Application of ceramic Ultrafiltration/Reverse Osmosis membranes and enhanced membrane bioreactor for the reuse of car wash wastewater

The most convenient way of transportation is car and the use of car is increasing to improve our daily activities. According to the Motor Vehicle Census (MVC) in 2016, there are 18.4 million registered motor vehicles in Australia. The demand of car washing is also increasing for better maintenance of these cars. But the wastewater generated from this car wash centers is a major concern for the environment as it contains different type of pollutants such as petroleum hydrocarbon waste (gasoline, diesel and motor oil), heavy metals (such as copper, lead and zinc), nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen), surfactants and suspended solids, microorganisms, sand and dust. A literature survey showed that over 35 billion litres of contaminated wastewater are being disposed of rather than recycled from 10,000 car wash centers in Australia every year. Therefore, appropriate treatment processes are required to treat car wash wastewater which enables us to reuse the treated water at car wash facilities and efficiently isolate pollutants from the wastewater. Past research studies have used different treatment technology comprising of conventional treatment and membrane based treatment. The aim of this study is to develop a treatment system which is cost effective, have a small footprint (with respect to space) and produce high-quality recycled water. After critically evaluating the available literature and previous studies, two membrane based technologies were selected here. The first treatment system comprising of coagulation-flocculation, sand filtration, ceramic ultrafiltration membrane and reverse osmosis were set-up in the Laboratory, and the treated water qualities were analyzed to evaluate the removal efficiency of various parameters at every step. An Enhanced Membrane Bioreactor (eMBR) was selected as a second treatment system in this research. The eMBR system comprised of anaerobic and anoxic bioreactors followed by an aerobic membrane bioreactor as well as an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection unit which are a combination of biological treatment, membrane separation, and physical treatment processes. This treatment systems were set-up in the laboratory and ran for 17 months. In the first stage of experiment, synthetic wastewater was used to acclimatize the microorganisms present in all three reactors (anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic membrane bioreactor). In the second stage, different percentage of car wash wastewater was introduced with the synthetic wastewater. The permeate water quality was analyzed to evaluate the removal efficiency of various parameters. The short term critical flux tests were conducted to determine the fouling characteristics of the membrane. In the final stage, the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the system was reduced to find out the optimum operating condition. Moreover, the performances of the first and second treatment systems were compared based on the recycled water quality. It was found from the experimental results that both treatment systems were able to produce high-quality recycled water which can be reused for washing the cars in a car wash center. However, eMBR was able to produce higher-quality permeate compare to first treatment system (in the first treatment system the removal efficiencies of COD, turbidity and total nitrogen were 96.1, 99.9 and 74.4%, respectively and in the eMBR they were 99.6, 99.9 and 66.3%, respectively). Moreover, first treatment system produced a significant amount of waste whereas eMBR produced no disposable waste during 17 months of operation

Assessment of energy recovery from carbonation process using mass and energy balance

Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Mauritius, 11-13 July, 2011.mp201

Achieving maternal and child health gains in Afghanistan: a Countdown to 2015 country case study

Background After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan experienced a tumultuous period of democracy overshadowed by confl ict, widespread insurgency, and an infl ow of development assistance. Although there have been several cross-sectional assessments of health gains over the last decade, there has been no systematic analysis of progress and factors infl uencing maternal and child health in Afghanistan. Methods We undertook a comprehensive, systematic assessment of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health in Afghanistan over the last decade. Given the paucity of high-quality data before 2001, we relied mainly on 11 nationally representative surveys conducted between 2003 and 2013. We estimated national and subnational time trends for key reproductive, maternal, and child health indicators, and used linear regression methods to determine predictors of change in health-care service use. All analyses were weighted for sampling and design eff ects. Additional information was collated and analysed about health system performance from third party surveys and about human resources from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. Findings Between 2003 and 2015, Afghanistan experienced a 29% decline in mortality of children younger than 5 years. Although defi nite reductions in maternal mortality remain uncertain, concurrent improvements in essential maternal health interventions suggest parallel survival gains in mothers. In a little over a decade (2003–13 inclusive), coverage of several maternal care interventions increased—eg, for antenatal care (16% to 53%), skilled birth attendance (14% to 46%), and births in a health facility (13% to 39%). Childhood vaccination coverage rates for the basic vaccines from the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (eg, BCG, measles, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, and three doses of polio) doubled over this period (about 40% to about 80%). Between 2005 and 2013, the number of deployed facility and community-based health-care professionals also increased, including for nurses (738 to 5766), midwives (211 to 3333), general physicians (403 to 5990), and community health workers (2682 to 28 837). Multivariable analysis of factors contributing to overall changes in skilled birth attendance and facility births suggests independent contributions of maternal literacy, deployment of community midwives, and proximity to a facility. Interpretation Despite confl ict and poverty, Afghanistan has made reasonable progress in its reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health indicators over the last decade based on contributions of factors within and outside the health sector. However, equitable access to health care remains a challenge and present delivery models have high transactional costs, aff ecting sustainability. To maintain and further accelerate health and development gains, future strategies in Afghanistan will need to focus on investments in improving social determinants of health and targeted cost-eff ective interventions to address major causes of maternal and newborn mortality

Achieving maternal and child health gains in Afghanistan: a Countdown to 2015 country case study.

