Waste Water Purification from Metal Ions by Ultra-Dispersed Natural Sorbents

This work is devoted to mine wastewater purification from metal ions, such as copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, iron, and manganese. The rationale was provided for the possibility to purify the wastewater from metal ions with nonactivated and ultra-dispersed natural sorbents. The adsorption capacity of bentonite clay from Tagan deposit and shungite from Koksui deposit of the Republic of Kazakhstan was studied on the basis of its fraction composition. It was found that the most effective method of sorbents modification was mechanical activation. The comparative studies of metal ions adsorption efficiency were carried out with mechanically activated and ultra-dispersed bentonite clay and shungite. The experiment enabled to find out that ultra-dispersed bentonite clay is prospective for use in order to deeply purify multicomponent mine wastewater. The highest degree of metal ions extraction was achieved due to 30-minutes contact of wastewater

Analysis of the Composition of Municipal Wastewater Sludge from Small Settlements in East Kazakhstan

One of the greatest environmental problems of modern countries is the pollution of territories with waste. Of particular concern are the wastes generated during the treatment of municipal wastewater, i.e. sewage sludge. They are the inevitable price of urbanization and improved quality of life. As a result of the research conducted, a comprehensive analysis of the composition of municipal sewage sludge was conducted using the example of four small settlements in East Kazakhstan. The results of laboratory studies established the composition of the organic part, biogenic elements, as well as microbiological and parasitological indicators. It was revealed that cadmium, copper, zinc and arsenic are main sources of problems in wastewater treatment plant sludge. For copper and zinc, the standards set by the European Directive 86/278/EEC were exceeded by up to 3.2 and 1.5 times, respectively. At the same time, there is an increased content of nutrients. Organic matter in all studied samples exceeds the minimum established values by 3.5–3.7 times; the potassium content in all studied samples is 5.1–5.6 times higher than the minimum established value for organomineral fertilizers in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The concentration of hydrogen ions (pH) corresponds to neutral. Tests for the determination of microbiological and parasitological parameters indicate that the studied sludge does not contain various pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms

Improvement of informational technologies in ecology

A powerful force in the development of modern society is the intensive global spread of information and communication technologies that help to collect, store, analyze and distribute information.Today, there is a clear need for a broadapplications of computer technologies in various fields human activities, and in particular in the protection of the environment. The most important areas are geographic information systems and associated modeling of natural resources, technological processes, as well as data preparation, processing and analyze systems. Currently, the rapid development of computer technology, the introduction of modern computer technologies opens up wide opportunities to achieve a qualitative leap in the level of efficiency of information and control systems in aerospace engineering, manufacturing, transport, economy, ecology, medicine and other areas based on the use of artificial intelligence principles, methods of self-organization and adaptation to changing conditions and goals of functioning, characteristics of the system and the external environment, uncontrolled environment

Utilization of Spent Sorbent in the Production of Ceramic Bricks

The composition and technology for the production of semi-dry ceramic bricks using a nanostructured complex sorbent based on bentonite clay of the 11th horizon of the Tagan deposit of the Republic of Kazakhstan and basalt fiber (gabbro-diabase) of the Karauzek deposit of East Kazakhstan have been developed. The characteristics, chemical composition, and structure of the spent sorbent are given based on electron microscopic and X-ray phase analyses. A number of physical and mechanical parameters have been studied to evaluate the spent sorbent as a raw material for the production of ceramic products. The microstructures of fired ceramic samples with loam and spent sorbent have been studied, and the features of their structure have been revealed. The environmental safety of waste sorbents utilization by extraction in acidic, alkaline, and neutral media with the determination of the content of chromium, zinc, and iron ions has been studied. Experimentally obtained data indicate an insignificant concentration of chromium and zinc ions, not exceeding 3.5 µg/L. Relatively high concentrations of iron ions in ceramic bricks are associated with their high content in the feedstock and in the spent sorbent. It has been established that the introduction of the spent sorbent in the amount of 25% of the total mass increases the strength of the final product from 10.8 to 15.8 MPa, which corresponds to the M125 ceramic brick grade

Research of the Process of Purification of Sulfate Zinc Solution from Iron Ions Using Anodic Oxidation

The possibility of using a membrane electrolytic cell for the electrochemical oxidation of Fe(II) and purification from impurities of real industrial solutions obtained by atmospheric leaching of low-grade zinc concentrates is considered. The average indicators for carrying out the electrooxidation process are given. The principal possibility of conditioning a zinc sulfate solution by hydrolytic purification with preliminary oxidation of iron in a membrane electrolytic cell with an anion-exchange membrane MA-41 TU 2255-062-05761695-2009 is considered. Carrying out direct electrooxidation of iron (II) in sulfate zinc solutions in the anode chamber of a flow membrane electrolyzer ensures good filterability of precipitates after hydrolytic precipitation of iron, since this solution does not contain Fe(II) ions, the presence of which leads to significant difficulties in the operations of separating solid and liquid phases. This makes it possible to exclude the thickening operation from the technological scheme. The degree of oxidation of iron during the test period was 99.8–99.9%. The residual concentration of iron after precipitation from solutions obtained after electrochemical oxidation in the form of oxide and hydroxide compounds was less than 0.01 g/dm3

Impact of Anthropogenic Activities on Microbial Community Structure in Riverbed Sediments of East Kazakhstan

Heavy metal (HMe) pollution in regions with mining and metallurgy activities is known to be a serious environmental problem worldwide. Hydrological processes contribute to the dissemination of HMes (drainage, precipitation, flow rate). The aim of the present study is to investigate the microbial community structure in ten river sediments sampled in different regions of East Kazakhstan, which are contaminated with HMes. The overall degree of sediment contamination with HMes (Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd) was assessed using the pollution index Zc, which ranged from 0.43 to 21.6, with the highest in Ridder City (Zc = 21.6) and Ust-Kamenogorsk City, 0.8 km below the dam of the hydroelectric power station (Zc = 19.6). The tested samples considerably differed in organic matter, total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content, as well as in the abundance of HMe-related functional gene families and antibiotic resistance genes. Metagenomic analysis of benthic microorganisms showed the prevalence of Proteobacteria (88.84–97.61%) and Actinobacteria (1.21–5.98%) at the phylum level in all samples. At the class level, Actinobacteria (21.68–57.48%), Betaproteobacteria (19.38–41.17%), and Alphaproteobacteria (10.0–39.78%) were the most common among the classified reads. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the metagenomic characteristics of benthic microbial communities exposed to chronic HMe pressure in different regions of East Kazakhstan