We test a novel ideation tool developed for early idea development among experienced academic researchers. We presented the tool called the Impact Canvas to experienced researchers and allowed them to test it. This paper analyses their perceptions of the tool: its usability and visual appeal, content elements, ability to facilitate collaboration, and motivate on a personal level. The majority of the researchers considered the tool useful and inspiring. Our findings imply that experienced researchers would benefit from a structured approach in the early idea development phase and it could be supported by such a tool as the Impact Canvas.

Artificial groundwater recharge for drinking water production involves infiltration of surface water through sandy soil and its capture into a groundwater aquifer. The transformation of aqueous organic matter is one of the central issues in this process. The purpose of this work was to assess the potential of indigenous microorganisms in the source water to contribute in the aqueous organic matter biodegradation. For this purpose, microorganisms were enriched from the source water in a fluidized-bed reactor (FBR) and used for kinetic studies on biodegradation of organic matter at ambient temperature range. Lake water (total organic carbon 5.8 mg L(-1)) was continuously fed to the FBR containing porous carrier material to support biomass retention. In the inlet and outlet water there were on average 21 +/- 6 and 13 +/- 5x10(5) cells mL(-1), respectively. Biofilm accumulation (as volatile solids) reached 13.1 mg g(-1) dw carrier. In the continuous-flow mode and the batch tests, the highest oxygen consumption rate appeared in the summer, followed by the fall, spring, and winter. At low temperatures, the biodegradation of aqueous organic matter was relatively rapid initially for labile fractions followed by a slower phase for refractory fractions. The average temperature coefficient (Q(10)) in the system was 2.3 illustrating a strong temperature dependency of oxygen consumption. The isotopic analysis of dissolved inorganic carbon delta(13)C(DIC) analysis revealed 27 and 69% mineralizations of dissolved organic carbon at 23 and 6 degrees C over 65 and 630 min, respectively. These results can be used to construct additional input parameters in modeling applications of artificial groundwater recharge process. The biological component especially, i.e., the biodegradation, is difficult to predict for on-site applications without experimental proof and thus the interpretation in this study will help formulate design predictions for the process.

The role of biodegradation in the attenuation of natural organic matter (NOM) was investigated in long-term experiments that simulate artificial ground water recharge (AGR) for drinking water production. Lake water containing 5.8 mg L(-1) total organic carbon (TOC) was continuously fed into an 18.5-m-long sand column. During the 941 d of operation, on average 76 and 81% of TOC was removed within the first 0.6 m and the entire column length, respectively. Large molecular size fractions (approximately 1800-2200 Da) of NOM were removed more efficiently than smaller ones (approximately 250-1400 Da). The biodegradation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) within the first 0.6 m, measured by the stable inorganic carbon isotope (delta13C) method, depended on temperature and hydraulic load: The extent of mineralization was 32% at 6 degrees C (Day 442) and 38% at 23 degrees C (Day 708) with a 0.3 m3 (m2d)(-1) hydraulic load and 52% at 5.5 degrees C (Day 883) with a 3.1 m3 (m2d) (-1) hydraulic load. The rest of the DOC removal was likely due to entrapment or sorption onto the sand particles. Decreases in DOC and the total cell counts in the water along the column were positively correlated (r = 0.99; P = 0.001). The accumulation of biomass was minor, with the highest concentration amounting to 7.2 mg g(-1) dw of sand. In summary, this study demonstrated that biodegradation has a key role in NOM removal in AGR and is dependent on temperature.

Removal of low-concentration ammonium by eight commercial natural zeolites was studied in batch and continuous tests. In the batch and continuous tests, chabazite was superior to the other natural zeolites in removing low-concentration ammonium. In the batch tests, the ammonium adsorption capacity (up to 32.4mg NH4+/g) decreased with increasing particle size (355 to 2500 mu m), pH (7.5 vs. 9.0), and the temperature (279 vs. 295 K) and potassium ion concentration (20 and 100 mg K+/l). In continuous column tests, the adsorption capacity of chabazite was 48.3mg NH4+/g zeolite. Four clinoptiolites had an adsorption capacity of 15.7 to 25.Omg NH4+/g zeolite. The zeolites were rapidly regenerated by an alkaline sodium chloride solution fed to the columns.

