INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (IJEST)
Year:2010 | Volume:7 | Issue:2 (26)|Papers Count:20

Ice jams can sometimes occur in high latitude rivers during winter and the resulting water level rise may generate costly and dangerous flooding such as the recent ice jam flooding in the Nechako River in downtown Prince George in Canada. Thus, the forecast of water level and ice jam thickness is of great importance. This study compares three methods to simulate and forecast water level and ice jam thickness based on field observations of river ice jams in the Quyu Reach of the Yellow River in China. More specifically, simulation results generated by the traditional multivariant regressional method are compared to those of the back propagation neural network and the support vector machine methods. The forecast of ice jam thickness and water level under ice jammed condition have been conducted in two different approaches, 1) simulation of water level and ice jam thickness in the second half of the period of measurement using models developed based on data gained during the first half of the period of measurement, 2) simulation of water level and ice jam thickness at the downstream cross sections using models developed based on data gained at the upstream cross sections. For this reason, as the results of simulation and field observations indicated, the back propagation neural network method and the support vector machine method are superior in terms of accuracy to the multi-variant regressional method.

The aim of the study is to analyze three different waste treatment technologies by life cycle assessment tool. Sanitary Landfill, Incineration and gasification-pyrolysis of the waste treatment technologies are studied in SimaPro software based on input-output materials flow. SimaPro software has been applied for analyzing environmental burden by different impact categories. All technologies are favorable to abiotic and ozone layer depletion due to energy recovery from the waste treatment facilities. Sanitary landfill has the significantly lower environmental impact among other thermal treatment while gases are used for fuel with control emission environment. However, sanitary landfill has significant impact on photochemical oxidation, global warming and acidification. Among thermal technology, pyrolysisgasification is comparatively more favorable to environment than incineration in global warming, acidification, eutrophication and eco-toxicity categories. Landfill with energy recovery facilities is environmentally favorable. However, due to large land requirement, difficult emission control system and long time span, restriction on land filling is applying more in the developed countries. Pyrolysis-gasification is more environmental friendly technology than incineration due to higher energy recovery efficiency. Life cycle assessment is an effective tool to analyze waste treatment technology based on environmental performances.

The adsorption of methyl tert-butyl ether by granular activated carbon was investigated. The experimental data were analyzed using the Freundlich isotherm and the Langmuir isotherm. Although equilibrium data were found to follow Freundlich isotherm model, it were fitted better by the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 204.1 mg/g. The kinetic data obtained at different concentrations were analyzed to predict the constant rate of adsorption using three common kinetic models: pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order equation and intraparticle diffusion equation. The pseudo-second-order model was suitable for describing the adsorption kinetics for the removal of methyl tert-butyl ether from aqueous solution onto granular activated carbon. Both the Lagergren first-order rate constant k1 and pseudo-second-order rate constant k2 decrease with increasing initial concentrations of methyl tert-butyl ether and the intraparticle diffusion rate constant kp shows the reverse characteristic. Analysis of sorption data using a boyd plot confirmed that external mass transfer is the main rate-limiting step at the initial stage of adsorption. Results illustrate that granular activated carbon is an effective adsorbent for methyl tert-butyl ether and also provide specific guidance into adsorption of methyl tert-butyl ether on granular activated carbon in contaminated groundwater.

Crisis management is a time-critical and collaborative activity that requires rapid assessment and decision- making. This study aims to develop a framework to increase teamwork efficiency by spatio-temporal modeling of human group activities in geospatial information systems. For this purpose, time geography framework was extended with round-robin scheduling and then was integrated in geographic information system environment to manage human activities in a spatio-temporal framework. The proposed framework enjoys the graphical presentation of the tasks to be executed, as well as mathematical modeling of the complex interactions to be managed. To validate the proposed model, activities of an earthquake life-detection team in normal and suggested framework were simulated and assessed. An average improvement of 18.69 % (in time and the number of rescuers) was observed using the proposed framework. The suggested framework helps to resolve multidimensional problems in risk management.

