Evaluation of batch mesophilic anaerobic digestion of raw and trampled llama and dromedary dungs: methane potential and kinetic study

This research was carried out with the aim to evaluate the anaerobic digestion (AD) of llama and dromedary dungs (both untreated and trampled) in batch mode at mesophilic temperature (35 °C). The biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests with an inoculum to substrate ratio of 2:1 (as volatile solids (VS)) were carried out. The methane yield from trampled llama dung (333.0 mL CH4 g−1 VSadded) was considerably higher than for raw llama, raw and trampled dromedary dungs (185.9, 228.4, 222.9 mL CH4 g−1 VSadded, respectively). Therefore, trampled llama dung was found to be the best substrate for methane production due to its high content of volatile solids as well as its high nitrogen content (2.1%) and more appropriate C/N ratio (23.6) for AD. The experimental data was found to be in accordance with both first-order kinetic and transference function mathematical models, when evaluating the experimental methane production against time. By applying the first-order kinetic model, the hydrolysis rate constants, kh, were found to be 19% and 11% higher for trampled dungs in comparison with the raw dung of dromedary and llama, respectively. In addition, the maximum methane production rate (Rm) derived from the transference function model for trampled llama dung (22.0 mL CH4 g−1 VS d−1) was 83.3%, 24.4% and 22.9% higher than those obtained for raw llama manure and for raw and trampled dromedary dungs, respectively.

Climate change impacts on the abiotic degradation of acyl-homoserine lactones in the fluctuating conditions of marine biofilms

Marine biofilms are functional communities that shape habitats by providing a range of structural and functional services integral to coastal ecosystems. Impacts of climate change on biological aspects of such communities are increasingly studied, but impacts on the chemicals that mediate key interactions of biofilm organisms have largely been overlooked. Acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), crucial bacterial signals within biofilms, are known to degrade through pH and temperature-dependent hydrolysis. However, the impact of climate change on AHLs and thus on biofilm form and function is presently unknown. This study investigates the impact of changes in pH and temperature on the hydrolysis rate, half-life time and quantitative abundance of different AHLs on daily and seasonal timescales for current conditions and future climate change scenarios. We established the mathematical relationships between pH, hydrolysis rates/half-life times and temperature, which revealed that natural daily pH-driven changes within biofilms cause the greatest fluctuations in AHL concentration (up to 9-fold). Season-dependant temperature enhanced or reduced the observed daily dynamics, leading to higher winter and lower summer concentrations and caused a shift in timing of the highest and lowest AHL concentration by up to two hours. Simulated future conditions based on climate change projections caused an overall reduction of AHL degradation and led to higher AHL concentrations persisting for longer across both the daily and seasonal cycles. This study provides valuable quantitative insights into the theoretical natural dynamics of AHL concentrations. We highlight critical knowledge gaps on the scale of abiotic daily and seasonal fluctuations affecting estuarine and coastal biofilms and on the biofilms' buffering capacity. Detailed experimental studies of daily and seasonal dynamics of AHL concentrations and assessment of the potential implications for a suite of more complex interactions are required. Substantial fluctuations like those we show in this study, particularly with regards to concentration and timing, will likely have far reaching implications for fundamental ecosystem processes and important ecosystem services such as larval settlement and coastal sediment stabilisation.

Fibrolytic rumen bacteria of camel and sheep and their applications in the bioconversion of barley straw to soluble sugars for biofuel production

Lignocellulosic biomass such as barley straw is a renewable and sustainable alternative to traditional feeds and could be used as bioenergy sources; however, low hydrolysis rate reduces the fermentation efficiency. Understanding the degradation and colonization of barley straw by rumen bacteria is the key step to improve the utilization of barley straw in animal feeding or biofuel production. This study evaluated the hydrolysis of barley straw as a result of the inoculation by rumen fluid of camel and sheep. Ground barley straw was incubated anaerobically with rumen inocula from three fistulated camels (FC) and three fistulated sheep (FR) for a period of 72 h. The source of rumen inoculum did not affect the disappearance of dry matter (DMD), neutral detergent fiber (NDFD). Group FR showed higher production of glucose, xylose, and gas; while higher ethanol production was associated with cellulosic hydrolysates obtained from FC group. The diversity and structure of bacterial communities attached to barley straw was investigated by Illumina Mi-Seq sequencing of V4-V5 region of 16S rRNA genes. The bacterial community was dominated by phylum Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The dominant genera were RC9_gut_group, Ruminococcus, Saccharofermentans, Butyrivibrio, Succiniclasticum, Selenomonas, and Streptococcus, indicating the important role of these genera in lignocellulose fermentation in the rumen. Group FR showed higher RC9_gut_group and group FC revealed higher Ruminococcus, Saccharofermentans, and Butyrivibrio. Higher enzymes activities (cellulase and xylanase) were associated with group FC. Thus, bacterial communities in camel and sheep have a great potential to improve the utilization lignocellulosic material in animal feeding and the production of biofuel and enzymes.