Bioshale is a project co-funded by the European Commission (FP6 programme) that started in October 2004. The main objective of the Bioshale project is to define innovative biotechnological processes for 'environmentally-aware' exploitation of black shale ores. Three black shale deposits have been chosen as targets of the R&D actions. These include one deposit that exists under natural conditions (Tal-vivaara, Finland), one currently being processed (Lubin, Poland) and one after mining (Mansfeld, Germany).The black shale ores contain base, precious and 'high-tech' and rare metals but also high contents of organic matter that handicap metal recovery by conventional techniques.In summary, the main technical aspects of the work plan are: -evaluation of the geological resources & selection of metal-bearing raw materials; -selection of biological consortia to be tested for mineral processing;-assessment of hydrometallurgical routes, including bioprocessing, for metals recovery;-technical-economic evaluation of new processes from mining to metal recovery including social and environmental impacts.An overview of the main results of the work in progress by the 13 European partners (from 8 countries) is presented. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nitrogenous compounds, e.g. ammonium and nitrate, from various sources in extractive industry are often discharged with mine water to the aquatic environment. Ammonium and nitrate in blasting agents can dissolve in water from undetonated explosives and the nitrogenous compounds can negatively affect receiving water bodies. In this laboratory study, the removal of ammonium and nitrate from cold inorganic mine water was achieved by fixed-bed biofilm reactors at temperatures as low as 5°C. Water from two underground mines was treated for ammonium removal in a nitrifying bioreactor. Ammonium concentration was from 2 to 83mg NH4+–N/l. The sodium and chloride ion content was up to 0.8 and 2.2g/l, respectively. At 5°C, nitrification of up to 98% was reached at load of 0.33g NH4+–N/m2/d. The highest applied load was 2.42g NH4+–N/m2/d. The feed to the denitrifying bioreactor contained 12 to 86mg NO3-–N/l. The anoxic methanol-fed denitrifying bioreactor reached up to 95% nitrate removal at loads as high as 0.91kg NO3-–N/m3/d and in combination with an anoxic unit a surface load of 4.26g NO3-–N/m2/d was applied at 5°C. This is the first report on high-rate removal of ammonium and nitrate from cold inorganic mine water by fixed-bed biofilm reactors at low temperature.

Within the framework of the EU co-funded Bioshale project the bio-benefication of multimetal black shale ore was studied. The EU-co-funded Bioshale project aims to define innovative biotechnological processes for "eco-efficient" exploitation of black shale ores. The ore sample was. from the Talvivaara deposit in Finland. In the black shale ore sample, the total amount of sulphides was 31.5% of which the Ni-minerals pentlandite and altered pentlandite is 0.52%. Nickel is distributed into pyrrhotite and oxidized pyrrhotite, 32.5%, and pentlandite and altered pentlandite, 66.0%. Other sulphides are chalcopyrite (Cu), sphalerite (Zn), pyrite (Co) and alabandite (Mn). The ore sample contanied 12.3% graphite as a fine mixture with other minerals. In standard flotation, a low grade sulphide concentrate with 0.67 % Ni and nickel recovery of 74 % was obtained from the studied black shale ore. The mass of concentrate was then 34.5% of the ore feed. The recoveries of copper and zinc were 91%, of cobalt 89% and of manganese 53%. The content of carbon in the concentrate was 11.3% as graphite represents a naturally floating harmful mineral in the ore. The bioflotation tests showed that collector chemicals, i.e xanthates, had to be supplied to achieve reasonable flotation results. Out of the three tested. bacterial strains, Staphylococcus carnosus, Bacillusfirmus and Bacillus subtilis, the minor hydrophobic strain S. carnosus yielded the best test results. However, results of bioflotation tests failed to substantially improve the product recovery or grade.

Nutrients such as ammonium and nitrate from different sources in mining and mineral processing are often discharged during mining operation to surrounding aquatic environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of reverse osmosis (RO) to concentrate ammonium and nitrate from three different mine waters for subsequent removal of nutrients from the concentrate in bioreactors. In initial membrane selection tests, reverse osmosis retained the nutrients and the most suitable membrane was studied for subsequent concentrating tests. The volume reduction factor was up to 20. Ammonium and nitrate were enriched by reverse osmosis 3.6 and 5.7 times, respectively. Total salinity increased about 1.5 times in the RO-concentrate. Iron, copper, zinc, lead and cadmium, potential inhibitors of bacteria, were enriched to the brine of mine water 2. In general, the permeate pH decreased slightly during the reverse osmosis concentration. The produced RO-concentrate was suitable for biological removal of total nitrogen. Prevention of membrane fouling due to suspended solids requires prefiltration of feed prior to reverse osmosis. It was estimated that the total costs for reverse osmosis with prefiltration of feed is about 0.34€/m3.

