Search results for: locally available organic resources

Authors: Alaa El-Din Rezk

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For organic xenobiotics, sorption to Aldrich humic acid is a key process controlling their mobility, bioavailability, toxicity and fate in the soil. Hydrophobic organic compounds possessing either acid or basic groups can be partially ionized (deprotonated or protonated) within the range of natural soil pH. For neutral and ionogenicxenobiotics including (neutral, acids and bases) sorption coefficients normalized to organic carbon content, Koc, have measured at different pH values. To this end, the batch equilibrium technique has been used, employing SPME combined with GC-MSD as an analytical tool. For most ionogenic compounds, sorption has been affected by both pH and pKa and can be explained through Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. The results demonstrate that when assessing the environmental fate of ionogenic compounds, their pKa and speciation under natural conditions should be taken into account. A new model has developed to predict the relationship between log Koc and pH with full statistical evaluation against other existing predictive models. Neutral solutes have displayed a good fit with the classical model using log Kow as log Koc predictor, whereas acidic and basic compounds have displayed a good fit with the LSER approach and the new proposed model. Measurement limitations of the Batch technique and SPME-GC-MSD have been found with ionic compounds.

Keywords: humic acid, log Koc, pH, pKa, SPME-GCMSD

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Authors: Madhan Vinu, Yue-Chun Jiang, Yi-Feng Lin, Chia-Her Lin

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An effective approach to enhance the ethanol/water pervaporation of mixed matrix membranes prepared from three microporous aluminium based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), [Al(OH)(BPDC)] (DUT-5), [Al(OH)(NDC)] (DUT-4) and [Al(OH)(BzPDC)] (CAU-8) have been synthesized by employing solvothermal reactions. Interestingly, all Al-MOFs showed attractive surface area with microporous 12.3, 10.2 and 8.0 Å for DUT-5, DUT-4 and CAU-8 MOFs which are confirmed through N₂ gas sorption measurements. All the microporous compounds are highly stable as confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis and temperature-dependent powder X-ray diffraction measurements. Furthermore, the synthesized microporous MOF particles of DUT-5, DUT-4, and CAU-8 were successfully incorporated into biological chitosan (CS) membranes to form DUT-5@CS, DUT-4@CS, and CAU-8@CS membranes. The different MOF loadings such as 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 wt% in CS networks have been prepared, and the same were used to separate mixtures of water and ethanol at 25ºC in the pervaporation process. In particular, when 0.15 wt% of DUT-5 was loaded, MOF@CS membrane displayed excellent permeability and selectivity in ethanol/water separation than that of the previous literature. These CS based membranes separation through functionalized microporous MOFs reveals the key governing factors that are essential for designing novel MOF membranes for bioethanol purification.

Keywords: metal-organic framework, microporous materials, separation, chitosan membranes

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Authors: Hassiba Bougueria, Nesrine Benarous, Souheyla Chetioui

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Azo dyes are one of the most widely used compounds in organic chemistry, primarily due to their relatively simple preparation methods. They have therefore been widely used, in particular as colorants for textiles, printing inks, cosmetics, and food additives. In addition to their use as dyes, azo compounds have attracted much attention from chemists as their potential applications are important in coordination chemistry, metal-organic frameworks (MOF) structures, COF (covalent-organic frameworks), and catalysis. Moreover, they have found many applications in different fields, such as nonlinear optics, optical storage, photoluminescence, and magnetism. The compound bis{(E)-1-[(2,4,6-tribromophenyl)diazenyl]naphthalen-2-olato}copper(II) dimethyl sulfoxide monosolvate, the CuII atom is tetracoordinate with a square-planar geometry, surrounded by two bidentate (E)-1-[(2,4,6-tribromophenyl)diazenyl]naphthalene-2-olate ligands via two N atoms and two O atoms. The O-Cu-O angles and N-Cu-N are of the order of 177.90(16)° and 177.8(2)°, respectively. The distances Cu-O and Cu- N are 1.892(4) Å and 1.976(4) Å, respectively. The cohesion of the crystal is ensured by hydrogen bonds of the C—H…O type and by π=π staking interactions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.679(4)Å]. The DMSO solvent molecule is disordered at two positions with occupancy rates of 0.70 and 0.30.

Keywords: azo dyes, DRX, structural characterization, biological activity

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Authors: Swee Yang Low, Dong Eon Kim, Canh Tien Trinh Nguyen, Yixiong Cai, Shie-Yui Liong

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Nee Soon swamp forest is one of the last vestiges of tropical wetland in Singapore. Understanding the hydrological regime of the swamp forest and implications for water quality is critical to guide stakeholders in implementing effective measures to preserve the wetland against anthropogenic impacts. In particular, although current field measurement data do not indicate a concern with organic pollution, reviewing the ways in which the wetland responds to elevated organic waste influx (and the corresponding impact on dissolved oxygen, DO) can help identify potential hotspots, and the impact on the outflow from the catchment which drains into downstream controlled watercourses. An integrated water quality model is therefore developed in this study to investigate spatial and temporal concentrations of DO levels and organic pollution (as quantified by biochemical oxygen demand, BOD) within the catchment’s river network under hypothetical, projected scenarios of spiked upstream inflow. The model was developed using MIKE HYDRO for modelling the study domain, as well as the MIKE ECO Lab numerical laboratory for characterising water quality processes. Model parameters are calibrated against time series of observed discharges at three measurement stations along the river network. Over a simulation period of April 2014 to December 2015, the calibrated model predicted that a continuous spiked inflow of 400 mg/l BOD will elevate downstream concentrations at the catchment outlet to an average of 12 mg/l, from an assumed nominal baseline BOD of 1 mg/l. Levels of DO were decreased from an initial 5 mg/l to 0.4 mg/l. Though a scenario of spiked organic influx at the swamp forest’s undeveloped upstream sub-catchments is currently unlikely to occur, the outcomes nevertheless will be beneficial for future planning studies in understanding how the water quality of the catchment will be impacted should urban redevelopment works be considered around the swamp forest.

