Search results for: synthetic surfactant

Authors: J. S. Bedi, J. P. S. Gill, R. S. Aulakh, Prabhjit Kaur

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The present study was undertaken to monitor organochlorine, organophosphate and synthetic pyrethroid pesticide residues in butter and ghee samples collected from six different districts of Punjab. The estimation of pesticide residues was done by multiple residue analytical technique using gas chromatography equipped with GC-ECD and GC-FTD. The confirmation of residues was done on gas chromatography mass spectrometry in both SIM and Scan mode. Results indicated the presence of HCH and pp DDE as predominant contaminant in both butter and ghee even after their ban/restriction on usage in India. Residues of HCH were detected in 25.5 and 23.2 % samples of butter and ghee, respectively, while residues of pp DDE were recorded in 29.3 and 25.0 % butter and ghee samples, respectively. More importantly, the presence of endosulfan, cypermethrin, fenvalerate, deltamethrin and chlorpyrifos was observed in few butter and ghee samples indicating the serious concerns. The spatial variation of pesticide residues occurrence indicated the cotton belt of Punjab as most affected.

Keywords: butter, ghee, pesticides residues, Punjab

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Authors: Jianqin Qu

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This paper proposes a rigid point set matching algorithm in arbitrary dimensions based on the idea of symmetric covariant function. A group of functions of the points in the set are formulated using rigid invariants. Each of these functions computes a pair of correspondence from the given point set. Then the computed correspondences are used to recover the unknown rigid transform parameters. Each computed point can be geometrically interpreted as the weighted mean center of the point set. The algorithm is compact, fast, and dimension free without any optimization process. It either computes the desired transform for noiseless data in linear time, or fails quickly in exceptional cases. Experimental results for synthetic data and 2D/3D real data are provided, which demonstrate potential applications of the algorithm to a wide range of problems.

Keywords: covariant point, point matching, dimension free, rigid registration

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Authors: Alessio Varotto, Lorenzo Freschi, Umberto Pasqual Laverdura, Anastasia Moschovi, Davide Pumiglia, Iakovos Yakoumis, Marta Feroci, Maria Luisa Grilli

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Dry reforming of Methane (DRM) is considered one of the most valuable technologies for green-house gas valorization thanks to the fact that through this reaction, it is possible to obtain syngas, a mixture of H₂ and CO in an H₂/CO ratio suitable for utilization in the Fischer-Tropsch process of high value-added chemicals and fuels. Challenges of the DRM process are the reduction of costs due to the high temperature of the process and the high cost of precious metals of the catalyst, the metal particles sintering, and carbon deposition on the catalysts’ surface. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of the synthesis of catalysts using a leachate solution containing Pt coming directly from the recovery of spent diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) without further purification. An unusual perovskite support for DRM, the BaCe₁₋ₓ₋ᵧZrₓGdᵧO₃ (BCZG) perovskite, has been chosen as the catalyst support because of its high thermal stability and capability to produce oxygen vacancies, which suppress the carbon deposition and enhance the catalytic activity of the catalyst. BCZG perovskite has been synthesized by a sol-gel modified Pechini process and calcinated in air at 1100 °C. BCZG supports have been impregnated with a Pt-containing leachate solution of DOC, obtained by a mild hydrometallurgical recovery process, as reported elsewhere by some of the authors of this manuscript. For comparison reasons, a synthetic solution obtained by digesting commercial Pt-black powder in aqua regia was used for BCZG support impregnation. Pt nominal content was 2% in both BCZG-based catalysts formed by real and synthetic solutions. The structure and morphology of catalysts were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) was used to study the thermal stability of the catalyst’s samples. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis provided a high surface area of the catalysts. H₂-TPR (Temperature Programmed Reduction) analysis was used to study the consumption of hydrogen for reducibility, and it was associated with H₂-TPD characterization to study the dispersion of Pt on the surface of the support and calculate the number of active sites used by the precious metal. Dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction, carried out in a fixed bed reactor, showed a high conversion efficiency of CO₂ and CH4. At 850°C, CO₂ and CH₄ conversion were close to 100% for the catalyst obtained with the aqua regia-based solution of commercial Pt-black, and ~70% (for CH₄) and ~80 % (for CO₂) in the case of real HCl-based leachate solution. H₂/CO ratios were ~0.9 and ~0.70 in the first and latter cases, respectively. As far as we know, this is the first pioneering work in which a BCGZ catalyst and a real Pt-containing leachate solution were successfully employed for DRM reaction.

