INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (IJEST)
Year:2014 | Volume:11 | Issue:1|Papers Count:25

The sonochemical degradation of 17B-estradiol (E2) and 17a-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in water and wastewater was investigated at ultrasonic frequency of 850kHz. The effects of pH, initial concentrations, temperature, power and dissolved organic carbon were examined. The results obtained indicated that the rate of ultrasonic degradation of E2 and EE2 in water and wastewater is influenced by the pH, power, air sparging, and the dissolved organic content of the aqueous solutions. Mass degradation rates of E2 and EE2 per kilowatt ranged from 1.7 mg/kW-1 to 4.0 mg/kW-1 at varying process parameters. The degradation process followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model with rate constant of 1.71×10-2 min-1 at 25oC. The value for activation energy (Ea=15.21 kJ mol-1) obtained from Arrhenius type plot, indicated that the ultrasonic degradation of steroid hormones is thermodynamically feasible, and does not progress only on radical reactions but other intermediate reaction processes. In wastewater the higher dissolved organic carbon significantly reduced the effectiveness of degradation of the E2 and EE2 showing that ultrasound treatment will be more effective as a tertiary treatment option in wastewater applications.

The effect of the injection of pure oxygen instead of air in a membrane bioreactor for the elimination of bisphenol A is investigated. A dynamic experiment was developed in a pilot plant where the aerobic reactor was continuously spiked with 1 mg L-1 of bisphenol A. Air was injected for 10 days and then pure oxygen was injected for another 10 days. The bisphenol A concentration was determined in aqueous phases and activated sludge using simple and sensitive analytical methods based on different extraction procedures and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Enzymatic activity was also determined and toxicity tests were performed to discard that the spiked bisphenol A concentration could negatively affect the microorganisms in the bioreactor and, thus, the membrane bioreactor performance. The effluent bisphenol A concentration increased up to 0.26 mg L-1 after 4 days in the air injection treatment, and up to 0.48 mg L-1 after only 12 h in the oxygen injection treatment. In both cases, this was followed by a decrease in concentration despite the continuous spiking of bisphenol A into the bioreactor. In presence of pure oxygen, bisphenol A concentration reached background levels (below the limit of quantification) after 5 days. In contrast, when using air a total of 10 days were required to reach background levels. The injection of pure oxygen instead of air is an important innovation in wastewater treatment, allowing permanent elimination of organic contaminants, avoiding their return to the environment and ensuring the safety of water.

The disposal of dry olive-mill residue, the waste product from olive oil production, is a serious environmental issue. Dry olive-mill residue, being rich in organic and inorganic nutrients, could be used as fertilizer; however, it contains phenolic compounds that can inhibit plant growth. In order to clarify whether bioremediation of this waste could be a valuable strategy for its reuse, the effect of aqueous extract of dry olive-mill residue, untreated or bioremediated by the saprobe fungi Coriolopsis rigida and Penicillium chrysogenum-10, has been analyzed in relation to some physiological parameters of tomato plants. The data show that aqueous dry olive-mill residue significantly reduces the biomass of roots and shoots. In particular, it causes a dramatic reduction in root length, area, and volume as well as in the number of root tips. At an early stage, aqueous dry olive-mill residue also reduces the content of chlorophyll a and b and the efficiency of PS II. The inhibition of growth seems to be due to the increase in phenolic compounds that induce oxidative stress. Interestingly, when plants are treated with aqueous dry olive-mill residue bioremediated by saprobe fungi a decrease in phenolic content and an alleviation of oxidative stress occur. In conclusion, the results show that bioremediation of aqueous dry olive-mill residue is a useful tool to remove most of the inhibiting effects of this waste on plant growth.