Keywords: hydrology, modeling, water quality, wetland

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Authors: Sajjad Esmaeili, Robert Krause, Lukas Gerlich, Alireza Mohammadian Kia, Benjamin Uhlig

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This investigation aims to develop the feasible and qualitative process parameters for the thin films fabrication into ultra-large through-silicon-vias (TSVs) as vertical interconnections. The focus of the study is on TSV metallization and its challenges employing new materials for the purpose of rapid signal propagation in the microsystems technology. Cobalt metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (Co-MOCVD) process enables manufacturing an adhesive and excellent conformal ultra-thin film all the way through TSVs in comparison with the conventional non-conformal physical vapor deposition (PVD) process of copper (Cu) seed layer. Therefore, this process provides a Cu seed-free layer which is capable of direct Cu electrochemical deposition (Cu-ECD) on top of it. The main challenge of this metallization module is to achieve the proper alternative seed layer with less roughness, sheet resistance and granular organic contamination (e.g. carbon) which intensify the Co corrosion under the influence of Cu electrolyte.

Keywords: Cobalt MOCVD, direct Cu electrochemical deposition (ECD), metallization technology, through-silicon-via (TSV)

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: H. Boukhatem, L. Djouadi, H. Khalaf, R. M. Navarro, F. V. Ganzalez

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Synthetic organic dyes are used in various industries, such as textile industry, leather tanning industry, paper production, hair dye production, etc. Wastewaters containing these dyes may be harmful to the environment and living organisms. Therefore, it is very important to remove or degrade these dyes before discharging them into the environment. In addition to standard technologies for the degradation and/or removal of dyes, several new specific technologies, the so-called advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), have been developed to eliminate dangerous compounds from polluted waters. AOPs are all characterized by the same chemical feature: production of radicals (•OH) through a multistep process, although different reaction systems are used. These radicals show little selectivity of attack and are able to oxidize various organic pollutants due to their high oxidative capacity (reduction potential of HO• Eo = 2.8 V). Heterogeneous photocatalysis, as one of the AOPs, could be effective in the oxidation/degradation of organic dyes. A major advantage of using heterogeneous photocatalysis for this purpose is the total mineralization of organic dyes, which results in CO2, H2O and corresponding mineral acids. In this study, nanomaterials based on montmorillonite and CuxCd1-xS with different Cu concentration (0.3 < x < 0.7) were utilized for the degradation of the commercial cationic textile dye Methylene blue (MB), used as a model pollutant. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA). Test results of photocatalysis of methylene blue under UV-Visible irradiation show that the photoactivity of nanomaterials montmorillonite/ CuxCd1-xS increases with the increasing of Cu concentration. The kinetics of the degradation of the MB dye was described with the Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L–H) kinetic model.

Keywords: heterogeneous photocatalysis, methylene blue, montmorillonite, nanomaterial

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Authors: Laura Masilionyte, Danute Jablonskyte-Rasce, Kestutis Venslauskas, Zita Kriauciuniene

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Alternative farming systems are used to cultivate high-quality food products and sustain the viability and fertility of the soil. Plant nutrition in all ecosystems depends not only on fertilization intensity or soil richness in organic matter but also on soil physical parameters –bulk density, structure, pores with the optimum moisture and air ratio available to plants. The field experiments of alternative (sustainable and organic) farming systems were conducted at Joniskelis Experimental Station of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry in 2006–2016. The soil of the experimental site was Endocalcari-Endohypogleyic Cambisol (CMg-n-w-can). In alternative farming systems, farmyard manure, straw and catch crops for green manure were used for fertilization both in the soil with low and moderate humus contents. It had a more significant effect in the 0–20 cm depth layer on soil moisture than on other physical soil properties. In the agricultural systems, where catch crops were grown, soil physical characteristics did not differ significantly before their biomass incorporation, except for the moisture content, which was lower in rainy periods and higher in drier periods than in the soil of farming systems without catch crops. Soil bulk density and porosity in the topsoil layer were more dependent on soil humus content than on agricultural measures used: in the soil with moderate humus content, compared with the soil with low humus content, bulk density was by 1.4% lower, and porosity by 1.8% higher. The research findings allow to make improvements in alternative farming systems by choosing appropriate combinations of organic fertilizers and catch crops that have a sustainable effect on soil and maintain the sustainability of soil productivity parameters. Rational fertilization systems, securing the stability of soil productivity parameters and crop rotation productivity will promote the development of organic agriculture.

