Search results for "science and technology"
showing 10 items of 1592 documents
Ageing of Dissolved Halogenated Humic Substances and the Microbiological Influence on this Process
2000
The distribution of halogens in various fractions of humic substances (HS), separated by their molecular weight, was found to be different for the different halogens. This was demonstrated for chlorine, bromine, and iodine in sewage and brown water samples by applying inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry coupled with size-exclusion chromatography. Quantification of the different fractions of iodinated humic substances was obtained by quadrupole mass spectrometry in connection with the isotope dilution technique using an 129I-enriched spike solution. Quantitative analysis was not possible for the corresponding chlorine and bromine species because of spectrometric interferences in the…
Assessing Hydrus-2D model to investigate the effects of different on-farm irrigation strategies on potato crop under subsurface drip irrigation
2019
The objective of this paper was to assess the performance of Hydrus-2D model to simulate the effects of different on-farm irrigation strategies applied on potato crop. The ability of the model to simulate the stress coefficient (Ks), obtained as the ratio between actual and maximum transpiration, and to define the productive function of potato crop under the semi-arid conditions of central Tunisia were also evaluated. Experiments were carried out on potato crop under full (FI) and deficit irrigation (DI) and two different water qualities supplied by means of a subsurface drip irrigation system. Results evidenced that the model, despite some discrepancies locally observed, can fairly accurat…
Ultrasound-assisted sequential extraction method for the evaluation of mobility of toxic elements in contaminated soils
2005
A method for the fast sequential extraction of toxic elements in contaminated soil samples using an ultrasonic water bath, followed by determination with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), was developed and compared with other methods introduced in the literature. The five-step sequential extraction (Tessier scheme) was shortened using ultrasound-assisted sequential extraction (UASE). The optimization of the five-step sequential extraction was based on the analysis of SRM 2710 using Tessiers’s method as a reference. Several extracting solutions with different sonication times and temperatures were tested in the optimization procedure. Concentrations of arsen…
Sorption of thallium(I) ions by peat.
2013
The increasing industrial use of thallium has raised the need for removal of this highly toxic element from wastewater. Thallium is more toxic than cadmium, copper, zinc, lead and mercury and as it is easily accumulated in humans, animals and plants, it poses a threat to both the environment and human health. Peat has been used as an effective, relatively cheap and easily available sorbent to treat waters containing heavy metals. In this study, peat was characterized and used as sorbent for the removal of Tl(I) ions from aqueous solution. The effect of initial Tl(I) concentration, pH, contact time, temperature and ionic strength was studied in batch mode. The maximum sorption capacity of pe…
Geochemical classification of groundwater using multivariate statistical analysis in Latvia
2016
Multivariate statistical methods – principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) – are applied to identify geochemically distinct groundwater groups in the territory of Latvia. The main processes observed to be responsible for groundwater chemical composition are carbonate and gypsum dissolution, fresh and saltwater mixing and ion exchange. On the basis of major ion concentrations, eight clusters (C1–C8) are identified. C6 is interpreted as recharge water not in equilibrium with most sediment forming minerals. Water table aquifers affected by diffuse agricultural influences are found in C3. Groundwater in C4 reflects brine or seawater admixture and gypsum dissol…
A biogeochemical model for chalk alteration by fungi in semiarid environments
1996
Fungal filaments are the most abundant organic features in weathered profiles developed on chalky limestone ("platy calcrete"). Their activity affects the mineral dynamics of the pore/carbonate microsystem. A theoretical biogeochemical model is proposed to describe the Ca-oxalate-carbonate cycle related to fungal activity in dry environments.
Characterization of major discontinuities from borehole cores of the black consolidated marl formation of Draix (French Alps)
2012
A quantitative description of rock discontinuities present in subsurface cores that were drilled (down to 20 m) in the marls of the Laval and Moulin catchments near Draix (France) is presented. Three kinds of discontinuities are studied: those fully open, those open but filled with clay rich material and those sealed with calcite. With a laser profiler, the topography of facing sides of typical discontinuities was measured with a normal resolution of 1 µm. The probability distribution of the elevation of each surface are obtained and shown to be normal. Possible self-affine scaling invariance of the topography were explored. The mineralogical content of an interface between the marl bulk an…
Calcium phosphate precipitation in a SBR operated for EBPR: interactions with the biological process.
2008
The aim of this paper is to study the precipitation process in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operated for EBPR (enhanced biological phosphorus removal) and the possible effects of this phosphorus precipitation in the biological process. Four experiments were carried out under different influent calcium concentration. The experimental results and the equilibrium study, based on the Saturation Index calculation, confirm that the process controlling the calcium behaviour in a SBR operated for EBPR is the calcium phosphate precipitation. This precipitation takes place at two stages initially precipitation of the ACP and later crystallization of HAP. Also the accumulation of phosphorus precip…
Phosphorus recovery by struvite crystallization in WWTPs: Influence of the sludge treatment line operation
2010
Phosphorus recovery by struvite (MgNH(4)PO(4).6H(2)O) crystallization is one of the most widely recommended technologies for treating sludge digester liquors especially in wastewater treatments plants (WWTP) with enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). In this paper, phosphorus recovery by struvite crystallization is assessed using the rejected liquors resulting from four different operational strategies of the sludge treatment line. Phosphorus precipitation and recovery efficiencies of between 80-90% and 70-85%, respectively, were achieved in the four experiments. The precipitates formed were mainly struvite, followed by amorphous calcium phosphate and, in some experiments, by calci…
Calibration and validation of activated sludge model No.2d for Spanish municipal wastewater.
2002
Activated Sludge Model No. 2d (ASM2d) was validated with data obtained from pilot scale plant treating municipal wastewater from the city of Valencia (Spain). First of all, ASM2d was calibrated using experimental data from anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic batches. A set of kinetic and stoichiometric parameters resulted from these assays. Differences between the values obtained and default values proposed in ASM2d can be explained by the presence of glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs). The calibrated model was then used to simulate results from a pilot plant. Simulation using the set of parameters obtained accurately reproduces experimental results. This paper also presents a detailed proced…