Remigio Paradelo

Evaluation of the potential capacity as biosorbents of two MSW composts with different Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations

The Cu, Pb and Zn adsorption capacity of two municipal solid waste composts was studied in batch experiments where the equilibrium isotherms were determined. Both composts, despite having very different metal concentrations, showed high sorption capacities for the three elements, with the following affinity sequence: Pb>Cu>Zn. The maximum sorption capacities of the composts, on the basis of the Langmuir isotherm, were roughly equivalent to 1 mmol g(-1) for Pb, 1/2 mmol g(-1) for Cu, and 1/3 mmol g(-1) for Zn, which makes of both composts good biosorbents. Although a slightly higher adsorption capacity was seen for the compost with the lowest previous metal content, this fact alone could not explain the difference in the performance of the composts, and other factors such as its higher organic matter concentration and higher cation exchange capacity could have been more determinant.

Reduction of the short-term availability of copper, lead and zinc in a contaminated soil amended with municipal solid waste compost

The effect of two municipal solid waste composts on the availability of Cu, Pb and Zn in a soil contaminated in the laboratory was evaluated. An agricultural acid soil developed on granite was amended with the composts at two rates (3% and 6% dry weight), contaminated with 1000 mg kg(-1) of Cu, Pb and Zn, and incubated in the laboratory for three months. Determinations of soil pH, CaCl(2)-extractable and EDTA-extractable Cu, Pb, and Zn were run monthly during the incubation. At the end, a leaching test (TCLP) and selective extractions were performed for these elements. The analysis of the CaCl(2)-extractable elements demonstrated a strong capacity of both composts to decrease the solubility of the metals added to the soil, specially for Cu and Pb. The percentage of reduction of the soluble forms with respect to the initial addition was higher at the highest rate of compost, and reached 99% for Cu and Pb, and 80% for Zn in the compost-amended soil, whereas the soil without amendment was able to reduce Cu availability by a 94%, but not Zn or Pb availability. The TCLP test showed that compost also reduced the leachability of the three elements. Nevertheless, EDTA extracted a major amount (around 90%) of the elements added in all the treatments. Given that EDTA has a strong ability to extract elements bound to organic matter, it can be hypothesized that the main mechanism of the observed insolubilization was the formation of low-solubility organo-metallic complexes with both soil and compost organic matter. The selective extractions confirmed that compost reduced the exchangeable fraction of the elements, and that the organically bound fraction (pyrophosphate-extractable) was the main one for the three elements.

Ex Situ Treatment of Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil Using Biosurfactants from Lactobacillus pentosus

The utilization of biosurfactants for the bioremediation of contaminated soil is not yet well established, because of the high production cost of biosurfactants. Consequently, it is interesting to look for new biosurfactants that can be produced at a large scale, and it can be employed for the bioremediation of contaminated sites. In this work, biosurfactants from Lactobacillus pentosus growing in hemicellulosic sugars solutions, with a similar composition of sugars found in trimming vine shoot hydrolysates, were employed in the bioremediation of soil contaminated with octane. It was observed that the presence of biosurfactant from L. pentosus accelerated the biodegradation of octane in soil. After 15 days of treatment, biosurfactants from L. pentosus reduced the concentration of octane in the soil to 58.6 and 62.8%, for soil charged with 700 and 70,000 mg/kg of hydrocarbon, respectively, whereas after 30 days of treatment, 76% of octane in soil was biodegraded in both cases. In the absence of biosurfactant and after 15 days of incubation, only 1.2 and 24% of octane was biodegraded in soil charged with 700 and 70,000 mg/kg of octane, respectively. Thus, the use of biosurfactants from L. pentosus, as part of a well-designed bioremediation process, can provide mechanisms to mobilize the target contaminants from the soil surface to make them more available to the microbial population.

Partial Characterization of Biosurfactant from Lactobacillus pentosus and Comparison with Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate for the Bioremediation of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil

The capability of a cell bound biosurfactant produced by Lactobacillus pentosus, to accelerate the bioremediation of a hydrocarbon-contaminated soil, was compared with a synthetic anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate SDS-). The biosurfactant produced by the bacteria was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) that clearly indicates the presence of OH and NH groups, C=O stretching of carbonyl groups and NH nebding (peptide linkage), as well as CH2–CH3 and C–O stretching, with similar FTIR spectra than other biosurfactants obtained from lactic acid bacteria. After the characterization of biosurfactant by FTIR, soil contaminated with 7,000 mg Kg−1 of octane was treated with biosurfactant from L. pentosus or SDS. Treatment of soil for 15 days with the biosurfactant produced by L. pentosus led to a 65.1% reduction in the hydrocarbon concentration, whereas SDS reduced the octane concentration to 37.2% compared with a 2.2% reduction in the soil contaminated with octane in absence of biosurfactant used as control. Besides, after 30 days of incubation soil with SDS or biosurfactant gave percentages of bioremediation around 90% in both cases. Thus, it can be concluded that biosurfactant produced by L. pentosus accelerates the bioremediation of octane-contaminated soil by improving the solubilisation of octane in the water phase of soil, achieving even better results than those reached with SDS after 15-day treatment.

