Search results for: source rock organic matter biodegradation

Authors: Hei Yuen Pak

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Steer Toward Rock, Fae Myenne Ng’s second novel after the National Bestseller Bone, is superficially concluded as a story of pessimism, which underestimates the sophistication of Ng’s portrayal. It is often summarized as a “heartbreaking novel of unrequited love” or “a story of timeless and tragic”; yet, Ng’s novel conveys more than a mere sense of tragedy and heartbreak, but rather an overflowing warmth and optimism. Ng is complimented of “illuminating a part of U.S. history few are aware of”—the false identity established on the paper relationships. Nevertheless, toward the end of the novel, this falsity enlightens the male protagonist, Jack Moon Szeto, of the ultimate realization of the “truthfulness” to himself, with the escort of the female characters. This paper intends to investigate how Ng’s depiction subverts the traditional sex/gender system and also the patriarchal savior stereotype. This paper mainly examines the characterization of and the relations among the four major characters: Jack Moon Szeto, Joice Qwan, Veda Qwan, and Ilin Cheung. By deploying Kate Millett’s, Marilyn French’s, Mary Daly’s feminist theories, the first half of the essay elucidates the power relations between Jack and the three females Joice, Veda, and Ilin in terms of gender and sexuality. After analyzing the relations, Jack, this male caged bird, is set free by the epiphany derived from the three female characters, which is the pivot of the second half. In reference to Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist perspectives, I argue how Jack is transformed from, in Satre’s term, being-for-others to being-for-itself. Hence, the caged bird is free by the women saviors.

Keywords: Fae Myenne Ng, gender and sexuality, feminism, power relations

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Authors: Bilal Wadood, Suleman Khan, Sajjad Ahmed

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The Late Cretaceous strata (Mughal Kot Formation) exposed in Central Indus Basin, Pakistan is evaluated for establishing sequence stratigraphic framework and potential of hydrocarbon accumulation. The petrographic studies and SEM analysis were carried out to infer the hydrocarbon potential of the rock unit. The petrographic details disclosed 4 microfacies including Pelagic Mudstone, OrbitoidalWackestone, Quartz Arenite, and Quartz Wacke. The lowermost part of the rock unit consists of OrbitoidalWackestone which shows deposition in the middle shelf environment. The Quartz Arenite and Quartz Wacke suggest deposition on the deep slope settings while the Pelagic Mudstone microfacies point toward deposition in the distal deep marine settings. Based on the facies stacking patterns and cyclicity in the chronostratigraphic context, the strata is divided into two 3rd order cycles. One complete sequence i.e Transgressive system tract (TST), Highstand system tract (HST) and Lowstand system tract (LST) are again replaced by another Transgressive system tract and Highstant system tract with no markers of sequence boundary. The LST sands are sandwiched between TST and HST shales but no potential porosity/permeability values have been determined. Microfacies and SEM studies revealed very fewer chances for hydrocarbon accumulation and overall reservoir potential is characterized as low.

Keywords: cycle, deposition, microfacies, reservoir

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Authors: Tareg Omar Mansour, Khaled Omar Elhaji

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Model solutions of pentanol in the salt water of various concentrations were subjected to electrochemical oxidation using a dimensionally stable anode (DSA) and a platinised titanium cathode. The removal of pentanol was analysed over time using gas chromatography (GC) and by monitoring the total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of the reaction mixture. It was found that the removal of pentanol occurred more efficiently at higher salinities and higher applied electrical current values. When using a salt concentration of 20,000 ppm and an applied current of 100 mA there was a decrease in concentration of pentanol of 15 %. When the salt concentration and applied current were increased to 58,000 ppm and 500 mA respectively, the decrease in concentration was improved to 64 %.

Keywords: dimensionally stable anode (DSA), total organic hydrocarbon (TOC), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), electrochemical oxidation

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Authors: A. Cervantes-Diaz, B. Sevilla-Moran, Manuel Alcami, Al Mokhtar Lamsabhi, J. L. Alonso-Prados, P. Sandin-España

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Profoxydim is a post-emergence herbicide belonging to the cyclohexanedione oxime family, used to control weeds in rice crops. The use of soil organic amendments has increased significantly in the last decades, and their effects on the behavior of many herbicides are still unknown. Additionally, it is known that photolysis is an important degradation process to be considered when evaluating the persistence of this family of herbicides in the environment. In this work, the photodegradation of profoxydim in an amended paddy soil-water system with alperujo compost was studied. Photodegradation experiments were carried out under laboratory conditions using simulated solar light (Suntest equipment) in order to evaluate the reaction kinetics of the active substance. The photochemical behavior of profoxydim was investigated in soil with and without alperujo amendment. Furthermore, due to the rice crop characteristics, profoxydim photodegradation in water in contact with these types of soils was also studied. Determination of profoxydim degradation kinetics was performed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC-DAD). Furthermore, we followed the evolution of resulting transformation by-products, and their tentative identification was achieved by mass spectrometry. All the experiments allowed us to fit the data of profoxydim photodegradation to a first-order kinetic. Photodegradation of profoxydim was very rapid in all cases. The half-lives in aqueous matrices were in the range of 86±0.3 to 103±0.5 min. The addition of alperujo amendment to the soil produced an increase in the half-life from 62±0.2 min (soil) to 75±0.3 min (amended soil). In addition, a comparison to other organic amendments was also performed. Results showed that the presence of the organic amendment retarded the photodegradation in paddy soil and water. Regarding degradation products, the main process involved was the cleavage of the oxime moiety giving rise to the formation of the corresponding imine compound.

