Carbon dissipation from surgical cotton production wastewater using macroalgae,microalgae, and activated sludge microbes

Surgical cotton production has drastically been increased in the past few years due to excessive use by medical health professionals especially in countries like India, which is among the top three exporters of cotton worldwide. The effluent generated from surgical cotton industries differ from textile effluents by the conspicuous absence of dyeing chemicals. This wastewater has a high concentration of suspended particles, COD, dissolved ions, organic carbon, and alkaline pH. Several studies have been published on the treatment of textile effluents and the degradation of dyeing chemicals, while the treatment studies on surgical cotton wastewater have been rarely reported in spite of their potential to cause pollution in receiving land/water bodies. Activated sludge microbes have been extensively studied and well documented in the treatment of several industrial effluent but does not match to the production of valuable biomass from algae. The global energy demand has prompted the scientific community to investigate and explore the possibility of using algae for energy production with simultaneous wastewater treatment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research articles have been published which compare the effectiveness of activated sludge microorganisms, microalgae, and macroalgae in removing contaminants from real wastewater. To date, there is a knowledge gap in understanding and selecting the right choice of biological system for effective and economical effluent treatment. In an attempt to minimize this gap, carbon removal by microalgae, macroalgae, and activated sludge microbes were investigated on real effluent from surgical cotton industries. It was observed that the strain of Chlorella vulgaris could dissipate 83% of COD from real wastewater, while consortia of macroalgae (consisting predominantly of Ulvaceae and Chaetomorpha) and activated sludge microbes could remove 81% and 69% of the carbon, respectively. The microalgal growth (in terms of wet weight) increased from 0.15 to 0.3 g, whereas the macroalgal wet weight increased from 1.5 to 3 g in over 7 days of batch experiments conducted in triplicates. This indicated the superlative performance of microalgae over activated sludge microbes in carbon dissipation.

     

Management of hailstorms under a changing climate in agriculture: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Climate change is impacting agriculture through a rise in greenhouse gases, higher temperatures and extreme precipitation patterns, with adverse consequences such...     

A low-cost process for efficient hydrolysis of deoiled rice bran and ethanol production using an inhouse produced multi-enzyme preparation from Aspergillus niger P-19

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The study deals with the management of deoiled rice bran by converting it into ethanol using a multi-enzyme preparation produced in-house...     

Mechanical,durability and microstructural assessment of geopolymer concrete incorporating fine granite waste powder

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This research investigation has mainly focused on the development of cementless concrete, i.e., geopolymer concrete, along with the reutilization...     

Green banking initiatives: a qualitative study on Indian banking sector

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The environmental concern is on rise in all types of business; however, banking assumes a special niche due to its ability to influence the economic...     

Condenser cooling technologies for concentrating solar power plants: a review

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Selection of condenser cooling technology can affect the financial as well as technical viability of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. Detailed...     

The relationship between staple food crops consumption and its impact on total factor productivity: does green economy matter?

The agriculture sector is a key driver of economic growth and provides employment opportunities across the globe generally. However, in today’s world, agricultural product demand is more influenced by taste, prices, and nutritional value due to climatic variation. The study has analyzed the current situation grain productivity by using the data of farm inputs and major grain crops of Pakistan from (1960–2020). The study consists of a two-stage analysis in the first stage, the total factor productivity (TFP) variable is obtained by using the parametric Tornqvisit-Theil index output-input-aggregation method separately for each crop; rice, maize, and wheat. After that, the unit root test is used to check the stationarity and trend of the variables in the long run. Subsequently, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model is applied to check the existence of cointegration in the long run and short run among the variables. The results of the study disclosed that the consumption of rice has a positive relationship with its total factor productivity, but, wheat and maize have a negative long-run cointegration relationship with the respective productivities. The study results have shown that the consumption pattern of staple crops has substantially changed, due to climatic variation, and the current food consumption trend is revealing new dimensions and trends owing to variation in climate change and anthropogenic pressure which demands to adapt climate resilient farm practices.

     

Comparing the environmental impacts of paracetamol dosage forms using life cycle assessment

Environment, Development and Sustainability - A medicine can be administered in varied dosage forms which are having different environmental impacts. Two dosage forms of paracetamol (tablet and...