Vita Raudonienė

Effectiveness research on a wavy lamellar plate-type biofilter with a capillary system for the humidification of the packing material applying introinduced microorganisms

AbstractTo conduct research, a new generation plate-type air treatment biofilter for removing gaseous pollutants from air has been applied under laboratory conditions. A distinguishing feature of the packing material of the biofilter includes wavy lamellar polymer plates placed to each other and producing a capillary effect of humidification. While having such an arrangement, wavy lamellar plates also have rather wide spacing (6 mm), and therefore the employment of the structure of the plate-type packing material decreases the aerodynamic resistance of the device. A wavy porous plate is made of a polymer plate that ensures stiffness. Both sides of the wavy lamellar polymer plate have attached steam exploded birch fiber pellets under which, to increase plate capillarity, not-woven caulking material is put. This technological decision allows effectively enhancing the durability of the biopacking material. The work presents the results of research on the efficiency of the biodestruction process of acetone, x...

Cellulose degradation in rye straw by micromycetes and their complexes@@@Celiuliozės degradacija rugių šiauduose pavieniais mikromicetais ir jų kompleksais

Th e ability of micromycetes Galactomyces geotrichum, Myrothecium verrucaria,Sporotrichum pruinosum, Chaetomium globosum, Mortierella verticillata, Verticillium fungicola, Mortierella humilis as well as their complexes Galactomyces geotrichum–Myrothecium verrucaria, Galactomyces geotrichum–Sporotrichum pruinosum, Sporotrichum pruinosum–Myrothecium verrucaria, Chaetomium globosum–Mortierella verticillata and Verticillium fungicola–Mortierella humilis to degrade cellulose in plant remnants during 30 and 60 days of cultivation was investigated. Cellulose degradation in plant remnants was found to depend on the duration of micromycete growth. Th e lowest cellulose levels aft er 60 days were detected aft er cultivation of Galactomyces geotrichum (5.48%) and Myrothecium verrucaria (12.34%) (8.12 and 3.6 times in comparison with control). As regards micromycete complexes, cellulose content was lowered most signifi cantly by Galactomyces geotrichum–Sporotrichum pruinosum (9.92%) and Sporotrichum pruinosum– Myrothecium verrucaria (10.02%), i. e. 4.5 and 4.4 times versus control.

Succession of microorganisms in a plate-type air treatment biofilter during filtration of various volatile compounds

Changes in the number and species diversity of cultivable microorganisms in a newly developed plate-type biofilter during filtration of various volatile pollutants were studied. The novelty of the investigation is the monitoring of microorganism succession in different parts of biofilter plates with original packing material consisting of birch fibre and needle-punched non-woven fabric. It was shown that the largest number of fungi and yeasts develop on the top and middle, while bacteria develop on the bottom and middle parts of plates. The number of microorganisms depends on the origin of the pollutant, the pH and temperature inside the biofilter and the moisture of the porous plates. The statistically significant correlation between the number of microorganisms and inlet concentration of acetone was estimated, while ammonia showed a negative influence on yeast distribution. Paecilomyces variotii, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Bacillus subtilis were the most common organisms found during filtration of all examined volatiles; however, some differences of microbial communities in different parts of the biofilter plates and filtrated volatile compounds were obtained.

Influence of plant origin natural α-pinene with different enantiomeric composition on bacteria, yeasts and fungi

Although the nature-identical chemical compounds are cheaper, they not always repeat biological activity of plant origin natural chemical compounds, often react allergies and resistance of microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of Juniperus communis origin α-pinene with different enantiomeric composition on bacteria, yeasts and fungi. Results showed that different enantiomeric composition of α-pinene have different activities on microorganisms: essential oil with (1S)-(-) ≈ (1R)-(+) enantiomeric composition of α-pinene influenced on some microorganisms stronger than essential oil with (1S)-(-) < (1R)-(+) enantiomeric composition of α-pinene; the pure natural α-pinene with enantiomeric composition S < R more strongly inhibited growth of investigated bacteria and Candida yeasts, α-pinene with enantiomeric composition S ≈ R - growth of Trichophyton and Aspergillus. (1S)-(-) and (1R)-(+) enantiomeric forms of α-pinene can have also different synergistic effects with other compounds of essential oil. The results of study showed that the same amount of α-pinene with different enantiomeric composition can have diverse antimicrobial potential due different specific interactions with other chemical compounds of essential oil. Therefore, it is very important to determine and present the enantiomeric composition of those plant origin compounds, which are characterized by enantiomerisation, during the course of research of biological activities of natural plant products (essential oils and other) and their isolated compounds.