Crude oil still affects many countries because it is one of the essential fuel sources. It makes life more manageable in modern communities and cannot be overstated because it is easy to use and find. However, the pollution caused by its use in industries such as mining, transportation, and the oil and gas business, especially soil pollution, cannot be ignored. Soil pollution is an issue in most communities because it influences people and ecology. Accidental infusions and spills of ore oils are prevalent occurrences leading to the entire or fractional exchange of the soil pore fluid by oil-contaminated soils that have affected the geotechnical engineering properties. The liquid limitations for polluted soil grades silty loam and sandy loam decreased by 38% and 16%. Oil contamination leads to decreased permeability; the permeability values for sandy loam soil decreased from (3.6 × 10−6 to 0.25 × 10−6 cm/s) when the oil content increased from 0 to 16%; however, the permeability values for silty loam decreased from (2.6 × 10−6 to 0.25 × 10−6) cm. The current study results exhibit that the geotechnical properties of contaminated soil with oil slag can be modified upon adding cement at different weight percentages (3, 5, and 7%) to the soil. The Atterberg limits and specific gravity of the soil were noticeably reduced when it was stabilised with cement, as well as because oil spills on soil significantly influence the environment. So, there is an immediate and critical need for efficiently removing petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants from contaminated soil. Bioremediation is a new technology gaining interest worldwide to clean up sites that have polluted petroleum hydrocarbons.
The activity concentration of natural radioactivity levels, of artificial cesium and transfer factor from soil to plants in agricultural areas at Al- Yusiefya region were determined by using NaI (Tl) detector spectrometer. Ten species of leafy plants have been selected: Spinach, Parsley, Watercress, Lettuce, Rashad, Radish, Green onion, Turnip green, Green beet and Mint. The mean activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs in leafy vegetable samples were 12.4±3.8, 14.8±4.7, 283±93 and 1.06±0.99 Bg/kg, and in soil samples were 15.9±4.3, 16.1±5.2, 298.5±3.9, and 1.11±0.37 Bq/kg. The radiation hazard indices were evaluated (radium
... Show MoreAn electrocoagulation process has been used to eliminate the chemical oxygen demand (COD) from wastewaters discharged from the Al-Muthanna petroleum refinery plant. In this process, a circular aluminum bar was used as a sacrificial anode, and hallow cylinder made from stainless steel was used as a cathode in a tubular batch electrochemical Reactor. Impacts of the operating factors like current density (5-25mAcm-2), NaCl addition at concentrations (0-2g/l), and pH at values (3-11) on the COD removal efficiency were studied.
Results revealed that the increase in current density increases the COD removal efficiency, whereas an increase
There is an interesting potential for the use of GFRP-pultruded profiles in hybrid GFRP-concrete structural elements, either for new constructions or for the rehabilitation of existing structures. This paper provides experimental and numerical investigations on the flexural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) specimens composite with encased pultruded GFRP I-sections. Five simply supported composite beams were tested in this experimental program to investigate the static flexural behavior of encased GFRP beams with high-strength concrete. Besides, the effect of using shear studs to improve the composite interaction between the GFRP beam and concrete as well as the effect of web stiffeners of GFRP were explored. Encasing the GFRP
... Show MoreThe present study focuses on synthesizing solar selective absorber thin films, combining nanostructured, binary transition metal spinel features and a composite oxide of Co and Ni. Single-layered designs of crystalline spinel-type oxides using a facile, easy and relatively cost-effective wet chemical spray pyrolysis method were prepared with a crystalline structure of MxCo3−xO4. The role of the annealing temperature on the solar selective performance of nickel-cobalt oxide thin films (∼725 ± 20 nm thick) was investigated. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of high crystalline quality thin films with a crystallite si
In the present study, the effectiveness of a procedure of electrocoagulation for removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) from the wastewater of petroleum refinery has been evaluated. Aluminum and stainless steel electrodes were used as a sacrificial anode and cathode respectively. The effect of current density (4-20mAcm−2), pH (3-11), and NaCl concentration (0-4g/l) on efficiency of removal of chemical oxygen demand was investigated. The results have shown that increasing of current density led to increase the efficiency of COD removal while increasing NaCl concentration resulted in decreasing of COD removal efficiency. Effect of pH was found to be lowering COD re
Catalytic reduction is considered an effective approach for the reduction of toxic organic pollutants from the environment, but finding an active catalyst is still a big challenge. Herein, Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst was synthesized through polyol reduction method and applied for catalytic reduction (conversion) of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). The Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst displayed an outstanding reduction activity with 99% conversion of 4-NP in 5 min with a 0.61 min−1 reaction rate (k). A number of structural characterization techniques were executed to investigate the influence of Ag on CeO2 and its effect on the catalytic conversion of 4-NP. The outstanding catalytic performances of the Ag-CeO2 catalyst can be assigne
... Show More