Optimizing Household Wastes (Rice, Vegetables, and Fruit) as an Environmentally Friendly Electricity Generator

The high consumption of electricity and issues related to fossil energy have triggered an increase in energy prices and the scarcity of fossil resources.Consequently,many researchers are seeking alternative energy sources.One potential technology,the Microbial Fuel Cell(MFC)based on rice,vegetable,and fruit wastes,can convert chemical energy into electrical energy.This study aims to determine the potency of rice,vegetable,and fruit waste assisted by Cu/Mg electrodes as a generator of electricity.The method used was a laboratory experiment,including the following steps:electrode preparation,waste sample preparation,incubation of the waste samples,construction of a reactor using rice,vegetable,and fruit waste as a source of electricity,and testing.The tests included measuring electrical conductivity,electric current,voltage,current density,and power density.Based on the test results,the maximum current and voltage values for the fruit waste samples were 5.53 V and 11.5 mA,respectively,with a current density of 2.300 mA/cm^(2) and a power density of 12.719 mW/cm^(2).The results indicate the potential for a future development.The next step in development involves determining the optimum conditions for utilizing of rice,vegetable,and fruit waste.The results of the electrical conductivity test on rice,vegetable,and fruit waste samples were 1.51,2.88,and 3.98 mS,respectively,with the highest electrical conductivity value found in the fruit waste sample.

Biotransformation of Shrimp Wastes by Bacillus subtilis OKF04 and Evaluation of Growth Promoting Effect in Crop Planting

In this study,we proposed a reliable and sustainable technique for the clean utilization of shrimp wastes,which can yield a solid inoculant of Bacillus subtilis OKF04 containing micronutrients at low cost without the risk of contamination.Study of the culture conditions revealed that the head of shrimp Litopenaus vannamei and the wheat bran acted as suitable substrates for the growth of B.subtilis OKF04.With 60%initial moisture content,30℃culture temperature,and 5%inoculation amount,followed by 48 hours of fermentation and 0.5%soluble starch added during the drying process(50℃for 6h),a solid B.subtilis OKF04 inoculant with a spore amount of 2.4×10^(10)CFU g^(-1)and a high amino acid content was obtained.The solid B.subtilis OKF04 inoculant was applied to cultivate pakchoi under pot experiment.As the result,of adding to,the size of stems and leaves,nutritional composition,and physiological activity of pakchoi were significantly(P<0.05)enhanced by solid B.subtilis OKF04 inoculant.B.subtilis OKF04 also significantly(P<0.05)increased the soil’s nutrient content and improved its microbial composition.Furthermore,pakchoi cultivated with a low dose of solid B.subtilis OKF04 inoculant(0.05 g kg^(-1)soil)resulted in the best results.This study provides a new method for the preparation of microbial inoculants with solid waste shrimp heads.

Biofuel Recovery from Plantain and Banana Plant Wastes:Integration of Biochemical and Thermochemical Approach

Globally,fossil fuel dependence has created several environmental challenges and climate change.Hence,creating other alternative renewable and ecologically friendly bio-energy sources is necessary.Lignocellulosic biomass has gained significant attention recently as a renewable material for biofuel production.The large amounts of plantain and banana plant parts wasted after harvesting,as well as the peels generated daily by the fruit market and industries,demonstrate the potential of bioenergy resources.This review briefly assesses plantain and banana plant biomass(PBB)generated in the developing,developed,and underdeveloped countries,the consumable parts,and feasible products yield.It emphasized the advantages and disadvantages of the commonly adopted treatment technologies of composting,incineration,and landfilling.Further,the utilization of PBB as catalysts in biodiesel synthesis was briefly highlighted.To optimize recovery of biofuel,different integration routes of pyrolysis,anaerobic digestion,fermentation,hydrothermal carbonization,hydrothermal liquefaction,and hydrothermal gasification for the valorization of the PBB were proposed.The complex compounds present in the PBB(hemicellulose,cellulose,and lignin)can be converted into valuable bio-products such as methane gas and bio-ethanol for bioenergy,and nutrients to promote bioactive ingredients.The investigation of the viability and innovation potential of the integrated routes’technology is necessary to improve the circular bio-economy and the recovery of biofuels from biomass waste,particularly PBB.

