scholarly journals Integrative Effects of Treated Wastewater and Synthetic Fertilizers on Productivity, Energy Characteristics, and Elements Uptake of Potential Energy Crops in an Arid Agro-Ecosystem

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2250
Author(s):  
Nasser Al-Suhaibani ◽  
Mahmoud F. Seleiman ◽  
Salah El-Hendawy ◽  
Kamel Abdella ◽  
Majed Alotaibi ◽  
...  

Using wastewater in agriculture is a desirable alternative source of irrigation and is gaining attraction worldwide. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the effect of treated municipal wastewater (TWW) and groundwater (GW), along with half and full doses of the recommended NPK dose on the plant growth, total biomass, gross energy, and macro- and trace element content and uptake of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), canola (Brassica napus L.), and triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack) grown in old and virgin soil as potential bioenergy crops. The results showed that crops planted in old or virgin soil irrigated with TWW had higher values of plant height, leaf area per plant, total chlorophyll content, total biomass, and gross and net energy contents compared to those irrigated with GW grown in virgin soil. Similarly, crops grown in old soil irrigated with TWW showed higher concentrations in dry matter and uptake for both macronutrients (N, P, and K) and trace elements (B, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Ni) compared to those planted in virgin soil and irrigated with GW. Furthermore, the application of the recommended half dose of NPK in old and virgin soil irrigated with TWW showed occasionally comparable results to that of a full recommended dose of NPK for most of the measured parameters. Importantly, the recommended half dose applied to old soil irrigated with TWW resulted in a significant improvement in all measured parameters compared to virgin soil irrigated with GW, along with a full recommended dose of NPK. Briefly, TWW can be used to irrigate crops grown for bioenergy purposes, since it did not pose any harmful effect for energy crops. In addition, it provides additional nutrients to soil and thus decreases the required rate of synthetic fertilizer by up to 50% without any significant decreases in the final production of crops.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3037
Author(s):  
Mahmoud F. Seleiman ◽  
Nasser Al-Suhaibani ◽  
Salah El-Hendawy ◽  
Kamel Abdella ◽  
Majed Alotaibi ◽  
...  

The availability of suitable water is an important factor for increasing the cultivated areas and sustainability in arid (i.e., less than 200 mm precipitation per year) and semiarid regions (i.e., 200–700 mm precipitation per year). Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the impact of treated wastewater (TWW) and groundwater (GW) as well as synthetic fertilizers (50% and 100% of the recommended NPK dose; 150–150–60 kg N–P2O5–K2O ha−1) on the growth, biomass, energy traits, and macro and trace elements of maize (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L) grown in old cultivated (first location; L1) and virgin soil (L2 and L3) as potential bioenergy crops. The soil in L1 has been irrigated with treated wastewater for the last 15 years and continued to be irrigated with treated wastewater in this investigation. The virgin soil was divided into two parts: the first part was irrigated with TWW, and the second part was irrigated with GW. The experiments were laid out in a split-plot with a randomized complete block design with water treatments (TWW in old and virgin soil, and GW in virgin soil) in main plots, and the two treatments of fertilization (50% and 100% of the recommended NPK dose) were distributed randomly in subplots. Compared with the crops irrigated with GW, the crops irrigated with TWW, whether grown on old or virgin soil, showed higher plant height, total chlorophyll content, leaf area per plant, total biomass, energy content, and gross energy with low ash. They also contained higher (but lower than permissible limits) concentrations of macro-elements (NPK) and trace elements (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Co). In addition, the application of a 50% recommended dose of NPK with TWW showed equivalent results to a 100% recommended dose of NPK on all measured parameters with few exceptions. In conclusion, the TWW can be used to irrigate field crops allocated for bioenergy production in arid regions because it does not harm the plants and environment. In addition, the 50% recommended dose of NPK fertilizer exerted no negative effects on the growth and energy production of field crops, thereby protecting the environment and reducing the leaching of excessive fertilizers into GW.


2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Heinonen-Tanski ◽  
P. Juntunen ◽  
R. Rajala ◽  
E. Haume ◽  
A. Niemelä

Municipal treated wastewater has been tertiary treated in a pilot-scale rapid sand filter. The filtration process was improved by using polyaluminium coagulants. The sand-filtered water was further treated with one or two UV reactors. The quality changes of wastewater were measured with transmittance, total phosphorus, soluble phosphorus, and somatic coliphages, FRNA-coliphages, FC, enterococci and fecal clostridia. Sand filtration alone without coagulants improved slightly some physico-chemical parameters and it had almost no effect on content of microorganisms. If coagulants were used, the filtration was more effective. The reductions were 88-98% for microbial groups and 80% for total phosphorus. The wastewater would meet the requirements for bathing waters (2,000 FC/100 ml, EU, 1976). UV further improved the hygiene level; this type of treated wastewater could be used for unrestricted irrigation (2.2 TC/100 ml, US.EPA 1992). The improvement was better if coagulants were used. The price for tertiary treatment (filtration + UV) would have been 0.036 Euro/m3 according to prices in 2001 in 22 Mm3/a. The investment cost needed for the filtration unit was 0.020 Euro/m3 (6%/15a). Filtration with coagulants is recommended in spite of its costs, since the low transmittance of unfiltered wastewater impairs the efficiency of the UV treatment.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Muramatsu ◽  
H. Ito ◽  
A. Sasaki ◽  
A. Kajihara ◽  
T. Watanabe

