Search results for: organic Rankine cycle

Authors: Omkar Gaonkar, Indumathi Nambi, Suresh G. Kumar

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The functional and morphological aspects of soil structure determine the soil quality. The dispersion of colloidal soil particles, especially the clay fraction and rupture of soil aggregates, both of which play an important role in soil structure development, lead to degradation of soil quality. The main objective of this work was to determine the effect of the behaviour of soil colloids on the agricultural soil structure and quality. The effect of commercial humic acid and soil natural organic matter on the electrical and structural properties of the soil colloids was also studied. Agricultural soil, belonging to the sandy loam texture class from northern part of India was considered in this study. In order to understand the changes in the soil quality in the presence and absence of humic acids, the soil fabric and structure was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Electrical properties of natural soil colloids in aqueous suspensions were assessed by zeta potential measurements at varying pH values with and without the presence of humic acids. The influence of natural organic matter was analyzed by oxidizing the natural soil organic matter with hydrogen peroxide. The zeta potential of the soil colloids was found to be negative in the pH range studied. The results indicated that hydrogen peroxide treatment leads to deflocculation of colloidal soil particles. In addition, the humic acids undergoes effective adsorption onto the soil surface imparting more negative zeta potential to the colloidal soil particles. The soil hydrophilicity decreased in the presence of humic acids which was confirmed by surface free energy determination. Thus, it can be concluded that the presence of humic acids altered the soil fabric and structure, thereby affecting the soil quality. This study assumes significance in understanding soil aggregation and the interactions at soil solid-liquid interface.

Keywords: humic acids, natural organic matter, zeta potential, soil quality

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Authors: Anees K. Ahamed, Aakash Kumar R. G., Raj M. Mohan

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The main objective is to apply lean tools to identify and eliminate waste in and among the work stations so as to improve the process speed and quality. From the top seven wastes in the lean concept, we consider the movement of materials, defects, and inventory for the improvement since these cause the major impact on the performance measures. The layout was improved to reduce the movement of materials. It also quantifies the reduction in movement among the work stations. Value stream mapping has been used for identification of waste. Cause and effect diagram and 5W analysis are used to identify the reasons for defects and to provide the counter measures. Some cycle time reduction techniques also proposed to improve the productivity. Lean Audit check sheet was also used to identify the current position of the industry and to identify the gap to make the industry Lean.

Keywords: cause and effect diagram, cycle time reduction, defects, lean, waste reduction

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Authors: A. Mohammed, A. Babatunde

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This study investigated the integrated removal of heavy metals, organic matter and nitrogen from landfill leachate using a novel laboratory scale constructed wetland system. The main objectives of this study were: (i) to assess the overall effectiveness of the constructed wetland system for treating landfill leachate; (ii) to examine the interactions and impact of key leachate constituents (heavy metals, organic matter and nitrogen) on the overall removal dynamics and efficiency. The constructed wetland system consisted of four stages operated in tidal flow and anoxic conditions. Results obtained from 215 days of operation have demonstrated extraordinary heavy metals removal up to 100%. Analysis of the physico- chemical data reveal that the controlling factors for metals removal were the anoxic condition and the use of the novel media (dewatered ferric sludge which is a by-product of drinking water treatment process) as the main substrate in the constructed wetland system. Results show that the use of the ferric sludge enhanced heavy metals removal and brought more flexibility to simultaneous nitrification and denitrification which occurs within the microbial flocs. Furthermore, COD and NH₄-N were effectively removed in the system and this coincided with enhanced aeration in the 2nd and 3rd stages of the constructed wetland system. Overall, the results demonstrated that the ferric dewatered sludge constructed wetland system would be an effective solution for integrated removal of pollutants from landfill leachates.

Keywords: constructed wetland, ferric dewatered sludge, heavy metals, landfill leachate

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Authors: Charles Poleni Mukumba, Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu

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Purpose: Principles of public procurement are the foundation of good public procurement, representing best practices in delivering public services by the government and its organs. They provide guidance in the public procurement cycle to achieve the best value for public resources. Tendering stage in the procurement cycle is the most critical, as tendering information is made available to bidders. The paper evaluates the implementation of public procurement principles at the tendering stage. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was conducted by using qualitative methods with 18 SME contractors in Lusaka as the sample. The samples are business owners and managers of purposively selected SME contractors. The collected data was analysed using thematic and content analysis. Findings: The findings indicate inconsistency in accessing information critical for tendering success by bidders. Further, the findings suggest that adjustments to technical specifications are made to suit certain preferred bidders by procuring officials. Research Limitations/Implications: The interviews were limited to SME contractors registered with the national council for construction and involved in public sector construction works in Lusaka, Zambia. Practical Implications: Implementing principles of public procurement at the tendering stage creates equal, open, and fair competition for the bidders in cost terms to deliver standardised and quality works to the public sector. Original/Value: The findings reveal how principles of public procurement play a critical role in enhancing the efficient performance of the procurement cycle at the tendering stage.

Keywords: evaluating, implementation, public procurement principles, tendering stage, SME contractors

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Authors: C. S. Seema, P. R. Prince

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The characterization of spatio-temporal inhomogeneities occurring in the ionospheric F₂ layer is remarkable since these variations are direct consequences of electrodynamical coupling between magnetosphere and solar events. The temporal and spatial variations of the F₂ layer, which occur with a period of several days or even years, mainly owe to geomagnetic and meteorological activities. The hourly F₂ layer critical frequency (foF2) over 23rd solar cycle (1996-2008) of three ionosonde stations (Wakkanai, Kokunbunji, and Okinawa) in northern hemisphere, which falls within same longitudinal span, is analyzed using continuous wavelet techniques. Morlet wavelet is used to transform continuous time series data of foF2 to a two dimensional time-frequency space, quantifying the time evolution of the oscillatory modes. The presence of significant time patterns (periodicities) at a particular time period and the time location of each periodicity are detected from the two-dimensional representation of the wavelet power, in the plane of scale and period of the time series. The mean strength of each periodicity over the entire period of analysis is studied using global wavelet spectrum. The quasi biennial, annual, semiannual, 27 day, diurnal and 12 hour variations of foF2 are clearly evident in the wavelet power spectra in all the three stations. Critical frequency oscillations with multi-day periods (2-3 days and 9 days in the low latitude station, 6-7 days in all stations and 15 days in mid-high latitude station) are also superimposed over large time scaled variations.

