Environmental impact of coal washery and Damodar River water on the morphometry and biochemical changes of maize (Zea mays L.) and soil health

Enormous quantity of water is used for coal beneficiation and accordingly huge amount of effluents are being generated. In this study an attempt was made to evaluate the potential of this effluent water for irrigation. Water samples were collected from three different points (a) feeding point, (b) thickening point, and (c) outlet point of coal washery, and from Damodar River for monitoring the water quality. The samples were analyzed for various parameters and compared with prescribed standard, which revealed that the total suspended solids of thickening point and Damodar River were higher. A pot experiment with maize was conducted to study the suitability of this coal washery water for irrigation. Pots were irrigated with water from the three points of washery and Damodar River in two concentrations (100% and 50% dilution with distilled water); pure distilled water was used for control. There was 100% germination in all the treatments. The plant growth, chlorophyll content and soil quality parameters were significantly better in washery and Damodar River water treated pots. The Damodar River water and washery water from feeding and outlet point could be successfully used for irrigation. In general mixing with good quality water has shown better results.     

Particulate matter concentration in ambient air and its effects on lung functions among residents in the National Capital Region, India

The World Health Organization has estimated that air pollution is responsible for 1.4 % of all deaths and 0.8 % of disability-adjusted life years. NOIDA, located at the National Capital Region, India, was declared as one of the critically air-polluted areas by the Central Pollution Control Board of the Government of India. Studies on the relationship of reduction in lung functions of residents living in areas with higher concentrations of particulate matter (PM) in ambient air were inconclusive since the subjects of most of the studies are hospital admission cases. Very few studies, including one from India, have shown the relationship of PM concentration and its effects of lung functions in the same location. Hence, a cross-sectional study was undertaken to study the effect of particulate matter concentration in ambient air on the lung functions of residents living in a critically air-polluted area in India. PM concentrations in ambient air (PM_1, PM_2.5) were monitored at residential locations and identified locations with higher (NOIDA) and lower concentrations (Gurgaon). Lung function tests (FEV₁, PEFR) were conducted using a spirometer in 757 residents. Both air monitoring and lung function tests were conducted on the same day. Significant negative linear relationship exists between higher concentrations of PM₁ with reduced FEV₁ and increased concentrations of PM_2.5 with reduced PEFR and FEV₁. The study shows that reductions in lung functions (PEFR and FEV₁) can be attributed to higher particulate matter concentrations in ambient air. Decline in airflow obstruction in subjects exposed to high PM concentrations can be attributed to the fibrogenic response and associated airway wall remodeling. The study suggests the intervention of policy makers and stake holders to take necessary steps to reduce the emissions of PM concentrations, especially PM_1, PM_2.5, which can lead to serious respiratory health concerns in residents.     

Hazard assessment of metals in invasive fish species of the Yamuna River,India in relation to bioaccumulation factor and exposure concentration for human health implications

Monitoring of heavy metals was conducted in the Yamuna River considering bioaccumulation factor, exposure concentration, and human health implications which showed contamination levels of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and chromium (Cr) and their dispersion patterns along the river. Largest concentration of Pb in river water was 392 μg L^?1; Cu was 392 μg L^?1 at the extreme downstream, Allahabad and Ni was 146 μg L^?1 at midstream, Agra. Largest concentration of Cu was 617 μg kg^?1, Ni 1,621 μg kg^?1 at midstream while Pb was 1,214 μg kg^?1 at Allahabad in surface sediment. The bioconcentration of Cu, Pb, Ni, and Cr was observed where the largest accumulation of Pb was 2.29 μg kg^?1 in Oreochromis niloticus and 1.55 μg kg^?1 in Cyprinus carpio invaded at Allahabad while largest concentration of Ni was 174 μg kg^?1 in O. niloticus and 124 μg kg^?1 in C. carpio in the midstream of the river. The calculated values of hazard index (HI) for Pb was found more than one which indicated human health concern. Carcinogenic risk value for Ni was again high i.e., 17.02?×?10^?4 which was larger than all other metals studied. The results of this study indicated bioconcentration in fish due to their exposures to heavy metals from different routes which had human health risk implications. Thus, regular environmental monitoring of heavy metal contamination in fish is advocated for assessing food safety since health risk may be associated with the consumption of fish contaminated through exposure to a degraded environment.     

Low NOx,High Efficiency Multistaged Burner: Fuel Oil Results

A multistaged combustion burner designed for in-furnace NO_x control and high combustion efficiency is being evaluated for high nitrogen content fuel and waste incineration application in a 0.6 MW package boiler simulator. A low NO_x precombustion chamber burner has been reduced in size by approximately a factor of two (from 600 to 250 ms first-stage residence time) and coupled with (1) air staging, resulting in a three-stage configuration, and (2) natural gas fuel staging, yielding up to four stolchlometric zones. Natural gas, doped with ammonia to yield a 5.8 percent fuel nitrogen content, and distillate fuel oil, doped with pyridine to yield a 2 percent fuel nitrogen content, were used to simulate high nitrogen content fuel/waste mixtures. The multistaged burner reduced NO emissions by 85 percent from emission levels from a conventional unstaged burner mounted on a commercial package bollerTA minimum NO emission level of 110 ppm was achieved in the fuel oil tests, from a level of 765 ppm for conventional firing. This is compared with a 160 ppm minimum NO level achieved in gaseous fuel tests, from an uncontrolled level of 1000 ppm. Boiler fuel staging, or reburnlng, appears to be superior to air staging for high combustion efficiency due to its minimal fuel-rich core and second flame front in the boiler.     