Vegetation at mining sites can produce increased heavy metal leaching by the organic acids and protons originating from root secretion and litter degradation. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of organic acids and pH on the extraction of Pb, Cd, Zn and Cu from an alkaline mine soil and an acid mine soil. The results showed that in the presence of organic acids (acetic, oxalic, malic, fumaric, tartaric and citric acids) at pH 7, the extraction of Pb, Cd, Zn and Cu from the acid mine soil was much higher than that from the alkaline mine soil, in which only citric acid with higher concentration was capable of extracting some heavy metals. Citric acid had the strongest ability in extracting heavy metals, followed by oxalic acid. Heavy metal extraction dramatically decreased with increasing pH. Moreover, at low pH, oxalic acid promoted the risk of Cu leaching; at high pH, the leaching of Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu was enhanced by both oxalic and citric acids. This indicated that those plants which can produce substantial citric acid or oxalic acid by root secretion and litter degradation should not be selected for the revegetation of mining sites.

A batch nitrification process was studied using synthetic wastewater and Chilean natural zeolite as biomass carrier at ambient temperatures (20oC). Three groups of experiments were carried out: a first experimental set (I) with and without added zeolite using initial biomass concentrations of 1,000 and 2,000 mg VSS/L; a second set of experiments (II) with added zeolite and at the same initial biomass concentrations. In experimental set (I), only the variation of biomass concentration was measured (for both with and without zeolite), but to further test the efficiency of using natural zeolite in this wastewater treatment ammonium removal and nitrate formation over time were tested in experimental set (II). In these two experimental sets, biomass from an activated sludge process located in an urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) at La Farfana, Santiago de Chile, was used as inoculum (1). Finally, a third set of experiments (III) was carried out with zeolite at an initial biomass concentration of 1,000 mg VSS/L using an inoculum derived from an activated sludge process treating wastewater from a paper mill (inoculum 2). Nitrifying biomass concentration values in the range of 13,000-18,800 mg VSS/L were achieved when initial biomass concentrations varied between 1000-2000 mg VSS/L. Inoculum (1) generated higher biomass concentrations than inoculum (2). Ammonium N removals higher than 70% were obtained in experimental sets II and III. An exponential biomass growth was observed up to the second day of operation, and a slight decrease was evident afterwards, achieving stationary values after 10-12 days of operation.

This study aimed to determine the initial air pressure influence on the in-vessel composting for the biodegradable fraction of municipal solid waste in Morocco. For this purpose, representative composting mixture was prepared in which C/N ratio was 26 and moisture content was 70%. The in-vessel bioreactor was designed and used specially to evaluate the initial air pressure effect on composting process in this study. Thus, daily changes of internal air pressure and temperature were monitored, and physicochemical properties of different composts obtained were also analyzed and compared. Experimental results showed a significant increase in internal pressure corresponding to the initial air pressure of 0.6 bar and a slight increase for the other initial air pressures. The initial air pressure which equal to 0.6 bar allowed maximum value of temperature and final composting product with good physicochemical properties as well as higher organic matter degradation and higher gas production. Composts obtained from experiments under 0.4 and 0.8 bar showed good maturity levels and may also be used for agricultural applications.

This paper presents the design, computational analysis and experimental study of passive device configurations which utilized in the Ankara Wind Tunnel to simulate the atmospheric boundary layer within the test section. The study here is part of a joint project between the Aerospace and Civil Engineering Departments at Middle East Technical University, which involves testing of high-rise building models in the Ankara Wind Tunnel. The design consists of spires and rows of cubical surface roughness elements at the inlet. The preliminary computational analysis shows that the current design may provide the desired boundary layer thickness at about 4.0 m downstream of the test section inlet, which leaves enough room for the building models to be placed in the test section. This study also helps obtaining a preliminary understanding of the boundary layer development and reducing the tunnel operation time and cost during the actual experimentation phase. At the end, experimental results show acceptable results of this study.

