For many reasons, fertilization is a controversial aspect of short-rotation plantation, subject to fluctuations in practice. Our review of the historical evolution of willow short-rotation forestry in different countries suggests that the initially highly favourable attitude toward using chemical fertilizers has tended to attenuate over time, mainly because other issues beyond the biomass yield (both economical and environmental) have arisen. Different perspectives on this topic have also arisen out of legislation that in some countries has favored more environmental-friendly management (e. g. by reducing mineral fertilization and enhancing the application of biosolids and waste materials) of bioenergy cropping systems.

However, it is an irremediable fact that, due to high biomass yields, most willow energy crops grown in short-rotation and intensively managed and harvested remove nutrients at a high rate, though evidence varies somewhat (Table 3).

Annual nutrient removal (kg tDM-1)____________________________________

Some authors have highlighted that N fertilization in willow plantations at the beginning of the cutting-cycle, excluding the year of planting, is generally a very efficient way to enhance plant growth [45-46]. On the other hand, willow nutrient requirements are relatively low, due to efficient recycling of N from litter and the relatively low nutrient content retained in biomass (stem). Therefore, much less nitrogen fertilizer should be applied than is typical with agricultural crops, although dosage should also be based on formal soil chemical analyses performed prior to plant establishment. Several authors have indicated that no nitrogen is required in the planting year for short-rotation coppice [39-47]. This also reduces the competitiveness of weeds that would take advantage of fertilizer application. Economical considerations are yet another factor to consider when determining the dose of fertilizer to be used, since fertilizer constitutes a significant percentage of the financial cost involved in the production of willow biomass crops. A recent study conducted in New York

State showed that fertilizer represents up to 10-20% of the cost of production over several rotations [48]. The average dose generally recommended in Quebec ranges from the equivalent of 100-150 kg N, 15 kg — 40 kg P and around 40 kg K per hectare per year after the establishment year. Because it is not possible to introduce heavy equipment into the field after plantation establishment, fertilizer application is normally performed one year after planting and after any harvest, when tractors can circulate freely in the field.

An interesting alternative to mineral fertilizers are biosolids and other industrial and agricultural byproducts, which have been tested in many countries since the early 1990s. These include municipal wastewater [49], wastewater from the dairy industry, landfill leachate [50], diverted human urine [51], industrial wastewaters such as log-yard runoff [52], as well as solid wastes like digested or granulated sludge [53] and pig slurry [54]. In fact, the majority of these products contain high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous, elements that might constitute a source of pollution for the environment but at the same time represent a source of nutrients for the plant. Thus there are many advantages to using such products in willow plantations:

1. recycling of nutrients, thereby reducing the need for farmers to invest in chemical fertilizer;

2. conservation of water;

3. prevention of river pollution, canals and other surface water, into which wastewater and sewage sludge would otherwise be discharged;

4. low-cost, hygienic disposal of municipal wastewater and sludge.

Willow cultivated in short rotation is a very suitable crop for fertilization with these products for several reasons. First, it has been determined, both by measured and estimated models, that this crop has high evapotranspiration rates and thereby consumes water quantities as high as any other vegetation cover, which allows significant wastewater disposal over each growing season [24-55-56]. Furthermore, willow short-rotation stands have been shown to be able to uptake large amounts of nutrients present in this waste [57]. Last but not least, willow coppice is a no food no fodder crop and, if properly handled, any possible source of human or environmental contamination is strongly reduced [58]. In some early trials carried out in Quebec to test the possibility of using sludge in willow short — rotation culture, it was found that a moderate dose of dried and palletized sludge (100-150 kg of "available" N ha-1) might constitute a good fertilizer during the establishment of willows, especially on clay sites [53-59]. Today, the recommended dose of derived wastewater sludge fertilizer in Quebec ranges between 18-21 t ha-1of dried material, which corresponds to 100-120 kg available nitrogen per hectare. Fertilization is performed in spring of the second year after planting with ordinary manure spreading machines. Another recent project investigated the effect of the use of pig slurry as fertilizer on the productivity of willow in short-rotation coppice (Figure 4).

The results showed that pig slurry is good fertilizer for willow plantations [54]. In fact, very high biomass yields were obtained over two years, and even made it possible to predict that typical three-year rotation cycles could be reduced to two years, under the proper

production conditions. This means that even though nitrogen in slurry may be less efficient than that in a mineral fertilizer, a significant reduction in the production costs of willow — based biomass as well as recycling of a greater quantity of slurry can be achieved simultaneously [54].