To achieve enhanced nitrogen removal, we modified a cultivation system with circulated irrigation of treated municipal wastewater by using rice for animal feed instead of human consumption. The performance of this modified system was evaluated through a bench-scale experiment by comparing the direction of circulated irrigation (i.e. passing through paddy soil upward and downward). The modified system achieved more than three times higher nitrogen removal (3.2 g) than the system in which rice for human consumption was cultivated. The removal efficiency was higher than 99.5%, regardless of the direction of circulated irrigation. Nitrogen in the treated municipal wastewater was adsorbed by the rice plant in this cultivation system as effectively as chemical fertilizer used in normal paddy fields. Circulated irrigation increased the nitrogen released to the atmosphere, probably due to enhanced denitrification. Neither the circulation of irrigation water nor its direction affected the growth of the rice plant and the yield and quality of harvested rice. The yield of rice harvested in this system did not reach the target value in normal paddy fields. To increase this yield, a larger amount of treated wastewater should be applied to the system, considering the significant amount of nitrogen released to the atmosphere.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Hosseini Koupaie ◽  
T. Johnson ◽  
C. Eskicioglu

This paper presents results for a comprehensive study that compares the performance of three electricity-based thermal pretreatment methods for improving the effectiveness of anaerobic digestion (AD) to process municipal wastewater sludge. The study compares thermal pretreatment using conventional heating (CH), microwave (MW), and radio frequency (RF) heating techniques. The effectiveness of the pretreatment methods was assessed in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biopolymers solubilization, AD bioenergy production, input electrical energy, and overall net energy production of the sequential pretreatment/AD process. The heating applicators for the bench-scale testing consisted of a custom-built pressure-sealed heating vessel for CH experiments, an off-the-shelf programmable MW oven operating at a frequency of 2.45 GHz for MW heating experiments, and a newly developed 1 kW RF heating system operating at a frequency of 13.56 MHz for RF heating experiments. Under identical thermal profiles, all three thermal pretreatment methods achieved similar sludge disintegration in terms of COD and biopolymer solubilization as well as AD bioenergy production (p-value > 0.05). According to the energy assessment results, the application of CH and MW pretreatments resulted in overall negative energy production, while positive net energy production was obtained through the sequential pretreatment/AD process utilizing RF pretreatment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (7) ◽  
pp. 1566-1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Rathnaweera ◽  
B. Rusten ◽  
K. Korczyk ◽  
B. Helland ◽  
E. Rismyhr

Abstract A pilot-scale CFIC® (continuous flow intermittent cleaning) reactor was run in anoxic conditions to study denitrification of wastewater. The CFIC process has already proven its capabilities for biological oxygen demand removal with a small footprint, less energy consumption and low cost. The present study focused on the applicability for denitrification. Both pre-denitrification (pre-DN) and post-denitrification (post-DN) were tested. A mixture of primary treated wastewater and nitrified wastewater was used for pre-DN and nitrified wastewater with ethanol as a carbon source was used for post-DN. The pre-DN process was carbon limited and removal rates of only 0.16 to 0.74 g NOx-N/m²-d were obtained. With post-DN and an external carbon source, 0.68 to 2.2 g NO3-Neq/m²-d removal rates were obtained. The carrier bed functioned as a good filter for both the larger particles coming with influent water and the bio-solids produced in the reactor. Total suspended solids removal in the reactor varied from 20% to 78% (average 45%) during post-DN testing period and 9% to 70% (average 29%) for pre-DN. The results showed that the forward flow washing improves both the DN function and filtration ability of the reactor.


Author(s):  
Judita Koreivienė ◽  
Robertas Valčiukas ◽  
Jūratė Karosienė ◽  
Pranas Baltrėnas

Industry, transport and unsustainable agriculture result in the increased quantity of wastewater, release of nutrients and emission of carbon dioxide that promotes eutrophication of water bodies and global climate change. the application of microalgae for phycoremediation, their biomass use for human needs may increase sustainability and have a positive effect on the regional development. The experiments were carried out in order to establish the feasibility of treating the local municipal wastewater with microalgae consortia and their biomass potential for biofuel production. The results revealed that Chlorella/Scenedesmus consortium eliminated up to 99.7–99.9% of inorganic phosphorus and up to 88.6–96.4% of inorganic nitrogen from the wastewater within three weeks. The ammonium removal was more efficient than that of nitrate. Chlorella algae grew better in diluted, while Scenedesmus – in the concentrated wastewater. The consortium treated wastewater more efficiently than a single species. The maximum biomass (3.04 g/L) of algal consortium was estimated in concentrated wastewater. Algae accumulated 0.65–1.37 g of CO2/L per day in their biomass. Tus, Chlorella/Scenedesmus consortium is a promising tool for nutrients elimination from the local wastewater under the climatic conditions specific to Lithuania. However, none of the two species were able to accumulate lipids under the nitrogen starvation conditions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Takácsné Hájos ◽  
T. Rubóczki ◽  
A. Kiss

