Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/07

Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) This project will be conducted to develop new generation, low-cost treatment of animal wastewater based on applications of newly discovered microbial transformations and materials science. The project will involve cooperative work between USDA-ARS and EMBRAPA, Brazil's agricultural research organization, under the Scientific Cooperation Research Program of USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service. Investigators in both countries will conduct research to develop treatment systems based on energy- efficient anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) process and immobilization technology. The new generation bio-treatment system has the potential to reduce more than four times the operational cost of treatment. Affordable treatment technology will promote sustainable swine production in concentrated areas such as North Carolina and Santa Catalina (Brazil) and help improve the quality of life. Approach (from AD-416) The research will involve three steps: 1) Development of high-rate ANAMMOX immobilized culture suitable for treatment of high-strength animal wastewater using indigenous microbial sources around pig farms in Brazil and North Carolina; 2) Development of approaches to couple the ANAMMOX process with a nitrite producing module to provide a new total system for bio-treatment of nitrogen; and 3) Design and experimental testing of prototypes to evaluate process performance of the new system under field conditions. These prototypes will be tested in pig farms in North Carolina and in EMBRAPA's Swine Center in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Pilot operation will be evaluated and modified to optimize process conditions and provide technical recommendations on the new generation N removal system. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations This report serves to document research conducted under a reimbursable agreement between ARS and the USDA-FAS. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the in-house project 6657-13630-003-00D, �Innovative Animal Manure Treatment Technologies for Enhanced Environmental Quality.� The project was done cooperatively with EMBRAPA (Brazil) to develop a low-cost, anammox-based treatment processes for animal wastewater. It supports objective 1F of the parent project. Accomplishments include: development of active cultures of anammox, immobilization into various synthetic carriers (PVA, non-woven fibers, and woven fibers) using continuous-flow reactors, characterization using molecular techniques (FISH and DNA sequencing), pilot testing, and implementation of a nitrite generation reactor. Cooperator in Brazil was also successful in the development of anammox cultures using local animal waste sludges and the isolation protocol developed at Florence. An ARS Invention Disclosure (Docket No 103.06, Vanotti and Szogi, �Anaerobic ammonium oxidation for high-ammonia wastewater�) was approved by ARS Patent Committee. Dr. T. Fujii (Sojo Univ., Japan) and his graduate student, M. Shimamura, visited ARS in March 2007 and developed specific procedures using confocal microscopy for the new anammox bacteria isolated in the USA. The following presentations/publications have been completed under this project: Vanotti, M. B., K. Furukawa, M. C. Garcia-Gonzalez, and A. A. Szogi. 2005. Nitrogen removal with the anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox) process using polymer gel biomass carrier seeded with swine effluent sludge. ASABE Meeting, Tampa, FL. ARS Information Staff made a news release July 22, 2005, on project activities. Drs. Vanotti and Szogi presented seminars on manure treatment technologies at Embrapa�s Swine and Poultry in Concordia, Brazil, August 2005. A Workshop was organized by Embrapa in Brazil on technologies for removal of nutrients from livestock operations. Florianopolis, Brazil, August 25, 2005. Dr. Airton Kuntz made a presentation on this cooperative work at the ARS International Seminar series at Beltsville on March 6, 2006. Vanotti, M., A. Szogi, A. Kunz, and M.C. Garcia Gonzalez. 2006. Development of Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation (Anammox) Technology Using Immobilized Biomass from Swine Manure. Proc. 12th RAMIRAN conf., Denmark. Szogi, Vanotti, Garcia and Kunz. 2007. Development of ANAMMOX Process For Animal Waste Treatment: Experiences in the USA. Proc. ASABE Int. Symp. on Air Quality and Waste Management for Agriculture, Broomfield, CO. Kunz, Vanotti, Szogi, Garcia, Neto and Soares. 2007. Development of ANAMMOX Process For Animal Waste Treatment: Experiences in Brazil. Proc. ASABE Int. Symp. on Air Quality and Waste Management for Agriculture. Broomfield, CO. Monitoring activities included: exchange visits to ARS and EMBRAPA laboratories, meetings, conference calls, a workshop, and co-authored scientific publications. Laboratory research was supervised daily by Dr. Vanotti (USA reactors) and Dr. Kunz (Brazil reactors).