There are many studies on the composition of alginate and its advantages to cell immobilization. Because the chemical composition of this polymer and as a consequence that the same reactions can be obtained in reaction, alginate gels are recommended for cells sensitive to environmental conditions. Recent studies of the diffusional characteristics of the immobilized system, have improved our understanding of the environment surrounding the immobilized cells, optimize protocols and improve the stability of alginate gels [60].

One of the matrices that have been used in metal recovery by both viable and non-viable cells is the entrapment in the matrix of insoluble Ca-alginate. Fluidized beds of Ca — entrapped cells of Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis were successfully used to recover gold from a simulated gold-bearing process solution containing AuCk, CuCh, FeCh and ZnCl2. The Ca-alginate immobilized cells of Chlorella salina also showed greater binding of cobalt, zinc and manganese than the free cells. Rhizopus arrhizus entrapped on alginate beads was successfully used for the removal of uranium over multiple biosorption and desorption cycles. Accumulation was also dependent on cell density in alginate beads with greater uptake of cobalt at the highest cell densities [57].

In the temperate region of the World, aquatic macrophytes show very sharp annual variation, with a growth season of their aerial biomass during the spring and summer, and another season of the underground biomass and detritus accumulation during the fall and winter (Esteves & Camargo 1986). In the tropical region, however, deterministic of the aquatic macrophytes biomass seasonality are the rainy and dry periods (Esteves 2011). Very little was done, however, up to now regarding the charophytes biomass seasonality in the tropics. Perhaps the only contribution in this regard is the work by Carneiro et al. (1994), who studied the extensive Chara hornemanii beds prospering in the Piratininga Lagoon, State of Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil at the depth from 0.30 cm to 1 m, and realized that N and P inputs, low water turnover and low water column depth favored growth of phytoplankton, macroalgae and aquatic macrophytes, including charophytes. The same authors also observed a very clear seasonal behavior of the charophyte population that stared during the winter and lasted until the beginning of summer, when the alga covered about 60% of the lagoon sediments. During the summer, the alga biomass reached 500 mg m-2 (Carneiro et al. 1994).

Using aerial photographs and field work in brackish water lagoons of Aland Island, Finland, Berglund et al. (2003) observed seasonal and interannual growth, distribution and biomass variation of some charophyte species. According to the last authors, filamentous green algae contributed with 45-70% of the total biomass studied, charophytes with 25-40% and vascular plants with 3-18%. The biomass peak was reached in July and August, and the average biomass was negatively correlated with the charophytes exposition to direct sun light, i. e. the charophyte coverage was greater when their exposition to solar radiation was low, being highly affected by the presence of filamentous algae.

Seasonal changes in the biomass of a monospecific community (Chara globularis) and of several communities with high charophyte coverage (Chara globularis-Myriophyllum alterniflorum, Chara globularis-Potamogeton gramineus and Nitella translucens-Potamogeton natans) were studied monthly, from May 1996 to June 1997, by Fernandez-Alaez et al. (2002) in three shallow lakes in northwest Spain. Weather and hydrological regime strongly influenced the seasonal biomass patterns and the between-the-year differences in the biomass of the macrophytes. The Chara globularis community biomass showed a bimodal pattern, with maximum in mid-July (128 g DW m-2) and late autumn (165 g DW m-2). Chara globularis overwintered as a green plant and during the subsequent growth period characterized by high temperature and low rainfall reached a maximum of 305 g DW m-2 in June 1997. The highest biomass of Chara globularis in the Chara-Myriophyllum community was reached in July (Lake Sentiz 160 g m-2, Lake Redos 204 g m-2), while the minimum (Lake Sentiz 10 g m-2; Lake Redos 3 g m-2) was recorded in February or March. Myriophyllum alterniflorum (average biomass 95 g m-2) was a better competitor than Chara globularis in Redos lake and appeared to be favored by the early beginning of the growing season in 1997 and by the later increase in the water level. Nitella translucens biomass (average 64 g m-2) showed a high stability during the entire study period, but lacked a well-defined seasonal pattern. Potamogeton natans had a marked maximum biomass in August (426 g m-2). Although the stability of the Potamogeton natans population was low, shading did not have a significant influence on the development of Nitella translucens biomass.