Artificial sweeteners have harmful effect on human health, so it is great interested in stevia extract. Our experiment was aimed to show the possibility of inland production of stevia. Different plastic mulches were used (black and white) on raised bed and were compared to uncovered (control) plots for yield and state of health of plants. Furthermore we evaluated the depth of cuttings (low cutting until the 6th double leaf; normal cutting until the upper ⅓ of the plant) on the yield depending on the covering method. The plants were  transplanted on 9 of May, 2014 on raised bed, 3 rows on it, with 33x25 cm spacing. According to our results, the black plastic mulch produced the highest yield, which can be explained by suppressing effect on weeds, furthermore it kept the soil warm, moist and protected the lower leaves from soil wetness. But, the white sheet mulch could not eliminate weeds around the plants. The total biomass on the black plastic sheet covered plots was the highest, nearly 1000 g pro plant by low cutting. On the control plots the fungi infection reached about 25-30%, which caused leaf falling of plants, decreasing of yield by the end of vegetation period. To summarise, stevia production is possible in Hungary, but it is important to pay attention to the balanced soil moisture and low humidity in the leaf area. It is suggested to cover the soil with plastic sheet or organic materials, such as bark and chippings.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
Branimir Mikic ◽  
Bojan Stipesevic ◽  
Emilija Raspudic ◽  
Georg Drezner ◽  
Bojana Brozovic

Modern soil tillage systems based on different tools than mouldboard plough have very often stronger weed occurrence, which can be a serious problem for achieving high yields. An obvious solution for weed suppression is a herbicide, whose improper use can deteriorate environment and lead toward serious ecological problems. In order to investigate the interaction between soil tillage and herbicide, trial was set up in Valpovo in seasons 2008/09 - 2010/11. Two soil tillage systems (CT-conventional tillage, based on mouldboard ploughing, and CH-chiselling and disk harrowing, without ploughing) and five herbicide treatments (NH-control, no herbicides; H10- recommended dose of Herbaflex (2 l ha-1); H05-half dose of Herbaflex; F10- recommended dose of Fox (1.5 l ha-1); and F05-half dose of Fox) were applied to winter wheat crops. Results showed similar effects of soil tillage on the winter wheat yield, whereas different herbicide dosages showed similar weed suppression and influence on winter wheat yield.


2019 ◽  

<p>In order to study the chemical parameters of the soil after sub-irrigation with wastewater, a system was installed in one of the greenhouses of the Agricultural University of Athens. Wastewater was applied subsurface into the soil mass of the pots were used. Three treatments were used: Untreated wastewater (U), Treated wastewater (T) and tap water (W) as control. Two different types were used: Soil (a) characterized as Sandy loam and soil (b) characterized as Loamy sand. Moreover, in order to investigate the change of total Nitrogen and organic matter concentrations at the point where the emitter was placed, the soil mass was divided into two zones. The upper (zone I) and the lower one (zone II). The total nitrogen content, ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N), nitrogen nitrate (NO3-N) and the percentage of organic matter, were determined in the soil samples. Statistically significant differences (p &lt;0, 05) were observed in the organic matter and the total N%, only for soil (b). For soil (a), organic matter percentage was increased in zone (I) (irrigation with treated wastewater at 20 cm depth). For soil (b), total N% was increased in zone (I), while nitrate and ammonium were increased in zone (II) (irrigation with untreated wastewater at 20 cm depth).</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Magdalena Domańska ◽  
Anna Boral ◽  
Kamila Hamal ◽  
Magdalena Kuśnierz ◽  
Janusz Łomotowski ◽  
...  

AbstractThe increasingly stringent requirements for wastewater treatment enforce the adoption of technologies that reduce pollution and minimize waste production. By combining the typical activated sludge process with membrane filtration, biological membrane reactors (MBR) offer great technological potential in this respect. The paper presents the principles and effectiveness of using an MBR at the Głogów Małopolski operation. Physicochemical tests of raw and treated wastewater as well as microscopic analyses with the use of the FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) method were carried out. Moreover, the level of electric energy consumption during the operation of the wastewater treatment plant and problems related to fouling were also discussed. A wastewater quality analysis confirmed the high efficiency of removing organic impurities (on average 96% in case of BOD5 and 94% in case of COD) and suspension (on average 93%).


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