Keywords: by-products, herbicide, organic amendment, photodegradation, profoxydim

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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: Tizi Hayet, Berrama Tarek, Bounif Nadia

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Phenol and its derivatives are organic compounds utilized in the chemical industry. They are introduced into the environment by accidental spills and the illegal release of industrial and municipal wastewater. Phenols are organic intermediaries that are considered potential pollutants. Adsorption is one of the purification and separation techniques used in this area. Algeria annually produces 131000 tons of fig; therefore, a large amount of fig leaves is generated, and the conversion of this waste into adsorbent allows the valorization of agricultural residue. The main purpose of this present work is to describe an application of a statistical method for modeling and to optimize the conditions of the phenol adsorption from agricultural by-products, locally available (fig leaves). The best experimental performance of phenol elimination on the adsorbent was obtained with: Adsorbent concentration (X₂) = 200 mg L⁻¹; Initial concentration (X₃) = 150 mg L⁻¹; Speed agitation (X₁) = 300 rpm.

Keywords: low-cost adsorbents, adsorption, fig leaves, phenol, factorial design

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Authors: Mohammad Javad Afroughi, Vahid Hosseini, Jason S. Olfert

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Both traffic-generated particles and noise have been associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases, especially in near-highway environments. Although noise and particulate matters (PM) have different mechanisms of dispersion, sharing the same emission source in urban areas (road traffics) can result in a similar degree of variability in their levels. This study investigated the temporal variation of and correlation between noise levels, PM concentrations and traffic intensities near a major highway in Tehran, Iran. Tehran particulate concentration is highly influenced by road traffic. Additionally, Tehran ultrafine particles (UFP, PM<0.1 µm) are mostly emitted from combustion processes of motor vehicles. This gives a high possibility of a strong association between traffic-related noise and UFP in near-highway environments of this megacity. Hourly average of equivalent continuous sound pressure level (Leq), total number concentration of UFPs, mass concentration of PM2.5 and PM10, as well as traffic count and speed were simultaneously measured over a period of three days in winter. Additionally, meteorological data including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction were collected in a weather station, located 3 km from the monitoring site. Noise levels showed relatively low temporal variability in near-highway environments compared to PM concentrations. Hourly average of Leq ranged from 63.8 to 69.9 dB(A) (mean ~ 68 dB(A)), while hourly concentration of particles varied from 30,800 to 108,800 cm-3 for UFP (mean ~ 64,500 cm-3), 41 to 75 µg m-3 for PM2.5 (mean ~ 53 µg m-3), and 62 to 112 µg m-3 for PM10 (mean ~ 88 µg m-3). The Pearson correlation coefficient revealed strong relationship between noise and UFP (r ~ 0.61) overall. Under downwind conditions, UFP number concentration showed the strongest association with noise level (r ~ 0.63). The coefficient decreased to a lesser degree under upwind conditions (r ~ 0.24) due to the significant role of wind and humidity in UFP dynamics. Furthermore, PM2.5 and PM10 correlated moderately with noise (r ~ 0.52 and 0.44 respectively). In general, traffic counts were more strongly associated with noise and PM compared to traffic speeds. It was concluded that noise level combined with meteorological data can be used as a proxy to estimate PM concentrations (specifically UFP number concentration) in near-highway environments of Tehran. However, it is important to measure joint variability of noise and particles to study their health effects in epidemiological studies.

Keywords: noise, particulate matter, PM10, PM2.5, ultrafine particle

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Authors: Vesna Karapetkovska Hristova, M. Ayaz Ahmad, Julijana Tomovska, Biljana Bogdanova Popov, Blagojce Najdovski

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The average total concentrations of heavy metals; (cadmium [Cd], copper [Cu], nickel [Ni], lead [Pb], and zinc [Zn]) were analyzed in soil and vegetables samples collected from the different region of Macedonia during the years 2010-2012. Basic soil properties such as pH, organic matter and clay content were also included in the study. The average concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn in the A horizon (0-30 cm) of agricultural soils were as follows, respectively: 0.25, 5.3, 6.9, 15.2, 26.3 mg kg-1 of soil. We have found that neural networking model can be considered as a tool for prediction and spatial analysis of the processes controlling the metal transfer within the soil-and vegetables. The predictive ability of such models is well over 80% as compared to 20% for typical regression models. A radial basic function network reflects good predicting accuracy and correlation coefficients between soil properties and metal content in vegetables much better than the back-propagation method. Neural Networking / soft computing can support the decision-making processes at different levels, including agro ecology, to improve crop management based on monitoring data and risk assessment of metal transfer from soils to vegetables.