Impacts
(N/A)

Publications

Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06

Outputs
Progress Report 4d Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement between ARS and the USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent project 6657-13630-003-00D, Innovative Animal Manure Treatment Technologies for Enhanced Environmental Quality. This is a three-year project done cooperatively with Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (EMBRAPA), government agency in Brazil devoted to agricultural research, to develop new-generation, low-cost, anammox- based treatment of animal wastewater, which supports the objective 1F of the parent project To Develop Anaerobic Ammonia Oxidation (Anammox) Applications for Animal Waste. The isolation of anammox adapted to animal wastewater environments can be of significant importance to farming systems because excess ammonia in modern, industrial-type livestock production is a global problem, and the use of conventional biological N removal methods is usually hindered by cost; thus, we think that the more economical anammox-based treatment can greatly facilitate adoption of advanced wastewater treatment technologies by farmers. We completed phases one and two of the research proposed. This includes development of active cultures of anammox, immobilization into various synthetic carriers (PVA, non-woven fibers, and woven fibers) using continuous-flow reactors, characterization using molecular techniques (FISH and DNA sequencing), and successful development of a nitrite generation reactor. During year two of the project, Dr. Airton Kunz of EMBRAPA Swine and Poultry visited the ARS-Florence laboratory in February 2006, as scheduled. He was also successful developing anammox cultures in Brazil using local animal waste sludges and the isolation protocol we developed at Florence. Dr. Maria Cruz Garcia, from the Spanish Agricultural Technology Institute, is scheduled for a 1-month visit (August-Sept. 2006) to work on anammox characterization using FISH techniques and a new Nikon Eclipse 50i microscope purchased this year. An ARS invention disclosure (Docket No 103.06, M.B. Vanotti and A.A. Szogi, Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation for High-Ammonia Wastewater, was prepared based on this research and subsequently approved by ARS Patent Committee on May 22, 2006. The invention is about a new anammox bacteria isolated from livestock waste that can remove high quantities of nitrogen in wastewater.

Impacts
(N/A)

Publications

Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05

Outputs
4d Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement between ARS and the USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent project 6657-13630-001-00D, Improved Animal Manure Treatment Methods for Enhanced Water Quality. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in South Carolina are breaking new ground in using innovative technological advances to remove ammonia from water discharged from animal processing facilities. Working with a Duplin County, North Carolina, swine facility, researchers from ARS Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center in Florence, SC, recently became the first to isolate the bacteria used in the anammox process from animal wastewater. Anammox, which stands for anaerobic ammonium oxidation, is a newly discovered biologically mediated segment of the nitrogen cycle that uses bacteria to directly convert nitrite and ammonium to harmless dinitrogen gas. The ARS researchers soil scientists Matias Vanotti and Ariel Szogi isolated the bacteria from animal waste during studies aimed at developing process applications for anammox through continuous-flow treatment and microbial immobilization techniques. They have consistently obtained nitrogen removal rates of 500 g per cubic meter per day; their goal is to triple this amount in the next year using specially designed reactors. The anammox process uses planctomycetes bacteria to remove ammonium from wastewater without costly use of aeration or addition of expensive additives such as carbon. Its considered to be more energy-efficient than traditional biological nitrogen-removal systems because only part of the ammonium needs to be nitrified. In addition, the ARS researchers have launched a cooperative three-year project with Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (EMBRAPA), Brazils government agency devoted to agricultural research, to develop new-generation, low-cost, anammox-based treatment of animal wastewater there and in the United States. In Brazil, the swine production industry has shifted geographically, with a high concentration in the southern region and a strong expansion towards the center-west region. These changes have had a high environmental impact, caused by the introduction of excess nutrients in soil and surface waters. Dr. Airton Kunz of EMBRAPAs Swine and Poultry visited the ARS-Florence laboratory during one month in Jan-Feb 2005. Four new anammox reactors were built: two for use in Concordia, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and the other two for work in Florence, South Carolina, USA. The reactors were seeded with local swine waste sludge, and parallel studies were started in both laboratories. Drs. Matias Vanotti and Ariel Szogi have planned a trip to Brazil to visit research projects in Concordia and discuss anammox advances with Dr. Kunz and cooperators at Federal University of Santa Catarina. Dr. Mari Cruz Garcia, a visiting scientist from the Spanish Agricultural Technology Institute working at ARS-Florence, successfully identified anammox bacteria using Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) techniques. She trained Dr. Kunz on this molecular technique to facilitate identification of sludge and sediments in Brazil where anammox bacteria may be present. The following presentation and news release relate to research done under this project: Vanotti, M.B., K. Furukawa, M.C. Garcia-Gonzalez, and A.A. Szogi. 2005. Nitrogen removal with the anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox) process using polymer gel biomass carrier seeded with swine effluent sludge. American Society of Agricultural Engineers Annual International Meeting, July 17-20, 2005, Tampa, Florida. ARS Information Staff made a news release July 22, 2005, summarizing activities of the project: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2005/050722.htm.

Impacts
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Publications