For some years the crops of two of the plots on one of the fields of the experiment station farm had been very poor. These two plots had been received ammonium sulfate as a source of nitrogen for a long period of years and it seemed evident that the poor yield might be due to the continued use of this salt. In order to determine whether or not this was the case, the following investigations were undertaken.

No description available.

The construction of an adiabatic demagnetization cryostat has been outlined in detail along with the associated electrical apparatus for supplying power to the cryostat and for temperature measurement. Various magnet electrical configurations have been suggested and tried, and the degree of success of each noted. Two types of working coolants, Ferric Ammonium Sulphate and Pink Ruby have been considered and the advantages and disadvantages of each have been discussed. Suggestions for further improvements have also been made. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

A fermentação de mosto com alta concentração de açúcar (ACA) pode ser utilizada em escala industrial para a produção de etanol combustível. Esta tecnologia apresenta vantagens como a obtenção de níveis mais elevados de etanol e a minimização dos custos de produção, em contraposição apontam novos desafios, como minimizar os efeitos do estresse, osmótico e alcoólico, que as leveduras são submetidas. A suplementação do mosto com fontes nitrogenadas pode aumentar o rendimento de etanol durante a fermentação alcoólica, visto que este elemento desempenha importantes funções na fisiologia da levedura. Para avaliar o efeito da suplementação de mosto ACA, caldo de cana-de-açúcar concentrado a 25°, 30° e 35°Brix e suplementado com sulfato de amônio foi fermentado por linhagens comerciais de levedura, PE-2 e CAT-1, a 30ºC e 60rpm e monitorado por ciclos de 24 horas. Seis ciclos fermentativos foram realizados, mediante o reciclo das células de levedura por centrifugação a 2.000 g por 15 min. Os parâmetros analisados foram o desprendimento de CO2 obtido por avaliação da massa (pesagem em balança analítica); viabilidade celular determinada pelo método de coloração com eritrosina; teor alcoólico determinado em densímetro digital, após destilação da amostra, análise de açúcares totais e residuais por cromatografia de troca iônica e a concentração de nitrogênio assimilável determinada colorimetricamente pelo método da ninidrina, utilizando glicina como padrão. A suplementação dos meios com sulfato de amônio propiciou maiores taxas reprodutivas das leveduras, formando maior biomassa em todas as concentrações de Brix estudadas. Os valores de etanol observados foram superiores nas amostras suplementadas, atingindo um teor acima de 16% (v/v) para a linhagem CAT-1 e acima de 15,5% (v/v) para a linhagem PE-2 no mosto contendo 30°Brix. Entre as linhagens, a CAT-1 foi a que suportou melhor a pressão osmótica do meio e, consequentemente, apresentou produtividade fermentativa superior, atingindo uma produção acima de 5,2g/L/h. A presença da fonte de nitrogênio mostrou ser fundamental para o processo fermentativo, principalmente em mosto ACA, com concentrações mais elevadas de açúcar. A fermentação do mosto com 25°Brix não apresentou o mesmo comportamento. / The fermentation of sugar cane wort with a high concentration of sugar (ACA, very high gravity) can be used on an industrial scale for the production of fuel ethanol. This technology has the advantage of achieving higher levels of ethanol and reduction of production costs, although the challenges are to minimize the effects of osmotic and alcohol stress that the yeasts are subjected. Supplementation with nitrogen sources provides important roles in the physiology of yeast and it can increase the yield of ethanol during fermentation. To evaluate the effect of supplementation of ACA wort, juice of sugar cane was concentrated at 25°, 30° and 35°Brix and supplemented with ammonium sulfate. The medium was fermented by commercial yeast strains, PE-2 and CAT-1, at 30° C, with orbital shaking. The process was followed in 24 hours cycles. Six fermentation cycles were performed with the yeast cells recycling. At the end of each cycle, the yeast biomass was separated from liquid fraction by centrifugation at 2,000 g for 15 min. Progress of fermentations was analyzed by measuring CO2 production by evaluating the mass reduction; yeast cell viability by staining method with erythrosine; alcoholic content of distilled sample was determined by densitometry, residual sugars were analyzed by ion exchange chromatography and assimilable nitrogen concentration determined colorimetrically by ninhydrin method, using glycine as standard. The strains PE-2 and CAT-1 with ammonium sulfate reached higher reproductive rates and improved biomass at all sugar concentrations. Higher ethanol production was observed in the supplemented samples, reaching a level above 16% (v/v) for CAT-1 strain and above 15.5% (v/v) for PE-2 strain at 30° Brix concentration. CAT-1 strain showed more tolerance with the high osmotic pressure of the medium and consequently improved productivity fermentation, reaching an ethanol production above 5.2 g/L.h. Nitrogen source proved to play a crucial role in the fermentation process, mainly in ACA wort, however, the same effect was not observed at 25°Brix.