Start-up performances of dry anaerobic mesophilic and thermophilic digestions of organic solid wastes

Two dry anaerobic digestions of organic solid wastes were conducted for 6 weeks in a lab-scale batch experiment for investigating the start-up performances under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The enzymatic activities, i.e., β-glucosidase, N-α-benzoyl-Largininamide （BAA）-hydrolysing protease, urease and phosphatase activities were analysed. The BAA-hydrolysing protease activity during the first 2-3 weeks was low with low pH, but was enhanced later with the pH increase. β-Glucosidase activity showed the lowest values in weeks 1-2, and recovered with the increase of BAA-hydrolysing protease activity. Acetic acid dominated most of the total VFAs in thermophilic digestion, while propionate and butyrate dominated in mesophilic digestion. Thermophilic digestion was confirmed more feasible for achieving better performance against misbalance, especially during the start-up period in a dry anaerobic digestion process.

Co-inhibition of methanogens for methane mitigation in biodegradable wastes

The inhibition effects and mechanisms of chlorinated methane and acetylene on methanogenesis in the anaerobic digestion process of the biodegradable wastes were investigated.It was found that both chloroform and acetylene could effectively inhibit methanogens while the biodegradability of the wastes was not affected.Acetylene inhibited the activity of methanogens,while chloroform inhibited metabolic process of methanogenesis.A central composite design（CCD） and response surface regression analysis（RSREG） were employed to determine the optimum conditions and interaction effects of chloroform and acetylene in terms of inhibition effciency,production of volatile fatty acids（VAF） and molar ratio of propionic acid to acetic acid.Chloroform had significant effect on enhancing the production of VFA（F = 121.3;p 〈 0.01）,and acetylene promoted the inhibition effciency（F = 99.15;p 〈 0.05） more effectively than chloroform（F = 9.72;p 〉 0.05）.In addition,a maximum molar ratio of propionic acid to acetic acid of 1.208 was estimated under the optimum conditions of chloroform concentration of 9.05 mg/kg and acetylene concentration of 3.6×10^-3（V/V）.Hence,methanogens in the wastes can be inhibited while the stabilization process of the biodegradable wastes can still work well,as propionic acid generated during the inhibition process could hardly be utilized by methanogens.

Influence of lactic acid on the two-phase anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastes

To evaluate the influence of lactic acid on the methanogenesis, anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastes was firstly conducted in a two-phase anaerobic digestion process, and performance of two digesters fed with lactic acid and glucose was subsequently compared. The results showed that the lactic acid was the main fermentation products of hydrolysis-acidification stage in the two-phase anaerobic digestion process for kitchen wastes. The lactic acid concentration constituted approximately 50% of the chemical oxygen demand （COD） concentration in the hydrolysis-acidification liquid. The maximum organic loading rate was lower in the digester fed with lactic acid than that fed with glucose. Volatile fatty acids （VFAs） and COD removal were deteriorated in the methanogenic reactor fed with lactic acid compared to that fed with glucose. The specific methanogenic activity （SMA） declined to 0.343 g COD/（gVSS-d） when the COD loading were designated as 18.8 g/（L-d） in the digester fed with lactic acid. The propionic acid accumulation occurred due to the high concentration of lactic acid fed. It could be concluded that avoiding the presence of the lactic acid is necessary in the hydrolysis-acidification process for the improvement of the two-phase anaerobic digestion process of kitchen wastes.

Preparation of Super Composite Cement with a Lower Clinker Content and a Larger Amount of Industrial Wastes

The effects of the grinding mode,fineness,gypsum kinds and dosage,mix proportions on properties of the composite cements consisting of slag,fly ash,limestone and a lower content clinker were investigated,respectively.The results show that when the proportions among slag,fly ash and limestone are appropriate,the grinding technology and system are reasonable,the optimized gypsums and additives are effective,the 52.5R grade cement (52.5R grade cement means a higher strength than 52.5 at early age) can be prepared by clinker dosage of 50% in weight,the 42.5R or 42.5,32.5 grade composite cement containing 40% and 30% clinker also may be made, respectively.Moreover,the high performance concrete prepared from the above composite cements was studied experimentally.

