Cattle Dung Slurry Research Articles

A Case Study on Role of Microbial Consortia Assisted Decomposition of Agro-waste for Improvement of Soil Organic Carbon – A Step Towards Sustainable Development

The availability of optimum soil organic carbon (SOC) in the field is associated with an optimal soil structure, water-holding capacity, nutrient availability, aeration, growth of microflora and thus, crop productivity. In the present investigation, the role of Azolla, poultry waste, urea and cattle dung, as a source of nitrogen, was initially investigated for maintaining the optimum carbon: nitrogen (C: N) ratio during the composting of sugarcane agro-waste. The results showed that Azolla-fortified agro-waste had a significantly fasterrate of composting in comparison to other sources of nitrogen. In the next part of work, Azolla-fortified matured compost was used for the isolation of 7 fungal strains, which were combined with 6 bacterial strains for the preparation of microbial consortia. The consortia were used for composting of different agro-wastes on open fields of 15 farmers in the presence of cattle dung slurry (nitrogen source) and the compost was then applied on the field for optimizing the level of SOC on the fields of SOC deficientsoil. It was found that consortia-induced composting was completed in about 30-45 days as compared to the normal 60 days and the matured compost had achieved the ideal C:N ratio (20:1). The addition of this compost for two cycles significantly increased SOC level (13% and 25% in the first and second cycle, respectively). The study developed the standard operating procedure (SOP) for effective composting of diversified agro-waste (~200 tones) within a short period (~30–45 days) of time in the presence of microbial consortia (200 L ton-1) and cattle dung slurry to retain optimum C:N ratio (40:1–50:1) during composting. The study suggests the application of microbial consortia + cattle dung slurry + diversified agro-waste for on-field rapid composting process and its use as biofertilizer to enhance the SOC of deficient soil in agricultural fields for sustainable development.

A Comparative Study of Organic Cultivation of Trigreens with Vermicompost

The study highlighting the importance of diversifying plant resources, especially for green leafy vegetables, which are rich in essential nutrients and are considered vital for human health. Organic farming is on the rise due to increasing demand for healthier and environmentally friendly food production. The experiment was conducted in Kalakadu village, Tamil Nadu, India, with a focus on the impact of vermicompost on plant growth. The soil type, pH, and nutrient content were analyzed. Vermicompost was prepared by predigesting organic waste and cattle dung slurry. The three selected vegetables were planted in plots with and without vermicompost, and their growth was monitored. The study presents the height parameters and growth data for each of the three vegetables with and without vermicompost. In all cases (Amaranthus, Palak, and Moringa), the height and weight of the plants were significantly higher when vermicompost was added. Statistical analysis, including Pearson correlation and t-tests, confirmed the significance of these differences. The study concludes that vermicompost has a substantial positive impact on the growth and yield of Amaranthus, Palak, and Moringa. The vegetables cultivated with vermicompost demonstrated higher height, weight, and overall growth compared to those without vermicompost.

Assessment of Sustainable Biogas Production from Co-Digestion of Jatropha De-Oiled Cake and Cattle Dung Using Floating Drum Type Digester under Psychrophilic and Mesophilic Conditions

Biodiesel is an emerging alternative fuel that is generally made from edible and non-edible oilseed crops. Jatropha curcus has a high potential for producing biodiesel, which yields 25–35% oil along with 75–65% solid byproduct, generally called a de-oiled cake. The present manuscript deals with the co-digestion of Jatropha de-oiled cake along with cattle dung (1:1 ratio) for biogas production in a floating-type biogas digester. The experimental study was carried out in a modified KVIC biogas plant of 6 cubic meter capacity for 60 days’ retention time under psychrophilic and mesophilic temperature conditions. During all the experiments, the total solid content of the slurry was maintained fixed at 10–12% by mixing 10 kg Jatropha de-oiled cake and 10 kg cattle dung with 80 kg water. The experimental results showed that the average specific biogas production of Jatropha de-oiled cake and cattle dung slurry was observed to be 0.216 m3/kg TS, 0.252 m3/kg VS and 0.287 m3/kg TS, 0.335 m3/kg VS, respectively, under the aforementioned conditions. Moreover, the biogas methane concentration was observed to be 62.33% to 69.16% under mesophilic temperature conditions compared to the psychrophilic temperature conditions, 65.21% to 69.15%, respectively. Furthermore, the average total volatile solids mass removal efficiency of feeding material in the abovementioned process was 7% higher under mesophilic temperature conditions than psychrophilic temperature conditions. Additionally, the results indicated that a total 588.8 kg of input volatile solids produced a total of 7306.56 MJ/m3 and 5177.88 MJ/m3 energy in 60 days under psychrophilic and mesophilic temperature conditions. On the basis of the results, it is concluded that Jatropha de-oiled cake may be a superior solution for improving biogas quality and composition as well as a value-added product, i.e., organic manure.