Keywords: agro-measures, soil physical parameters, organic farming, sustainable farming

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Authors: H. C. Chinwenyi, H. D. Ibrahim, J. O. Adekunle

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The incubation period is defined as the time from infection with a microorganism to development of symptoms. In this research, two disease models: one with incubation period and another without incubation period were studied. The study involves the use of a  mathematical model with a single incubation period. The test for the existence and stability of the disease free and the endemic equilibrium states for both models were carried out. The fourth order Runge-Kutta method was used to solve both models numerically. Finally, a computer program in MATLAB was developed to run the numerical experiments. From the results, we are able to show that the endemic equilibrium state of the model with incubation period is locally asymptotically stable whereas the endemic equilibrium state of the model without incubation period is unstable under certain conditions on the given model parameters. It was also established that the disease free equilibrium states of the model with and without incubation period are locally asymptotically stable. Furthermore, results from numerical experiments using empirical data obtained from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that the overall population of the infected people for the model with incubation period is higher than that without incubation period. We also established from the results obtained that as the transmission rate from susceptible to infected population increases, the peak values of the infected population for the model with incubation period decrease and are always less than those for the model without incubation period.

Keywords: asymptotic stability, Hartman-Grobman stability criterion, incubation period, Routh-Hurwitz criterion, Runge-Kutta method

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Authors: Pelin Yilmaz, Gizemnur Yildiz Uysal, Elcin Demirhan, Belma Ozbek

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The edible fig plant, Ficus carica Linn, belongs to the Moraceae family, and the leaves are mainly considered agricultural waste after harvesting. It has been demonstrated in the literature that fig leaves contain appealing properties such as high vitamins, fiber, amino acids, organic acids, and phenolic or flavonoid content. The extraction of these valuable products has gained importance. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) is a method using microwave energy to heat the solvents, thereby transferring the bioactive compounds from the sample to the solvent. The main advantage of the MAE is the rapid extraction of bioactive compounds. In the present study, the MAE was applied to extract the bioactive compounds from Ficus carica L. leaves, and the effect of microwave power (180-900 W), extraction time (60-180 s), and solvent to sample amount (mL/g) (10-30) on the antioxidant property of the leaves. Then, the volatile organic component profile was determined at the specified extraction point. Additionally, antimicrobial studies were carried out to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of the microwave-extracted leaves. As a result, according to the data obtained from the experimental studies, the highest antimicrobial properties were obtained under the process parameters such as 540 W, 180 s, and 20 mL/g concentration. The volatile organic compound profile showed that isobergapten, which belongs to the furanocoumarins family exhibiting anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity besides promoting bone health, was the main compound. Acknowledgments: This work has been supported by Yildiz Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under project number FBA-2021-4409. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from Tubitak 1515 - Frontier R&D Laboratory Support Programme.

Keywords: Ficus carica Linn leaves, volatile organic component, GC-MS, microwave extraction, isobergapten, antimicrobial

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: R. Lhissou , A. El Harti , K. Chokmani, E. Bachaoui, A. El Ghmari

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Soil salinity is a serious environmental hazard in many countries around the world especially the arid and semi-arid countries like Morocco. Salinization causes negative effects on the ground; it affects agricultural production, infrastructure, water resources and biodiversity. Remote sensing can provide soil salinity information for large areas, and in a relatively short time. In addition, remote sensing is not limited by extremes in terrain or hazardous condition. Contrariwise, experimental methods for monitoring soil salinity by direct measurements in situ are very demanding of time and resources, and also very limited in spatial coverage. In the irrigated perimeter of Tadla plain in central Morocco, the increased use of saline groundwater and surface water, coupled with agricultural intensification leads to the deterioration of soil quality especially by salinization. In this study, we assessed several spectral indices of soil salinity cited in the literature using Landsat TM satellite images and field measurements of electrical conductivity (EC). Three Landsat TM satellite images were taken during 3 months in the dry season (September, October and November 2011). Based on field measurement data of EC collected in three field campaigns over the three dates simultaneously with acquisition dates of Landsat TM satellite images, a two assessment techniques are used to validate a soil salinity spectral indices. Firstly, the spectral indices are validated locally by pixel. The second validation technique is made using a window of size 3x3 pixels. The results of the study indicated that the second technique provides getting a more accurate validation and the assessment has shown its limits when it comes to assess across the pixel. In addition, the EC values measured from field have a good correlation with some spectral indices derived from Landsat TM data and the best results show an r² of 0.88, 0.79 and 0.65 for Salinity Index (SI) in the three dates respectively. The results have shown the usefulness of spectral indices as an auxiliary variable in the spatial estimation and mapping salinity in irrigated land.

Keywords: remote sensing, spectral indices, soil salinity, irrigated land

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Authors: Motwkel M. Alhaj, Bashir M. Elhassan

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The East Nile area is located in Khartoum state. The main source of drinking water in the East Nile Area (Sudan) is groundwater. However, fluoride concentration in the water is more than the maximum allowable dose, which is 1.5 mg/l. This study aims to demonstrate and innovative, affordable, and efficient filter to remove fluoride from drinking water. Many researchers have found that aluminum oxide-coated adsorbent is the most affordable technology for fluoride removal. However, adsorption is pH-dependent, and the water pH in the East Nile area is relatively high (around 8), which is hindering the adsorption process. Locally available charcoal was crushed, sieved, and coated with aluminum oxide. Then, different coating configurations were tested in order to produce an adsorbent with a high pH point of zero charge pH PZC in order to overcome the effect of high pH of water. Moreover, different methods were used to characterize the adsorbent, including: Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Brunauer - Emmett - Teller (BET) method, and pH point of zero charge pH PZC. The produced adsorbent has pH PZC of 8.5, which is essential in enhancing the fluoride adsorption process. A pilot household fluoride filter was also designed and installed in a house that has water with 4.34 mg/l F- and pH of 8.4. The filter was operated at a flow rate 250 cm³/min. The total cost of treating one cubic meter was about 0.63$, while the cost for the same water before adsorbent coating modification was 2.33$⁄cm³.