Keywords: continuous wavelet analysis, critical frequency, ionosphere, solar cycle

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Authors: Morteza Sharifhasan, Davoud Hosseini, Mohammad. R. Salimpour

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The geothermal energy is considered as a worldwide important renewable energy in recent years due to rising environmental pollution concerns. Low- and medium-grade geothermal heat (< 200 ºC) is commonly employed for space heating and in domestic hot water supply. However, there is also much interest in converting the abundant low- and medium-grade geothermal heat into electrical power. The Iranian Ministry of Power - through the Iran Renewable Energy Organization (SUNA) – is going to build the first Geothermal Power Plant (GPP) in Iran in the Sabalan area in the Northwest of Iran. This project is a 5.5 MWe single flash steam condensing power plant. The efficiency of GPPs is low due to the relatively low pressure and temperature of the saturated steam. In addition to GPPs, Gas Turbines (GTs) are also known by their relatively low efficiency. The Iran ministry of Power is trying to increase the efficiency of these GTs by adding bottoming steam cycles to the GT to form what is known as combined gas/steam cycle. One of the most effective methods for increasing the efficiency is combined heat and power (CHP). This paper investigates the feasibility of superheating the saturated steam that enters the steam turbine of the Sabalan GPP (SGPP-1) to improve the energy efficiency and power output of the GPP. This purpose is achieved by combining the GPP with two 3.5 MWe GTs. In this method, the hot gases leaving GTs are utilized through a superheater similar to that used in the heat recovery steam generator of combined gas/steam cycle. Moreover, brine separated in the separator, hot gases leaving GTs and superheater are used for the supply of domestic hot water (in this paper, the cycle combined of GTs and CHP systems is named the modified SGPP-1) . In this research, based on the Heat Balance presented in the basic design documents of the SGPP-1, mathematical/numerical model of the power plant are developed together with the mentioned GTs and CHP systems. Based on the required hot water, the amount of hot gasses needed to pass through CHP section directly can be adjusted. For example, during summer when hot water is less required, the hot gases leaving both GTs pass through the superheater and CHP systems respectively. On the contrary, in order to supply the required hot water during the winter, the hot gases of one of the GTs enter the CHP section directly, without passing through the super heater section. The results show that there is an increase in thermal efficiency up to 40% through using the modified SGPP-1. Since the gross efficiency of SGPP-1 is 9.6%, the achieved increase in thermal efficiency is significant. The power output of SGPP-1 is increased up to 40% in summer (from 5.5MW to 7.7 MW) while the GTs power output remains almost unchanged. Meanwhile, the combined-cycle power output increases from the power output of the two separate plants of 12.5 MW [5.5+ (2×3.5)] to the combined-cycle power output of 14.7 [7.7+(2×3.5)]. This output is more than 17% above the output of the two separate plants. The modified SGPP-1 is capable of producing 215 T/Hr hot water ( 90 ºC ) for domestic use in the winter months.

Keywords: combined cycle, chp, efficiency, gas turbine, geothermal power plant, gas turbine, power output

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Authors: Petros Gkotsis, Giorgos Stratidis, Manassis Mitrakas, Anastasios Zouboulis

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This study investigates the use of original and pre-polymerized iron (Fe) reagents compared to the commonly applied polyaluminum chloride (PACl) coagulant for surface water treatment. Applicable coagulants included both ferric chloride (FeCl₃) and ferric sulfate (Fe₂(SO₄)₃) and their pre-polymerized Fe reagents, such as polyferric sulfate (PFS) and polyferric chloride (PFCl). The efficiency of coagulants was evaluated by the removal of natural organic matter (NOM) and suspended solids (SS), which were determined in terms of reducing the UV absorption at 254 nm and turbidity, respectively. The residual metal concentration (Fe and Al) was also measured. Coagulants were added at five concentrations (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mg/L) and three pH values (7.0, 7.3 and 7.6). Experiments were conducted in a jar-test device, with two types of synthetic surface water (i.e., of high and low organic strength) which consisted of humic acid (HA) and kaolin at different concentrations (5 mg/L and 50 mg/L). After the coagulation/flocculation process, clean water was separated with filters of pore size 0.45 μm. Filtration was also conducted before the addition of coagulants in order to compare the ‘net’ effect of the coagulation/flocculation process on the examined parameters (UV at 254 nm, turbidity, and residual metal concentration). Results showed that the use of PACl resulted in the highest removal of humics for both types of surface water. For the surface water of high organic strength (humic acid-kaolin, 50 mg/L-50 mg/L), the highest removal of humics was observed at the highest coagulant dosage of 5 mg/L and at pH=7. On the contrary, turbidity was not significantly affected by the coagulant dosage. However, the use of PACl decreased turbidity the most, especially when the surface water of high organic strength was employed. As expected, the application of coagulation/flocculation prior to filtration improved NOM removal but slightly affected turbidity. Finally, the residual Fe concentration (0.01-0.1 mg/L) was much lower than the residual Al concentration (0.1-0.25 mg/L).

