Project title: Sludge management via energy crops’ production
Project leader: Prof. Neven Voća, Ph.D.; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia (e-mail:nvoca@agr.hr)
Financed by: Croatian Science Foundation [http://www.hrzz.hr]
Project duration: 01.11.2018. – 31.10.2022.
European Union priority policy is a feasible utilization of sludge from wastewater treatment plant in the agricultural sector, while avoiding its incineration. Sludge disposal in agricultural sector is defined by strict regulations and directives which do not distinguish its utilization in food or non-food production.
There is a great potential for improvement in terms of efficient sludge application to the soil, in larger quantities, without any danger or possible breaking of harmful substances into the environment. Regulations on the sludge application in agricultural production in Croatia is regulated by the amount of up to 1.66 t of sludge DM/year per ha of arable land, regardless of the type of agricultural production. However, despite these limitations, through the use of energy crops there is a possibility of plentiful sludge use as a fertilizer.
According to estimations, arable land will be greatly reduced in terms of intensive sludge management in agriculture in this way. Ideally, the use of sludge would fit right in production of energy crops, which would be exempt from the problems with the health reputation of the product.
In fact, in the agricultural production of crops used for food production, when during the cultivation is used manure obtained from sludge after wastewater treatment plant, the biggest problem is recognized in the segment of acceptance of such products on the market. The market is distrustful of such a product from the perspective of health and environmental safety.
Furthermore, this method could be used in lower quality soils and unfavourable climatic conditions that cannot compete with conventional food production. From the aspect of energy planning, biomass is the optimal form of the renewable energy sources as the source of almost all useful forms of energy. Consequently, sterile grass Miscanthus x giganteus and Mallow family plant Sida hermaphrodita are imposed as an ideal energy crops.
The aim of this research is the analysis of energy crops Miscanthus and Sida hermaphrodita biomass, fertilized with various quantities of sludge from the wastewater treatment plant. Also, major challenge in energy crops growing lies in proper selection of the harvesting date, as well as in choosing the optimal biofuel production pathway.
Discovery of the optimal harvest period is a compromise between yield, the quality of biomass, or the direction of its processing in different biofuel or useful energy, which is very often mutually exclusive.
Project report
At the end of the project, a report was produced showing the results and activities of the project “Sludge management via energy crops production”. The document contains a description of the disposal and use of sewage sludge in agriculture, a description of the activities carried out and the associated results of the sewage sludge analysis, as well as the effects of sewage sludge application on the chemical properties of the biomass of energy crops studied.
Published paper in Mathematics journal.
Members of the scientific team of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb and Institute of General and Physical Chemistry at University of Belgrade have published a paper in the journal Mathematics (IF: 2,592):
Ivan Brandić, Lato Pezo, Nikola Bilandžija, Anamarija Peter, Jona Šurić and Neven Voća (2022): Artificial Neural Network as a Tool for Estimation of the Higher Heating Value of Miscanthus Based on Ultimate Analysis, Mathematics 2022, 10 (20).
The paper is available on the journal’s website: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/10/20/3732
Published paper in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects.
Members of the scientific team of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb have published a paper in the journal Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and
Environmental Effects (IF: 2.902):
Anamarija Peter, Nikola Bilandžija, Tajana Krička, Jona Šurić i Neven Voća (2022): Species Arar (Phoenicea juniperus L.) as a biomass source – A case study, Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 44 (3), 6009-6020.
The paper is available on the journal’s website: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15567036.2022.2095462
Published paper in Sustainability.
Members of the scientific team of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb have published a paper in the journal Sustainability (IF: 3.889):
Eda Puntarić, Lato Pezo, Željka Zgorelec, Jerko Gunjača, Dajana Kučić Grgić i Neven Voća (2022): Prediction of the Production of Separated Municipal Solid
Waste by Artificial Neural Networks in Croatia and the European Union, Sustainability 2022, 14 (16).
Published paper in Agronomy journal.