The Bioshale project, involving 13 partners throughout Europe, is co-funded by the European Commission under the FP6 program. The main objective of this project (which started in October 2004) is to identify and develop innovative biotechnological processes for ‘’eco-efficient’’ exploitation of metal-rich, black shale ores. Three extensive deposits have been selected for R&D actions. These are: (i) a site (in Talvivaara, Finland) that, at the outset of the project, had not been exploited; (ii) a deposit (in Lubin, Poland) that is currently being actively mined, and (iii) a third site (in Mansfeld, Germany) where the ore had been actively mined in the past, but which is no longer exploited. The black shale ores contain base (e.g. copper and nickel), precious (principally silver) and PGM metals, but also high contents of organic matter that potentially handicap metal recovery by conventional techniques. The main technical aspects of the work plan can be summarized as: (i) evaluation of the geological resources and selection of metal-bearing components; (ii) selection of biological consortia to be tested; (iii) assessment of bioprocessing routes, including hydrometallurgical processing; (iv) techno-economic evaluation of new processes from mining to metal recovery including social, and (v) assessing the environmental impacts of biotechnological compared to conventional processing of the ores. An overview of the main results obtained to date are presented, with special emphasis on the development of bioleaching technologies for metal recovery that can be applied to multielement concentrates and black shale ores.

This study describes the combined chemical, i.e. modified Fenton's reaction, and aerobic biological removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in creosote oil contaminated soil. The initial concentration of eight selected PAHs (acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benz(a)anthracene and chrysene) was 4 g/kg soil. The soil was rich in iron (16.4 g Fe/kg soil) and slightly acidic (pH 5-6). Therefore, no pH adjustment or iron addition was performed. Aged contaminated soil was treated with 30% H2O2 in laboratory-scale, packed soil columns. The chemical treatment removed up to 52% of the total PAHs in the soil. The effect of the chemical treatment on indigenous PAH-degrading bacteria was studied by incubating untreated and H2O2 treated soil. Biodegradation of untreated soil removed up to 36% of the total PAHs. The indigenous PAH-degrading bacteria were able to survive aggressive chemical soil treatment with concentrated H2O2 and the combined chemical-biological treatment decreased the PAH-concentration by 55%.

This study describes the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from creosote oil contaminated soil by modified Fenton's reaction in laboratory-scale column experiments and subsequent aerobic biodegradation of PAHs by indigenous bacteria during incubation of the soil. The effect of hydrogen peroxide addition for 4 and 10 days and saturation of soil with H(2)O(2) on was studied. In both experiments the H(2)O(2) dosage was 0.4 g H(2)O(2)/g soil. In completely H(2)O(2)-saturated soil the removal of PAHs (44% within 4 days) by modified Fenton reaction was uniform over the entire soil column. In non-uniformly saturated soil, PAH removal was higher in completely saturated soil (52% in 10 days) compared to partially saturated soil, with only 25% in 10 days. The effect of the modified Fenton's reaction on the microbial activity in the soil was assessed based on toxicity tests towards Vibrio fischeri, enumeration of viable and dead cells, microbial extracellular enzyme activity, and oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production during soil incubation. During the laboratory-scale column experiments, the toxicity of column leachate towards Vibrio fischeri increased as a result of the modified Fenton's reaction. The activities of the microbial extracellular enzymes acetate- and acidic phosphomono-esterase were lower in the incubated modified Fenton's treated soil compared to extracellular enzyme activities in untreated soil. Abundance of viable cells was lower in incubated modified Fenton treated soil than in untreated soil. Incubation of soil in serum bottles at 20 degrees C resulted in consumption of oxygen and formation of carbon dioxide, indicating aerobic biodegradation of organic compounds. In untreated soil 20-30% of the PAHs were biodegraded during 2 months of incubation. Incubation of chemically treated soil slightly increased PAH-removal compared to PAH-removal in untreated soil.

A combination of modified Fenton and biological treatment was used to remove polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from creosote oil-contaminated soil. After modified Fenton reaction the toxicity of column leachate and soil to Vibrio fischeri increased. The number of intact bacterial cells and utilisation of PAHs in PAH utilisation microplate assay decreased after modified Fenton reaction. However, bacteria in chemically treated soil utilised PAHs without addition of other carbon sources. The activity of extracellular esterases increased during incubation of modified Fenton-treated soil. PAH removal in combined chemical oxidation and incubation (43-59%) was higher than in incubation alone (22-30%). Residual H2O2 in soil allowed chemical oxidation of PAHs during incubation. (c) 2006 Society of Chemical Industry.

The aim of this study was to characterize the labile part of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) present in groundwater by identification of natural organic carbon substrates and to assess their microbial utilization during aeration of the groundwater. The studied chlorophenol (CP) contaminated groundwater contained 60–2650 μmol l−1 of DOC of which up to 98.0% were CPs; 1.7% were low-molecular weight organic acids and 0.2% were dissolved free amino acids. Traces of following natural organic carbon substrates were identified: l-alanine, l-isoleucine, l-leucine, l-serine, l-threonine, l-tyrosine, l-valine, l-aspartic, acetic, citric, formic, lactic, malic and oxalic acid. Dissolved oxygen concentration inside the CP-plume was lower (mean 25 μmol l−1) than outside of the plume (mean 102 μmol l−1). Over a monitoring period of four years the concentrations of CPs, Fe(II) and NH4+ were higher inside than outside of the CP-plume. Oxygen availability within the CP-plume limits in situ biological oxidation of CPs, DOC, NH4+ and Fe(II). The microbial enzymatic hydrolysis rates of 4-methylumbelliferyl and 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin-linked substrates varied from 0.01 to 52 μmol l−1 h−1 and was slightly higher inside than outside the plume. Microbial uptake rates of 14C-acetate, 14C-glucose and 14C-leucine were on average 28, 4 and 4 pmol l−1 h−1 outside and 17, 25 and 8 pmol l−1 h−1 inside the plume, respectively. The indigenous microorganisms were shown able of hydrolysis of dissolved organic matter, uptake and utilization of natural organic carbon substrates. Therefore, the labile part of DOC serves as a pool of secondary substrates beside the CP-contaminants in the groundwater and possibly help in sustaining the growth of CP-degrading bacteria.