Keywords: dry reforming of methane, perovskite, PGM, recycled Pt, syngas

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Authors: Geeta Gahlawat, Sanjeev Kumar Soni

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An imprudent use of environmentally hazardous petrochemical-based plastics and limited availability of fossil fuels have provoked research interests towards production of biodegradable plastics - polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHAs). However, the industrial application of PHAs based products is primarily restricted by their high cost of recovery and extraction protocols. Moreover, solvents used for the extraction and purification are toxic and volatile which causes adverse environmental hazards. Development of efficient downstream recovery strategies along with utilization of non-toxic solvents will accelerate their commercialization. In this study, various extraction strategies were designed for sustainable and cost-effective recovery of PHAs from Cupriavidus necator using non-toxic environment friendly solvents viz. 1,2-propylene carbonate, ethyl acetate, isoamyl alcohol, butyl acetate. The effect of incubation time i.e. 10, 30 and 50 min and temperature i.e. 60, 80, 100, 120°C was tested to identify the most suitable solvent. PHAs extraction using a recyclable solvent, 1,2 propylene carbonate, showed the highest recovery yield (90%) and purity (93%) at 120°C and 30 min incubation. Ethyl acetate showed the better capacity to recover PHAs from cells than butyl acetate. Extraction with ethyl acetate exhibited high recovery yield and purity of 96% and 92%, respectively at 100°C. Effect of non-toxic surfactant such as linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acid (LAS) was also studied at 40, 60 and 80°C, and detergent pH range of 3.0, 5.0, 7.0 and 9.0 for the extraction of PHAs from the cells. LAS gave highest yield of 86% and purity of 88% at temperature 80°C and 5.0 pH.

Keywords: polyhydroxyalkanoates, Cupriavidus necator, extraction, recovery yield

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Authors: Rujia Chen, Akbar Ghobakhlou, Ajit Narayanan

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This study investigates the task of identifying musical instruments in polyphonic compositions using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) from spectrogram inputs, focusing on binary classification. The model showed promising results, with an accuracy of 97% on solo instrument recognition. When applied to polyphonic combinations of 1 to 10 instruments, the overall accuracy was 64%, reflecting the increasing challenge with larger ensembles. These findings contribute to the field of Music Information Retrieval (MIR) by highlighting the potential and limitations of current approaches in handling complex musical arrangements. Future work aims to include a broader range of musical sounds, including electronic and synthetic sounds, to improve the model's robustness and applicability in real-time MIR systems.

Keywords: binary classifier, CNN, spectrogram, instrument

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Authors: G. Roshan Deen, J. S. Pedersen

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Temperature-responsive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) PNIPAM microgels crosslinked with a new hydrophobic chemical crosslinker was prepared by surfactant-mediated precipitation emulsion polymerization. The temperature-responsive property of the microgel and the influence of the crosslinker on the swelling behaviour was studied systematically by light scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The radius of gyration (Rg) and the hydrodynamic radius (Rh) of the microgels decreased with increase in temperature due to the volume phase transition from a swollen to a collapsed state. The ratio of Rg/Rh below the transition temperature was lower than that of hard-spheres due to the lower crosslinking density of the microgels. The SAXS data was analysed by a model in which the microgels were modelled as core-shell particles with a graded interface. The model at intermediate temperatures included a central core and a more diffuse outer layer describing pending polymer chains with a low crosslinking density. In the fully swollen state, the microgels were modelled with a single component with a broad graded surface. In the collapsed state they were modelled as homogeneous and relatively compact particles. The polymer volume fraction inside the microgel was also derived based on the model and was found to increase with increase in temperature as a result of collapse of the microgel to compact particles. The polymer volume fraction in the core of the microgel in the collapsed state was about 60% which is higher than that of similar microgels crosslinked with hydrophilic and flexible cross-linkers.

Keywords: microgels, SAXS, hydrophobic crosslinker, light scattering

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Authors: Kanyarat Sikhao, Nichakorn Khondee

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Adjuvant is commonly mixed with agricultural spray solution during foliar application to improve the performance of microbial-based biological control, including better spreading, absorption, and penetration on a plant leaf. This research aims to replace chemical surfactants in adjuvant by biosurfactants for reducing a negative impact on antagonistic microorganisms and crops. Biosurfactant was produced from Brevibacterium casei NK8 and used as a cell-free broth solution containing a biosurfactant concentration of 3.7 g/L. The studies of microemulsion formation and phase behavior were applied to obtain the suitable composition of biosurfactant-based adjuvant, consisting of cell-free broth (70-80%), coconut oil-based fatty alcohol C12-14 (3) ethoxylate (1-7%), and sodium chloride (8-30%). The suitable formula, achieving Winsor Type III microemulsion (bicontinuous), was 80% of cell-free broth, 7% of fatty alcohol C12-14 (3) ethoxylate, and 8% sodium chloride. This formula reduced the contact angle of water on parafilm from 70 to 31 degrees. The non-phytotoxicity against plant seed of Oryza sativa and Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis were obtained from biosurfactant-based adjuvant (germination index equal and above 80%), while sodium dodecyl sulfate and tween80 showed phytotoxic effects to these plant seeds. The survival of Bacillus subtilis in biosurfactant-based adjuvant was higher than sodium dodecyl sulfate and tween80. The mixing of biosurfactant and plant-based surfactant could be considered as a viable, safer, and acceptable alternative to chemical adjuvant for sustainable organic farming.

