Plants In Belgium Research Articles

Bacterial community and filamentous population of industrial wastewater treatment plants in Belgium.

The discharge of industrial water requires the removal of its pollutants, where biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are the most used systems. Biological WWTPs make use of activated sludge (AS), where bacteria are responsible for the removal of pollutants. However, our knowledge of the microbial communities of industrial plants is limited. Understanding the microbial population is essential to provide solutions to industrial problems such as bulking. The aim of this study was to identify at a high taxonomic resolution the bacterial population of 29 industrial WWTPs using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Our results revealed that the main functional groups were dominated by Thauera and Zoogloea within denitrifiers, Dechloromonas in phosphate-accumulating organisms, and Defluviicoccus in glycogen-accumulating organisms. The activated sludge characterization indicated that 59% of the industrial plants suffered from bulking sludge, with DSVI values of up to 448 mL g-1. From the bulking cases, 72% corresponded to filamentous bulking with Thiothrix as the most abundant filament; meanwhile, the other 28% corresponded to viscous bulking sludge in which Zoogloea was the most abundant genus. Furthermore, the bacterial population did not share a core of taxa across all industrial plants. However, 20 genera were present in at least 50% of the plants comprising the general core, including Thauera, Ca. Competibacter, and several undescribed microorganisms. Moreover, statistical analysis revealed that wastewater salinity strongly affected the microbial richness of the industrial plants. The bacterial population across industrial plants differed considerably from each other, resulting in unique microbial communities that are attributed to the specificity of their wastewaters. KEY POINTS: • The general core taxa of industrial plants were mostly made up of undescribed bacterial genera. • Filamentous bacteria constituted on average 4.1% read abundance of the industrial WWTPs. • Viscous bulking remains a significant type of bulking within industrial WWTPs.

The need for dedicated pilot plant infrastructure for insect rearing and processing: a case-study from Belgium

Abstract Insects have the potential to form the basis of a sustainable value chain that plays a key role in the transition to a biobased economy. Numerous companies recognize the potential of insects, but immediate application on an industrial scale is hampered by several obstacles such as regulatory uncertainties and the need for support to upscale their processes. Another challenge is that only limited information is available on industrial insect rearing, and the information that is freely available often comes from small-scale research. Translating the research findings of that small-scale research to industrial scale is often cumbersome. In Belgium, KU Leuven and Thomas More in collaboration with VITO started doing research on insect rearing and processing about a decade ago. They recognized the need to add expertise on pilot scale, aside from their research on laboratory scale, as an intermediate step towards industrial production. The realisation of the Insect Pilot Plant in Belgium has enabled their ambition to offer such solutions at pilot scale. Additional benefit of having this pilot facility is that increased reliability and flexibility that comes with it enables the standardisation of all experiments, lab-scale as well as pilot scale, further increasing the expertise of the research centres involved and their ability to transfer that expertise to the sector.

Assessment of the Attractiveness and Passage Efficiency of Different Fish Passage Solutions at a Hydropower Plant by Combining Fine Scale 2D-Telemetry and Hydraulic Numerical Modelling

Mitigation measures for downstream-migrating Atlantic salmon smolts (Salmo salar L.) are commonly insufficiently attractive to enable safe entrance and passage with no delay. Combining 2D telemetry with hydrodynamic modelling has been shown to be a good tool to better understand the influence of hydrodynamic factors on the migration route choice of fishes. In this study, we investigated the smolt downstream migration at a hydropower plant in Belgium that offers five migration routes, including two Archimedes screws and one nature-like fishway. At the hydropower plant, the Archimedes screws were the most used migration routes, due to higher discharges and more important water depths at their entrance. The weir and the canal intake were less used by the smolts. The nature-like fishway turned out to be less used, with 23% of the smolts. Its associated crossing time was significantly longer, probably due to shallow water depths and high flow velocities. The nature-like fishway had the potential to become a good migration route for salmon smolts after improvements to increase attractiveness and passage efficiency. Moreover, the Archimedes screws were not detrimental to the smolts and did not cause any significant delays to the crossing time.

