Application of Novel Low-Fouling Membranes for Fish Processing Wastewater Treatment and Comparison to PES Commercial Membranes in a Lab Scale Membrane Bioreactor

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The ALPS project release 2.0: Open source software for strongly correlated systems

We present release 2.0 of the ALPS (Algorithms and Libraries for Physics Simulations) project, an open source software project to develop libraries and application programs for the simulation of strongly correlated quantum lattice models such as quantum magnets, lattice bosons, and strongly correlated fermion systems. The code development is centered on common XML and HDF5 data formats, libraries to simplify and speed up code development, common evaluation and plotting tools, and simulation programs. The programs enable non-experts to start carrying out serial or parallel numerical simulations by providing basic implementations of the important algorithms for quantum lattice models: classical and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) using non-local updates, extended ensemble simulations, exact and full diagonalization (ED), the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) both in a static version and a dynamic time-evolving block decimation (TEBD) code, and quantum Monte Carlo solvers for dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). The ALPS libraries provide a powerful framework for programers to develop their own applications, which, for instance, greatly simplify the steps of porting a serial code onto a parallel, distributed memory machine. Major changes in release 2.0 include the use of HDF5 for binary data, evaluation tools in Python, support for the Windows operating system, the use of CMake as build system and binary installation packages for Mac OS X and Windows, and integration with the VisTrails workflow provenance tool. The software is available from our web server at http://alps.comp-phys.org/.Comment: 18 pages + 4 appendices, 7 figures, 12 code examples, 2 table

Arsenic removal from groundwater by small-scale reverse osmosis unit in rural Bihar, India

Arsenic contamination of groundwater poses a serious threat to the population in low-lying Gangetic plain of Bihar where arsenic in groundwater occurs in a wide range from Below Detection Limit (BDL) up to more than 600 μg/L. Pilot-scale trials on arsenic removal were conducted at two locations employing an energy efficient small-scale Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit with upstream Granular Media Filters (GMFs) in order to remove precipitated iron(hydr)oxide. The trials showed that the major part of arsenic can be removed through co-precipitation and subsequent GMF, however, the arsenic level in most cases cannot comply with the Indian National Standard of 10 μg/L. Only subsequent treatment by RO will ensure safe values below the stipulated limit

Dual boson diagrammatic Monte Carlo approach applied to the extended Hubbard model

In this work we introduce the Dual Boson Diagrammatic Monte Carlo technique for strongly interacting electronic systems. This method combines the strength of dynamical mean-filed theory for non-perturbative description of local correlations with the systematic account of non-local corrections in the Dual Boson theory by the diagrammatic Monte Carlo approach. It allows us to get a numerically exact solution of the dual boson theory at the two-particle local vertex level for the extended Hubbard model. We show that it can be efficiently applied to description of single particle observables in a wide range of interaction strengths. We compare our exact results for the self-energy with the ladder Dual Boson approach and determine a physical regime, where description of collective electronic effects requires more accurate consideration beyond the ladder approximation. Additionally, we find that the order-by-order analysis of the perturbative diagrammatic series for the single-particle Green's function allows to estimate the transition point to the charge density wave phase

Small-scale membrane-based desalinators: developing a viable concept for sustainable arsenic removal from groundwater

Arsenic poisoning in drinking water is a health issue in many countries worldwide including Bangladesh, India, Argentina, China and Vietnam. In areas where the drinking water supply contains unsafe levels of arsenic, technologies to remove arsenic are of prime importance. Many technologies have been developed for the removal of arsenic. Among those, Reverse Osmosis (RO) and NanoFiltration (NF) are very promising techniques because they have the advantage of removing dissolved arsenic along with other dissolved and particulate compounds. So far, however, this kind of membrane filtration has needed bulky and sophisticated units, which are not suitable for application in the rural areas of developing and newly industrializing countries. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to develop and test a simple and viable concept for membrane based arsenic removal in rural areas of developing countries. For this purpose, laboratory work was done at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences and pilot-scale experiments were conducted in rural India

Developing a viable concept for sustainable arsenic removal from groundwater in remote area: findings of pilot trials in rural Bihar, India

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is posing a serious challenge to the drinking water supply, particularly in the large alluvial and deltaic tracts of south-eastern Asia, which are densely populated, and rely on shallow aquifers for potable water. In order to find a solution for this issue, an arsenic treatment unit was developed based on the reverse osmosis principle, including an energy recovery unit to lower the energy consumption for the system. This unit promises big advantages in handling arsenic contamination in groundwater. Initial tests have been successfully conducted under laboratory conditions and, subsequent to them, pilot studies have been carried out in Bind Toli, a village located in the rural area of Bihar, India