Boron Removal from Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater using Conventional Aluminum and Iron Coagulation: Processes and Uptake Mechanisms

One promising strategy to manage the large volumes of water needed for and wastewater generated by hydraulic fracturing is on-site treatment and reuse. In particular, the saline flowback water contains many of the chemicals employed for fracking, which need to be removed before possible reuse as “frac water.” This manuscript targets one chemical of concern: borate based cross-linkers. To this end, coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation was evaluated for boron removal from saline flowback water obtained from a well in the Eagle Ford shale. Very high dosages reaching Al/B and Fe/B ratios of ~70 were necessary to remove ~80% boron at an optimal pH of 8. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed B-O bonding on surfaces of freshly precipitated Al(OH)3(am) and Fe(OH)3(am) suggesting boron uptake was predominantly via ligand exchange. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy provided direct evidence of inner- and outer-sphere boron complexation with coagulant surface hydroxyl groups. Only trigonal boron was detected on aluminum flocs since possible presence of tetrahedral boron was masked by severe Al-O-Al and Al-O interferences. In contrast, both trigonal and tetrahedral conformation of boron complexes was identified on Fe(OH)3 surfaces. Direct Al-B or Fe-B bonding was not observed demonstrating boron was complexed largely with surface hydroxyl groups. Considering vast complexity of flowback water, it is important to develop in-depth understanding of chemistry of different flowback components like organic carbon compounds, silica compounds to scale up this bench scale experiment on an industrial level

Observation of Alfven wave in ICME-HSS interaction region

The Alfv\'en wave (AW) is the most common fluctuation present within the emitted solar wind from the Sun. Moreover, the interaction between interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) and high-speed stream (HSS) has been observed on several occasions. However, can such interaction generate an AW? What will be the nature of AW in such a scenario remains an open question. To answer it, we have investigated an ICME-HSS interaction event observed on 21st October 1999 at 1 AU by Wind spacecraft. We have used the Wal\'en test to identify AW and estimated Elsasser variables to find the characteristics of the AWs. We explicitly find that ICME were dominant with Sunward AWs, whereas the trailing HSS has strong anti-Sunward AW. We suggest that the ICME-HSS interaction deforms the MC of the ICME, resulting in the AWs inside the MC. In addition, the existence of reconnection within the ICME early stage can also be the leading cause of the origin of AW within it

Boron Removal from Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater using Conventional Aluminum and Iron Coagulation: Processes and Uptake Mechanisms

One promising strategy to manage the large volumes of water needed for and wastewater generated by hydraulic fracturing is on-site treatment and reuse. In particular, the saline flowback water contains many of the chemicals employed for fracking, which need to be removed before possible reuse as “frac water.” This manuscript targets one chemical of concern: borate based cross-linkers. To this end, coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation was evaluated for boron removal from saline flowback water obtained from a well in the Eagle Ford shale. Very high dosages reaching Al/B and Fe/B ratios of ~70 were necessary to remove ~80% boron at an optimal pH of 8. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed B-O bonding on surfaces of freshly precipitated Al(OH)3(am) and Fe(OH)3(am) suggesting boron uptake was predominantly via ligand exchange. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy provided direct evidence of inner- and outer-sphere boron complexation with coagulant surface hydroxyl groups. Only trigonal boron was detected on aluminum flocs since possible presence of tetrahedral boron was masked by severe Al-O-Al and Al-O interferences. In contrast, both trigonal and tetrahedral conformation of boron complexes was identified on Fe(OH)3 surfaces. Direct Al-B or Fe-B bonding was not observed demonstrating boron was complexed largely with surface hydroxyl groups. Considering vast complexity of flowback water, it is important to develop in-depth understanding of chemistry of different flowback components like organic carbon compounds, silica compounds to scale up this bench scale experiment on an industrial level

Identity Theft Prediction Using Game Theory

Digital devices have become an integral part of every person’s life. The range of use of these devices is increasing daily. Over the decades, the number of users has increased from thousands to millions and is still increasing. Due to the multi-functional features of digital devices, their importance is now being recognized more than ever. Initially, they were used only for calling and texting; however, nowadays, they are also being used to store relevant data such as account numbers, card numbers, credentials, private pictures, passport copies, etc. The most common form of Identity Theft attack is through stealing passwords. Once the password is stolen, user privacy is lost, and the data is compromised. Thus, a system consisting of a database that comprises of leaked passwords collected from various social sites and common passwords as a part of a dictionary attack used by hackers has been created by us. When a user enters his/her password, it runs it through the database and checks for a match. This document emphasizes on how game theory can be utilized in predicting the possibility of a successful attack and discusses essential concepts such as the various components of game theory and Nash Equilibrium

Glochidion tirupathiense (Phyllanthaceae) ─ A New Species from Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve of Andhra Pradesh, India

A new species, Glochidion tirupathiense Rasingam, Chorghe, Prasanna & Sankara Rao is described from Tirumala hills of Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is allied to G. ellipticum Wight and differs in ovary, style and fruit characters

Additions to the grasses (Poaceae) of Telangana from Kawal Tiger Reserve, Adilabad District, India

Three species of grasses viz., Dimeria orissae, Iseilema holei and Spodiopogon rhizophorus are being reported for the first time as new distributional records to Telangana from the Kawal Tiger Reserve. Detailed description and illustrations are provided here.</p

FIGURE 5 in Oropetium almeidanum (Poaceae: Chloridoideae): a new species from The Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

FIGURE 5. Distribution map of Oropetium almeidanum in India. (Prepared by R. N. Kulloli)Published as part of Shinde, Rajendra D., Landge, Shahid Nawaz, Kulloli, R.N. & Chorghe, Alok R., 2023, Oropetium almeidanum (Poaceae: Chloridoideae): a new species from The Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India, pp. 267-277 in Phytotaxa 579 (4) on page 274, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.579.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/756398

Additions to the grasses (Poaceae) of Telangana from Kawal Tiger Reserve, Adilabad District, India

Three species of grasses viz., Dimeria orissae, Iseilema holei and Spodiopogon rhizophorus are being reported for the first time as new distributional records to Telangana from the Kawal Tiger Reserve. Detailed description and illustrations are provided here.</p

Staurogyne andamanica (acanthaceae), a new species from Saddle Peak National Park, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

A new species of Staurogyne (Acanthaceae), S. andamanica, is described and illustrated. Its affinities with S. zeylanica and conservation status are discussed

Centotheca ganeshaiahianasp. nov. (Poaceae) from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Centotheca ganeshaiahiana M. V. Ramana, Alok Chorghe, Prasanna &#38; Sanjappa, a new species from Saddle Peak National Park, north Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India is described and illustrated. It is closely allied to C. uniflora Swallen, a Vietnamese species, but differs mainly in shorter culms, leaf blades and inflorescences, longer pedicels, spikelets with 2 fertile florets and lemmas with bulbous based hairs