Business Roundup

BUSINESS Business Roundup ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2023, 101 (15), p 15May 8, 2023Cite this:C&EN 101, 15, 15AbstractJohnson Matthey has agreed to sell its diagnostics services business to Sullivan Street Partners and Souter Investments for $69 million. The business, which provides equipment for diagnosing problems in oil and gas production, has annual sales of about $72 million. LyondellBasell Industries is buying the 50% of the plastics recycler Quality Circular Polymers (QCP) that it doesn’t already own from the waste management firm Veolia. QCP operates mechanical recycling plants in Belgium and the Netherlands. PureCycle Technologies has achieved mechanical completion of its plant in Ironton, Ohio, which will use a solvent-based process to purify postconsumer polypropylene for recycling. When operating, the plant will be able to produce nearly 50,000 metric tons of recycled polypropylene per year. Nouryon will expand capacity at its facility in Ningbo, China, for the organic peroxides Perkadox 14 and Trigonox 101. The firm says annual capacity for each polymer additive will double, to 6,000 metricView: PDF | Full Text HTML

An optimal energy storage system sizing determination for improving the utilization and forecasting accuracy of photovoltaic (PV) power stations

As a new type of flexible regulation resource, energy storage systems not only smooth out the fluctuation of new energy generation but also track the generation scheduling combined with new energy power to enhance the reliability of new energy system operations. In recent years, installing energy storage for new on-grid energy power stations has become a basic requirement in China, but there is still a lack of relevant assessment strategies and techno-economic evaluation of the size determination of energy storage systems from the perspective of new energy power stations. Therefore, this paper starts from summarizing the role and configuration method of energy storage in new energy power stations and then proposes multidimensional evaluation indicators, including the solar curtailment rate, forecasting accuracy, and economics, which are taken as the optimization targets for configuring energy storage systems in PV power stations. Lastly, taking the operational data of a 4000 MWPV plant in Belgium, for example, we develop six scenarios with different ratios of energy storage capacity and further explore the impact of energy storage size on the solar curtailment rate, PV curtailment power, and economics. The method proposed in this paper is effective for the performance evaluation of large PV power stations with annual operating data, realizes the automatic analysis on the optimal size determination of energy storage system for PV power stations, and verifies the rationality of the principle for configuring energy storage for PV power stations in some regions of China.

PFAS in serum of residents living in the neighborhood of a major PFAS manufacturer plant in Belgium

Background and aim: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination levels in the environment around a 3M PFAS production plant triggered the concern for health among residents in the neighbourhood. Following this concern, a blood collection was organized to assess residents’ exposure levels. Methods: During the summer of 2021, 800 residents (+12 years old) living within 3 km of the 3M plant provided serum samples in which 13 PFAS compounds were measured, using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. All participants completed a questionnaire. Results and conclusion: The presentation will report the PFAS fingerprints in serum, the variation in PFAS serum levels within the community, and the key exposure determinants assessed using information retrieved from the questionnaire. PFAS exposure was dominated by PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), with an important contribution of branched compounds. Consumption of locally-produced chicken eggs was identified as an important determinant for higher serum levels of several PFAS. Other significant determinants included geographical position of the homes, time living in the area, use of groundwater, contact with chemicals and soil particles and use of consumer products. The study results supported earlier implemented no-regret precautionary measures. We will also address the policy implementation of this study and the communication of the results to the local community, including advices for exposure reduction. Keywords: PFAS, exposure assessment, determinants, policy

Science and Business Developments

Science and Business Developments

Who is willing to participate? Examining public participation intention concerning decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Belgium

Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) is now a pertinent energy-related matter since most of the nuclear reactors built during nuclear renaissance will soon reach the end of their operational life. Drawing on the theoretical framework based on elements of the Value-Belief-Norm theory, psychometric paradigm, deliberative theories of democracy and in the levels of participation as defined by Arnstein's ladder, this is the first large-scale study addressing the question of who is willing to participate in decommissioning-related decision-making procedures. Data for this study were collected via a large public opinion survey (N = 1028) in Belgium in 2015, and were analyzed using Structural Equations Modelling (SEM) as a method.Results show that interest on the topic of decommissioning as well as radiological risk perception have direct effects on participation intention. Furthermore, we found that low trust in the nuclear industry, being ideologically leftist, having more negative attitudes towards nuclear energy, and living in the vicinity of a nuclear installation influences participation intention indirectly, through interest and risk perception. Based on these findings we point out to some challenges that can appear in decision-making processes and some recommendations on how to prevent or solve them.

