The adsorption of copper ions onto produced activated carbon from banana peels (with particle size 250 µm) in a single component system with applying magnetic field has been studied using fixed bed adsorber. The fixed bed breakthrough curves for the copper ions were investigated. The adsorption capacity for Cu (II) was investigated. It was found that 1) the exposure distance (E.D) and strength of magnetic field (B), affected the degree of adsorption; and 2) experiments showed that removal of Cu ions and accumulative adsorption capacity of adsorbent increase as the exposure distance and strength of magnetic field increase.
The ability of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to uptake three pharmaceuticals (diclofenac, mefenamic acid and metronidazole) from two types of soil (clay and sandy soil) was investigated in this study to explore the human exposure to these pharmaceuticals via the consumption of beans. A pot experiment was conducted with beans plants which were grown in two types of soil for six weeks under controlled conditions. During the experiment period, the soil pore water was collected weekly and the concentrations of the test compounds in soil pore water as well as in plant organs (roots, stems and leaves) were weekly determined.
The results showed that the studied pharmaceuticals were detected in all plant tissues; their concentration
Microbiological contamination by fungi impacts the quality and safety of wheat grain storage. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cold plasma in restricting the growth of the fungus, Aspergillus niger, which was isolated from wheat grains. A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operating at atmospheric pressure generated cold plasma that was used to treat the fungus, and the impact of this treatment was investigated at various periods 1, 2, 4, 6, and 15 minutes. The results revealed a highly significant decrease in the growth and number of spores of Aspergillus niger compared to the controls. This study revealed an efficient technique for enhancing wheat grain storage that could be a foundation for further large-scale studies.
... Show MoreA laboratory investigation of six different tests were conducted on silty clay soil spiked with lead in concentrations of 1500 mg/kg. A constant DC voltage gradient of 1 V/cm was applied for all these tests with duration of 7 days remediation process for each test. Different purging solutions and addition configurations, i.e. injection wells, were investigated experimentally to enhance the removal of lead from Iraqi soil during electro-kinetic remediation process. The experimental results showed that the overall removal efficiency of lead for tests conducted with distilled water, 0.1 M acetic acid, 0.2 M EDTA and 1 M ammonium citrate as the purging solutions were equal to 18 %, 37 %, 42 %, and 29 %, respectively. H
... Show MoreThe degradation performance of aqueous solution of pesticide Alachlor has been studied at solar pilot scale plant in two photocatalytic systems: homogeneous photocatalysis by photo-Fenton and heterogeneous photocatalysis with titanium dioxide. The pilot scale system included of compound parabolic collectors specially designed for solar photocatalytic applications, and installed at University of Baghdad, Department of Environmental Engineering back yard. The influence of different concentrations, H2O2 (200-2400 mg/l), Fe+2(5- 30 mg/l) and TiO2 (100-500 mg/l) and their relationship with the degradation efficiency were studied.
The COD removal efficienc
... Show MoreThis work reports the development of an analytical method for the simultaneous analysis of three fluoroquinolones; ciprofloxacin (CIP), norfloxacin (NOR) and ofloxacin (OFL) in soil matrix. The proposed method was performed by using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), solid-phase extraction (SPE) for samples purification, and finally the pre-concentrated samples were analyzed by HPLC detector. In this study, various organic solvents were tested to extract the test compounds, and the extraction performance was evaluated by testing various parameters including extraction solvent, solvent volume, extraction time, temperature and number of the extraction cycles. The current method showed a good linearity over the concentration ranging from
... Show MoreSolid‐waste management, particularly of aluminum (Al), is a challenge that is being confronted around the world. Therefore, it is valuable to explore methods that can minimize the exploitation of natural assets, such as recycling. In this study, using hazardous Al waste as the main electrodes in the electrocoagulation (EC) process for dye removal from wastewater was discussed. The EC process is considered to be one of the most efficient, promising, and cost‐effective ways of handling various toxic effluents. The effect of current density (10, 20, and 30 mA/cm2), electrolyte concentration (1 and 2 g/L), and initial concentration of Brilliant Blue dye (15 and 30 mg/L) on
Crude soybean peroxidase (SBP), isolated from soybean seed coats (hulls) at unusually low concentrations, catalyses the oxidative polymerisation of hazardous aqueous benzidine and its 3,3′-dichloro, 3,3′-dimethyl and 3,3′-dimethoxy derivatives in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The optimum operating conditions for oxidation of 0·10 mM benzidine were investigated. At pH 5, the hydrogen peroxide-to-substrate concentration ratio was 1·5 and the minimum SBP concentration required to achieve at least 95% conversion of the benzidine in synthetic wastewater was 0·43 mU/ml. Progress curves were established for the conversion of the four substrates, and apparent first-order rate constants were derived. Enzyme-catalysed polym
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The ability of pulverized walnut-shell to remove oil from aqueous solutions has been studied. It involves two-phase process which consists of using walnut-shell as a filtering bed for the accumulation and adsorption of oil onto its surface. Up to 96% oil removal from synthetic wastewater samples was achieved while tests results showed that 75% of oil can be removed from the actual wastewater discharged from Al- Duara refinery in the south of Baghdad.