Search results for "Water"
showing 10 items of 9348 documents
Organic matter and wettability characteristics of wildfire ash from Mediterranean conifer forests
2015
Abstract Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and water repellency (wettability) determination of ash samples collected following wildfires at four different Mediterranean conifer forest sites in eastern Spain were conducted to provide insights into variations in key chemical and physical characteristics of ash. TGA allowed the evaluation of organic matter (OM) and inorganic carbonate (IC) characteristics and their role in ash wettability. Thermogravimetric profiles were recorded for 40 ash samples (ten from each site). The persistence of water repellency of all ash samples was assessed by the Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) test. OM contents decreased, whilst OM stability indices and IC con…
Nitrate removal microbiology in woodchip bioreactors : a case-study with full-scale bioreactors treating aquaculture effluents
2020
Woodchip bioreactors are viable low-cost nitrate (NO3−) removal applications for treating agricultural and aquaculture discharges. The active microbial biofilms growing on woodchips are conducting nitrogen (N) removal, reducing NO3− while oxidizing the carbon (C) from woodchips. However, bioreactor age, and changes in the operating conditions or in the microbial community might affect the NO3− removal as well as potentially promote nitrous oxide (N2O) production through either incomplete denitrification or dissimilatory NO3− reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Here, we combined stable isotope approach, amplicon sequencing, and captured metagenomics for studying the potential NO3− removal rates, a…
Heterogeneous fenton oxidation using magnesium ferrite nanoparticles for ibuprofen removal from wastewater: optimization and kinetics studies
2020
In this study, the catalytic properties of Fenton-like catalyst based on magnesium ferrite nanoparticles for IBP degradation were examined. Structural and morphological studies showed the low crystallinity and mesoporous structure for the catalyst obtained via a glycine-nitrate method. The influences of catalyst dosage, oxidant concentration, and solution pH on the pollutant degradation were investigated. The pseudo-first-order model describes kinetic data, and under optimal condition (catalyst dose of 0.5 g L-1, H2O2 concentration of 20.0 mM, and pH of 8.0), apparent rate constant reached 0.091 min-1. It was shown that Fenton reaction was mainly induced by iron atoms on the catalyst surfac…
The CdCl2 effects on synthetic DNAs encaged in the nanodomains of a cationic water-in-oil microemulsion
2011
The present work is dedicated to the study of the interactions of CdCl(2) with the synthetic polynucleotides polyAT and polyGC confined in the nanoscopic aqueous compartment of the water-in-oil microemulsion CTAB/pentanol/hexane/water, with the goal to mimic in vitro the situation met by the nucleic acids in vivo. In biological structures, in fact, very long strings of nucleic acids are segregated into very small compartments having a radius exceedingly smaller than the length of the encapsulated macromolecule. For comparison, the behaviour of polyGC was also studied in aqueous solutions of matched composition. The conformational and thermal stabilities of both polynucleotides enclosed in t…
Twenty Years of Airborne Water Vapor and Total Water Measurements of a Diode Laser Based Photoacoustic Instruments
2020
We present relevant issues collected over twenty years of development and operation of an airborne water vapour / total water detector based on photoacoustic spectroscopy. The WaSulHygro instrument possesses high selectivity, short response time, and wide dynamic range, that are key requirements against trace gas measurement systems for applications in atmospheric sciences. Besides the major properties of WaSul-Hygro we discuss our efforts to develop a robust instruments that have proved its long-term reliability over the last fifteen years operating on-board a commercial aircraft within the framework of the CARIBIC project.2
ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT REDUCTION FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT BY MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION AND MODELLING
2020
The current challenge faced by researchers and managers is minimize the environmental footprint of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). To accomplish this goal, other than respect legal requirements, WWTPs must provide better responses regarding consumption of energy and resources, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, among others. The research hereby presented is based on the application of mathematical modelling with the aim to propose a framework for the minimization of WWTP’s environmental footprint towards optimization techniques. A literature review was held to gain knowledge regarding the main decision support systems (DSS) that are applied to WWTPs since they allow selecting the most app…
Comparison between a detailed and a simplified integrated model for the assessment of urban drainage environmental impact on an ephemeral river
2008
The benefit of integrated analysis has been demonstrated in technical literature and it is also required by the EU Water Framework Directive 60/2000, which proposes a water-quality-orientated view of the whole urban drainage system and oversees new ways of assessing its performance. Integrated models, such as any complex modelling approach, often have prohibitive data availability requirements that reduce their applicability. Moreover, widely different approaches can be applied, ranging from simple conceptual models to complex physically based ones. In the present paper, two approaches have been compared using data from an experimental catchment in Bologna ( Italy), which consists of a part…
Measurement of the Fluctuations in the Number of Muons in Extensive Air Showers with the Pierre Auger Observatory
2021
The successful installation, commissioning, and operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory would not have been possible without the strong commitment and effort from the technical and administrative staff in Malargue. We are very grateful to the following agencies and organizations for financial support: Argentina-Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica (ANPCyT), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Gobierno de la Provincia de Mendoza, Municipalidad de Malargue, NDM Holdings and Valle Las Lenas; in gratitude for their continuing cooperation over land access; Australia-the Australian Research Council; Brazil…
Performance analysis of the first Reverse Electrodialysis prototype plant operating with natural brackish water and salt pond brine
2014
Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) has gained a strong interest among the salinity gradient energy technologies during the last years. Recently, notable improvements have been reached in terms of membranes and stack performances using artificial solutions. However, the use of real saline solutions strongly affects the process performance, requiring additional R&D efforts for a successful scale-up of such technology. This work focuses on the experimental campaign performed on the first RED prototype plant fed with real brackish water and saltworks brine. The plant is located within the Ettore e Infersa saltworks in Marsala (TP, South of Italy). It is the final accomplishment of the REAPower proje…
A hierarchical model for novel schemes of electrodialysis desalination
2019
Abstract A new hierarchical model for the electrodialysis (ED) process is presented. The model has been implemented into gPROMs Modelbuilder (PSE), allowing the development of a distributed-parameters simulation tool that combines the effectiveness of a semi-empirical modelling approach to the flexibility of a layered arrangement of modelling scales. Thanks to its structure, the tool makes possible the simulation of many different and complex layouts, requiring only membrane properties as input parameters (e.g. membrane resistance or salt and water permeability). The model has been validated against original experimental data obtained from a lab scale ED test rig. Simulation results concern…