Keywords: coagulation/flocculation, iron and aluminum coagulants, metal salts, pre-polymerized coagulants, surface water treatment

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Authors: Vuiswa Lucia Sethunya, Tonderayi Matambo, Diane Hildebrandt

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South African’s informal settlements produce tonnes of kitchen waste (KW) per year which is dumped into the landfill. These landfill sites are normally located in close proximity to the household of the poor communities; this is a problem in which the young children from those communities end up playing in these landfill sites which may result in some health hazards because of methane, carbon dioxide and sulphur gases which are produced. To reduce this large amount of organic materials being deposited into landfills and to provide a cleaner place for those within the community especially the children, an energy conversion process such as anaerobic digestion of the organic waste to produce biogas was implemented. In this study, the digestion of various kitchen waste was investigated in order to understand and develop a system that is suitable for household use to produce biogas for cooking. Three sets of waste of different nutritional compositions were digested as per acquired in the waste streams of a household at mesophilic temperature (35ᵒC). These sets of KW were co-digested with cow dung (CW) at different ratios to observe the microbial behaviour and the system’s stability in a laboratory scale system. The gas chromatography-flame ionization detector analyses have been performed to identify and quantify the presence of organic compounds in the liquid samples from co-digested and mono-digested food waste. Acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and valeric acid are the fatty acids which were studied. Acetic acid (1.98 g/L), propionic acid (0.75 g/L) and butyric acid (2.16g/L) were the most prevailing fatty acids. The results obtained from organic acids analysis suggest that the KW can be an innovative substituent to animal manure for biogas production. The faster degradation period in which the microbes break down the organic compound to produce the fatty acids during the anaerobic process of KW also makes it a better feedstock during high energy demand periods. The C/N ratio analysis showed that from the three waste streams the first stream containing vegetables (55%), fruits (16%), meat (25%) and pap (4%) yielded more methane-based biogas of 317mL/g of volatile solids (VS) at C/N of 21.06. Generally, this shows that a household will require a heterogeneous composition of nutrient-based waste to be fed into the digester to acquire the best biogas yield to sustain a households cooking needs.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biogas, kitchen waste, household

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Authors: Xiaoqing Liu, Kurt Friese, Karsten Rinke

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Lacustrine sediment archives rich paleoenvironmental information in lake and surrounding environment. Additionally, modern sediment is used as an effective medium for the monitoring of lake. Organic carbon in sediment is a heterogeneous mixture with varying turnover times and qualities which result from the different biogeochemical processes in the deposition of organic material. Therefore, the isolation of different carbon pools is important for the research of lacustrine condition in the lake. However, the numeric available fractionation procedures can hardly yield homogeneous carbon pools on terms of stability and age. In this work, a multi-step fractionation protocol that treated sediment with hot water, HCl, H2O2 and Na2S2O8 in sequence was adopted, the treated sediment from each step were analyzed for the isotopic and structural compositions with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer coupled with element analyzer (IRMS-EA) and Solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), respectively. The sequential extractions with hot-water, HCl, and H2O2 yielded a more homogeneous and C3 plant-originating OC fraction, which was characterized with an atomic C/N ratio shift from 12.0 to 20.8, and 13C and 15N isotopic signatures were 0.9‰ and 1.9‰ more depleted than the original bulk sediment, respectively. Additionally, the H2O2- resistant residue was dominated with stable components, such as the lignins, waxes, cutans, tannins, steroids and aliphatic proteins and complex carbohydrates. 6M HCl in the acid hydrolysis step was much more effective than 1M HCl to isolate a sedimentary OC fraction with higher degree of homogeneity. Owing to the extremely high removal rate of organic matter, the step of a Na2S2O8 oxidation is only suggested if the isolation of the most refractory OC pool is mandatory. We conclude that this multi-step chemical fractionation procedure is effective to isolate more homogeneous OC pools in terms of stability and functional structure, and it can be used as a promising method for OC pools fractionation of sediment or soil in future lake research.

Keywords: 13C-CPMAS-NMR, 13C signature, lake sediment, OC fractionation

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Authors: Marek Gancarz, Agnieszka Nawrocka, Robert Rusinek, Marcin Tadla

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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the fungi metabolites in the gaseous form produced during improper storage of agricultural commodities (e.g. grain, food). The spoilt commodities produce a wide range of VOCs including alcohols, esters, aldehydes, ketones, alkanes, alkenes, furans, phenols etc. The characteristic VOCs and odours can be determined by using electronic nose (e-Nose) which contains a matrix of different kinds of sensors e.g. resistive sensors. The aim of the present studies was to determine relationship between response of the resistive sensors on the chosen volatiles and their concentration. According to the literature, it was chosen volatiles characteristic for the cereals: ethanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol and hexanal. Analysis of the sensor signals shows that a signal shape is different for the different substances. Moreover, each VOC signal gives information about a maximum of the normalized sensor response (R/Rmax), an impregnation time (tIM) and a cleaning time at half maximum of R/Rmax (tCL). These three parameters can be regarded as a ‘VOC fingerprint’. Seven resistive sensors (TGS2600-B00, TGS2602-B00, TGS2610-C00, TGS2611-C00, TGS2611-E00, TGS2612-D00, TGS2620-C00) produced by Figaro USA Inc., and one (AS-MLV-P2) produced by AMS AG, Austria were used. Two out of seven sensors (TGS2611-E00, TGS2612-D00) did not react to the chosen VOCs. The most responsive sensor was AS-MLV-P2. The research was supported by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), Grant No. PBS2/A8/22/2013.

Keywords: agricultural commodities, organic compounds, resistive sensors, volatile

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Authors: Ravi Prakash Maurya, Munaswamyreddygari Sreedhar