Long-Term Assessment of Temperature Management in an Industrial Scale Biogas Plant

Temperature management is one of the primary considerations of biogas plant operation, and influences physical and biochemical processes. An increase in the temperature leads to an increase in the hydrolysis rate of the feedstock, while it can inhibit microorganisms taking part in different stages of anaerobic digestion. Because of the complexity of the biochemical processes within the anaerobic digestion process, there is a lack of knowledge about the effects of temperature and temperature change on efficiency. Moreover, the impact of stirring directly affects the temperature distribution in the anaerobic digestion reactors. In this study, the temperature management in an industrial-scale biogas plant was examined, and the effect of small temperature changes (from the operation temperature 42 °C) on the efficiency was studied in a laboratory under two different conditions: with stirring (at 40 and 44 °C) and without stirring (at 40 and 44 °C). The examination results from the biogas plant showed that heat transfer in the reactor was not sufficient at the bottom of the digester. Adaptation of the post-digester samples to the temperature changes was more challenging than that of the digester samples. From digestate samples, higher biomethane generation could be obtained, resulting from sufficient contact between microorganisms, enzymes, and substrates. Overall, differences between these changing conditions (approx. 6 NmL CH4 g VS−1) were not significant and could be adapted by the process.

EB3-informed dynamics of the microtubule stabilizing cap during stalled growth

Microtubule stability is known to be governed by a stabilizing GTP/GDP-Pi cap, but the exact relation between growth velocity, GTP hydrolysis and catastrophes remains unclear. We investigate the dynamics of the stabilizing cap through in vitro reconstitution of microtubule dynamics in contact with micro-fabricated barriers, using the plus-end binding protein GFP-EB3 as a marker for the nucleotide state of the tip. The interaction of growing microtubules with steric objects is known to slow down microtubule growth and accelerate catastrophes. We show that the lifetime distributions of stalled microtubules, as well as the corresponding lifetime distributions of freely growing microtubules, can be fully described with a simple phenomenological 1D model based on noisy microtubule growth and a single EB3-dependent hydrolysis rate. This same model is furthermore capable of explaining both the previously reported mild catastrophe dependence on microtubule growth rates and the catastrophe statistics during tubulin washout experiments.

Screening of lactases suitable for the preparation of low-lactose prebiotic liquid milk and optimisation of their combination

Lactose intolerance is an important factor restricting the consumption of dairy products. Lactase is used to hydrolyze lactose in milk while generating galactooligosaccharides (GOS), thereby reducing the incidence of lactose intolerance. We used cow milk as raw materials, and selected enzyme preparations with high lactose hydrolysis rate and strong GOS generation ability from 14 commercially available lactase enzymes. The lactose hydrolysis rate is 5.85%-81.38%, and the GOS content is 0.03 g/L- 13.10 g/L. The mixing experiment design determined the two lactase enzymes (E10 and E11) ratio and the optimal enzymatic hydrolysis process of low-lactose prebiotic milk: compound lactases (E10:E11=0.756:0.244) addition 0.11%, 55℃for 5h, lactose hydrolysis rate and GOS content were 98.02% and 19.69g/L, respectively, and the remaining lactose content was about 0.97 g/L.

MODEL ESTIMASI BIOKINETIKA UNTUK PROSES POST-DENITRIFIKASI AIR LIMBAH DOMESTIK PADA UNIT ANAEROBIC BAFFLED REACTOR

This study developed a combination of Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) for the acid fermentation and the Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR) post-denitrification through high nitrite injection. Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) as a substrate for the post-denitrification process were optimally produced in the acid fermentation process. The aim of this study was to obtain the estimation of biokinetic values to predict the effluent wastewater quality in ABR post-denitrification process under unsteady state. The reactor was operated for HRT 7 days at temperature 25-28 ˚C and pH 6-7,2. The influent and effluent substrate concentration were monitored continuously for 160 days. Post-denitrification biokinetic from the Contois equation resulted in the value of hydrolysis rate (Kh) of 0.077 day-1, the substrate transport rate (k) of 4.364×10-6 Lmg-1day-1, maximum specific growth rate (μmax) of 0.559 day-1, half saturation constant (KS) of 0.209 mgL-1, microbial decay coefficient (b) of 0.0145 days-1; yield coefficient (Y) of 0.084 g-VSSg-COD-1. The validation of biokinetic parameters based on statistical analysis showed fairly precise results following the trend of experimental data to determine the substrate concentration in the effluent unit. Therefore, the biokinetic values can be applied in the design of ABR post-denitrification using primary sludge incorporation with high strength nitrate.Keywords: Anaerobic baffled reactor, biokinetics, Contois, hydrolysis, post-denitrification.

Catalytic Action of Nitric Acid on The Hydrolysis of ETS-40 Ethyl Silicate

The effect of concentrated nitric acid on the hydrolysis rate of ETS-40 ethyl silicate hasbeen studied. The duration and maximum temperature of ethyl silicate hydrolysis at different temperatures of the components have been determined. The formation of silica particles in the xerogel structure is shown. The influence of the ETS-40 hydrolysis on the particles size and concentration has been examined. The structure of the xerogel and the composition of the formed particles have been investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion analysis (EDX).