Search results for "Environmental engineering"
showing 10 items of 2674 documents
Carbon and nutrient biological removal in a University of Cape Town membrane bioreactor: Analysis of a pilot plant operated under two different C/N r…
2016
Abstract The effect of the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio variation in a University of Cape Town Membrane bioreactor (UCT-MBR) was investigated. The experimental campaign was divided into two phases, each characterized by a different C/N ratio (namely, 10 and 5, Phase I and Phase II, respectively). The UCT-MBR pilot plant was analysed in terms of carbon and nutrients removal, biomass respiratory activity, activated sludge features and membrane fouling. The results highlighted that the nutrients removal was significantly affected by the decrease of the C/N ratio during the Phase II. The biological carbon removal was also affected by the low C/N value during the Phase II. Indeed, the average …
An innovative respirometric method to assess the autotrophic active fraction: Application to an alternate oxic-anoxic MBR pilot plant
2016
An innovative respirometric method was applied to evaluate the autotrophic active fraction in an alternate anoxic/oxic membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant. The alternate cycle (AC) produces a complex microbiological environment that allows the development of both autotrophic and heterotrophic species in one reactor. The present study aimed to evaluate autotrophic and heterotrophic active fractions and highlight the effect of different aeration/non aeration ratios in a AC-MBR pilot plant using respirometry. The results outlined that the autotrophic active fraction values were consistent with the nitrification efficiency and FISH analyses, which suggests its usefulness for estimating the ni…
Modeling of a continuous photocatalytic reactor for isovaleraldehyde oxidation: Effect of different operating parameters and chemical degradation pat…
2013
International audience; An investigation of isovaleraldehyde (ISOV) photocatalytic oxidation was conducted at initial concentrations ranging from 25 to 150 mg/m3 and different relative humidities (5-90% RH) in order to characterize the process performances close to indoor air conditions. Experiments were carried out in two different reactors: cylinder and flat-plate photoreactor (planar reactor) at different air gap (20-60 mm) and gas residence times (0.67-5.0 s). A plug flow reactor system was developed in order to perform kinetic studies of (i) isovaleraldehyde removal, (ii) selectivity of CO2, (iii) byproducts formation and removal. It appears that ISOV removal efficiencies increased wit…
A prospect for computing in porous materials research: Very large fluid flow simulations
2016
Abstract Properties of porous materials, abundant both in nature and industry, have broad influences on societies via, e.g. oil recovery, erosion, and propagation of pollutants. The internal structure of many porous materials involves multiple scales which hinders research on the relation between structure and transport properties: typically laboratory experiments cannot distinguish contributions from individual scales while computer simulations cannot capture multiple scales due to limited capabilities. Thus the question arises how large domain sizes can in fact be simulated with modern computers. This question is here addressed using a realistic test case; it is demonstrated that current …
Simplified Model to Predict Runoff Generation Time for Well-Drained and Vegetated Soils
2016
The study of generation process of subsurface stormflow, typical of well-drained and high permeable soils, can be theoretically carried out by applying the continuity and the motion equations with the appropriate boundary conditions. However, difficulties and uncertainness on determining soil hydraulic properties and soil physics heterogeneities let this way not always feasible. In a different way, processes dynamic can be derived by the local scale through a coarse graining procedure, allowing to preserve medium motion character, while hydraulic fluctuation of the motion are lost. Following an approach as this, in this paper a simplified model to predict the runoff generation time, the so-…
Consequences of 3,4-dichloroaniline to guppy populations (Poecilia reticulata): computer simulation and experimental validation
1993
Abstract In order to evaluate the effects of 3,4-dichloroaniline (3,4-DCA), which were detected in a life-cycle test with guppies, on the population level, laboratory guppy populations were examined with regard to regulative parameters. Among the endpoints investigated in life-cycle tests, fecundity was shown to be a sensitive parameter. In laboratory guppy populations, however, intraspecific predation on newborn was the main regulator. Based on these data, a computer simulation programme was used to predict the consequences of 3,4-DCA to guppy populations. A population exposure experiment was conducted to validate the simulation results. The effects detected in the life-cycle test (LOEC: 2…
La explicación del riesgo de sequía en la Geografía escolar. Una exploración desde los manuales escolares de Ciencias Sociales (Educación Primaria)
2021
espanolEn la region mediterranea uno de los principales riesgos naturales son las sequias. Este fenomeno se ha agravado en las ultimas decadas debido al incremento de la vulnerabilidad asociadas a actividades humanas y, segun los escenarios futuros de cambio climatico, se preve que aumente la peligrosidad (mayor intensidad y frecuencia de los periodos secos). El objetivo de este trabajo es llevar a cabo un analisis de como se explica el riesgo de sequia en los manuales escolares de Ciencias Sociales (3er ciclo de Educacion Primaria) en la Comunidad Valenciana (Espana). A partir de la consulta de estos recursos (las 5 editoriales mas utilizadas), los resultados obtenidos indican que esta tem…
Ecotoxicity assessment of boreal lake sediments affected by metal mining: Sediment quality triad approach complemented with metal bioavailability and…
2019
Highlights • Ecological risk assessment of metal-contaminated boreal lakes and sediments. • Sediment Quality Triad complemented with bioavailability and body residue studies. • Toxicity studies for natural sediments with several organisms and endpoints • Adverse effects observed. High variation on results between different methods. • Standard toxicity tests not suitable for testing, too low pH hampers the results. There are several methods for studying metal-contaminated freshwater sediments, but more information is needed on which methods to include in ecological risk assessment. In this study, we compliment the traditional Sediment Quality Triad (SQT) approach – including information on c…
Preliminary insights about the treatment of contaminated marine sediments by means of bioslurry reactor: Process evaluation and microbiological chara…
2022
Abstract Contaminated marine sediments represent a critical threat towards human health and ecosystems, since they constitute a potential reservoir of toxic compounds release. In the present study, a bioslurry reactor was studied for the treatment of real marine sediments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. The experimental campaign was divided in two periods: in the first period, microcosm trials were carried out to achieve useful indicators for biological hydrocarbon removal from sediments. The microcosm trials highlighted that the inoculum of halotolerant allochthonous bacteria provided the highest performance followed by autochthonous biomass. Based on the achieved results, in the s…
Hydrocarbons removal from real marine sediments: Analysis of degradation pathways and microbial community development during bioslurry treatment
2022
In this study, real marine sediments polluted by petroleum compounds were treated by means of a bioslurry pilot scale reactor. The treatment performance was evaluated by measuring the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), coupled to further analyses required to understand the mechanisms involved in the biodegradation process. The maximum TPH-removal efficiency reached 86 % at the end of experiments. Moreover, high throughput 16S RNA gene sequencing was used to describe the microbiome composition in sediment prior to, and after, bioslurry treatment, in order to identify the taxa mostly entailed in the TPH removal process. The raw sediment was mostly colonized by members of Sulfurimon…