Ultrafiltration (UF) can effectively remove large particles, suspended solids, and colloidal substances from anaerobic digestate. However, membrane fouling is a technical challenge in the purification of the digestate by UF. In this study, polyethersulfone (PES) membranes with four pore sizes (50.0, 20.0, 10.0 and 5.0 kDa) were employed to filter anaerobic digestate from swine manure. The effects of temperature, transmembrane pressure (TMP), and cross-flow velocity (CFV) on flux were investigated. The purification effects and fouling characteristics of the four membranes were analyzed. The results revealed that the increase of temperature and CFV can effectively promote UF separation efficiency, but as the TMP exceeded 3.0 bar, the flux increase rates of the four membranes were almost zero. The larger membrane pore size caused the faster flux increase with the increase in pressure. During the batch experiment, the 20.0 kDa membrane showed the lowest flux maintenance ability, while the 5.0 kDa showed the highest ability due to the smaller pore size. All four membranes can effectively remove tetracyclines residues. Elements C, O, and S were the major membrane foulant elements. The dominant bacteria orders of membrane fouling were Pseudomonadales, Xanthomonadales and Burkholderiales. Compared with tap water and citric acid, the membrane cleaning by NaOH and NaClO showed higher flux recovery rates. The 50.0 kDa membrane achieved the best cleaning effects under all cleaning methods.
Media depth (MD) and moisture content (MC) are two important factors that greatly influence biofilter performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effect of MC and MD on removing ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and nitrous oxide (N2O) from swine barns. Biofiltration performance of different MDs and MCs in combination based on a mixed medium of wood chips and compost was monitored. A 3 × 3 factorial design was adopted, which included three levels of the two factors (MC: 45%, 55%, and 67% [wet basis]; MD: 0.17, 0.33, and 0.50 m). Results indicated that high MC and MD could improve NH3 removal efficiency, but increase outlet N2O concentration. When MC was 67%, the average NH3 removal efficiency of three MDs (0.17, 0.33, and, 0.50 m) ranged from 77.4% to 78.7%; the range of average H2S removal efficiency dropped from 68.1–90.0% (1–34 days of the test period) to 36.8–63.7% (35–58 days of the test period); and the average outlet N2O concentration increased by 25.5–60.1%. When MC was 55%, the average removal efficiency of NH3, H2S, and N2O for treatment with 0.33 m MD was 72.8 ± 5.9%, 70.9 ± 13.3%, and –18.9 ± 8.1%, respectively; and the average removal efficiency of NH3, H2S, and N2O for treatment with 0.50 m MD was 77.7 ± 4.2%, 65.8 ± 13.7%, and –24.5 ±12.1%, respectively. When MC was 45%, the highest average NH3 reduction efficiency among three MDs was 60.7% for 0.5 m MD, and the average N2O removal efficiency for three MDs ranged from –18.8% to –12.7%. In addition, the pressure drop of 0.33 m MD was significantly lower than that of 0.50 m MD (p < 0.05). To obtain high mitigation of NH3 and H2S and avoid elevated emission of N2O and large pressure drop, 0.33 m MD at 55% MC is recommended. Implications: The performances of biofilters with three different media depths (0.17, 0.33, and 0.50 m) and three different media moisture contents (45%, 55%, and 67% [wet basis]) were compared to remove gases from a swine barn. Using wood chips and compost mixture as the biofilters media, the combination of 0.33 m media depth and 55% media moisture content is recommended to obtain good reduction of NH3 and H2S, and to simultaneously prevent elevated emission of N2O and large pressure drop across the media.
22 December 2020 in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association
Odor emission is one of the most common problems associated with dead animals composting. Biofiltration treatment for eliminating exhaust odors formed during dead pigs and manure composting has been studied. The composting and biofiltration process consisted of two series of tests. Composting experimental trials lasted 6 weeks, and composting was performed using six pilot-scale reactor vessels. A total of 37 kinds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the air were identified, and temporal variations were determined during the 42 days of composting. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), and trimethylamine (TMA) were identified as the main odors VOCs component according to odor active values (OAVs). Nine biofilter vessels containing mature compost were used in studying the effect of different (30, 60, and 100 s) empty bed retention times (EBRT) on the simultaneous removal efficiencies (REs) of NH3, DMS, DMDS, DMTS, and TMA. Results indicated that the inlet concentration of NH3 applied was 12–447 mg m−3, and the average removal efficiencies were 85.4%, 88.7%, and 89.0% for EBRTs of 30, 60, and 100 s, respectively. The average REs of DMS, DMDS, DMTS, and TMA were 79.2%–95.4%, 81.9%–94.0%, 76.7%–99.1%, and 92.9%–100%, respectively, and their maximum elimination capacity (ECs) were 220, 1301, 296, and 603 mg m−3 h−1, respectively. The optimal EBRT for the stimulation removal of NH3, DMS, DMDS, DMTS, and TMA was 60 s. Implications: Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), and trimethylamine (TMA) were identified as the main odors VOCs component during dead pigs and manure composting. Biofilter with mature as media can be used to stimulation remove NH3, DMS, DMDS, DMTS, and TMA, the optimal empty bed retention times EBRT was 60 s.
Degradable hemostatic materials have unique advantages in reducing the amount of bleeding, shortening the surgical operation time, and improving patient prognosis. However, none of the current hemostatic materials are ideal and have disadvantages. Therefore, a novel biodegradable cellulose-based composite hemostatic material was prepared by crosslinking sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CCNa) and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), following an improved vacuum freeze-drying method. The resulting cellulose composite material was neutral in pH and spongy with a density of 0.042 g/cm3, a porosity of 77.68%, and an average pore size of 13.45 μm. The composite’s compressive and tensile strengths were 0.1 MPa and 15.2 MPa, respectively. Under in vitro conditions, the composites were degraded gradually through petite molecule stripping and dissolution, reaching 96.8% after 14 days and 100% degradation rate at 21 days. When implanted into rats, the degradation rate of the composite was slightly faster, reaching 99.7% in 14 days and 100% in 21 days. Histology showed a stable inflammatory response and no evidence of cell degeneration, necrosis, or abnormal hyperplasia in the tissues around the embedded material, indicating good biocompatibility. In the hemorrhagic liver model, the time to hemostasis and the total blood loss in the cellulose composite group was significantly lower than in the medical gauze group and the blank control group ( ). These data indicate that the novel cellulose composite is a promising implantable hemostatic material in clinical settings.