Search results for: carbon emission reduction pathway

Authors: Premrudee Kanchanapiya, Supachai Songngam, Thanapol Tantisattayakul

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Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have increasingly attracted concerns due to their global distribution in environment, persistence, high bioaccumulation, and toxicity. It is important to study the effective treatment to remove PFOA from contaminated water. The feasibility of using commercial coconut shell activated carbon produced in Thailand to remove PFOA from water was investigated with regard to their adsorption kinetics and isotherms of powder activated carbon (PAC-325) and granular activated carbon (GAC-20x50). Adsorption kinetic results show that the adsorbent size significantly affected the adsorption rate of PFOA, and GAC-20x50 required at least 100 h to achieve the equilibrium, much longer than 3 h for PAC-325. Two kinetic models were fitted to the experimental data, and the pseudo-second-order model well described the adsorption of PFOA on both PAC-325 and GAC-20x50. PAC-325 trended to adsorb PFOA faster than GAC-20x50, and testing with the shortest adsorption times (5 min) still yielded substantial PFOA removal (~80% for PAC-325). The adsorption isotherms show that the adsorption capacity of PAC-325 was 0.80 mmol/g, which is 83 % higher than that for GAC-20x50 (0.13 mmol/g), according to the Langmuir fitting.

Keywords: perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA, coconut shell activated carbons, adsorption, water treatment

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Authors: Chayarat Tantanasarit, Sandhya Babel

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Green mussels (Perna viridis) can effectively remove nutrients from seawater through their filtration process. This study aims to estimate 'net' nutrient removal rate by green mussel through calculation of nutrient uptake and release. Nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) uptake was calculated based on the mussel filtration rate. Nutrient release was evaluated from carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus released as mussel feces. By subtracting nutrient release from nutrient uptake, net nutrient removal by green mussel can be found as 3302, 380 and 124 mg/year/indv. Mass balance model was employed to simulate nutrient removal in actual green mussel farming conditions. Mussels farm area, seawater flow rate and amount of mussels were considered in the model. Results show that although larger quantity of green mussel farms lead to higher nutrient removal rate, the maximum green mussel cultivation should be taken into consideration as nutrients released through mussel excretion can strongly affect marine ecosystem.

Keywords: carbon, ecretion, filtration, nitrogen, phosphorus

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Authors: Maimuna Nontji

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The life cycle of rice plant has three phases of growth; they are the vegetative, reproductive and maturation phase. They greatly affect the life of dynamics metanotrof bacterial as reducer methane emissions in the rice field, both of population and on the rate of growth. The aim of this study was to analyze the population and growth rate of methanotrof isolates which has been isolated in previous studies. Isolates were taken at all the life cycle of rice plant. Population of analysis was conducted by standard plate count method and growth rate was analysed by logarithmic calculation. The results showed that each isolate varied in population and growth rate. The highest population was obtained in the isolates Gowa Methanotrof Reproductive (GMR 8) about 7.06 x 10 11 cfu / ml on 3 days of incubation and the lowest population was obtained in the Gowa Methanotrof Maturation (GMP 5) about 0.27 x 10 11 cfu / ml on 7 day of incubation. Some isolate were demonstrated in long growth rate about 5 days of incubation and another are 3 days.

Keywords: emission, methanotrof, methane, population

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Authors: P. Efstathiou, E. Kouskouni, S. Papanikolaou, K. Karageorgou, Z. Manolidou, Tseroni Maria, A. Efstathiou, V. Karyoti, I. Agrafa

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Aim: Aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) microbial flora after the antimicrobial copper alloy (Cu+) implementation as well as the effect on financial-epidemiological operation parameters. Methods: Medical, epidemiological and financial data in two time periods, before and after the implementation of copper (Cu 63% - Zn 37%, low lead) were recorded and analyzed in a general ICU. The evaluated parameters were: the importance of patients' admission (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation - APACHE II and Simplified Acute Physiology Score - SAPS), microbial flora's record in the ICU before and after the implementation of Cu+ as well as the impact on epidemiological and ICU's operation financial parameters. Results: During December 2010 and March 2011 and respectively during December 2011 and March 2012 comparative results showed statistically significant reduction on the microbial flora (CFU/ml) by 95% and the use of antimicrobial medicine (per day per patient) by 30% (p = 0,014) as well as patients hospitalization time and cost. Conclusions: The innovative implementation of antimicrobial copper in ICUs contributed to their microbial flora significant reduction and antimicrobial drugs use reduction with the apparent positive effect (decrease) in both patient’s hospitalization time and cost. Under the present circumstances of economic crisis, survey results are of highest importance and value.

Keywords: antimicrobial copper, financial benefits, ICU, cost reduction

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Authors: Filiz Ersoz, Taner Ersoz, Tugrul Bayraktar

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Renewable energy is referred to as "clean energy" and common popular support for the use of renewable energy (RE) is to provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions. This study provides useful insight into the European Union (EU) RE, especially, into electricity generation obtained from renewables, and their targets. The objective of this study is to identify groups of European countries, using multivariate statistical analysis and selected indicators. The hierarchical clustering method is used to decide the number of clusters for EU countries. The conducted statistical hierarchical cluster analysis is based on the Ward’s clustering method and squared Euclidean distances. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified eight distinct clusters of European countries. Then, non-hierarchical clustering (k-means) method was applied. Discriminant analysis was used to determine the validity of the results with data normalized by Z score transformation. To explore the relationship between the selected indicators, correlation coefficients were computed. The results of the study reveal the current situation of RE in European Union Member States.

