Zimin Wei

Spectroscopic characterization of water extractable organic matter during composting of municipal solid waste

This paper aims to characterize the evolution of water extractable organic matter (WEOM) during the composting of municipal solid waste (MSW), and investigate the correlation between maturity and WEOM characteristics. WEOM was extracted at different stages of MSW composting (0, 7, 14, 21, and 51 d) and characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results obtained show that the composting process decreased aliphatics, alcohols, polysaccharides, as well as protein-like materials, and increased aromatic polycondensation, humification, oxygen-containing functional groups, molecular weight, and humic-like materials. The maturity of MSW during composting was characterized by the presence of the peak with an excitation/emission wavelength pair of 289/421 nm in excitation-emission matrix spectra.

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy with regional integration analysis for characterizing composition and transformation of dissolved organic matter in landfill leachates.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) obtained from landfill leachates was separated into hydrophobic base, hydrophilic matter (HIM), hydrophobic acid (HOA), and hydrophobic neutral fractions. The composition and transformation of the DOM and its fractions were investigated. The results show that the DOM isolated from young, intermediate, and old landfill leachates were mainly composed of tyrosine-, tryptophan-, and humic- and fulvic-like substances, respectively. The primary fractions of the DOM in leachates were HOA and HIM. The HOA and HIM fractions from young leachates predominantly contained tryptophan- and tyrosine-like materials, respectively. The HOA fractions in intermediate and old leachates were mainly composed of humic- and fulvic-like materials, whereas the HIM fractions were dominated by tryptophan-like materials and humic- and fulvic-like substances. The hydrophobic organic fractions and humic- and fulvic-like substances increased with time, whereas the HIM and the tyrosine-like materials decreased during the landfill process, rendering biological processing of leachates ineffective.

Physicochemical and spectroscopic characteristics of dissolved organic matter extracted from municipal solid waste (MSW) and their influence on the landfill biological stability

For the purpose of evaluating the stability of municipal solid waste (MSW) excavated from a landfill, dissolved organic matter was extracted and characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods. Results showed that dissolved organic carbon concentration, ratio of dissolved organic carbon to dissolved organic nitrogen, and specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm were in the range of 0.383-3.502 g kg(-1), 0.388-3.693 and 2.700-4.629 L mg(-1) m(-1), respectively, indicating the stability of MSW. Results obtained from Fourier transform infrared spectra have demonstrated that the stability of excavated MSW was characterized by disappearance of some easily biodegradable compounds; and the 1635/1406 ratio varied from 0.979 to 1.840 and was higher than that of the matured compost. The excitation-emission matrix spectra have shown that the principal components in excavated MSW comprised humic substances and the MSW was stable by the presence of a peak with wavelength pair of ∼280/420 nm.

Relationship between bacterial diversity and environmental parameters during composting of different raw materials

The aim of this study was to compare the bacterial structure of seven different composts. The primary environmental factors affecting bacterial species were identified, and a strategy to enhance the abundance of uncultured bacteria through controlling relevant environmental parameters was proposed. The results showed that the physical-chemical parameters of each different pile changed in its own manner during composting, which affected the structure and succession of bacteria in different ways. DGGE profiles showed that there were 10 prominent species during composting. Among them, four species existed in all compost types, two species existed in several piles and four species were detected in a single material. Redundancy analysis results showed that bacterial species compositions were significantly influenced by C/N and moisture (p<0.05). The optimal range of C/N was 14-27. Based on these results, the primary environmental factors affecting a certain species were further identified as a potential control of bacterial diversity.

Assessment of humification degree of dissolved organic matter from different composts using fluorescence spectroscopy technology

This study was conducted to assess the degree of humification in dissolved organic matter (DOM) from different composts, and their environmental impact after soil amending based on fluorescence measurements (emission, excitation, synchronous scan, and excitation-emission matrix [EEM]). The compost sources studied included dairy cattle manure (DCM), kitchen waste (KW), cabbage waste (CW), tomato stem waste (TSW), municipal solid waste (MSW), green waste (GW), chicken manure (CM), and peat (P). Conventional and EEM fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that the DOM of these composts contained compounds similar in structure but comparisons between conventional fluorescence parameters and fluorescence regional integration of EEM fluorescence spectra showed that the DOM was different in degree of humification. Regression analysis demonstrated significant corrections between major fluorescence parameters. In hierarchical cluster analysis, these composts were clustered into 2 groups and 4 subgroups, and projection pursuit regression analysis further ranked the compost sources as KW, CW, P>CM, DCM, TW, GW>MSW in their degree of humification in DOM.

