Methylene blue (cationic dye) adsorption into Salvadora persica stems ash

Methylene blue (MB) is the most commonly used substance for dyeing cotton, wood and silk. On inhalation, it can cause difficulty in breathing, while on direct contact, it may cause permanent injury of the eyes of human and animals, burning sensations, nausea, worming, profuse sweating, mental confusion and methemoglobinemia. In the present study, Salvadora persica stem ash was used as an adsorbent for the successful removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions. The effect of various operating parameters such as initial concentration of dye (20 to 200 mg/L), contact time (5 to 270 min), adsorbent dosage (0.2 to 10 g/L) and pH (2 to 13) was investigated. The results of this study shows that the S. persica stem ash was able to remove up to 97% of MB dye from solutions with various initial dye concentrations at initial pH of 13. Also, the equilibrium data were also fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich equilibrium isotherm models. It was found that the data fitted better to Freundlich (R2=0.9314) than Langmuir (R2=0.8836) model. Finally, it can be concluded that the S. persica stem ash can be used for textile industry wastewater treatment.Key words: Methylene blue (MB), adsorption, S. persica, natural adsorbent

Phytodegradation potential of bisphenolA from aqueous solution by Azolla Filiculoides

Many organic hazardous pollutants such as bisphenolA (BPA) which are toxic and not easily biodegradable can concerns for environmental pollution worldwide. The objective of this study was to examine whether Azolla Filiculoides is able to remove BPA from aqueous solutions. In this study, the Azolla with different biomass (0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 g) has been cultured in solution that was contained 5, 10, 25 and 50 ppm BPA. Samples were collected every 2 days from all of containers. The analytical determination of BPA was performed by using of DR4000 uv-visible at λ(max) = 276 nm. The results indicated that Azolla has high ability to remove BPA from aqueous solutions. The BPA removal was 60-90%. The removal efficiency is increasing with decreasing of BPA concentration and increasing of biomass amount and vice versa. The removal efficiency was more than 90% when BPA concentration was 5 ppm and amount of biomass was 0.9gr. It is concluded that Azolla able remove BPA by Phytodegradation from the aqueous solutions. Since conventional methods of BPA removal need to high cost and energy, phytoremediation by Azolla as a natural treatment system can decrease those issues and it can be a useful and beneficial method to removal of BPA

Application of Moringa peregrina seed extract as a natural coagulant for phenol removal from aqueous solutions

Phenol and its derivatives are toxic pollutants frequently found in surface and tap waters, and in aqueous effluents from various manufacturing processes such as petroleum and petrochemical, coal conversion, synthetic rubber, plastics, paper, oil refineries and phenol-producing industries. In the present study, the ability of Moringa peregrina seed extract to remove phenol from aqueous solutions in a batch system was investigated. The effects of major operating variables such as coagulant dose (0.05 - 4 ml//L), initial phenol concentration (5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mg/L) and pH (3-9) were investigated. The optimum pH for phenol removal by coagulation using M. peregrina seed extract was 5, with coagulant dose of 0.1 and 0.3 ml/L and the highest removal was found to be 95.16, 95.84, 97.91, 98.27 and 99.9% at initial phenol concentration of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mg/L, respectively, as a result of precipitation, co-precipitation and adsorption mechanisms. According to these results, it was defined that M. peregrina seed extract is not only an inexpensive coagulant, but also quite an effective factor in the removal of phenol from aqueous environments.Key words: Phenol removal, Moringa peregrina, coagulation, natural coagulants

Application of heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process for treatment of high toxic effluent from a pesticide manufacturing plant

Background: The discharge of untreated wastewater containing toxic and resistant compounds into the environment is a serious threat for ecosystems. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the treatment of poison production factory wastewater using heterogeneous catalytic ozonation process (COP). Methods: Magnetic carbon nanocomposite was used as a catalyst at concentrations of 1, 2, and 4 g/L. Its effect on improving the treatment process was evaluated at reaction time of 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. At the end of each experiment, parameters including total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and turbidity were measured. Results: It was revealed that in single ozonation process (SOP), the maximum removal efficiencies of TOC, COD, and BOD5 were achieved at reaction time of 120 minutes as 56%, 40%, and 11.7%, respectively. By adding the catalyst to the wastewater, the treatment process was improved, so that the maximum removal efficiencies of COD (91%), TOC (73%), and BOD5 (74%) were obtained at catalyst concentration of 4 g/L. Under this condition, BOD5/COD ratio increased from 0.22 to 0.64. Also, the results of analysis of ozone consumption per each mg of reduced COD showed that its amount sharply decreased from 2.1 mgO3/ mg COD removal in the SOP, to 0.34 mgO3/mg COD removal in the COP. The results of kinetic reaction analysis also revealed that the rate constant increased from 0.007 to 0.02 min-1. Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that the COP at a catalyst concentration of 4 g/L, by decomposing resistant compounds and increasing the biodegradability, can be used as a suitable pretreatment method for biological processes. Keywords: Wastewater, Treatment, Nanocomposite, Catalytic ozonation, Kinetic

