Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8572, Japan.
Environ Technol. 2012 Jan-Feb;33(1-3):1-8. doi: 10.1080/09593330903453269.
Paper sludge is a by-product of the pulping process and is landfilled or incinerated for disposal. In this study, we evaluated ingestion and digestibility of carbohydrates, by the termite Coptotermes formosanus, in two kinds of sludges: sludge C from the chemical pulp mill and sludge M from the mechanical pulp mill. The no-choice tests using the termite for three weeks showed that the mass loss of sludge C was significantly higher than that of the control samples: a bleached pulp and red pine wood. It is considered that the higher inorganic content of sludge C resulted in the higher mass loss when the same amount of carbohydrates was taken by the pulp- or wood-fed termite. Although the inorganic content of sludge M was almost the same as that of sludge C, the higher lignin content in sludge M is thought to have resulted in the lower mass loss. Analysis of sugar composition in the faecal materials of the termite showed that about 73% of glucose and 81% of xylose in sludge C were digested. It was concluded that the digestibility of these sugars in sludge C was the same as that of the control samples despite containing high amounts of inorganic compounds. However, the hydrogen conversion rate by the termites that were fed sludge was lower than that of the termites that were fed pulp in the no-choice test for three days: one mole of glucose from the sludge and pulp was converted to 0.51 and 0.80 moles of hydrogen, respectively.
纸浆污泥是制浆过程的副产品，通常被填埋或焚烧处理。在本研究中，我们评估了两种污泥（来自化学浆厂的污泥 C 和来自机械浆厂的污泥 M）被白蚁 Coptotermes formosanus 取食和消化碳水化合物的情况。用白蚁进行为期三周的无选择测试表明，污泥 C 的质量损失明显高于对照样品（漂白浆和红松木材）。当白蚁取食等量的碳水化合物时，由于污泥 C 中含有较高的无机成分，因此质量损失更高。尽管污泥 M 中的无机成分几乎与污泥 C 相同，但污泥 M 中较高的木质素含量可能导致质量损失较低。对白蚁粪便中糖成分的分析表明，污泥 C 中的 73%葡萄糖和 81%木糖被消化。尽管污泥 C 中含有大量的无机化合物，但这些糖的消化率与对照样品相同。然而，在为期三天的无选择测试中，用污泥喂养的白蚁的氢转化率低于用浆喂养的白蚁：从污泥和浆中每摩尔葡萄糖分别转化为 0.51 和 0.80 摩尔的氢。
