This study investigated the treatment of dairy wastewater using the electrocoagulation method with iron filings as electrodes. The study dealt with real samples collected from local factory for dairy products in Baghdad. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize five experimental variables at six levels for each variable, for estimating chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. These variables were the distance between electrodes, detention time, dosage of NaCl as electrolyte, initial COD concentration, and current density. RSM was investigated the direct and complex interaction effects between parameters to estimate the optimum values. The respective optimum value was 1 cm for the distance between electrodes, (60 – 120) min for detention time, 250 mg NaCl/L added, C0/6 = 5,775 mg COD/L as initial COD concentration, and 7.884 - 8.077 mA/cm2 as current provided. At the optimum parameter values, the optimum COD removal efficiency was 73.4%. Meanwhile, the study also performed removal efficiency for nitrogen (N) and phosphate (P) due to their effects on the aquatic life and systems. The optimum removal efficiency for phosphorus and nitrogen was 98.0% and 80.3%, respectively. Due to its effects on the environment and to comply with local legislations, treating these wastewaters using eco-friendly processes was highly recommended taking in consideration the economic feasibility, flexibility and easiness to operate. In addition, the study proved that the high surface area for iron filings played a crucial role in removing process.
Co-composting process can be acquired by combining organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) with sewage sludge (SS) and mature compost (MC) as enhancement and bulking agent to overcome the problems of municipal solid waste and wastewater treatment plants besides the finally produced fertilizer usage for agriculture and horticulture. The effects of different mixture ratios of (OFMSW), (SS) and (MC) on the performance of composting process were investigated in this study. Piles of about 10 kg were prepared by mixing OFMSW, SS and MC in three different ratios (w/w) [OFMSW: SS: MC= 3:1:1, 3:2:1, and 3:3:1]. Results showed that the pile [3:1:1] was most beneficial to composting. The final compost products contained a
... Show MoreIn many industries especially oil companies in Iraq consumed large quantities of water which will produce oil-contaminated water which can cause major pollution in agricultural lands and rivers. The aim of the present work is to enhance the efficiency of dispersed air flotation technique by using highly effective and cost-efficient coagulant to treating gas oil emulsion. The experimental work was carried out using bubble column made of Perspex glass (5cm I.D, 120cm height). A liquid was at depth of 60cm. Different dosage of sawdust +bentonite at ratio 2:1 (0.5+ 0.25; 1+ 0.5 and 2+1) gm and alum at concentration (10,20and30mg/l) at different pH ( 4 and 7) were used to determine optimum dosages of coagulant. Jar test exper
... Show MoreThis study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr
... Show MoreThis study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr
... Show MoreThe research aims to use a new technology for industrial water concentrating that contains poisonous metals and recovery quantities from pure water. Therefore, the technology investigated is the forward osmosis process (FO). It is a new process that use membranes available commercial and this process distinguishes by its low cost compared to other process. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was used as draw solution to extract water from poisonous metals solution. The driving force in the FO process is provided by a different in osmotic pressure (concentration) across the membrane between the draw and poisonous metals solution sides. Experimental work was divided into three parts. The first part includes operating the forward osmosis process using T
... Show MoreThe presence of heavy metals in the environment is major concern due to their toxicity. In the present study a strong acid cation exchange resin, Amberlite IR 120 was used for the removal of lead, zinc and copper from simulated wastewater. The optimum conditions were determined in a batch system of concentration 100 mg/L, pH range between 1 and 8, contact time between 5 and 120 minutes, and amount of adsorbent was from 0.05 to 0.45 g/100 ml. A constant stirring speed, 180 rpm, was chosen during all of the experiments. The optimum conditions were found to be pH of 4 for copper and lead and pH 6 for zinc, contact time of 60 min and 0.35 g of adsorbent. Three different temperatures (25, 40 and 60°C) were selected to investigate the effect
... Show MoreIn this work, the copper metal was treated using Nd:YAG laser with energy 1Joul to enhance corrosion resistance and improve surface properties. The copper metal has many applications in industry as well as water, oil and gas pipes. The same conditions, (laser power density, scan speed, distance between paths, medium gas-air) were applied in the laser surface treatment, After laser treatment, the samples microstructures were investigated using optical microscope (OM) to examine micro structural changes due to laser irradiation. Specimen surfaces were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), macro hardness, and corrosion test before and after laser treatment to
... Show MoreThis study investigated the applicability of iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanoparticles for the removal of cadmium metal from sewage water by using batch scale experiments. The iron oxide nanoparticles of 27.7nm were synthesized using a biological method and characterized by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The Box-Wilson design was used to conduct experiments with three parameters such as pH (2-6), time of adsorption (6-120min) and adsorbent dosage (5-25mg/L). The best conditions occurred at pH: 5.5; contact time: 95.8 min; and iron oxide nanoparticle dosage: 20.77 mg/L for maximum cadmium removal of (96.9%).
Cladosporium sp. plays an important role in human health, it is one of the pathogenic fungi which cause allergy and asthma and most frequently isolated from airborne spores. In this study, a couple of universal PCR primers were designed to identify the pathogenic fungi Cladosporium sp. according to conserved region 5.8S, 18S and 28S subunit ribosomal RNA gene in Cladosporium species. In silico RFLP-PCR were used to identify twenty-four Cladosporium strains. The results showed that the universal primer has the specificity to amplify the conserved region in 24 species as a band in virtual agarose gel. They also showed that the RFLP method is able to identify three Cladosporium spe
... Show MoreThe electrospun nanofibers membranes (ENMs) have gained great attention due to their superior performance. However, the low mechanical strength of ENMs, such as the rigidity and low strength, limits their applications in many aspects which need adequate strength, such as water filtration. This work investigates the impact of electrospinning parameters on the properties of ENMs fabricated from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solved in N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF). The studied electrospinning parameters were polymer concentration, solution flow rate, collector rotating speed, and the distance between the needle and collector. The fabricated ENMs were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to understand the surface morphology and es
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