Keywords: biosurfactant, microemulsion, bio-adjuvant, antagonistic microorganisms

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Authors: Padmaja R. Jonnalagadda

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Dietary exposure assessment of fifteen pesticide residues was done in Andhra Pradesh. Twelve commonly consumed foods including water, which were representative of the diet, were collected, processed as table ready and analysed for the presence of various Organochlorines, organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids. All the samples were contaminated with one or more of the 15 pesticide residues and all of them were within the MRLs. DDT and its isomers, Chlorpyriphos and Cypermethrin were frequently detected in many of the food samples. The mean concentration of the pesticide residues ranged from 0.02 μg kg-1 to 5.1 μg kg-1 (fresh weight) in the analysed foods. When exposure assessments was carried out for different age, sex and physiological groups it was found that the estimates of daily dietary intakes of the analysed pesticide residues in the present study are much lower than the violative levels in all age groups that were computed.

Keywords: table ready foods, pesticide residues, dietary intake, physiological groups, risk

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Authors: Khalid Omari, Rene Chenier, Enrique Blondel, Ryan Ahola

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Northern Canadian coasts have vulnerable and very dynamic intertidal zones with very high tides occurring in several areas. The impact of climate change presents challenges not only for maintaining this biodiversity but also for navigation safety adaptation due to the high sediment mobility in these coastal areas. Thus, frequent mapping of shorelines and intertidal changes is of high importance. To help in quantifying the changes in these fragile ecosystems, remote sensing provides practical monitoring tools at local and regional scales. Traditional methods based on high-resolution optical sensors are often used to map intertidal areas by benefiting of the spectral response contrast of intertidal classes in visible, near and mid-infrared bands. Tidal areas are highly reflective in visible bands mainly because of the presence of fine sand deposits. However, getting a cloud-free optical data that coincide with low tides in intertidal zones in northern regions is very difficult. Alternatively, the all-weather capability and daylight-independence of the microwave remote sensing using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can offer valuable geophysical parameters with a high frequency revisit over intertidal zones. Multi-polarization SAR parameters have been used successfully in mapping intertidal zones using incoherence target decomposition. Moreover, the crustal displacements caused by ocean tide loading may reach several centimeters that can be detected and quantified across differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR). Soil moisture change has a significant impact on both the coherence and the backscatter. For instance, increases in the backscatter intensity associated with low coherence is an indicator for abrupt surface changes. In this research, we present primary results obtained following our investigation of the potential of the fully polarimetric Radarsat-2 data for mapping an inter-tidal zone located on Tasiujaq on the south-west shore of Ungava Bay, Quebec. Using the repeat pass cycle of Radarsat-2, multiple seasonal fine quad (FQ14W) images are acquired over the site between 2016 and 2018. Only 8 images corresponding to low tide conditions are selected and used to build an interferometric stack of data. The observed displacements along the line of sight generated using HH and VV polarization are compared with the changes noticed using the Freeman Durden polarimetric decomposition and Touzi degree of polarization extrema. Results show the consistency of both approaches in their ability to monitor the changes in intertidal zones.

Keywords: SAR, degree of polarization, DInSAR, Freeman-Durden, polarimetry, Radarsat-2

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Authors: Lazgeen Mohammed

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The greatest advantage of acupuncture over western medicine is that it is safe . Unlike synthetic drugs, acupuncture has virtually no side effects, and the procedures for treating headaches are much less invasive. Migraine headaches are usually one-sided, pulsating or throbbing, and moderate or severe in intensity.. Some patients also experience auras, a neurological symptom that develops gradually over 5-20 minutes. The patient may see brief flashes or waves of light, or changes in their vision. Other common features of auras include vertigo, imbalance, confusion and numbness.Acupuncture had been used to treat 50 patients suffering from migraine ,topiramat (topamax) given to prevent the attacks, duration of treatment is 10 weeks , the patients were fallowed up for one year .Topiramat is called an anticonvulsant.Topiramat is also used to prevent migraine headaches in adults and teenagers who are at least 12 years old. This medicine will only prevent migraine headaches or reduce the number of attacks. It will not treat a headache that has already begun.

Keywords: acpuncture, migraine, topiramat, headache

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Authors: S. S. Salehi, A. Shamloo

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Poor ability of cartilage tissue when experiencing a damage leads scientists to use tissue engineering as a reliable and effective method for regenerating or replacing damaged tissues. An artificial tissue should have some features such as biocompatibility, biodegradation and, enough mechanical properties like the original tissue. In this work, a composite hydrogel is prepared by using natural and synthetic materials that has high porosity. Mechanical properties of different combinations of polymers such as modulus of elasticity were tested, and a hydrogel with good mechanical properties was selected. Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells were also seeded into the pores of the sponge, and the results showed the adhesion and proliferation of cells within the hydrogel after one month. In comparison with previous works, this study offers a new and efficient procedure for the fabrication of cartilage like tissue and further cartilage repair.