Widespread detection of pharmaceutical compounds in water environment has been a serious concern recently, while conventional sewage treatments are ineffective for their elimination. But, advanced oxidation techniques are very promising to remove varieties of organic contaminants in water. This research aims to elucidate oxidation potentials of sixteen commonly used pharmaceutical compounds in mixed solutions by seven advanced oxidation techniques in laboratory batch experiments. The removal profiles exhibited four distinct patterns: a) easily degradable by all seven techniques, b) not easily degradable by all seven techniques, c) easily degradable by ozone-based techniques, but not by ultraviolet radiation-based techniques and d) easily degradable by ultraviolet radiation-based techniques, but not by ozone-based techniques. Ozone-based techniques rather than ultraviolet radiation-based techniques were very powerful for simultaneous removal of the compounds efficiently. Moreover, ozonation combined with ultraviolet radiation was the most appropriate technique for simultaneous removal of the tested compounds efficiently. Increased ozone dissolution and decomposition with ozone-based techniques did not always enhance the compounds’ removal. Physicochemical properties of the compounds and solution pH also presumably played an important role on the removal which merits further attention.

The study investigated zinc availability in relation to selected soil properties in a crude-oil-polluted Eutric Tropofluvent in Egbema, Southeastern Nigeria. For this purpose, three treatments have been applied: unpolluted soil, polluted without vegetation and polluted with vegetation with five replicates arranged in a randomized complete block design. Guided by transect sampling technique, soil sampling was carried out in June 2008. Soil samples were collected from the three different land units using soil auger at a depth of 0-20 cm. Standard laboratory procedures were adopted in analysing the soils. Soil generated data were subjected to analysis of variance and correlation analysis. Results showed highly significant variation (p = 0.01) in bulk density, porosity, silt: clay ratio, pH, effective cation exchange capacity, percent base saturation, total nitrogen, organic matter, available phosphorus, calcium: magnesium ratio and zinc. It was found that zinc was higher in crude oil polluted soils than in non-polluted soil and it was below critical limits. Zinc availability in relation to selected soil properties in the crude oil polluted soils indicated that clay and organic matter did not affect zinc availability, while pH and effective cation exchange capacity did. A study on zinc dynamics in crude-oil-polluted soils will certainly provide further information on the management of crude-oil-polluted soils since it is one of the key micronutrient for crop productivity.

Recent evidence suggests that polychlorinated biphenyls might also have adverse reproductive, developmental and endocrine effects. Although, the use of polychlorobiphenyls in Algeria has been banned for more than two decades, large quantities of these compounds containing products remain disseminated, mainly stored in obsolete or damaged equipments. This research describes a study to assess polychlorinated biphenyls distribution in marine sediments collected from the seaside of Tamentfoust touristic resort located in the eastern side of Algiers Bay. After microwave-assisted extraction and purification with both concentrated sulphuric acid and activated silica gel, the extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography with an electron capture detector. Relatively high contamination levels of polychlorinated biphenyls were found in samples collected from the port of Tamentfoust (15 to 70 ng/g d.w.), while the concentrations were lower in the stations located outside the port (0 to 26 ng/g d.w.). Compared with data previously reported by some other researchers, the polychlorobiphenyls concentrations found in this work showed an environmental persistence, but a decrease of approximately 5 times in 30 year i.e since the ban of the use of polychlorinated biphenyls. The predominant polychlorinated biphenyls congeners in all sediment samples were polychlorinated biphenyls138, 153, 180 and 187. This composition was similar to industrial mixture (Aroclor 1260). This probably indicated that the contamination originated from the port and has a continental source.

This study aims to describe the application of water pinch technology in industrial water consumption management in aluminum anodizing industry. Water pinch analysis is a systematic technique for designing, optimization and retrofitting of energy, mass and water recovery networks. The selection of different operations existing in an industry has an important role in correctness of application of pinch technology. Water usages in anodizing industry are various, but researches have been shown that, it has the best efficiency on the selection of rinsing chambers to pinch technology. There are different methods in pinch technology mostly based on mass transfer of single or multiple contaminants. In this research, a new method is used to select effective contaminant to be applied to pinch analysis. This research is based on Mann and Liu’s method in single contaminant. But “the guide for classification of raw water, wastewater and recycled water for industrial and recreation” is chosen to use a complex of index contaminants as a single contaminant. This method is very simple and applicable for various industrial processes. By an index contaminant like total dissolved solids, the water usage reduced about 6.7 %. Using pinch technology and this new approach in three rinsing chambers, water usage reduced about 14.4 %.