Keywords: soft computing approach, total concentrations, heavy metals, agricultural soils

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Authors: Sarra Boughaba

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α-aminophosphonates have found a wide range of applications in organic and medicinal chemistry; they are considered as pharmacological agents, anti-inflammatory antitumor agents, and antibiotics. A number of procedures have been developed for their synthesis. However, many of these methods suffer from some disadvantages such as long reaction times, environmental pollution, utilization of organic solvents, and expensive catalysts. In the past few years, heteropolyacids have received great attention as environmentally benign catalysts for organic synthetic processes, they possess unique physicochemical properties, such as super-acidity, high thermal and chemical stability, ability to accept and release electrons and high proton mobility, and the possibility of varying their acidity and oxidizing potential. In this context, an efficient and eco-friendly protocol has been described for the synthesis of α-aminophosphonates via one pot, three component reaction catalyzed by H₆P₂W₁₈O₆₂.14H₂O as reusable catalyst, by condensation of amino acids esters, various aromatic aldehydes and triethylphosphite under solvent-free conditions, the corresponding α-aminophosphonates were formed in good yields as racemic or diastereomericmixture. All the new products were systematically characterized by IR, MS, and ¹H, ¹³C-³¹P-NMR analyses. This method offers advantages such as simplicity workup with the green aspects by avoiding expensive catalysts and toxic solvents, good yields, short reaction times.

Keywords: amino acids esters, α-aminophosphonates, H₆P₂W₁₈O₆₂.14H₂O catalyst, green chemistry

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Authors: Reda Abdel-Aziz

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Agricultural activities in Egypt generate annually around 35 million tons of waste. Composting is one of the most promising technologies to turnover waste in a more economical way, for many centuries. Composting has been used as a mean of recycling organic matter back into the soil to improve soil structure and fertility. Field experiments were conducted in two governorates, Giza and Al-Monofia, to find out the effect of compost with different rates of chemical fertilizers on growth and yield of corn (Zea mays L.) during two constitutive seasons of 2012 and 2013. The experiment, laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD), was carried out on five farmers’ fields in each governorate. The treatments were: unfertilized control, full dose of NPK (120, 30, and 50 kg/acre, respectively), compost at rate of 20 ton/acre, compost at rate of 10 ton/acre + 25% of chemical fertilizer, compost at rate of 10 ton/acre + 50% of chemical fertilizer and compost at rate of 10 ton/acre + 75% of chemical fertilizer. Results revealed a superiority of the treatment of compost at rate of 10 ton/acre + 50% of NPK that caused significant improvement in growth, yield and nutrient uptakes of corn in the two governorates during the two constitutive seasons. Results showed that agricultural waste could be composted into value added soil amendment to enhance efficiency of chemical fertilizer. Composting of agricultural waste could also reduce the chemical fertilizers potential hazard to the environment.

Keywords: agricultural waste, compost, chemical fertilizers, corn production, environment

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Authors: Tizi Hayet, Berrama Tarek, Bounif Nadia

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Phenol and its derivatives are organic compounds utilized in the chemical industry. They are introduced into the environment by accidental spills and illegal release of industrial and municipal wastewater. Phenols are organic intermediaries that considered as potential pollutants. Adsorption is one of the purification and separation techniques used in this area. Algeria produces annually 131000 tones of fig; therefore, a large amount of fig leaves is generated, and the conversion of this waste into adsorbent allows the valorization of agricultural residue. The main purpose of this present work is to describe an application of the statistical method for modeling and optimization of the conditions of the phenol (Ph) adsorption from agricultural by-product locally available (fig leaves). The best experimental performance of Ph elimination on the adsorbent was obtained with: Adsorbent concentration (X2) = 0.2 g L-1; Initial concentration (X3) = 150 mg L-1; Speed agitation (X1) = 300 rpm.

Keywords: low-cost adsorbents, fig leaves, full factorial design, phenol, biosorption

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Authors: Despina Vamvuka, Despina Pentari

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Forestry wastes are readily available in large quantities around the world. Based on European Green Deal for the deployment of renewable and decarbonized energy by 2050, as well as global energy crisis, energy recovery from such wastes reducing greenhouse gas emissions is very attractive. Gasification has superior environmental performance to combustion, producing a clean fuel gas utilized in internal combustion engines, gas turbines, solid oxide fuel cells, or for synthesis of liquid bio-fuels and value-added chemicals. In this work, pine needles, which are abundantly found in Mediterranean countries, were gasified by either steam or carbon dioxide via a two-step process to improve reactivity and eliminate tar, employing a fixed bed unit and a thermal analysis system. Solid, liquid and gaseous products from the whole process were characterized and their energy potential was determined. Thermal behaviour, reactivity, conversion and energy recovery were examined. The gasification process took place above 650°C. At 950°C conversion and energy recovery were 77% dry and 2 under a flow of steam and 85% dry and 2.9 under a flow of carbon dioxide, respectively. Organic matter was almost completely converted to syngas, the yield of which varied between 89% and 99%. The higher heating values of biochar, bio-oil and pyrolysis gas were 27.8 MJ/kg, 33.5 MJ/kg and 13.6 MJ/m3. Upon steam or carbon dioxide gasification, the higher heating value of syngas produced was 11.5 MJ/m3 and 12.7 MJ/m3, respectively.

