Evaluation of different CHP options for refinery integration in the context of a low carbon future

This study presents a comparison of different concepts for delivering combined heat and power (CHP) to a refinery in Norway. A reference case of producing high pressure steam from natural gas in boilers and electricity in a combined cycle power plant, is compared to a: (1) natural gas fueled CHP without any CO₂ capture; (2) hydrogen fueled CHP with hydrogen produced from steam methane reforming (SMR); (3) hydrogen fueled CHP with hydrogen produced from autothermal reforming (ATR); and finally (4) natural gas fueled CHP with postcombustion CO₂ removal. The options are compared on the basis of first law efficiency, emissions of CO₂ and a simplified cash flow evaluation. Results show that in terms of efficiency the standard natural gas fueled CHP performs better than the reference case as well as the options with carbon capture. The low carbon options in turn offer lower emissions of greenhouse gases while maintaining the same efficiency as the reference case. The cash flow analysis shows that for any option, a certain mix of prices is required to produce a positive cash flow. As expected, the relationship between natural gas price and electricity price affects all options. Also the value of heat and CO₂ emissions plays an important role.     

Solar oxidation and removal of arsenic from water: An experimental study

Arsenic poses a significant threat to both human health and the environment. Arsenic removal through solar oxidation has been investigated in a batch process. Arsenic was artificially added to both deionized and tap water to conduct the experiments. Clean, colorless, transparent, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles were used for Solar Oxidation and Removal of Arsenic (SORAS) experiments. Various parameters including concentration of arsenic, iron, and photo-catalyst were varied during the experiments. The maximum arsenic removal efficiency obtained was 94% and 88% for deionized water and tap water respectively when ferrous ammonium sulphate and lemon juice were used. Maximum efficiency of 88% and 82% was obtained for deionized and tap water respectively when locally available ferrous alum and glacial acetic acid were used. The change in volume of the photo-catalyst (lemon juice and glacial acetic acid) also did not affect the SORAS process significantly. Therefore, the recommended volume for the photo-catalyst was 1–2 ml/L. SORAS can very well be used for areas contaminated with arsenic having concentrations less than 100 μg/L.     

Experimental investigations of five different mosses on accumulation capacities of Cu,Pb and Zn

Uptake of Pb, Cu and Zn by different epiphytic moss species Floribundaria floribunda (Doz. &; Molk.) Fleisch., Taxiphyllum giraldii (C. Muell.) Fleisch. and Thuidium sparsifolium (Mitt.) Jaeg., an epilithic moss Thuidium delicatulum (L.) Mitt. and a leafy liverwort Ptychanthus striatus (Lehm. &; Linderb.) Nees. was studied experimentally. The plant bodies were treated with single metal and mixed metal solutions of Pb(NO₃)₂, CuCl₂ and ZnCl₂ at different concentrations ranging from 10^?10 to 10^?2 mol L^?1. Higher uptake of Pb, Cu and Zn by T. giraldii, T. sparsifolium and P. striatus than by F. floribunda and T. delicatulum was shown in both treatments. Compared with the single metal treatment, the uptake of Zn was very low at higher concentrations in the mixed metal treatment. A slight depletion of Zn was noticed in the long-term exposure. Leaching of naturally accumulated Zn from the mosses and leafy liverwort was also observed when treated with higher concentrated (10^?4, 10^?2 mol L^?1) Pb(NO₃)₂ and CuCl₂ solutions. Similarly, the leaching of naturally accumulated Cu was observed in leafy liverwort P. striatus with 10^?2 mol L^?1 Pb(NO₃)₂ and ZnCl₂ treatments. However, insignificant changes were observed on naturally accumulated Pb and Cu in mosses. From these experiments, the epiphytic mosses T. giraldii and T. sparsifolium, which have high Cation exchange capacity and large leaf surface area, have been found to be suitable for assessing heavy metal concentration in a moderately or slightly contaminated environment.     

