Teaching code

4S010805

Credits

10

Coordinator

Federico Battista

Language

Italian

Courses Single

Not Authorized

Moodle Seminars 0

The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning objectives

1.Bio-treatment of wastes and agro-food waste: The module "Management of waste and wastewater from the food industry" (4 CFU) provide basic notions related to the production, treatment, management, disposal and/or sustainable valorisation of waste and wastewater produced from the food industry. The module will address: the Italian framework of legislation; type, characteristics and production of waste and wastewater from food industries; chemical/physical and biological processes for the treatment of solid waste and wastewater; methods for the valorisation of waste and wastewater according with the most recent documents in the field of bio- economy and circular economy.
The module 'Microbiology for Bio-treatment of wastewater and agro-food wastes aims to provide basic notions about microbial processes useful for the bio-treatment of wastewaters as well as the basis of the microbial anaerobic digestion and composting. The exploitation of microbial metabolism for the valorisation of agro-food wastes will also be taken into consideration.

Examination methods: To pass the exam the students must show that they know:
- the basis of the legislation in this sector, definitions and nomenclature in the field of waste and wastewaters,
- the interpretation of biological and chemical-physical data,
- the main process parameters for the treatment of waste and wastewaters and the microbial mechanisms responsible for the bio-treatment of wastewaters and waste transformation.

2. Bio-treatment of waste and agro-food waste Laboratory: The laboratory activities will provide the chemical/physical and respirometric methods for the characterization of wastewater, solid waste and sewage sludge. Students will apply the notions of the theoretical course by the operation of bioreactors dedicated for the treatment of wastewater or for the production of biogas. At the same time, students will learn how to manage and monitoring the operational parameters of the bioreactor and to define mass and energy balances of the biological processes.
From the microbiological point of view, the experiences in laboratory will give the
students the opportunity to know the main methodologies for the analysis of microorganisms in active sludge and wastewaters and the main techniques for their identification in order to get a proper monitoring of the bio-treatment process, also taking into account sustainability issues.

Examination methods: The student should be able to write and manage a monitoring plain for the operational parameters of a bioreactor as well as extrapolate data necessary for driving the process. Moreover, the student should be able to manipulate microbial cells, and to apply the main techniques to quantify and identify them in a bioreactor.

Prerequisites and basic notions

Basic concepts of chemistry, mathematics and microbiology

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The exam aims to evaluate the knowledge of the two modules of: i) Waste and waste management of the agro-food industry and ii) Microbiology. The theory will be evaluated by a written test divided into two parts corresponding to the two aforementioned modules. Both parts will include both open-ended questions and multiple-choice questions. The written test will be worth 80% of the final mark. The assessment of laboratory techniques and methodologies, on the other hand, will require two separate reports relating to the two modules. Each report will count for 10% of the composition of the final grade.