Torn et al. (2006) measured the seasonal dynamics of the biomass, elongation growth and primary production rate of Chara tomentosa in Rame Bay, NE Baltic Sea, a shallow and semi — enclosed sea inlet on the western coast of the Estonian mainland, during the vegetation

period of 2002. Their measurements showed extremely high plant heights (up to 1.42 m) and biomass values (5.2 kg (w. w.) m-2) indicating the importance of the charophyte for the aquatic ecosystem. Torn et al. (2006) observed that the apical part of the plants grew more intensively from early spring to midsummer, whereas that of the subapical one was very low during the entire study period. The plant’s net primary production rate peaked in July (43.4 mgO g(d. w.)-1 24 h-1), remarkably lower rates being measured in May and September. The elongation growth and primary production were not correlated with the water nutrient concentrations and temperature. As the active growth of Chara tomentosa takes place during a relative short period at the beginning of summer, the amount of available solar radiation and the temperature levels during this sensitive time may have had a significant effect on the community in the same year (Figure 2).

Seasonal growth of Chara globularis var. virgata caused a regular summer depletion of Ca2+ and HCO3- by associated CaCO3 deposition, and a more extreme and unusual depletion of K+ was followed over three years (1985-1987) by Talling & Parker (2002) in a shallow upland lake (Malham Tarn) in northern England. Chemical analysis of the Chara globularis var. virgata biomass and of the underlying sediments indicated a large benthic nutrient stock that far surpassed that represented by the phytoplankton. Growth in the Chara globularis var. virgata biomass and the magnitude of the water-borne inputs influenced removals of Ca2+, K+ and inorganic N. According to Talling & Parker (2002), several features of Malham Tarn are suggestive in relation to the general case of phytoplankton-phytobenthos interaction and possible long-term change. So, the low P concentrations in the open water are probably linked to the fairly low phytoplankton abundance and influenced by the dense benthic Chara globularis var. virgata with a major capacity for P uptake. Also, the additional Chara globularis var. virgata capacity for K+ uptake led to a major seasonal reduction of concentration in the lake water and outflow, of a magnitude rarely if ever recorded elsewhere. The annual growth of Chara globularis var. virgata seemed to involve further translocation of N, P and K from stocks in the sediments.

Ion-specific sensors have been developed to measure NH3+, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, PO43-, etc. However, none of these probes are steam sterilizable.

The mass spectrometer [4] can be used for in-line analysis since it is very versatile, but unfortunately expensive. It does allow for monitoring of gas partial pressures (O2, CO2, CH4, etc.), dissolved gases (O2, CO2, CH4, etc.), concentrations of volatiles (methanol, ethanol, acetone).

The fluorimetric measurements [5,6] are very specific and rapid, but their use in bioprocess is quasi-limited nowadays. Hence, the measurement of NAD (provided it remains at a constant concentration in cells) would be an ideal method for continuous measurement of microbial biomass concentration.

The biosensor [7] is based on a biological receptor, which is coupled to an electronic transducer that converts the biological signal into an electrical signal by measuring voltage, current, light, temperature. Biosensors can be used to measure the concentration of different substrates / metabolites in the culture broth. In order to avoid the possible effects on growth / product formation (i. e. inhibition), the biological receptor can be immobilized on a separate membrane or on the transducer surface. Enzyme electrodes are the most applied, normally for in-line determinations (no steam sterilizable). The specific enzyme is immobilized on a membrane held in close contact to a pH or oxygen electrode. Also microbial electrodes using immobilized whole cells have been used for determination of sugars, acetic acid, ethyl alcohol, vitamin B, nicotinic acid, glutamic acid and cephalosporin. Generally speaking, the biosensors have been investigated with limited success. Hence, only the glucose biosensors have been fully applied. The main difficulties in developing an on-line biosensor are the thermal stability of the immobilized biomaterial, i. e. inactivation during sterilization, and the limited linear range inherent to biologic species.

It is to consider two most recent directions of development regarding the bioprocess variables monitoring and control [8]: (a) realization of miniaturized sensors for the in situ

measurement of temperature, pH or dissolved oxygen; (b) use of analyzers not yet applied for on-line process monitoring in biotechnology, but of real interest: the continuous air — segmented flow analyzer (CFA); the flow injection analyzer (FIA); and the High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

Bacteria normally do not aggregate naturally to each other due to repulsive electrostatic forces via the presence of negatively charged protein compounds of the cell wall (Voet and Voet, 2004). However, under selective environmental conditions, microorganisms are capable to attach to one another and thus form aggregates.