Management of Cattle Dung and Novel Bioelectricity Generation Using Microbial Fuel Cells: An Ingenious Experimental Approach

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are the rising modern equipment for the generation of bioelectricity from organic matters. In this study, MFCs in two formats are assembled and concurrently operated for a 30-day period in a batch mode manner. Natural biowaste cattle dung slurry with mediators is used as a substrate persistently for the enhancement of electron transfer rate and additionally for the augmentation of required electrical parameters. Under similar conditions, the MFC setups are experimented with a variety of anode-cathode material combinations, namely carbon-carbon, copper-carbon, and zinc-carbon. The performance of these MFCs during the testing period is evaluated independently and compared by plotting polarization data generated by them. It is revealed that maximum current and power densities are achieved from all these MFCs and the best attained values are 1858 mA/m2 and 1465 mW/m2, respectively, for the novel single-chamber zinc-carbon electrode MFC. The corresponding findings present that the MFC with zinc-carbon electrodes has the better power density than other MFCs. Being conductive and higher standard potential metal electrodes have improved the capability to act in place of carbon family electrodes for MFC-based power applications. Although the MFC power generation is low, but modifications in configurations, electrodes, microbe-rich biowaste, mediators, and power management may enhance the power output to a significant level for commercialization of this technology. The unique feature of this research is to explore the pertinent use of conductive metal electrodes to enhance the power generation capability of MFCs through biowaste as an alternative power source for small applications. The novelty of this research is presented through usage of conductive metal electrodes for the performance analysis of MFCs.

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English

Statistical optimization of cultural conditions for manganese peroxidase production by Coriolus versicolor MTCC 138 from digested cattle dung slurry

The present study reports the production of manganese peroxidase enzyme using digested cattle dung slurry as a substrate by Coriolus versicolor MTCC 138. Digested cattle dung slurry was analyzed for proximate (total solids, volatile solids and pH), chemical (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and silica) and biochemical (total proteins and manganese peroxidase) composition. Manganese peroxidase production by C. versicolor MTCC 138, was optimized by a conventional ‘one variable at a time approach’ and then by Placket-Burman design. Optimized fermentation conditions for the maximum manganese peroxidase (78.0 U mL−1) enzyme production were 25% slurry concentration, 5 days of incubation, temperature 25°C and inoculum size of 106 spores mL−1. This enzyme titre obtained by statistical optimization was 1.86 fold than that achieved by ‘one variable at a time approach’. It revealed that the effect of different cultural conditions (slurry concentration, spore concentration and incubation period) have statistically significant effect on enzyme production.

Comparison of nanoparticles effects on biogas and methane production from anaerobic digestion of cattle dung slurry

Nanoparticles (NPs) of trace metals such as Co, Ni, Fe and Fe3O4 were implemented in this study to compare their effects on biogas and methane production from anaerobic digestion of livestock manure. The most effective concentrations of NPs additives were determined based on our previous studies, and were 1 mg/L Co NPs, 2 mg/L Ni NPs, 20 mg/L Fe NPs and 20 mg/L Fe3O4 NPs. These concentrations of NPs additives were further investigated and compared to each other in this study and were found to significantly (p < 0.05) increase the biogas yield by 1.7, 1.8, 1.5 and 1.7 times in comparison with control, respectively. The methane yield significantly (p < 0.05) increased by 2, 2.17, 1.67 and 2.16 times the methane volume of the control, respectively. The results of this study showed that the Ni NPs yielded the highest biogas and methane production compared to Co, Fe and Fe3O4 NPs.