Keywords: gasification, biomass, steam, carbon dioxide

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Authors: Retno Ambarwati Sigit Lestari

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Microalga is one of the organisms that can be considered ideal and potential for raw material of bioenergy production, because the content of lipids in microalga is relatively high. Microalga is an aquatic organism that produces complex organic compounds from inorganic molecules using carbon dioxide as a carbon source, and sunlight for energy supply. Microalga-CO₂ fixation has potential advantages over other carbon captures and storage approaches, such as wide distribution, high photosynthetic rate, good environmental adaptability, and ease of operation. The rates of growth and CO₂ capture of microalga are influenced by CO₂ concentration and light intensity. This study quantitatively investigates the effects of CO₂ concentration on the rates of growth and CO₂ capture of a type of microalga, cultivated in bioreactors. The works include laboratory experiments as well as mathematical modelling. The mathematical models were solved numerically and the accuracy of the model was tested by the experimental data. It turned out that the mathematical model proposed can well quantitatively describe the growth and CO₂ capture of microalga, in which the effects of CO₂ concentration can be observed.

Keywords: Microalga, CO2 concentration, photobioreactor, mathematical model

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Authors: Mbongeni Mabaso, Kandasamy Moodley, Gan Redhi

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The recovery of industrially valuable organic solvents from liquid waste, generated in chemical processes, is economically crucial to countries which need to import organic solvents. In view of this, the main objective of this study was to determine the ability of selected ionic liquids, namely, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulphate, [EMIM] [ESO4] and 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulphate, [EMpy][ESO4] to recover aromatic components from spent paint solvents. Preliminary studies done on the liquid waste, received from a paint manufacturing company, showed that the aromatic components were present in the range 6 - 21 % by volume. The separation of the aromatic components was performed with the ionic liquids listed above. The phases, resulting from the separation of the mixtures, were analysed with a Gas Chromatograph (GC) coupled to a FID detector. Chromatograms illustrate that the chosen ZB-Wax-Plus column gave excellent separation of all components of interest from the mixtures, including the isomers of xylene. The concentrations of aromatics recovered from the spent solvents were found to be the % ranges 13-33 and 23-49 respectively for imidazolium and pyridinium ionic liquids. These results also show that there is a significant correlation between π-character of ionic liquids and the level of extraction. It is therefore concluded that ionic liquids have the potential for macro-scale recovery of re-useable solvents present in liquid waste emanating from paint manufacture.

Keywords: synthesis, ionic liquid, imidazolium, pyridinium, extraction, aromatic solvents, spent paint organic solvents

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Authors: Elizabeta Eduard Baltadzhyan

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This work presents a stage of an investigation about the metaphorical conceptualization of translation in Bulgarian language. The material is a linguistic corpus consisting of 38 interviews with several generations Bulgarian translators and interpreters. The aim of this presentation is to inform about the results of the organization of the source concepts in scenarios that dominate the discursive manifestations of the source domains. The data show that, on the one hand, translators from different generations share some basic assignments of source and target domains, e. g. translation is a journey or translation is an artistic presentation. On the other hand, there are some specific scenarios motivated by significant changes in the socio-economic structure of the country and the valuation of the translator´s mission and work, e. g., the scenario of pleasure and addictive activity marks the generation that enjoy great support and stimulation from the socialist government, whereas the war scenario marks the generation during the Perestroika time.

Keywords: Bulgarian language, metaphor, scenario, translation

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Authors: Emmanuel Dada, Adebayo-Victoria Tobi Dada

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The study evaluates land use and land cover changes in the cocoa belt of Ondo state to quantify its effect on the expanse of land occupied by cocoa plantation as the most suitable region for cocoa raisin in Nigeria. Time series of satellite imagery from Landsat-7 ETM+ and Landsat-8 TIRS covering years 2000 and 2015 respectively were used. The study area was classified into six land use themes of cocoa plantation, settlement, water body, light forest and grassland, forest, and bar surface and rock outcrop. The analyses revealed that out of total land area of 997714 hectares of land of the study area, cocoa plantation land use increased by 10.3% in 2015 from 312260.6 ha in 2000. Forest land use also increased by 6.3% in 2015 from 152144.1 ha in the year 2000, water body reduced from 2954.5 ha in the year 2000 by 0.1% in 2015, settlement land use increased by 3% in 2015 from 15194.6 ha in 2000, light forest and grassland area reduced by 10.4% between 2000 and 2015 and 9.1% reduction in bar surface and rock outcrop land use between the year 2000 and 2015 respectively. The reasons for different ranges in the changes observed in the land use and land cover in the study area could be due to increase in the incentive to cocoa farmers from both government and non-governmental organizations, developed new cocoa breed that thrive better in the light forest, rapid increased in the population of cocoa farmers’ settlements, and government promulgation of forest reserve law.