Sustainable bioenergy production strategies for rural India

The paper aims to assess the potential of decentralized bioenergy technologies in meeting rural energy needs and reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Decentralized energy planning is carried out for the year 2005 and 2020. Decentralized energy planning model using goal programming technique is applied for different decentralized scales (village to a district) for obtaining the optimal mix of energy resources and technologies. Results show that it is possible to meet the energy requirements of all the services that are necessary to promote development and improve the quality of life in rural areas from village to district scale, by utilizing the locally available energy resources such as cattle dung, leaf litter and woody biomass feedstock from bioenergy plantation on wastelands. The decentralized energy planning model shows that biomass feedstock required at village to district level can even be obtained from biomass conserved by shifting to biogas for cooking. Under sustainable development scenario, the decentralized energy planning model shows that there is negligible emission of CO₂, oxide of Sulphur (SOx) and oxide of nitrogen (NO_x), even while meeting all the energy needs.     

Ameliorating effect of N-acetylcysteine and curcumin on pesticide-induced oxidative DNA damage in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Endosulfan, malathion, and phosphamidon are widely used pesticides. Subchronic exposure to these contaminants commonly affects the central nervous system, immune, gastrointestinal, renal, and reproductive system. There effects have been attributed to increased oxidative stress. This study was conducted to examine the role of oxidative stress in genotoxicity following pesticide exposure using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in vitro. Further possible attenuation of genotoxicity was studied using N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and curcumin as known modulators of oxidative stress. Cultured mononuclear cells was isolated from peripheral blood of healthy volunteers, and exposed to varying concentrations of different pesticides: endosulfan, malathion, and phosphamidon for 6, 12, and 24 h. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by cellular malondialdehyde (MDA) level and DNA damage was quantified by measuring 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) using ELISA. Both MDA and 8-OH-dG were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner following treatment with these pesticides. There was a significant decrease in MDA and 8-OH-dG levels in PBMC when co-treated with NAC or/and curcumin as compared to pesticide alone. These results indicate that pesticide-induced oxidative stress is probably responsible for the DNA damage, and NAC or curcumin attenuate this effect by counteracting the oxidative stress.     

Current perspective on wastewater treatment using photobioreactor for Tetraselmis sp.: an emerging and foreseeable sustainable approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Urbanization is a revolutionary and necessary step for the development of nations. However, with development emanates its drawback i.e., generation of...     

Phytoremediation potential of Petunia grandiflora Juss., an ornamental plant to degrade a disperse, disulfonated triphenylmethane textile dye Brilliant Blue G

Phytoremediation provides an ecofriendly alternative for the treatment of pollutants like textile dyes. The purpose of this study was to explore phytoremediation potential of Petunia grandiflora Juss. by using its wild as well as tissue-cultured plantlets to decolorize Brilliant Blue G (BBG) dye, a sample of dye mixture and a real textile effluent. In vitro cultures of P. grandiflora were obtained by seed culture method. The decolorization experiments were carried out using wild as well as tissue-cultured plants independently. The enzymatic analysis of the plant roots was performed before and after decolorization of BBG. Metabolites formed after dye degradation were analyzed using UV–vis spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Phytotoxicity studies were performed. Characterization of dye mixture and textile effluent was also studied. The wild and tissue-cultured plants of P. grandiflora showed the decolorized BBG up to 86 %. Significant increase in the activities of lignin peroxidase, laccase, NADH-2,6-dichlorophenol-indophenol reductase, and tyrosinase was found in the roots of the plants. Three metabolites of BBG were identified as 3-{[ethyl(phenyl)amino]methyl}benzenesulfonic acid, 3-{[methyl (phenyl)amino]methyl}benzenesulfonic amino acid, and sodium-3-[(cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylideneamino)methyl]benzenesulfonate. Textile effluent sample and a synthetic mixture of dyes were also decolorized by P. grandiflora. Phytotoxicity test revealed the nontoxic nature of metabolites. P. grandiflora showed the potential to decolorize and degrade BBG to nontoxic metabolites. The plant has efficiently treated a sample of dye mixture and textile effluent.     