Effect of poultry waste on vermicomposting of anaerobically digested cattle dung slurry

This study was conducted to explore the effect of poultry waste (PW) on the vermicomposting of anaerobically digested cattle dung slurry (CDS) using Eisenia fetidaworm species. A total of three vermicomposting beds, having different percentage of PW and CDS were established (100% CDS; 75% CDS + 25% PW; 50% CDS + 50% PW). At the end of experiment vermicompost showed a higher concentration of important plant nutrients, viz., NPK. There was a significant decrease in pH, total organic carbon (TOC), carbon nitrogen ratio (C: N ratio) and carbon phosphorus ratio (C: P ratio), but increase in calcium, sodium, total Kjeldhal nitrogen (TKN), total potassium (TK) and total phosphorus (TP) was recorded after 90 days vermicomposting. The results also showed that if PW is added to anaerobically digested CDS during vermicomposting, the vermicompost so obtained is enriched in nitrogen and phosphorus.

Performance Evaluation of Solid State Digester for Biogas Production using Biologically Pretreated Straw

The present paper reports biogas production from biologically pretreated paddy straw in a solid state digester made of HDPE plastic (124 litre capacity). The trial was conducted with a mixture of 10 kg pretreated paddy straw, 20 kg cattle dung slurry, 20 kg cattle dung and 20 litre water. The chemical and proximate analysis of the feed was done and biogas production profile was studied over a period of one month. Parallel trial was also conducted with untreated paddy straw. The result indicated that 253.89 litre biogas/kg pretreated paddy straw was produced, which is 39.3% higher than the untreated paddy straw.

Generation of Electricity from Bio-wastes Using Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Direct feeding of biogas to SOFC, which is derived from municipal bio-wastes, has been tested in this research. Because biogas composition is strongly affected by the kind of organic wastes and the operational conditions of methane fermentation, it has been monitored for 100 days using gas chromatograph in order to reveal the fluctuation of biogas composition and its influence on the SOFC performance. CH4/CO2 ratio in the raw biogas was in the range of 1.4-1.9 and had a tendency to decrease when the cattle dung slurry was fed into the reactor. Using anode-supported button cell, stable operation of direct-biogas SOFC was achieved at 800 oC. Cell voltage above 0.8 V was recorded over 350 h at 200 mA cm-2

A modified method for estimation of chemical oxygen demand for samples having high suspended solids

Determination of chemical oxygen demand (COD) of samples having high suspended solids concentration such as cattle dung slurry with open reflux method of APHA–AWWA–WPCF did not give consistent results. This study presents a modification of the open reflux method (APHA–AWWA–WPCF) to make it suitable for samples with high percentage of suspended solids. The new method is based on a different technique of sample preparation, modified quantities of reagents and higher reflux time as compared to the existing open reflux method. For samples having solids contents of 14.0 g/l or higher, the modified method was found to give higher value of COD with much higher consistency and accuracy as compared to the existing open reflux method.

Decolorization Screening of Synthetic Dyes by Anaerobic Methanogenic Sludge Using a Batch Decolorization Assay

The nonspecific ability of anaerobic sludge bacteria obtained from cattle dung slurry was investigated for 17 different dyes in a batch assay system using sealed serum vials. Experiments using Reactive Violet 5 (RV 5) showed that sludge bacteria could effectively decolorize solutions having dye concentrations up to 1000 mg l−1 with a decolorization efficiency of above 75% during 48 h of incubation. Headspace gas composition of anaerobic batch systems for varying dye concentration revealed that lower concentrations of RV 5 (upto 500 mg l−1) were found to be stimulatory to the methanogenic activity of sludge bacteria. However at higher dye concentrations, the headspace gas composition was found to be similar to batch assay controls without dye, indicating that dye at higher concentrations was inhibitory to methanogenic bacteria of sludge. The optimum inoculum and incubation temperature for maximum decolorization of RV 5 was found to be 9.0 g l−1(in terms of total solids) and 37°C, respectively. Of sixteen other dyes tested, nine (Reactive Black 5, Reactive Blue 31, Reactive Blue 28, Reactive Red HE8B, Reactive Yellow, Reactive Golden Yellow, Mordant Orange, Novatic Olive R S/D & Navilan Yellow GL) were decolorized with more than 88% efficiency; three (Orange II, Navy Blue HER & Novatic Blue BC S/D) were decolorized with about 50–65% efficiency, whereas other three dyes (Procion Orange H2R, Procion Brilliant Blue HGR & Novatic Blue BC S/D) were decolorized with less than 40% efficiency. Though Ranocid Fast Blue was decolorized with about 92.5% efficiency, this was merely due to sorption, whereas the other dyes were decolorized due to biotransformation.