Keywords: share of electricity generation, k-means clustering, discriminant, CO2 emission

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Authors: Osamede Asowata

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Optimized gain in respect to output power of stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) systems is one of the major focus of PV in recent times. This is evident in its low carbon emission and efficiency. Power failure or outage from commercial providers, in general, does not promote development to public and private sector; these basically limit the development of industries. The need for a well-structured PV system is of importance for an efficient and cost effective monitoring system. The purpose of this paper is to validate the maximum power point of an off-grid PV system taking into consideration the most effective tilt and orientation angles for PV's in the southern hemisphere. This paper is based on analyzing the system using a solar charger with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) from a pulse width modulation (PWM) perspective. The power conditioning device chosen is a solar charger with MPPT. The practical setup consists of a PV panel that is set to an orientation angle of 0°N, with a corresponding tilt angle of 36°, 26°, and 16°. Preliminary results include regression analysis (normal probability plot) showing the maximum power point in the system as well the best tilt angle for maximum power point tracking.

Keywords: poly-crystalline PV panels, solar chargers, tilt and orientation angles, maximum power point tracking, MPPT, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM).

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Authors: Arul Ayyaswami, Vidhya Ramalingam

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have emerged as a significant environmental concern due to their ubiquity and persistence in the environment. Their chemical characteristics and adverse effects on human health demands more effective and sustainable solutions in remediation of the PFAS. The work presented here encompasses an overview of treatment technologies with two case studies that utilize effective approaches in addressing PFAS contaminated media. Currently the options for treatment of PFAS compounds include Activated carbon adsorption, Ion Exchange, Membrane Filtration, Advanced oxidation processes, Electrochemical treatment, and Precipitation and Coagulation. In the first case study, a pilot study application of colloidal activated carbon (CAC) was completed to address PFAS from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) used to extinguish a large fire. The pilot study was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a CAC in situ permeable reactive barrier (PRB) in effectively stopping the migration of PFOS and PFOA, moving from the source area at high concentrations. Before the CAC PRB installation, an injection test using - fluorescein dye was conducted to determine the primary fracture-induced groundwater flow pathways. A straddle packer injection delivery system was used to isolate discrete intervals and gain resolution over the 70 feet saturated zone targeted for treatment. Flow rates were adjusted, and aquifer responses were recorded for each interval. The results from the injection test were used to design the pilot test injection plan using CAC PRB. Following the CAC PRB application, the combined initial concentration 91,400 ng/L of PFOS and PFOA were reduced to approximately 70 ng/L (99.9% reduction), after only one month following the injection event. The results demonstrate the remedy's effectiveness to quickly and safely contain high concentrations of PFAS in fractured bedrock, reducing the risk to downgradient receptors. The second study involves developing a reductive defluorination treatment process using UV and electron acceptor. This experiment indicates a significant potential in treatment of PFAS contaminated waste media such as landfill leachates. The technology also shows a promising way of tacking these contaminants without the need for secondary waste disposal or any additional pre-treatments.

Keywords: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), colloidal activated carbon (CAC), destructive PFAS treatment technology, aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF)

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Authors: Jude A. Mbanasor, Chigozirim N. Onwusiribe

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The enigma climate change is no longer an illusion but a reality. In the recent years, the Nigeria climate has changed and the changes are shown by the changing patterns of rainfall, the sunshine, increasing level carbon and nitrous emission as well as deforestation. This study analyzed the behavioural response of bee keepers to variations in the climate and the adaptation techniques developed in response to the climate variation. Beekeeping is a viable economic activity for the alleviation of poverty as the products include honey, wax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, venom, queens, bees and their larvae and are all marketable. The study adopted the multistage sampling technique to select 120 beekeepers from the five states of Southeast Nigeria. Well-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions were adopted to collect the required data. Statistical tools like the Principal component analysis, data envelopment models, graphs, and charts were used for the data analysis. Changing patterns of rainfall and sunshine with the increasing rate of deforestation had a negative effect on the habitat of the bees. The bee keepers have adopted the Kenya Top bar and Langstroth hives and they establish the bee hives on fallow farmland close to the cultivated communal farms with more flowering crops.

Keywords: climate, farmer, response, smart

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Authors: Yao-Hui Huang, Ming-Chun Yen, Jui-Yen Lin, Yu-Jen Shih

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This work investigated the reclamation of boron in industrial wastewaters by a chemical oxo-precipitation (COP) technique at room temperature. In COP, the boric acid was pretreated with H₂O₂, yielding various perborate anions. Afterwards, calcium chloride was used to efficiently remove boron through precipitation of calcium perborate. The important factors included reacted pH and the molar ratio of [Ca]/[B]. Under conditions of pH 11 and [Ca]/[B] of 1, the boron concentration could be reduced immediately from 600 ppm to 50 ppm in 10 minutes. The boron removal was enhanced with a higher [Ca]/[B], which further reduced boron to 20 ppm in 10 minutes. Nevertheless, the dissolution of carbon dioxide potentially affected the efficacy of COP and increased the boron concentration after 10 minutes.