This paper assesses the use of certified Iraqi montmorillonite clay as a potential sorbent for the removal of oxytetracycline (OTC) from aqueous solutions. The clay is characterized by a cation exchange capacity of 0.756 meq.g-1 and a zero point charge at pH 8.7. Aqueous solutions of OTC were equilibrated with montmorillonite under various experimental conditions, such as OTC concentration, pH and clay content, for 24 h at fixed ionic strength. Two forms of montmorillonite were evaluated: regular, and iron-modified form. The effect of pH was minor on OTC adsorption. Kinetic study revealed that the sorption follows a pseudo second order model. Sorption isotherm showed a good fit with the Fruendlich model. OTC sorption onto Fe-saturated montmorillonite was analyzed statistically using a response surface design to study the effects of experimental conditions. The introduction of iron improved the adsorption characteristics of the clay due to the ability of ferric ions to make stable complexes with OTC. The most favorable operating conditions for the treatment were deemed as follows: clay content, 6.85 g.L-1, oxytetracycline concentration, 1.0 mmol.L-1 and pH, 5.5 for the iron modified form.

Natural wetlands are thought to be one of the largest natural sources of atmospheric methane concentrations. Although numerous studies referred to the rate of methane fluxes in different geophysical regions, only a few had estimates of the overall geographical methane emissions in China. This study estimated the spatial variations of annual methane emissions with the pixel size of 1 km×1 km from natural wetlands, excluding water surface, in China. The natural wetland areas were extracted from the database of the 2000 land covers, and geophysical divisions were used to represent different climate conditions. Methane emission in every geophysical region was calculated based on methane release factors obtained from an extensive review of published literature, as well as the data of elevation and vegetation proportion in the region. The estimated annual methane emissions ranged from 0 to 5702.8 kg per pixel within the area of 1 km2, and the spatial variation of methane emissions was strongly correlated with proportion of wetlands in the area. The total methane emission from natural wetlands in China ranged from 3.48 to 7.16 Tg (terrogram, unit of weight) CH4 per year, with the mean value of 4.94 Tg CH4 per year, based on an area of 133,000 km2 of natural wetlands. Specifically, the wetlands in northeast China had the highest contribution in China (39%). Inner Mongolia and Qinghai-Tibet highlands represented about 25% and 21%, respectively. The other 15% of the measured methane was released in northwest, north, central, and south China.

The carbon-alumina composite pellet was developed for the adsorption of acid fuchsin from its aqueous solution. The composite pellet was characterized using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, scanning Electron Microscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The adsorption capacity of commercial alumina, commercial activated carbon and the prepared composite pellet was investigated against acid fuchsin, and the adsorption capacity was found to be increased in the order of alumina < carbon-alumina composite pellet < activated carbon. Although the adsorption capacity of carbon-alumina composite pellets was less than that of activated carbon, the use of the pelletized form of the present adsorbent was proven to be advantageous for the use in the packed-bed column. The experimental data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption isotherms, and the equilibrium behavior was well explained by Langmuir isotherm. Besides, the kinetic behavior was well predicted by pseudo-second-order kinetics. The effects of inlet dye concentration (10-20 mg/L), feed flowrate (5-15 mL/min) and bed height (2.54-7.62 cm) on the breakthrough characteristics were investigated using a fixed-bed column. The maximum removal capacity in the column study was found to be 343.87 mg/L with an initial dye concentration and flowrate of 20 and 10 mL/min according to Bohart-Adams model. The breakthrough behavior was also effectively described by the Yoon-Nelson and Clark models.

World-wide controversy continues to surround the question of whether exposure to ionising radiations arising from nuclear power plants and radioactive fuel cycle facilities could increase the risk of cancer. The objective was to analyse cancer mortality in towns close to Spanish nuclear power plants and radioactive fuel cycle facilities by reference to their history of exposure to artificial radiation generated by such emissions. An ecological cancer mortality study was conducted to know the effect of artificial radiation, estimated taken into account the magnitude of emissions, in towns ≤30 km of any installation. A model of atmospheric and aquatic dispersion of radionuclides was used. As reference, towns within a 50-100 km radius were matched with exposed by socio-demographic characteristics. For analysis purposes, log-linear Poisson models were fitted. The cumulative effective dose was the measure of exposure. Mortality rates ratios were calculated for each tumour site. Natural radiation and socio-demographic matching variables were included in the models, with ‘installation’ as a random effects term. The estimated cumulative artificial radiation dose was below 350 mSv for all sites. For nuclear power plants overall, analysis showed no positive association with increases in the cumulative dose. In the joint analysis of radioactive fuel cycle facilities, however, mortality was observed to rise with increases in the estimated radiation dose in the case of lung, bone and colorectal cancer, and in breast cancer among women. These results would not appear to be due to exposure arising from the operation of the installations, since were not reproduced around installations of the same type