PARAFAC model as an innovative tool for monitoring natural organic matter removal in water treatment plants.

The increase of fluorescent natural organic matter (fNOM) fractions during drinking water treatment might lead to an increased coagulant dose and filter clogging, and can be a precursor for disinfection by-products. Consequently, efficient fNOM removal is essential, for which characterisation of fNOM fractions is crucial. This study aims to develop a robust monitoring tool for assessing fNOM fractions across water treatment processes. To achieve this, water samples were collected from six South African water treatment plants (WTPs) during winter and summer, and two plants in Belgium during spring. The removal of fNOM was monitored by assessing fluorescence excitation-emission matrices datasets using parallel factor analysis. The removal of fNOM during summer for South African WTPs was in the range 69-85%, and decreased to 42-64% in winter. In Belgian WTPs, fNOM removal was in the range 74-78%. Principal component analysis revealed a positive correlation between total fluorescence and total organic carbon (TOC). However, TOC had an insignificant contribution to the factors affecting fNOM removal. Overall, the study demonstrated the appearance of fNOM in the final chlorinated water, indicating that fNOM requires a customised monitoring technique.

Borealis awards engineering services (EPCM) contract to Maire Tecnimont Group for new world-scale propane dehydrogenation plant in Belgium

Intestinal microflora, as a component of the host bacteria ecosystem, can influence the healthy growth of crab. The aim of this study was to determine the intestinal microflora of the juvenile Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis with different feeding modes. We investigated the bacterial communities of crab intestine resulting from three different feeding modes using high-throughput sequencing technology, including traditional, formulated, and mixture (combined traditional and formulated) diet feeding modes. Intestinal microbiota biodiversity and richness were not affected by the different feeding modes. The most dominant community members at the phylum level were Tenericutes, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. Significant differences were only observed in the relative abundance of Tenericutes (P = 0.0390) and Proteobacteria (P = 0.0273) in the female crab intestines among different feeding modes. The seven most abundant genera in the intestine of male and female crabs included Candidatus Bacilloplasma, Candidatus Hepatoplasma, Prolixibacter, Vibrio, Dysgonomonas, Coprobacillus, and Lactovum. Moreover, high average similarity of the microbial community was observed in the intestine of male and female crabs among the three different feeding modes and also between male and female crabs within these feeding modes. The most abundant genera in the latter (>10%) were Candidatus Bacilloplasma, Candidatus Hepatoplasma, and Prolixibacter. In addition, unique microbial genera were found in male or female crab intestine among different feeding modes. Differences were also observed in the relative enrichment of the dominant bacteria in male and female crab intestine among different feeding modes. Nevertheless, these findings suggested that the microbial communities in the intestines of crabs showed overall high average similarity among the three feeding modes or between the sexes as reflected by the biodiversity, richness of intestinal microbiota, and the most dominant community members at the phylum and genera levels. The results of this study provide a theoretical reference regarding the diversity of intestinal bacteria in juvenile E. sinensis.

Covestro exits polycarbonate sheeting

Covestro has agreed to sell its European polycarbonate sheeting business to the Munich-based industrial firm Serafin Group for an undisclosed sum. The business being sold has plants in Belgium and Italy. It has 250 employees and generated sales of about $150 million in 2018. The sale marks Covestro’s exit from the polycarbonate sheeting market following the sale of businesses in North America and India last year.