Design and off-design analyses of a pre-combustion CO2 capture process in a natural gas combined cycle power plant

In this study, a cycle designed for capturing the greenhouse gas CO₂ in a natural gas combined cycle power plant has been analyzed. The process is a pre-combustion CO₂ capture cycle utilizing reforming of natural gas and removal of the carbon in the fuel prior to combustion in the gas turbine. The power cycle consists of a H₂-fired gas turbine and a triple pressure steam cycle. Nitrogen is used as fuel diluent and steam is injected into the flame for additional NO_x control. The heat recovery steam generator includes pre-heating for the various process streams. The pre-combustion cycle consists of an air-blown auto-thermal reformer, water–gas shift reactors, an amine absorption system to separate out the CO₂, as well as a CO₂ compression block. Included in the thermodynamic analysis are design calculations, as well as steady-state off-design calculations. Even though the aim is to operate a plant, as the one in this study, at full load there is also a need to be able to operate at part load, meaning off-design analysis is important. A reference case which excludes the pre-combustion cycle and only consists of the power cycle without CO₂ capture was analyzed at both design and off-design conditions for comparison. A high degree of process integration is present in the cycle studied. This can be advantageous from an efficiency stand-point but the complexity of the plant increases. The part load calculations is one way of investigating how flexible the plant is to off-design conditions. In the analysis performed, part load behavior is rather good with efficiency reductions from base load operation comparable to the reference combined cycle plant.     

Monitoring of organochlorine pesticides in and around Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India

Keoladeo National Park (KNP) is an important wintering ground for thousands of birds that undertake a perilous journey over the Himalaya to make a seasonal home in a wetland ecosystem. However, this wetland is now getting polluted by various types of contaminants such as pesticides because of the agricultural practices in the catchment area from where the park receives water. Keeping this in mind, the present study has been undertaken to assess the organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in the sediments inside and around KNP. Samples were collected from the different blocks of the park. The concentrations of α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, δ-HCH, S-HCH, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, hept.epoxide, endosulfan-I, endosulfan-II, endo.sulfate, S-endosulfan, endrin, 4,4'-DDE, 4,4'-DDD, and DDT were quantified using gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Analysis showed that the samples were contaminated with the above mentioned pesticides and that the concentration of total OCPs in the sediments varied from 0.1173 (dieldrin) to 5.558 ppm (γ HCH) in the samples collected from inside the park, whereas a range of pesticides varying in concentration from 0.1245 (4,4'-DDD) to 7.54 ppm (γ HCH) was found in samples from outside the park. Residues of S-HCH and S-endosulfan were not detected in any of the sediment samples. The occurrence of pesticides inside the park is a major threat to the park's biodiversity. Eco-friendly agriculture practices with minimal use of inorganic chemicals are suggested to minimize the pesticide residue levels in the park.     

Dynamics of toxic heavy metals in different compartments of a highly urbanized closed aquatic system

This paper deals with the dynamics of chromium, nickel, copper and lead among the different components namely water, surface sediments, submerged and free floating macrophytes and fish of the twin manmade lakes, Upper and Lower lakes, of Bhopal (M.P., India). Some basic parameters of water and sediment have also been studied. The basin of the lake system is densely populated and the water is used for various purposes including drinking. Ni and Pb along with nitrate in both lakes are significantly higher than the drinking water quality criteria of USEPA. The concentration of the metals in the sediments is noticeably higher than that present in the adjoining rock, particularly Ni and Pb. There is a significant uptake of metals by the macrophytes (Eichhornia crassipes and Hydrilla verticillata) and fish (Labeo rohita and Oreochromis niloticus) mainly in summer. The fish of Lower lake (O. niloticus) is unfit for human consumption. The data have been statistically treated. Principle component analysis and cluster analysis were performed to define the origin of metals and to assess the relationship among the sites. Overall the Lower lake is more polluted than the Upper lake. In aggregate, the lake system is under an environmental stress due to certain practices.