Use of digestate as an alternative to mineral fertilizer: effects on growth and crop quality

Nowadays, the recycling of organic wastes represents a key factor for improving soil and crop quality with socio-economic and environmental benefits. In recent years, the production of digestate significantly increased with a crescent need to be sustainable disposal. The use of digestate as soil amendment has been widely studied but few researches evaluated the digestate effects on crop quality. Since it has been proven that digestate increased soil fertility, we hypothesized that it could increase crop quality as organic fertilizers do. To verify this hypothesis, we analyzed the effects of two digestates on Cucumber quality. Cucumber was chosen because it is an important old crop used worldwide as fresh food, and in cosmetic and pharmaceutic industries. Results showed that digestates increased its content of phenols and flavonoids with antioxidant activity. Neohesperidine and hesperitin with well-known antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties as well as naringin and narirutin with the power of reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular complications were manifested only in digestate amended cucumbers. These results highlighted the potentiality of digestates not only as crop growth promoter but also as phytochemical inducers representing a good option for the production of high-quality food with reduced chemical mineral fertilizer inputs.     

Reduction of N2O emissions by DMPP depends on the interactions of nitrogen sources (digestate vs. urea) with soil properties

The inhibition of nitrification by mixing nitrification inhibitors (NI) with fertilizers is emerging as an effective method to reduce fertilizer-induced nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions.  The additive 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) apparently inhibits ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) more than ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA), which dominate the nitrification in alkaline and acid soil, respectively.  However, the efficacy of DMPP in terms of nitrogen sources interacting with soil properties remains unclear.  We therefore conducted a microcosm experiment using three typical Chinese agricultural soils with contrasting pH values (fluvo-aquic soil, black soil and red soil), which were fertilized with either digestate or urea in conjunction with a range of DMPP concentrations.  In the alkaline fluvo-aquic soil, fertilization with either urea or digestate induced a peak in N₂O emission (60 μg N kg^–1 d^–1) coinciding with the rapid nitrification within 3 d following fertilization.  DMPP almost eliminated this peak in N₂O emission, reducing it by nearly 90%, despite the fact that the nitrification rate was only reduced by 50%.  In the acid black soil, only the digestate induced an N₂O emission that increased gradually, reaching its maximum (20 μg N kg^–1 d^–1) after 5–7 d.  The nitrification rate and N₂O emission were both marginally reduced by DMPP in the black soil, and the N₂O yield (N₂O-N per NO₂^–+NO₃^–-N produced) was exceptionally high at 3.5%, suggesting that the digestate induced heterotrophic denitrification.  In the acid red soil, the N₂O emission spiked in the digestate and urea treatments at 50 and 10 μg N kg^–1 d^–1, respectively, and DMPP reduced the rates substantially by nearly 70%.  Compared with 0.5% DMPP, the higher concentrations of DMPP (1.0 to 1.5%) did not exert a significantly (P<0.05) better inhibition effect on the N₂O emissions in these soils (either with digestate or urea).  This study highlights the importance of matching the nitrogen sources, soil properties and NIs to achieve a high efficiency of N₂O emission reduction.     

鸡粪沼渣好氧堆肥颗粒尺度下氧气渗透深度表征

利用傅里叶变换显微红外光谱技术对鸡粪沼渣好氧堆肥颗粒尺度下氧气渗透深度进行了量化表征。用于表征鸡粪沼渣颗粒氧气渗透深度的显微红外透射光谱法的光谱采集范围为750~4 000 cm~(-1),光谱分辨率16 cm~(-1),像素点尺寸6.25μm×6.25μm,扫描次数8次。鸡粪沼渣好氧堆肥样品经冷冻干燥处理后,应采用石蜡切片技术制成12μm薄片,选取2 856 cm~(-1)和1 640 cm~(-1)代表脂肪类化合物,1 568 cm~(-1)和3 001 cm~(-1)代表芳香族化合物作为氧气渗透深度边界判定特征波长,且氧气渗透深度终点定义为差分曲线迅速下降处。鸡粪沼渣颗粒氧气渗透深度较小,介于7~20μm范围内动态变化,其符合指数关系式。研究结果表明,采用傅里叶显微红外透射光谱法判定好氧堆肥颗粒氧气渗透深度具有可行性,但应根据不同物料特性,选用适用的方法和技术参数。     