Adsorptive Removal of Benzene and Toluene from Aqueous Environments by Cupric Oxide Nanoparticles: Kinetics and Isotherm Studies

Removal of benzene and toluene, as the major pollutants of water resources, has attracted researchers’ attention, given the risk they pose to human health. In the present study, the potential of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) in eliminating benzene and toluene from a mixed aqueous solution was evaluated. For this, we performed batch experiments to investigate the effect of solution pH (3–13), dose of CuO-NPs (0.1–0.8 g), contact time (5–120 min), and concentration of benzene and toluene (10–200 mg/l) on sorption efficiency. The maximum removal was observed at neutral pH. By using the Langmuir model, we measured the highest adsorption capacity to be 100.24 mg/g for benzene and 111.31 mg/g for toluene. Under optimal conditions, adsorption efficiency was 98.7% and 92.5% for benzene and toluene, respectively. The sorption data by CuO-NPs well fitted into the following models: Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich model. The experimental information well fitted in the Freundlich for benzene and Langmuir for toluene. Based on the results, adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics with acceptable coefficients. The findings introduced CuO-NPs as efficient compounds in pollutants adsorption. In fact, they could be used to develop a simple and efficient pollutant removal method from aqueous solutions

Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment by Combined Chemical Coagulation and Electrocoagulation Process

Slaughterhouse wastewater contains various and high amounts of organic matter (e.g., proteins, blood, fat and lard). In order to produce an effluent suitable for stream discharge, chemical coagulation and electrocoagulation techniques have been particularly explored at the laboratory pilot scale for organic compounds removal from slaughterhouse effluent. The purpose of this work was to investigate the feasibility of treating cattle-slaughterhouse wastewater by combined chemical coagulation and electrocoagulation process to achieve the required standards. The influence of the operating variables such as coagulant dose, electrical potential and reaction time on the removal efficiencies of major pollutants was determined. The rate of removal of pollutants linearly increased with increasing doses of PACl and applied voltage. COD and BOD5 removal of more than 99% was obtained by adding 100 mg/L PACl and applied voltage 40 V. The experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of chemical and electrochemical techniques for the treatment of slaughterhouse wastewaters. Consequently, combined processes are inferred to be superior to electrocoagulation alone for the removal of both organic and inorganic compounds from cattle-slaughterhouse wastewater

Removal of Penicillin G from Aqueous Environments by Batch Reactor Nanoparticles Zero Valent Iron and Ozonation Process

Backgrounds and Objectives: Antibiotics can�t be removedefficiently by conventional wastewater treatment.Nano Zero Valent Iron (nZVI) has high efficiency of degradation of contaminants such as heavy metal, nitro aromatic compounds and insecticides. Ozonation is one of the most well known methods for remove of chemichal-resistant materials like antibiotics of water and wastewater Materials and Methods: This study is experimental. nZVI and ozonation were used to remove of penicillin G. for determination removal efficiency of penicillin, COD and TOC, factors: initial pH, dose of nano particle, initial penicillin dose, reaction time with nano particle and ozone were investigated. Results: Removal efficiency of penicillin G, COD, TOC in stage of reaction with nZVI were 96.35, 73.13 and 47.45, respectivly with reaction time: 60 min, initial penicillin concentration: 100 mg/L, COD: 1429 mg/L, TOC: 510 mg/L, pH=7, nano particle iron concentration: 0.25 g/L. In the stage of reaction with ozone, removal efficiency of penicillin G, COD and TOC were 99.5, 96.35 and 92.65, respectivly with reaction time: 13 min, pH=9, initial penicillin 20 mg/l, COD: 356 mg/L, TOC: 136 mg/L, volumetric flow rate of ozone: 5 L/min. Conclusion:The best removal efficiency in stage of nano particles reaction was in pH=7, initial nZVI concentration 0.25 g/L, initial penicillin concentration 100 mg/L and time about 60 min. The best removal efficiency in stage of ozonation was in pH=7 and time about 9 min

