Influence of medical stone amendment on gaseous emissions, microbial biomass and abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria genes during biosolids composting

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of medical stone (MS) on microbial biomass, bacteria genes copy numbers, mitigation of gaseous emissions and its correlation with analyzed parameters during the biosolids composting. Composting of the biosolids by amendment of MS 0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 10% (on dry weight basis) was performed using a 130-L composting reactor. The results showed that with increasing the dosage of MS, the CH4, N2O and NH3 emission were reduced by 60.5–88.3%, 46.6–82.4% and 38.2–78.5%, respectively. In addition, the 6–10% MS amendment enhanced the organic waste mineralization and prolonged the thermophilic phase. The abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOAB) were decreased during the first 28 days, but considerable increment was observed during the maturation phase which indicated that AOB and AOAB were liable for nitrification during the curing phase of composting. A significant correlation was observed among the all analyzed parameters in 6–10% MS blended treatments.