In this research, the equilibrium sorption of Zn (II) and Cu (II) by kaolinite was explained using the Freundlich, Langmuir and Redlich-Peterson isotherms, via both linear and non-linear regression analyses. In the case of non-linear regression method, the best-fitting model was evaluated using six different error functions, namely coefficient of determination (r 2), hybrid fractional error function (HYBRID), Marquardt’s percent standard deviation (MPSD), average relative error (ARE), sum of the errors squared (SSE) and sum of the absolute errors (EABS). The examination of error estimation methods showed that the Langmuir model provides the best fit for the experimental equilibrium data for both linear and non-linear regression analyses. The SSE function was found to be a better option to minimize the error distribution between the experimental equilibrium data and predicted two-parameter isotherms. In the case of three-parameter isotherm, HYBRID was found to be the best error function to minimize the error distribution structure between experimental equilibrium data and theoretical isotherms. Non-linear method was found to be more appropriate method for estimating the isotherm parameters.

The gene encoding extracellular thermostable carboxylesterase (estA) from Geobacillus thermoleovorans YN was fused to six-histidine and expressed under different promoters. Three different clones carrying this gene were constructed in host cell Escherichia coli BL21 (DE2) using three expression systems pET-17b, pBluescript ® II KS (+) and pCYTEX-P1 (pET-estA T7- promoter; pBlue-estA T7-promoter and pBlue-estA T7 promoter & Lambda pL promoter). The efficiency of expression of the three constructs was evaluated, where the highest esterase expression (589 u/ ml) using p-Nitrophenyl laurate as substrate (pNP-laurate: C18H27NO4) was measured under the control of T7-promoter in expression vector pET-17b after 4 h of the induction. A 1.5 fold increase in enzyme activity was measured with specific activity 1043 u/ mg protein on growing the clone expressed the target gene under T7-promoter (pET-estAT7) in 2-L working volume BIOFLO III bioreactor under optimal conditions. Recombinant expression of the tested thermostable esterase was monitored by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis, zymogram and activity measurements with a--Naphthyl acetate (C12H10O2) and Fast Red. The SDS-PAGE analysis of E. coli BL21 (DE3)/pET-estA lysates indicated the presence of a protein band (29 kDa) related to the targeted expressed gene.

Ground water of the farm settlements in the bitumen deposit area of Western Nigeria were tested for pH, conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solid, sulphate, phosphate, nitrogen nitrate, chloride, alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and total coliform in the dry season (March) and rainy season (August) of years 2008 and 2009 using atomic absorption spectrometer and standard analytical methods. Conductivity, pH, turbidity, phosphate ions and total coliform values obtained in some of the wells were out of the recommended range for drinking water. Water quality index analysis was carried out using information entropy method. Water quality index of the wells when compared with the permissible limits of international standards, ranked the bore hole as ‘excellent’ in the dry season of year 2009 and just ‘good’ in the rainy season of the same year. Ground water sampling stations were ranked extremely poor at least once out of the four seasons considered. Water quality index ranking also showed that the quality of the wells declined over the years. The correlation coefficient matrix (p<0.05) of water quality index and the parameters showed significant relationships between water quality index and total coliform (0.99), total dissolved solids and conductivity (0.96), hardness and Ca2+ (0.68), hardness and Mg2+ (0.75). Water quality index also showed moderate significant relationship with total dissolved solid, conductivity and N-NO3 -. High concentration of total coliform in most of the shallow wells in the environment, due to bitumen deposit, renders them unfit for human consumption unless properly treated.