Members of the scientific team of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb have published a paper in the journal Agronomy (IF: 3,949):
Jona Šurić, Ivan Brandić, Anamarija Peter, Nikola Bilandžija, Josip Leto, Tomislav Karažija, Hrvoje Kutnjak, Milan Poljak and Neven Voća (2022): Wastewater Sewage Sludge Management via Production of the Energy Crop Virginia Mallow, Agronomy 2022, 12(7), 1578.
The paper is available on the journal’s website: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/7/1578
Published paper in Industrial Crops and Products journal.
Members of the scientific team of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb have published a paper in the journal Industrial Crops and Products (IF: 6.449):
Neven Voća, Lato Pezo, Željko Jukić, Biljana Lončar, Danijela Šuput i Tajana Krička (2022): Estimation of the storage properties of rapeseeds using an artificial neural network, Industrial Crops and Products 187.
The paper is available on the journal’s website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092666902200841X
Published paper in Molecules journal.
Members of the scientific team of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb have published a paper in the journal Agronomy (IF: 4,927):
Neven Voća, Josip Leto, Tomislav Karažija, Nikola Bilandžija, Anamarija Peter, Hrvoje Kutnjak, Jona Šurić and Milan Poljak (2021): Energy Properties and Biomass Yield of Miscanthus x Giganteus Fertilized by Municipal Sewage Sludge, Molecules 2021, 26(14), 4371.
The paper is available on the journal’s website: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/14/4371
57th Croatian & 17. international symposium on agriculture
Members of the scientific team of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb have participated in 57th Croatian & 17. international symposium on agriculture.
2. Jona Šurić, Anamarija Peter, Ivan Brandić, Josip Leto, Nikola Bilandžija i Neven Voća (2022): Differences in lignocellulosic composition of energy crops in two harvest season
3. Eda Puntarić, Neven Voća, Lato Pezo i Bojan Ribić (2022): Potential of biodegredable waste as a raw material for biogas production.
56. Hrvatski i 16. međunarodni simpozij agronoma
Članovi znanstvenog tima Agronomskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu sudjelovali su na 56. Hrvatskom i 16. međunarodnom simpoziju agronoma:
2. Josip Leto, Nikola Bilandžija, Hrvoje Kutnjak, Tomislav Karažija, Milan Poljak, Natalija Vugrin i Neven Voća (2021): Use of sewage sludge in miscanthus fertilization
3. Jona Šurić, Anamarija Peter, Tajana Krička, Josip Leto, Nikola Bilandžija i Neven Voća (2021): Energy composition of Miscanthus after application of mud from wastewater treatment plant.
At the 23rd international conference – KRMIVA 2016, 4 abstracts were published. The papers were presented orally by: prof. dr. sc. Tajana Krička (paper 1), assistant professor dr.sc. Ana Matin (paper 2), dr.sc. Vanja Jurišić (paper 3) and a poster to Matej Grubor, mag. ing. agr (paper 4).
52nd Croatian & 12th International Symposium on Agriculture – Dubrovnik
At the 52nd Croatian and 12th International Symposium of Agronomists 6 papers were published. The papers were presented orally by: prof. dr.sc. Tajana Krička (paper 1), assistant professor dr.sc. Ana Matin (paper 2), assistant professor dr.sc. Alan Antonović (paper 3), assistant professor dr.sc. Vanja Jurišić (paper 4), assistant professor dr.sc. Nikola Bilandžija (work 5) and Mateja Grubor (work 6).
At the 24th international conference – KRMIVA 2017 an abstract was published. The work was presented orally by Mateja Grubor, mag. ing. agr.
At the V. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SUSTAINABLE POST-HARVEST AND FOOD TECHNOLOGIES INOPTEP 2017 and XXIX. Two papers were published at the NATIONAL CONFERENCE PROCESS TECHNOLOGY AND ENERGY IN AGRICULTURE PTEP 2017. The work was presented orally by Assoc. Dr.sc. Nikola Bilandžija (work 1), while Ana Matin (work 2) and assistant. Dr.sc. Vanja Jurišić (paper 3) exhibited posters.
