title: Using a high biomass plant Pennisetum hydridum to phyto-treat fresh municipal sewage sludge.
abstract: The study was carried out to investigate the use of a high biomass plant, Pennisetum hydridum, to treat municipal sewage sludge (MSS). An experiment composed of plots with four treatments, soil, fresh sludge, soil-sludge mixture and phyto-treated sludge, was conducted. It showed that the plant could not survive directly in fresh MSS when cultivated from stem cuttings. The experiment transplanting the incubated cutting with nurse medium of P. hydridum in soil and fresh MSS, showed that the plants grew normally in fresh MSS. The pilot experiment of P. hydridum and Alocasia macrorrhiza showed that the total yield and nutrient amount of P. hydridum were 9.2 times and 3.6 times more than that of A. macrorrhiza. After plant treatment, MSS was dried, stabilized and suitable to be landfilled or incinerated, with a calorific value of about 5.6MJ/kg (compared to the initial value of 1.9MJ/kg fresh sludge).
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Waste Reuse in Agriculture of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Key Laboratory of the Pearl River Estuarine Dynamics and Associated Process Regulation, Ministry of Water Resources, Pearl River Hydraulic Research Institute, Pearl River Water Resource Commission, Guangzhou 510611, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hei
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Life Sciences, UoN Singapore Pte Ltd, 355 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, 169567, Singapore.
authors.forename: Charles C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Waste Reuse in Agriculture of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; Shenzhen Tech and Ecology & Environment Co., Ltd, Shenzhen 518040, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Waste Reuse in Agriculture of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; School of Environmental and Life Sciences, UoN Singapore Pte Ltd, 355 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, 169567, Singapore.
authors.forename: Xiao-Yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Waste Reuse in Agriculture of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Waste Reuse in Agriculture of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. Electronic address: wuqitang@scau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qi-Tang
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D031055:Alocasia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D031782:Pennisetum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage
keywords: Heavy metals; Municipal sewage sludge (MSS); Pennisetum hydridum; Phyto-treatment; Plant biomass