BACKGROUND: After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan experienced a tumultuous period of democracy overshadowed by conflict, widespread insurgency, and an inflow of development assistance. Although there have been several cross-sectional assessments of health gains over the last decade, there has been no systematic analysis of progress and factors influencing maternal and child health in Afghanistan. METHODS: We undertook a comprehensive, systematic assessment of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health in Afghanistan over the last decade. Given the paucity of high-quality data before 2001, we relied mainly on 11 nationally representative surveys conducted between 2003 and 2013. We estimated national and subnational time trends for key reproductive, maternal, and child health indicators, and used linear regression methods to determine predictors of change in health-care service use. All analyses were weighted for sampling and design effects. Additional information was collated and analysed about health system performance from third party surveys and about human resources from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. FINDINGS: Between 2003 and 2015, Afghanistan experienced a 29% decline in mortality of children younger than 5 years. Although definite reductions in maternal mortality remain uncertain, concurrent improvements in essential maternal health interventions suggest parallel survival gains in mothers. In a little over a decade (2003-13 inclusive), coverage of several maternal care interventions increased-eg, for antenatal care (16% to 53%), skilled birth attendance (14% to 46%), and births in a health facility (13% to 39%). Childhood vaccination coverage rates for the basic vaccines from the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (eg, BCG, measles, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, and three doses of polio) doubled over this period (about 40% to about 80%). Between 2005 and 2013, the number of deployed facility and community-based health-care professionals also increased, including for nurses (738 to 5766), midwives (211 to 3333), general physicians (403 to 5990), and community health workers (2682 to 28 837). Multivariable analysis of factors contributing to overall changes in skilled birth attendance and facility births suggests independent contributions of maternal literacy, deployment of community midwives, and proximity to a facility. INTERPRETATION: Despite conflict and poverty, Afghanistan has made reasonable progress in its reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health indicators over the last decade based on contributions of factors within and outside the health sector. However, equitable access to health care remains a challenge and present delivery models have high transactional costs, affecting sustainability. To maintain and further accelerate health and development gains, future strategies in Afghanistan will need to focus on investments in improving social determinants of health and targeted cost-effective interventions to address major causes of maternal and newborn mortality. FUNDING: US Fund for UNICEF under the Countdown to 2015 for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Survival grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and from the Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. Additional direct and in-kind support was received from the UNICEF Country Office Afghanistan, the Centre for Global Child Health, the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, the Aga Khan University, and Mother and Child Care Trust (Pakistan)

Annual Incidence of Snake Bite in Rural Bangladesh

Snake bite is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in many rural tropical areas. As a neglected public health problem, estimate of the risk is largely unknown. However, the associated personal and economic impact of snake bite is substantial across developing countries. This national survey investigated the risk and consequences of snake bite among the rural Bangladeshi population. We surveyed 18857 individuals from 24 out of 64 districts in Bangladesh where 98 snake bites including one death were reported. The estimated incidence density of snake bite is 623.4/ 100,000 person years (95% CI: 513.4–789.2/100,000 person years). Biting occurs mostly when individuals are at work. The majority of the victims (71%) received snake bites to their lower extremities. Eighty-six percent of the victims received some form of management within two hours of snake bite, although only three percent of them went directly to either a medical doctor or a hospital. The observed rate of snake bite in rural Bangladesh is substantially higher than anticipated. This coupled with poor access to health services led to an increase in related morbidity and mortality. An improvement in public health actions is therefore warranted

Carbon di oxide (CO2) emissions : an overview of the possible technologies for reducing CO2 emissions in power plants

Rasul, M ORCiD: 0000-0001-8159-1321Emissions of CO2 from different sources such as fuel combustion, industrial and agricultural processes, etc are the main contributor for global warming. Therefore, controlling CO2 emissions with an appropriate technology is vital to reduce global warming. Although various CO2 capture technologies are available, some of them are in pilot plant stage and some are in developing stage. In this study post combustion technologies such as chemical absorption, pressure swing adsorption (PSA), gas separation membranes, mineral carbonation, etc, are reviewed and their pros and cons are discussed. Among these technologies, the chemical absorption process and membrane process for mitigating CO2 emission are costly and more energy consuming. Cost and energy reduction can be achieved by improving these technologies using modified absorbent, catalyst, suitable combination of membrane and solvent, enhancing reaction kinetics, combining different processes, etc. Processes including PSA and mineral carbonation are relatively new processes. Mineral carbonation is a promising technology for capturing CO2 compared to other processes though it is still in the developing stage. This study aims to identify an appropriate technology for reducing CO2 emissions from coal fired power plants. The study will provide a better understanding of the CO2 reduction technologies for achieving sustainable environment and resource processing