Industrialization coupled with urbanizaton has led to stress in the Buckingham Canal which runs parallel to Bay of Bengal at a distance of around 1 km from the coastline. 4 sediment cores were collected along Ennore – Pulicat stretch to determine acid leachable trace metal concentration. Core samples were collected using gravity corer. The cores were sliced horizontally at 2.5 cm to determine the grain size, sediment composition, pH, organic matter, calcium carbonate, acid leachable trace metals; cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, zinc. The trace metals were extracted using acid mixture containing hydro fluoric acid, nitric acid and sulphuric acid and analysed by atomic emission spectrophotometer. In an attempt to infer anthropogenic input from geogenic input, several approaches including comparison with sediment quality guidelines – ecotoxicological sense of heavy metal contamination and classification by quantitative indexes such as geoaccumalation index, anthropogenic factor, enrichment factor, contamination factor and degree and pollution load index was attempted. Grain size analysis and sediment composition of core samples shows Ennore is sandy in nature having a neutral pH. Organic matter enrichment is observed to a higher extent in core 3. Core 2 at a depth of 5 cm shows organic matter of 9.4 %. calcium carbonate is totally absent at the surface sediments in core 2. Cores collected within the canal showed a higher heavy metal concentration than the cores collected from Pulicat lagoon and 2 km into the Ennore Sea. The trace metal concentration for cadmium, lead and zinc in Ennore does not pose a threat to the sediment dwelling fauna whereas chromium and copper are likely to pose a threat. Quantitative indexes place Ennore under moderately polluted. Ennore is likely to face a serious threat of metal pollution with the present deposition rates unless stringent pollution control norms are adopted.

The concentrations of some widely used pharmaceuticals, namely fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin C17H18FN3O3, norfloxacin C16H18FN3O3 and ofloxacin C18H20FN3O4) and sulfonamides (sulfadimethoxine C12H14N4O4S and sulfamethoxazole C10H11N3O3S ) were determined in urban sewage sludge utilized for making compost. The levels of degradation of these pharmaceuticals resulting from sludge treatment were assessed. The concentrations of the studied pharmaceuticals sufficiently varied both in sewage sludge and in compost and due to this phenomenon the possible danger resulting from the presence of pharmaceuticals in sewage sludge, used for composting, can not be ignored. The concentrations of the studied pharmaceuticals were lower in compost, if compared to the relevant concentrations in sewage sludge. The highest pharmaceutical concentration in sewage sludge - 426 mg/kg – was detected in the case of ciprofloxacin. The highest concentrations present in compost were 22 mg/kg of norfloxacin and 20 mg/kg of ciprofloxacin. Results show that before using the sewage sludge for making compost or before using the compost a fertilizer for food plants, they should be carefully tested against the content of commonly used pharmaceuticals.

Rapid development of information technology has changed people’s attitudes towards information usage. To tender to the public’s expectation, information system must feature facilities to increase the efficiency of information usage using modern information technology. Facing this challenge, it is necessary to establish a sustainable information environment, including information policy, data quality regulations and information management framework to deal with the rapidly increasing environmental data and changing behavior related to data/information usage except upgrading the hardware and software devices. Taking the uniqueness and complexity of environmental data into account, this study proposes a systematic framework based on the principle of life cycle assessment to outline the elements and its associated guidance required for a sustainable information environment. Simultaneously, the concept of information ecology is also embedded into such a planning for the purpose of establishing a self-evolutional information environment.Finally, the environmental protection administration of Taiwan is used as a case study to explain the practice of proposed framework.

Flocculation can be considered as an effective mechanism in self-purification of metals during estuarine mixing. In the present investigation, flocculation of metals during mixing of Minab River water with the Strait of Hormuz (The Persian Gulf) water is studied for the first time. Flocculation behavior of metals (except for Pb) is governed by dissolved organic carbon. The source of dissolved organic carbon is terrigenous in the estuarine waters of study area. The general pattern of flocculation of studied metals is manganese (180 mg/L) > zinc (88 mg/L)> nickle (73 mg/L)> copper (30 mg/L)> lead (19 mg/L). The results of present study show that metal species are a very important factor in overall flocculation rate. It is found that solids and oxides have the highest and lowest flocculation levels, respectively. Eh-Ph diagram indicated that lead is present as lead oxide in Minab River water and the least flocculation rate is attributed to this element. The results also showed that flocculation rate of metal species could be as solids > free ions ≈ hydroxides > oxides. The amount of metal flocculation is about 30.5, 6.6, 25.3, 10.4 and 62.5 ton/y for zinc, Pb, Ni, Cu and Mn, respectively.

