Matia Mainardis

University of Udine | UNIUD · Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture

The aim of the work was to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of anaerobic digestion implementation in small breweries located in the mountain area of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region (Italy). A territory-oriented approach was adopted, analysing the production of organic residues in local breweries and the potential methane production from each r...

In Friuli-Venezia Giulia plain (North-East of Italy), a significant number of small diaries is present; this study was aimed at evaluating technical and economic feasibility of diffused anaerobic digestion implementation at dairy level. Different kinds of cheese whey were characterized, and biochemical methane potential tests were executed. Good me...

Seagrass meadows are important productive ecosystems; during the Summer period in touristic beaches, such as those located in the high Adriatic coast, seagrasses are removed from the shoreline and disposed in landfill. This study investigated anaerobic digestion potential of beach-cast seagrass wrack, considering the physicochemical characteristics...

Pulp and paper wastewater ozonation was tested at pilot-scale in a medium-potentiality wastewater treatment plant (143,000 population equivalent). Single wastewater lines (bleaching and process water), as well as wastewater mixture (before and after secondary biological treatment) were investigated to evaluate the best ozonation conditions. The aim...

Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor belongs to high-rate systems, able to perform anaerobic reaction at reduced hydraulic retention time, if compared to traditional digesters. In this review, the most recent advances in UASB reactor applications are critically summarized and discussed, with outline on the most critical aspects for furth...

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions have become a significant concern due to their potential high contribution to the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment plants. While their production pathways in centralized systems have been already deeply investigated, an analysis of N2O production trends from decentralized wastewater treatment plants, with a det...

Due to the constantly growing customers’ demand for local products, a significant rise in craft breweries' number, as well as in craft beer production, has been observed in the last years. The sustainability of craft breweries is a hot scientific topic, which involves water and waste management, energy efficiency, and renewable energy implementatio...

Water shortages, exacerbated by climate change, are posing a major global challenge, particularly impacting the agricultural sector. A growing interest is raised towards reclaimed wastewater (RWW) as an alternative irrigation source, capable of exploiting also the nutrient content through the fertigation practice. However, a prioritization methodol...

The present work is a critical review on the carbon footprint and energy recovery potential of septic and Imhoff tanks for primary wastewater treatment. From an online search of research papers, a lack of up-to-date research about gas emissions from Imhoff tanks emerged. Additionally, available literature data should be extended to incorporate the...

Nowadays, sustainable approaches to waste management are becoming critical, due to increased generation and complex physicochemical composition. Waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) management, in particular, is being given increasing attention due to the continuous augment in electronic equipment usage and the limited recycling rates. In...

Pulp and paper wastewater (P&P WW) often requires tertiary treatment to remove refractory compounds not eliminated by conventional biological treatment, ensuring compliance with high-quality effluent discharge or reuse standards. This study employs a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to compare alternative tertiary treatment technologies for...

Seagrass meadows, while recognized as essential ecosystem service providers, are degrading worldwide. This has a profound impact on the environment but also on socioeconomic systems which hope to utilize beach-cast seagrass (wrack) as a bioresource. This study integrates system dynamics (SD) thinking with life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle...

A methodological procedure, based on results from batch experiments, is proposed and applied to a selected wastewater treatment plant generating a poorly degradable sludge, to identify the best configuration and ozone dosage for full-scale application of sludge ozonation. Samples of pre-thickened and digested sludge were collected, tested at differ...

In this work, different alternatives to conventional tertiary treatment of pulp and paper (P&P) wastewater (WW), i.e., physicochemical coagulation-flocculation, were investigated to enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of industrial wastewater treatment. In particular, following a preliminary characterization of secondary effluents...

Char is a valuable product obtained from thermochemical conversion processes of different biomass feedstocks, mainly pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). In this work, anaerobic digestion (AD) integration with pyrolysis/HTC is critically reviewed, considering anaerobic digestates as feedstocks for char production. This virtuous interconn...

This chapter analyzed energy consumption in wineries, considering the outcomes of specific research projects in the field together with the most recent literature evidences on the topic. The main aim of the chapter was to illustrate energy need in the different winery process phases, together with the solutions that may be applied to standardize en...

According to new paradigms of urban wastewater management, energy savings and resources and energy recovery from sewage will assume an ever-increasing importance. Anaerobic processes, aside from being more energy efficient than conventional aerobic ones, are particularly suited to recover embedded organic energy, improving the overall energy balanc...

Water shortages are an issue of growing worldwide concern. Irrigated agriculture accounts for about 70% of total freshwater withdrawals globally, therefore alternatives to use of conventional sources need to be investigated. This paper critically reviews the application of treated wastewater for agricultural fertigation (i.e., water and nutrient re...