Papers published in the journals of the A2 group:
The approved scientific paper was the result of research in the journal of the A1 group (Q2 quartile):
At the 53rd Croatian and 13th International Symposium of Agronomists 4 papers were published. Papers were presented orally by: Mateja Grubor (1st and 2nd papers), assistant professor dr.sc. Ana Matin (3rd paper) and assistant. dr.sc. Vanja Jurišić (4th paper).
Na 46. međunarodnom simpoziju „Aktualni zadaci mehanizacije poljoprivrede“ objavljen je 1 rad. Rad je oralno prezentirala Mateja Grubor
A1 scientific papers:
Project leader:
Prof. Neven Voća, Ph.D.
Project role: Project leader
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Technology Storing and Transport, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3698
More information
Collaborators:
Working group for implementation of the objective (1) “Physical-chemical properties Characterization of the soil and sludge from wastewater treatment as a fertilizer”
Prof. Milan Poljak, Ph.D.
Project role: Designing of fertilization experiment, monitoring and discussing the results of using sludge in agriculture.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Nutrition, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3861
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Ass. prof. Tomislav Karažija, Ph.D.
Project role: Designing of fertilisation experiment, analyse the influence of introducing sludge in agricultural production from the environmental point of view.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Nutrition, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3982
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Working group for iImplementation of the objective (2) “Determining the influence of sludge fertilization on the adoption and phyto-accumulation of nutrients, heavy metals, growth and yield of energy crops biomass”
Prof. Josip Leto, Ph.D.
Project role: design and carry out the experimental cultivation of miscanthus and sida in two locations, including division and marking the experiment according to the experiment plan, miscanthus fertilisation with sludge by experiment plan, determining dry matter yield in different harvest times, determining plant height and number of sprouts per unit of surface at the end of each vegetation season, drying and grinding samples for further chemical analysis.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops, Forage and Grassland, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 4079
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Ass. prof. Hrvoje Kutnjak, Ph.D.
Project role: Establish and monitor field experiment and optimise the miscanthus and sida cultivation by determining dry matter yield in different harvest times, determining height of plants and number of sprouts per unit of surface at the end of each vegetation season; statistical processing of the results obtained from this field experiment.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops, Forage and Grassland, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3782
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Ass. prof. Nikola Bilandžija, Ph.D.
Project role: Optimisation of agro technical measures and field analysis and calculation of dry matter yield by different harvest times.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Technology Storing and Transport, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3715
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Working group for implementation of the objective (3) “Determining the energy properties of the investigated biomass”
Prof. dr. sc. Tajana Krička, Ph.D.
Project role: Establishment and analysis of miscanthus and sida energy results.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Technology Storing and Transport, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3818
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Ass. prof. Vanja Jurišić, Ph.D.
Project role: Elemental composition analysis of the investigated biomass, analysis of structural, physical-chemical and fuel properties, and micro- and macro elements, analyses required for inter-laboratory comparison (BIMEP WEPAL programme).
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Technology Storing and Transport, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3619
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Ass. prof. Ana Matin, Ph.D.
Project role: Biomass samples preparing for further analysis and acquisition of necessary ancillary materials.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Technology Storing and Transport, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3625
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Mateja Grubor, mag.ing.agr
Project role: Search the literature and prepare analytical methods for analysis of biomass from the experimental fields for production of different forms of biofuel, which includes preparation and analysis of the biomass, specifically its elemental composition (CHNS), structural, physical-chemical and fuel properties, micro- and macro elements, analyses needed for inter-laboratory comparison (BIMEP WEPAL programme), activities needed for determining the biofuel optimal production potential and interpretation of the results, determining energy characteristics and the analysis of biomass for the needs of biofuel production.
Institution: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Technology Storing and Transport, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel: +385 / 1 / 239 3625
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Professor Neven Voća, PhD
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Technology Storing and Transport, Svetošimunska 25, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
+385 / 1 / 239 3698
