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Assessing Impacts Of Biochar On Microbial Community Structure, Fermentation Intermediates, And Nutrient Degradation In Manure Lagoons, Courteney Hales

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Manure management practices have the capacity to impact greenhouse gas emissions and promote climate resilient food systems. Previous studies have found that using biochar as a manure lagoon cap is effective for reducing odor and ammonia emissions, while simultaneously increasing methane emissions. However, it is unknown what other impacts biochar addition could have on manure lagoon sludge. This study assessed the impact of biochar enrichment on microbial community structure, nutrient degradation, and fermentation intermediates in manure lagoons. Additionally, analysis of these variables may provide insights into how biochar-enriched manure might enhance crop rhizosphere health, when land applied as a fertilizer. …

Biochar Amended Biological Systems For Enhanced Landfill Leachate And Lignocellulosic Banana Waste Treatment, Xia Yang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biochar is an inexpensive and environmentally friendly carbonaceous pyrolysis byproduct with a high surface area, pore volume, and adsorption capacities for inorganic and organic compounds. The goal of this dissertation is to evaluate the feasibility of biochar application in biological treatment systems for enhanced waste management. Three major objectives guided this research to provide a compressive understanding of biochar enhancement effects on biological treatment systems for contaminant removal, energy recovery, and environmental impacts as well as essential factors influencing biochar production and properties.

In Objective 1 a low-cost hybrid Constructed Wetland (CW) system modified with biochar/zeolite was developed for enhanced …

A Comparison Of The Efficacy Of Methane-Oxidizing Alternative Daily Landfill Covers And Policy Recommendations For Landfill Regulatory Agencies, Eric Lara

Master's Projects and Capstones

Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) that has 28-36 times the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year timespan. Recent remote sensing research conducted by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Scientific Aviation has indicated that the working face of landfills are sectors of much higher methane emissions than previously considered. A working face location, which is the area of the landfill where daily waste is deposited, lacks the engineering controls present on the rest of the landfill. Controls such as gas collection and extraction wells and substantial covers to ensure surface integrity for methane leaks are …

Performance Assessment Of Solid State Anaerobic Digestion Of Poultry Litter, Mason Puckett

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The disposal of poultry litter can exert an economic and environmental burden to the agriculture community. As a result, it is desirable to reduce the amount of waste and recover resources from the waste. This study focuses on the construction and preliminary testing of a laboratory scale (20 L) solid state anaerobic digester (AD) fed with dry poultry litter. Glucose was added in addition to the poultry litter to achieve the appropriate C:N ratio to support the growth of anaerobic microorganisms. The AD was first fed every 4 days at 4 g VS/L/feeding for 24 days, rested (no feeding) for …