The use of treated urban wastewater for irrigation is a relatively recent innovation in Botswana and knowledge is still limited on its impact on soil heavy metal levels. The aim of this study is to analyze and compare heavy metal concentration in secondary wastewater irrigated soils being cultivated to different crops: olive, maize, spinach and tomato in the Glen Valley near Gaborone City, Botswana. The studied crop plots have been cultivated continuously under treated wastewater irrigation for at least 3 years. Most crop farms have sandy loam, loamy sand soils. Based on food and agriculture organization, heavy metal threshold values for crop production have been studied. Results showed that the wastewater irrigated soils in the Glen Valley have higher cadmium, nickel and copper than desirable levels, while the levels of mercury, lead and zinc are lower than the maximum threshold values recommended for crop production. The control sites show that the soils are naturally high in some of these heavy metals (e.g copper, zinc, nickel) and that crop cultivation under wastewater irrigation has actually lowered the heavy metal content. Comparing between the crops, mercury and cadmium levels are highest in soils under maize and decline linearly from maize to spinach to olive to tomato and control site. By contrast, concentrations of the other metals are at their lowest in maize and then increase from maize to spinach to olive to tomato and to control site.

Analysis of nine composite soil samples, each made of three replicate core samples and their respective background samples collected from Okigwe, Nekede and Orji automobile mechanic villages were conducted. Metal concentrations (mg/kg) above the background levels in the top 100 cm soil profile ranges as follows: 748-70,606 (± 10114.3) for iron; 99-1090 ± 251.3 for lead; 186-600 ± 180 for manganese; 102-1001± 201.9 for copper; 8-23 ± 12.9 for cadmium; 4-27 ± 6.0 for chromium; and 3-10 ± 2.2 for nickel. The order of abundance is: iron > lead > manganese > copper > cadmium > chromium > nickel, with Okigwe > Nekede > Orji. Pollution indexes show that the metals have similar pollution trends in the three layers (L1-L3), with L1 (0-10 cm) > L2 (10-20 cm) > L3 (90-100 cm) in Okigwe, L3 >L1>L2 in Nekede, and L3 >L2 >L1 in Orji. In effect, the shaly Okigwe soil is more polluted in the top layer while the sandy Nekede and Orji are more polluted in the lower layers. Despite this order, metal bioavailability may be less in the Okigwe soil due to its high clay-silt content (47 %-64 %). Pollution factor for Okigwe is 0.8, Nekede is 0.7 and Orji is 0.5. Nekede is under severe to excessive pollution while Orji and Okigwe are under moderate to excessive pollution, with weathered depths 7.4m at Orji and Nekede and 4m at Okigwe as most implicated in the pollution process. Above provides the bases for introducing the innovative concepts of environmentally friendly mechanic village.

This research describes application of laccase from white-rot fungi (polyporus) to remove dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in soil. The degradation kinetics of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in soil was also investigated by laboratory batch experiments. The results showed that laccase from white-rot fungi can effectively degrade dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and the degradation of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (the sum of the four dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane compounds in a sample) was pseudo-first-order kinetics. The residues of almost all the dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane components and total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in soils treated with laccase decreased rapidly during first 15 days and then kept at a stable level during next 10 days. The residues of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in soils with different dosages laccase decreased by about 21-32 %, 29-45%, 35-51 % and 36-51 % after 5, 10, 15 and 25 days of incubation, respectively. The half-life of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in soils with different dosages laccase ranged from 24.75 to 41.75 days. The residues of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in three different types of soils decreased by 25-29 %, 39-43 %, 44-47 % and 47-52 % after 5, 10, 15 and 25 days of incubation with laccase, respectively. The half-life of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in different types of soil ranged from 24.71 to 27.68 days. The residues of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane in soils with different pH levels decreased by 18-24 %, 29-39 %, 36-39 % and 39-50% after 5, 10, 15 and 25 days of incubation with laccase, respectively. The half-life of total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane ranged from 25.63 to 36.42 days. Laccase can be an efficient and safe agent for remediation of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane-contaminated soil.

Geochemical analyses of groundwater and streams flowing around abandoned and active dumpsites in Lagos, Southwestern Nigeria were carried out. Results show that water samples have generally low total dissolved solids with average values of 163.75 and 153.4 for abandoned and active dumpsites, respectively. pH ranges from 3.96- 8.34 while total hardness varies from 10-220 mg/L calcium carbonate (soft to slightly hard). Average concentrations of the dominant ions for abandoned and active dumpsites were 57.8 and 25.86 mg/L (Na) representing 40.7 and 46.3 % of the total cations respectively and Nitrate (av. 96.89 and 61.51 mg/L) representing 49.1 % and 40 %, respectively of the total anions. The pH, coliform count and concentrations of nitrate iron, manganese and sodium in most of the water samples were above the national drinking water standards proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Trace elements like silver, arsenic, beryllium, bismuth, cerium, cobalt, chromium, lithium selenium, tellurium, titanium, uranium, vanadium, tin and yttrium were below detection level for all the water samples while tungsten, thallium, molybdenum and lead were only present in surface and groundwater close to the dumpsites and also display values higher than recommended standards while cupper, zinc, aluminum, barium and strontium were present in most of the samples. The pollution index among all sites varied from 0.009 to 1.26 and 0.106 to 6.25 for abandoned and active dumpsites, respectively while the water around most of the dumpsite areas exceeded the acute and chronic effect levels proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2007. 

