1,720,995 research outputs found
MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS IN WASTE TREATMENT:RECENT ADVANCES
No full textThe increasing awareness that there are limits to the availability of nonrenewable resources, as well as that there are limits to the biosphere’s ability to absorb wastes, are at the basis of the growing interest about Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) technology, with particular regards to their application to wastes treatment. MFCs, in fact, couple the direct electric power production to the degradation of organic compounds, liquid and solid wastes included. From municipal wastewater, to landfill leachate and solid waste, the application of MFCs to waste treatment achieved important results both in COD removal and power output. Unlike traditional Fuel Cells (FC), MFCs don't require chemical catalysts neither high working temperatures. Moreover, there is no net production of CO2. In the course of 20 years, the performances of MFC increased significantly and scaled prototypes were realized. The constant progresses achieved make a wide-scale application of MFC to waste treatment more reliable
Protozoa and Filamentous Bacteria in the First Biological Monitoring Activity of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in La Spezia district (Italy)
No full textProtozoa and filamentous bacteria identification in Mixed Liquor (ML) allowed to obtain detailed information about the performance of five Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), placed in La Spezia's District. Microfauna analysis showed the prevalence of testate amoebas (Euglypha spp. prevalent), rotifers and attached ciliate Epistylis plicatis. Low organic load, high sludge-age and high concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) were well correlated to the growth of Vorticella campanula and Vaginicola sp. Testate amoebas (Euglypha sp. and Arcella sp.) were the most representative group in WWTPs treating also olive mills effluents. Sludge Biotic Index (SBI) showed, for the investigated plants, an optimal to good depuration efficiency (I and II class quality) but it seemed not adequately responsive when olive mills wastewater (rich in phenols) was mixed with the municipal one. Further investigations should be conducted to explain this result. Filamentous bacteria analysis revealed a higher sensitivity of microorganisms to both influent chemical characteristics and WWTPs operational parameters. In most part of the WWTPs, dysfunctions due to the proliferation of filamentous bacteria were detected. In all WWTPs subjected to foaming, the morphotype No-cardia Amarae Like Organisms (NALO), associated with Type 1851 and 0041, was identified as responsible of the foaming. Type 0092 caused a bulking episode in La Spezia WWTP. Haliscomenobacter hydrossis prevailed in the Mixed Liquor (ML) of a plant treating also olive mills wastewater, while Type 0803, 0675 and 1701 were abundant in plants receiving wastewater produced by meat-processing industries. On the whole, filamentous bacteria community analysis represented a more sensitive tool to characterize the activated sludge plant performances in light of providing an adequate management
The use of the cationic polyelectrolite in the bulking control: a case of study
No full textThe solution for a filamentous bulking episode (associated with foaming) at a municipal wastewater plant in La Spezia (North-west Italy) is reported. Two main bacterial Types were involved: one belonging to the group of the so-called Nocardia Amarae Like Organisms (NALO); the other was identified as Type 0092. The identification was made according to Jenkins (1986) by the observation of Mixed Liquor fresh samples at direct microscopy before and after Gram and Neisser Stains. To evaluate treatment plant performance, the Sludge Biotic Index (SBI) was also calculated. As a result of different environmental conditions existing between the two treatment lines currently in use, the population dynamics of both protozoan ciliates and filamentous bacteria in the oxidation tanks were also different. The sludge rehabilitation procedure included the use of a cationic polyelectrolite instead of NaClO thus allowing the bulking problem to be solved within 20 hours, without significant negative alterations on treatment performance which improved in the following days. Hence, the proposed method would represent an alternative to the disinfection of Mixed Liquor in bulking contro
Preliminary application of two biological indices to assess river water quality
No full texthe European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/CE, and the following Italian National Laws, changed significantly the approach to the problems related to water quality [1,2]. In this context, the surface waters ecological and chemical status must be assessed also according to biological parameters. In fact, the development of a biological index allows to evaluate changes in the biota as a function of water quality and anthropise
SDS2013 – Sustainable Development Symposium – 3rd Annual European Post-graduate Symposium – 13-15 February 2013, Naples.Italy
No full textThe “Postgraduate European Sustainable Development Symposia” represented, in the first two editions, an opportunity for young researchers, from a broad spectrum of disciplinary
backgrounds and interested in Sustainable Development, to share their knowledge and
discuss about hot points related to new technologies, the impact of human activities on the environment and new strategies to increase the sustainability of human activities.
The Symposium was originally designed to give postgraduate researchers from European
universities (especially those who are at an early stage of their research) to present their
work in a multi-disciplinary and friendly environment.
The first Symposium was held at the Trinity College (TCD) in Dublin during February 2011.
The second edition was held at the Graz University of Technology, Institute for Process and
Particle Engineering on February 2012.
This year, “Parthenope” University of Naples hosts the 3rd Edition. In the suggestive city
of Naples, full of history and natural heritages, Prof. Paul Leslie Bishop from Department
of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, (Cincinnati, USA), Prof.
Hans Schnitzer from Institute for Process and Particle Engineering, Technical University of
Graz (TU Graz) and Dr. Giacomo D’Alisa from Institute of Technology and Environmental
Science (ICTA), Autonomous University Barcelona (UAB) will share their expertise and
knowledge with the young participants.
We wish to thank Proff. Sergio Ulgiati and Stefano Dumontet, whose experience was so
precious. A special thank to Prof. Hans Schitzer, Prof. Paul Leslie Bishop, Dr. Giacomo
D’Alisa, Dr. Pier Paolo Franzese and to all give their contribution to SDS2013, with
particular regards to Dr.Anna Cavaliere and Prof. Marco Guida, who kindly supported us
in this adventure, and to Dr. Rosario Bianco who made possible the making of this book.
This is a simple collection of the oral and poster contributions to SDS2013, just a seed in
the wide field of Science
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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