<p>Decomposition of organic matter is a critical process in the ecosystem, which involves many essential biotic and physical parts. Decomposition is therefore an important process both above and below ground. The rate of decomposition is dependent of many environmental factors for example: pH, moisture and supply of oxygen. The decomposition can therefore be affected by large scaled environmental influences, such as acidification and climatic changes. The root litter in the forest is in different ways affected by acidification, liming and manuering. Because of the important role the root system has to the whole forest ecosystem, it can be of importance to gain knowledge about how roots are affected by external environmental influences. </p><p>In the forest ecosystem fertilise the soil has become a common practice in forest management to optimise tree production. Experiments with nitrogen fertilisation have shown that the volume growths of the tree and litter supply have increased after fertilisation. There are also reports about the negative effects nitrogen fertilisation has on decomposition, which results in a decreased decomposition of organic matter. </p><p>The aim of this study is to investigate how the decomposition of organic matter, in this case roots, is affected by a large addition of ammonium sulphate. The study concentrates on to statistically evaluate important aspects on how addition of ammonium sulphate affects the decomposition of organic matter below ground in different soil layers and root diameters, and investigate the possibilities that addition of ammonium sulphate could lead to a decreasing potential of carbon mineralisation. </p><p>The study was conducted is in Skogaby, which is located in southwest Sweden in the community of Halland. Samplings of roots were made in the experimental area from the humus and mineral layer. Roots used for this study varied from less than 2mm up to 2-5mm. Decomposition of root litters were made with litterbags, which were placed in the soil in the humus and mineral layer in the original place of were the roots were collected. The results from this study showed that there appear significant differences in some of the cases between the control and ammonium sulphate treatments. The conclusion that can be drawn by this study is that the addition of ammonium sulphate, under certain conditions depending on root diameter and soil layer, comes to affect the decomposition of root litter. The addition of ammonium sulphate seems to have a positive effect on the decomposition in the initial phase, for then come to decrease in the later phases and be similar to the control areas. It can also be determined that decomposition does not seem to vary within treatments with regards to root diameter and soil layer. Regarding the question about how carbon mineralisation is affected by addition of ammonium sulphate it is probable that the addition would come to increase the mineralisation in the initial phases of the decomposition, compared with the control plots.</p>

Allium sativum and Tulbaghia violacea are some of the most important medicinal plants used by South African traditional healers for the treatment of flu, fever, cold, tuberculosis, asthma and many more diseases. However, growth, yield and quality are constrained by excessive and under fertilization. This study was carried out to determine, firstly, the effect of N source (ammonium sulphate and calcium nitrate) on yield and quality of A. sativum and T. violacea plants. Secondly, to determine the best season for harvesting T. violacea and lastly, to determine the antifungal effects of A. sativum and T. violacea plant extracts against plant pathogens Altenaria solani and Sclerotium rolfsii. Both plants were treated with both N sources applied as topdressing treatments at a total of 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg.ha-1, divided into three applications at three week (A. sativum) and three month (T. violacea) intervals. A. sativum plants were sampled at 54, 82, 112, 140 and 175 days after planting (DAP) while, T. violacea plants were sampled monthly for ten months. Parameters recorded were growth analysis, yield and bioactivity for both plant species. Both nitrogen sources improved plant growth and yield of A. sativum and T. violacea plants. Calcium nitrate at 150 kg•ha-1 and