Keywords: water treatment, fluoride, adsorption, charcoal, Sudan

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Authors: Samipraj Mishra

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Despite the successful implementation of community forestry program, a number of pros and cons have been raised on Terai community forestry in the case of lowland locally called Terai region of Nepal, which is climatically belongs to tropical humid and possessed high quality forests in terms of ecology and economy. The study aims to investigate the local pricing strategy of forest products and its impacts on equitable forest benefit sharing, collection of community fund and carrying out livelihood improvement activities. The study was carried out on six community forests revealed that local people have substantially benefited from the community forests. However, being the region is heterogeneous by socio-economic conditions and forest resources have higher economical potential, the decision of low pricing strategy made by the local people have created inequality problems while sharing the forest benefits, and poorly contributed to community fund collection and consequently carrying out limited activities of livelihood improvement. The paper argued that the decision of low pricing strategy of forest products is counter-productive to promote the equitable benefit sharing in the areas of heterogeneous socio-economic conditions with high value forests. The low pricing strategy has been increasing accessibility of better off households at higher rate than poor; as such households always have higher affording capacity. It is also defective to increase the community fund and carry out activities of livelihood improvement effectively. The study concluded that unilateral decentralized forest policy and decision-making autonomy to the local people seems questionable unless their decision-making capacities are enriched sufficiently. Therefore, it is recommended that empowerment of decision-making capacity of local people and their respective institutions together with policy and program formulation are prerequisite for efficient and equitable community forest management and its long-term sustainability.

Keywords: community forest, livelihood, socio-economy, pricing system, Nepal

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Authors: Abduladim Maitieg

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The oil manufacture is one of the main productive activities in Libya and has a massive infrastructure, including offshore drilling and exploration and wide oil export platform sites that located in coastal area. There is a threat to marine and coastal area of oil spills is greatest in those sites with a high spills comes from urban and industry, parallel to that, monitoring oil spills and risk emergency strategy is weakness, An approach for estimating a coastal resources vulnerability to oil spills is presented based on abundance, environmental and Scio-economic importance, distance to oil spill resources and oil risk likelihood. As many as 10 coastal resources were selected for oil spill assessment at the coast. This study aims to evaluate, determine and establish vulnerable coastal resource maps and estimating the rate of oil spill comes for different oil spill resources in Misratah marine environment. In the study area there are two type of oil spill resources, major oil resources come from offshore oil industries which are 96 km from the Coast and Loading/Uploading oil platform. However, the miner oil resources come from urban sewage pipes and fish ports. In order to analyse the collected database, the Geographic information system software has been used to identify oil spill location, to map oil tracks in front of study area, and developing seasonal vulnerable costal resources maps. This work shows that there is a differential distribution of the degree of vulnerability to oil spills along the coastline, with values ranging from high vulnerability and low vulnerability, and highlights the link between oil spill movement and coastal resources vulnerability. The results of assessment found most of costal freshwater spring sites are highly vulnerable to oil spill due to their location on the intertidal zone and their close to proximity to oil spills recourses such as Zreag coast. Furthermore, the Saltmarsh coastline is highly vulnerable to oil spill risk due to characterisation as it contains a nesting area of sea turtles and feeding places for migratory birds and the . Oil will reach the coast in winter season according to oil spill movement. Coastal tourist beaches in the north coast are considered as highly vulnerable to oil spill due to location and closeness to oil spill resources.

Keywords: coastal recourses vulnerability, oil spill trajectory, gnome software, Misratah coast- Libya, GIS

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Authors: Sanja O. Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Strahinja Z. Kovačević, Lidija R. Jevrić, Stela Jokić

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The complexes of transition metals with various organic ligands have been extensively studied as models of some important pharmaceutical molecules. It was found that biological properties of different substituted organic molecules are improved when they are complexed by different metals. Therefore, it is of great importance for the development of coordination chemistry to explore the assembly of functional organic ligands with metal ion and to investigate the relationship between the structure and property. In the present work, we have bioassayed the antibacterial potency of benzimidazoles and their metal salts (Cu or Zn) against yeast Sarcina lutea. In order to validate our in vitro study, we performed in silico studies using molecular docking software. The investigated compounds and their metal complexes (Cu, Zn) showed good to moderate inhibitory activity against Sarcina lutea. In silico docking studies of the synthesized compounds suggested that complexed benzimidazoles have a greater binding affinity and improved antibacterial activity in comparison with non-complexed ligands. These results are part of the CMST COST Action No. 1105 "Functional metal complexes that bind to biomolecules".