沼液回流比与有机负荷对秸秆厌氧发酵特性的影响

以混合秸秆为唯一原料,混合接种瘤胃液与污泥,在半连续固态进料反应器中研究不同回流比和有机负荷组合对甲烷产率、发酵特性的影响。结果表明,在6个阶段中,当有机负荷(OLR)为4 g/(L·d),回流比为1∶1时,甲烷平均产率达到了768 m L/(L·d);单位秸秆TS产甲烷量为202 m L/g,具有明显成本优势。当OLR升高到6 g/(L·d)时,VFA积累明显,丙酸质量浓度高达6.54 g/L,并且出现丁酸的积累;该阶段氨氮质量浓度明显升高,达到了632.51 mg/L。固渣中纤维素和半纤维素在第2阶段降解程度最高,降解率达到了88.81%,而水解酶活和产甲烷效率的变化相关。通过三维荧光光谱分析,发现沼液中类酪氨酸产物、辅酶F420及腐殖酸类有机物的变化受回流比和有机负荷的影响,能直接反映产甲烷和发酵特性,而且腐殖酸类物质的积累是产甲烷作用受到抑制的重要原因。因此,合适的回流比和有机负荷对秸秆沼气工程长期稳定运行尤为关键。     

产酸沼渣再利用稻秸两级联合产酸工艺研究

秸秆厌氧产挥发性脂肪酸(Volatile fatty acids,VFAs)工艺可生产具有较高经济价值的混合短链脂肪酸,但存在发酵周期短、秸秆降解率低等不足。为了提高VFAs产率和秸秆利用率,对产酸沼渣开展了二次产酸利用试验。将秸秆在3种预处理、3种产酸温度得到的产酸沼渣,统一在35℃进行二次产酸发酵,以考察各预处理组的二次产酸效果。结果表明,各组在二次产酸时均能获得更为稳定和适宜的pH值,水热组和2%HCl组在二次产酸时均有更佳产酸表现,1%Ca(OH)_2组在两级均采用35℃温度时获最大产酸量。采用两级联合产酸工艺,可将1%Ca(OH)_2预处理组的0.07～0.20 g/g的一次产酸率提高至0.27～0.38 g/g的总固体产酸率。以初始100 g原秸秆计算,1%Ca(OH)_2、35℃发酵时一次产酸和二次产酸量分别为12.24 g和11.69 g,两级联合的总产酸量为23.93 g,采用两级联合产酸比一次产酸的产酸量提高了95.5%,二次产酸使得木质纤维素各组分降解利用更为充分。     

不同浓度沼液及施用方式对小白菜生长效果的影响

为解决目前沼气工程存在的沼液处理难、现代农业化肥施用过量的问题,将不同稀释比例的沼液进行微生物菌剂预处理,获得不同浓度沼液液体肥,探究不同浓度沼液及其施用方式（叶面喷施和浇灌）对盆栽小白菜生长指标、光合指标和品质指标的影响。结果表明：1）低浓度沼液通过叶面喷施可以促进小白菜的生长发育,施用稀释15~20倍的沼液效果最优;2）高浓度沼液通过浇灌方式能够明显提高小白菜的各项生长品质指标,效果优于仅施尿素的化肥处理组,最佳施用方案为稀释1.5倍;3）在相同氮素水平下,高浓度沼液浇灌对小白菜生长和品质的促进效果明显优于低浓度沼液叶面喷施。高浓度沼液具有可替代化肥的潜力,低浓度沼液可作为追肥施用,对作物养分起到一定的补充作用。利用微生物菌剂处理后的沼液液体肥栽培小白菜不仅可以显著提高其生长品质,还能够部分代替化肥施用,对农作物增收和保护环境都具有重要的现实意义。     

吹脱与鸟粪石沉淀组合工艺处理中温厌氧发酵沼液研究

利用吹脱+鸟粪石沉淀(MAP)组合工艺处理中温厌氧发酵沼液。研究发现沼液吹脱的最佳工艺参数为:p H值为10,吹脱时间8 h,气液比2 400,并添加填料,此时沼液中氨氮去除率在90%左右。吹脱后的沼液p H值在9.2左右,在MAP沉淀法的适宜p H值附近,不需再进行p H值调节,可节约药剂成本。经MAP沉淀处理后的沼液出水氨氮和总磷去除率分别达到了95%和80%。COD和SS去除率分别在40%和32%左右。MAP沉淀出水的p H值在8.3左右,可满足生化处理的进水要求。同时,MAP沉淀处理后的出水C/N比大大提升,从0.7上升到了10,有利于后续生化系统的进一步处理。该工艺既可使沼液得到净化处理,又可回收其中的营养物质。     