Elucidation mechanism of organic acids production from organic matter (grass) using digested and partially digested cattle feed

The process of anaerobic digestion is highly influenced by the environmental and operational factors like organic acids concentration and the reactor volume occupied by the feed material. The optimum level of organic acids is commonly assumed to be in the range between 2,500 and 3,500 mg/l for the anaerobic digestion process. It was observed that the production of total organic acids during hydrolysis of grass using cattle dung slurry (CDS) as the inoculum reached up to 4,850 mg/l in 6 days, while on the other hand it reached 5,700 mg/l within 4 days when rumen content was used as inoculum. The organic acids production continued to the 30th day in the case of rumen content, while in the case of CDS it stopped within 10 days because of pH drop. As compared to CDS the anaerobic digestion of grass with rumen content showed better degradation and biogas production with nearly 80% of methane and up to 80 and 95% reduction in chemical oxygen demand and organic acids respectively.

Utilization of Anaerobically Digested Cattle Dung Slurry for the Culture of Zooplankton, Daphnia similis Claus (Crustacea: Cladocera)

The nutrient utilization pattern and algal productivity at different concentrations of anaerobically digested cattle dung slurry (0.1, 0.3, 0.6 and 1.0%) were evaluated in outdoor miniponds at a retention time of 6 days. In algal stabilization ponds, 40-56% of total Kjeldahl nitrogen, 85-98% of NH3-N and 60-90% of phosphorus were utilized. Types and number of algal forms and Net Primary Productivity (NPP) increased with increasing concentrations (0.1-1.0%) of digested biogas plant slurry. Treatment was for 50 days. Treated water was partially harvested everyday and used for Daphnia similis culture. Maximum growth increment (0.6 mm) of D. similis occurred between first and fourth instar (within 5 days) in all the concentrations tested. Based on the mean number of eggs produced animal·1 day-1, it was observed that concentrations of 0.1-0.3% biogas slurry are suitable for longer maintenance of algae and D. similis culture.

Biomethanation of rice and wheat straw

When rice or wheat straw was added to cattle dung slurry and digested anaerobically, daily gas production increased from 176 to 331 l/kg total solids with 100% rice straw and to 194 l/kg total solids with 40% wheat straw. Not only was methane production enhanced by adding chopped crop residues but a greater biodegradability of organic matter in the straws was achieved.

Evaluation of nutrient recovery after anaerobic digestion of cattle dung in a family size biogas plant

A one year study of the nutrient status of cattle dung (influent) and digested cattle dung slurry (effluent) was made of a Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) model family size (4 m3) biogas plant to evaluate nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) recovery. Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) and total Potassium (TK) were recovered completely after biogas production. Total Phosphorus (TPO 4 −) showed a 30% reduction and ammonia nitrogen (NH 3-N) showed a 70% increase compared to the influent. Regression analysis showed a significant correlation of Total Solids (TS) with Nitrogen ( r = 0.675), Phosphorus ( r = 0.855) and Potassium ( r = 0.740) after anaerobic digestion.

A note on survival of salmonellas during anaerobic digestion of cattle dung.

Anaerobic digestion of night soil with cattle dung slurry in biogas plants is advocated in Indian villages as a means of disposal of human excreta in the absence of conventional sanitary systems. Although intestinal pathogens are likely to be eliminated during anaerobic digestion, there is no conclusive evidence that this is so. Large numbers of saprophytic organisms in the fermenting mass make it impossible to detect the residual pathogens. Use of an antibiotic-resistant strain of Salmonella typhimurium as a test organism to study its survival during anaerobic digestion showed that the organism is totally eliminated in nine days.

Biogasification of cattle dung and cattle dung—rice straw mixture at different solid concentrations

Experiments were carried out, using batch digesters, to study the effect of solid concentration on gas production. Nearly the same amount of gas was produced per gram of solids converted when the solid concentration of the cattle dung slurry was 7·7%, 10·2% or 14·8%. A larger percentage of the solids was converted when the solids concentration was high. The percentage of methane in the gas showed little variation with the change in the solids concentration. A mixture of cattle dung and chopped rice straw in the ratio of 1:2 (on a dry weight basis) and containing 15·2% solids compared well with cattle dung slurry in conversion of solids and production of gas.