Keywords: organometallic complexes, benzimidazoles, chemometric design, Sarcina lutea

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Authors: Mohsin Ejaz, Shiao-Wei Kuo

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The growing production and exploitation of fossil fuels have placed human society in serious environmental issues. As a result, it's critical to design efficient and eco-friendly energy production and storage techniques. Porous organic polymers (POPs) are multi-dimensional porous network materials developed through the formation of covalent bonds between different organic building blocks that possess distinct geometries and topologies. POPs have tunable porosities and high surface area making them a good candidate for an effective electrode material in energy storage applications. Herein, we prepared a fully benzoxazine-based porous organic polymers (TPA–DHTP–BZ POP) through sonogashira coupling of dihydroxyterephthalaldehyde (DHPT) and triphenylamine (TPA) containing benzoxazine (BZ) monomers. Firstly, both BZ monomers (TPA-BZ-Br and DHTP-BZ-Ea) were synthesized by three steps, including Schiff base, reduction, and mannich condensation reaction. Finally, the TPA–DHTP–BZ POP was prepared through the sonogashira coupling reaction of brominated monomer (TPA-BZ-Br) and ethynyl monomer (DHTP-BZ-Ea). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy confirmed the successful synthesis of monomers as well as POP. The porosity of TPA–DHTP–BZ POP was investigated by the N₂ absorption technique and showed a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 196 m² g−¹, pore size 2.13 nm and pore volume of 0.54 cm³ g−¹, respectively. The TPA–DHTP–BZ POP experienced thermal ring-opening polymerization, resulting in poly (TPA–DHTP–BZ) POP having strong inter and intramolecular hydrogen bonds formed by phenolic groups and Mannich bridges, thereby enhancing CO₂ capture and supercapacitive performance. The poly(TPA–DHTP–BZ) POP demonstrated a remarkable CO₂ capture of 3.28 mmol g−¹ and a specific capacitance of 67 F g−¹ at 0.5 A g−¹. Thus, poly(TPA–DHTP–BZ) POP could potentially be used for energy storage and CO₂ capture applications.

Keywords: porous organic polymer, benzoxazine, sonogashira coupling, CO₂, supercapacitor

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Authors: Jahedul Islam Chowdhury, Bao Kha Nguyen, David Thornhill, Roy Douglas, Stephen Glover

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Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is the most commonly used method for recovering energy from small sources of heat. The investigation of the ORC in supercritical condition is a new research area as it has a potential to generate high power and thermal efficiency in a waste heat recovery system. This paper presents a steady state ORC model in supercritical condition and its simulations with a real engine’s exhaust data. The key component of ORC, evaporator, is modelled using finite volume method, modelling of all other components of the waste heat recovery system such as pump, expander and condenser are also presented. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of mass flow rate and evaporator outlet temperature on the efficiency of the waste heat recovery process. Additionally, the necessity of maintaining an optimum evaporator outlet temperature is also investigated. Simulation results show that modification of mass flow rate is the key to changing the operating temperature at the evaporator outlet.

Keywords: Organic Rankine cycle, supercritical condition, steady state model, waste heat recovery

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Authors: Nety Trisnawaty, Mirna Febriani

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The use of stainless steel wires in the field of dentistry is widely used, especially for orthodontic and prosthodontic treatment using stainless steel wire. The oral cavity is the ideal environment for corrosion, which can be caused by saliva. Prevention of corrosion on stainless steel wires can be done by using an organic or non-organic corrosion inhibitor. One of the organic inhibitors that can be used to prevent corrosion is black tea leaves extracts. To explain the comparison of chromium ions release for stainlees steel between artificial saliva and black tea leaves extracts. In this research we used artificial saliva, black tea leaves extracts, stainless steel wire and using Atomic Absorption Spectrophometric testing machine. The samples were soaked for 1, 3, 7 and 14 days in the artificial saliva and black tea leaves extracts. The results showed the difference of chromium ion release soaked in artificial saliva and black tea leaves extracts on days 1, 3, 7 and 14. Statistically, calculation with independent T-test with p < 0,05 showed a significant difference. The longer the duration of days, the more ion chromium were released. The conclusion of this study shows that black tea leaves extracts can inhibit the corrosion rate of stainless steel wires.

Keywords: chromium ion, stainless steel, artificial saliva, black tea leaves extracts

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Authors: Mohamed Emran, Giovanni Pardini, Maria Gispert, Mohamed Rashad

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Land use and abandonment in semi-arid degraded ecosystems may cause regressive dynamics in vegetation cover affecting organic matter contents, soil nutrients and structural stability, thus reducing soil resistance to erosion. Mediterranean areas are generally subjected to climatic fluctuations, which modify soil conditions and hydrological processes, such as runoff and water infiltration within the upper soil horizons. Low erosion rates occur in very fragile and shallow soils with minor clay content progressively decrease organic carbon C and nitrogen N pools in the upper soil horizons. Seven soils were selected representing variant context of land use and abandonment at the Cap de Creus Peninsula, Catalonia, NE Spain, from recent cultivated vines and olive groves, mid abandoned forests standing under cork and pine trees, pasture to late abandoned Cistus and Erica scrubs. The aim of this work was to study the effect of changes in land use and abandonment on the depletion of soil organic carbon and nitrogen transported by runoff water in shallow soils after natural rainfall events during two years with different rainfall patterns (1st year with low rainfall and 2nd year with high rainfall) by i) monitoring the most significant soil erosion parameters at recorded rainfall events, ii) studying the most relevant soil physical and chemical characteristics on seasonal basis and iii) analysing the seasonal trends of depleted carbon and nitrogen and their interaction with soil surface compaction parameters. Significant seasonal variability was observed in the relevant soil physical and chemical parameters and soil erosion parameters in all soils to establish their evolution under land use and abandonment during two years of different rainfall patterns (214 and 487 mm per year), giving important indications on soil response to rainfall impacts. Erosion rates decreased significantly with the increasing of soil C and N under low and high rainfall. In cultivated soils, C and N depletion increased by 144% and 115%, respectively by 13% increase in erosion rates during the 1st year with respect to the 2nd year. Depleted C and N were proportionally higher in soils under vines and olive with vulnerable soil structure and low soil resilience leading to degradation, altering nutrients cycles and causing adverse impact on environmental quality. Statistical analysis underlined that, during the 1st year, soil surface was less effective in preserving stocks of organic resources leading to higher susceptibility to erosion with consequent C and N depletion. During the 2nd year, higher organic reserve and water storage occurred despite the increasing of C and N loss with an effective contribution from soil surface compaction parameters. The overall estimation during the two years indicated clear differences among soils under vines, olive, cork and pines, suggesting on the one hand, that current cultivation practices are inappropriate and that reforestation with pines may delay the achievement of better soil conditions. On the other hand, the natural succession of vegetation under Cistus, pasture and Erica suggests the recovery of good soil conditions.