Development of biogranules involves integration of physical, chemical and biological processes occuring in multiple stages (Calleja, 1984; Liu and Tay, 2002; Linlin et al., 2005;

Weber et al., 2007). The first stage of a biogranulation process is initiated by several forces, which include diffusion of mass transfer, hydrodynamic and gravitational forces, thermodynamic effects, as well as the tendency of cells to move towards one another. These forces result in cell-to-cell or cell-to-solid surface interactions. The second stage involves several physical forces (e. g. Van der Waals forces, surface tension, hydrophobicity, opposite charge attractions, thermodynamic of surface free energy, bridges by filamentous bacteria), and chemical and biochemical forces (e. g. cell surface dehydration, cell membrane fusions and signals among microbial communities). At this stage, the multicell connections are stabilized. The third stage is the maturing stage, which involves the production of substances that facilitate more cell-to-cell interactions; at this stage, highly organized microbial structures are formed. Several mechanisms of metabolite production will also change, such as higher production of extracellular polymer, growth of cellular cluster, metabolite change and environmental-induced genetic effects. The final stage involves shaping of the three dimensional granules by hydrodynamic shear forces.

Beun et al. (1999) have also described the path of aerobic granules formation in a reactor as illustrated in Figure 1. Immediately after inoculation, bacteria and fungi will be dominating the reactor system. At this early stage, mycelial pellets manage to retain in the reactor due to their good settling ability. Bacteria, which do not hold this characteristic, are discarded with the effluent. Due to the shear force imposed by air bubbles during the aeration phase, the filaments will be detached from the surface of pellets. The pellets then grow bigger until they reach a diameter of up to 5-6 mm. When the sizes of the pellets have grown even larger, self-defragmentation will take place due to the limitation of oxygen transfer in the inner parts of the grown pellets. The fragmented mycelial pellet will act as a matrix for bacteria to grow and form new colonies. The bacterial colonies grow larger and will form granules. As the granules are formed, the whole system will be governed by bacterial growth.

role in aerobic granule formation. Stalked ciliates of the subclass Peritrichia and occasionally, the fungi, are found to be involved in the biogranulation process development.

Development of biogranules seeded with anaerobic granular sludge in an SBR system has been demonstrated by Linlin et al. (2005). At the initial stage, the anaerobic granular seeds disintegrate into smaller flocs and debris due to the hydrodynamic shear force created by the air bubbles during the aerobic phase. Lighter and small sized flocs or debris will be washed out in the effluent during the decanting stage. The remaining heavier anaerobic granules remain and act as precursors that initiate the growth of new aerobic granules. The optimal combination of the shear force and the growth of the microorganisms within the aggregates govern the stable structur of the biogranules (Chen et al., 2008). The morphology of these aerobic granules is slightly different as compared to the aerobic granules as described by Beun et al. (1999).

The aim of current study is to increase the coking resistance ability as well as steam gasification of deposited carbon on Ni/BCC catalyst. It was available to regenerate activity of catalyst. By the way, product gases propose to achieve an enhancement of the product gas quality by not only recovering energy from tar reforming but also addition by-product gas from steam gasification of the Ni/BCC char at relative low temperature. To decompose tar of biomass gasification by the use of Ni/BCC catalyst has been investigated under mild conditions in a laboratory scale fluidized bed gasifier with introducing steam as a gasifying agent and nitrogen as the product gas carrier. A conventional Ni/АЬОз catalyst also was selected to compare with the Ni/BCC catalyst in the presence of steam. In this study, the Ni/BCC catalyst was consumed at different steam feed rate so as determine the effect of steam feed rate on the crystallite size of catalyst; catalytic tar reforming temperature, the space velocity as a function of the gas yield and biomass carbon conversions in fluidized bed gasifier were investigated. The product gas components was discussed in detail and compared between both cases of the absent of steam and the presence of steam.

It is very important to increase the reaction rates, as slow reactions rates is one of the main disadvantages for biological conversions in biorefinery processes. Another disadvantage is the often low product concentrations, which means the high product recovery costs with existing technology. The lower yields of targeted products is often found in some multiple products systems [20]. Therefore the biorefinery processes to become an actual alternative to fossil fuels and petroleum-derived products, biorefinery processes must be competitive and cost-effective [21].

2. Biofuels

As an important category of bioenergy, biofuel is a type of fuel which is biologically derived from biomass. The biofuels, which include liquid, solid biofuels and various biogases, can replace the conventional petroleum or petroleum derived products. Many biological reactions involved in biofuels production are at mild conditions, can offer relatively high products yields and generally result in low levels of contamination to the environment. The modern application of biological transformations, known as biotechnology, is also an evolving field that has great promise for substantial improvements and significant cost reductions. In this section, several liquid and gases biofuels are introduced e. g. (1) bioethanol, biobutanol, and biodiesel which can replace the gasoline used as transportation fuels; and (2) biogas, which is produced from anaerobic digestion of biomass as a substitute for natural gas either for industrial applications or for transportation.