Particle mass and gaseous emissions from small scale modern wood stoves

The objectives of the paper were to evaluate particle mass concentrations of PM1 (size <1 µm) and PM2.5 (size <2.5 µm), mass size distributions and CO emissions under standard laboratory conditions obtained from two commercially available modern residential wood stoves with capacity 10 kW and 20 kW. Four combustion batches with minor modification of primary air flows into the combustion chamber for each stove were conducted to evaluate the emission results. Particle mass concentrations and size distributions were measured in real time using an Electrical Low Pressure Impactor Plus (ELPI+) instrument, which measures particles with a fast response time in a wide particle size range from 6 nm to 10 µm aerodynamic diameter. Gaseous concentrations of O2 and CO2 were measured continuously using a Horiba PG-250 analyzer and CO emissions were measured using a Siemens Ultramat 6 gas analyzer. The measurement protocols of each combustion test were conducted according to the European standard EN 13229. The combustion experiments were conducted in a laboratory of a stove manufacturing plant in Belgium. The results showed that PM1 and PM2.5 concentrations of all the batches of both stoves varied from 116 to 327 mg/Nm3 and 139 to 413 mg/Nm3, respectively in the combustion cycle. Particle mass size distribution for all batches from both stoves is very similar showing a maximum in the fine mode at a particle size of around 330 nm to 500 nm. The CO emissions from all the batches varied from 447 to 1184 mg/Nm3 for the 10 kW stove and 958 to 1545 mg/Nm3 for the 20 kW stove. The experimental results of PM1, PM2.5 concentrations and CO emissions from combustion measurements could be useful for the improvement of the combustion process as well as the reduction of gaseous and particle mass emissions from these residential biomass combustion appliances.

Borealis awards engineering services contract to Tecnimont for new PDH plant in Belgium

Nowadays, the abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) is of increasing concern in many countries. To better solve this problem, an easy, convenient and sensitive ATS sensor (CB/[email protected]3-1) to monitor 3-phenylpropylamine (3-PPA) in saliva has been first constructed, which employ cucurbit uril (CB) as a specific pre-concentrator of 3-PPA and Eu3+ as a fluorescent recognition towards 3-PPA. In order to anchor the supramolecular cucurbit uril (CB) on the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and simultaneously introduce the fluorescence of Eu3+ into it, a creative way was first proposed in this work to realize the bis-functionalization of MOF (1). The covalent functionalization of the MOFs (CH3-1) makes it possess the electron-deficient groups to form donor-acceptor (D-A) complexes with cucurbit uril (CB), while the coordinate functionalization furnished the MOFs excellent luminescence of Eu3+ ([email protected]3-1). For further application, the methodology of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) to process sensing results was first proposed, which can intelligently convert the fluorescent sensing image into the concentrations of 3-PPA without the artificial tedious digital processing. The proposal of the methodology opens a new strategy for intelligent analysis of sensing experiment results.

Use of genetic resources to develop new commercial Rhododendron simsii hybrids

Rhododendron simsii Planch. hybrid or pot azalea is the most important ornamental plant in Belgium. At least four different species (R. simsii, Rhododendron indicum, Rhododendron scabrum and Rhododendron mucronatum) have contributed to modern hybrids. These species are found in parts of China and Japan. R. simsii introduced the early flowering trait and the ability to produce flower sports. The other species contributed to the diversification of flower color (purple, carmine red), large flowers and specific plant habitus. The Instituut voor Landbouw-, Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoek (ILVO) holds a large gene bank of pot azalea accessions and their wild relatives. To safeguard this gene bank, the core collection is also partly kept in cryopreservation. Gene bank accessions are used for both genetic studies and breeding. In recent years, we have specifically focused on introgression of traits such as new flower and growth forms, fragrance, and disease resistance. The introduction of such specific traits from a wild species into elite breeding material is time consuming, as several backcrosses are necessary. For some characteristics, i.e., disease resistance, adapted screening methods have been developed that enable us to select more adequately.

Development and validation of an analytical procedure to detect spatio-temporal differences in antidepressant use through a wastewater-based approach

Wastewater-based epidemiology applies the analysis of human metabolic excretion products of xenobiotics in wastewater to estimate the community-wide use of these compounds. A new bioanalytical method was developed, optimised and validated for the analysis of a broad range of antidepressants and their metabolites at trace concentrations in influent wastewater. The assay was based on solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. For most compounds, Oasis® HLB cartridges were used for sample preparation. Oasis® MCX cartridges were used for extraction of normirtazapine, moclobemide, sertraline, and melitracen in particular. The Kinetex XBC18 column with a gradient elution resulted in appropriate separation for the analytes under investigation. Validation was done according to the European Medicines Agency guidelines on bioanalytical method validation. For 27 compounds, the performance criteria met the requirements for method validation. For these analytes, the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) ranged between 1 and 25 ng/L. Furthermore, all targeted biomarkers showed high in-sample stability during 24 h, with the exception of mianserin. The validated assay was applied to influent wastewater samples collected from four wastewater treatment plants in Belgium. Among these four locations, a total of 18 out of 27 biomarkers for antidepressant use were present in the samples in concentrations above the LLOQ. Additionally, the proposed methodology proved capable of analysing high resolution spatio-temporal trends. Mann-Kendall trend analyses showed that antidepressant use is stable throughout the week, except for trazodone which increased throughout the week.