The in situ remediation of PAHs in soil from a creosote oil contaminated site was studied. Treatment of the contaminated unsaturated soil combined the advanced oxidation process of Fenton-like treatment with biodegradation of the contaminants. The soil was contaminated with up to 19 mg PAHs/g and free phase of creosote oil was present at the site. Over two weeks, hydrogen peroxide (8-9%, 900 L) was injected in 4 to 5 m depth. Prior to hydrogen peroxide injection the total numbers of bacteria ranged from 4 X 108 to 2 X 10(9) cells/g horizontally and from 3 X 10(8) to 2 X 10(9) cells/g vertically. On average 53/62% (horizontally and vertically) of the bacteria were viable. After termination of the injection the numbers of bacteria were at the same order of magnitude as prior to the treatment. Indigenous soil bacteria utilized sole PAH compounds of up to 100 mg/L in bioassays. The in situ biodegradation of PAHs will be further monitored.

Kinetics of simultaneous iron and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) oxidation by groundwater enriched cultures were studied in order to reveal the competition for oxygen in aerobic in situ bioremediation of boreal groundwater. Chemical iron oxidation at near neutral pH in synthetic groundwater depended by the first order on the concentrations of ferrous iron and dissolved oxygen and by the second order on pH. The chemical iron oxidation rate constant was on average 2.2×1013mol−2L2atm−1min−1. Chemical iron oxidation was insignificantly affected by natural organic matter, 2,4,6-tri-, 2,3,4,6-tetra- or pentachlorophenol in groundwater. Biological oxidation of iron followed zero-order kinetics. At pH of 6.3 and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of 11.5mgL−1, the rate of biological iron oxidation was 3.8×10−4mmolL−1min−1 and up to one order of magnitude higher than the chemical oxidation rate, 5.2×10−6mmolL−1min−1. Biological oxidation of iron was completely inhibited by pentachlorophenol at 23μmol−1. With a groundwater enriched culture, oxygen was consumed at higher rates by 2,4,6-TCP oxidizers (2.5−7.6×10−5mmolDOL−1min−1) than the iron oxidizing bacteria (0.8−3.1×10−5mmolDOL−1min−1) at both low and saturated DO-concentrations. The results indicate that in situ iron oxidation is predominantly biogenic in the studied boreal aquifer. 2,4,6-TCP degrading bacteria consumed DO at higher rates than the iron oxidizing bacteria and thereby, favour bioremediation of the polychlorophenol contaminated groundwater.

Kinetics of simultaneous iron and polychlorophenol (CP) oxidation by groundwater enriched cultures were studied in laboratory and during actual remediation in orderto reveal the fate and effects of iron on aerobic on-site bioremediation of boreal groundwater. 2,4,6-tri- (TCP), 2,3,4,6-tetra- (TeCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP)were degraded in fluidized-bed bioreactor (FBR) by over 99%, over 99%, and over96%, respectively. The oxygen consumption rate for CP-biodegradation was 1.31μmol DO L-1 min-1 and 0.29 μmol DO L-1 min-1 for iron oxidation, i.e. approximately 12% of the oxygen was consumed by iron oxidation during normal FBR operation. Mineralization of CPs was confirmed by DOC removal and chloride release of 158% and 78%, respectively. Excess DOC removal was due to partial degradation of the natural organic matter (NOM) (1.1 mg L-1 or 24% DOC removal) in the groundwater. Removal of NOM consumed 0.91 μmol DO L-1min-1. Iron oxidation in the FBR was over 94% of which chemical Fe(II) oxidation accounted for up to 10%. Fe(III) partially accumulated (58 to 69%) in the system. The TCP- and CP-biodegradation consumed DO at two times higher rates than the Fe(II)-oxidation in both, laboratory and full-scale, respectively. The batch assays atvarious TCP and Fe(II) ratios and DO concentrations showed simultaneous oxygenconsumption by TCP and Fe-oxidizers and that increased Fe concentrations do notoutcompete the bioremediation of CP's for available oxygen.