Changes in phosphorus fractions during organic wastes composting from different sources

The study was conducted to investigate the changes in different fractions of phosphorus (P) and the relationship between different P fractions and their corresponding physicochemical parameters during organic wastes composting. There were distinct differences in the concentration of P fractions for the composts generated from different sources, highest in chicken manure and pig manure. The availability P (including water soluble P, Olsen P and citric acid P) declined from 44% to 36% in all composts, except for KW, following the thermophilic phase during composting, while moderately available P and non-available P increased from 48% to 59%. Different P fractions (inorganic P, organic P, Olsen P, water soluble P and citric acid P) were positively correlated with each other. The composts were clustered into two groups in our hierarchical cluster analysis. Conclusively, we suggested an optimized mode of composting based on the characteristics of the P fractions from different raw materials.

Effect of inoculation methods on the composting efficiency of municipal solid wastes.

Four types of inoculation methods were studied during the composting of municipal solid wastes and dry grass (MSWG). The methods included a control group as well as initial-stage, two-stage, and multi-stage inoculations. Fulvic acids were extracted from the composting materials and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. The results showed that inoculation of microbes in MSWG enhanced the biodegradation of aliphatics, proteins, and polysaccharides. The inoculation also increased the molecular weight, humic- and fulvic-like compound content, as well as humification degree of the composting products. The inoculation of microbes in MSWG significantly improved composting process and efficiency. The improvement efficiency was in the order of initial-stage < two-stage < multi-stage inoculations. Inoculation of microbes based on composting organic matter composition and temperature enhanced composting efficiency.

Effect of water-extraction on characteristics of melting and solidification of fly ash from municipal solid waste incinerator

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of water-extraction process on the removal of major elements and heavy metals in the fly ash from Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator (MSWI), and their thermal stability in the following melting process. The water-extraction was first applied to extract soluble elements and heavy metals from the fly ash from MSWI at different liquid-to-solid rates (L/S) of 2, 5, and 10, respectively. The extracted fly ash and the raw fly ash were then melted at the temperatures of 1000-1350 degrees C in an electrically heated furnace. The results showed that the compounds of Ca, Na, K, and Cl achieved high removal rates of 30.7-72.8% at L/S=10, respectively, Cr was the most extractable heavy metal with removal rate of 12.3% among the several heavy metals tested. The water-extracted fly ash had better stability as compared to raw one, which was indicated by lower weight loss and better immobilization ability of heavy metals such as Zn, Cu, and Pb in the melting process. The results showed that combing water-extraction and melting process could provide one of the alternatives for treating MSWI fly ash in China for reutilization.

Effect of actinobacteria agent inoculation methods on cellulose degradation during composting based on redundancy analysis

In this study, actinobacteria agent including Streptomyces sp. and Micromonospora sp. were inoculated during chicken manure composting by different inoculation methods. The effect of different treatments on cellulose degradation and the relationship between inoculants and indigenous actinobacteria were investigated during composting. The results showed that inoculation in different stages of composting all improved the actinobacteria community diversity particularly in the cooling stage of composting (M3). Moreover, inoculation could distinctly accelerate the degradation of organic matters (OM) especially celluloses. Redundancy analysis indicated that the correlation between indigenous actinobacteria and degradation of OM and cellulose were regulated by inoculants and there were significant differences between different inoculation methods. Furthermore, synergy between indigenous actinobacteria and inoculants for degradation of OM and cellulose in M3 was better than other treatments. Conclusively, we suggested an inoculation method to regulate the indigenous actinobacteria based on the relationship between inoculants and indigenous actinobacteria and degradation content.

Comparison of bacterial community structure and dynamics during the thermophilic composting of different types of solid wastes: anaerobic digestion residue, pig manure and chicken manure: Bacterial communities of different composting

This study investigated the impact of composting substrate types on the bacterial community structure and dynamics during composting processes. To this end, pig manure (PM), chicken manure (CM), a mixture of PM and CM (PM + CM), and a mixture of PM, CM and anaerobic digestion residue (ADR) (PM + CM + ADR) were selected for thermophilic composting. The bacterial community structure and dynamics during the composting process were detected and analysed by polymerase chain reaction–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) coupled with a statistic analysis. The physical‐chemical analyses indicated that compared to single‐material composting (PM, CM), co‐composting (PM + CM, PM + CM + ADR) could promote the degradation of organic matter and strengthen the ability of conserving nitrogen. A DGGE profile and statistical analysis demonstrated that co‐composting, especially PM + CM + ADR, could improve the bacterial community structure and functional diversity, even in the thermophilic stage. Therefore, co‐composting could weaken the screening effect of high temperature on bacterial communities. Dominant sequencing analyses indicated a dramatic shift in the dominant bacterial communities from single‐material composting to co‐composting. Notably, compared with PM, PM + CM increased the quantity of xylan‐degrading bacteria and reduced the quantity of human pathogens.