In this work, different pretreatment technologies (low temperature thermal treatment, ultrasonication, alkali treatment, combined alkali-thermal treatment, icing-thawing) were investigated together with biochar addition to increase biogas yield from sewage sludge. The aim of the work was to develop a standardized protocol, including physicochemical...

The authors regret that a bug was found in the optimization code developed by the first author. The bug was related to an incorrect reading of one parameter in the economic analysis. The correction of the identified bug does not affect the energy system simulations and the overall conclusions of the analysis. The bug only affected the economic part...

Renewable energies are being given increasing attention worldwide, as they are able to reduce the dependence on depletable fossil fuels. At the same time, wastewater treatment is known to be a significantly energy-intensive sector, which could potentially exploit renewable energies conversion in different forms. This study investigated the feasibil...

Despite providing important ecological functions, seagrass accumulation causes environmental and economic issues, including eutrophication and tourism reduction. Nowadays, seagrass wrack is commonly removed from the beaches and landfilled, which is considered the least desirable practice according to the European Union (EU) Waste Framework Directiv...

Respirometry tests are a widely employed method in the wastewater treatment field to characterize wastewater streams, assess toxic/inhibitory effects to the biomass, calibrate mathematical models. Respirometry can allow to fractionation the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in biodegradable and inert fractions, but also provide information related to bi...

The development of intensive aquaculture is facing the challenge of the sustainable management of effluents. The reproductive sectors (i.e., hatcheries) mainly use water recirculation systems (RAS), which discharge a portion of wastewater. Anaerobic digestion (AD) could reduce the environmental impact of this waste stream while producing biogas. Th...

The present work is a preliminary study on the potential of low-frequency ultrasound irradiation coupled with O3 process for the disinfection of a primary effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant preserving nutrient levels (in particular nitrogen and phosphorous), for its possible reuse in civil, industrial, and agricultural sectors. Th...

Methane generation from seagrass contributes to green-house gases emissions but can also be a potential controlled biogas source. Understanding the natural fluctuations of emissions and the biotic and abiotic factors underlying such variations is essential. In this work, CH4 emission from beach-cast seagrass from the High-Adriatic coast was analyse...

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are known to be one of the most energy-intensive industrial sectors. In this work, demand response was applied to the biological phase of wastewater treatment to reduce plant electricity cost, considering that the daily peak in flowrate typically coincides with the maximum electricity price. Compressed air storag...

The effect of different management techniques for plant control in the vineyard were compared in the present work, focusing on plant diversity preservation and management efficacy in a two-year experiment on vineyard row weed community. Biomass-fueled flame weeding (with two intensities) was applied as an innovative plant control technique in contr...

Subsequent to the increasing diffusion of wastewater treatment, particularly in high-and middle-income countries, the sewage sludge generated should be treated and valorised in an ecological and economic way, thus contributing to the circular economy. In this study, the monitoring of Heavy Metals (HM), Extractable Organic Halogens (EOX) and Linear...

Concern about the adverse effects of chemicals on the environment and on human health, and increasing restrictions of herbicide use, have led to renewed interest in non-chemical weed control, particularly under the row of vineyards. A new, biomass-fueled, flaming prototype (CS Thermos) was tested in the vineyard during spring-summer 2018, and compa...

This work was focused on the start-up of a pilot-UASB reactor, to valorise high-loaded liquid substrates available in the mountain area of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region; technical and economic convenience of full-scale UASB reactor activation, treating condensate pulp and paper wastewater, was evaluated. Leachate, obtained from organic fraction of m...

Concern about the adverse effects of chemicals on the environment and on human health, and increasing restrictions of herbicide use, have led to a renewed interest in non-chemical weed control, particularly under the row of vineyards. A new, biomass-fueled (wood pellet), flaming prototype (CS Thermos, San Vendemiano, TV) was tested in the vineyard...

Energy and material recovery from high-loaded organic substrates with a territory-oriented approach

A territory-oriented approach to improve high-loaded liquid waste management: the case-study of Tolmezzo (Ud) Sponsors:

This work was focused on the physicochemical characterization and biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests of some liquid organic substrates, to verify if they were suitable for undergoing a process of high-velocity anaerobic digestion. The selected substrates were: first and second cheese whey, organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) le...

This work was focused on the physicochemical characterization and biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests of some liquid organic substrates, to verify if they were suitable for undergoing a process of high-velocity anaerobic digestion. The selected substrates were: first and second cheese whey, organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) le...