Keywords: cartilage tissue engineering, hydrogel, mechanical strength, mesenchymal stem cell

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Authors: Mohamed Barbary, Mohamed H. Abd El-Azeem

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Maneuvering extended object tracking (M-EOT) using high-resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) observations has been gaining momentum recently. This work presents a new robust implementation of the multiple models (MM) multi-Bernoulli (MB) filter for M-EOT, where the M-EOT’s ISAR observations are characterized using a skewed (SK) non-symmetrically normal distribution. To cope with the possible abrupt change of kinematic state, extension, and observation distribution over an extended object when a target maneuvers, a multiple model technique is represented based on MB-track-before-detect (TBD) filter supported by SK-sub-random matrix model (RMM) or sub-ellipses framework. Simulation results demonstrate this remarkable impact.

Keywords: maneuvering extended objects, ISAR, skewed normal distribution, sub-RMM, MM-MB-TBD filter

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Authors: Issam Ben Jami

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Information retrieval in digital libraries is very important because most famous historical documents occupy a significant value. The word spotting in historical documents is a very difficult notion, because automatic recognition of such documents is naturally cursive, it represents a wide variability in the level scale and translation words in the same documents. We first present a system for the automatic recognition, based on the extraction of interest points words from the image model. The extraction phase of the key points is chosen from the representation of the image as a synthetic description of the shape recognition in a multidimensional space. As a result, we use advanced methods that can find and describe interesting points invariant to scale, rotation and lighting which are linked to local configurations of pixels. We test this approach on documents of the 15th century. Our experiments give important results.

Keywords: feature matching, historical documents, pattern recognition, word spotting

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Authors: Houneïda Benbouzid, Houria Berrebbah, Mohammed-Réda Djebar

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The toxicological impacts of the increasing number of synthetic compounds present in the aquatic environment are assessed predominantly in laboratory studies where test organisms are exposed to a range of concentrations of single compounds. The bio-indicator Paramecium sp., characterized by a short life cycle, rapid multiplication and normal behavior that may be affected by the presence of pollutants. We therefore investigated the inhibitory effect of a newly synthesized acaricide: the chlorfenapyr tested at concentrations of 250, 300, and 350 µM on a pure culture of Paramecium sp. during 6 day. Paramecia treated with different concentrations of Chlorfenapyr illustrate strong inhibition of cell growth from the second day of treatment. Low levels of glutathione, increased glutathione S-transferase and the decrease in respiratory metabolism, recorded in the presence of different concentrations of Chlorfenapyr, involve the activation of detoxification system.

Keywords: Paramecium sp., chlorfenapyr, oxidative enzymes, detoxification

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Authors: Rajesh A. Rane, Shital S. Naphade, Rajshekhar Karpoormath

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Thiozolidin-4-one, a mimic of thiazolobenzimidazole (TBZ) has drawn many attentions due to its potent and selective inhibition against the HIV-1 and low toxicity by binding to the allosteric site of the reverse transcriptase (RT) as a non-nucleoside RT inhibitor (NNRTI). Similarly, marine bromopyrrole alkaloids are well known for their diverse array of anti-infective properties. Hence, we have reported synthesis and in vitro HIV-1 RT inhibitory activity of a series of 4-thiazolidinone-bromopyrrole alkaloid hybrids tethered with amide linker. The results of in vitro HIV-1 RT kit assay showed that some of the compounds, such as 4c, 4d, and 4i could effectively inhibit RT activity. Among them, compounds 4c having 4-chlorophenyl substituted 4-thiazolidione ring was the best one with the IC50 value of 0.26 µM. The sturdy emerges with key structure-activity relationship that pyrrole-NH-free core benefited inhibition against HIV-1 RT inhibition. This study identified conjugate 4c with potent activity and selectivity as promising compound for further drug development to HIV.

Keywords: antiviral drugs, bromopyrrole alkaloids, HIV-1 RT inhibition, 4-thiazolidinone

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Authors: Nabila Ihaddadene, Razika Ihaddadene, Abdelwahaab Betka

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1973 energy crisis (rising oil prices) pushed the world to consider other alternative energy resources to existing conventional energies consisting predominantly of hydrocarbons. Renewable energies such as solar, the wind and geothermal have received renewed interest, especially to preserve nature ( the low-temperature rise of global environmental problems). Solar energy as an available, cheap and environmental friendly alternative source has various applications such as heating, cooling, drying, power generation, etc. In short, there is no life on earth without this enormous nuclear reactor, called the sun. Among available solar collector designs, flat plate collector (FPC) is low-temperature applications (heating water, space heating, etc.) due to its simple design and ease of manufacturing. Flat plate collectors are permanently fixed in position and do not track the sun (non-concentrating collectors). They operate by converting solar radiation into heat and transferring that heat to a working fluid (usually air, water, water plus antifreeze additive) flowing through them. An FPC generally consists of the main following components: glazing, absorber plate of high absorptivity, fluid tubes welded to or can be an integral part of the absorber plate, insulation and container or casing of the above-mentioned components. Insulation is of prime importance in thermal applications. There are three main families of insulation: mineral insulation; vegetal insulation and synthetic organic insulation. The old houses of the inhabitants of North Africa were built of brick made of composite material that is clay and straw. These homes are characterized by their thermal comfort; i.e. the air inside these houses is cool in summer and warm in winter. So, the material composed from clay and straw act as a thermal insulation. In this research document, the polystyrene used as insulation in the ET200 flat plate solar collector is replaced by the cheapest natural material which is clay and straw. Trials were carried out on a solar energy demonstration system (ET 200). This system contains a solar collector, water storage tank, a high power lamp simulating solar energy and a control and command cabinet. In the experimental device, the polystyrene is placed under the absorber plate and in the edges of the casing containing the components of the solar collector. In this work, we have replaced the polystyrene of the edges by the composite material. The use of the clay and straw as insulation instead of the polystyrene increases temperature difference (T2-T1) between the inlet and the outlet of the absorber by 0.9°C; thus increases the useful power transmitted to water in the solar collector. Tank Water is well heated when using the clay and straw as insulation. However, it is less heated when using the polystyrene as insulation. Clay and straw material improves also the performance of the solar collector by 5.77%. Thus, it is recommended to use this cheapest non-polluting material instead of synthetic insulation to improve the performance of the solar collector.