Keywords: satellite imagery, land use and land cover change, area of land

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Authors: Ruth Lorivi, Jianzheng Li, John J. Ambuchi, Kaiwen Deng

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Nitrogen removal from wastewater is accomplished by nitrification and denitrification processes. Successful denitrification requires carbon, therefore, if placed after biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and nitrification process, a carbon source has to be re-introduced into the water. To avoid adding a carbon source, denitrification is usually placed before BOD and nitrification processes. This process however involves recycling the nitrified effluent. In this study wood chips were used as internal carbon source which enabled placement of denitrification after BOD and nitrification process without effluent recycling. To investigate the efficiency of a wood packed aerobic-anaerobic baffled reactor on carbon and nutrients removal from domestic wastewater, a three compartment baffled reactor was presented. Each of the three compartments was packed with 329 g wood chips 1x1cm acting as an internal carbon source for denitrification. The proposed mode of operation was aerobic-anoxic-anaerobic (OAA) with no effluent recycling. The operating temperature, hydraulic retention time (HRT), dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH were 24 ± 2 ℃, 24 h, less than 4 mg/L and 7 ± 1 respectively. The removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) and total nitrogen (TN) attained was 99, 87 and 83% respectively. TN removal rate was limited by nitrification as 97% of ammonia converted into nitrate and nitrite was denitrified. These results show that application of wood chips in wastewater treatment processes is an efficient internal carbon source. 

Keywords: aerobic-anaerobic baffled reactor, denitrification, nitrification, wood chip

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Authors: Nittaya Nokham, Nattaphon Kamon, Pipatpong Pimkhot, Pedcharada Yusuk

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Testing efficacy of a bio-product (bp) to reduce amount of arsenic was carried out in soil which were used for cultivation of organic vegetables, at Watchan Royal Project Development Center, Kulayaniwattana district, Chiang Mai. The test consists of 6 treatments e.g. Tr.1) Control: To underlie the planting pits (pp)with compost; Tr.2) Using bp: To underlie thepp with compost mixed with (+) bp at 100 g/pit; Tr.3) Using bp: To underlie the pp with compost + bp at 100 g/pit and to spray the vegetables with bp at 2 l/20 l of water, once a week; Tr.4) Using bp: To spread the compost bp on the planting area at 3 kg/1 m2 ; Tr.5) Using bp: To spread the compost + bp on the planting area at 3 kg/1 m2and to spray vegetables with bp at 2 l/20 l of water; Tr.6) Using bp: To spray vegetables with bp at 2 l/20 l of water. Result showed that after first trial of pointed cabbage cultivation, only Tr.6 had a small reduction of arsenic; while the others had higher amount of the metal. After second trial of growing red oak leaf, Tr.6 had more reduction of arsenic while Tr.5 and Tr.3 had less reduction compared to Tr.6 but more reduction than the others. In the third trial of growing mustard, very small reduction could be found on Tr.6 and Tr.5 but more reduction in Tr.3. For the fourth (last) trial with cos romaine lettuce: Tr.6, Tr.5 showed most reduction of arsenic to about half of the original amount. So, it can be concluded that this bio-product can help reducing arsenic when using this product by spraying the bp to vegetables at concentration of 2 l/20 l of water once week (Tr.6), or using the bio-product mixed with compost to spread on the planting area at 3 kg/1 m2 together with spraying the product (Tr.5). The results obtained from continuous planting 4 kinds of vegetables at the same area. The amount of arsenic found in roots and stem is very small in the 4 vegetables.

Keywords: organic vegetables, bio-product, arsenic, soil

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Authors: Hyunuk Kim, Yang No Yun, Muhammad Sohail, Jong-Ho Moon, Young Cheol Park

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Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which are emerging absorbents assembled from metal ions and organic ligands, have attracted attention for their permanent porosity and design of tunable pore size. These microporous materials showed interesting properties for CO₂ storage and separation. In particular, MOFs with high surface area and open metal sites showed the remarkable adsorption capacity and selectivity for CO₂. [Mg₂ (DOBDC)] (DOBDC = 2,5-dioxidobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylate) (MOF-74 or CPO-27) is a well-known absorbent showing an exceptionally high CO₂ sorption capacity at low partial pressure and room temperature. In this work, we synthesized [M₂(DOBDC)(DMF)₂] (M = Mg, Co, Ni) and determined their single-crystal structures by X-ray crystallography. The removal of coordinated guest molecules generates Lewis acidic sites and showed high CO₂ adsorption affinity. Both CO₂ adsorption capacity and surface area are much higher than reported values in literature. To fabricate MMMs, microcrystalline [M₂ (DOBDC)(DMF)₂] was synthesized by microwave reaction and dispersed in PDMS solution. The MMMs with a various amount of [M₂ (DOBDC)(DMF) ₂] in PDMS were fabricated by a solution casting method. [M₂ (DOBDC)(DMF)₂]@PDMS membrane showed higher CO2 permeability and CO₂/N₂ selectivity than those of PDMS. Therefore, we believe that MMMs combining polymer and MOFs provide new materials for CO₂ separation technology.

