Search results for "Gradation"

Photodegradation of Toluene, m-Xylene, and n-Butyl Acetate and Their Mixtures over TiO2 Catalyst on Glass Fibers

2012

The abatement of typical paint solvent compounds as individuals and in mixtures was carried out in an annular TiO2 supported reactor, for concentrations up to 900 mg C m–3. Two different fiberglass supports were compared, and the catalyst supported over a fiber mat showed better performance, with a lower pressure drop (>35% of reduction) and a slightly higher removal efficiency (about 2%) than that supported over glass wool. For every target compound in the whole range of relative humidity studied (4–75%), the photocatalytic activity increased with the air water content. The removal of the compounds in the binary and ternary mixtures was depressed, even >90% for toluene, compared with indiv…

Bioplastics: A new analytical challenge

2022

Even though petroleum-based plastics are advantageous in complying with the performance requirements in many applications, these are related, throughout their life cycle, to several environmental problems, including greenhouse gas emissions and persistence in marine and terrestrial environments. Therefore, the preservation of natural resources and climate change is considered worldwide, the main reason for which is necessary to reduce consumption and dependence on fossil-based materials. Biopolymers (PLA, PHAs, etc.) are examples of plastics whose use is grown exponentially over the years because of the improvements of their physical and mechanical properties using additives of various natu…

pcaH, a molecular marker for estimating the diversity of the protocatechuate-degrading bacterial community in the soil environment

2007

Microorganisms degrading phenolic compounds play an important role in soil carbon cycling as well as in pesticide degradation. The pcaH gene encoding a key ring-cleaving enzyme of the -ketoadipate pathway was selected as a functional marker. Using a degenerate primer pair, pcaH fragments were cloned from two agricultural soils. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) screening of 150 pcaH clones yielded 68 RFLP families. Comparison of 86 deduced amino acid sequences displayed 70% identity to known PcaH sequences. Phylogenetic analysis results in two major groups mainly related to PcaH sequences from Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria phyla. This confirms that the developed primer pai…

Spatial prediction of soil erosion susceptibility using a fuzzy analytical network process: Application of the fuzzy decision making trial and evalua…

2018

Soil erosion is a worldwide threat that results in soil degradation, agriculture abandonment, and crop yield reduction. There is a need to find methods to survey soil erosion rates in order to improve and develop sustainable land planning. The present study utilizes new approaches based on the fuzzy set both in designing the problem (through the fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory) and in prioritizing the effective factors to mitigate soil erosion (using a fuzzy analytical network process, FANP). This study is first to apply these methods to soil erosion. A set of geo‐environmental factors influencing soil erosion was characterized to evaluate the potential risk of soil er…

Evaluación de los recursos naturales para un uso y gestión sostenible de la producción agraria en una cuenca del centro-sur de Córdoba (Argentina)

2001

The economical and social development in the Center-South of Cordoba, (Argentina) depends on the agriculture. However, due to low production and severe soil erosion, the farms are not longer economically feasible. This situation implies that the agriculture in the region might not be sustainable in the long run. This study assessed the potential production of the natural resources in the Santa Catalina basin, in order to improve their use and management. The estimated potential production is 300 % higher than the actual production. In addition, the basin is severely affected by water erosion. A new and more sustainable production structure was proposed for the basin, which increases from tr…

Impacts of land‐use changes on soil fertility in Okomu Forest Reserve, Southern Nigeria

2021

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…

Biostimulation of in situ microbial degradation processes in organically-enriched sediments mitigates the impact of aquaculture

2019

Fish farm deposition, resulting in organic matter accumulation on bottom sediments, has been identified as among the main phenomena causing negative environmental impacts in aquaculture. An in situ bioremediation treatment was carried out in order to reduce the organic matter accumulation in the fish farm sediments by promoting the natural microbial biodegradation processes. To assess the effect of the treatment, the concentration of organic matter in the sediment and its microbial degradation, as well as the response of the benthic prokaryotic community, were investigated. The results showed a significant effect of the treatment in stimulating microbial degradation rates, and the consequen…

Occurrence of coal and coal-derived particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a river floodplain soil.

2006

A PAH contaminated river floodplain soil was separated according to grain size and density. Coal and coal-derived particles from coal mining, coal industry and coal transportation activities were identified by organic petrographic analysis in our samples. Distinct concentrations of PAHs were found in different grain size and density fractions, however, similar distribution patterns of PAHs indicated similar sources. In addition, although light fractions had the mass fraction by weight of less than 5%, they contributed almost 75% of the total PAHs in the soil. PAH concentrations of all sub fractions showed positive correlation with their TOC contents. Altogether, coal and coal-derived partic…