ammonium sulphate at 200 kg•ha-1 produced the highest at 24 t•ha-1 and 27 t•ha-1, respectively. Ammonium sulphate improved bioactivity of leaves with the highest bioactivity recorded at 82 and 112 DAP. Yield obtained from the autumn harvest was not affected by N source. Ammonium sulphate and calcium nitrate at 200 kg•ha-1 produced the highest yields of 23.6 t•ha-1 and 23.5 t•ha-1, respectively. In contrast, yield obtained from the winter harvest was affected by N source at 200 kg•ha-1, with significantly better yield of 30.8 t•ha-1 with calcium nitrate compared to 27.4 t•ha-1 with ammonium sulphate. Crude extracts of T. violacea bulbs that were treated with ammonium sulphate significantly inhibited the growth of plant pathogenic fungi, whereas extracts from plants treated with calcium nitrate showed low bioactivity. Extracts from plants grown with ammonium sulphate at 100 kg•ha-1 were more effective in controlling growth of plant pathogens when compared to other N levels. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) effects of A. sativum against S. rolfsii and A. solani were at 0.01 mg•mL-1. The MIC of T. violacea extracts against A. solani was at 0.006 mg•mL<Sup>-1. The MIC of T. violacea extracts were better than previously reported in literature. Therefore, A. sativum and T. violacea plant extracts can be used as fungicides against S. rolfsii and A. solani diseases for crops such as tomato and potato. / Dissertation (MInstAgrar)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

A fermentação de mosto com alta concentração de açúcar (ACA) pode ser utilizada em escala industrial para a produção de etanol combustível. Esta tecnologia apresenta vantagens como a obtenção de níveis mais elevados de etanol e a minimização dos custos de produção, em contraposição apontam novos desafios, como minimizar os efeitos do estresse, osmótico e alcoólico, que as leveduras são submetidas. A suplementação do mosto com fontes nitrogenadas pode aumentar o rendimento de etanol durante a fermentação alcoólica, visto que este elemento desempenha importantes funções na fisiologia da levedura. Para avaliar o efeito da suplementação de mosto ACA, caldo de cana-de-açúcar concentrado a 25°, 30° e 35°Brix e suplementado com sulfato de amônio foi fermentado por linhagens comerciais de levedura, PE-2 e CAT-1, a 30ºC e 60rpm e monitorado por ciclos de 24 horas. Seis ciclos fermentativos foram realizados, mediante o reciclo das células de levedura por centrifugação a 2.000 g por 15 min. Os parâmetros analisados foram o desprendimento de CO2 obtido por avaliação da massa (pesagem em balança analítica); viabilidade celular determinada pelo método de coloração com eritrosina; teor alcoólico determinado em densímetro digital, após destilação da amostra, análise de açúcares totais e residuais por cromatografia de troca iônica e a concentração de nitrogênio assimilável determinada colorimetricamente pelo método da ninidrina, utilizando glicina como padrão. A suplementação dos meios com sulfato de amônio propiciou maiores taxas reprodutivas das leveduras, formando maior biomassa em todas as concentrações de Brix estudadas. Os valores de etanol observados foram superiores nas amostras suplementadas, atingindo um teor acima de 16% (v/v) para a linhagem CAT-1 e acima de 15,5% (v/v) para a linhagem PE-2 no mosto contendo 30°Brix. Entre as linhagens, a CAT-1 foi a que suportou melhor a pressão osmótica do meio e, consequentemente, apresentou produtividade fermentativa superior, atingindo uma produção acima de 5,2g/L/h. A presença da fonte de nitrogênio mostrou ser fundamental para o processo fermentativo, principalmente em mosto ACA, com concentrações mais elevadas de açúcar. A fermentação do mosto com 25°Brix não apresentou o mesmo comportamento. / The fermentation of sugar cane wort with a high concentration of sugar (ACA, very high gravity) can be used on an industrial scale for the production of fuel ethanol. This technology has the advantage of achieving higher levels of ethanol and reduction of production costs, although the challenges are to minimize the effects of osmotic and alcohol stress that the yeasts are subjected. Supplementation with nitrogen sources provides important roles in the physiology of yeast and it can increase the yield of ethanol during fermentation. To evaluate the effect of supplementation