Because of environmental problems, it becomes necessary to develop alternative fuels that give engine performance at par with diesel. Among the alternative fuels, biodiesel and its blends hold good promises as an eco-friendly and the most promising alternative fuel for Diesel engine. The properties of biodiesel and its blends are found similar to that of diesel. Many researchers have experimentally evaluated the performance characteristics of conventional Diesel engines fueled by biodiesel and its blends. However, experiments require enormous effort, money and time. Hence, via finite-time thermodynamics simulation, an air-standard Diesel cycle model with heat transfer loss and variable specific heats of working fluid is analyzed to predict the performance of Diesel engine. The effect of compression ratio, cut-off ratio and fuel type on output work and thermal efficiency is investigated through the model. The fuels considered for the analysis are conventional diesel, rapeseed oil biodiesel and its blend (20% biodiesel and 80% diesel by volume). Numerical simulations showed that the output work and thermal efficiency of the engine decrease with increase of cut-off ratio for all fuels. Also, the model predicts similar performance with diesel and biodiesel blend which means that the biodiesel blend (20% biodiesel and 80% diesel by volume) could be a good alternative and eco-friendly fuel for conventional Diesel engines without any need to modify the engine.

In this laboratory pilot-scale study, a hybrid treatment system has been developed to remove chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene and fine particles from chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene-contaminated groundwater before it is applied for further recovery. The two-stage system contained fiber-ball filtration followed by nanofiltration membrane processes. The measured chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene and suspended solids of the tested groundwater were 850 mg/L and 1,052 mg/L, respectively. Up to 97.3% of chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene and 99.9% of SS could be removed by the hybrid system with an operational pressure of 4.1 kg/cm2. The chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene removal mechanism in the fiber-ball filtration process could be due to adsorption. Approximately 98.2 and 78.6% of chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene rejection was observed when nanofiltration membrane was used for chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene removal with the recover rate of 80% and initial chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene concentration of 1 and 10 mg/L. Higher chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene rejection can be obtained when lower chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene concentration (1 mg/L) was applied. High chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene concentration (10 mg/L) would increase the pore size of nanofiltration, which causes the decrease in chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene rejection rate. Approximately 46.6% of flux drop was observed when nanofiltration membrane was used along compared to the system using FF as the first treatment stage. This indicates that the application of fiber-ball filtration could maintain a higher flux of groundwater treatment. The developed fiber-ball filtration and nanofiltration hybrid membrane system is able to reduce the chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene and solid concentrations to meet the water reuse and groundwater remediation standards.

This study investigated the potential application of heavy oil burning fly ash as a precursor to prepare activated carbon. The raw fly ash obtained from a power plant is cleaned by nitric acid / hydrochloric acid and activated at 550-800oC with hold times of 30 and 60 minutes to obtain fly ash activated carbon. The phosphoric acid is used as a chemical agent to improve the surface characteristics of the cleaned fly ash. The effects of process variables such as amount of chemical reagents, activation time and temperature were investigated according to two levels full factorial design. The resultant activated carbons were characterized in terms of Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area and total and pore volume. The maximum specific surface area was found of 148.30 m2/g at 800oC temperatures with 60 min holding time. The test showed that the surface area and pore volumes of the material are also significantly enhanced by the activation process.