Formation cause,composition analysis and comprehensive utilization of rare earth solid wastes

Based on practical situation of rare earth industrial chain,production process and rare earth materials that could produce solid wastes on batch were discussed.Formation cause,formation volume,composition analysis and comprehensive utilization of the solid wastes of rare earth hydrometallurgy slag,electrolysis slag,Fe-based rare earth permanent magnetic materials,Co-based rare earth permanent magnetic materials,rare earth hydrogen storage materials,rare earth polishing powders and rare earth catalysts were ...

Enhancement of anaerobic biodegradability of flower stem wastes with vegetable wastes by co-hydrolysis

The vegetable wastes and flower stems were co-digested to evaluate the anaerobic hydrolysis performance of difficultly biodegradable organic wastes by introducing readily biodegradable organic wastes. The experiments were carried out in batches. When the vegetable wastes were mixed with the flower stems at the dry weight ratio of 1 to 13, the overall hydrolysis rate increased by 8%, 12%, and 2% according to the carbon, nitrogen, and total solid （TS） conversion rate, respectively. While the dry weight ratio was designed as 1 to 3, there was a respective rise of 5%, 15%, and 4% in the conversion rate of carbon, nitrogen, and TS. The enhancement of anaerobic hydrolysis from the mixed vegetable wastes and flower stems can be attributed to the formation of volatile fatty acids （VFA） and nutrient supplement like nitrogen content. The maximum VFA concentration can achieve 1.7 g/L owing to the rapid acidification of vegetable wastes, loosing the structure of lignocellulose materials. The statistic bivariate analysis revealed that the hydrolysis performance was significantly related to the physical and biochemical compositions of the feeding substrate. Especially, the soluble carbon concentration in the liquid was significantly positively correlated to the concentration of nitrogen and hemicellulose, and negatively correlated to the concentration of carbon and lignocellulose in the feeding substrate, suggesting that the regulation and control of feedstock can have an important influence on the anaerobic hydrolysis of organic wastes.

Glass ceramic of high hardness and fracture toughness developed from iron-rich wastes

A study has been carried out on the feasibility of using high iron content wastes, generated during steel making, as a raw material for the production of glass ceramic. The iron-rich wastes were mixed and melted in different proportions with soda-lime glass cullet and sand. The devitrification of the parent glasses produced from the different mixtures was investigated using differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical properties of the glass-ceramic were assessed by hardness and indentation fracture toughness measurement. A glass ceramic with mixture of 60 wt pct iron-rich wastes, 25 wt pct sand, and 15 wt pct glass cullet exhibited the best combination of properties, namely, hardness 7.9 CPa and fracture toughness 3.75 MPa·m^1/2, for the sake of containing magnetite in marked dendritic morphology. These new hard glass ceramics are candidate materials for wear resistant tiles and paving for heavy industrial floors.

Prospects of effective microorganisms technology in wastes treatment in Egypt

Sludge dewatering and treatment may cost as much as the wastewater treatment.Usually large proportion of the pollutants in wastewater is organic.They are attacked by saprophytic microorganisms,i.e.organisms that feed upon dead organic matter.Activity of organisms causes decomposition of organic matter and destroys them,where the bacteria convert the organic matter or other constituents in the wastewater to new cells,water,gases and other products.Demolition activities,including renovation/remodeling works and complete or selective removal/demolishing of existing structures either by man-made processes or by natural disasters,create an extensive amount of wastes.These demolition wastes are characterized as heterogeneous mixtures of building materials that are usually contaminated with chemicals and dirt.In developing countries, it is estimated that demolition wastes comprise 20%to 30%of the total annual solid wastes.In Egypt,the daily quantity of construction and demolition(C&D) waste has been estimated as 10 000 tones.That is equivalent to one third of the total daily municipal solid wastes generated per day in Egypt.The zabbaliin have since expanded their activities and now take the waste they collect back to their garbage villages where it is sorted into recyclable components:paper,plastics, rags,glass,metal and food.The food waste is fed to pigs and the other items are sold to recycling centers.This paper summarizes the wastewater and solid wastes management in Egypt now and future.

