Alternative fuels are becoming more important as fossil fuels become more expensive. This thesis describes the production and properties of a bio-oil produced from waste biomass, in this case chicken litter. A higher quality fuel was produced through thermal and chemical upgrading of the raw bio-oil; this fuel is similar in some respects to fossil fuels, as it has a high hydrocarbon content and energy density comparable to gasoline. Combustion of liquid fuels commonly occurs in clouds of droplets, and studying the evaporation of single liquid drops provides information on the evaporation characteristics of the fuel as a whole. Droplet evaporation tests on the chicken litter fuel were carried out using the suspended droplet/moving furnace technique. For some tests, a fine wire thermocouple was used as the droplet suspension in order to measure the distillation characteristics of the fuel. An existing computational model based on continuous ther- modynamics was used to model the evaporation of the fuel. The modelled composition of the fuel was based on an existing pyrolysis field ionization mass spectrometry (Py-FIMS) analysis and used five major groups of compounds. The properties for these groups re- quired for the model were determined using several prediction methods and the values then used in a numerical model. Model predictions of droplet temperatures calculated for the fuel showed good agree- ment with the measured temperatures, indicating that the modelled composition gave an accurate picture of the fuel. Droplet evaporation histories also agreed well with mea- surements, but were not capable of reproducing the observed disruption of the droplet produced by internal boiling at higher temperatures, nor the formation of a solid residue at the end of evaporation. Further enhancements to the model should allow the prediction of residue formation.Model predictions of droplet temperatures calculated for the fuel showed good agree- ment with the measured temperatures, indicating that the modelled composition gave an accurate picture of the fuel. Droplet evaporation histories also agreed well with mea- surements, but were not capable of reproducing the observed disruption of the droplet produced by internal boiling at higher temperatures, nor the formation of a solid residue at the end of evaporation. Further enhancements to the model should allow the prediction of residue formation.

