Assessment using CFD of the wind direction on the air discharges caused by natural ventilation of a poultry house

Air inside poultry houses must be removed on a regular basis to prevent excess of heat, particles and noxious gases that can imperil animals. To cope with this issue, natural ventilation could be an effective method when assisted by accurate predictions. This study investigates air discharges caused by natural ventilation of a poultry house by means of a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. It solves the governing equations of momentum, heat and mass transport, radiative transfers and animal-generated heat. Wind directions of 0°, 36° and 56° (0° corresponds to a wind blowing perpendicular to the ridgeline) were investigated; the CFD model predictions achieved a RMSE of 1.2 °C and 0.6 g[H₂O] kg^?1 [dry air] for internal temperature and absolute humidity, respectively, when air blew with an angle of 36°. Air renewal rates (ARR) were 39.5 (±?1.9), 34.9 (±?2.2) and 33.6 (±?1.7) volumes of the building per hour, when air blew at 0°, 36° and 56°, respectively. Such ARR predictions served to know how the gases contained in air would likely spread downstream from the building in order to define regions of potentially high gas concentration that could endanger neighbouring habitable facilities.     

Subcritical water oxidation of propham by H2O2 using response surface methodology (RSM)

This study was conducted to investigate the degradation of propham, which is a compound that pollutes water and seriously threatens human health, by subcritical water oxidation and using H₂O₂ as an oxidising agent. The maximum total organic carbon removal rate of propham was obtained as 73.65% at 40 min of treatment time and 60 mM of H₂O₂ concentration and 373 K of temperature. In addition, response surface method based on the Box-Behnken design was applied to design the degradation experiments of propham for determination of the combined effects of process variables, namely temperature, concentration of oxidising agent and treatment time. The proposed quadratic model of propham degradation, which was examined with the analysis of variance, was used for navigating the design space. The R² and adjusted R² values of the model were determined as 0.9921 and 0.9819 respectively. It was shown that propham was effectively degraded, thus could be removed from the water by using an environmentally friendly method.     

Investigation of Nanoparticle Additives to Biodiesel for Improvement of the Performance and Exhaust Emissions in a Compression Ignition Engine

Worldwide energy demand has been growing steadily during the past five decades and most experts believe that this trend will continue to rise. The amount of emitted harmful emission gases increases in parallel with increasing energy consumption. This increase has forced many countries to take various precautions, and various restrictions on emitted emissions have been carried. In this study, effects of addition of oxygen containing nanoparticle additives to biodiesel on fuel properties and effects on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions were investigated. Two different nanoparticle additives, namely MgO and SiO₂, were added to biodiesel at the addition dosage of 25 and 50 ppm. Fuel properties, engine performance, and exhaust emission characteristics of obtained modified fuels were examined. As a result of this study, engine emission values NO_x and CO were decreased and engine performance values slightly increased with the addition of nanoparticle additives.     

The modeling and analysis of transesterification reaction conditions in the selection of optimal biodiesel yield and viscosity

Among alternative fuels, biodiesel has been emphasized as a substantial candidate for diesel engines because of many advantages. However, the main shortcomings preventing more widespread use of biodiesel are high production cost and viscosity. In order to simultaneously overcome both of these shortcomings, the reaction conditions for the transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) were optimized using Taguchi and the full factorial design approaches. The analyses of signal to noise ratio and variance were also performed to identify the dominance of reaction conditions on viscosity and biodiesel yield. As a result, the optimal reaction conditions giving the lowest kinematic viscosity (3.991 cSt) and the highest biodiesel yield (98.19%) were determined to be as follows: sodium methoxide amount of 1.00 wt%, reaction time of 60 min, reaction temperature of 55 °C, and methanol to oil molar ratio of 6:1. The catalyst amount and methanol to oil molar ratio were found to be the most significant conditions influencing on the viscosity (10.36% and 78.87% contributions) and the yield (58.48% and 20.17% contributions), respectively. Finally, all physicochemical properties of final waste cooking oil biodiesel (WCOB) produced under optimal reaction conditions were found to meet the EN 14214.     

Experimental arid land afforestation in Central Anatolia,Turkey

The afforestation of arid lands faces many challenges, and perhaps the most important key for success is choosing one or more species that are adapted well for local environmental conditions. We explored species that would be suitable for the steppe region of Central Anatolia. Intensive site preparation included ripping the subsoil (to 80 cm) and plowing the upper soil before planting seedlings of Elaeagnus angustifolia, Robinia pseudoacacia, Fraxinus angustifolia, and Pinus nigra were used as tree species. We also tested the success of several shrub species: Amygdalus orientalis, Calligonum polygonoides, and Spartium junceum. After five growing seasons, E. angustifolia showed the highest survival, with 80% of planted seedlings remaining. For the shrubs, A. orientalis was the most successful species with a 95% survival rate. Broad-leaved trees grew a cumulative average of 34 cm in height in 5 years, whereas P. nigra seedings grew only 9 cm. The greatest height growth occurred in the shrubs, with A. orientalis gaining 40 cm in height in 5 years. Overall, E. angustifolia and A. orientalis appeared best suited for afforestation in these areas. R. pseodoacacia and F. angustifolia may also be used as alternative species.     

