In this study, successive electrocoagulation (EC) and electro-oxidation (EO) processes were used to minimize some of the major pollutants in real wastewater, such as organics (detected by chemical oxygen demand (COD)), and turbidity. The wastewater utilized in the present study was collected from the Midland Refinery Company in Baghdad-Iraq. The performance of the successive batch EC-EO processes was studied by utilizing Graphite and Aluminum (Al) as monopolar anode electrodes and stainless steel (st.st.) as the cathode. The Taguchi experimental design approach was used to attain the best experimental conditions for COD reduction as a major response. Starting from chemical oxygen demand COD of (600 ppm), the effects of current density (C.D.) (10- 20 mA/cm2), pH (4- 10), time (2– 4 h), and NaCl concentration (1.5- 2.5 g/l) on the efficiency of COD reduction were examined. The results indicated that COD reduction increased with increasing C.D., NaCl conc., and electrolysis time and increased exponentially at pH (4). The best conditions for the treatment of this wastewater were: C.D. (20 mA/cm2), pH (4), time (4 h), and NaCl conc. (2.5 g/l). At these conditions, approximately 98.12 % of COD reduction was achieved with electrical energy consumption (ENC) of about 62.04 kWh/m3. The result of analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the C.D. and pH have a higher influence on the performance of organics removal, while the time and NaCl conc. have a minor impact on COD Re%.
This study was aimed to find and test biological methods for reducing the aggregation of plastics such as PS in the environment and study the ability of Greater Wax worms larvae (Galleria mellonella) to eat PS that similar in the its structure to beeswax .Weight loss, morphology changes ,FTIR spectroscopy and GC-mass analysis were performed which showed changes in chemical properties of the PS due to degradation. In this study the percentage of weight loss was 33% in the PS treated with G. mellonella. FTIR of PS frass showed the disappearance of aromatic cycle band that was found in the origin PS at region more than 3000 cm-1. Also The PS frass samples from wax worms larvae revealed the creation of a new O-H stretching alcohol
... Show MoreThis research studies the effect of adding five different percentages of polymer (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% of cement weight) on cement mortar's fresh and hardened properties, which was cured at laboratory temperature for 7, 14, and 28 days. Workability increases with increasing polymer. The workability value was lowest (25.6 and 29.4) % in mixtures containing 2% and 4% of (SBR). Increasing polymer ratios significantly decreased mechanical properties (compressive and flexural strength). Therefore, the best results were at 2% SBR and 4% SBR at 28 days of age. An inverse relationship was recorded between the increase in SBR ratios and polymer-modified cement mortar's compressive and flexural strength values. In general, the high
... Show MoreThis study investigates the digestion of cow dung (CD) for biogas production at laboratory scales. The study was carried out through anaerobic fermentation using cow dung as substrate. The digester was operated at ambient temperatures of 39.5 °C for a period of 10 days. The effect of iron powder in controlling the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been tested. The optimum concentration of iron powder was 4g/L with the highest biogas production. A Q – swatch Nd:YAG laser has been used to mix and homogenize the components of one of the six digesters and accelerate digestion. At the end of digestion, all digestions effluent was subjected to 5 laser pulses with 250mJ/pules to dispose waste biomass.
A total of 37 Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates, isolated from corneal scraping of patients with bacterial keratitis and 20 isolates from healthy eyes (as control) (all isolates, isolated from, Ibn Al- Haietham eye hospital / Baghdad), were tested for slime production, 52.63% of all isolates were positive-slime production (23 isolates from patients and 7 isolates from controls). It was found that positive-slime producing S. epidermidis were exhibited a high resistance to antibiotics as compared to negative-slime producing isolates.
In this study the design and installation of evaporative air cooler was carried out using completely outdoor air (fresh air) according to two stage evaporative cooling principle. The laboratory equipment was installed by designing and manufacturing a cross flow plate heat exchanger, where aluminum plates used for this purpose with dimensions (50 × 30 × 40 cm). The surfaces of heat exchanger were covered by sawdust from wetted channels side, to increase the percentage of wetting these surfaces and hence improve the performance and efficiency of air cooler.
An experimental study was carried out to estimate the performance of cooling system, where som
... Show MoreThis study was designed to evaluate the ability of bioemulsifier to inhibit the growth of some pathogenic microorganisms. Fourteen isolates belonged to Serratia sp. were collected and tested for their ability to produce bioemulsifier. Results showed that Serratia marcescens S10 (isolated from the gut of the American cockroach) had the highest ability to produce bioemulsifier, among 14 isolates belong to Serratia spp. and it had the ability to inhibit the growth of some microorganisms. The production of bioemulsifier was detected by determination of emulsification index (E24%), qualitative drop-collapse test, emulsification activity (E.A) and measuring the surface tension (S.T). The results of bioemulsifier produced by Serratia marcescens S1
... Show MoreIn the absence of environmental regulation, food stays to be contaminated with heavy metals, which is becoming a big worry for human health. The present research focusses on the environmental and health effects of irrigating a number of crops grown in the soils surrounding the Al-Rustamia old plant using treated wastewater generated by the plant. The physicochemical properties, alkalinity, and electrical conductivity of the samples were evaluated, and vegetable samples were tested for Cd, Pb, Ni, and Zn, levels, and even the transfer factor (TF) from soils to crops and crop and multi-targeted risk, daily intake (DIM) of metals, and health risk index (HRI) was calculated. The findings found that the average contents of Zn, Pb, Ni, an
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