Microbiological and Chemical Indicators of Water Used in Hemodialysis Centers of Hospitals Affiliated to Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, 2012

Background: Hemodialysis is a life-saving process used as a treatment for many patients sufferimg from renal failure. Because of the large amount of water used in this process, contamination of hemodialysis water with microbial and harmful chemical pollutants is possible. Therefore, considering standards of dialysis water is critical. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbiological and chemical indicators of water used in hemodialysis centers of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences and the efficiency of water treatment systems in these centers. Methods: This cross - sectional study was performed in two hospitals of Zahedan from March to June 2012. A total of 15 hemodialysis devices were selected through convenient sampling and 34 samples were taken from their input water. Experiments were performed according to the book of standard methods. Data analysis was performed through SPSS16 and using descriptive statistics and t-test. Results: Except for calcium that its mean concentration (19.4± 5.4) was higher than the AAMI standard, mean concentrations of cations and other compounds were significantly less than the standard levels. None of the samples had microbiological contamination. Conclusion: The water used in hemodialysis centers of Zahedan hospitals has no microbiological contamination and has AAMI standards. Keywords: Renal failure, microbial indicators, chemical indicators, hemodialysis centers, AAMI standard, Zaheda

Original Article Assessment of Waste Production and Heavy Metal Emission from Energy Production Sector of Zahedan City IJHS 2013;1(3): 51 Assessment of Waste Production and Heavy Metal Emission N. Poormollae et al

Abstract Background and purpose: Due to the lack of accurate statistics on the amount of waste generated in the energy production sector in Zahedan, before any planning, one should identify all waste producing centers associated with the energy sector and also the quantity and quality of their waste in Zahedan. Materials and Methods: This research is a cross-sectional descriptive study. It examined the produced wastes in the electrical energy generation sector. A questionnaire was prepared and completed for each unit that possibility produces these wastes. Moreover, in the studied units, the weigh percent per unit was determined by separating production waste, and collecting and weighing them. Results: In gas power plant of Zahedan, production of burned oil was approximately 480 liters and the annual consumption of turbine oil and compressor oil was 40 liters. In the diesel power plant, 2,200 liters of burned oil is produced for each generator after 1,500 hours of work. Concentration of heavy metals of Cr, Cd, Zn, Pb, Cu, and Ni in the burned oil sample of the gas power plant was 43.2, 0.01, 0.20, 1.3, 2.7, 0.2 mg/l, respectively; and in the diesel power plant were 36.3, 0.08, 0.09, 0.9, 4.7, 1.1 mg/l. Conclusion: In the studied samples, several cases of heavy metal pollution were identified. Therefore, proper planning for appropriate management of these units is necessary for any possible leakage and environmental pollution transport. Furthermore, in order to minimize the adverse impacts of hazardous wastes on the environment and people in Zahedan, integrated hazardous wastes management should be practices in electrical energy generation plants. Moreover, one must consider the measures required to exposure, transport, and safe maintenance before managing or eliminating this type of waste

Fluoride Removal from Aqueous Solutions by NaOH-Modified Eucalyptus Leaves

Introduction: Fluoride (F) and its compounds are widely used in industries in which fluoride overdose leads to various detrimental diseases. In this study the effect of NaOH-modified Eucalyptus leaves on fluoride removal from aqueous solutions as a natural adsorbent was investigated. Materials and Methods: The focus of this study was on the effects of parameters such as pH (2-12), initial concentration (5-30 mg/L), adsorbent dose (0.1-1 g/L) and temperature (25-45 0C). Fluoride residual was measured using the SPADNS method by a DR 5000 spectrophotometer. Results: The maximum adsorption capacity, at pH 2 was found to be 97 mg F/g with an adsorbent dosage of 0.5 g/L and an initial fluoride concentration of 20 mg/L. The adsorption equilibrium and kinetic data were in good agreement with Langmuir Model (R2 = 0.967) with qmax = 298 mg/g and pseudo-second order reaction (R2 = 0.999). Conclusion: Based on the results, NaOH-modified eucalyptus leaves were found to be able to remove fluoride from aqueous environments with good removal efficiency and adsorption capacity