Proposing of new building scheme and composite towards global warming mitigation for Malaysia

The building sector has been regarded as a potential sector where there is large capacity to reduce the climate change effect. This study has proposed solutions to mitigate environmental impacts and achieve low CO₂ emission from residential sector. Therefore, full life cycle assessment (LCA) has been run to assess the CO₂ emission and its effect on the atmosphere and climate change. Based on the result, timber scheme is the best choice due to releasing less CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere. However, house builders in Malaysia have almost completely neglected timber as a building material, with timber use as building components reduced to 5%. In this study, LCA Software was used to assess CO₂ emissions from different wall construction. The alternative building scheme has been made by reinforce steel stud, wooden beam and timber wall (S8) to improve the scheme deficiency while releasing less CO₂ emissions compared to other schemes. Therefore, S8 has a decreased CO₂ effect by 85% less than precast concrete frame and 90% less than brick over their lifetime. (S8) increased the load bearing compared to conventional timber beam. Thus, new scheme S8 could be replaced by current scheme and promote more adjustable scheme for Malaysian housing.     

Applicability of LIVE/DEAD BacLight stain with glutaraldehyde fixation for the measurement of bacterial abundance and viability in rainwater

Rainwater contains substantial bacteria and rain is an efficient pathway for the dissemination of bacteria from the atmosphere to land and water surfaces.However,quantitative information on rainwater bacteria is very limited due to the lack of a reliable method.In this study,the epifluorescence microscopy enumeration with the LIVE/DEAD BacLight Bacterial Viability Kit stain was verified to quantify the abundance of viable and non-viable bacterial cells in rainwater,with the 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPI) stain for the reference of total cell counts.Results showed that the total counts of bacterial cells by LIVE/DEAD BacLight staining were consistent with those by DAPI staining,and the average detection efficiency was(109 ± 29)%.The ratio of cell count with glutaraldehyde fixation to that without fixation was(106 ± 5)%on average.The bacterial concentration in negative control was usually an order of magnitude lower than that in rainwater samples.However,in case of small precipitation,the abundance in negative control could be more than that in rainwater samples.These results indicate that the enumeration with LIVE/DEAD BacLight bacterial viability assay coupled with glutaraldehyde fixation and careful negative control investigation is an approach applicable to the measurement of the concentration and viability of bacterial cells in rainwater.     

Water quality evaluation of two interconnected dam lakes with field-captured and laboratory-acclimated fish, <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Cyprinus carpio</Emphasis>

Karakaya and Sultansuyu Dam Lakes, located in the eastern part of Turkey, are important water sources, both for irrigation and fishery. The main goal of the study was to investigate water qualities of dam lakes using a set of biomarkers in the fish Cyprinus carpio. For this aim, field sample and laboratory-acclimated fish were compared to identify changes in selected biomarkers. The activities of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase, and carboxylesterase were determined in liver samples. Also, plasma and liver lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase activities were assayed. Brain acetylcholinesterase and carboxylesterase activities were also determined. The hepatosomatic index and condition factors were calculated. Plasma vitellogenin assays were evaluated for the presence of xenoestrogen. Physicochemical values of water samples showed the existence of eutrophication risk, and also, some chemicals in both lakes were determined to be over tolerable limits. The comparisons of samples from both dam lake and laboratory-acclimated fish showed that the lakes may be at risk of pollution by some xenobiotics, namely xenoestrogens and acetylcholinesterase-inhibiting agents.     

Negative health effects in rats fed on sardine fishes

An adequate human diet should satisfy the requirements for energy and nutritive components including essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, essential amino acids, mineral components, vitamins, and fat. The benefits of the fish consumption are, however, often counteracted by toxic metals such as lead present in fish meat. Adverse effects of toxic metals on the aquatic environment and human health have aroused increasing interest in recent years. The achievement of an appropriate balance between the risks and benefits associated with fish consumption has therefore become a key health issue in current research. Therefore, we studied health impacts associated with the consumption of sardine fish, one of the most commonly consumed fish species throughout the world. Hepatic damages associated with the consumption of white or red muscle of sardine fish were explored and evaluated using a rat model. Rats were fed for 60 days with white or red sardine meat. Findings revealed (1) an elevated level of uric acid in the blood, (2) an accumulation of lead in the liver, (3) an atrophy of the liver, (4) an increase in plasma aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities, and (5) an oxidative stress in the liver, including increased levels of lipid peroxidation and enhanced activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Several abnormalities were also observed in liver histology. The alterations observed in the animals can be attributed to both the accumulation of lead and the high levels of purine in the sardine meat. The findings show that special attention should be given to the health effects associated with high intakes of sardine meat, particularly dark-meat sardine.