During the past forty years, and due to the global climate changes, Iraq had and still suffering from the spreading and expansion of large dune fields in which many new generations have been accumulated, and older ones have expanded leading to the desertification of huge agricultural and urban areas and causing vast environmental problems that have a drastic effect on the life style of the population. To tackle such a problem, many methods have been suggested and even more are applied to fix the dunes or at least to limit their spreading so that to lessen the environmental impact. Such efforts were tried in many dune areas in Iraq, but it was in vain due to the classical nature of remedy that deals only with temporary and limited results
... Show MoreTo study the removal of lead (Pb) ions from aqueous solutions, novel magnetite nanoparticles (NPs) of Ni0.31Mg0.15Ag0.04Fe2.5O4 were synthesized by coprecipitation synthesis using metal sulfates, and then coated with Gum Arabic (GA). The prepared NPs were analyzed using various spectroscopic and analytical methods, such as X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). By using XRD analysis, the cubic inverse spinel structure of the prepared NPs was proven, showing average values of crystallite size, latt
... Show MoreThis study aims to test ceramic waste's capacity to remove nickel from aqueous solutions through adsorption. Ceramic wastes were collected from the Refractories Manufacturing Plant in Ramadi. Through a series of lab tests, the reaction time (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 minutes, and Ni concentrations (20, 40, 60, and 80) were tested using ceramic wastes with a solid to liquid ratio of 2g/30ml. At a temperature of 30ºC, the pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), and electrical conductivity (EC) were all measured. The equilibrium time was set at 30 min. Thereafter, the sorption (%) somewhat increased positively with the Ni concentration. Freundlich's equation showed that the adsorption intensity is 1.1827 and the Freundlich c
... Show MoreThe exploitation of obsolete recyclable resources including paper waste has the advantages of saving resources and environment protection. This study has been conducted to study utilizing paper waste to adsorb phenol which is one of the harmful organic compound byproducts deposited in the environment. The influence of different agitation methods, pH of the solution (3-11), initial phenol concentration (30-120ppm), adsorbent dose (0.5-2.5 g) and contact time (30-150 min) were studied. The highest phenol removal efficiency obtained was 86% with an adsorption capacity of 5.1 mg /g at optimization conditions (pH of 9, initial phenol concentration of 30 mg/L, an adsorbent dose of 2 g and contact time of 120min and at room temperature).
... Show MoreThe present study examines the extraction of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) from a contaminated soil by washing process. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (Na2EDTA) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution were used as extractants. Soil washing is one of the most suitable in-situ/ ex-situ remediation method in removing heavy metals. Soil was artificially contaminated with 500 mg/kg (Pb , Cd and Ni ). A set of batch experiments were carried out at different conditions of extractant concentration , contact time, pH and agitation speed. The results showed that the maximum removal efficiencies of (Cd, Pb and Ni ) were (97, 88 and 24 )&nbs
... Show MoreProduction of fatty acid esters (biodiesel) from oleic acid and 2-ethylhexanol using sulfated zirconia as solid catalyst for the production of biodiesel was investigated in this work.
The parameters studied were temperature of reaction (100 to 130°C), molar ratio of alcohol to free fatty acid (1:1 to 3:1), concentration of catalyst (0.5 to 3%wt), mixing speed (500 to 900 rpm) and types of sulfated zirconia (i.e modified, commercial, prepared catalyst according to literature and reused catalyst). The results show the best conversion to biodiesel was 97.74% at conditions of 130°C, 3:1, 2wt% and 650 rpm using modified catalyst respectively. Also, modified c
... Show MoreBiodiesel is an environmentally friendly fuel and a good substitution for the fossil fuel. However, the purity of this fuel is a major concern that challenges researchers. In this study, a calcium oxide based catalyst has been prepared from local waste eggshells by the calcination method and tested in production biodiesel. The eggshells were powdered and calcined at different temperatures (700, 750, 800, 850 and 900 °C) and periods of time (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 hr.). The effect of calcination temperature and calcination time on the structure and activity of the solid catalyst were examined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Brunaure-Emmett-Teller (BET). The optimum catalyst performance was obtained at 900 °C
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper was to investigate the removal efficiencies of Zn+2 ions from wastewater by adsorption (using tobacco leaves) and forward osmosis (using cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane). Various experimental parameters were investigated in adsorption experiment such as: effect of pH (3 - 7), contact time (0 - 220) min, solute concentration (10 - 100) mg/l, and adsorbent dose (0.2 - 5)g. Whereas for forward osmosis the operating parameters studied were: draw solution concentration (10 - 150) g/l, pH of feed solution (4 - 7), feed solution concentration (10 - 100) mg/l. The result showed that the removal efficiency by using adsorption was 70% and the removal efficiency by using forward osmosis was 96.2 %.
... Show MoreIn batch experiments, a natural chitosan adsorbent was employed to extract cobalt ions from industrial wastewater under varied parameters of starting concentration, adsorbent weight, pH, and contact duration. The adsorbent was examined using FTIR, XRD, and AFM. For an initial cobalt ion concentration of 5x10-2 mol/l at pH 6, time 35 minutes, temperature 25 °C, and adsorbing dose 0.1 g, the results showed a maximum removal percentage of 99.0 percent. The Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second order kinetic model both suit the experimental data well. According to thermodynamic studies, the process was spontaneous and endothermic.