of ACA wort, juice of sugar cane was concentrated at 25°, 30° and 35°Brix and supplemented with ammonium sulfate. The medium was fermented by commercial yeast strains, PE-2 and CAT-1, at 30° C, with orbital shaking. The process was followed in 24 hours cycles. Six fermentation cycles were performed with the yeast cells recycling. At the end of each cycle, the yeast biomass was separated from liquid fraction by centrifugation at 2,000 g for 15 min. Progress of fermentations was analyzed by measuring CO2 production by evaluating the mass reduction; yeast cell viability by staining method with erythrosine; alcoholic content of distilled sample was determined by densitometry, residual sugars were analyzed by ion exchange chromatography and assimilable nitrogen concentration determined colorimetrically by ninhydrin method, using glycine as standard. The strains PE-2 and CAT-1 with ammonium sulfate reached higher reproductive rates and improved biomass at all sugar concentrations. Higher ethanol production was observed in the supplemented samples, reaching a level above 16% (v/v) for CAT-1 strain and above 15.5% (v/v) for PE-2 strain at 30° Brix concentration. CAT-1 strain showed more tolerance with the high osmotic pressure of the medium and consequently improved productivity fermentation, reaching an ethanol production above 5.2 g/L.h. Nitrogen source proved to play a crucial role in the fermentation process, mainly in ACA wort, however, the same effect was not observed at 25°Brix.

Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2018-11-09T17:37:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013 - Ana Paula Pessim de Oliveira.pdf: 984469 bytes, checksum: 8daf942927a119ee9cb7fe02201b5631 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-09T17:37:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013 - Ana Paula Pessim de Oliveira.pdf: 984469 bytes, checksum: 8daf942927a119ee9cb7fe02201b5631 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-27 / CAPES / To evaluate the impacts of trash management on soil quality and sugarcane production in the Brazilian region of coastal tableland three studies were conducted and are presented in distinct chapters. In the first chapter, a literature review, the results of research with sugarcane and changes in biological, chemical and physical soil properties, in response to trash management and their relationship with soil quality, are presented. In general, the data suggest that harvesting without burning affects positively the soil properties and improves soil quality. However, the studies are not sufficient to inform about the effect of mechanical harvesting without burning of trash in the tableland soils. In the second chapter they were evaluated the effect of N fertilization of green sugarcane on the stalk productivity, the trash accumulation, the relationship between the number and weight of stalks, the extraction and accumulation of nutrients in the fresh stalks and trash, and the sugarcane technological quality. This study was conducted in the LASA distillery, in Linhares municipality, Esp?rito Santo State, with ratoon cane, varieties RB86 7515 and RB91 8639, in a Xanthic Udult soil. The experiment was set in a randomized blocks design with the control (without N) and four treatments with N applied as ammonium sulphate (80, 100, 120, and 160 kg N ha-1) in four replicates. The N had a significant effect on stalks productivity. The relationship between the number and weight of stalks was significant for the dosages of 80 kg N ha-1 (both varieties) and 100 kg N ha-1 (only the RB91 8639 variety). There was significant effect of N rates on the cane technological quality only in the second cycle studied. The extractions of N, P and K were significant for the N levels. The third chapter is a simulation study conducted with the APSIM-Sugar cropping systems model, based on data from the log-term experiment (duration of 23 years) in the municipaliy of Linhares-ES. This study had as goal to investigate the impact of trash management after harvesting on sugarcane production and the long-term fate of N contained in trash. The objectives were: to investigate if the model was capable of reproducing the trends of the major N pools (cane yields and soil organic carbon) in the long term experiment; and using the parameterized model to evaluate how the