Long-term irrigation using wastewater from paper industry may cause seriously problems to the receiving soil. This work surveyed and monitored the soil quality of a wastewater irrigation wetland system in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province in China in 2014 and 2015. Τhe wetland soil showed different soil properties and TX, AOX, heavy metal contents after long-term wastewater irrigation. Long-term irrigation also accumulated the heavy metals such as Cu, Cd, Zn, and Pb in the wetland soil. Compared to the control, TX in the irrigated soil increased by 47.7-69.8% (2014) and 61.5-83.1% (2015). AOX varied in concentration from 1.7 to 55.0 mg kg −1 (2014) and 11.0 to 53.0 mg kg −1 (2015). The long-term irrigation of wastewater to wetland systems caused the accumulations of heavy metals, TX, and AOX in the soil and the levels of accumulations were related to several factors including soil properties, wastewater quality, and irrigation time.
Screening and studying the lignite solubilization/degradation capacities of indigenous microorganisms are key to exploring the in-situ biotransformation of lignite. Here, a fungus was isolated from in-situ lignite samples and identified as Fusarium sp. NF01. This isolate was then cultured on four different carbon sources to evaluate its lignite transformation capacity. When cultured on a solid agar medium containing sodium gluconate or sodium glutamate, Fusarium sp. NF01 completely liquefied 0.5 g of lignite within six days, and when cultured in a liquid medium containing sodium gluconate, the weight of lignite decreased by 28.4% within seven days. Elemental analysis showed that the lignite biodegradation rate was inversely proportional to the C/O ratio of the residual lignite samples. Additionally, a 5.9% biodesulfurization rate was achieved when Fusarium sp. NF01 was cultured in the presence of sodium gluconate. Finally, Fourier-transform infrared analysis of the residual lignite samples revealed relatively weak signal intensities of the signature peaks representing the following: aromatic ring side chains; ether, ester, and alcohol bonds; aromatic ring carbon-carbon double bonds; and aliphatic methyl and methylene. The results showed that Fusarium sp. NF01 can degrade lignite in a carbon-dependent manner and could be thus used for the bioconversion of subsurface coalbeds.
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