recommended to understand the reasons for testing refusals so that remedial interventions can be implemented.

Why Did Sudanese End Stage Renal Failure Patients Refuse Renal Transplantation?

Renal transplantation remains the most effective treatment of End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF). In this cross sectional study we explore the reasons behind refusal of renal transplantation among adults’ Sudanese haemodialysis patients. The subjects of the study are ESRF adults’ patients on regular haemodialysis treatment in 15 haemdoialysis centres in Khartoum/Sudan. All patients who are on regular haemodialysis were interviewed by questionnaire to explore the reasons of refusal of renal transplantation. A total of 1583 ESRF adults’ patients on regular haemodialysis have been participated in the study, 381 (24.1%) patients refused kidney transplantation. The mean age of patients refusing kidney transplantation was (58.5 + 15.1 years);77.4% of them were ≥50 years old, 59.2% were males and 88.1% were unemployed, patients older than 50 years old and unemployed are tend to refuse renal transplantation

The acceleration degradation processes of different aged refuses with the forced aeration for landfill reclamation

Forced aeration is one of the promising ways to accelerate landfill reclamation,and understanding the relation between aeration rates and waste properties is the prerequisite to implementing forced aeration under the target of energy saving and carbon reduction.In this work,landfill reclamation processes with forced aeration were simulated using aged refuses(ARs)of 1,4,7,10,and 13 disposal years,and the potential of field application was also investigated based on a field project,to identify the degradation rate of organic components,the O_(2)consumption efficiency and their correlations to microbes.It was found that the removal rate of organic matter declined from 20.3%(AR_(1))to 12.6%(AR_(13)),and that biodegradable matter(BDM)decreased from 5.2%to 2.4%at the set aeration rate of 0.12 L O_(2)/kg waste(Dry Matter,DM)/day.A linear relationship between the degradation rate constant(K)of BDM and disposal age(x)was established:K=−0.0002193x+0.0091(R^(2)=0.854),suggesting that BDM might be a suitable indicator to reflect the stabilization of ARs.The cellulose/lignin ratio decrease rate for AR1(18.3%)was much higher than that for AR13(3.1%),while the corresponding humic-acid/fulvic-acid ratio increased from 1.44 to 2.16.The dominant bacteria shifted from Corynebacterium(9.2%),Acinetobacter(6.6%),and Fermentimonas(6.5%),genes related to the decompose of biodegradable organics,to Stenotrophomonas(10.2%)and Clostridiales(3.7%),which were associated with humification.The aeration efficiencies of lab-scale tests were in the range of 5.4–11.8 g BDM/L O_(2)for ARs with disposal ages of 1–13 years,and in situ landfill reclamation,ARs with disposal ages of 10–18 years were around 1.9–8.8 g BDM/L O_(2),as the disposal age decreased.The increased discrepancy was observed in ARs at the lab-scale and field scale,indicating that the forced aeration rate should be adjusted based on ARs and the unit compartment combined,to reduce the operation cost.

Characterization of Methylocystis strain JTA1 isolated from aged refuse and its tolerance to chloroform

To accelerate the efficiency of methane biodegradation in landfills, a Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-motile, non-spore-forming bacterium, JTA1, which can utilize methane as well as acetate, was isolated from the Laogang MSW landfills, Shanghai, China. Strain JTA1 was a member of genus Methylocystis on the basis of 16S rRNA and pmoA gene sequence similarity. The maximum specific cell growth rates （μmax= 0.042 hr-1, R2= 0.995） was derived through Boltzmann simulation, and the apparent half-saturation constants （Km（app） = 7.08 mmol/L, R2 = 0.982） was calculated according to Michaelis-Menton hyperbolic model, indicating that Methylocystis strain JTA1 had higher-affinity potential for methane oxidation than other reported methanotrophs. By way of adding the strain JTA1 culture, the methane consumption of aged refuse reached 115 mL, almost two times of control experiment. In addition, high tolerance of Methylocystis strain JTA1 to chloroform could facilitate the methane oxidation of aged refuse bio-covers. At the chloroform concentration of 50 mg/L, the methane-oxidation rate of bio-cover reached 0.114 mL/（day.g）, much higher than the highest rate, 0.0135 mL/（day.g）, of reported bio-covers. In conclusion, strain JTA1 opens up a new possibility for environmental biotechnology, such as soil or landfills bioremediation and wastewater decontamination.

