Pharmaceuticals have been widely remaining contaminants in wastewater, and diclofenac is the most common pharmaceutical pollutant. Therefore, the removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions using activated carbon produced by pyrocarbonic acid and microwaves was investigated in this research. Apricot seed powder and pyrophosphoric acid (45 wt%) were selected as raw material and activator respectively, and microwave irradiation technique was used to prepare the activated carbon. The raw material was impregnated in pyrophosphoric acid at 80◦C with an impregnation ratio of 1: 3 (apricot seeds to phosphoric acid), the impregnation time was 4 h, whereas the power of the microwave was 700 watts with a radiation time of 20 min. A series of experiments were conducted at constant mixing speed (300 revolutions per minute) to evaluate the effect of experimental factors likes, adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, and dosage of activated carbon on removal efficiency. The design of experiments (version 13 Stat-Ease) was implemented using the central composite method to define the optimum effect of the process factors on the removal efficiency. The analysis of variance showed that the quadratic model for the experiment was significant with a very low probability value (P- value < 0.0001). The adjusted R2 of the model was 0.9826 and the predicted R2 was 0.9574. Whereas the optimum conditions suggested by the model for the process variable were found to be 150 min, 3.25 pH, 30 mg/L, 0.267g, for adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, a dosage of activated carbon, respectively and the maximum removal efficiency was found to be 94.6%. The data obtained from the experiments were fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich models and the results show that the data was well fitted Langmuir model with R2 = 0.9685 as compared to the Freundlich model which has R2 = 0.93249. Likewise, the data was analyzed by pseudo first and second-order kinetic models and the results show that the adsorption on apricot-activated carbon was well adequate with the pseudo-second-order model.
Mechanical rock properties are essential to minimize many well problems during drilling and production operations. While these properties are crucial in designing optimum mud weights during drilling operations, they are also necessary to reduce the sanding risk during production operations. This study has been conducted on the Zubair sandstone reservoir, located in the south of Iraq. The primary purpose of this study is to develop a set of empirical correlations that can be used to estimate the mechanical rock properties of sandstone reservoirs. The correlations are established using laboratory (static) measurements and well logging (dynamic) data. The results support the evidence that porosity and sonic travel time are consistent i
... Show MoreThe aim of the research was to prepare the fields and items for safe environment scale form professional basketball players and coaches’ point of view. The researchers used the descriptive method on professional athletes of players and coaches from (11) clubs; for the pilot study (21) athletes were selected and for the building sample (103) athletes, and standardization sample (101) athletes from the participants in the Iraqi league (2018-2019). The scale of the safe environment was concluded with (6) fields and (52) items. The researchers came up with the safe environment scale from the point of view of professional basketball players and coaches. Finally the researchers recommended paying attention to providing safe environment for athl
... Show MoreIn this work, an experimental study has been done to expect the heat characteristics and performance of the forced-convection from a heated horizontal rectangular fins array to air inside a rectangular cross-section duct. Three several configurations of rectangular fins array have been employed. One configuration without notches and perforations (solid) and two configurations with combination of rectangular-notches and circular-perforations for two various area removal percentages from fins namely 18% notches-9% perforations and 9% notches-18% perforations are utilized. The rectangular fins dimensions and fins number are kept constant. The fins array is heated electrically from the base
... Show MoreThirty five samples were collected from patients (1-30) years old, suffered from, infected skin , rushes, boils , oral thrush, anal & vaginal itches. Candida albicans 57.3% (20 isolates) and Candida tropicalis 22.5% (8 isolates) Aspergillus fumegatus 11.5% (4 isolates) Aspergillus nigar 8.7%(3 isolates) , were isolated & identified from these samples. Alcoholic & water hot extracts of the punica granatum (Pomegranate) peels as well as the dried powder were prepared. The anti-fungal activity of the extracts was evaluated by means of the agar-well diffusion assay. The extract exhibited potent activity against yeast. The Minimum inhibitory concentra
... Show MoreIn this research, cyclic compounds derived from 2- furfural mercaptan (oxazole, triazoles) were synthesized, and their biological efficacy was measured and compared with standard drugs. Also, their effectiveness as anti-oxidant was measured and compared with ascorbic acid as a standard substance. Some of the synthesized compounds were deduced with good efficacy. © 2021 Sami Publishing Company. All rights reserved
Rare earth metal oxides (REMOs) have gained considerable attention in recent years owing to their distinctive properties and potential applications in electronic devices and catalysts. Particularly, cerium dioxide (CeO2), also known as ceria, has emerged as an interesting material in a wide variety of industrial, technological, and medical applications. Ceria can be synthesized with various morphologies, including rods, cubes, wires, tubes, and spheres. This comprehensive review offers valuable perceptions into the crystal structure, fundamental properties, and reaction mechanisms that govern the well-established surface-assisted reactions over ceria. The activity, selectivity, and stability of ceria, either as a stand-alone catalyst or as
... Show MoreThe increasing demand for energy has encouraged the development of renewable resources and environmentally benign fuel such as biodiesel. In this study, ethyl fatty esters (EFEs), a major component of biodiesel fuel, were synthesized from soybean oil using sodium ethoxide as a catalyst. By-products were glycerol and difatty acyl urea (DFAU), which has biological characteristics, as antibiotics and antifungal medications. Both EFEs and DFAU have been characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The optimum conditions were studied as a function of reaction time, reactant molar ratios, catalyst percentage and the effect of organic solvents. The conversion ratio of soybea
... Show MoreIntroduction: The current study investigated the use of acid-treated rice husks to remove heavy metals and organic pollutants from water containing heavy metals (R2C and Cd2) and organic pollutants (phenol and atrazine). Methods: The adsorption effect of acid-treated rice husks was compared with other adsorbents such as activated carbon, chitosan, and bentonite clay. Result: both acid-treated rice husks and activated carbon were highly efficient materials, and thus, rice husks were established as a cost-effective alternative. It was revealed that acid treatment of rice husks enhanced adsorption capacity by half, and lead removal was nearly doubled. The most effective pH value for optimizing organic pollutants and heavy metals while
... Show MoreThe economic dimensions of environmental issues are complex and unclear in many cases, there is a kind of confusion in the real relationship between economic growth and environmental regulations. Many of the negative environmental impacts are accompanied by human activities and urban and industrial development in the city, and that many of the projects that did not take into account the environmental factors during the planning and implementation of them can be detrimental, as well as natural environments, archeological sites, historical or scientific value, aesthetic or educational. It also describes the Global Environment Outlook that if current trends continue, population growth, economic growth and consumption patterns, the p
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