Alien invasive plants in Belgian limestone quarries

Description of the subject. Vegetation of high conservation value can establish in quarries, during or after exploitation. Alien plants could hamper this process and cause additional rehabilitation costs. However, the situation of plant invasion in quarries is largely unknown. Objectives. We aimed to assess alien plant invasion in active and abandoned quarries, and to identify the most invaded quarry sectors. Method. We surveyed 6,692 plots in 31 quarries in Belgium and recorded occurrence, density and cover of the 65 listed alien invasive plants in Belgium. Results. Fourteen species were recorded and 25 quarries contained at least one species. The two most occurring species, Buddleja davidii Franch. and Senecio inaequidens DC., were more widespread in quarries in activity. All sectors of the quarries were affected by alien plant invasion. Conclusions. Alien plant invasion in limestone quarries is highly variable, but significant. Considering the ecological potential of quarry sites, this issue should be better tackled.

Fly ash from a Belgian stoker-type municipal solid waste incinerator

This study establishes some salient characteristics of fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration by combining various instrumental analytical techniques (SEM-EDS, XRD and XRF, etc.) while analysing size-classified fractions of high-temperature (HT) and baghouse (BH) dust. First, the two samples were sieved in eight (HT) or six (BH) size fractions and these were separately analysed for PCDD/F, PCB and PAH. These two samples, showing distinct differences from each other, were collected from a small MSWI stoker plant in Belgium with frequent operational problems. The BH sample presented more homogeneity than the HT sample. A growing concentration of heavy metals was observed with falling size of particles. The loads of PCDD/F and PCB in the BH sample are 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than those in HT samples. High internal correlation was found for the contents of PCB and PCDD/F and even higher for dl-PCB and PCDD/F.

Fly ash from a Belgian stoker-type municipal solid waste incinerator

This study establishes some salient characteristics of fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration by combining various instrumental analytical techniques (SEM-EDS, XRD and XRF, etc.) while analysing size-classified fractions of high-temperature (HT) and baghouse (BH) dust. First, the two samples were sieved in eight (HT) or six (BH) size fractions and these were separately analysed for PCDD/F, PCB and PAH. These two samples, showing distinct differences from each other, were collected from a small MSWI stoker plant in Belgium with frequent operational problems. The BH sample presented more homogeneity than the HT sample. A growing concentration of heavy metals was observed with falling size of particles. The loads of PCDD/F and PCB in the BH sample are 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than those in HT samples. High internal correlation was found for the contents of PCB and PCDD/F and even higher for dl-PCB and PCDD/F.

Improvement potential of today’s WEEE recycling performance: The case of LCD TVs in Belgium

Waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) constitutes one of the most relevant waste streams because of the quantity and presence of valuable materials. However, there is limited knowledge on the resource potential of urban mining WEEE, as data on material composition, and the efficiency of current recycling treatments are still scarce. In this article, an evaluation of the recycling performance at a national level for one of the fastest growing e-waste streams: LCD TVs is carried out through the following four steps. Firstly, material characterisation is performed by means of sampling of the waste stream. Secondly, a material flow analysis is conducted by evaluating the separation performance of a recycling plant in Belgium. Thirdly, the recovered economic value and avoided environmental impact (EI) of the analysed recycling system is assessed. Finally, the potential of urban mining for Belgium is forecasted. The analysis shows that while recycling performance for ferrous metals and aluminium are relatively high; there is substantial room to better close the material loops for precious metals (PM) and plastics. PMs and plastics account for 66 % of the economic value in LCD TVs and 57%of the EI.With the current, commonly applied recycling technology only one-third of the PM and housing plastics are recycled; meaning that for these materials, at a national level for Belgium, there is a potential for improvement that represents 3.3 million euros in 2016 and 6.8 million euros in 2025. Open image in new window

Borealis studies feasibility of PDH plant in Belgium

Borealis studies feasibility of PDH plant in Belgium