relationship between N fertilizer and yield (and losses of N to the environment) varies with the trash management. The trash management systems conditions simulated were: retention of trash at harvest (100 %, GCTB); half retention of trash at harvest (50%); and burnt cane trash. The N fertilizer management system was simulated by varying N fertilizer application from 0 to 240 kg ha-1 (in 40 kg ha-1 increments) rates on the ratoon crops. The cane yield and soil organic C responded positively to the trash management systems (GCTB and half GCTB), but the magnitude of the response is dependent on N-fertilizer applied on crops. Half removal of trash might reduce the extent of yield increasing potential. When the trash deposition is a recent practice, additional N fertilizer is required by the crop, to avoid yield reduction caused by the N immobilization. The simulations also indicated that the average environmental losses of N were greater from trash retained systems for all rates on N fertilizer applied. / Para avaliar o impacto do manejo da palhada sobre a qualidade do solo e produ??o de cana-de-a??car na regi?o dos Tabuleiros Costeiros, tr?s estudos foram conduzidos e s?o apresentados em cap?tulos. No primeiro cap?tulo, em forma de revis?o de literatura s?o apresentados os resultados de pesquisas com cana-de-a??car e altera??es nas propriedades biol?gicas, qu?micas e f?sicas do solo em resposta ao manejo da palha, e sua rela??o com a qualidade do solo. Do conjunto de dados, se infere que a colheita sem queima com manuten??o da palha altera positivamente as propriedades ed?ficas e melhora a qualidade do solo. Por?m, os estudos s?o insuficientes para suprir informa??es sobre o efeito da colheita mec?nica e sem queima da palhada da cana sobre os solos de tabuleiro. No segundo cap?tulo foram avaliados, os efeitos da aduba??o nitrogenada, em cana crua, sobre a produtividade de colmos, ac?mulo de palhada, rela??o entre n?mero e peso colmo, extra??o e ac?mulo de nutrientes nos colmos frecos e na palhada, e sobre a qualidade tecnol?gica da cana de a??car. O estudo foi realizado na destilaria LASA no munic?pio de Linhares-ES, com cana soca, variedades RB 867515 e RB 918639, em ARGISSOLO AMARELO. Os tratamentos consistiram de cinco doses de N-Sulfato de am?nio (sem N, 80, 100, 120 e 160 kg de N ha-1), arranjados em desenho experimental de blocos casualizados com quatro repeti??es. Houve efeito significativo de doses de N sobre produtividade de colmos. A associa??o entre n?mero e peso de colmos foi significativa para 80 kg N ha-1 (ambas as variedades) e 100 kg ha-1 (para a variedade RB91 8639). Houve efeito significativo das doses de N sobre a qualidade tecnol?gica da cana apenas no segundo ciclo de cultivo estudado. As extra??es dos nutrientes N, P e K mostraram signific?ncia para as doses de N. O terceiro cap?tulo, relata um estudo de simula??o conduzido com o APSM-Sugar cropping systems model, com dados de um experimento de campo de longa dura??o (cerca de 23 anos) em Linhares-ES. Este estudo se prop?s a investigar o impacto do manejo da palhada ap?s a colheita sobre a produtividade da cana e o destino em longo prazo do N contido na palha. Os objetivos foram: investigar se o modelo foi capaz de reproduzir as tend?ncias de maiores ?pools? de N (rendimento de cana e C org?nico no solo) no experimento de longa dura??o; e usar o modelo parametrizado para investigar como a rela??o entre o N-fertilizante e rendimento (e perdas de N para o ambiente) varia com o manejo da palhada. As condi??es de manejo da palha simuladas foram: 100% e 50% da palhada retida ap?s a colheita; e palhada queimada. O manejo da aduba??o foi simulado para variar com as doses de N de 0 a 240 kg ha-1 (com incrementos de 40 kg ha-1) em cana soca. O rendimento de cana e o C org?nico do solo foram bem representados pelo modelo. O rendimento de cana respondeu positivamente aos sistemas de manejo da palhada (100% e 50% de reten??o), mas a magnitude da resposta depende da aduba??o nitrogenada. A remo??o de 50% da palha pode reduzir o efeito de rendimento potencial. Quando a deposi??o da palhada ? pr?tica recente, N adicional ? requerido pela cultura para evitar redu??o do rendimento causada pela imobiliza??o do N. As simula??es tamb?m indicam que as perdas ambientais de N foram maiores nos sistemas com cana crua para todas as doses de N.