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The present studies on ecological engineering through soil amendments in cabbage crops for insect pests regulation were conducted at G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India. Ten treatments viz., Farm Yard Manure (FYM), Neem cake (NC), Vermicompost (VC), Poultry manure (PM), PM+FYM, NC+VC, NC+PM, VC+FYM, Urea+ SSP+MOP (Standard Check) and Untreated Check were evaluated to study the effect of these amendments on the population of insect pests, natural enemies and the microbial community of the rhizosphere in the cabbage crop ecosystem. The results revealed that most of the cabbage pests, viz., aphids, head borer, gram pod borer, and armyworm, were more prevalent in FYM, followed by PM and NC-treated plots. The best cost-benefit ratio was found in PM + FYM treatment, which was 1: 3.62, while the lowest, 1: 0.97, was found in the VC plot. The population of natural enemies like spiders, coccinellids, syrphids, and other hymenopterans and dipterans was also found to be prominent in organic plots, namely FYM, followed by VC and PM plots. Diversity studies on organic manure-treated plots were also carried out, which revealed a total of nine insect orders (Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Orthoptera, Dermaptera, Thysanoptera, and one arthropodan class, Arachnida) in different treatments. The Simpson Diversity Index was also studied and found to be maximum in FYM plots. The metagenomic analysis of the rhizosphere microbial community revealed that the highest bacterial count was found in NC+PM plot as compared to standard check and untreated check. The diverse microbial population contributes to soil aggregation and stability. Healthier soil structures can improve water retention, aeration, and root penetration, which are all crucial for crop health. The further analysis also identified a total of 39 bacterial phyla, among which the most abundant were Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and the SAR324 clade. Actinobacteria and Firmicutes are known for their roles in decomposing organic matter and mineralizing nutrients. Their highest abundance suggests improved nutrient cycling and availability, which can directly enhance plant growth. Hence, organic amendments in cabbage farming can transform the rhizosphere microbiome, reduce pest pressure, and foster populations of beneficial insects, leading to healthier crops and a more sustainable agricultural ecosystem.

Keywords: cabbage ecosystem, organic amendments, rhizosphere microbiome, pest and natural enemy diversity

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Authors: Serkan Sayin, Songul F. Varol

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High attention on the organic light-emitting diodes has been paid since their efficient properties in the flat panel displays, and solid-state lighting was realized. Because of their high efficient electroluminescence, brightness and providing eminent in the emission range, organic light emitting diodes have been preferred a material compared with the other materials consisting of the liquid crystal. Calixarenes obtained from the reaction of p-tert-butyl phenol and formaldehyde in a suitable base have been potentially used in various research area such as catalysis, enzyme immobilization, and applications, ion carrier, sensors, nanoscience, etc. In addition, their tremendous frameworks, as well as their easily functionalization, make them an effective candidate in the applied chemistry. Herein, a calix[4]arene derivative has been synthesized, and its structure has been fully characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR), carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C-NMR), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and elemental analysis techniques. The calixarene derivative has been employed as an emitting layer in the fabrication of the organic light-emitting diodes. The optical and electrochemical features of calixarane-contained organic light-emitting diodes (Clx-OLED) have been also performed. The results showed that Clx-OLED exhibited blue emission and high external quantum efficacy. As a conclusion obtained results attributed that the synthesized calixarane derivative is a promising chromophore with efficient fluorescent quantum yield that provides it an attractive candidate for fabricating effective materials for fluorescent probes and labeling studies. This study was financially supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK Grant no. 117Z402).

Keywords: calixarene, OLED, supramolecular chemistry, synthesis

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Authors: Savvas Varitis, Panagiotis Kavouras, George Kaimakamis, Eleni Pavlidou, George Vourlias, Konstantinos Chrysafis, Philomela Komninou, Theodoros Karakostas

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Tannery industry produces high quantities of chromium containing waste which also have high organic content. Processing of this waste is important since the organic content is above the disposal limits and the containing trivalent chromium could be potentially oxidized to hexavalent in the environment. This work aims to fabricate new vitreous and glass ceramic materials which could incorporate the tannery waste in stabilized form either for safe disposal or for the production of useful materials. Tannery waste was incinerated at 500oC in anoxic conditions so most of the organic content would be removed and the chromium remained trivalent. Glass forming agents SiO2, Na2O and CaO were mixed with the resulting ash in different proportions with decreasing ash content. Considering the low solubility of Cr in silicate melts, the mixtures were melted at 1400oC and/or 1500oC for 2h and then casted on a refractory steel plate. The resulting vitreous products were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy (SEM and TEM). XRD reveals the existence of Cr2O3 (eskolaite) crystallites embedded in a glassy amorphous matrix. Such crystallites are not formed under a certain proportion of the waste in the ash-vitrified material. Reduction of the ash proportion increases chromium content in the silicate matrix. From these glassy products, glass-ceramics were produced via different regimes of thermal treatment.

Keywords: chromium containing tannery ash, glass ceramic materials, thermal processing, vitrification

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Authors: Piotr Kacejko, Lukasz Grabowski, Zdzislaw Kaminski

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This paper discusses a model of fuel consumption and on-board electricity generation. Rapid changes in speed result in a constantly changing kinetic energy accumulated in a bus mass and an increased fuel consumption due to hardly recuperated kinetic energy. The model is based on the results achieved from chassis dynamometer, airport and city street researches. The verified model was applied to simulate the on-board electricity generation during the Japanese JE05 Emission Test Cycle. The simulations were performed for several values of vehicle mass and electrical load applied to on-board devices. The research results show that driving dynamics has an impact on a consumption of fuel to drive alternators.

Keywords: city bus, heavy duty vehicle, Japanese JE05 test cycle, power generation

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Authors: Abdelrahman Mohamed

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The ancient Egyptians used canopic vessels in embalming operations in order to preserve the guts of the mummified corpse. Canopic vessels were made of many materials, including pottery and glazed pottery. In this research, we study a pottery canopic vessel and a glazed pottery vessel. An analysis to find out the compounds and elements of the materials from which the container is made and the colors, and also to make some analysis for the organic materials present inside it, such as the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis and the Gas chromatograph mass spectrometers analysis of the organic residue. Through the study and analysis, it was proved that some of the materials present in the pot were coniferous oil and animal fats. In the other pot, the analysis showed the presence of some plant resins (mastic) inside rolls of linen. Restoration operations were carried out, such as mechanical cleaning, strengthening, and completing the reinforcement of the pots.

Keywords: canopic jar, embalming, FTIR, GCMS, linen.