Keywords: chemical oxo-precipitation, boron, carbon dioxide, hydrogen peroxide

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Authors: A. Soria-Verdugo, M. Rubio-Rubio, J. Arrieta, N. García-Hernando

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Combustion of biomass is a promising alternative to reduce the high pollutant emission levels associated to the combustion of fossil flues due to the net null emission of CO₂ attributed to biomass. However, the biomass selected should also have low contents of nitrogen and sulfur to limit the NO_x and SO_x emissions derived from its combustion. In this sense, olive stone is an excellent fuel to power combustion reactors with reduced levels of pollutant emissions. In this work, the combustion of olive stone particles is analyzed experimentally in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor (BFB). The bubbling fluidized bed reactor was installed over a scale, conforming a macro-TGA. In both equipment, the evolution of the mass of the samples was registered as the combustion process progressed. The results show a much faster combustion process in the bubbling fluidized bed reactor compared to the thermogravimetric analyzer measurements, due to the higher heat transfer coefficient and the abrasion of the fuel particles by the bed material in the BFB reactor.

Keywords: olive stone, combustion, reaction rate, fluidized bed

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Authors: Nazmul Huda, Ashik Mosaddik, Abdul Awal, Shafiqur Rahman, Rukhsana Shaheen, Mustofa Nabi

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Polyherbal formulation Sharbat Deenar is a very popular unani medicine in Bangladesh. It is usually used for different kinds of liver disorders. In absence of reliable and inadequate hepatoprotective agents in conventional medicine, the herbal preparations are preferred for liver diseases. The present study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of Sharbat Deenar on carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) induced hepatotoxicity in male Long-Evans albino rats. Group I served as normal control and received neither formulation nor carbon tetrachloride. Group II received only CCl₄ 1mL/kg body weight of rat intraperitoneally for consecutive 14 days. Group III received CCl₄ 1mL/kg body weight of rat intraperitoneally and Silymarin, in dose 50mg/kg body weight of rat orally. Group IV received CCl₄ 1mL/kg body weight of rat intraperitoneally and Sharbat Deenar 1mL/kg body weight of rat for the same 14 consecutive days. At the end of the study, hepatoprotective activity was evaluated by the levels of total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Histopathological study of rat liver was also carried out. The results showed that polyherbal formulation Sharbat Deenar exhibited a significant hepatoprotective effect. Such an outcome seems to be the synergistic effect of all ingredients of tested herbal formulation. Although this study suggests that Sharbat Deenar may be used to cure or minimize various liver diseases, it needs further study to attain the clarity of mechanism and safety.

Keywords: polyherbal formulation, sharbat deenar, carbon tetrachloride, silymarin, hepatoprotective

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Authors: Hakam Alkhateeb

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Oleuropein, the main constituent of leaves and fruits of the olive tree, has been demonstrated to exert beneficial effects on parameters relevant to the normal homeostatic mechanisms of glucose regulation in rat skeletal muscle. However, the antidiabetic effect of oleuropein, to our knowledge, has not been examined. Therefore, in this study, we examined whether oleuropein ameliorated palmitate-induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. To examine this question, insulin resistance was rapidly induced by incubating (12h) soleus muscle with a high concentration of palmitate(2mM). Subsequently, we attempted to restore insulin sensitivity by incubating (12h) muscles with oleuropien (1.5mM), while maintaining high concentrations of palmitate. Palmitate treatment for 12 h reduced insulin-stimulated glucose transport, GLUT4 translocationandAS160 phosphorylation. Oleuropein treatment (12 h) fully restoredinsulin-stimulated glucose transport, GLUT4translocationandAS160 phosphorylation. Inhibition of PI3K phosphorylation with wortmannin (1µM)did not affect the oleuropein-induced improvements in insulin-stimulated glucose transport, GLUT4 translocation, and AS160 phosphorylation. These results suggested that the improvements in these parameters cannot account for activating PI3K pathway. Taken altogether, it appears that oleuropein, through activation of another pathway like activated protein kinase (AMPK), may provide a possible strategy by which they ameliorate palmitate-induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscles.

Keywords: AS160, diabetes, GLUT4, oleuropein

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Authors: Joaquin Ticzon, Christian Demition, Jaime Honra

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Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing has been one of the emerging trends present in various industries, particularly in prototyping. This review focuses on the impact of additive manufacturing on a motor vehicle's performance aiming to investigate potential advancements to further revolutionize the way parts are manufactured. One of the most common problems faced in the automotive industry is carbon footprint emissions from motor vehicles, which was stated to be remedied by lightweight; additively manufactured parts helped reduce these emissions due to weight reduction provided by additively manufactured parts. Composed of various techniques for AM as well as materials utilized during the manufacturing process, which differ in terms of the quality and performance it provides during its application on the final product. Given this, the generative design will not be discussed in such a detailed manner because the focus will revolve around the effects on the performance of a vehicle due to additively manufactured parts.