Keywords: clay, insulation material, polystyrene, solar collector, straw

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Authors: Juan Patricio Ibáñez, Exequiel López

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A method for synthesizing copper nanoparticles through an electrochemical approach is proposed, employing surfactants to stabilize the size of the newly formed nanoparticles. The electrolyte was made up of a matrix of H₂SO₄ (190 g/L) having Cu²⁺ (from 3.2 to 9.5 g/L), sodium dodecyl sulfate -SDS- (from 0.5 to 1.0 g/L) and Tween 80 (from 0 to 7.5 mL/L). Tween 80 was used in a molar relation of 1 to 1 with SDS. A glass cell was used, which was in a thermostatic water bath to keep the system temperature, and the electrodes were cathodic copper as an anode and stainless steel 316-L as a cathode. This process was influenced by the control exerted through the initial copper concentration in the electrolyte and the applied current density. Copper nanoparticles of electrolytic purity, exhibiting a spherical morphology of varying sizes with low dispersion, were successfully produced, contingent upon the chemical composition of the electrolyte and current density. The minimum size achieved was 3.0 nm ± 0.9 nm, with an average standard deviation of 2.2 nm throughout the entire process. The deposited copper mass ranged from 0.394 g to 1.848 g per hour (over an area of 25 cm²), accompanied by an average Faradaic efficiency of 30.8% and an average specific energy consumption of 4.4 kWh/kg. The chemical analysis of the product employed X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), while physical characteristics such as size and morphology were assessed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was identified that the initial concentration of copper and the current density are the variables defining the size and dispersion of the nanoparticles, as they serve as reactants in the cathodic half-reaction. The presence of surfactants stabilizes the nanoparticle size as their molecules adsorb onto the nanoparticle surface, forming a thick barrier that prevents mass transfer with the exterior and halts further growth.

Keywords: copper nanopowder, electrochemical synthesis, current density, surfactant stabilizer

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Authors: Abdulrahman Abdulhamid Arabo, Raji Arabi Bamanga, Mujiburrahman Fadilu, Musa Abubakar, Fatima Abdullahi Shehu, Hafeez Muhammad Yakasai, Nasiru Abdullahi

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The aim of this study was to isolate and identify biosurfactant-producing and diesel alkanes degrading bacteria. For this reason, bacteria isolated from the diesel-contaminated site were screened for their potential to produce biosurfactants and degrade diesel alkanes. Primary selection of diesel degraders was carried out by using the conventional enrichment culture technique, where 12 bacterial strains were isolated based on their ability to grow on minimal media supplemented with diesel as the sole carbon source, which was followed by qualitative screening methods for potential biosurfactant production. Isolate B11 was the only candidate that showed positive signs for drop collapse, foaming, hemolytic test, oil displacement of more than 22 ± 0.05 mm, and emulsification (E24) of 14 ± 0.30%. The effect of various culture parameters (incubation time, diesel concentration, nitrogen source, pH and temperature) on the biodegradation of diesel was evaluated. The optimum incubation time was confirmed to be 120 days for isolate B11, and the optimum PH was confirmed as 8.0 for the isolate; similarly, the optimum temperature was confirmed as 35oC. In addition, diesel oil was used as the sole carbon source for the isolates. The favorable diesel concentration was 12.5 % (v/v) for the isolate. The isolate has shown degradative ability towards Tridecane (C13), dodecane, 2, 6, 10-trimethyl- (C15), Tetradecane (C14), 2,6,10-Trimethyltridecane (C16), Pentadecane (C15). It degraded between 0.27% - 9.65% of individual diesel oil alkanes. The strain has exhibited the potential of degrading diesel oil n-alkanes and was identified as Alcaligenes species strain B11 (MZ027604) using the 16S rRNA. Sequencing.