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Authors: Julien G. Chenet, Mario A. Hernandez, U. Leonardo Rodriguez

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The tropical areas are places where there is scarcity of access to potable water and where renewable energies need further development. They also display high undernourishment levels, even though they are one of the resources-richest areas in the world. In these areas, it is common to count on great extension of soils, high solar radiation and raw water from rain, groundwater, surface water or even saltwater. Even though resources are available, access to them is limited, and the low-density habitat makes central solutions expensive and investments not worthy. In response to this lack of investment, rural inhabitants use fossil fuels and timber as an energy source and import agrochemical for soils fertilization, which increase GHG emissions. The OASIS project brings an answer to this situation. It supplies renewable energy, potable water and organic food. The first step is the determination of the needs of the communities in terms of energy, water quantity and quality, food requirements and soil characteristics. Second step is the determination of the available resources, such as solar energy, raw water and organic residues on site. The pilot OASIS project is located in the Vichada department, Colombia, and ensures the sustainable use of natural resources to meet the community needs. The department has roughly 70% of indigenous people. They live in a very scattered landscape, with no access to clean water and energy. They use polluted surface water for direct consumption and diesel for energy purposes. OASIS pilot will ensure basic needs for a 400-students education center. In this case, OASIS will provide 20 kW of solar energy potential and 40 liters per student per day. Water will be treated form groundwater, with two qualities. A conventional one with chlorine, and as the indigenous people are not used to chlorine for direct consumption, second train is with reverse osmosis to bring conservable safe water without taste. OASIS offers a solution to supply basic needs, shifting from fossil fuels, timber, to a no-GHG-emission solution. This solution is part of the mitigation strategy against Climate Change for the communities in low-density areas of the tropics. OASIS is a learning center to teach how to convert natural resources into utilizable ones. It is also a meeting point for the community with high pedagogic impact that promotes the efficient and sustainable use of resources. OASIS system is adaptable to any tropical area and competes technically and economically with any conventional solution, that needs transport of energy, treated water and food. It is a fully automatic, replicable and sustainable solution to sort out the issue of access to basic needs in rural areas. OASIS is also a solution to undernourishment, ensuring a responsible use of resources, to prevent long-term pollution of soils and groundwater. It promotes the closure of the nutrient cycle, and the optimal use of the land whilst ensuring food security in depressed low-density regions of the tropics. OASIS is under optimization to Vichada conditions, and will be available to any other tropical area in the following months.

Keywords: climate change adaptation and mitigation, rural development, sustainable access to clean and renewable resources, social inclusion

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Authors: Abdulrazaq Yahaya, Omobola Okoh, Anthony Okoh

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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are generated from short emission or leakage from capacitors and electrical transformers, industrial chemicals wastewater discharge and careless disposal of wastes. They are toxic, semi-volatile compounds which can persist in the environment, hence classified as persistent organic pollutants. Their presence in the environmental matrices has become a global concern. In this study, we assessed the concentrations and distribution patterns of 19 polychlorinated biphenyls congeners (PCB 1, 5, 18, 31, 44, 52, 66, 87, 101, 110, 138, 141, 151, 153, 170, 180, 183, 187, and 206) at six sampling points in water along the course of Buffalo River, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Solvent extraction followed by sulphuric acid, potassium permanganate and silica gel cleanup were used in this study. The analysis was done with gas chromatography electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results of the analysis of all the 19 PCBs congeners ranged from not detectable to 0.52 ppb and 2.5 ppb during summer and autumn periods respectively. These values are generally higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) maximum permissible limit. Their presence in the waterbody suggests an increase in anthropogenic activities over the seasons. In view of their volatility, the compounds are transportable over long distances by air currents away from their point of origin putting the health of the communities at risk, thus suggesting the need for strict regulations on the use as well as save disposal of this group of compounds in the communities.

Keywords: organic pollutants, polychlorinated biphenyls, pollution, solvent extraction

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Authors: Mustafa M. Bob, Siti Izaidah Azmi, Mohd Hakim Ab Halim, Nur Syahida Abdul Jamal, Aznah Nor-Anuar, Zaini Ujang

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In this research, the formation and development of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for domestic wastewater treatment application in hot climate conditions was studied using a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The performance of the developed AGS in the removal of organic matter and nutrients from wastewater was also investigated. The operation of the reactor was based on the sequencing batch system with a complete cycle time of 3 hours that included feeding, aeration, settling, discharging and idling. The reactor was seeded with sludge collected from the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Madinah city, Saudi Arabia and operated at a temperature of 40ºC using synthetic wastewater as influent. Results showed that granular sludge was developed after an operation period of 30 days. The developed granular sludge had a good settling ability with the average size of the granules ranging from 1.03 to 2.42 mm. The removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) were 87.31%, 91.93% and 61.25% respectively. These results show that AGS can be developed at elevated temperatures and it is a promising technique to treat domestic wastewater in hot and low humidity climate conditions such as those encountered in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: aerobic granular sludge, hot climate, sequencing batch reactor, domestic wastewater treatment

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Authors: Lukáš Plošek, Jaroslav Hynšt, Jaroslav Záhora, Jakub Elbl, Antonín Kintl, Ivana Charousová, Silvia Kovácsová

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Compost can influence soil fertility and plant health. At the same time compost can play an important role in the nitrogen cycle and it can influence leaching of mineral nitrogen from soil to underground water. This paper deals with the influence of compost addition and mineral nitrogen fertilizer on leaching of mineral nitrogen, nitrogen availability in microbial biomass and plant biomass production in the lysimetric experiment. Twenty-one lysimeters were filed with topsoil and subsoil collected in the area of protection zone of underground source of drinking water - Březová nad Svitavou. The highest leaching of mineral nitrogen was detected in the variant fertilized only mineral nitrogen fertilizer (624.58 mg m-2), the lowest leaching was recorded in the variant with high addition of compost (315.51 mg m-2). On the other hand, losses of mineral nitrogen are not in connection with the losses of available form of nitrogen in microbial biomass. Because loss of mineral nitrogen was detected in variant with the least change in the availability of N in microbial biomass. The leaching of mineral nitrogen, yields as well as the results concerning nitrogen availability from the first year of long term experiment suggest that compost can positive influence the leaching of nitrogen into underground water.