Keywords: additive manufacturing (AM), automotive, computer aided design (CAD), generative design

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Authors: Chandrashekara Krishnappa, Yogish Huchaiah

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The present work considers the importance of economic feasibility and financial viability of biodiesel production, and its use in the present context of prevailing Indian scenario. For this, costs involved in production of one litre of biodiesel from non-edible Jatropha and Pongamia oils Nano mix are considered. Biodiesel derived from the mix is blended with petrodiesel in various proportions and used in Compression Ignition (CI) Direct Injection (DI) engine. Performance and Emission characteristics were investigated. Optimization of the blends considering experimental results was carried out. To validate the experimental results and optimization, Multi-Functional Criteria Technique (MFCT) is used. Further, value additions in terms of INR due to increase in performance and reduction in emissions are investigated. Cost component of subsidy on petrodiesel is taken into consideration in the calculation of cost of one litre of it. Comparison of costs is with respect to the unit of power generated per litre of COME and petrodiesel. By the analysis it has been concluded that the amount saved with subsidy is INR 1.45 Lakh Crores per year and it is INR1.60 Lakh Crores per year without subsidy for petrodiesel.

Keywords: cap value addition, economic analysis, MFCT, NACOME, subsidy

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Authors: Maryam Zahedifard, Fadhil Lafta Faraj, Maryam Hajrezaie, Nazia Abdul Majid, Mahmood Ameen Abdulla, Hapipah Mohd Ali

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In the current study, we prepared two new quinazoline schiff bases through condensation reaction of 2-aminobenzhydrazide with 5-bromosalicylaldehyde and 3-methoxy-5-bromosalicylaldehyde. The chemical structures of both newly synthesized compounds (1 and 2) were confirmed by FT-IR and X-ray crystallography studies. The cytotoxic effect of compounds was investigated against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. MTT results showed that (1) and (2) decreased the viability of MCF-7 cells in a time-dependent manner, exhibiting an IC50 value of 3.23 ± 0.28 µg/mL and 3.41 ± 0.34 µg/mL, respectively, after a 72-hours treatment period. In contrast, they did not show significant anti-proliferative effect towards MCF-10A normal breast cells and WRL-68 normal liver cells. We found a perturbation in mitochondrial membrane potential and increased cytochrome c release from the mitochondria to the cytosol, suggesting an activation of apoptosis by compounds, which was confirmed by activation of the initiator caspase-9 and the executioner caspases-3/7. (1) was also able to trigger extrinsic pathway via activation of caspase-8 and inhibition of NF-κB translocation. The acute toxicity test showed no toxicity effect of the compounds in rats. Our results showed that the selected synthesized compounds are highly potent to induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells via either intrinsic or extrinsic mitochondrial pathway.

Keywords: Quinazoline Schiff base, apoptosis, MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line, caspase, NF-κB translocation

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Authors: Chiranjit Das, Sanjay Jharkharia

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This study is focused on transport mode selection under lead time variability and emissions constraint. In order to reduce the carbon emissions generation due to transportation, organization has often faced a dilemmatic choice of transport mode selection since logistic cost and emissions reduction are complementary with each other. Another important aspect of transportation decision is lead-time variability which is least considered in transport mode selection problem. Thus, in this study, we provide a comprehensive mathematical based analytical model to decide transport mode selection under emissions constraint. We also extend our work through analysing the effect of lead time variability in the transport mode selection by a sensitivity analysis. In order to account lead time variability into the model, two identically normally distributed random variables are incorporated in this study including unit lead time variability and lead time demand variability. Therefore, in this study, we are addressing following questions: How the decisions of transport mode selection will be affected by lead time variability? How lead time variability will impact on total supply chain cost under carbon emissions? To accomplish these objectives, a total transportation cost function is developed including unit purchasing cost, unit transportation cost, emissions cost, holding cost during lead time, and penalty cost for stock out due to lead time variability. A set of modes is available to transport each node, in this paper, we consider only four transport modes such as air, road, rail, and water. Transportation cost, distance, emissions level for each transport mode is considered as deterministic and static in this paper. Each mode is having different emissions level depending on the distance and product characteristics. Emissions cost is indirectly affected by the lead time variability if there is any switching of transport mode from lower emissions prone transport mode to higher emissions prone transport mode in order to reduce penalty cost. We provide a numerical analysis in order to study the effectiveness of the mathematical model. We found that chances of stock out during lead time will be higher due to the higher variability of lead time and lad time demand. Numerical results show that penalty cost of air transport mode is negative that means chances of stock out zero, but, having higher holding and emissions cost. Therefore, air transport mode is only selected when there is any emergency order to reduce penalty cost, otherwise, rail and road transport is the most preferred mode of transportation. Thus, this paper is contributing to the literature by a novel approach to decide transport mode under emissions cost and lead time variability. This model can be extended by studying the effect of lead time variability under some other strategic transportation issues such as modal split option, full truck load strategy, and demand consolidation strategy etc.