Keywords: land abandonment, land use, nutrient's depletion, soil erosion

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Authors: Palash Kumar Mollick, Leire Olazar, Laura Santamaria, Pablo Comendador, Manomita Mollick, Gartzen Lopez, Martin Olazar

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The entire world is skeptical towards a silver line technology of converting plastic waste into valuable synthetic gas. At this junction, besides an adequately studied conventional catalytic process for steam reforming, a non-thermal plasma is being introduced. Organic volatiles are produced in the first step, pyrolysing the plastic materials. Resultant lightweight olefins and carbon monoxide are the major components that undergo a steam reforming process to achieve syngas. A non-thermal plasma consists of ionized gases and free electrons with an electronic temperature as high as 10³ K. Organic volatiles are, in general, endorganics inactive and thus demand huge bond-breaking energy. Conventional catalyst is incapable of providing the required activation energy, leading to poor thermodynamic equilibrium, whereas a non-thermal plasma can actively collide with reactants to produce a rich mix of reactive species, including vibrationally or electronically excited molecules, radicals, atoms, and ions. In addition, non-thermal plasma provides nonequilibrium conditions leading to electric discharge only in certain degrees of freedom without affecting the intrinsic chemical conditions of the participating reactants and products. In this work, we report thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the conversion of organic volatiles into syngas using a non-thermal plasma. Detailed characteristics of plasma and its effect on the overall yield of the process will be presented.

Keywords: non thermal plasma, plasma catalysis, steam reforming, syngas, plastic waste, green energy

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Authors: Jina Lee

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Methane gas is a common byproduct in any process of rot and degradation of organic matter. This gas, when decomposition occurs, is emitted directly into the atmosphere. Methane is the simplest alkane hydrocarbon that exists. Its chemical formula is CH₄. This means that there are four atoms of hydrogen and one of carbon, which is linked by covalent bonds. Methane is found in nature in the form of gas at normal temperatures and pressures. In addition, it is colorless and odorless, despite being produced by the rot of plants. It is a non-toxic gas, and the only real danger is that of burns if it were to ignite. There are several ways to generate methane gas in homes, and the amount of methane gas generated by the decomposition of organic matter varies depending on the type of matter in question. An experiment was designed to measure the efficiency, such as a relationship between the amount of raw material and the amount of gas generated, of three different mixtures of organic matter: 1. food remains of home; 2. animal waste (excrement) 3. equal parts mixing of food debris and animal waste. The results allowed us to conclude which of the three mixtures is the one that grants the highest efficiency in methane gas generation and which would be the most suitable for methane gas generation systems for homes in order to occupy less space generating an equal amount of gas.

Keywords: alternative energy source, energy conversion, methane gas conversion system, waste management

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Authors: M. Manjunath, R. Rakesh, Y. T. Krishne Gowda, G. Panduranga Murthy

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The availability of energy resources plays a vital role in the progress of a country. Over the last decades, there is an increase in the consumption of energy worldwide resulting in the depletion of fossil fuels. This necessitates dependency on other countries for energy resources. Therefore, a renewable eco-friendly alternate fuel is replaced in place of fossil fuel which can be vegetable oils as a substitute fuel for diesel. Since oils are more viscous it cannot be used directly in CI engines without any engine modification. Thus, a conversion of vegetable oils to biodiesel is done by a Transesterification process. The present paper is restricted to Biofuel substitute for diesel and which can be obtained from a number of edible and non-edible oil resources. The oil from these resources can be Transesterified by a suitable method depending on its FFA content for the production of biodiesel and that can be used to operate CI engine. In this work, an attempt is made to test the performance of CI engine using Transesterified peanut and sunflower oil methyl esters blends with diesel.