Keywords: diesel oil, biosurfactant, Alcaligenes sp, biodegradation

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Authors: S. N. Turkmen Koc, A. S. Kipcak, M. B. Piskin, E. Moroydor Derun, N. Tugrul

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Active carbon can be obtained from agricultural sources. Due to the high surface area, the production of activated carbon from cheap resources is very important. Since the surface area of 1 g activated carbon is approximately between 300 and 2000 m², it can be used to remove both organic and inorganic impurities. In this study, the adsorption of Zn metal was studied with the product of activated carbon, which is obtained from pomegranate peel by microwave and chemical activation methods. The microwave process of pomegranate peel was carried out under constant microwave power of 800 W and 1 to 4 minutes. After the microwave process, samples were treated with H₂SO₄ for 3 h. Then prepared product was used in synthetic waste water including 40 ppm Zn metal. As a result, removal of waste Zn in waste water ranged from 91% to 93%.

Keywords: activated carbon, chemical activation, H₂SO₄, microwave, pomegranate peel

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Authors: A. Boveiri Monji, H. Yousefnia, M. Haji Hosseini, S. Zolghadri

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A clean spectrophotometric method for the determination of hafnium by using a green reagent, acidic extract of Ficus carica tree leaves is developed. In 6-M hydrochloric acid, hafnium reacts with this reagent to form a yellow product. The formed product shows maximum absorbance at 421 nm with a molar absorptivity value of 0.28 × 104 l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹, and the method was linear in the 2-11 µg ml⁻¹ concentration range. The detection limit value was found to be 0.312 µg ml⁻¹. Except zirconium and iron, the selectivity was good, and most of the ions did not show any significant spectral interference at concentrations up to several hundred times. The proposed method was green, simple, low cost, and selective.

Keywords: spectrophotometric determination, Ficus caricatree leaves, synthetic reagents, hafnium

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Authors: Phillip Ahn, Bryan Kim

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Copper is perhaps the most prevalent heavy metal used in the manufacturing industries, from food additives to metal-mechanic factories. Common methodologies to remove copper are expensive and produce undesired by-products. A good decontaminating candidate should be environment-friendly, inexpensive, and capable of eliminating low concentrations of the metal. This work suggests chemically modified spent tea leaves of chamomile, peppermint and green tea in their thiolated, sulfonated and carboxylated forms as candidates for the removal of copper from solutions. Batch experiments were conducted to maximize the adsorption of copper (II) ions. Effects such as acidity, salinity, adsorbent dose, metal concentration, and presence of surfactant were explored. Experimental data show that maximum adsorption is reached at neutral pH. The results indicate that Cu(II) can be removed up to 53%, 22% and 19% with the thiolated, carboxylated and sulfonated adsorbents, respectively. Maximum adsorption of copper on TPM (53%) is achieved with 150 mg and decreases with the presence of salts and surfactants. Conversely, sulfonated and carboxylated adsorbents show better adsorption in the presence of surfactants. Time-dependent experiments show that adsorption is reached in less than 25 min for TCM and 5 min for SCM. Instrumental analyses determined the presence of active functional groups, thermal resistance, and scanning electron microscopy, indicating that both adsorbents are promising materials for the selective recovery and treatment of metal ions from wastewaters. Finally, columns were prepared with these adsorbents to explore their application in scaled-up processes, with very positive results. A long-term goal involves the recycling of the exhausted adsorbent and/or their use in the preparation of biofuels due to changes in materials’ structures.

Keywords: heavy metal removal, adsorption, wastewaters, water remediation

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Authors: Pelin Su Firat, Sohyung Cho

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Biopsy or aspiration procedures are known to be complicated as they involve the penetration of a needle through human tissues, including vital organs. This research presents the design of a force sensor-guided device to be used with syringes and needles for aspiration and biopsy. The development of the device was aimed to help accomplish accurate needle placement and increase the performance of the surgeon in navigating the tool and tracking the target. Specifically, a prototype for a force-sensor embedded syringe has been created using 3D (3-Dimensional) modeling and printing techniques in which two different force sensors were used to provide significant force feedback to users during the operations when needles pernitrate different tissues. From the extensive tests using synthetic tissues, it is shown that the proposed syringe design has accomplished the desired accuracy, efficiency, repeatability, and effectiveness. Further development is desirable through usability tests.

Keywords: biopsy, syringe, force sensors, haptic feedback

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Authors: Leonardo Ko

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In an era marked by rapid technological innovation, the classical instrument industry nonetheless has not seen significant change. Is this a matter of stubborn traditionalism, or do old, conventional instruments really sound better? Because of the widespread use of 3-D printing, it seems feasible to produce modern, 3-D printed instruments that adhere to the basic conventions of standard construction. This study aimed to design and create a practical, effective 3-D printed acoustic violin. A cost-benefit analysis of materials and design is presented in addition to a report on sound tests in which a pool of professional musicians compared the traditional violin to its synthetic counterpart with regard to acoustic properties. With a low-cost yet functional instrument, musicians of all levels would be able to afford instruments with much greater ease; the present study thus hopes to contribute to efforts to increase the accessibility of classical music education.