Keywords: carbon emissions, inventory theoretic model, lead time variability, transport mode selection

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Authors: Aleksandr Kavetskiy, Galina Yakubova, Nikolay Sargsyan, Stephen A. Prior, H. Allen Torbert

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The carbon sequestration question of modern times requires the development of an in-situ method of measuring soil carbon over large landmasses. Traditional chemical analytical methods used to evaluate large land areas require extensive soil sampling prior to processing for laboratory analysis; collectively, this is labor-intensive and time-consuming. An alternative method is to apply nuclear physics analysis, primarily in the form of pulsed fast-thermal neutron-gamma soil carbon analysis. This method is based on measuring the gamma-ray response that appears upon neutron irradiation of soil. Specific gamma lines with energies of 4.438 MeV appearing from neutron irradiation can be attributed to soil carbon nuclei. Based on measuring gamma line intensity, assessments of soil carbon concentration can be made. This method can be done directly in the field using a specially developed pulsed fast-thermal neutron-gamma system (PFTNA system). This system conducts in-situ analysis in a scanning mode coupled with GPS, which provides soil carbon concentration and distribution over large fields. The system has radiation shielding to minimize the dose rate (within radiation safety guidelines) for safe operator usage. Questions concerning the effect of neutron irradiation on soil health will be addressed. Information regarding absorbed neutron and gamma dose received by soil and its distribution with depth will be discussed in this study. This information was generated based on Monte-Carlo simulations (MCNP6.2 code) of neutron and gamma propagation in soil. Received data were used for the analysis of possible induced irradiation effects. The physical, chemical and biological effects of neutron soil irradiation were considered. From a physical aspect, we considered neutron (produced by the PFTNA system) induction of new isotopes and estimated the possibility of increasing the post-irradiation gamma background by comparisons to the natural background. An insignificant increase in gamma background appeared immediately after irradiation but returned to original values after several minutes due to the decay of short-lived new isotopes. From a chemical aspect, possible radiolysis of water (presented in soil) was considered. Based on stimulations of radiolysis of water, we concluded that the gamma dose rate used cannot produce gamma rays of notable rates. Possible effects of neutron irradiation (by the PFTNA system) on soil biota were also assessed experimentally. No notable changes were noted at the taxonomic level, nor was functional soil diversity affected. Our assessment suggested that the use of a PFTNA system with a neutron flux of 1e7 n/s for soil carbon analysis does not notably affect soil properties or soil health.

Keywords: carbon sequestration, neutron gamma analysis, radiation effect on soil, Monte-Carlo simulation

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Authors: Pavel V. Balabanov, Daria A. Liubimova, Aleksandr P. Savenkov

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The increase of technogenic and natural accidents, accompanied by air pollution, for example, by combustion products, leads to the necessity of respiratory protection. This work is devoted to the development of a calorimetric method and a device which allow investigating quickly the kinetics of carbon dioxide sorption by chemo-sorbents on the base of potassium superoxide in order to assess the protective properties of respiratory protective closed-circuit apparatus. The features of the traditional approach for determining the sorption properties in a thin layer of chemo-sorbent are described, as well as methods and devices, which can be used for the sorption kinetics study. The authors of the paper developed an approach (as opposed to the traditional approach) based on the power measurement of internal heat sources in the chemo-sorbent layer. The emergence of the heat sources is a result of the exothermic reaction of carbon dioxide sorption. This approach eliminates the necessity of chemical analysis of samples and can significantly reduce the time and material expenses during chemo-sorbents testing. The error of determining the volume fraction of adsorbed carbon dioxide by the developed method does not exceed 12%. Taking into account the efficiency of the method, we consider that it is a good alternative to traditional methods of chemical analysis under the assessment of the protection sorbents quality.

Keywords: carbon dioxide chemisorption, exothermic reaction, internal heat sources, respiratory protective apparatus

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Authors: Strahinja Kovačević, Jelena Vladić, Senka Vidović, Zoran Zeković, Lidija Jevrić, Sanja Podunavac Kuzmanović

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Supercritical extracts of highly valuated medicinal plant Satureja montana were prepared by application of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction in the carbon dioxide pressure range from 125 to 350 bar and temperature range from 40 to 60°C. Using GC/MS method of analysis chemical profiles (aromatic constituents) of S. montana extracts were obtained. Self-training artificial neural networks were applied to predict the retention time of the analyzed terpenes in GC/MS system. The best ANN model obtained was multilayer perceptron (MLP 11-11-1). Hidden activation was tanh and output activation was identity with Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno training algorithm. Correlation measures of the obtained network were the following: R(training) = 0.9975, R(test) = 0.9971 and R(validation) = 0.9999. The comparison of the experimental and predicted retention times of the analyzed compounds showed very high correlation (R = 0.9913) and significant predictive power of the established neural network.

Keywords: ANN regression, GC/MS, Satureja montana, terpenes

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Authors: V. E. Messerle, O. A. Lavrichshev, A. B. Ustimenko

