Feasibility study for thermal treatment of solid tire wastes in Bangladesh by using pyrolysis technology

In this study on the basis of lab data and available resources in Bangladesh, feasibility study has been carried out for pyrolysis process converting solid tire wastes into pyrolysis oils, solid char and gases. The process considered for detailed analysis was fixed-bed fire-tube heating pyrolysis reactor system. The comparative techno-economic assessment was carried out in US$ for three different sizes plants: medium commercial scale (144 tons/day), small commercial scale (36 tons/day), pilot scale (3.6 tons/day). The assessment showed that medium commercial scale plant was economically feasible, with the lowest unit production cost than small commercial and pilot scale plants for the production of crude pyrolysis oil that could be used as boiler fuel oil and for the production of upgraded liquid-products.     

The Potential Use of Chicken-Drop Micro-Organisms for Oil Spill Remediation

An examination of chicken-drop micro-organisms for oil spill remediation is presented in this work. The chicken droppings contained aerobic heterotrophs (1.2×10⁸ CFU g^–1), total fungi (3.4×10⁴ CFU g^–1) and crude oil (transniger pipeline crude, TNP) degrading bacteria (1.5×10⁶ CFU g^–1). The crude oil degraders were identified as species of Micrococcus, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Proteus, Klebsiella, Aspergillus, Rhizopus, and Penicillium. Pseudomonas aeruginosa CDB-06 and species of Bacillus CDB-08 and Penicillium CDF-10 degraded the crude oil at exceedingly high rates. Pseuedomonas aeruginosa CDB-06 degraded 65.5 percent of the crude oil after 16 days, while Bacillus sp. CDB-08, and Penicillium sp. CDF-10 degraded 65.3 percent, and 53.3 percent, respectively of the crude oil over the same period. The chicken droppings also had a pH 7.3, 18.5 percent moisture content, 2.3 percent total nitrogen, and 0.5 percent available phosphorus. Addition of oil polluted soil (10 percent (v/w) pollution level) with chicken droppings enhanced degradation of the crude oil in the soil. 68.2 percent of the crude oil was degraded in the soil amended with chicken droppings, whereas only 50.7 percent of the crude oil was degraded in the unamended soil after 16 days. The amendment raised the acidic reaction (pH 5.7) of the oil-polluted soil to alkaline (pH 7.2) within 16 days. Chicken droppings could, therefore, be used in an integrated oil pollution abatement program.     

Bioremediation of residual fertilizer nitrate: I. Laboratory demonstration of an on-farm in situ pollution control system

This exploratory laboratory study was undertaken to develop and test an in situ bioremediation system intended to point the way toward a possible field application. The proposed method uses a water table management (WTM) system to deliver nutrients or other amendments to subsoil microorganisms for biostimulation and subsequent biodegradation of pollutants in the saturated and unsaturated zones of the soil. The study was carried out on packed soil columns and bioremediation of residual fertilizer nitrate was attempted. Different levels of organic carbon supplement (glucose C) were introduced into these columns via subirrigation in order to supplement the readily available organic carbon levels in the soil. The study was carried out in two experimental setups. The first setup investigated (i) the effect of addition of a high (970 mg L(-1)) and a low (120 mg L(-1)) glucose C level and (ii) the efficacy of using the subirrigation system as a method for nutrient delivery in bioremediation of leached nitrate. This setup was monitored with time, depth, and with reference to the nitrate residue in the soil solution. Leached nitrate was denitrified to less than 10 mg L(-1) nitrate N at both glucose levels. The second setup investigated the effect of a range of low levels of glucose C on nitrate decontamination, soil pH, and total microbial count in order to find out an optimal glucose C level that reduced the most nitrate and maintained the pH homeostasis of soil.     

Spatial variation in 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid mineralization and sorption in a sandy soil at field level

The phenoxyacetic acid herbicide MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid) is frequently detected in groundwater beneath Danish agricultural fields. We investigated spatial variation in microbial MCPA mineralization potential in a flat agricultural field of fine sandy soil (USDA classification: Humic Dystrudept) located on the Yoldia plains of Northern Jutland, Denmark. Samples for determination of MCPA mineralization and sorption were collected from the Ap and Bs horizons at 51 sampling sites located in a 200 x 220 m grid. Spatial variation in sorption was low in both horizons (distribution coefficient, 0.36-4.16 L kg(-1)). Sorption correlated strongly with soil organic carbon content in both horizons (CV, 93 and 83%, respectively) and negatively with soil pH. [Ring-(14)C]-MCPA mineralized readily in the Ap horizon, with 49 to 62% of the (14)C-MCPA being converted to (14)CO(2) during the 67-d incubation period. With the subsoil, mineralization of (14)C-MCPA varied considerably between samples (0.5-72.8%). At neither depth was there correlation between (14)C-MCPA mineralization and sorption, soil pH, organic carbon content, clay content, number of colony-forming units (CFU), pseudomonad CFU, or any of the four microbial activity parameters measured. The presence of microbial genes encoding for the TfdA enzyme was quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction. No correlation was found between MCPA mineralization potential and the natural background number of tfdA genes present in the soil samples. The degradation kinetics suggests that the high (14)C-MCPA mineralization rate detected in soil samples was linked to growth of the MCPA-degrading soil microbial community.