Composting of the Solid Phase of Digestate from Biogas Production: Optimization of the Moisture,C/N Ratio,and pH Conditions

The management of biodegradable wastes is increasing, including the use of waste as a source of energy. Anaerobic digestion involves organic-matter decomposition under anoxic conditions by a microbial consortium, obtaining a source of renewable energy (biogas), mainly constituted of a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO₂, 25–45 percent), methane (CH₄, 55–75 percent), and the digested substrate (digestate). The direct application of digestate into agricultural soils presents several problems. These include agronomic (low concentration of nutrients, high salinity, etc.), economic (cost of transport and handling), and environmental issues (gaseous emissions, nutrient leaching, and pathogen spread). However, it is possible to obtain quality compost from the solid fraction of digestate, and the compost obtained can have good properties for use as container growing medium or for crop production. In this work, an optimized procedure has been developed for composting the solid phase of a digestate obtained from a continuous, anaerobic codigestion of cattle slurry with 84 percent of cattle manure, 7.4 percent of a mixture of maize/silage, and 8.6 percent of peach-juice pulp (fresh-mass basis). The experiment was designed to optimize pH, carbon (C) / nitrogen (N) ratio, and moisture values in order to maximize self-heating activity, using Dewar self-heating tests. A factorial optimization of moisture and C/N ratio was carried out. In the best moisture-C/N ratio treatment, pH optimization was also developed. To predict the optimum conditions of the studied residue related to the increase of temperature per dry matter, a multiple correlation analysis based on moisture, C/N ratio, and pH was developed, which explained 80 percent of the variance in this experiment.     

水力停留时间对猪粪厌氧发酵残留物中磺胺类抗生素分布的影响

针对厌氧消化中磺胺类抗生素(SAs)残留及在沼渣、沼液中分配特征不清等问题,以猪粪为发酵原料,采用完全混合式反应器(CSTR)在中温(37±1℃)条件下进行室内模拟试验,探讨不同水力停留时间(HRT)对磺胺嘧啶(SD)、磺胺二甲嘧啶(SM)和磺胺氯哒嗪(SCP)的去除及其在固/液相中分配的影响。研究结果表明:厌氧消化对3种SAs的去除率表现为SMSDSCP。水力停留时间(HRT)=20 d时,猪粪中3种SAs的去除率均达90%以上;HRT=15 d时,三者的去除率均有所下降,特别是SCP去除率降为72.8%左右。厌氧发酵后残留的抗生素主要分布在猪粪沼渣中,其中SCP在沼渣中占有绝对优势。同时,HRT=15 d的处理中,SM和SCP的固/液分配比率明显高于HRT=20 d的处理。厌氧消化过程中不同磺胺类抗生素的降解过程和影响因子存在差异,延长反应体系中抗生素与厌氧微生物作用的反应时间,对中温厌氧消化过程中SAs的去除有积极的作用。为降低其环境危害,猪粪沼渣在还田利用前应进一步消减其中残留的SAs。     

Effects of biogas and raw slurries on grass growth and soil microbial indices

Biogas slurry is increasingly used as fertilizer. Earlier research was focused on plant growth and soil chemical properties, with only little information available regarding the effects of biogas slurry on soil and root microbial indices. For this reason, a 70 d pot experiment was conducted in which biogas and raw slurries obtained from six biodynamic farms were added to a soil. Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) was cultivated to investigate the effects on plant yield, N uptake (two harvests), soil microbial biomass, soil fungi, and root‐colonizing microorganisms. Biogas slurries increased the mean total above‐ground plant biomass by 66% and raw slurries by 35% in comparison to the control. The mean plant N‐uptake increased under biogas and raw slurry application by 166% and 65%, respectively, compared with the unfertilized pots. The effects of biogas and raw slurry application on soil microbial indices were similar except for the lower fungal biomass after biogas slurry amendment. In contrast to biogas slurries, the raw slurries significantly increased microbial biomass C and N by roughly 25% in comparison to the control. The application of biogas slurries significantly decreased the soil ergosterol content in comparison with raw slurry and control treatment, leading to a significantly lower ergosterol : microbial biomass C ratio. In the roots, biogas and raw slurry application significantly decreased the concentrations of the amino sugars galactosamine and glucosamine by 39 and 27%, respectively, but not that of ergosterol in comparison with the control. This was most likely due to a reduced colonization with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the presence of highly available plant nutrients.