Keywords: metal-organic frameworks, mixed matrix membrane, CO2/N2 separation, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)

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Authors: A. E. Kobryn

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We present both descriptive and predictive modeling of structural properties of blends of PCBM or organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites of the type CH3NH3PbX3 (X=Cl, Br, I) with P3HT, P3BT or squaraine SQ2 dye sensitizer, including adsorption on TiO2 clusters having rutile (110) surface. In our study, we use a methodology that allows computing the microscopic structure of blends on the nanometer scale and getting insight on miscibility of its components at various thermodynamic conditions. The methodology is based on the integral equation theory of molecular liquids in the reference interaction site representation/model (RISM) and uses the universal force field. Input parameters for RISM, such as optimized molecular geometries and charge distribution of interaction sites, are derived with the use of the density functional theory methods. To compare the diffusivity of the PCBM in binary blends with P3HT and P3BT, respectively, the study is complemented with MD simulation. A very good agreement with experiment and the reports of alternative modeling or simulation is observed for PCBM in P3HT system. The performance of P3BT with perovskites, however, seems as expected. The calculated nanoscale morphologies of blends of P3HT, P3BT or SQ2 with perovskites, including adsorption on TiO2, are all new and serve as an instrument in rational design of organic/hybrid photovoltaics. They are used in collaboration with experts who actually make prototypes or devices for practical applications.

Keywords: multiscale theory and modeling, nanoscale morphology, organic-inorganic halide perovskites, three dimensional distribution

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Authors: Mdluli Fezile, Schmidt Stefan, Thamaga-Chitja Joyce

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In view of the frequently reported foodborne disease outbreaks caused by contaminated fresh produce, consumers have a preference for foods that meet requisite hygiene standards to reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses. Producing good quality fresh produce then becomes critical in improving market access and food security, especially for small-scale farmers. Questions of hygiene and subsequent microbiological quality in the rural small-scale farming sector of South Africa are even more crucial, given the policy drive to develop small-scale farming as a measure for reinforcement of household food security and reduction of poverty. Farming practices and methods, throughout the fresh produce value chain, influence the quality of the final product, which in turn determines its success in the market. This study’s aim was to therefore determine the extent to which training on organic farming methods, including modules such as Importance of Production Hygiene, influenced the hygienic farming practices employed by eTholeni small-scale organic farmers in uMbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal- South Africa. Questionnaires were administered to 73 uncertified organic farmers and analysis showed that a total of 33 farmers were trained and supplied the local Agri-Hub while 40 had not received training. The questionnaire probed respondents’ attitudes, knowledge of hygiene and composting practices. Data analysis included descriptive statistics such as the Chi-square test and a logistic regression model. Descriptive analysis indicated that a majority of the farmers (60%) were female, most of which (73%) were above the age of 40. The logistic regression indicated that factors such as farmer training and prior experience in the farming sector had a significant influence on hygiene practices both at 5% significance levels. These results emphasize the importance of training, education and farming experience in implementing good hygiene practices in small-scale farming. It is therefore recommended that South African policies should advocate for small-scale farmer training, not only for subsistence purposes, but also with an aim of supplying produce markets with high fresh produce.

Keywords: small-scale farmers, leafy salad vegetables, organic produce, food safety, hygienic practices, food security

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Authors: G. Sivakumar, T. Pratyusha, D. Gupta, W. Shen

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To get ohmic contact between the cathode and organic semiconductor, transport layers are introduced between the active layer and the electrodes. Generally zinc oxide or titanium dioxide are used as electron transport layer. When electron transport layer is doped with lithium, the resultant film exhibited superior electronic properties, which enables faster electron transport. Doping is accomplished by heat treatment of films with Lithium salts. Li-doped films. We fabricated organic solar cell using PTB7(poly(3-hexylthiopene-2,5- diyl):PCBM(phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester) and found that the solar cells prepared using Li doped films had better performance in terms of efficiency when compared to the undoped transport layers.

Keywords: electron transport layer, higher efficiency, lithium doping, ohmic contact

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Authors: A. Novikova, L. Rocchi, G. Startiene

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Market and non-market outputs are produced jointly in agriculture. Their supply depends on the intensity and type of production. The role of agriculture as an economic activity and its effects are important for the Lithuanian case study, as agricultural land covers more than a half of country. Positive and negative externalities, created in agriculture are not considered in the market. Therefore, specific techniques such as stated preferences methods, in particular choice experiments (CE) are used for evaluation of non-market outputs in agriculture. The main aim of this paper is to present construction of the research path for evaluation of non-market farming system outputs in Lithuania. The conventional and organic farming, covering crops (including both cereal and industrial crops) and livestock (including dairy and cattle) production has been selected. The CE method and nested logit (NL) model were selected as appropriate for evaluation of non-market outputs of different farming systems in Lithuania. A pilot survey was implemented between October–November 2018, in order to test and improve the CE questionnaire. The results of the survey showed that the questionnaire is accepted and well understood by the respondents. The econometric modelling showed that the selected NL model could be used for the main survey. The understanding of the differences between organic and conventional farming by residents was identified. It was revealed that they are more willing to choose organic farming in comparison to conventional farming.