O aumento na produção de biodiesel e, consequentemente, de glicerina como subproduto, motivou a utilização desta na alimentação animal. Portanto, o presente trabalho objetivou avaliar as alterações fisiológicas do uso de glicerina na alimentação de frangos de corte, analisando o consumo e excreção de água, sua implicação na qualidade da cama e possível retenção de água pelas aves. Foram realizados três experimentos, dois com frangos de corte machos da linhagem Ross 308 e um com cama de aviário. No Experimento 1 (E1) foram utilizados 240 pintinhos distribuídos em 24 gaiolas em baterias, em um delineamento inteiramente aleatorizado (DIA) com 3 tratamentos e 8 repetições de 10 aves criadas até os 40 dias de idade. Os tratamentos foram compostos por dietas experimentais sendo: T1 - controle - à base de milho (M) e farelo de soja (FS); T2 - dieta com inclusão de 10% de glicerina loira (GL); T3 - dieta com inclusão de 8,75% de glicerina purificada (GP) para conter a mesma quantidade em glicerol que a GL. Foram avaliados o consumo de água, de ração e matéria seca (MS) das excretas como medidas repetidas no tempo. Aos 40 dias de idade foi determinada a MS do conteúdo ileal. Não houve efeito de tratamentos no consumo de ração. O consumo de água foi maior quando utilizada glicerina nas rações (T2 e T3). A relação consumo de água:ração apresentou interação tratamento × idade, sendo T2 e T3 maiores do que o controle até os 28 dias de idade e, após essa idade, o T3 passou a ser maior do que o T2. A matéria seca das excretas do T2 e T3 foi, de maneira geral, próxima ao T1 aos 16 e 20 dias e após os 24 dias de idade foi inferior. No Experimento 2 foi avaliada a capacidade de retenção de água (CRA) da cama composta por maravalha de madeira e as excretas das aves dos tratamentos do E1, acondicionadas em recipientes, em um DIA, composto por 3 tratamentos e 6 repetições. Por sete dias foi adicionada água à mistura. Foram avaliadas as umidades inicial e final para determinação da CRA, porém os resultados não apresentaram diferenças. No Experimento 3 foi elaborado um DIA similar ao E1, entretanto com os seguintes tratamentos: T1 - controle - dieta a base de M e FS; T2 - inclusão de 5% de GL; T3 - inclusão de 10% de GL. Foram realizados 2 abates (aos 7 e 42 dias de idade) e coletados: sangue, fígado, intestino músculo do peito e pintinho inteiro (apenas aos 7 dias), para avaliação da MS e proteína bruta (apenas músculo e fígado). As variáveis não apresentaram diferenças significativas, exceto pela MS do fígado, que foi menor para o T3. Os resultados indicam que aves alimentadas com níveis elevados de glicerina apresentam consumo e excreção de água maiores, podendo levar a uma piora na qualidade da cama. A matéria seca corporal, de maneira geral não foi afetada, exceção para a redução observada no fígado. / The increase in biodiesel production and, consequently, of glycerin as a byproduct, has led to its use in animal nutrition. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the physiological changes of feeding broilers with glycerin by analyzing water consumption and excretion, its effects on litter quality and possible water retention by poultry. Three experiments were conducted. Two comprised Ross 308 male broilers and one of poultry litter. In experiment 1 (E1), 240 chicks were distributed in 24 cages in batteries, in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three treatments and eight repetitions of 10 birds reared until 40 days of age. Experimental diets were used in the treatments: T1 - control - corn (C) and soybean meal based diet (SM); T2 - diet with 10% glycerin (GL); T3 - diet with 8.75% purified glycerin (GP) to contain the same amount in glycerol of GL. The consumption of water, feed and the dry matter (DM) of the excreta were evaluated as repeated measures in time. At 40 days of age, the DM of the ileal content was determined. There was no effect of treatments on feed consumption. Water consumption was higher when glycerin was used in the diet (T2, T3). The ratio for water:feed consumption showed interaction treatment × age, and in T2 and T3, it was greater than in the control until 28 days of age. Afterwards, T3 was greater than T2. The DM of the excreta of T2 and T3 was generally similar to that in T1 at 16 and 20 days of age, and after 24 days of age, it was lower. In experiment 2, it was evaluated the water retention capacity (WRC) of litter composed of wood shavings and excreta of the birds of treatments of E1, kept in bowls, in a CRD, composed of three treatments and six repetitions. For seven days, water was added to the mixture. It was evaluated the initial and final moisture to determine WRC. There was no difference among treatments. In E3, it was prepared a CRD similar to that in E1, with the following treatments: T1 - control - C and SMbased diet; T2 - 5% of GL; T3 - 10% of GL. Two slaughters were carried out (at 7 and 42 days of age) and it was collected: blood, liver, intestines, breast muscle and whole chick (only at 7 days) to evaluate DM and crude protein (only muscle and liver). The variables showed no significant differences, except for DM of the liver, which was lower for T3. The results show that birds fed high glycerin contents diets have increased water consumption and excretion; the increased water excretion is due to urinary loss and not to fecal loss. Body and tissue dry matter was not changed with the exception for a reduction found in the liver.

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Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war die Untersuchung der Effekte einer automatischen ad libitum Beifütterung von Milchaustauscher zusätzlich zur Sauenmilch in der Abferkelbucht auf den Gewichtszuwachs, die Verlustrate und die Notwendigkeit medikamentöser Behandlungen der Saugferkel. Zudem wurde der Einfluss der Ersatzmilch auf die Körperkondition der Sauen analysiert. Desweiteren wurde untersucht, ob ein Einfluss auf medikamentöse Behandlungen der Sauen, die Gesäugegesundheit und das Bakterienspektrum der Sauenmilch gegeben ist. Außerdem sollten Aussagen zum hygienischen Status des Milchtassensystems und der angeschlossenen Rohrleitungen und Behälter getroffen werden.