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Currently and in the foreseeable future (up to 2100), the global economy is oriented to the use of organic fuel, mostly, solid fuels, the share of which constitutes 40% in the generation of electric power. Therefore, the development of technologies for their effective and environmentally friendly application represents a priority problem nowadays. This work presents the results of thermodynamic and experimental investigations of plasma technology for processing of low-grade coals. The use of this technology for producing target products (synthesis gas, hydrogen, technical carbon, and valuable components of mineral mass of coals) meets the modern environmental and economic requirements applied to basic industrial sectors. The plasma technology of coal processing for the production of synthesis gas from the coal organic mass (COM) and valuable components from coal mineral mass (CMM) is highly promising. Its essence is heating the coal dust by reducing electric arc plasma to the complete gasification temperature, when the COM converts into synthesis gas, free from particles of ash, nitrogen oxides and sulfur. At the same time, oxides of the CMM are reduced by the carbon residue, producing valuable components, such as technical silicon, ferrosilicon, aluminum and carbon silicon, as well as microelements of rare metals, such as uranium, molybdenum, vanadium, titanium. Thermodynamic analysis of the process was made using a versatile computation program TERRA. Calculations were carried out in the temperature range 300 - 4000 K and a pressure of 0.1 MPa. Bituminous coal with the ash content of 40% and the heating value 16,632 kJ/kg was taken for the investigation. The gaseous phase of coal processing products includes, basically, a synthesis gas with a concentration of up to 99 vol.% at 1500 K. CMM components completely converts from the condensed phase into the gaseous phase at a temperature above 2600 K. At temperatures above 3000 K, the gaseous phase includes, basically, Si, Al, Ca, Fe, Na, and compounds of SiO, SiH, AlH, and SiS. The latter compounds dissociate into relevant elements with increasing temperature. Complex coal conversion for the production of synthesis gas from COM and valuable components from CMM was investigated using a versatile experimental plant the main element of which was plug and flow plasma reactor. The material and thermal balances helped to find the integral indicators for the process. Plasma-steam gasification of the low-grade coal with CMM processing gave the synthesis gas yield 95.2%, the carbon gasification 92.3%, and coal desulfurization 95.2%. The reduced material of the CMM was found in the slag in the form of ferrosilicon as well as silicon and iron carbides. The maximum reduction of the CMM oxides was observed in the slag from the walls of the plasma reactor in the areas with maximum temperatures, reaching 47%. The thusly produced synthesis gas can be used for synthesis of methanol, or as a high-calorific reducing gas instead of blast-furnace coke as well as power gas for thermal power plants. Reduced material of CMM can be used in metallurgy.

Keywords: gasification, mineral mass, organic mass, plasma, processing, solid fuel, synthesis gas, valuable components

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Authors: Lalrokima Chenkual

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Legal provision and various guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority in India strives for setting up of disaster management authority from the central government to the district level. Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction practice is still relevant as the communities are the victim as well as the first responder in any incidents. The primary goal of Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction is to reduce vulnerability of the concerned community and strengthen its existing capacity to cope with disaster. By involving the community in the preparedness phase, it not only increases the likelihood of coordinated action by the communities to help in mitigating disasters and lessening the impact of disaster but also brings the community together to address the issue collectively. Community participation ensures local ownership, addresses local needs, and promotes volunteerism and mutual help to prevent and minimise damage. Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction is very much relevant for Mizoram as the society is closed knit, population is very less, religion homogeneity i.e Christianity, very active and widespread community-based organization viz, Young Mizo Association, MHIP (Women Federation), MUP (Elders Clubs which are guided together by Mizo code of morals conduct termed as Tlawmngaihna.

Keywords: community, close-knit, first responder, Tlawmngaihna

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Authors: Sewon Kim, Minjun Kwon, Changyeop Lee

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This study is aimed to study combustion characteristics of low NOx burner using petroleum cokes as fuel. The petroleum coke, which is produced through the oil refining process, is an attractive fuel in terms of its high heating value and low price. But petroleum coke is a challenging fuel because of its low volatile content, high sulfur and nitrogen content, which give rise to undesirable emission characteristics and low ignitability. Therefore, the research and development regarding the petroleum coke burner is needed for applying this industrial system. In this study, combustion and emission characteristics of petroleum cokes burner are experimentally investigated in an industrial steam boiler. The low NOx burner is designed to control fuel and air mixing to achieve staged combustion, which, in turn reduces both flame temperature and oxygen. Air distribution ratio of triple staged air are optimized experimentally. The result showed that NOx concentration is lowest when overfire air is used, and the burner function at a fuel rich condition. That is, the burner is operated at the equivalence ratio of 1.67 and overall equivalence ratio including overfire air is kept 0.87.

Keywords: petroleum cokes, low NOx, combustion, equivalence ratio

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Authors: Tejaswi Agarwal, Amritansh Agarwal

Abstract:

Forest ecosystem plays very important role in the global carbon cycle. It stores about 80% of all above ground and 40% of all below ground terrestrial organic carbon. There is much interest in the extent of tropical forests and their rates of deforestation for two reasons: greenhouse gas contributions and the impact of profoundly negative biodiversity. Deforestation has many ecological, social and economic consequences, one of which is the loss of biological diversity. The rapid deployment of remote sensing (RS) satellites and development of RS analysis techniques in the past three decades have provided a reliable, effective, and practical way to characterize terrestrial ecosystem properties. Global estimates of tropical deforestation vary widely and range from 50,000 to 170,000km2 /yr Recent FAO tropical deforestation estimates for 1990–1995 cite 116,756km2 / yr globally. Remote Sensing can prove to be a very useful tool in monitoring of forests and associated deforestation to a sufficient level of accuracy without the need of physically surveying the forest areas as many of them are physically inaccessible. The methodology for the assessment of forest cover using digital image processing (ERDAS) has been followed. The satellite data for the study was procured from Indian institute of remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradoon in the digital format. While procuring the satellite data, care was taken to ensure that the data was cloud free and did not belong to dry and leafless season. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used as a numerical indicator of the reduction in ground biomass. NDVI = (near I.R - Red)/ (near I.R + Red). After calculating the NDVI variations and associated mean, we have analysed the change in ground biomass. Through this paper, we have tried to indicate the rate of deforestation over a given period of time by comparing the forest cover at different time intervals. With the help of remote sensing and GIS techniques, it is clearly shown that the total forest cover is continuously degrading and transforming into various land use/land cover category.