Degradation of 4-chloro-2-nitro phenol by ozonation in aqueous solution was studied in a semi batch reactor under constant ozone dosage and variable pH conditions. The effectiveness of the process was estimated based on the degree of conversion of 4-chloro-2-nitro phenol. It was observed that ozonation is more effective at alkaline reaction of medium than other conditions. The degree of conversion achieved (at the first 5 minutes of the process)at pH 9 was 99.64% compared to 99.03% and 77.35% at pH 7 and 3, respectively. Another parameter used to quantify the 4-Chloro-2-nitrophenol during ozonation was the pseudo first order rate constant k [min-1]. Results showed that the rate constant of the process was approximately much higher at the alkaline pH compared to acidic ones. A considerable improvement in chemical oxygen demand removal was observed at pH above 7. At pH 9, the reduction in chemical oxygen demand at the end of the process reached 56.9 %. The degree of organically bounded nitrogen conversion to nitrate was higher at pH 3. Of the total organic carbon reduction, 15.89 % was observed at pH 9. The 4-chloro-2-nitro phenol degradation intermediate products were analyzed by mass- spectrometry. The main intermediate product was chlorophenol.

This research describes the goals, design and implementation of a quasi natural gradient, laboratory scale, sand tank (aquifer) model experiment. The model was used to study the transport of an inorganic tracer (Chloride) in groundwater, within a tropical aquifer (porous medium) material. Three-dimensional sand tank (1.8 m × 0.3 m × 0.8 m) experiments were conducted to investigate contaminant transport and natural attenuation within the sand tank. In all, 360 samples were collected during 24 sampling sessions, for the three days of the tracer experiments in the Sand Tank. The Owena sand is a poorly graded sand with 88.1 % sand and 11.9 % gravel. Geotechnical properties including; coefficient of uniformity Cu = 2.53, coefficient of gradation Cz = 0.181, hydraulic conductivity K = 5.76 x 10-4 m/s, bulk density ρ = 1.9 Mg/m3, effective porosity ne = 0.215 and median grain diameter D50 = 0.55 mm, were determined. Other relevant hydraulic and solute transport parameters, such as dispersion coefficients and dispersivities were also established for the tropical soil.

This study aims to report Batch adsorption study of hexavalent chromium, Cr (VI) on zeoliteNaX. Kinetics of Cr (VI) adsorption and adsorption isotherms were determined by varying operating parameters such as pH, initial concentration, temperature and contact time. ZeoliteNaX was found to remove Cr (VI) in acidic solutions down to ppm level at pH of about 4. Removal rate of Cr (VI) was found to decrease as pH rises above 4.0. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Redlich-Peterson models were applied to adsorption equilibrium data to find the best amongst these models. Langmuir model with R2 = 0.9711 best fits the adsorption data. The kinetics of adsorption was found to follow the first order reversible reaction. The separation parameter, RL values of less than 1.0 i.e., 0.7369, 0.5834 and 0.4828 corresponding to initial concentrations of 10, 20 and 30 mg/L, respectively indicated that adsorption of Cr (VI) on zeoliteNaX is favoured. The estimated values of thermodynamic parameters such as heat of adsorption and standard gibbs free energy confirmed the exothermic nature of adsorption of Cr (VI) on zeoliteNaX.

The potential for using the entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium muscarium to control the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci has been well established in previous studies under both laboratory and glasshouse conditions. In the current study, five chemicals were assessed for their compatibility with L. muscarium for control of B. tabaci under glasshouse conditions. On treatments following the sequential application of chemical product and fungus high mortality of second instar larvae was obtained (the known most susceptible B. tabaci life-stage to fungal infection). Sequential treatment of Savona and Certis spraying oil with L. muscarium produced 95 % and 96 % larval mortality, respectively. Commercially, unacceptable poinsettia foliage damage was recorded seven days post application of Agri-50E. Other plant foliage may prove more tolerant to this product. Incorporation of these chemicals with L. muscarium into integrated control programmes for B. tabaci control in glasshouses is discussed. Further information has been added to the knowledge base for the combined use of chemicals and fungi for the control of B. tabaci.