A promising route of magnetic based materials for removal of cadmium and methylene blue from waste water

Adsorption equilibrium is an essential measure to be controlled in attaining the maximum capacity of an adsorbent. Synthesis of magnetic biochar by using various discarded biomass possesses varied adsorbate adsorption capability. Maximising the removal percentage of the pollutant from wastewater by altering operational parameters are the very important skill to be mastered by environmentalist. In this research work, mangosteen peel derived ferric oxide magnetic biochar was pyrolysed at 800 �C for 20 min via modified muffle furnace at zero oxygen environment. The factors affecting adsorption were studied for two different liquid pollutant. A comparative study was carried out for adsorption of methylene blue dye and Cd (II) ions by altering the adsorbate pH, agitation speed, and contact time and particle diffusion mechanism were investigated respectively. The removal of methylene blue dye attained maximum removal at pH of 7.0 and above, 50 min contact time and 150 rpm agitation speed. Moreover, adsorption equilibrium of Cd (II) ions reaches maximum removal percentage at the pH value of 8.0, agitation speed of 150 rpm and 60 min contact time. The thermodynamics study was performed to further understand the effect of operating temperature in determining the adsorption spontaneous of adsorption medium. The experimental analysis reveals that the produced magnetic biochar is viable for adsorption of both heavy metal ions and organic pollutant at optimised conditio

Biodiesel Production Catalysed by Magnetic Palm Kernel Shell-Potassium Hydroxide

Biodiesel was prepared by transesterification process using heterogeneous catalyst has received a lot of interest lately as a sustainable source of biofuel. Hence, there is a need to study a generalized reaction kinetic model that can be used for all the reactions involved in biodiesel production. This study produces biodiesel by transesterifying palm oil using magnetic palm kernel shell-potassium hydroxide. The catalyst recorded a BET surface area of 47.72 m2/g. The maximum biodiesel yield, 95.78%, was obtained when reaction temperature and time were 55°C and 2 hours, respectively

Effective synthesis of quinoxalines over ceria based solid acids coated on honeycomb monoliths

Solid acids of ceria such as sulfated ceria, ceria-zirconia mixed oxide and sulfated ceria-zirconia have been coated on honeycomb monoliths by slurry coating method. The catalyst materials are characterized by NH3-TPD for surface acidity, powder XRD for crystallinity and SEM for morphology. These materials are used as solid acid catalysts in the condensation reaction of various diamines and diketones to synthesize quinoxalines. In order to optimize the reaction conditions, the effect of reaction parameters such as the catalyst type, nature of the solvent, reaction temperature, nature of the catalyst and number of reaction cycles on the yield of the quinoxaline product has been studied. A correlation between the surface acidity and the catalytic activity is observed. The catalyst materials have also been prepared in their powder forms by impregnation method and their catalytic activity is compared with that of their honeycomb coated forms. The ceria based solid acids coated on honeycomb monoliths are economical, efficient and eco-friendly in quinoxaline synthesis

Comparative kinetic study of functionalized carbon nanotubes and magnetic biochar for removal of Cd2+ ions from wastewater

We did a comparative study between functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube (FMWCNTs), and magnetic biochar was carried out to determine the most efficient adsorbent to be employed in the Cd 2+ ion removal. We optimized parameters such as agitation speed, contact time, pH and adsorbent dosage using design expert vrsion 6.08. The statistical analysis reveals that optimized condition for highest removal of Cd 2+ are at pH 5.0, with dosage 1.0 g, agitation speed and contact time of 100 rpm and 90 minutes, respectively. For the initial concentration of 10mg/l, the removal efficiency of Cd 2+ using FMWCNTs was 90% and and 82% of magnetic biochar. The maximum Cd 2+ adsorption capacities of both FMWCNTs and magnetic biochar were calculated: 83.33mg/g and 62.5mg/g. The Langmuir and Freundlich constants for FMWCNTs were 0.056 L/mg and 13.613 L/mg, while 0.098 L/mg and 25.204 L/mg for magnetic biochar. The statistical analysis proved that FMWCNTs have better adsorption capacity compared to magnetic biochar and both models obeyed the pseudo-second-order

Spatial Distribution of Sulfate Concentration in Groundwater of South-Punjab, Pakistan

NoSulfate causes various health issues for human if on average daily intake of sulfate is more than 500 mg from drinking-water, air, and food. Moreover, the presence of sulfate in rainwater causes acid rains which has harmful effects on animals and plants. Food is the major source of sulfate intake; however, in areas of South-Punjab, Pakistan, the drinking-water containing high levels of sulfate may constitute the principal source of intake. The spatial behavior of sulfate in groundwater is recorded for South-Punjab province, Pakistan. The spatial dependence of the response variable (sulfate) is modeled by using various variograms models that are estimated by maximum likelihood method, restricted maximum likelihood method, ordinary least squares, and weighted least squares. The parameters of estimated variogram models are utilized in ordinary kriging, universal kriging, Bayesian kriging with constant trend, and varying trend and the above methods are used for interpolation of sulfate concentration. The K-fold cross validation is used to measure the performances of variogram models and interpolation methods. Bayesian kriging with a constant trend produces minimum root mean square prediction error than other interpolation methods. Concentration of sulfate in drinking water within the study area is increasing to the Northern part, and health risks are really high due to poor quality of water