Keywords: nitrogen, compost, biomass production, lysimeter

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Authors: Mohamed Razi Nalim, Shahrzad Ghadiri

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With current concerns regarding global warming, demand for a society with greater environmental awareness significantly increases. With gradual development in hybrid and electric vehicles and the availability of renewable energy resources, increasing efficiency in fossil fuel and combustion engines seems a faster solution toward sustainability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of recent progress in wave rotor combustor, one of the combustion concepts with considerable potential to improve power output and emission standards. A wave rotor is an oscillatory flow device that uses the unsteady gas dynamic concept to transfer energy by generating pressure waves. From a thermodynamic point of view, unlike conventional positive-displacement piston engines which follow the Brayton cycle, wave rotors offer higher cycle efficiency due to pressure gain during the combustion process based on the Humphrey cycle. First, the paper covers all recent and ongoing computational and experimental studies around the world with a quick look at the milestones in the history of wave rotor development. Second, the main similarity and differences in the ignition system of the wave rotor with piston engines are considered. Also, the comparison is made with another pressure gain device, rotating detonation engines. Next, the main challenges and research needs for wave rotor combustor commercialization are discussed.

Keywords: wave rotor combustor, unsteady gas dynamic, pre-chamber jet ignition, pressure gain combustion, constant-volume combustion

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Authors: Anaissia Franca, Julian Fernandez, Curran Crawford, Ned Djilali

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A methodology to estimate the state-of-charge (SOC) of battery electric buses, including degradation effects, for a given driving cycle is presented to support long-term techno-economic analysis integrating electric buses and charging infrastructure. The degradation mechanisms, characterized by both capacity and power fade with time, have been modeled using an electrochemical model for Li-ion batteries. Iterative changes in the negative electrode film resistance and decrease in available lithium as a function of utilization is simulated for every cycle. The cycles are formulated to follow typical transit bus driving patterns. The power and capacity decay resulting from the degradation model are introduced as inputs to a longitudinal chassis dynamic analysis that calculates the power consumption of the bus for a given driving cycle to find the state-of-charge of the battery as a function of time. The method is applied to an in-depot charging scenario, for which the bus is charged exclusively at the depot, overnight and to its full capacity. This scenario is run both with and without including degradation effects over time to illustrate the significant impact of degradation mechanisms on bus performance when doing feasibility studies for a fleet of electric buses. The impact of battery degradation on battery lifetime is also assessed. The modeling tool can be further used to optimize component sizing and charging locations for electric bus deployment projects.

Keywords: battery electric bus, E-bus, in-depot charging, lithium-ion battery, battery degradation, capacity fade, power fade, electric vehicle, SEI, electrochemical models

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Authors: Violina Angelova

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A comparative study has been carried out into the impact of organic meliorants on the uptake of heavy metals, micro and macroelements and the phytoremediation potential of enhanced tobacco BAC F3. The soil used as part of this experiment was sampled from the vicinity of the Non-Ferrous-Metal Works near Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The pot experiment carried out consisted of a randomized, complete block design containing nine treatments and three replications (27 pots). The treatments consisted of a control (with no organic meliorants) and compost and vermicompost meliorants (added at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 30%, and recalculated based on their dry soil weight). Upon reaching commercial ripeness, the tobacco plants were gathered. Heavy metals, micro and macroelement contents in roots, stems, and leaves of tobacco were analyzed by the method of the microwave mineralization. To determine the elements in the samples, inductively coupled emission spectrometry (Jobin Yvon Emission - JY 38 S, France) was used. The distribution of the heavy metals, micro, and macroelements in the organs of the enhanced tobacco has a selective character and depended above all on the parts of the plants and the element that was examined. Pb, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, P and Mg distribution in tobacco decreases in the following order: roots > leaves > stems, and for Cd, K, and Ca - leaves > roots > stems. The high concentration of Cd in the leaves and the high translocation factor indicate the possibility of enhanced tobacco to be used in phytoextraction. Tested organic amendments significantly influenced the uptake of heavy metals, micro and macroelements by the roots, stems, and leaves of tobacco. A correlation was found between the quantity of the mobile forms and the uptake of Pb, Zn, and Cd by the enhanced tobacco. The compost and vermicompost treatments significantly reduced heavy metals concentration in leaves and increased uptake of K, Ca and Mg. The 30% compost and 30% vermicompost treatments led to the maximal reduction of heavy metals in enhanced tobacco BAC F3. The addition of compost and vermicompost further reduces the ability to digest the heavy metals in the leaves, and phytoremediation potential of enhanced tobacco BAC F3. Acknowledgment: The financial support by the Bulgarian National Science Fund Project DFNI Н04/9 is greatly appreciated.

Keywords: heavy metals, micro and macroelements, enhanced tobacco BAC F3, phytoremediation, organic meliorants

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Authors: Seul Ki Min, Gwang Heum Yoon, Jung Hyun Joo, Hwa Sung Shin

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Cellular membrane distortion is known as a factor to change intracellular signaling. However, progress of relevant studies is difficult because there are no facilities that can control membrane distortion finely. In this study, we developed microfluidic device which can inflict mechanical stress on cell membrane of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using regular height of the channels. And cellular physiological changes were analyzed from cells cultured in the device. Excessive calcium ion influx through into cytoplasm was induced from mechanical stress. The results revealed that compressed cells had up-regulated Mat3 mRNA which regulates cell size and cell cycle from a prolonged G1 phase. Additionally, TAG used for the production of biodiesel was raised rapidly from 4 h after compression. Taken together, membrane distortion can be considered as an attractive inducer for biofuel production.