Keywords: remote sensing, deforestation, supervised classification, NDVI, change detection

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Authors: S. N. Harun, H. Ahmad

Abstract:

A series of ruthenium(II) complexes, including two novel compounds [Ru(dppz)2(L)]2+ where dppz = dipyrido-[3,2-a:2’,3’-c]phenazine, and L = 2-phenylimidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline (PIP) or 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline (p-HPIP) have been synthesized and characterized. The previously reported complexes [Ru(bpy)2L]2+ and [Ru(phen)2L]2+ were also prepared. All complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, 1H-NMR spectroscopy, ESI-Mass spectroscopy and FT-IR spectroscopy. The photophysical properties were analyzed by UV-Visible spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. [Ru(dppz)2(PIP)]2+ and [Ru(dppz)2(p-HPIP)]2+ displayed ‘molecular light-switch’ effect as they have high emission in acetonitrile but no emission in water. The cytotoxicity of all complexes against cancer cell lines Hela and MCF-7 were investigated through standard MTT assay. [Ru(dppz)2(PIP)]2+ showed moderate toxicity on both MCF-7 and Hela with IC50 of 37.64 µM and 28.02 µM, respectively. Interestingly, [Ru(dppz)2(p-HPIP)]2+ exhibited remarkable cytotoxicity results with IC50 of 13.52 µM on Hela and 11.63 µM on MCF-7 cell lines which are comparable to the infamous anti-cancer drug, cisplatin. The cytotoxicity of this complex series increased as the ligands size extended in order of [Ru(bpy)2(L)]2+ < [Ru(phen)2(L)]2+ < [Ru(dppz)2(L)]2+.

Keywords: ruthenium, cytotoxicity, molecular light-switch, anticancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Amritansh Agarwal, Tejaswi Agarwal

Abstract:

Forest ecosystem plays very important role in the global carbon cycle. It stores about 80% of all above ground and 40% of all below ground terrestrial organic carbon. There is much interest in the extent of tropical forests and their rates of deforestation for two reasons: greenhouse gas contributions and the impact of profoundly negative biodiversity. Deforestation has many ecological, social and economic consequences, one of which is the loss of biological diversity. The rapid deployment of remote sensing (RS) satellites and development of RS analysis techniques in the past three decades have provided a reliable, effective, and practical way to characterize terrestrial ecosystem properties. Global estimates of tropical deforestation vary widely and range from 50,000 to 170,000 km2 /yr Recent FAO tropical deforestation estimates for 1990–1995 cite 116,756km2 / yr globally. Remote Sensing can prove to be a very useful tool in monitoring of forests and associated deforestation to a sufficient level of accuracy without the need of physically surveying the forest areas as many of them are physically inaccessible. The methodology for the assessment of forest cover using digital image processing (ERDAS) has been followed. The satellite data for the study was procured from USGS website in the digital format. While procuring the satellite data, care was taken to ensure that the data was cloud and aerosol free by making using of FLAASH atmospheric correction technique. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used as a numerical indicator of the reduction in ground biomass. NDVI = (near I.R - Red)/ (near I.R + Red). After calculating the NDVI variations and associated mean we have analysed the change in ground biomass. Through this paper we have tried to indicate the rate of deforestation over a given period of time by comparing the forest cover at different time intervals. With the help of remote sensing and GIS techniques it is clearly shows that the total forest cover is continuously degrading and transforming into various land use/land cover category.

Keywords: remote sensing, deforestation, supervised classification, NDVI change detection

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: L. M. Chinh

Abstract:

Vam Cong Bridge beside Can Tho Bridge is the next cable-stayed bridge spanning the Hau River, connecting Lap Vo district with Thot Not district. After construction by the end of 2018, the Vam Cong Bridge with Cao Lanh Bridge will help to improve the road network in this region of Mekong Delta. For this bridge, the SHM system also had designed for two stages – construction stage and exploitation stage. At the moment over 65% of the bridge construction had completed, and the bridge will be completed at the end of 2018. During the construction stage, the SHM system had been install to monitor behaviors of the bridge. Based on the study of the design documentation of the SHM system of the Vam Cong Bridge and site visit during construction work, many designs and installation errors have been detected. In this paper author thoroughly analyzed the pros and cons of this SHM system, simultaneously make conclusions and recommendations for this system. Specially concentrated on the possibility of implementing the acoustic emission method (AE) into this SHM system, which is an alternative to the further development of the system, enabling a full and cost-effective solution for the bridge management, which is of utmost importance for the service life and safe operation of the bridge.

