Alternative method for producing organic fertiliser from anaerobic digestion liquor and limestone powder: high shear wet granulation

.Generally, the solid and liquid fractions (digestate) from Anaerobic Digestion (AD) energy production are considered as waste. This has a negative impact on the sustainability of AD processes because of the financial outlay required to treat digestate before being discharged into municipal water treatment plants or natural water bodies. The main aim of this research was to investigate feasibility of producing an organic fertiliser using anaerobic digestate and limestone powders as the raw materials employing a high shear granulation process. Two‐level factorial experimental design was used to determine the influence of granulation process variables on, the strength, resistance to attrition and yield of the granules. It was concluded from the study that it is technically feasible to produce organic fertiliser granules of acceptable strength and product yield. Increasing the liquid-to-solid ratio during granulation leads to increased granule strength and better product yield. Although the strength of the granules produced was lower than typical strength of commercial synthetic fertiliser granules (about 5 to 7 MPa), this could be improved by mixing the digestate with a polymeric binder or coating the particles post granulation

Adsorption study using optimised 3D organised mesoporous silica coated with Fe and Al oxides for specific As(III) and As(V) removal from contaminated synthetic groundwater

This work presents the possibility of optimising 3D organised mesoporous silica (OMS) coated with both iron and aluminium oxides for the optimal removal of As(III) and As(V) from synthetic contaminated water. The materials developed were fully characterised and were tested for removing arsenic in batch experiments. The effect of total Al to Fe oxides coating on the selective removal of As(III) and As(V) was studied. It was shown that 8% metal coating was the optimal configuration for the coated OMS materials in.removing arsenic. The effect of arsenic initial concentration and pH, kinetics and diffusion mechanisms was studied, modelled and discussed. It was shown that the advantage of an organised material over an un-structured sorbent was very limited in terms of kinetic and diffusion under the experimental conditions. It was shown that physisorption was the main adsorption process involved in As removal by the coated OMS. Maximum adsorption capacity of 55 mg As(V) g(-1) was noticed at pH 5 for material coated with 8% Al oxides while 35 mg As(V) g(-1) was removed at pH 4 for equivalent material coated with Fe oxides. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Correlation between tFEF and time to regain birthweight.

Correlation between tFEF and time to regain birthweight.</p

Associations between demographic and clinical variables and time to full enteral feeds; univariate analysis.

Associations between demographic and clinical variables and time to full enteral feeds; univariate analysis.</p

Median time to full enteral feeds according to day of first feed.

The horizontal line represents the median tFEF; the box represents the interquartile range; the whiskers represent the first and last quartiles of tFEF; ° represents outliers and * extreme outliers.</p

NeoNuNet Time to full enteral feeds data.

BackgroundPreterm (born AimTo identify factors that influence the time to full enteral feeds, defined as tolerance of 120ml/kg/day, in hospitalised preterm and VLBW infants in neonatal units in two sub-Saharan African countries.MethodsDemographic and clinical variables were collected for newborns admitted to 7 neonatal units in Nigeria and Kenya over 6-months. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify factors independently associated with time to full enteral feeds.ResultsOf the 2280 newborn infants admitted, 484 were preterm and VLBW. Overall, 222/484 (45.8%) infants died with over half of the deaths (136/222; 61.7%) occurring before the first feed. The median (inter-quartile range) time to first feed was 46 (27, 72) hours of life and time to full enteral feeds (tFEF) was 8 (4.5,12) days with marked variation between neonatal units. Independent predictors of tFEF were time to first feed (unstandardised coefficient B 1.69; 95% CI 1.11 to 2.26; p value ConclusionThe use of standardised feeding guidelines may decrease variations in clinical practice, shorten tFEF and thereby improve preterm and VLBW outcomes.</div

Time of death of infants.

BackgroundPreterm (born AimTo identify factors that influence the time to full enteral feeds, defined as tolerance of 120ml/kg/day, in hospitalised preterm and VLBW infants in neonatal units in two sub-Saharan African countries.MethodsDemographic and clinical variables were collected for newborns admitted to 7 neonatal units in Nigeria and Kenya over 6-months. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify factors independently associated with time to full enteral feeds.ResultsOf the 2280 newborn infants admitted, 484 were preterm and VLBW. Overall, 222/484 (45.8%) infants died with over half of the deaths (136/222; 61.7%) occurring before the first feed. The median (inter-quartile range) time to first feed was 46 (27, 72) hours of life and time to full enteral feeds (tFEF) was 8 (4.5,12) days with marked variation between neonatal units. Independent predictors of tFEF were time to first feed (unstandardised coefficient B 1.69; 95% CI 1.11 to 2.26; p value ConclusionThe use of standardised feeding guidelines may decrease variations in clinical practice, shorten tFEF and thereby improve preterm and VLBW outcomes.</div

Correlation between time to regain birthweight and length of hospital stay.

Correlation between time to regain birthweight and length of hospital stay.</p

Boxplot of time to full enteral feeds by NNU.

The horizontal line represents the median tFEF; the box represents the interquartile range; the whiskers represent the first and last quartiles of tFEF; represents outliers and * extreme outliers.</p

Characteristics of Preterm and VLBW Infants.

BackgroundPreterm (born AimTo identify factors that influence the time to full enteral feeds, defined as tolerance of 120ml/kg/day, in hospitalised preterm and VLBW infants in neonatal units in two sub-Saharan African countries.MethodsDemographic and clinical variables were collected for newborns admitted to 7 neonatal units in Nigeria and Kenya over 6-months. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify factors independently associated with time to full enteral feeds.ResultsOf the 2280 newborn infants admitted, 484 were preterm and VLBW. Overall, 222/484 (45.8%) infants died with over half of the deaths (136/222; 61.7%) occurring before the first feed. The median (inter-quartile range) time to first feed was 46 (27, 72) hours of life and time to full enteral feeds (tFEF) was 8 (4.5,12) days with marked variation between neonatal units. Independent predictors of tFEF were time to first feed (unstandardised coefficient B 1.69; 95% CI 1.11 to 2.26; p value ConclusionThe use of standardised feeding guidelines may decrease variations in clinical practice, shorten tFEF and thereby improve preterm and VLBW outcomes.</div