Enhancing biomethanation from dairy waste activated biomass using a novel EGTA mediated microwave disintegration.

A novel approach to explore the impact of calcium specific chelant - Ethylene glycol tetra acetic acid (EGTA) on deflocculation followed by biomass disintegration using microwave (MW) was investigated. In the first phase of the study, the EGTA dosage of 0.012 g/g suspended solids (SS) was found to be optimal for disassociating the biomass. Subsequent disintegration of biomass in microwave (EGTA-MW) yielded a biomass lysis and solids reduction of about 39.7% and 30.5%. EGTA-MW disintegration reduces the amount of specific energy required to disintegrate the biomass from 18,900 kJ/kg TS to 13,500 kJ/kg TS, when compared to control. The impact of EGTA-MW disintegration on anaerobic digestion was also evident from its methane yield (235.3 mL/g VS) which was 36.2% higher than control. An economic assessment of this study provides a net profit of 8.48 €/ton in EGTA-MW and highly endorsed for biomass disintegration.

Esophagotomy in a domestic fowl: a rare case report.

BACKGROUND: Foreign body in esophagus in birds is rarely reported in literature. Most common site of foreign body in birds is proventriculus and ventriculus. The purpose of this study is to discuss the diagnosis of a large sharp foreign body in the distal third of the neck by plain radiography and its retrieval through esophagotomy and subsequent survival of the fowl. CASE DESCRIPTION: An Aseel breed of domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) was referred to the surgery department with a history of swelling in the neck and subsequent anorexia since 24 h, but normal water intake. Radiological examination revealed a large fish bone in esophagus. Because of the sharp edges of the foreign body esophagotomy was performed rather than per os (po) retrieval or milking of the foreign body into the crop and performing an ingluviotomy. FINDINGS/TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Esophagotomy was performed under local infiltration using a diluted solution of lignocaine. Fish bone pieces were retrieved from the esophagus of the fowl. The esophagotomy incision was closed in two layers using polyglactin 910 no: 3-0. Postoperatively, the owner was advised to administer Enrofloxacin po at 10 mg/kg body weight (BW)/day for seven days and Tramadol (10 mg/kg BW, BID) for three days in water. This case was followed up for 8 months. There were no complications noticed by the owner. CONCLUSION: It could be concluded that prompt intervention and surgical management may be necessary for retrieval of sharp esophageal foreign bodies lodged in the distal cervical esophagus of domestic fowl.

Dispersion aided tenside disintegration of seagrass Syringodium isoetifolium: Towards biomethanation, kinetics, energy exploration and evaluation.

In this study, an attempt was made to enhance the biomethanation potential of seagrass (Syringodium isoetifolium) by the aid of disperser-tenside (polysorbate 80) disintegration for the first time in literature. A disperser rpm of 10,000 for 20 min and PS 80 dose of 0.000864 g/g TS were selected as ideal parameters for effectual seagrass biomass disintegration. Dispersion aided tenside disintegration (DTD) with a disperser energy consumption of 349 kJ/kg TS, was observed to be efficacious with a biomass lysis rate of 25.6%. The impact of DTD on bioacidification and biomethanation assay with respect to volatile fatty acids concentration (1100 mg/L) and methane generation (0.256 g/g COD), was greater than dispersion disintegration (DD) (800 mg/L; 0.198 g/g COD). Thus, S. isoetifolium is considered as a promising substrate to attain the third generation biofuel goals in the near future.

Impacts of microwave pretreatments on the semi-continuous anaerobic digestion of dairy waste activated sludge.

Microwave (MW) irradiation is one of the new and possible methods used for pretreating the sludge. Following its use in different fields, this MW irradiation method has proved to be more appropriate in the field of environmental research. In this paper, we focused on the effects of MW irradiation at different intensities on solubilization, biodegradation and anaerobic digestion of sludge from the dairy sludge. The changes in the soluble fractions of the organic matter, the biogas yield, the methane content in the biogas were used as control parameters for evaluating the efficiency of the MW pretreatment. Additionally, the energetic efficiency was also examined. In terms of an energetic aspect, the most economical pretreatment of sludge was at 70% intensity for 12 min irradiation time. At this, COD solubilization, SS reduction and biogas production were found to be 18.6%, 14% and 35% higher than the control, respectively. Not only the increase in biogas production was investigated, excluding protein and carbohydrate hydrolysis was also performed successfully by this microwave pretreatment even at low irradiation energy input. Also, experiments were carried out in semi continuous anaerobic digesters, with 3.5L working volume. Combining microwave pretreatment with anaerobic digestion led to 67%, 64% and 57% of SS reduction, VS reduction and biogas production higher than the control, respectively.

Combined treatment of alkaline and disperser for improving solubilization and anaerobic biodegradability of dairy waste activated sludge.

An investigation into the influence of combined alkaline and disperser pretreatment on sludge disintegration was studied. The effects of four variables, alkalines (NaOH, KOH, Ca(OH)(2)), treatment time (15-180 min), pH (8-11) and rpm (4000-24,000) were investigated. The effect of sludge pretreatment was evaluated by COD solubilization, suspended solids reduction and biogas production. The best performances, in terms of COD solubilization, SS reduction and biogas production, were the ones that occurred for specific energy input of 4544 kJ kg(-1) TS for NaOH at pH10, were found to be 24%, 23.3% and 76%, higher than the control, respectively. Not only the increase in biogas production was investigated, excluding protein hydrolysis was also performed successfully by this combined pretreatment even at low specific energy input. Thus, this chemo-mechanical is an effective method for enhancement of biodegradability and it laid the basis to produce higher biogas quantities, to improve clean energy generation from WAS.