Overview of the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) Field Experiment.

The Alaskan Layered Pollution And Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) field experiment was a collaborative study designed to improve understanding of pollution sources and chemical processes during winter (cold climate and low-photochemical activity), to investigate indoor pollution, and to study dispersion of pollution as affected by frequent temperature inversions. A number of the research goals were motivated by questions raised by residents of Fairbanks, Alaska, where the study was held. This paper describes the measurement strategies and the conditions encountered during the January and February 2022 field experiment, and reports early examples of how the measurements addressed research goals, particularly those of interest to the residents. Outdoor air measurements showed high concentrations of particulate matter and pollutant gases including volatile organic carbon species. During pollution events, low winds and extremely stable atmospheric conditions trapped pollution below 73 m, an extremely shallow vertical scale. Tethered-balloon-based measurements intercepted plumes aloft, which were associated with power plant point sources through transport modeling. Because cold climate residents spend much of their time indoors, the study included an indoor air quality component, where measurements were made inside and outside a house to study infiltration and indoor sources. In the absence of indoor activities such as cooking and/or heating with a pellet stove, indoor particulate matter concentrations were lower than outdoors; however, cooking and pellet stove burns often caused higher indoor particulate matter concentrations than outdoors. The mass-normalized particulate matter oxidative potential, a health-relevant property measured here by the reactivity with dithiothreiol, of indoor particles varied by source, with cooking particles having less oxidative potential per mass than pellet stove particles.

Exploring the roles of and interactions among microbes in dry co-digestion of food waste and pig manure using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.

BACKGROUND: With the increasing global population and increasing demand for food, the generation of food waste and animal manure increases. Anaerobic digestion is one of the best available technologies for food waste and pig manure management by producing methane-rich biogas. Dry co-digestion of food waste and pig manure can significantly reduce the reactor volume, capital cost, heating energy consumption and the cost of digestate liquid management. It is advantageous over mono-digestion of food waste or pig manure due to the balanced carbon/nitrogen ratio, high pH buffering capacity, and provision of trace elements. However, few studies have been carried out to study the roles of and interactions among microbes in dry anaerobic co-digestion systems. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effects of different inocula (finished digestate and anaerobic sludge taken from wastewater treatment plants) and substrate compositions (food waste to pig manure ratios of 50:50 and 75:25 in terms of volatile solids) on the microbial community structure in food waste and pig manure dry co-digestion systems, and to examine the possible roles of the previously poorly described bacteria and the interactions among dry co-digestion-associated microbes. RESULTS: The dry co-digestion experiment lasted for 120 days. The microbial profile during different anaerobic digestion stages was explored using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. It was found that the inoculum factor was more significant in determining the microbial community structure than the substrate composition factor. Significant correlation was observed between the relative abundance of specific microbial taxa and digesters' physicochemical parameters. Hydrogenotrophic methanogens dominated in dry co-digestion systems. CONCLUSIONS: The possible roles of specific microbial taxa were explored by correlation analysis, which were consistent with the literature. Based on this, the anaerobic digestion-associated roles of 11 bacteria, which were previously poorly understood, were estimated here for the first time. The inoculum played a more important role in determining the microbial community structure than substrate composition in dry co-digestion systems. Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was a significant methane production pathway in dry co-digestion systems.

Inactivation of Salmonella during dry co-digestion of food waste and pig manure.

Extremely high volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and ammonia concentrations can accumulate during dry co-digestion of organic wastes, which may inactivate pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, inactivation of Salmonella during dry co-digestion of pig manure (PM) and food waste (FW), which are both reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens, was examined. The effects of pH, VFAs, ammonia and their interactions were assessed on three inoculated Salmonella serotypes. The results show that dry co-digestion significantly decreased the Salmonella inactivation time from several months (in wet digestion) to as short as 6-7 days. A modified Weibull distribution was proposed to simulate Salmonella reduction and to calculate or predict the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of VFAs and ammonia. Statistical analysis showed that all the factors (pH, VFA type, VFA/ammonia concentration and Salmonella serotype) significantly impacted Salmonella inactivation (P < 0.01). The inhibitory effect sequence was pH > VFA concentration > VFA type > Salmonella serotype in VFA MIC tests, and ammonia concentration > pH > Salmonella serotype in ammonia MIC tests. The toxicity of VFAs was much greater than that of ammonia, and an antagonistic effect was found between VFAs and ammonia on Salmonella inactivation. Apart from the toxicity of free VFAs and free ammonia, the inhibitory effects of pH alone, ionized VFAs and ammonium were also observed.