Spatial Distribution of Sulfate Concentration in Groundwater of South-Punjab, Pakistan

NoSulfate causes various health issues for human if on average daily intake of sulfate is more than 500 mg from drinking-water, air, and food. Moreover, the presence of sulfate in rainwater causes acid rains which has harmful effects on animals and plants. Food is the major source of sulfate intake; however, in areas of South-Punjab, Pakistan, the drinking-water containing high levels of sulfate may constitute the principal source of intake. The spatial behavior of sulfate in groundwater is recorded for South-Punjab province, Pakistan. The spatial dependence of the response variable (sulfate) is modeled by using various variograms models that are estimated by maximum likelihood method, restricted maximum likelihood method, ordinary least squares, and weighted least squares. The parameters of estimated variogram models are utilized in ordinary kriging, universal kriging, Bayesian kriging with constant trend, and varying trend and the above methods are used for interpolation of sulfate concentration. The K-fold cross validation is used to measure the performances of variogram models and interpolation methods. Bayesian kriging with a constant trend produces minimum root mean square prediction error than other interpolation methods. Concentration of sulfate in drinking water within the study area is increasing to the Northern part, and health risks are really high due to poor quality of water

Stability and thermal conductivity enhancement of carbon nanotube nanofluid using gum arabic

This experimental study reports on the stability and thermal conductivity enhancement of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanofluids with and without gum arabic (GA). The stability of CNT in the presence of GA dispersant in water is systematically investigated by taking into account the combined effect of various parameters, such as sonication time, temperature, dispersant and particle concentration. The concentrations of CNT and GA have been varied from 0.01 to 0.1 wt% and from 0.25 to 5 wt%, respectively, and the sonication time has been varied in between 1 and 24 h. The stability of nanofluid is measured in terms of CNT concentration as a function of sediment time using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Thermal conductivity of CNT nanofluids is measured using KD-2 prothermal conductivity meter from 25 to 60°C. Optimum GA concentration is obtained for the entire range of CNT concentration and 1-2.5 wt% of GA is found to be sufficient to stabilise all CNT range in water. Rapid sedimentation of CNTs is observed at higher GA concentration and sonication time. CNT in aqueous suspensions show strong tendency to aggregation and networking into clusters. Stability and thermal conductivity enhancement of CNT nanofluids have been presented to provide a heat transport medium capable of achieving high heat conductivity. Increase in CNT concentrations resulted in the non-linear thermal conductivity enhancement. More than 100-250% enhancement in thermal conductivity is observed for the range of CNT concentration and temperature

Life cycle assessment of biodiesel production by using impregnated magnetic biochar derived from waste palm kernel shell

Biodiesel is renewable, biodegradable, biocompatible (non-toxic) and environmentally friendly, which emits less pollution than traditional fossil-based diesel, making it the most promising and ideal option. However, biodiesel is facing many current issues, mostly related to the utilisation of homogeneous catalytic technology, and this circumstance obstructs its potential development and advancement. Therefore, new pathways for biodiesel production need to be explored, and the aforementioned issues need to be addressed. Recently, a study was conducted on the impregnated magnetic biochar derived from a waste palm kernel shell (PKS) catalyst that can replace conventional catalysts due to its reusability property. Nevertheless, the environmental impacts of impregnated magnetic biochar derived from waste PKS catalyst for biodiesel production are yet to be studied. This study focuses on the evaluation of the life cycle assessment (LCA) of palm-based cooking oil for biodiesel production catalysed by impregnated magnetic biochar derived from waste PKS. Simapro was used in this study to evaluate the impact assessment methodologies. Case 1 (6.64 × 102 Pt) has contributed less to environmental impacts than Case 2 (1.83 × 103 Pt). This indicates purchasing refined palm oil for biodiesel production may reduce environmental impacts by 64% compared to producing biodiesel from raw fruit bunches. In the midpoint assessment, the transesterification process was identified as the hotspot and marine aquatic ecotoxicity as the highest impact category with a value of 1.00 × 106 kg 1,4-DB eq for 1 tonne of biodiesel produced. The endpoint results showed that Case 1 revealed the greatest impact on the transesterification process, with cumulative damage of 461 Pt. Scenario without processing the raw palm fruit bunches to obtained palm oil was better than Case 2. Further research should be conducted on life cycle cost and sensitivity analysis to evaluate the economic feasibility and promote sustainable biodiesel production