Keywords: mechanical stress, membrane distortion, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, deflagellation, cell cycle, lipid metabolism

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Authors: Ho-Nyeon Lee

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We propose to use a gradual-refractive-index dielectric (GRID) as a simple and efficient light-outcoupling method for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Using the simple GRIDs, we could improve the light outcoupling efficiency of OLEDs rather than relying on difficult nano-patterning processes. Through numerical simulations using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, the feasibility of the GRID structure was examined and the design parameters were extracted. The outcoupling enhancement effects due to the GRIDs were proved through severe experimental works. The GRIDs were adapted to bottom-emission OLEDs and top-emission OLEDs. For bottom-emission OLEDs, the efficiency was improved more than 20%, and for top-emission OLEDs, more than 40%. The detailed numerical and experimental results will be presented at the conference site.

Keywords: efficiency, GRID, light outcoupling, OLED

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Authors: Ayuko Itsuki, Sachiyo Aburatani

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Soil neutral sugar contents in Kasuga-yama Hill Primeval Forest (Nara, Japan) were examined using the Waksman’s approximation analysis to clarify relations with the neutral sugar constituted the soil organic matter and the microbial biomass. Samples were selected from the soil surrounding laurel-leaved (BB-1) and Carpinus japonica (BB-2) trees for analysis. The water and HCl soluble neutral sugars increased microbial biomass of the laurel-leaved forest soil. Arabinose, xylose, and galactose of the HCl soluble fraction were used immediately in comparison with other neutral sugars. Rhamnose, glucose, and fructose of the HCl soluble fraction were re-composed by the microbes.

Keywords: forest soil, neutral sugaras, soil organic matter, Waksman’s approximation analysis

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Authors: Johannes Gantner, Michael Held, Matthias Fischer

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The refurbishment of the building stock in terms of energy supply and efficiency is one of the major challenges of the German turnaround in energy policy. As the building sector accounts for 40% of Germany’s total energy demand, additional insulation is key for energy efficient refurbished buildings. Nevertheless the energetic benefits often the environmental and economic performances of insulation materials are questioned. The methods Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as well as Life Cycle Costing (LCC) can form the standardized basis for answering this doubts and more and more become important for material producers due efforts such as Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) or Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). Due to increasing use of LCA and LCC information for decision support the robustness and resilience of the results become crucial especially for support of decision and policy makers. LCA and LCC results are based on respective models which depend on technical parameters like efficiencies, material and energy demand, product output, etc.. Nevertheless, the influence of parameter uncertainties on lifecycle results are usually not considered or just studied superficially. Anyhow the effect of parameter uncertainties cannot be neglected. Based on the example of an exterior wall the overall lifecycle results are varying by a magnitude of more than three. As a result simple best case worst case analyses used in practice are not sufficient. These analyses allow for a first rude view on the results but are not taking effects into account such as error propagation. Thereby LCA practitioners cannot provide further guidance for decision makers. Probabilistic analyses enable LCA practitioners to gain deeper understanding of the LCA and LCC results and provide a better decision support. Within this study, the environmental and economic impacts of an exterior wall system over its whole lifecycle are illustrated, and the effect of different uncertainty analysis on the interpretation in terms of resilience and robustness are shown. Hereby the approaches of error propagation and Monte Carlo Simulations are applied and combined with statistical methods in order to allow for a deeper understanding and interpretation. All in all this study emphasis the need for a deeper and more detailed probabilistic evaluation based on statistical methods. Just by this, misleading interpretations can be avoided, and the results can be used for resilient and robust decisions.

Keywords: uncertainty, life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, Monte Carlo simulation

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Authors: Sibele A. F. Leite, Bernno S. Leite, José Vicente H. D´Angelo, Ana Teresa P. Dell’Isola, Julio CéSar Souza

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The generation of bioenergy is one of the oldest and simplest biomass applications and is one of the safest options for minimizing emissions of greenhouse gasses and replace the use of fossil fuels. In addition, the increasing development of technologies for energy biomass conversion parallel to the advancement of research in biotechnology and engineering has enabled new opportunities for exploitation of biomass. Agricultural residues offer great potential for energy use, and Brazil is in a prominent position in the production and export of agricultural products such as banana and rice. Despite the economic importance of the growth prospects of these activities and the increasing of the agricultural waste, they are rarely explored for energy and production of new materials. Brazil products almost 10.5 million tons/year of rice husk and 26.8 million tons/year of banana stem. Thereby, the aim of this study was to analysis the potential of biomass residues for energy production and applications in new materials. Rice husk (specify the type) and banana stem (specify the type) were characterized by physicochemical analyses using the following parameters: organic carbon, nitrogen (NTK), proximate analyses, FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyses (TG), calorific values and silica content. Rice husk and banana stem presented attractive superior calorific (from 11.5 to 13.7MJ/kg), and they may be compared to vegetal coal (21.25 MJ/kg). These results are due to the high organic matter content. According to the proximate analysis, biomass has high carbon content (fixed and volatile) and low moisture and ash content. In addition, data obtained by Walkley–Black method point out that most of the carbon present in the rice husk (50.5 wt%) and in banana stalk (35.5 wt%) should be understood as organic carbon (readily oxidizable). Organic matter was also detected by Kjeldahl method which gives the values of nitrogen (especially on the organic form) for both residues: 3.8 and 4.7 g/kg of rice husk and banana stem respectively. TG and DSC analyses support the previous results, as they can provide information about the thermal stability of the samples allowing a correlation between thermal behavior and chemical composition. According to the thermogravimetric curves, there were two main stages of mass-losses. The first and smaller one occurred below 100 °C, which was suitable for water losses and the second event occurred between 200 and 500 °C which indicates decomposition of the organic matter. At this broad peak, the main loss was between 250-350 °C, and it is because of sugar decomposition (components readily oxidizable). Above 350 °C, mass loss of the biomass may be associated with lignin decomposition. Spectroscopic characterization just provided qualitative information about the organic matter, but spectra have shown absorption bands around 1030 cm-1 which may be identified as species containing silicon. This result is expected for the rice husk and deserves further investigation to the stalk of banana, as it can bring a different perspective for this biomass residue.

