The present work aims to study the treatment of oily wastewater by means of forward osmosis membrane bioreactor process. Side stream (external) configuration and submerged (internal) configuration of osmotic membrane bioreactor were performed and investigated. The experimental work for each configuration was carried out continuously over 21 days. The flux behavior of forward osmosis membrane in an osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) was investigated, using NaCl as the draw solution and CTA as FO membrane. The effect of mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration and TDS accumulation of bioreactor on water flux and membrane fouling behaviors was detected. The accumulation and rejection of nutrients in the bioreactor (Nitrate, COD, and Phosphate) were investigated over the days of the experiment. Water flux and membrane fouling were not significantly affected by MLSS concentration at low level and this effect increase with increasing MLSS concentration (4000–10000 mg/L). Besides, water flux was severely affected by elevated salinity of the aeration tank. OMBR showed high removal of COD (96%) and FO membrane revealed high retention of phosphate (97%) but retention for nitrate was relatively low (72%). The sparingly soluble salts in the influent, bioreactor, draw solution, and RO effluent were detected through the experiment. The results showed flux decline with time to about 47% from the initial flux and two osmotic backwashing were applied at day 7 and 14 during the operation and the flux restored approximately 30% of its loss. Side stream and submerged configurations revealed nearly similar response over the experiments while side stream module showed better water flux (7.0 LMH) than submerged (6.1 LMH). The results showed that the concentration of inorganic ions is below the limits that may cause severe scaling.
The natural radioactivity levels in water samples along the Tigris river (one of the major rivers of the world) within Baghdad city were investigated to determine and evaluate the radioactivity risks in the water of the river. The specific activity of the radionuclides (238U, 232Th, 40K, and 137Cs) for thirty different water samples from Tigris river within Baghdad city were measured using gamma-ray spectrometer, employing a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The results showed that the average value of the specific activity for 238U, 232Th, 40K, and 137Cs were (24.20, 16.70, 329.22, and 19.40) Bq/l, respectively. The calculated average annual effec
... Show More16 March of every year marked the anniversary of the chemical gas attack on the City of Halabja, Kurdistan, Iraq, and its nearby villages. In the process, 5000 people reportedly died from the attack. Many more were wounded and the event left nearly 60 000 people displaced. A perceived consequence of the chemical bombing of Halabja City was the environmental pollution of the soil and water. A recent questionnaire completed by the population of Halabja City indicated that 35% believed that water pollution was still an issue, and 55% thought that soil pollution posed a high risk.
In 2016, were requested by the Halabja City governor to investigate the situation. And to lay to rest the perception and
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
The objective of this work is to study the influence of α-amylase enzymatic solution immersion, soil burial and water immersion on the biodegradability behavior of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) /Corn Starch (CS) blend films Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) /Corn Starch (CS) blend films were prepared by solution casting method with different weight percentages of PVA(0%,10%,30%,50%,70% and 90%) . The biodegradability of the films has been investigated by determination the weight loss of the tested films. It was noticed that the films containing corn starch were highly biodegraded under above influences. The weight loss of the tested films decreased with increasing PVA content and increased with immersion time in enzymatic solution and water and soil bu
... Show MoreIn this paper, a shallow foundation (strip footing), 1 m in width is assumed to be constructed on fully saturated and partially saturated Iraqi soils, and analyzed by finite element method. A procedure is proposed to define the H – modulus function from the soil water characteristic curve which is measured by the filter paper method. Fitting methods are applied through the program (SoilVision). Then, the soil water characteristic curve is converted to relation correlating the void ratio and matric suction. The slope of the latter relation can be used to define the H – modulus function. The finite element programs SIGMA/W and SEEP/W are then used in the analysis. Eight nodded isoparametric quadrilateral elements are used for modeling
... Show MoreThe present study aims to assess the water quality and the hydrochemical characteristics and seasonal variation of surface water on the aspect of trace elements in Al-Tarmiyah District, Baghdad, Iraq. Ten water samples were collected, four from surface water and six from groundwater on October 2017, and on April 2018. All samples were analyzed for physiochemical parameters such as water temperature, pH, EC, TDS,TH,TSS, major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, SO42-, Cl-, and HCO3-), and nutrients (NO3-, and PO43-). In addition, samples were analyzed for trace elements that include Fe, Al, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr,
... Show MoreThis study estimated seven heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Cd, Cr) in water (dissolved and particulate phase), sediments and some aquatic organisms including two species from aquatic plants (Ceratophyllum demersum&Phragmites australis); one species of clam (Psedontopeses euphratics) and two species from fish (Oreochromis aureus& Leuciscus vorax)in four sites within Mashroo AL- Musayyib channel project/ branch of Euphrates river, Babylon , medial of Iraq . This aims to show the concentration of these elements, their fate and the mechanisms of their transmission through the food chain in this lotic aquatic system ; also in addition to examining some physicochemical properties of ri
... Show MoreDevastated by the combined impact of massive drainage works and upstream damming since the 1980's, Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq, has completely collapsed with 94 % of its land cover transformed into bare land and salt crusts by 2000. After a policy initiated to restore the Iraqi marshes again in 2003, the marsh recovered about half of its former area. As a part of the ecological recovery assessment of this newly inundated marsh, it is important to investigate the extend impact of desiccation after 3 years of inundation on water quality as the latter plays an important role in the restoration process of the marshes. Therefore, from a restoration point of view, major and trace element distribution and sourcing as well as seasonal variati
... Show MorePumpkin waste powder was used as a coloring and strengthening filler in epoxy to prepare a natural gelcoat . The Pumpkin powder was mixed with different weight ratios (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8%) to the epoxy matrix to select the best value of powder addition. The effect of the pumpkin particle size on the mechanical properties (impact, flexural, hardness, and wear loss) using two different sizes (2.5 and 1.25 microns) was studied. The impact strength increased from (10.09 KJ/ m2) for neat epoxy to (14.79 KJ/ m2) for epoxy with 1% of micron pumpkin fibers ( MPF) with particle size 2.5 micrometer and (14.21 KJ/ m2) for epoxy with 4% (1.25 MPF), flexural strength increased from (41.94 MPa) for n
... Show MoreAdvancements in horizontal drilling technologies are utilized to develop unconventional resources, where reservoir temperatures and pressures are very high. However, the flocculation of bentonite in traditional fluids at high temperature and high pressure (HTHP) environments can lower cuttings transportation efficiency and even result in problems such as stuck pipe, decreased rate of penetration (ROP), accelerated bit wear, high torque, and drag on the drill string, and formation damage. The major purpose of the present research is to investigate the performance of low bentonite content water-based fluids for the hole cleaning operation in horizontal drilling processes. Low bentonite content water-based drilling fluids were formulated by re
... Show More