Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the most common process for dealing with primary and secondary wastewater sludge. In the present work, four pre-treatment methods (ultrasonic, chemical, thermal, and thermo-chemical) are investigated in Al-Rustumya Wastewater Treatment plant in order to find their effect on biogas production and volatile solid removal efficiency during anaerobic digestion.
Two frequencies of ultrasonic wave were used 30 KHz and 50 KHz during the pre-treatment. Sodium hydroxide was added in different amounts to give three pH values of 9, 10 and 11 in chemical pre-treating processes. The sludge was heated at 60oC and 80oC through thermal pre-treatment experiment. Also, the sludge was treated thermo-chemically at 80 oC and pH

Salmonellosis in poultry is one of the most significant bacterial infections causing mortality, reduced production, and serious economic losses. This study aimed to study the molecular diversity among Salmonella isolates and investigate the epidemiological spread of these bacteria in broiler and layer chicken flocks in five different farms in Karbala, Iraq, using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In total, 217 cloac a swabs were collected from the farms, out of which 129 and 88 swabs were taken from broiler and layer chickens. The samples were screened by PCR for S. enterica subsp. enterica using primers specific for the invA gene. Afterward, RAPD-PCR with uniplex or multiplex octamer primers was appli

The esterification of oleic acid with 2-ethylhexanol in presence of sulfuric acid  as homogeneous catalyst was investigated in this work to produce 2-ethylhexyl oleate (biodiesel) by using semi batch reactive distillation. The effect of reaction temperature (100 to 130°C), 2-ethylhexanol:oleic acid molar ratio (1:1 to 1:3) and catalysts concentration (0.2 to 1wt%) were studied. Higher conversion of 97% was achieved with operating conditions of reaction temperature of 130°C, molar ratio of free fatty acid to alcohol of 1:2 and catalyst concentration of 1wt%. A simulation was adopted from basic principles of the reactive distillation using MATLAB to describe the process. Good agreement was achieved.

This study compared the effects of citric acid (CA) derived from microbial fermentation using Aspergillus niger (400 mg kg-1) and natural extraction from Citrus limon (400 mg kg1) in albino mice. Parameters assessed included cytogenetic damage via the micronucleus (MN) assay, immunological response through immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, IgM) titers, and hepatoprotective activity based on liver enzyme levels (AST, ALT, ALP) and histopathological inves tigation. Mice were divided into six groups (n=10/group) as follows: (1) negative control, (2) carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄ 0.02%), (3) lemon CA, (4) A. niger, (5) CCl₄ + lemon CA, and (6) CCl₄ + A. niger CA. The CCl4 group exhibited a significantly higher MN frequency (0.06 ± 0.008) compa

The study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity using different concentrations of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of dried lemongrass leaves. Chemical phytochemical tests were performed for aqueous and alcoholic extracts of lemongrass. Antimicrobials activity was tested using agar disc diffusion method against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results of the study showed that the aqueous extract of dried lemon leaves was highly effective (P≤0.05) against S. aureus, as the inhibition diameter was 22 mm for 50 dilution, while the inhibition diameter decreased to 15 mm for concentration 100. As for the alcoholic extract only, the diameter of inhibition decreased significantly (P≤0.0

Coated sand (CS) filter media was investigated to remove phenol and 4-nitrophenol from aqueous solutions in batch experiments. Local sand was subjected to surface modification as impregnated with iron. The influence of process variables represented by solution pH value, contact time, initial concentration and adsorbent dosage on removal efficiency of phenol and 4-nitrophenol onto CS was studied. Batch studies were performed to evaluate the adsorption process, and it was found that the Langmuir isotherm effectively fits the experimental data for the adsorbates better than the Freundlich model with the CS highest adsorption capacity of 0.45 mg/g for 4-nitrophenol and 0.25 mg/g for phenol. The CS was found to adsorb 85% of 4-nitrophenol and

                The characteristics of sulfur nanoparticles were studied by using atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis. The atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements showed that the average size of sulfur nanoparticles synthesized using thiosulfate sodium solution through the extract of cucurbita pepo extra was 93.62 nm. Protecting galvanized steel from corrosion in salt media was achieved by using sulfur nanoparticles in different temperatures. The obtained data of thermodynamic in the presence of sulfur nanoparticles referred to high value as compares to counterpart in the absence of sulfur nanoparticles, the high inhibition efficiency (%IE) and corrosion resistance were at high temperature, the corrosion rate or weig

Activated carbon derived from Ficus Binjamina agro-waste synthesized by pyro carbonic acid microwave method and treated with silicon oxide (SiO2) was used to enhance the adsorption capability of the malachite green (MG) dye. Three factors of concentration of dye, time of mixing, and the amount of activated carbon with four levels were used to investigate their effect on the MG removal efficiency. The results show that 0.4 g/L dosage, 80 mg/L dye concentration, and 40 min adsorption duration were found as an optimum conditions for 99.13% removal efficiency. The results also reveal that Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models were the best models to describe the equilibrium adsorption data.

In this study a polymeric composite material was prepared by hand
lay-up technique from epoxy resin as a matrix and magnesium oxide
(MgO) as a reinforcement with different weight fraction (5,10,15,
and 20)% to resin. Then the prepared samples were immersed under
normal condition in H₂So₄(1 M) solution, for periods ranging up to
10 weeks. The result revealed that the diffusion coefficient
decreasing as the concentration of MgO increase. Also we studied
Hardness for the prepared samples before and after immersion. The
result revealed that the hardness values increase as the concentration
of MgO increase, while the hardness for the samples after immersion
in H₂SO₄ dec