Keywords: choice experiments, farming system, Lithuania market outputs, non-market outputs

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Authors: Chahrazed Bendenia, Souhila Bendenia, Samia Moulebhar, Hanaa Merad-Dib, Sarra Merabet, Sid Ahmed Khantar, Baghdad Hadri

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In recent years, organic solar cells (OSCs) have become the fundamental concern of researchers thanks to their advantages in terms of flexibility, manufacturing processes and low cost. The performance of these devices is influenced by various factors, such as the layers introduced in the stacking of the solar cell realized. In our work, the modeling of a reverse OSC under AM1.5G illumination will be determined. The photo-active polymer/fullerene layer will be analyzed from the polymer variation of this layer using the SCAPS simulator to extract the J-V characteristics: open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Jsc), filling factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (η). The results obtained indicated that the materials used have a significant impact on improving the photovoltaic parameters of the devices studied.

Keywords: solar, polymer, simulator, characteristics

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Authors: Benjamin Anderson-Sackaney, Amr Abdel-Dayem

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This paper presents a comprehensive survey of recent source camera identification (SCI) systems. Then, the performance of various sensor pattern noise (SPN) estimators was experimentally assessed, under common photo response non-uniformity (PRNU) frameworks. The experiments used 1350 natural and 900 flat-field images, captured by 18 individual cameras. 12 different experiments, grouped into three sets, were conducted. The results were analyzed using the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. The experimental results demonstrated that combining the basic SPN estimator with a wavelet-based filtering scheme provides promising results. However, the phase SPN estimator fits better with both patch-based (BM3D) and anisotropic diffusion (AD) filtering schemes.

Keywords: sensor pattern noise, source camera identification, photo response non-uniformity, anisotropic diffusion, peak to correlation energy ratio

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Authors: Syahrir Andi Mangga

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During 1989–1993, the Geological Research and Development Center (recent Geological Survey Institute) Geological Agency, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Republic of Indonesia was the collaboration with British Geological Survey, the United Kingdom to do technical assistance in order to collect data of geology in Sumatra Island. The overall corporation of technical programs was larger concern in stratigraphy, geochemical and age-dating studies. Availability of new data has been stimulated to reassessment of tectonic evolution of Sumatra Island. The study area located in Southern Sumatra within at latitudes 0°-6° S and 99°40’-106’00 E longitudes. The study tectonic is situated within along South Western margin of Sunda land, The Southeast Asia Continental extension arc of the Eurasian Plate and formed as part of Sunda Arc. The oceanic crust of Indian-Australian plate recently is being oblique subduction along the Sunda Trench off the West coast Sumatra. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic of the volcanic and granitic rocks can be divided into northern and southern plutons, defining a series subparallel, controlled by fault, northwest-southeast trending belts, some of the plutons are deformed and under-formed. They are widely exposed along the south-eastern side of the Barisan mountain. Based on the characteristic of minerals and crystallography, rocks found in this study area were granite, granitic, monzogranite and andesitic-Basaltic Volcanic Rock. It belongs to calc Alkaline was predominantly metalumina, I-Type Granite, Volcanic arc granites, Syncollisonal Granites (Syn_COLG) and tholeiitic basalt. It was formed since 169±5 to 20±1 Ma. The origin of magmas in interpreted to be derived from partial melting of igneous rock. The occurrence of the gratoid and volcanic rocks supposed to be closely related to the subduction of the Australian-Hindia oceanic crust beneath the Eurasia/Sunda land Continental Crust as Volcanic arc or continental margin granitic and shown youngest to the southwest. The subduction process having probably been different in position between one terrane to others led to the occurrence of segmentation subduction system. The positional discontinuities of the subduction are probably caused by the difference in time of emplacement and mechanism of volcanic and granitic rock between segments.

Keywords: tectonic setting, I-type granitic, subduction, Southern Sumatra

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: D. Lopes, I. I. R. Baptista, R. F. Vieira, J. Vaz, H. Varela, O. M. Freitas, V. F. Domingues, R. Jorge, C. Delerue-Matos, S. A. Figueiredo