Can stability and maturity be evaluated in finished composts from different sources

A combination of physical, chemical, spectroscopic and biochemical parameters, along with different plant assays, was used to assess the maturity and stability of nine finished composts obtained from several raw materials (biodegradable fraction of municipal solid waste, green waste, sewage sludge, manure, and grape marc), and by different procedures (aerobic and anaerobic processing, industrial-scale and laboratory scale). Measures of total, alkali-soluble and water-soluble organic matter, N forms, colour, absorbance, respiration, dehydrogenase activity, and phytotoxicity were performed. The selection of a single parameter for stability and maturity evaluation for all the composts was not possible. A significant positive correlation (P<0.01) was found between microbial respiration and dehydrogenase activity. Also, significant correlations were found between dehydrogenase activity and water-soluble C (P<0.05) and water-soluble N (P<0.05), which are presumably the main forms of energy used by microorganisms. Nevertheless, common maturity/stability indicators, such as the C/N ratio in the solid and the aqueous phase, were not related either to microbial activity or phytotoxicity. In fact, the results of the plant growth tests were not correlated to any other parameter. A principal component analysis was performed to differentiate those parameters giving the maximum information about the status of each compost. A combination of a measure of humification and a measure of microbial activity or water-soluble organic carbon could be used to explain the differences in the stability of the composts, whereas for maturity evaluation plant tests are necessary.

Utilization of a factorial design to study the composting of hydrolyzed grape marc and vinification lees.

Hydrolyzed grape marc (HGM) is the solid residue generated after the acid hydrolysis of grape marc to obtain hemicellulosic sugars for biotechnological purposes. In this work, HGM containing cellulose and lignin was composted together with vinification lees to obtain plant substrates on a laboratory scale. The effects of temperature (in the range of 20-50 degrees C), concentration of vinification lees (5-100 g/100 g of hydrolyzed grape marc), and concentration of CaCO(3) on the final properties of the composted HGM were studied by means of an experimental plan with factorial structure. The interrelationship between dependent and operational variables was established by models including linear, interaction, and quadratic terms. The most influential variable on the C/N ratio and P, K and Mg contents of composted substrates was the vinification lees concentration followed by the temperature, whereas on Na content and electrical conductivity the most influential variable was the temperature followed by the vinification lees concentration. The results of the incubation experiments indicated that optimal conditions for obtaining plant substrates can be achieved by composting 1:1 mixtures of hydrolyzed grape marc and vinification lees, in the presence of 5 g of CaCO(3)/100 g of HGM. During composting the pH of the mixtures increased from 5.1-6.7 to 7.1-8.1, salinity and water-soluble carbon were reduced in most cases, and the initial phytotoxicity disappeared in all of the mixtures tested.

Carbon and nitrogen mineralization in a vineyard soil amended with grape marc vermicompost

Vineyard soils in many areas suffer from low organic matter contents, which can be the cause of negative effects such as increasing the risk of erosion, so the use of organic amendments must be considered a good agricultural practice. Even more, if grape marc is recycled as a soil amendment in the vineyards, benefits from a good waste management strategy are also obtained. In the present study, a grape marc from the wine region of Valdeorras (north-west Spain) was used for the production of vermicompost, and this added to a vineyard soil of the same area in a laboratory study. Mixtures of soil and grape marc vermicompost (2 and 4%, dry weight) were incubated for ten weeks at 25°C and the mineralization of C and N studied. The respiration data were fitted to a first-order kinetic model. The rates of grape marc vermicompost which should be added to the vineyard soil in order to maintain the initial levels of organic matter were estimated from the laboratory data, and found to be 1.7 t ha−1 year−1 of bulk vermicompost (if the present mean temperature is considered) and 2.1 t ha−1 year−1 of bulk vermicompost (if a 2°C increment in temperature is considered), amounts which could be obtained recycling the grape marc produced in the exploitation.

Trace elements in compost regulation: The case of Spain

We use the example of the Spanish Decree on Fertilizers (2005) to discuss the need of new horizontal regulations for assessing the quality of all the materials reaching the soil as amendments of fertilizers, in particular in what concerns potentially toxic trace elements in compost. Here it is proposed that the new regulations take into account the following: establishing maximum legal limits for the total loads for each element when compost is added to agricultural soils; establishing the maximum total concentration and bioavailability of each element in the final compost; and that they take into account the soil characteristics for establishing those limits.

Treatment of red wine vinasses with non-conventional substrates for removing coloured compounds

Vinasses from the wine industry were treated with different materials to remove colour as a first step for treatment. Peat, several composts and red mud from bauxite refining were evaluated as adsorbents for coloured compounds, and their performances compared to that of activated charcoal. Among the materials assayed, grape marc vermicompost gave the best results, followed by peat. A sharp decrease of absorbance between 400-800 nm took place in vinasses after the treatments with these two materials, whereas the other substrates did not reduce the colour of the vinasses as did activate charcoal, grape marc vermicompost and peat. Moreover, grape marc vermicompost and peat were activated on high temperatures or grinding, producing better results in colour removal, although with negative effects on the electrical conductivity and nutrient concentration in the wastewater. The results of the treatment of vinasses with activated charcoal were reproduced and even overcame, in the case of the reduction of the optical density of vinasses at 665 nm, using grape marc vermicompost.

Properties of slate mining wastes incubated with grape marc compost under laboratory conditions

The effect of the addition of spent grape marc compost (GMC) and vermicompost (GMV) as amendments to slate mining wastes was evaluated in a laboratory incubation experiment. Mixtures of slate processing fines (SPF), with three doses of each amendment (4%, 8% and 16% compost, dry weight), plus a control were incubated at 25 degrees C in the laboratory for 90 days. The changes in the chemical and biological properties of the mixtures (pH, total C, total N, inorganic N, available nutrients, microbial biomass carbon and dehydrogenase activity) were investigated during the incubation period, and once it was finished, the phytotoxicity of the mixtures was determined by the germination of Lolium multiflorum Lam. seeds. The addition of the amendments significantly increased the nutrient concentrations of the SPF and enhanced biological activity by increasing microbial biomass and enzymatic activity. Results improved with higher doses; within the composts, GMV showed a better performance than GMC. These results prove the suitability of grape marc-derived amendments for the biochemical amelioration of mining wastes, and highlight the benefits of organic amendment in restoration projects.