This study concerns the removal of a trihydrate antibiotic (Amoxicillin) from synthetically contaminated water by adsorption on modified bentonite. The bentonite was modified using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB), which turned it from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic material. The effects of different parameters were studied in batch experiments. These parameters were contact time, solution pH, agitation speed, initial concentration (C0) of the contaminant, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum removal of amoxicillin (93 %) was achieved at contact time = 240 min, pH = 10, agitation speed = 200 rpm, initial concentration = 30 ppm, and adsorbent dosage = 3 g bentonite per 1L of pollutant solution. The characterization of the adsorbent, modified bentonite, was accomplished using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller. The isotherm models were also investigated, and it was found that the Freundlich isotherm model fitted well with the experimental data (R2 = 94.77), which suggests heterogeneity in the multilayer adsorption of amoxicillin onto modified bentonite. The kinetics of the adsorption process were studied. The experimental data were found to obey the pseudo-first-order kinetic model (R2 = 95.1). Thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption process was physisorption and endothermic. Finally, the modified bentonite proved to be a good adsorbent for the removal of amoxicillin from contaminated solutions.
Biomarkers such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP) and Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) have a role in the pathogenesis of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this study was to explore the differences between serum levels of such biomarkers in severe and non-severe COVID-19 cases and compare them with normal people and to evaluate the sociodemographic variables and chronic diseases effect on the severity of COVID-19. The study included 160 subjects, divided into two groups, a case group of 80 patients, and a control group of 80 normal persons. The case group was divided into two subgroups: 40 severe COVID-19 patients and 40 patients with non-severe disease. Blood IL-6 was asses
... Show MoreThe removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater by ion exchange resins ( zeolite and purolite C105), was investigated. The adsorption process, which is pH dependent, shows maximum removal of metal ions at pH 6 and 7 for zeolite and purolite C105 for initial metal ion
concentrations of 50-250 mg/l, with resin dose of 0.25-3 g. The maximum ion exchange capacity was found to be 9.74, 9.23 and 9.71 mg/g for Cu2+, Pb2+, and Ni2+ on zeolite respectively, while on purolite C105 the maximum ion exchange capacity was found to be 9.64 ,8.73 and 9.39 for Cu2+, Pb2+, and Ni2+ respectively. The maximum removal was 97-98% for Cu2+ and Ni2+ and 92- 93% for Pb2+ on zeolite, while it was 93-94% for Cu2+, 96-97% for Ni2+, and 87-88% for Pb2+ on puroli
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) contaminated sites at Al-Rumaila Iraqi oil fields have been characterized as a part of soil remediation project. Activity of radium isotopes in contaminated soil have been determined using gamma spectrometer High Purity Germanium detector (HPGe) and found to be very high for Al-Markezia, Al-Qurainat degassing stations and storage area at Khadhir Almay region. The activity concentration of samples ranges from 6474.11±563.8 Bq/kg to 1232.5±60.9 Bq/kg with mean value of 3853.3 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 843.59±8.39 Bq/kg to 302.2±9.2 Bq/kg with mean value of 572.9 Bq/kg for 232Th and 294.31±18.56 Bq/kg to 156.64±18.1 Bq/kg with mean value of 225.5 for 40K. S
... Show MoreIntroduction: Although soap industry is known from hundreds of years, the development accompanied with this industry was little. The development implied the mechanical equipment and the additive materials necessary to produce soap with the best specifications of shape, physical and chemical properties. Objectives: This research studies the use of vacuum reactive distillation VRD technique for soap production. Methods: Olein and Palmitin in the ratio of 3 to 1 were mixed in a flask with NaOH solution in stoichiometric amount under different vacuum pressures from -0.35 to -0.5 bar. Total conversion was reached by using the VRD technique. The soap produced by the VRD method was compared with soap prepared by the reaction - only method which
... Show MoreA paraffin wax and copper foam matrix were used as a thermal energy storage material in the double passes air solar chimney (SC) collector to get ventilation effect through daytime and after sunset. Air SC collector was installed in the south wall of an insulated test room and tested with different working angles (30o, 45o and 60o). Different SC types were used; single pass, double passes flat plate collector and double pass thermal energy storage box collector (TESB). A computational model based on the finite volume method for transient tw dimensional domains was carried out to describe the heat transfer and storage in the thermal energy storage material of collector. Also, equivalent specific heat metho
... Show MoreTurbidity is a visual property of water that expresses the amount of suspended substances in the water. Its presence in quantities more significant than the permissible limit makes the water undrinkable and reduces the effectiveness of disinfectants in treating pathogens. On this basis, turbidity is used as a basic indicator for measuring water quality. This study aims to evaluate the removal efficiency of AL- Muthanna WTP. Water turbidity was used as a basic parameter in the evaluation, using performance improvement evaluation and data from previous years (2016 to 2020). The average raw water turbidity was 26.7 NTU, with a minimum of 14 NTU, with a maximum of 48 NTU. Water turbidity value for 95% of settling daily reading data was
... Show MoreTurbidity is a visual property of water that expresses the amount of suspended substances in the water. Its presence in quantities more significant than the permissible limit makes the water undrinkable and reduces the effectiveness of disinfectants in treating pathogens. On this basis, turbidity is used as a basic indicator for measuring water quality. This study aims to evaluate the removal efficiency of AL- Muthanna WTP. Water turbidity was used as a basic parameter in the evaluation, using performance improvement evaluation and data from previous years (2016 to 2020). The average raw water turbidity was 26.7 NTU, with a minimum of 14 NTU, with a maximum of 48 NTU. Water turbidity value for 95% of settling daily readi
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