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Deodorization is nowadays a need in wastewater treatment plants. Nitrogen and sulphur compounds, volatile fatty acids, aldehydes and ketones are responsible for the unpleasant odours, being ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans the most common pollutants. Although chemical treatments of the air extracted are efficient, these are more expensive than biological treatments, namely due the use of chemical reagents (commonly sulphuric acid, sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide). Biofiltration offers the advantage of avoiding the use of reagents (only in some cases, nutrients are added in order to increase the treatment efficiency) and can be considered a sustainable process when the packing medium used is of natural origin. In this work the application of some natural materials locally available was studied both at laboratory and pilot scale, in a real wastewater treatment plant. The materials selected for this study were indigenous Portuguese forest materials derived from eucalyptus and pinewood, such as woodchips and bark, and coconut fiber was also used for comparison purposes. Their physico-chemical characterization was performed: density, moisture, pH, buffer and water retention capacity. Laboratory studies involved batch adsorption studies for ammonia and hydrogen sulphide removal and evaluation of microbiological activity. Four pilot-scale biofilters (1 cubic meter volume) were installed at a local wastewater treatment plant treating odours from the effluent receiving chamber. Each biofilter contained a different packing material consisting of mixtures of eucalyptus bark, pine woodchips and coconut fiber, with added buffering agents and nutrients. The odour treatment efficiency was monitored over time, as well as other operating parameters. The operation at pilot scale suggested that between the processes involved in biofiltration - adsorption, absorption and biodegradation - the first dominates at the beginning, while the biofilm is developing. When the biofilm is completely established, and the adsorption capacity of the material is reached, biodegradation becomes the most relevant odour removal mechanism. High odour and hydrogen sulphide removal efficiencies were achieved throughout the testing period (over 6 months), confirming the suitability of the materials selected, and mixtures thereof prepared, for biofiltration applications.

Keywords: ammonia hydrogen sulphide and removal, biofiltration, natural materials, odour control in wastewater treatment plants

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: A. T. Ramachandra Naik, H. Shivananda Murthy, H. n. Anjanayappa

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The freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii is a more popular crustacean cultured widely in monoculture system in India. It has got high nutritional value in the human diet. Hence, understanding its enzymatic and body composition is important in order to judge its flesh quality. Fish oil specially derived from Indian oil sardine is a good source of highly unsaturated fatty acid and lipid source in fish/prawn diet. A 35% crude protein diet with graded levels of Sardine oil as a source of fat was incorporated at four levels viz, 2.07, 4.07, 6.07 and 8.07% maintaining a total lipid level of feed at 8.11, 10.24, 12.28 and 14.33% respectively. Diet without sardine oil (6.05% total lipid) was served as basal treatment. The giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii was used as test animal and the experiment was lost for 112 days. Significantly, higher gain in weight of prawn was recorded in the treatment with 6.07% sardine oil incorporation followed by higher specific growth rate, food conversion rate and protein efficiency ratio. The 8.07% sardine oil diet produced the highest RNA: DNA ratio in the prawn muscle. Digestive enzyme analyses in the digestive tract and mid-gut gland showed the greatest activity in prawns fed the 8.07% diet.

Keywords: digestive enzyme, fish diet, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, sardine oil

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Rabia Göçmen, Gülşah Kanbur, Sinan Sefa Parlat

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This study was conducted to determine that carrot powder obtain by different drying methods (oven and vacuum-freeze dryer) of carrot unfit for human consumption that whether feed additives in animal nutrition or not. Carrots randomly divided 2 groups. First group was dried by using oven, second group was by using vacuum freeze dryer methods. Dried carrot prepared from fresh carrot was analysed nutrient matter (energy, crude protein, crude oil, crude ash, beta carotene, mineral concentration and colour). The differences between groups in terms of energy, crude protein, ash, Ca and Mg was not significant (P> 0,05). Crude oil, P, beta carotene content and colour values (L, a, b) with vacuum-freeze dryer group was greater than oven group (P<0,05). Consequently, carrot powder obtained by drying the vacuum-freeze dryer method can be used as a source of carotene.

Keywords: carrot, vacuum freeze dryer, oven, beta carotene

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Zhenxiang Zhou

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The triose phosphate utilisation (TPU) limitation to leaf photosynthesis is a biochemical process concerning the sub-foliar carbon sink-source (im)balance, in which photorespiration-associated amino acids exports provide an additional outlet for carbon and increases leaf photosynthetic rate. However, whether this process is regulated by whole-plant sink-source relations and nitrogen budgets remains unclear. We address this question by model analyses of gas-exchange data measured on leaves at three growth stages of rice plants grown at two-nitrogen levels, where three means (leaf-colour modification, adaxial vs abaxial measurements, and panicle pruning) were explored to alter source-sink ratios. Higher specific leaf nitrogen (SLN) resulted in higher rates of TPU and also led to the TPU limitation occurring at a lower intercellular CO2 concentration. Photorespiratory nitrogen assimilation was greater in higher-nitrogen leaves but became smaller in cases associated with yellower-leaf modification, abaxial measurement, or panicle pruning. The feedback inhibition of panicle pruning on rates of TPU was not always observed because panicle pruning blocked nitrogen remobilisation from leaves to grains, and the increased SLN masked the feedback inhibition. The (sub)foliar TPU limitation can be modulated by whole-plant source-sink ratios and nitrogen budgets during rice grain filling, suggesting a close link between sub-foliar and whole-plant sink limitations.

Keywords: triose phosphate utilization, sink limitation, panicle pruning, oryza sativa

Procedia PDF Downloads 89