Rapid population increase and economic growth in eastern China has lead to the degradation of many water bodies in the region, such as Lake Taihu, the third largest freshwater lake in China. Using data from recent investigations, the correlations between algae (measured as chlorophyll-a) and water quality indices in Lake Taihu were described by multivariate statistical analyses, and the key driving factors for the lake eutrophication were identified by principal component analysis. Results revealed strong spatiotemporal variation in the correlations between algae and water quality indices, suggesting that the limiting factor for the dominant algae growth depends on seasonality and location and it is necessary to reduce both nitrogen and phosphorus inputs for a long-term eutrophication control in this hyper-eutrophic system. Water temperature was another important controlling factor for algal growth in the lake. Using principal component analysis, nutrient contaminations from anthropogenic and natural inputs were identified as the key driving factor for the water quality problems of the lake. Moreover, five principal components were extracted and characterized with high spatial and seasonal variations in Lake Taihu. The key driving factors were believed to influence spatial variations including heavily polluted areas located in the northern and northwestern parts of the lake, where many manufacturing factories were built and wastewater from domestic and industrial plants was discharged. Based on this analysis, attention should be paid to effective land management, industrial wastewater treatment, and macrophytic vegetation restoration to reduce the pollutant loads and improve water quality. Principal component analysis was found to be a useful and effective method to reduce the number of analytical parameters without notably impairing the quality of information in this study.

In this study, a laboratory-scale biotrickling filter (BTF) is used to remove Triethylamine (TEA) from gaseous wastes. The BTF is made of stainless steel with a height of 210 cm and an internal diameter of 21 cm packed with lava rocks. TEA elimination pattern was evaluated by changing empty bed residence times (EBRTs). The maximum elimination capacity (EC) has been determined to be 87 g/m3/h. At all EBRTs 52, 31, 20, and 10 s, contaminant transferring from gas phase to liquid was more than the EC. Also, the removal efficiency was 100% for a mass loading of 100 g/m3/h. While the liquid recirculation velocity of 3.466 m3/m2/h was maintained, the flow rate was adjusted to 60, 100, 156, and 312 L/min. The results show that due to the high solubility of TEA in water for all the EBRTs, TEA can be solved in the circulated liquid and then be degraded gradually by microorganisms. Therefore, the least EBRT of 10 s is more appropriate.

This work illustrates the toxicological impact of pesticide methyl parathion (MP) (dust-2% active ingredient, a.i.) on growth and reproduction performance in tropical earthworms: Metaphire posthuma (endogeic), Lampito mauritii (anecic) and Allolobophora parva (epigeic). A total of three concentrations (a.i. g kg-1 dry test soil), 1.00 (T 1), 1.125 (T 2) and 2.25 (T 3) of MP, were applied in test substrate to examine the impact on mortality, individual live weight changes and reproduction patterns in test species over 60 days under laboratory conditions. MP caused significant mortality in all tested species, and median lethal dose (LD50) for L. mauritii, M. posthuma and A. parva was 24.85, 23.64 and 22.67 mg a.i., respectively. The individual live weight loss was 27.0-37.0% in L. mauritii, 36.0-57.1% in M. posthuma and 1.2-11.0% in A. parva in different test concentrations. The pesticide-exposed worms produced less cocoons than control, but in L. mauritii, an unusual reproduction (hormesis) was recorded. Results suggested the species-specific toxicity of MP against tropical earthworms.

Wastewater discharged from metal-finishing processes usually contains nickel, a hazardous substance that is used extensively in the surface finishing industry. In the present study, an acidic solution containing nickel was treated using strong acid cation exchange resin. A continuous lab-scale cation exchange arrangement permitting the assessment of electric current as an enhancement mechanism was designed and utilized at different flow rates successfully. Applying the electrical potential enhanced the nickel removal by 12.7% at flow rate 240 ml/h, and 2.5% at flow rate 500 ml/h. Nickel recovery has been also investigated using hydrochloric acid as an eluent with and without electric current enhancement.