Keywords: acoustic musical instrument, classical musical education, low-cost, 3-D printing

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Authors: Supriyono, Sumardiyono

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Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that promising for substituting petrodiesel as energy source which is have advantage on sustainability and eco-friendly. Due to the raw material that tend to decompose during storage, biodiesel also have the same characteristic that tend to decompose and formed higher acid value which is the result of oxidation to double bond on a chain of ester. Decomposition of biodiesel due to oxidation reaction could prevent by introduce a small amount of antioxidant. The origin of raw materials and the process for producing biodiesel will determine the effectiveness of antioxidant. The quality degradation on biodiesel could evaluated by measuring iodine value and acid number of biodiesel. Biodiesel made from High Fatty Acid Jatropha curcas oil equality by using esterification and esterification process will stand on the quality by introduce 90 ppm pyrogallol powder on the biodiesel, which could extend the quality from 2 hours to more than 6 hours in rancimat test evaluation.

Keywords: biodiesel, antioxidant, iodine number, acid value

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Authors: D. M. Bassuney, W. A. Ibrahim, Medhat A. E. Moustafa

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Appropriate start-up of an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) is considered to be the most delicate and important issue in the anaerobic process, and depends on several factors such as wastewater composition, reactor configuration, inoculum and operating conditions. In this work, the start-up performance of an ABR with working volume of 30 liters, fed continuously with synthetic food industrial wastewater along with semi-batch study to measure the methangenic activity by specific methanogenic activity (SMA) test were carried out at various organic loading rates (OLRs) to determine the best OLR used to start up the reactor. The comparison was based on COD removal efficiencies, start-up time, pH stability and methane production. An OLR of 1.8 Kg COD/m3d (5400 gCOD/m3 and 3 days HRT) showed best overall performance with COD removal efficiency of 94.44% after four days from the feeding and methane production of 3802 ml/L with an overall SMA of 0.36 gCH4-COD/gVS.d

Keywords: anaerobic baffled reactor, anaerobic reactor start-up, food industrial wastewater, specific methanogenic activity

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Authors: T. Poyai, P. Painmanakul, N. Chawaloesphonsiya, P. Dhanasin, C. Getwech, P. Wattana

Abstract:

Drilling is a key activity in oil and gas exploration and production. Drilling always requires the use of drilling mud for lubricating the drill bit and controlling the subsurface pressure. As drilling proceeds, a considerable amount of cuttings or rock fragments is generated. In general, water or Water Based Mud (WBM) serves as drilling fluid for the top hole section. The cuttings generated from this section is non-hazardous and normally applied as fill materials. On the other hand, drilling the bottom hole to reservoir section uses Synthetic Based Mud (SBM) of which synthetic oils are composed. The bottom-hole cuttings, SBM cuttings, is regarded as a hazardous waste, in accordance with the government regulations, due to the presence of hydrocarbons. Currently, the SBM cuttings are disposed of as an alternative fuel and raw material in cement kiln. Instead of burning, this work aims to propose an alternative for drill cuttings management under two ultimate goals: (1) reduction of hazardous waste volume; and (2) making use of the cleaned cuttings. Soil washing was selected as the major treatment process. The physiochemical properties of drill cuttings were analyzed, such as size fraction, pH, moisture content, and hydrocarbons. The particle size of cuttings was analyzed via light scattering method. Oil present in cuttings was quantified in terms of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) through gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Other components were measured by the standard methods for soil analysis. Effects of different washing agents, liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio, washing time, mixing speed, rinse-to-solid (R/S) ratio, and rinsing time were also evaluated. It was found that drill cuttings held the electrical conductivity of 3.84 dS/m, pH of 9.1, and moisture content of 7.5%. The TPH in cuttings existed in the diesel range with the concentration ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 mg/kg dry cuttings. A majority of cuttings particles held a mean diameter of 50 µm, which represented silt fraction. The results also suggested that a green solvent was considered most promising for cuttings treatment regarding occupational health, safety, and environmental benefits. The optimal washing conditions were obtained at L/S of 5, washing time of 15 min, mixing speed of 60 rpm, R/S of 10, and rinsing time of 1 min. After washing process, three fractions including clean cuttings, spent solvent, and wastewater were considered and provided with recommendations. The residual TPH less than 5,000 mg/kg was detected in clean cuttings. The treated cuttings can be then used for various purposes. The spent solvent held the calorific value of higher than 3,000 cal/g, which can be used as an alternative fuel. Otherwise, the recovery of the used solvent can be conducted using distillation or chromatography techniques. Finally, the generated wastewater can be combined with the produced water and simultaneously managed by re-injection into the reservoir.