Leachate treatment using a demonstration aged refuse biofilter

Approximately 7000 m^3 of aged refuse （AR） with a placement of over eight years was excavated from Shanghai Refuse Landfill, the largest landfill in China, and used for the construction of a two-stage bioreactor （AR biofilter） media for the biological treatment of 100 m3 of refuse landfill leachate. It was found that over 64% of COD, 96.9%-99.8% of NH4^＋-N, and 95.8%-99.8% of BOD5 could be removed by the AR biofilter, when the leachate with initial COD, BOD5, and NH4^＋-N concentrations were 986-4128 mg/L, 264--959 mg/L,m and 538-1583 mg/L, respectively. The corresponding concentrations in the effluent were reduced to below 30（000 mg/L, 2-12 mg/L, and 10-20 mg/L, respectively. The effluent was clear and pale yellow with suspended solid below 150 mg/L and color below 150 Pt/Co degree. Meanwhile, the total nitrogen removal was only 49%-63%, indicating a relative poor denitrification capacity of AR biofilter. The effluent pH was neutral and the population of Escherichia coli was less than 10^-1 CFU/mL. Hence, it was considered that the demonstration project can work well for the effective treatment of leachate.

Methanotrophic community structure of aged refuse and its capability for methane bio-oxidation

Aged refuse from waste landfills closed for eight years was examined and found to contain rich methanotrophs capable of biooxidation for methane. Specially, community structure and methane oxidation capability of methanotrophs in the aged refuse were studied. The amount of methanotrophs ranged 61.97×10^3-632.91×10^3 cells/g （in dry basis） in aged refuse from Shanghai Laogang Landfill. Type I and II methanotrophs were found in the aged refuse in the presence of sterilized sewage sludge and only Type I methanotrophs were detected in the presence of nitrate minimal salt medium （NMS）. The clone sequences of the pmoA gene obtained from the aged refuse were similar to the pmoA gene of Methylobacter, Methylocaldum, and Methylocystis, and two clones were distinct with known genera of Type I methanotrophs according to phylogenetic analysis. Aged refuse enriched with NMS was used for methane biological oxidation and over 93% conversions were obtained.

Leaching recovery of rare earth elements from the calcination product of a coal coarse refuse using organic acids

Due to the increasing criticality of rare earth elements(REEs),it has become essential to recover REEs from alternative resources.In this study,systematic REEs leaching tests were performed on the calcination product of a coal coarse refuse using hydrochloric acid and different types of organic acid as lixiviants.Experimental results show that the recovery of REEs,especially heavy REEs(HREEs)and scandium(Sc),is improved by using selected organic acids.Citric acid and DL-malic acid afford the best leaching performances;whereas,malonic acid,oxalic acid,and DL-tartaric acid are inferior to hydrochloric acid.Results of zeta potential measurements and solution chemical equilibrium calculations show that malonic acid is more likely adsorbed on the surface of the calcined material compared with citric acid and DL-malic acid.The adsorption may reduce the effective concentration of malonic species in solution and/or increase the amount of REEs adsorbed on the surface,thereby impairing the leaching recovery.Compared with light REEs(LREEs),a stronger adsorption of the HREEs on the surface is observed from electro-kinetic test results.This finding explains why organic acids impose a more positive impact on the leaching recovery of HREEs,By complexing with the HREEs,organic acids can keep the metal ions in solution and improve the leaching recovery.The adsorption of Sc^(3+)on the surface is the lowest compared with other REEs.Therefore,rather than complexing,the organic anionic species likely play a function of solubilizing Sc from the solid,which is similar to that of hydrogen ions.

Obstetric Anesthesia Practice Significantly Evolved: A Field for Cesarean Delivery Parturient for the Provision of Safe Anesthesia in Urgent Circumstances

General anesthesia and Obstetric Anesthesia is the gold standard for a cesarean section but there are some cases where general anesthesia is unavoidable. The use of general anesthesia for cesarean delivery has decreased in recent years due to the widespread use of neuraxial techniques. The choice of anesthesia techniques for cesarean delivery depends on several factors, including the patient’s psychology and the attending physician’s experience. It is chosen because of its safety profile and its benefits to the mother and fetus. It may be indicated due to emergency, maternal refusal of regional techniques, or regional contraindications. Major complications include failed intubation, gastric content aspiration, and increased bleeding risk. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a newly launched team on obstetric anesthesia practice.