Alkaline leaching of metal melting industry wastes and separation of zinc and lead in the leach solution

In this work, a thorough examinations on the extractability of zinc and lead present in the steelmaking dusts using alkaline leaching process and the effectiveness of the zinc and lead separation in the resultant leaching solutions using sulfide precipitation method were made. It was found that only about 53% of zinc and over 70% of the lead could be leached out of the dusts, while the other 47% of zinc and 30% of lead were left in the leaching residues. The zinc and lead in the resultant leaching solution can be effectively and selectively separated. When the weight ratio of sodium sulfide (M.W. = 222-240) to Pb was kept at 1.8, the lead in the solution could be precipitated out quantitatively while all the zinc was remained in the solution. The zinc left in the solution can be further recovered by the addition of extra sodium sulfide with a weight ratio of sodium sulfide to the zinc over 2.6. The resultant filtrate can be recycled to the leaching of dust in the next leaching process.

Characterization of dolochar wastes generated by the sponge iron industry

Solid wastes generated by the metallurgical industry contribute significantly towards the enhancement of environmental pollution. The handling, utilization, and safe disposal of these solid wastes are major concerns for the world. Dolochar is such a solid waste generated by the sponge iron industry. Investigations were carried out on the physical, mineralogical, and chemical characteristics for the efficient utilization of dolochar. The detailed studies on physico-chemical properties and petrography were carded out by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Characterization studies revealed that the dolochar consists of quartz （free as well as locked）, free lime, Fe particles, and Ca or Mg and/or Ca＋Mg＋Fe oxide phases. The washability data of-300 ~m dolochar samples indicated that clean coal with 41wt% ash at 18% yield can be produced from dolochar with 78wt% ash. The studies further suggested that the liberation of the dolochar is hard to achieve for clear separation. The dolochar is observed to have high ash fusion temperature and the un- burned carbon can be best utilized for power generation.

Research Situation and Development Trend of Resource Recycling Technology for Agricultural Wastes

Rational utilization of agricultural waste resources is of great significance to reducing environmental pollution, improving rural ecological environment, and developing agricultural circular economy. Besides, in the context of global energy crisis, the research of resource utilization technology for agricultural wastes will exert considerable influence on survival and living of human beings. We firstly discuss about general situations of agricultural waste resources in China, research and application situations of agricultural waste recycling technology both at home and abroad. On the basis of development trend of agricultural waste recycling, we put forward countermeasures for agricultural waste recycling in China.

FORMATION MECHANISMS AND CONTROL STRATEGIES FOR DIOXINS IN INCINERATION PROCESS OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTES

Dioxins, which are of the most toxic materials on the earth, are principal emitted from waste incineration process. The molecular structures, toxicity parameters, such as toxicity equivalency factor, tolerable daily intake and physic-chemical properties of dioxins are briefly summarized. Three formation mechanisms of dioxins in waste incineration process, namely as de novo synthesis, mechanisms involving small organic molecular as precursors and homogenous gas phase reaction mechanism are alto reviewed. The influencing factors for dioxins formation during waste incineration process are also discussed. Three major methods for reducing dioxins emission from waste incineration process are discussed based upon the formation mechanisms and influencing factors. A new waste incineration process with low dioxins emission and low hydrogen chloride corrosion has been proposed based on multi- stage unit operation principal according to formation mechanisms of dioxins and potential production location in waste incinerators.

Conversion of organic carbon in the decomposable organic wastes in anaerobic lysimeters under different temperatures

The quantitative fractions of conversion of organic carbon in the decomposable organic wastes with initial moisture of 70% sorted from municipal solid wastes(MSW) in lysimeters into biogas, leachate and solid residue were characterized, under temperatures of 25, 30 and 41℃, respectively, and circulation of leachate generated within the lysimeters. It is found that 27% of organic carbon in the wastes are conversed into gases, 0.8% into leachate, and the other 72% remained in the decomposable solid residues, after 180 days' degradation at 41℃. Higher temperature will lead to more rapid degradation and result to higher conversion of the organic carbon to biogas and lower to both solid residues and leachate, while the pollutant concentrations in leachate will be lower at a higher temperature and the values of COD are quite consistent with TOC.

Anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastes in a single-phased anaerobic sequencing batch reactor(ASBR) with gas-phased absorb of CO_2

The performance of the single-stage anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastes was investigated in an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor(ASBR) with gas-phased absorb of CO 2. The ASBR was operated at four chemical oxygen demand(COD) loading rates, 2.8, 5.1, 6.2 and 8.4 g/(L·d) respectively. The COD loading rate was increased with the TS concentration and HRT changing. At maximum COD loading rate of 8.4 g/(L·d), the COD, total solid(TS) removal rate and methane gas yield were 69%, 68% and 2.5 L/(L·d) respectively. The operation of the reactor with gas-phased absorb of CO 2 was stable in spite of the low pH(2.6—3.9) and high concentration of TS(142 g/L) of input mixture. The output volatile fatty acid(VFA) concentration was between 2.7—4.7 g/L and had no inhibition on the methanogenic microorganism. The reactor without gas-phased absorb of CO 2 became acidified when the total COD loading rate was increased to 5.1 g/(L·d). Stoichiometry of the methanogenesis for kitchen wastes showed a considerable amount of alkaline will be required to keep pH in the appropriate range for the methanogenic microorganism based on theoretical calculation. Gas-phased absorb of CO 2 effectively reduced the alkaline consumption, hence avoided excessive cation into the reactor.

Enhanced copper recovery from low grade copper sulfide ores through bioleaching using residues produced by fermentation of agricultural wastes

Effects of residues produced by agricultural wastes fermentation(AWF)on low grade copper sulfide ores bioleaching,copper recovery,and microbial community were investigated.The results indicated that adding appropriate bulk of AWF made contributions to low grade copper sulfide ores bioleaching,which may be mainly realized through reducing the passivation layer formed by Fe3+hydrolysis.Improved copper recovery(78.35%)and bacteria concentration(9.56×10^(7)cells·mL^(−1))were yielded in the presence of 5 g·L^(−1)AWF.The result of 16S rDNA analysis demonstrated that microbial community was differentiated by adding AWF.Bacteria proportion,such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans,Moraxella osloensis,and Lactobacillus acetotolerans changed distinctly.Great difference between samples was showed according to beta diversity index,and the maximum value reached 0.375.Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans accounted for the highest proportion throughout the bioleaching process,and that of sample in the presence of 5 g·L^(−) AWF reached 28.63%.The results should show reference to application of agricultural wastes and low grade copper sulfide ores.

Mixed Wastes Vitrification by Transferred Plasma

Thermal plasma technology provides a stable and long term treatment of mixed wastes through vitrification processes. In this work, a transferred plasma system was realized to vitrify mixed wastes, taking advantage of its high power density, enthalpy and chemical reactivity as well as its rapid quenching and high operation temperatures. To characterize the plasma discharge, a temperature diagnostic is realized by means of optical emission spectroscopy （OES）. To typify the morphological structure of the wastes samples~ scan- ning electron microscopy （SEM）, and X-ray diffraction （XRD） techniques were applied before and after the plasma treatment.

Washing and Extraction of Metals from Contaminated Soil Constituents: Implications for Contaminated Simulated Soil and Metallurgical Wastes with Different Reagents

Leaching behaviour of heavy metals (HMs) from simulated soil (SS), prepared according to standard guidelines, as well as its constituents (quartz sand (QS), bentonite clay (BC), and peat moss (PM)) were investigated. The study focused on a batch process with the aim of comparing the leaching potentials and metals solubilisation of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), ethylene diamine disuccinic acid (EDDS), acetylacetone (Hacac), citric acid (CA), and tartaric acid (TA) for sustainable metal extraction purposes after a maximum leaching time of 60 min. The HMs concentrations with which the constituents were spiked with was such that reflected a contaminated site. The recovery potentials of both the SS and its constituents were found to vary for single metal (SM) and multi-metal (MM) systems. EDTA was the most efficient (on average 31% and 33% for SM and MM) and TA the least efficient (on average of 2% and 3% for SM and MM) extractant. For Hacac, preferential recovery for Cu and Ni were significant when compared to the other metals, while, metal recovery by EDDS in SS was lower than could be expected. The leaching trend for the targeted metals was studied using conventional leaching models.