The chemical composition of bio-oil is significantly different from that of petroleum fuels. It consists of different compounds derived from decomposition reactions of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The chemical composition of bio-oil varies depending on the type of biomass feedstock and the operating parameters. Generally speaking, bio-oil is a mixture of water and complex oxygen-rich organic compounds, including almost all such kinds of organic compounds, that is, alcohols, organic acids, ethers, esters, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, etc. Normally, the component distribution of bio-oil may be measured by GC-MS analysis.

Crude bio-oil derived from lignocellulose is a dark-brown, viscous, yet free-flowing liquid with a pungent odor. Crude bio-oil has an oxygen content of 30-50 wt%, resulting in instability and a low heating value (Oasmaa & C., 2001). The water content of bio-oil ranges from 15 to 50 wt%. The high water content of bio-oil derives from water in the feedstock and dehydration reactions during biomass pyrolysis (Bridgwater, 2012). Heating value is an important indicator for fuel oils. The heating value of bio-oil is usually lower than 20 MJ/kg, much lower than that of fuel oil. The high water content and oxygen content are two factors responsible for its low heating value. The density of bio-oil derived from fast pyrolysis is within the range 1100-1300 kg/m3(Adjaye et al., 1992). The pH value of bio-oil is usually in the range 2-3 owing to the presence of carboxylic acids such as formic acid and acetic acid. The strong acidity can corrode pipework and burner components. Measurements of the corrosiveness of bio-oil have shown that it can induce an apparent mass loss of carbon steel and the breakdown of a diesel engine burner (Wright et al., 2010).

Fresh bio-oil is a homogeneous liquid containing a certain amount of solid particles. After long-term storage, it may separate into two layers and heavy components may be deposited at the bottom. As mentioned above, the high content of oxygen and volatile organic compounds are conducive to the ageing problems of bio-oil. The aldol condensation of aldehydes and alcohols and self-aggregation of aldehydes to oligomers are two of the most likely reactions to take place. Coke and inorganic components in the bio-oil may also have a catalytic effect, thereby enhancing the ageing process (Rick & Vix, 1991).

The total solids (TS) contents of sludge are used in the design and process control of wastewater treatment facilities. Total dissolved solids (TDS) are used to evaluate the suitability of water for both domestic supplies and industrial purposes. The total suspended solids (TSS), including the volatile fraction (VSS), are commonly monitored to evaluate the degree of pollution in natural waters and serves as a key process control parameter for wastewater treatment operation.

The measurement of solids is by means of the gravimetric procedure. The various forms of solids are determined by weighing after the appropriate handling procedures.

1. Placing a clean porcelain crucible for 60 min at 550 °C in the muffle then is passed to a desiccator to cool and then weighed (noted as weight of the crucible).

2. Add with a blunt pipette 10 mL of anaerobics sludge. In a warming rack remove all the water possible. Go to the muffle furnace at 100 °C within 2 h; after this time is cooled and weighed (weight recorded as 100 °C).

3. Place the crucible in the muffle at 550 °C for 1 h and pass it to the desiccator and record the weight of the crucible (as weight at 550 °C).

4. Finally returned to the desiccator. After obtaining the three weights, and proceeded to determine the total solids, volatile and fixed as follows: [35]

Weight to 100oC — Weight of the crucible g

total suspendedsolids TSS :—— — ——————— — — ————— [=] (6)

Sample volume L

Fixed solids FS : Weightt° 55°°C — Weight of thecrucible [ (7)

Sample volume L

A. Zarei

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter http://dx. doi. org/10.5772/53610

1. Introduction

In the nutritional behavior of single stomach animals, the origin of protein is important and its quality varies between different sources and animal origin is better than plant origin [7]. From the standpoint of salmonella contamination and due to high microbial potential, however, some of these proteins such as meat and bone meal ought to be used with caution. If heat treatment is not enough during fish meal processing, thiaminase will remain in fish meal and will cause harmful effects. Some researches indicated that thiamin will be reduced by thiaminase under special storage condition of ingredient before feeding animal [6,7] . Also, severe heating during meat and bone meal and fish meal processing to be confident that poultry by-product is safe, however some amino acids will probably degenerate and their bioavailability will decrease [5,7, 8,9] .

Although, meat & bone and fish meal have been used in poultry feeding, exclusively, but artemia biomass is also one of the animal proteins with high nutritional value which can be used in aquaculture and animal nutrition [1,4] .

The aim of this study is a survey of biology and characteristics of artemia and possibility of its usage in poultry nutrition as a protein source.