Facilitation of contaminant transport in porous media due to the effect of indigenous colloidal fine materials has been widely observed in laboratory and field studies. It has been explained by the increase in the apparent solubility of low soluble contaminants as a result of their adsorption on the surface of fine particles. Attachment of colloidal fine particles onto the rock surface could be a promising remedy for this challenge. In this experimental study, the effect of five types of metal oxide nanoparticles, γ-Al2O3, ZnO, CuO, MgO, and SiO2, on suspension transport was investigated. In several core flooding tests, different nanofluids were used to saturate the synthetic porous media. Subsequently, after sufficient soaking time, the suspension was injected into the treated porous media. Analysis of the effluent samples’ concentration by Turbidimeter apparatus demonstrated that the presence of nanoparticles on the rock surface resulted in a significant reduction in fine concentrations in the effluent samples compared with non-treated media; ZnO and γ-Al2O3 demonstrated the best scenarios among the tests performed in this study. In order to characterize the surface properties of the treated porous media, the zeta potential of the surface was measured. Results showed that the treated porous media acts as a strong adsorbent of fine particles, which are the main carrier of contaminants in porous media. These findings were quantitatively confirmed by calculation of the total energy of interaction between the fine particles and rock surface using the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory.

Atmospheric PM2.5 samples were collected by using Mini-Vol TAS air sampler. Samples were characterized directly on the collecting substrate using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectrometer. From the analysis, it was found that Si dominate over other elements which follows the trend as Si>S>Zn>Cu>Na>Al>K>Ca>P>Fe>Mg>Ti. Based on the measurements of a population of 840 particles, particle morphology was determined by quantitative image analyzer and value of roundness (R) varies from 0.23 to 1.0 (mean 0.75) which suggests that particles vary in shape from nearly irregular to perfectly spherical shape. The mineral particulate matter identified in the atmosphere of Pune was made up of: silicates (52%), oxides (22%), sulfates (8%), phosphates (7%), carbonates (3%) and others. A factorial analysis was carried out to determine the main elements related to the emission sources such as soil and building material erosion (~44.6%); oil combustion (20.6%) and fuel and biomass burning (18.3%). Besides these factors, soot particles are abundantly present in all studied samples. Mineral particles such as sulfates aggregated to soot could have produced localized climatic effect in Pune. The emphasis of the present study is to give insight and detailed analysis of morphological and chemical composition of atmospheric particles at discrete level.

High water and organic content of sewage sludge constricts its reuse and disposal. It is often necessary to solidify/stabilize the dewatered sludge with solidifying agents before landfill disposal. In this study, the sewage sludge was conditioned with skeleton builders, i.e., fly ash and lime combined with ferric chloride for the purpose of improving the dewatering efficiency. The dewatered sewage sludge was then directly reused as landfill cover materials since the skeleton builders also play a role in solidification of sludge. The geotechnical properties of the dewatered sewage sludge were investigated. The results show that the plasticity index of the dewatered sludge increases compared to that of the dewatered sludge without any conditioner, and the permeability coefficient changes from 10-8 to 10-5 cm s-1. Furthermore, the strength of specimens increase with curing days. Microstructure analyses reveal that the main hydrated products are calcium silicate hydrate and ettringite, which contribute to the solidification/stabilization of the dewatered sludge. The results indicate that the dewatered sewage sludge conditioned with skeleton builders can be used as landfill covers. This study provides an alternative for traditional sewage sludge treatment and disposal.

Methanotrophs are unique and ubiquitous bacteria that utilize methane as a sole source of carbon and energy from the atmosphere. Besides, methanotrophs may also be targeted for bioremediation of diverse type of heavy metals and organic pollutants owing to the presence of broad-spectrum methane monooxygenases enzyme. They are highly specialized group of aerobic bacteria and have a unique capacity for oxidation of certain types of organic pollutants like alkanes, aromatics, halogenated alkenes, etc. Oxidation reactions are initiated by methane monooxygenases enzyme, which can be expressed by methanotrophs in the absence of copper. The present article describes briefly the concerns regarding the unusual reactivity and broad substrate profiles of methane monooxygenases, which indicate many potential applications in bioremediation of heavy metals and toxic organic compounds. Research is needed to develop understanding in plant-methanotrophs interactions that optimize methanotrophs utilization in the field of environmental remediation, while supporting other ecosystem services.