Inhibition of volatile fatty acids on methane production kinetics during dry co-digestion of food waste and pig manure.

Compared with wet digestion, dry digestion of organic wastes reduces reactor volume and requires less energy for heating, but it is easily inhibited by high volatile fatty acid (VFA) or ammonia concentration. The inhibition on methane production kinetics during dry co-digestion of food waste and pig manure is rarely reported. The aim of this study was to explore the inhibition mechanisms and the microbial interactions in food waste and pig manure dry co-digestion systems at different inoculum rates (25% and 50% based on volatile solids) and food waste/pig manure ratios (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0 based on volatile solids). The results showed that the preferable operation conditions were obtained at the inoculum rate of 50% and food waste/pig manure ratio of 50:50, with a specific methane yield of 263 mL/g VSadded. High VFA concentration was the main inhibition factor on methane production, and the threshold VFA inhibition concentrations ranged 16.5-18.0 g/L. Syntrophic oxidation with hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis might be the main methane production pathway in dry co-digestion systems due to the dominance of hydrogenotrophic methanogens in the archaeal community. In conclusion, dry co-digestion of food waste and pig manure is feasible for methane production without pH adjustment and can be operated stably by choosing proper operation conditions.

Inactivation of enteric indicator bacteria and system stability during dry co-digestion of food waste and pig manure.

Provision of digestate with satisfactory biosafety is critical to land application of digestate and to the anaerobic digestion approach to treating manure and food waste (FW). No studies have been conducted on digestate biosafety in dry co-digestion systems. The aim of this study was to assess the inactivation efficiency and possible inactivation mechanism for three enteric indicator bacteria and the system stability during dry mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of FW and pig manure (PM). The effects of two different inocula were examined at a rate of 50% based on volatile solids (VS): digestate taken from existing dry co-digestion digesters and dewatered anaerobic sludge from a local wastewater treatment plant. The FW/PM ratios of 50:50 and 75:25 on a VS basis were also assessed. The results showed that using digestate as the inoculum and a FW/PM ratio of 50:50 led to stable dry co-digestion, with the specific methane yield (SMY) of 252mL/gVSadded. Total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration was a significant inhibition factor for methane production during dry co-digestion (P<0.001). The data also showed that dry co-digestion of FW and PM effectively inactivated enteric indicator bacteria. E. coli and total coliforms counts decreased below the limit of detection (LOD, 102CFU/g) within 4-7days, with free VFA identified as a significant inactivation factor. Enterococci were more resistant but nonetheless the counts decreased below the LOD within 12days in the digestate inoculum systems and 26-31days in the sludge inoculum systems. The residence time was the most significant inactivation factor for enterococci, with the free VFA concentration playing a secondary role at high FW/PM ratio in the sludge inoculum system. In conclusion, digestate as inoculum and the FW/PM ratio of 50:50 were preferable operation conditions to realize system stability, methane production and enteric indicator bacteria inactivation.

Synergism and effect of high initial volatile fatty acid concentrations during food waste and pig manure anaerobic co-digestion.

Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste (FW) and pig manure (PM) was undertaken in batch mode at 37°C in order to identify and quantify the synergistic effects of co-digestion on the specific methane yield (SMY) and reaction kinetics. The effects of the high initial volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in PM on synergy observed during co-digestion, and on kinetic modelling were investigated. PM to FW mixing ratios of 1/0, 4/1, 3/2, 2/3, 1/4 and 0/1 (VS basis) were examined. No VFA or ammonia inhibition was observed. The highest SMY of 521±29ml CH4/gVS was achieved at a PM/FW mixing ratio of 1/4. Synergy in terms of both reaction kinetics and SMY occurred at PM/FW mixing ratios of 3/2, 2/3 and 1/4. Initial VFA concentrations did not explain the synergy observed. Throughout the study the conversion of butyric acid was inhibited. Due to the high initial VFA content of PM, conventional first order and Gompertz models were inappropriate for determining reaction kinetics. A dual pooled first order model was found to provide the best fit for the data generated in this study. The optimal mixing ratio in terms of both reaction kinetics and SMY was found at a PM/FW mixing ratio of 1/4.