Intercomparison study on commonly used methods to determine microplastics in wastewater and sludge samples

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The harmonized procedures in terms of the sampling, sample treatment and identification of microplastics in different environmental samples are...     

Effects of long-term irrigation with treated wastewater on soil quality,soil-borne pathogens,and living organisms: case study of the vicinity of El Hajeb (Tunisia)

Medium (i.e. 15 years) and long-term (i.e. 20 years) impact of irrigation using secondary-treated municipal wastewater (TWW) was assessed on two agricultural soil samples, denoted by E and G, respectively, in the vicinity of El Hajeb region (Southern Tunisia). Soil pH, electrical conductivity particle size grading, potential risk of salinity, water holding capacity and chemical composition, as well as organic matter content, pathogenic microorganisms and heavy metal concentrations in the TWW-irrigated (E and G) and rainwater-irrigated (T) soils at various depths, were monitored and compared during a 5-year experiment. Our study showed that bacterial abundance is higher in sandy–clayey soil, which has an enhanced ability to retain moisture and nutrients. The high level of bacterial flora in TWW-irrigated soils was significantly (p?<?0.05) correlated (r?=?~0.5) with the high level of OM. Avoidance assays have been used to assess toxic effects generated by hazards in soils. The earthworms gradually avoided the soils from the surface (20 cm) to the depth (60 cm) of the G transect and then the E transect, preferring the T transect. The same behaviour was observed for springtails, but they seem to be less sensitive to the living conditions in transects G and E than the earthworms. The avoidance response test of Eisenia andrei was statistically correlated with soil layers at the sampling sites. However, the avoidance response test of Folsomia candida was positively correlated with silt-clay content (+0.744*) and was negatively correlated with sand content (?0.744*).     

CFD analysis on the performance of a solar chimney power plant system: Case study in Algeria

The solar chimney power plant (SCPP) is a power generator which uses solar radiation to increase the internal energy of the air circulating in the system, thereby transforming the useful gain of the solar collector into kinetic energy. The produced kinetic energy then can be converted into electrical energy by means of an appropriate turbine. In this paper, four locations in Algeria

(Constantine, Ouargla, Adrar, and Tamanrasset) were considered as case studies to describe the SCPP mechanism in detail. Numerical simulation of an SCPP which has the same geometrical dimensions was performed to estimate the power output of SCPP in these regions. Using the CFD software FLUENT we simulated a two-dimensional axisymmetric model of a SCPP with the standard k-ε turbulence model. The simulation results show that the highest power output produced monthly average value 68–73 KW over the year and the highest hourly power produced in June is around 109–113 KW.     

Green synthesis,activation and functionalization of adsorbents for dye sequestration

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The release of recalcitrant dyes into the biosphere is a threat because of pollution and environmental health issues. Adsorption using commercial activated carbon...     

Purification of industrial phosphoric acid (54 %) using Fe-pillared bentonite

The current problem of excess impurities in industrial phosphoric acid (IPA) 54 % P₂O₅ makes phosphates industries look toward low-cost but efficient adsorbents. In the present study, iron-oxide-modified bentonite (Fe-PILB) was prepared and investigated as a possible adsorbent for the removal of organic matter (OM) like humic acid (HA), chromium (Cr(III)), and zinc (Zn(II)) from IPA aqueous solutions. These adsorbents were characterized using XRD, TEM, and BET. The adsorption of impurities is well described by the pseudo-second-order model. The results indicate that Fe-PILB has a good ability to resist co-existing anions and the low-pH condition of IPA and owns a relatively high-removal capacity of 80.42 and 25 % for OM, Cr(III), and Zn(II). The mechanism of adsorption may be described by the ligand and ion exchange that happened on the active sites. The selected order of adsorption OM?>?Cr³⁺?>?Zn²⁺ showed the importance of the competitive phenomenon onto bentonite materials’ pore adsorption. For the adsorption of OM at the low pH of IPA, H-bond complexation was the dominant mechanism. From the adsorption of heavy metals and OM complex compounds contained in IPA 54 % on Fe-PILB, the bridging of humic acid between bentonite and heavy metals (Zn(II) or Cr(III)) is proposed as the dominant adsorption mechanism (bentonite-HA-Me). Overall, the results obtained in this study indicate Fe-pillared bentonite possesses a potential for the practical application of impurity (OM, Zn(II), and Cr(III)) removal from IPA aqueous solutions.     

On the nonlinear effects of energy consumption,economic growth,and tourism on carbon footprints in the USA

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present paper implements the quantile autoregressive lagged (QARDL) approach of Cho et al. (2015) and the Granger causality in quantiles tests of...     

Fate of 14C‐lindane in a rice‐fish model ecosystem*

Abstract

A model ecosystem has been used to evaluate the impact of ¹⁴C‐lindane on rice‐fish agricultural system. The distribution of ¹⁴C‐residues among the constituents of the model ecosystem was studied over a period of 90 days. The insecticide was found to be readily absorbed by the roots and translocated to all parts of the rice plant. The peak level in the shoots (26 ppm) and roots (105 ppm) of plants was reached to within three weeks. Lindane was concentrated in fish and residues as high as 90 ppm could be detected after 30 days.

The major part of the residues present in the different constituents of the ecosystem could be extracted with hexane and proved to contain soley the parent compound. The data obtained show that lindane possesses a relatively low biodegradability in fish and in rice plant. The insecticide accumulates in fish and rice plant to considerable extent.