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<div>In fire-prone forests, tree taxa and burn temperature are the major controllers of the chemical and physical properties of pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM), the aromatic carbon-rich product of the incomplete combustion of plant biomass, that accumulates in soil in such settings. These controls also dictate how soil microbes can degrade plant C once it enters into soil as previous studies demonstrate that increased fire temperature results in low PyOM degradability but also impacts the decomposition of the original soil. However, we know little about how taxa and temperature of C-inputs impact the production and accumulation of cellular residues from soil microbes, which can be the dominant source of stabilized soil organic matter in many ecosystems. </div><div>This work presents the results of the analysis of soil microbial amino sugars, as proxies for soil microbial necromass, from long-term soil incubation experiments, 180 and 600 days, that were amended with jack pine (JP) and red maple (RM) wood or their PyOM produced at 300°C or 450°C. Both wood taxa amendments resulted in an increase in microbial sugar residues compared to non-amended soils but RM, the taxa with the highest proportion of soluble sugars and low tannin content, exhibited the highest percentage increase. Soils amended with PyOM exhibited lower amino sugar content as compared to their wood but no difference compared to controls (non-amended soils). There was no difference in soil amino sugars observed between the PyOM derived from the two taxa nor between the temperature of pyrolysis, possibly due to only small amounts of bioavailable C and N in the PyOM. Total amino sugar concentrations varied significantly between PyOM and fresh wood treatments, with PyOM treatments yielding 659 – 730 μg/ g soil while wood treatments yielded 757 – 930 μg/ g soil early in incubations. While fungal-derived amino sugars were dominated in all treatments, longer soil incubation time, 600 days vs 180 days, resulted in a proportionately greater decrease bacterial-derived amino sugars. Overall, at 180 days, PyOM treatments exhibited 19-27% of soil N and 4-5% of soil C quantifiable as amino sugars while wood treatments exhibited 27-28% of total soil N and 6-7% of total soil C as amino sugars. This work shows, for the first time, that on a per C or per N basis, PyOM versus fresh wood addition to soils will result in a net depletion of microbial residues. The variable response in amino sugars between treatments and incubation time highlights the importance and dynamic nature of the physicochemical characteristics of organic matter input to soil in controlling the contribution of soil microbial residues to that soil. </div><div><br></div>

10 Abstract Actinobacteria are important bacterial group participating in various ecosystem processes particularly in the decomposition of complex organic compounds. Their abilities enable them to surviving in harsh conditions of oligotrophic habitats like lakes, deserts, cave walls or recalcitrant and resistant litter in soil, where Actinobacteria often dominate. Although certain biotic and abiotic factors were recognized to modulate Actinobacteria incidence in such habitats, the influence of anthropogenic pressure on their communities is scarcely known. The main objective of this thesis is therefore to determine differences of Actinobacteria communities under the direct (the human visitors changing microenvironment of caves, part 1) and indirect (climate change factors like altered precipitation or plant litter quality, part 2) anthropogenic influence in two habitats, plant litter in soil and cave walls, where Actinobacteria play important roles and dominate. In a first part of the thesis we monitored Actinobacteria communities in French limestone caves walls differently affected by humans (pristine versus anthropized caves). For identification of important species like potential pathogens or pigments producing Actinobacteria using amplicon sequencing of environmental DNA (Illumina MiSeq), we firstly used...

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In this study, increasing electricity demand requires considerable attention to increasing the diversity of power generation. Alternative energy can produce heating and power systems and thermal storage. Our objective and every organization’s objectives are to minimize its energy consumption cost under electricity demand uncertainty. In rural areas, heat and power availability and stability are also crucial. Combined heat and power have proven their effectiveness as a subsequent to Electricity. This paper identified four criteria and eleven sub-criteria to determine the most appropriate structure location for combined heat and power in the rural community. The Bayesian Network technology has been applied to analyze these criteria comprehensively. A case study including multiple sites across the Mississippi state was used to validate the proposed approach, and propagation and sensitivity analysis were used to evaluate performance. Results showed the summarized eleven criteria proposed Bayesian Network approach could aid location selection for Combined heat and power location in the rural area. Supplementary, the created model can support decision-makers to select the best alternatives under different electricity demand variability levels.