COMPARISON OF PROCESS‐BASED AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK APPROACHES FOR STREAMFLOW MODELING IN AN AGRICULTURAL WATERSHED1

ABSTRACT: The performance of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and artificial neural network (ANN) models in simulating hydrologic response was assessed in an agricultural watershed in southeastern Pennsylvania. All of the performance evaluation measures including Nash‐Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (E) and coefficient of determination (R²) suggest that the ANN monthly predictions were closer to the observed flows than the monthly predictions from the SWAT model. More specifically, monthly streamflow E and R² were 0.54 and 0.57, respectively, for the SWAT model calibration period, and 0.71 and 0.75, respectively, for the ANN model training period. For the validation period, these values were ?0.17 and 0.34 for the SWAT and 0.43 and 0.45 for the ANN model. SWAT model performance was affected by snowmelt events during winter months and by the model's inability to adequately simulate base flows. Even though this and other studies using ANN models suggest that these models provide a viable alternative approach for hydrologic and water quality modeling, ANN models in their current form are not spatially distributed watershed modeling systems. However, considering the promising performance of the simple ANN model, this study suggests that the ANN approach warrants further development to explicitly address the spatial distribution of hydrologic/water quality processes within watersheds.     

Enhancement of chemical-oxygen demand and color removal of distillery spent-wash by ozonation.

Distillery spent-wash has very high organic content (75,000 to 125,000 mg/L chemical-oxygen demand [COD]), color, and contains difficult-to-biodegrade organic compounds. For example, anaerobic treatment of the distillery spent-wash used in this study resulted in 60% COD reduction and low color removal. Subsequent aerobic treatment of the anaerobic effluent resulted in enhancement of COD removal to 66%. In this paper, the effect of ozonation on various properties of the anaerobically treated distillery effluent, including the effect on its subsequent aerobic biodegradation, was investigated. Ozonation of the anaerobically treated distillery effluent at various ozone doses resulted in the reduction of total-organic carbon (TOC), COD, COD/TOC ratio, absorbance, color, and increase in the biochemical-oxygen demand (BOD)/COD ratio of the effluent. Further, ozonation of the anaerobically treated distillery effluent at an ozone dose of 2.08 mg/mg initial TOC and subsequent aerobic biodegradation resulted in 87.4% COD removal, as compared to 66% removal when ozonation was not used.     

Insecticidal activity of the plant Phyllanthus amarus against Tribolium castaneum

The plant Phyllanthus amarus is used as folk medicine since the year 1800 and has been established for its important medicinal properties particularly for liver ailments. The present communication explores the insecticidal activity of ethanolic extract of aerial and root parts of this plant against stored grain pest Tribolium castaneum. LC 50 values of ethanolic aerial part were 895.77, 473.91, 279.89 and 260.85 microg/cm2, while 512.62, 376.96, 248.88 and 209.79 microg/cm2 for ethanolic root part at the exposure of 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 days respectively. Ethanolic root extract possessed significant insecticidal activity against T. castaneum.     

Kinetic and equilibrium isotherm studies for the adsorptive removal of Brilliant Green dye from aqueous solution by rice husk ash

The present study deals with the adsorption of Brilliant Green (BG) on rice husk ash (RHA). RHA is a solid waste obtained from the particulate collection equipment attached to the flue gas lines of rice husk fired boilers. Batch studies were performed to evaluate the influences of various experimental parameters like initial pH (pH0), contact time, adsorbent dose and initial concentration (C0) on the removal of BG. Optimum conditions for BG removal were found to be pH0 approximately 3.0, adsorbent dose approximately 6 g L(-1) of solution and equilibrium time approximately 5 h for the C0 range of 50-300 mg L(-1). Adsorption of BG followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Intra-particle diffusion does not seem to control the BG removal process. Equilibrium isotherms for the adsorption of BG on RHA were analyzed by Freundlich, Langmuir, Redlich-Peterson (R-P), Dubnin-Radushkevich (D-R), and Temkin isotherm models using a non-linear regression technique. Langmuir and R-P isotherms were found to best represent the data for BG adsorption onto RHA. Adsorption of BG on RHA is favourably influenced by an increase in the temperature of the operation. Values of the change in entropy (DeltaS0) and heat of adsorption (DeltaH0) for BG adsorption on RHA were positive. The high negative value of change in Gibbs free energy (DeltaG0) indicates the feasible and spontaneous adsorption of BG on RHA.     

Alteration in uptake and translocation of essential nutrients in cabbage by excess lead

To observe the tolerance limit of lead phytotoxicity in cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) var. Golden Aker plants were grown in refined sand with complete nutrient solution for 41 days. On 42nd day, pots with plants were separated into six lots. One lot was allowed to grow as such and was treated as control, in rest of the five lots, lead was applied at 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5 and 1.0 mM as lead nitrate. At d 75 (34 days after metal exposure), the lead toxicity symptoms as restricted growth was observed on plants at 1.0 mM lead supply. Excess lead (0.5 and 1.0 mM) developed interveinal chlorosis along the margins of young leaves. The affected leaves were reduced in size giving plant a rosette like appearance. Head size was markedly reduced at these (0.5 and 1.0 mM) levels of lead. At 0.5 mM the intensity of symptoms was markedly low. With an increase in lead supply, the concentration of lead and zinc was increased whereas that of P, S, Fe, Mn and Cu were decreased in various parts of cabbage. At 1.0 mM Pb, the concentration of lead was highest in roots and lowest in head. In leaves of cabbage the threshold of toxicity and toxicity values were 150 and 320 microg g-1 dry matter, respectively.