Chapters authored
Fungi in Landfill Leachate Treatment Process
The landfill leachate has high concentration of COD, ammonia and other recalcitrant composition compounds. The amount of eachwhich is mainly largely dependent on the age of the landfill. The conventional leachate treatments can be classified as chemical-physical treatments and biological treatments. Using fungi to treat leachate is an emerging research topic. Fungi, with their excellent recalcitrant compound degradability, have been used to treat industrial wastewater that contains toxic or recalcitrant compound. Due to the complex composition and toxicity of landfill leachate, fungi have showed shown better removal efficiency in terms of COD, toxicity and color removal than the conventional leachate treatment. White rot fungi species and yeast are so far the two species that have been studied in treating landfill leachate. Future research should be extended to the other fungi species as well asand also on the impact of ammonia in landfill leachate on the fungi treatment process.
Part of the book: Biodegradation and Bioremediation of Polluted Systems
Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Waste
Anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic municipal solid waste (OMSW) is considered as a key element in sustainable municipal waste management due to its benefits for energy, environment, and economy. This process reduces emission of greenhouse gases, generates renewable natural gas, and produces fertilizers and soil amendments. Due to its advantages over other treatment methods and waste-to-energy technologies, anaerobic digestion has attracted more attention so that numerous research works in this area are performed. In this chapter, an overview of previous studies on anaerobic digestion using OMSW as the feedstock is presented. First, the principals of anaerobic digestion including chemical and biological pathways and microorganisms responsible for different steps of the process are discussed. Factors influencing the efficiency of the process such as temperature, pH, moisture content, retention time, organic loading rate and C/N ratio are also presented in this chapter. Different methods of pretreatment applied to enhance biogas production from anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste are also discussed.
Part of the book: Solid Waste Management in Rural Areas