Keywords: SOME, POME, BMEP, BSFC, BTE

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Authors: Samual Ayeni, A. S. Akinbani

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At present when the price of petroleum is going down beyond bearable level, there is a need to diversify the economy towards arable crop production since Nigeria is an agrarian country. Yam plays prominent role in solving the problem of hunger in Nigeria. There is scarcity of information on the effect of fertilizers in increasing the yield of yam and maintaining soil properties in South Western Nigeria. This study was therefore set up to determine fertilizer effect on properties and yield of yam. The experiment was conducted at Adeyemi College of Education Teaching and Research Farm to compare the effect of organic, Organomineral and mineral fertilizers on yield of yam. Ten treatments were used 10t/ha Wood Ash, 10t/ha Cattle Dung, 10t/ha Poultry Manure, 10t/ha Manufactured Organic, 10t/ha Organomineral Fertilizer, 400kg/ha NPK, 400kg/ha SSP, 400kg/ha Urea and control with treatment. The treatments were laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. Compared with control, Organomineral fertilizer significantly (P < 0.05) increased the soil moisture content, poultry manure, wood ash significantly decreased (< 0.05) the bulk density. Application of 10t/ha Organomineral fertilizer recorded the highest increase in the yield of yam among the treatments.

Keywords: organomineral fertilizer, organic fertilizer, SSP, bulk density

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Authors: Jasraj Meena, Malay Kumar, Manu Vardhan

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Cloud computing is a new technology in industry and academia. The technology has grown and matured in last half decade and proven their significant role in changing environment of IT infrastructure where cloud services and resources are offered over the network. Cloud technology enables users to use services and resources without being concerned about the technical implications of technology. There are substantial research work has been performed for the usage of cloud computing in educational institutes and majority of them provides cloud services over high-end blade servers or other high-end CPUs. However, this paper proposes a new stack called “CiCKAStack” which provide cloud services over unutilized computing resources, named as commodity computers. “CiCKAStack” provides IaaS and PaaS using underlying commodity computers. This will not only increasing the utilization of existing computing resources but also provide organize file system, on demand computing resource and design and development environment.

Keywords: commodity computers, cloud-computing, KVM, CloudStack, AppScale

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Authors: Zouhaier Nasr, Mohamed Nouri

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The increase in greenhouse gases since the pre-industrial period is a real threat to disrupting the balance of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Along with the oceans, forest soils are considered to be the planet's second-largest carbon sink. North African forests have been subject to alarming degradation for several decades. The objective of this investigation is to determine and quantify the effect of thinning practiced in pine forests in northern Tunisia on the storage of organic carbon in the trees and in the soil. The plot planted in 1989 underwent thinning in 2005 on to plots; the density is therefore 1600 trees/ha in control and 400 trees/ha in thinning. Direct dendrometric measurements (diameter, height, branches, stem) were taken. In the soil part, six profiles of 1m / 1m / 1m were used for soil and root samples and biomass and organic matter measurements. The measurements obtained were statistically processed by appropriate software. The results clearly indicate that thinning improves tree growth, so the diameter increased from 24.3 cm to 30.1 cm. Carbon storage in the trunks was 35% more and 25% for the whole tree. At ground level, the thinned plot shows a slight increase in soil organic matter and quantity of carbon per tree, exceeding the control by 10 to 25%.

Keywords: forest, soil, carbon, climate change, Tunisia

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Authors: S. H. R. Sadeghi, A. Sadoddin, A. Najafinejad

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Expansionism and ever-increasing population menace all different resources worldwide. The issue, hence, is critical in developing countries like Iran where new technologies are rapidly luxuriated and unguardedly applied, resulting in unexpected outcomes. However, uncommon and comprehensive approaches are introduced to take all the different aspects involved into consideration. In the last decade, few approaches such as community-based, stakeholders-oriented, adaptive and ultimately integrated management, have emerged and are developing for efficient, Co-management or best management, economic and sustainable development and management of watershed resources in Iran. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to focus on state-of-the-art approaches for the management of watershed resources applied in Iran. The study has been then supported by reports of some case studies conducted throughout the country involving previously mentioned approaches. Scrutinizing results of the researches verified a progressive tendency of the managerial approaches in watershed management strategies leading to a general approaching balance situation. The approaches are firmly rooted in educational, research, executive, legal and policy-making sectors leading to some recuperation at different levels. However, there is a long way ahead to naturalize detrimental effects of unscientific, illegal and over exploitation of the watershed resources in Iran.

Keywords: comprehensive management, ecosystem balance, integrated watershed management, land resources optimization

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Authors: Tae Kyu An

Abstract:

We demonstrate repurposing linear micropatterns on the CD as a master mold to fabricate TIPS-PEN microwires. From the micropatterns on CDs, we replicated polyurethane acrylate (PUA) templates which are robust and flexible until submicrometer scale patterns. Subsequently, 1.5 μm TIPS-PEN microwires separated by 1.5 μm were grown. Using crystal analysis tools with polarized optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurement, it was revealed that each TIPS-PEN microwires are highly crystalline and uniform compared to spin-coated films. It is attributed to the template-guided growth of TIPS-PEN crystals along the linear template, thus the OFETs comprised of TIPS-PEN microwires displayed the high field-effect mobility.

Keywords: compact disk, macro patterning, OFET, soft lithography

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Authors: B. S. Al-Tulaian, M. J. Al-Shannag, A. M. Al-Hozaimy

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The development of new construction materials using recycled plastic is important to both the construction and the plastic recycling industries. Manufacturing of fibers from industrial or post-consumer plastic waste is an attractive approach with such benefits as concrete performance enhancement, and reduced needs for land filling. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of plastic fibers obtained locally from recycled waste on plastic shrinkage cracking of ordinary cement based mortar. Parameters investigated include: Fiber length ranging from 20 to 50 mm, and fiber volume fraction ranging from 0% to 1.5% by volume. The test results showed significant improvement in crack arresting mechanism and substantial reduction in the surface area of cracks for the mortar reinforced with recycled plastic fibers compared to plain mortar. Furthermore, test results indicated that there was a slight decrease in compressive strength of mortar reinforced with different lengths and contents of recycled fibers compared to plain mortar. This study suggests that adding more than 1% of RP fibers to mortar, can be used effectively for controlling plastic shrinkage cracking of cement based mortar, and thus results in waste reduction and resources conservation.