Decomposition of organic matter is a critical process in the ecosystem, which involves many essential biotic and physical parts. Decomposition is therefore an important process both above and below ground. The rate of decomposition is dependent of many environmental factors for example: pH, moisture and supply of oxygen. The decomposition can therefore be affected by large scaled environmental influences, such as acidification and climatic changes. The root litter in the forest is in different ways affected by acidification, liming and manuering. Because of the important role the root system has to the whole forest ecosystem, it can be of importance to gain knowledge about how roots are affected by external environmental influences. In the forest ecosystem fertilise the soil has become a common practice in forest management to optimise tree production. Experiments with nitrogen fertilisation have shown that the volume growths of the tree and litter supply have increased after fertilisation. There are also reports about the negative effects nitrogen fertilisation has on decomposition, which results in a decreased decomposition of organic matter. The aim of this study is to investigate how the decomposition of organic matter, in this case roots, is affected by a large addition of ammonium sulphate. The study concentrates on to statistically evaluate important aspects on how addition of ammonium sulphate affects the decomposition of organic matter below ground in different soil layers and root diameters, and investigate the possibilities that addition of ammonium sulphate could lead to a decreasing potential of carbon mineralisation. The study was conducted is in Skogaby, which is located in southwest Sweden in the community of Halland. Samplings of roots were made in the experimental area from the humus and mineral layer. Roots used for this study varied from less than 2mm up to 2-5mm. Decomposition of root litters were made with litterbags, which were placed in the soil in the humus and mineral layer in the original place of were the roots were collected. The results from this study showed that there appear significant differences in some of the cases between the control and ammonium sulphate treatments. The conclusion that can be drawn by this study is that the addition of ammonium sulphate, under certain conditions depending on root diameter and soil layer, comes to affect the decomposition of root litter. The addition of ammonium sulphate seems to have a positive effect on the decomposition in the initial phase, for then come to decrease in the later phases and be similar to the control areas. It can also be determined that decomposition does not seem to vary within treatments with regards to root diameter and soil layer. Regarding the question about how carbon mineralisation is affected by addition of ammonium sulphate it is probable that the addition would come to increase the mineralisation in the initial phases of the decomposition, compared with the control plots.

Municipal wastewater contains a significant amount of nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). Therefore have the interest of recovering these nutrients at wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) increased. Nutrient recovery would generate revenue for the WWTP, as it is possible to sell the products as fertiliser. Today, there are several techniques on the market to recover P as magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) and N as ammonium sulphate (AMS). Urine is the fraction contributing with the highest concentration of nutrients. Techniques to separate urine from the rest of the wastewater have been developed. These techniques enable the possibility to recover nutrients from the urine fraction separately; this is beneficial since the nutrient concentration would be higher. The purpose with this study was to examine the possibility for increased nutrient recovery at centralised WWTPs through urine separation.   Different techniques for nutrient recovery were compared by their recovery efficiency, chemical demand, and hydraulic retention time (HRT). A WWTP with enhanced biological P removal was modelled with Danish Hydraulic Institute’s (DHI) software WEST. Eight scenarios, with different percentage of the population equivalents using urine separation techniques, were simulated. The P recovery was calculated from phosphate (PO4) in the hydrolysed excess sludge and the separated urine. The N recovery was calculated from the ammonium (NH4) in the supernatant from the anaerobe digester. The theoretical biogas production was also calculated, from the modelled sludge.    The comparison of P recovery techniques showed no substantial differences in their recovery efficiency, chemical demand, and HRT. The comparison of N recovery techniques showed three techniques with a higher efficiency than the other methods. Ekobalans Fenix AB, CMI Europe Environment, and Organics developed these techniques. To determine which method to use, requests for proposal from different providers are recommended. As the urine separation increased, the influent P and N load decreased. When the urine separation increased and the operational parameters were kept constant, the effluent concentration of P and N decreased. The ratio of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and total nitrogen (TN) however increased as the urine separation increased. The total MAP production calculated from the modelled hydrolysis showed that the production increased as the urine separation increased. On the other hand, the total MAP production from calculated hydrolysis showed a decrease in production as the urine separation increased. The difference in these results could be because of the performance of the modelled hydrolysis was better with a smaller nutrient load, resulting in a larger release of PO4 as the urine separation increased. The total AMS production increased as the urine separation increased. This, due to the increase of the TKN:TN ratio. The biogas production was not substantially affected by the increased urine separation.