Keywords: rice husk, banana stem, bioenergy, renewable feedstock

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Authors: Mirian Graciella Dalla Porta, Humberto Jorge José, Danielle de Bem Luiz, Regina de F. P. M.Moreira

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Similar to most processing industries, fish processing produces large volumes of wastewater, which contains especially organic contaminants, salts and oils dispersed therein. Different processes have been used for the treatment of fishery wastewaters, but the most commonly used are chemical coagulation and flotation. These techniques are well known but sometimes the characteristics of the treated effluent do not comply with legal standards for discharge. Electrocoagulation (EC) is an electrochemical process that can be used to treat wastewaters in terms of both organic matter and nutrient removal. The process is based on the use of sacrificial electrodes such as aluminum, iron or zinc, that are oxidized to produce metal ions that can be used to coagulate and react with organic matter and nutrients in the wastewater. While EC processes are effective to treatment of several types of wastewaters, applications have been limited due to the high energy demands and high current densities. Generally, the for EC process can be performed without additional chemicals or pre-treatment, but the costs should be reduced for EC processes to become more applicable. In this work, we studied the treatment of a real wastewater from fishmeal industry by electrocoagulation process. Removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC) turbidity, phosphorous and nitrogen concentration were determined as a function of the operating conditions, such as pH, current density and operating time. The optimum operating conditions were determined to be operating time of 10 minutes, current density 100 A.m-2, and initial pH 4.0. COD, TOC, phosphorous concentration, and turbidity removal efficiencies at the optimum operating conditions were higher than 90% for aluminum electrode. Operating costs at the optimum conditions were calculated as US$ 0.37/m3 (US$ 0.038/kg COD) for Al electrode. These results demonstrate that the EC process is a promising technology to remove nutrients from fishery wastewaters, as the process has both a high efficiency of nutrient removal, and low energy requirements.

Keywords: electrocoagulation, fish, food industry, wastewater

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Authors: A. Abdulkadir, A. A. Okhimamhe, Y. M. Bello, H. Ibrahim, D. H. Makun, M. T. Usman

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Household waste form a larger proportion of waste generated across the state, accumulation of organic waste is an apparent problem and the existing dump sites could be overstressed. Niger state has abundant arable land and water resources thus should be one of the highest producers of agricultural crops in the country. However, the major challenge to agricultural sector today is the loss of soil nutrient coupled with high cost of fertilizer. These have continued to increase the use of fertilizer and decomposed solid waste for enhancing agricultural yield, which have varying effects on the soil as well a threat to human livelihood. Consequently, vegetable yield samples from poultry droppings decomposed household waste manure, NPK treatments and control from each replication were subjected to proximate analysis to determine the nutritional and anti-nutritional component as well as heavy metal concentration. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS software and Randomized complete Block Design means were compared. The result shows that the treatments do not devoid the concentrations of any nutritional components while the anti-nutritional analysis proved that NPK had higher oxalate content than control and organic treats. The concentration of lead and cadmium are within safe permissible level while the mercury level exceeded the FAO/WHO maximum permissible limit for the entire treatments depicts the need for urgent intervention to minimize mercury levels in soil and manure in order to mitigate its toxic effect. Thus, eco-agriculture should be widely accepted and promoted by the stakeholders for soil amendment, higher yield, strategies for sustainable environmental protection, food security, poverty eradication, attainment of sustainable development and healthy livelihood.

Keywords: anti-nutritional, healthy livelihood, nutritional waste, organic waste

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Authors: Payam Rasoulnia, Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi

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Heavy fuel oil firing power plants produce huge amounts of ashes as solid wastes, which seriously need to be managed and processed. Recycling precious metals of V and Ni from these oil-fired ashes which are considered as secondary sources of metals recovery, not only has a great economic importance for use in industry, but also it is noteworthy from the environmental point of view. Vanadium is an important metal that is mainly used in the steel industry because of its physical properties of hardness, tensile strength, and fatigue resistance. It is also utilized in oxidation catalysts, titanium–aluminum alloys and vanadium redox batteries. In the present study bioleaching of vanadium and nickel from an oil-fired ash sample was conducted using Aspergillus niger fungus. The experiments were carried out using spent-medium bioleaching method in both Erlenmeyer flasks and also bubble column bioreactor, in order to compare them together. In spent-medium bioleaching the solid waste is not in direct contact with the fungus and consequently the fungal growth is not retarded and maximum organic acids are produced. In this method the metals are leached through biogenic produced organic acids present in the medium. In shake flask experiments the fungus was cultured for 15 days, where the maximum production of organic acids was observed, while in bubble column bioreactor experiments a 7 days fermentation period was applied. The amount of produced organic acids were measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the results showed that depending on the fermentation period and the scale of experiments, the fungus has different major lixiviants. In flask tests, citric acid was the main produced organic acid by the fungus and the other organic acids including gluconic, oxalic, and malic were excreted in much lower concentrations, while in the bioreactor oxalic acid was the main lixiviant and it was produced considerably. In Erlenmeyer flasks during 15 days fermentation of Aspergillus niger, 8080 ppm citric acid and 1170 ppm oxalic acid was produced, while in bubble column bioreactor over 7 days of fungal growth, 17185 ppm oxalic acid and 1040 ppm citric acid was secreted. The leaching tests using the spent-media obtained from both of fermentation experiments, were performed at the same conditions of leaching duration of 7 days, leaching temperature of 60 °C and pulp density up to 3% (w/v). The results revealed that in Erlenmeyer flask experiments 97% of V and 50% of Ni were extracted while using spent medium produced in bubble column bioreactor, V and Ni recoveries were achieved to 100% and 33%, respectively. These recovery yields indicate that in both scales almost total vanadium can be recovered, while nickel recovery was lower. With help of the bioreactor spent-medium nickel recovery yield was lower than that of obtained from the flask experiments, which it could be due to precipitation of some values of Ni in presence of high levels of oxalic acid existing in its spent medium.

Keywords: Aspergillus niger, bubble column bioreactor, oil-fired ash, spent-medium bioleaching

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