Keywords: SHM system, design and installation, Vam Cong bridge, construction stage, acoustic emission method (AE)

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Authors: Ilya B. Tsyrlov, Dmitry Y. Oshchepkov

Abstract:

A computational search for dioxin response elements (DREs) in genes of proteins comprising the Ah receptor (AhR) cytosolic core complex was performed by highly efficient tool SITECON. Eventually, the following number of new DREs in 5’flanking region was detected by SITECON: one in AHR gene, five in XAP2, eight in HSP90AA1, and three in HSP90AB1 genes. Numerous DREs found in genes of AhR and AhR cytosolic complex members would shed a light on potential mechanisms of expression, the stoichiometry of unliganded AhR core complex, and its degradation vs biosynthesis dynamics resulted from treatment of target cells with the AhR most potent ligand, 2,3,7,8-TCDD. With human viruses, reduced susceptibility to TCDD of geneencoding HIV-1 P247 was justified by the only potential DRE determined in gag gene encoding HIV-1 P24 protein, whereas the regulatory region of CMV genes encoding IE gp/UL37 has five potent DRE, 1.65 kb/UL36 – six DRE, pp65 and pp71 – each has seven DRE, and pp150 – ten DRE. Also, from six to eight DRE were determined with SITECON in the regulatory region of HSV-1 IE genes encoding tegument proteins, UL36 and UL37, and of UL19 gene encoding bindingglycoprotein C (gC). So, TCDD in the low picomolar range may activate in human cells AhR: Arnt transcription pathway that triggers CMV and HSV-1 reactivation by binding to numerous promoter DRE within immediate-early (IE) genes UL37 and UL36, thus committing virus to the lytic cycle.

Keywords: dioxin response elements, Ah receptor, AhR: Arnt transcription pathway, human and viral genes

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: M. Miriam Hernández-Arroyo, Ivonne Caro-Gonzales, Miguel Ángel Plascencia-Espinosa, Sergio R. Trejo-Estrada

Abstract:

A large biodiversity of Lactobacillus strains has been detected in traditional foods and beverages from Mexico. A selected strain of Lactobacillus sp - PODI-20, used for the obtained from an artisanal fermented beverage was cultivated in different carbon sources in a complex medium, in order to define which carbon sourced induced more effectively the isomerization of arabinose by cell fractions obtained by fermentation. Four different carbon sources were tested in a medium containing peptone and yeast extract and mineral salts. Glucose, galactose, arabinose, and lactose were tested individually at three different concentrations: 3.5, 6, and 10% w/v. The biomass yield ranged from 1.72 to 17.6 g/L. The cell pellet was processed by mechanical homogenization. Both fractions, the cellular debris, and the lysis supernatant were tested for their ability to isomerize arabinose into ribulose. The highest yield of isomer was 12 % of isomerization in the supernatant fractions; whereas up to 9.3% was obtained by the use of cell debris. The isomerization of arabinose has great significance in the production of lactic acid by fermentation of complex carbohydrate hydrolysates.

Keywords: isomerase, tagatose, aguamiel, isomerization

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: F. Javier Benitez, Francisco J. Real, Juan Luis Acero, Francisco Casas

Abstract:

Three emerging contaminants (amitriptyline hydrochloride, methyl salicylate and 2-phenoxyethanol) frequently found in waste-waters were selected to be individually degraded in ultra-pure water by the combined advanced oxidation process constituted by UV radiation and chlorine. The influence of pH, initial chlorine concentration and nature of the contaminants was firstly explored. The trend for the reactivity of the selected compounds was deduced: amitriptyline hydrochloride > methyl salicylate > 2-phenoxyethanol. A later kinetic study was carried out and focused on the specific evaluation of the first-order rate constants and the determination of the partial contribution to the global reaction of the direct photochemical pathway and the radical pathway. A comparison between the rate constant values among photochemical experiments without and with the presence of Cl₂ reveals a clear increase in the oxidation efficiency of the combined process with respect to the photochemical reaction alone. In a second stage, the simultaneous oxidation of mixtures of the selected contaminants in several types of water (ultrapure water, surface water from a reservoir, and two secondary effluents) was also performed by the same combination UV/Cl₂ under more realistic operating conditions. The efficiency of this combined system UV/Cl₂ was compared to other oxidants such as the UV/S₂O₈^2- and UV/H₂O₂ AOPs. Results confirmed that the UV/Cl₂ system provides higher elimination efficiencies among the AOPs tested.

Keywords: emerging contaminants, UV/chlorine advanced oxidation process, amitriptyline, methyl salicylate, 2-phenoxyethanol, chlorination, photolysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Amel Asselah, Nadia Chabli, Imane Haddad

Abstract:

The adsorption of methylene blue and congo red dyes in an aqueous solution, on a food waste adsorbent: potato peel, and on a commercial adsorbent: activated carbon powder, was investigated using batch experiments. The objective of this study is the valorization of potato peel by its application in the elimination of these dyes. A comparison of the adsorption efficiency with a commercial adsorbent was carried out. Characterization of the potato peel adsorbent was performed by scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray fluorescence. Various parameters were analyzed, in particular: the adsorbent mass, the initial dye concentration, the contact time, the pH, and the temperature. The results reveal that it is about 98% for methylene blue-potato peel, 84% for congo red-potato peel, 84% for methylene blue-activated carbon, and 66% for congo red-activated carbon. The kinetic data were modeled by different equations and revealed that the adsorption of textile dyes on adsorbents follows the model pseudo-second-order, and the particular extra diffusion governs the adsorption mechanism. It has been found that the adsorption process could be described by the Langmuir isotherm.

Keywords: bioadsorbent, waste valorization, adsorptio, textile dyes

Procedia PDF Downloads 72