Keywords: mortar, plastic, shrinkage cracking, compressive strength, RF recycled fibers

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Authors: S. Benessam, T. H. Debieche, A. Drouiche, F. Zahi, S. Mahdid

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The intensive use of the chemical fertilizers and the pesticides in agriculture often produces a contamination of the groundwater by organic pollutants. The irrigation and/or rainwater transport the pollutants towards groundwater or water surface. Among these pollutants, one finds the nitrogen, often observed in the agricultural zones in the nitrate form. In order to understand the form and chemical mobility of nitrogen in groundwater, this study was conducted. A two-monthly monitoring of the parameters physicochemical and chemistry of water of the alluvial plain of Nil river (North-eastern Algerian) were carried out during the period from November 2013 to January 2015 as well as an in-situ investigation of the various chemical products used by the farmers. The results show a raise concentration of nitrates in the wells (depth < 20 m) of the plain, which the concentrations arrive at 50 mg/L (standard of potable water). On the other hand in drillings (depth > 20 m), one observes two behaviors. The first in the upstream part, where the aquifer is unconfined and the medium is oxidizing, one observes the weak nitrate concentrations, indicating its absorption by the ground during the infiltration of water towards the groundwater. The second in the central and downstream parts, where the groundwater is locally confined and the reducing medium, one observes an absence of nitrates and the appearance of nitrites and ammonium, indicating the reduction of nitrates. The projection of the analyses on diagrams Eh-pH of nitrogen has enabled to us to determine the intervals of variation of the nitrogen forms. This study also highlighted the effect of the rains, the pumping and the nature of the geological formations in the form and the mobility of nitrogen in the plain.

Keywords: groundwater, nitrogen, mobility, speciation

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Authors: Raul Guerrero, Sandro Machado, Miriam Carvalho

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Soil and aquifer pollution, caused by hydrocarbon liquid spilling, is induced by misguided operational practices and inefficient safety guidelines. According to the Environmental Brazilian Institute (IBAMA), during 2013 alone, over 472.13 m3 of diesel oil leaked into the environment nationwide for those reported cases only. Regarding the aforementioned information, there’s an indisputable need to adopt appropriate environmental safeguards specially in those areas intended for the production, treatment, transportation and storage of hydrocarbon fluids. According to Brazilian norm, ABNT-NBR 7505-1:2000, compacted soil or mineral barriers used in structural contingency levees, such as storage tanks, are required to present a maximum water permeability coefficient, k, of 1x10-6 cm/s. However, as discussed by several authors, water can not be adopted as the reference fluid to determine the site’s containment performance against organic fluids. Mainly, due to the great discrepancy observed in polarity values (dielectric constant) between water and most organic fluids. Previous studies, within this same research group, proposed an optimal range of values for the soil’s index properties for mineral barrier composition focused on organic fluid containment. Unfortunately, in some circumstances, it is not possible to encounter a type of soil with the required geotechnical characteristics near the containment site, increasing prevention and construction costs, as well as environmental risks. For these specific cases, the use of an organic product or material as an additive to enhance mineral-barrier containment performance may be an attractive geotechnical solution. This paper evaluates the effect of activated carbon (AC) content additions into a clayey soil towards hydrocarbon fluid permeability. Variables such as compaction energy, carbon texture and addition content (0%, 10% and 20%) were analyzed through laboratory falling-head permeability tests using distilled water and commercial diesel as percolating fluids. The obtained results showed that the AC with smaller particle-size reduced k values significantly against diesel, indicating a direct relationship between particle-size reduction (surface area increase) of the organic product and organic fluid containment.

Keywords: activated carbon, clayey soils, permeability, surface area

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Authors: Pei Li, Chunyi Zhi

Abstract:

Conversion-type lithium-ion batteries show great potential as high-energy-density, low-cost and sustainable alternatives to current transition-metal-based intercalation cells. Li-Cl₂/Li⁻I₂ conversion batteries, based on anionic redox reactions of Cl⁻/Cl⁰ or I⁻/I⁰, are highly attractive due to their superior voltage and capacity. However, a redox-active and reversible chlorine cathode has not been developed in organic electrolytes. And thermodynamic instability and shuttling issues of iodine cathodes have plagued the active iodine loading, capacity retention and cyclability. By reversible chemical bonds, we develop reversible chlorine redox reactions in organic electrolytes with interhalogen bonds between I and Cl for Li-I₂ batteries and develop a highly thermally stable I/I₃--bonded organic salts with iodine content up to 80% as cathode materials for the rechargeable Li-I₂ batteries. The demonstration of reversible chemical bonds enabled rechargeable Li-halogen batteries opens a new avenue to develop halogen compound cathodes.

Keywords: conversion-type, chlorine, halogen cathode, high energy density, iodine, interhalogen bond, lithium-ion batteries

Procedia PDF Downloads 64