Keywords: drill cuttings, green solvent, soil washing, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)

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Authors: Kateryna Zhdanova, Evelyn Szeinbaum, Michelle Lo, Yeonjae Jo, Abel E. Navarro

Abstract:

Alginate hydrogel beads (AB), spent peppermint leaf (PM), and a hybrid adsorbent of these two materials (ABPM) were studied as potential biosorbents of Cobalt (II) ions from aqueous solutions. Cobalt ion is a commonly underestimated pollutant that is responsible for several health problems. Discontinuous batch experiments were conducted at room temperature to evaluate the effect of solution acidity, mass of adsorbent on the adsorption of Co(II) ions. The interfering effect of salinity, the presence of surfactants, an organic dye, and Pb(II) ions were also studied to resemble the application of these adsorbents in real wastewater. Equilibrium results indicate that Co(II) uptake is maximized at pH values higher than 5, with adsorbent doses of 200 mg, 200 mg, and 120 mg for AB, PM, and ABPM, respectively. Co(II) adsorption followed the trend AB > ABPM > PM with Adsorption percentages of 77%, 71% and 64%, respectively. Salts had a strong negative effect on the adsorption due to the increase of the ionic strength and the competition for adsorption sites. The presence of Pb(II) ions, surfactant, and dye BY57 had a slightly negative effect on the adsorption, apparently due to their interaction with different adsorption sites that do not interfere with the removal of Co(II). A polar-electrostatic adsorption mechanism is proposed based on the experimental results. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that adsorbent has appropriate morphological and textural properties, and also that ABPM encapsulated most of the PM inside of the hydrogel beads. These experimental results revealed that AB, PM, and ABPM are promising adsorbents for the elimination of Co(II) ions from aqueous solutions under different experimental conditions. These biopolymers are proposed as eco-friendly alternatives for the removal of heavy metal ions at lower costs than the conventional techniques.

Keywords: adsorption, Co(II) ions, alginate hydrogel beads, spent peppermint leaf, pH

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Authors: Mohamed Barbary, Mohamed H. Abd El-azeem

Abstract:

Maneuvering non-ellipsoidal extended object tracking (M-NEOT) using high-resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) observations is gaining momentum recently. This work presents a new robust implementation of the Jump Markov (JM) multi-Bernoulli (MB) filter for M-NEOT, where the M-NEOT’s ISAR observations are characterized using a skewed (SK) non-symmetrically normal distribution. To cope with the possible abrupt change of kinematic state, extension, and observation distribution over an extended object when a target maneuvers, a multiple model technique is represented based on an MB-track-before-detect (TBD) filter supported by SK-sub-random matrix model (RMM) or sub-ellipses framework. Simulation results demonstrate this remarkable impact.

Keywords: maneuvering extended objects, ISAR, skewed normal distribution, sub-RMM, JM-MB-TBD filter

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Authors: Meenakshi Verma, Mandeep Singh Bakshi, Kultar Singh

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Magnetic nanoparticles have received incredible importance in view of their diverse applications, which arise primarily due to their response to the external magnetic field. The magnetic behaviour of magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) helps them in numerous different ways. The most important amongst them is the ease with which they can be purified and also can be separated from the media in which they are present merely by applying an external magnetic field. This exceptional ease of separation of the magnetic NPs from an aqueous media enables them to use for extracting/removing metal pollutants from complex aqueous medium. Functionalized magnetic NPs can be subjected for the metallic impurities extraction if are favourably adsorbed on the NPs surfaces. We have successfully used the magnetic NPs as vehicles for gold and silver NPs removal from the complex fluids. The NPs loaded with gold and silver NPs pollutant fractions has been easily removed from the aqueous media by using external magnetic field. Similarly, we have used the magnetic NPs for extraction of protein from complex media and then constantly washed with pure water to eliminate the unwanted surface adsorbed components for quantitative estimation. The purified and protein loaded magnetic NPs are best analyzed with SDS Page to not only for characterization but also for separating the protein fractions. A collective review of the results indicates that we have synthesized surfactant coated iron oxide NPs and then functionalized these with selected materials. These surface active magnetic NPs work very well for the extraction of metallic NPs from the aqueous bulk and make the whole process environmentally sustainable. Also, magnetic NPs-Au/Ag/Pd hybrids have excellent protein extracting properties. They are much easier to use in order to extract the magnetic impurities as well as protein fractions under the effect of external magnetic field without any complex conventional purification methods.

Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles, protein, functionalized, extraction

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Authors: Mehdi Shahmoradi Moghadam, Saba Kavian, Mehdi Zabihzadeh, Amir Mohammad Alborzi, Reza Sadeghi

Abstract:

Cypermethrin is one of the most widely used synthetic insecticides to control pests in veterinary, industrial and agricultural environments. In the present study, the mortalities of Lucilia Cuprina as the key pest of meat were studied after being exposed to HICIDE VD-9 (a ready-to-use disinfectant/insecticide containing cypermethrin, polyhexanide and quaternary ammonium compounds produced by Dana pharmed lotus Co., Iran) within 15 minutes. The experimental results showed that moralities percentage of egg, larvae and adults of Lucilia Cuprina were 48%, 81% and 70%, respectively. Based on the obtained results, it can be predicted that in addition to controlling the insect pests of blow flies, HICIDE VD-9, as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly disinfectant/insecticide, can be effective against other insects, e.g., biting flies, fleas, midges, mosquitoes and ticks.

Keywords: cypermethrin, HICIDE VD-9, Lucilia cuprina, mortality, toxicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 87