Search results for "Environmental engineering"
showing 10 items of 2674 documents
Comparing illicit drug use in 19 European cities through sewage analysis
2012
Abstract: The analysis of sewage for urinary biomarkers of illicit drugs is a promising and complementary approach for estimating the use of these substances in the general population. For the first time, this approach was simultaneously applied in 19 European cities, making it possible to directly compare illicit drug loads in Europe over a 1-week period. An inter-laboratory comparison study was performed to evaluate the analytical performance of the participating laboratories. Raw 24-hour composite sewage samples were collected from 19 European cities during a single week in March 2011 and analyzed for the urinary biomarkers of cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and cannabis u…
Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of seed oil from yellow horn (Xanthoceras sorbifolia Bunge.) and its anti-oxidant activity
2010
Supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SF-CO(2)) extraction (SFE) of seed oil from yellow horn and its anti-oxidant activity were investigated. The effects of CO(2) flow rate and particle size were firstly optimized, and a central composite design (CCD) combined with response surface methodology was used to study the effects of extraction pressure, temperature and time on the extraction yields. A maximal extraction yield of 61.28% was achieved under optimal conditions of extraction pressure 30 MPa at 45.68 degrees C, 2.08 h and CO(2) flow rate 12 kg/h with 0.5mm particle size. By analyzing the chemical composition of the seed oil, we found that the content of unsaturated fatty acids was approx…
Fermentation and elutriation of primary sludge: Effect of SRT on process performance
2007
Abstract A primary sludge fermentation–elutriation pilot plant was operated using in-line and side-stream schemes. The influence of solids retention time, recirculation sludge flow-rate and solids concentration on the fermentation–elutriation process performance has been assessed in this paper. The use of high elutriation flows (12% of influent flow) improved the volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration in the effluent stream. Suspended solids removal efficiency decreased in the primary settler when the solids retention time (SRT) was increased from 4 to 8 days. Disintegration step during hydrolysis process was pointed out as the main reason for that decrease. Maximum VFA productions were a…
Comparison between hybrid moving bed biofilm reactor and activated sludge system: a pilot plant experiment
2010
The paper presents the comparison between the traditional activated sludge system (AS) and a hybrid moving bed biofilm reactor (HMBBR). In particular, an experimental campaign has been carried out at the WWTP in Palermo (Italy), on a pilot plant consisting of two pre-anoxic schemes. The aerated tank of the HMBBR line was filled with suspended carriers (AnoxKaldnes™ K1), with a 30% filling ratio. The hydraulic load of the HMBBR line was increased up to two times the AS one. Further, in order to distinguish the additional contribution of the attached biomass for the HMBBR system, in the two lines the Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) was maintained as equal as possible. The monitoring peri…
Separate and combined sewer systems: a long-term modelling approach
2009
Sewer systems convey mostly dry weather flow, coming from domestic and industrial sanitary sewage as well as infiltration flow, and stormwater due to meteoric precipitations. Traditionally, in urban drainage two types of sewer systems are adopted: separate and combined sewers. The former convey dry and wet weather flow separately into two different networks, while the latter convey dry and wet weather flow together. Which is the best solution in terms of cost-benefit analysis still remains a controversial subject. The present study was aimed at comparing the pollution loads discharged to receiving bodies by Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) for different ki…
A preliminary investigation of total organic carbon variation in influent and effluent of Isfahan (Iran) water treatment plant, urban network and Fel…
2006
In this work a series of total organic carbon (TOC) analyses were carried out to analyse the influent and the effluent of a water treatment plant providing Isfahan city in Iran. Other analyses were focused on the determination of TOC in the urban network and Fellman wells (in Isfahan and Dehaghan cities), in order to compare the water quality soon after the treatment with that of circulating water in the city network. Since it supplies water treatment plant, TOC content of Zayandehrood River was also compared with the treated water. The obtained results revealed that there were significant differences between TOC content of effluent of water treatment plant and that of the urban network (ma…
A time domain triangle method approach to estimate actual evapotranspiration: Application in a Mediterranean region using MODIS and MSG-SEVIRI produc…
2016
Abstract In this study, spatially distributed estimates of regional actual evapotranspiration (ET) were obtained using a revised procedure of the so called “triangle method” to parameterize the Priestley–Taylor ϕ coefficient. In the procedure herein proposed, named Time-Domain Triangle Method (TDTM), the triangular feature space was parameterized considering pairs of T s –VI values obtained by exploring, for each pixel, only their temporal dynamics. This new method was developed using time series products provided by MODIS and MSG-SEVIRI sensors. Moreover the proposed procedure does not depend on ancillary data, and it is only based on remotely sensed vegetation indices and day–night time l…
Preparation and characterization of sodium iron titanate ion exchanger and its application in heavy metal removal from waste waters.
2006
Abstract The ion exchange properties of sodium iron titanates, namely, NaFeTiO4, Na2Fe2Ti6O16 and iron-doped sodium nonatitanate were investigated. Conventional solid state and sol–gel methods were used in the synthesis of the sodium iron titanates. Structural characterization of the materials was performed with powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Based on TG analyses, the novel iron-doped sodium nonatitanate was proven to be a member of the layered titanate family. The different sodium iron titanates were compa…
Degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) using Fe–TiO2 as a heterogeneous photo-Fenton catalyst
2010
Photocatalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol was investigated using Fe-doped (1, 3, 5 and 8 wt.% Fe) TiO(2) catalysts under UV light irradiation in aqueous dispersions in the presence of H(2)O(2). Photocatalysts with the lowest Fe content (1%) showed a considerably better behavior with respect to the unloaded TiO(2) and the catalysts with higher Fe contents. Photocatalytic degradation was studied under different conditions such as amounts of 1% Fe-TiO(2) catalyst, H(2)O(2) dose and initial pH of 4-NP solution. The results indicated that about 67.53% total organic carbon of a solution containing 20 mg L(-1) 4-NP was removed at pH 6.17 by using 4.9 mM of H(2)O(2) and 0.4 g L(-1) of the catalys…
Research focusing on plant performance in constructed wetlands and agronomic application of treated wastewater – A set of experimental studies in Sic…
2019
Constructed wetlands are sustainable technologies for the treatment of wastewater. These biological systems have been widely studied throughout the world for more than 30 years; however, most studies have focused on the effects of design and engineering on pollutant removal from wastewater. Undoubtedly, agro-technical aspects have been given too little consideration by research. This paper reports the main results of a set of experiments carried out on two pilot horizontal subsurface flow systems in Sicily (Italy). Festuca, Lolium and Pennisetum spp. in combination and three emergent macrophytes-Arundo donax L., Cyperus alternifolius L. and Typha latifolia L.-alone, were assessed. The aim o…