Sharif Digital Repository

The present work deals with application of 25-2 fractional factorial design (FFD) to evaluate the operating parameters on starch separation from synthetic starchy wastewater using a hydrophilic polyethersulfone membrane with 0.65 μm pore size in a plate and frame handmade membrane module. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) combined with F-test was also used to recognize non-significant terms. The performance of the filtration process was evaluated by calculating the COD removal percentage (rejection factor) and permeate flux. In this experiment, five input parameters were surveyed, including trans membrane pressure (TMP), flow and temperature of feed, pH and concentration of wastewater. In... 

In this study, the Polyaniline/Polyvinyl Alcohol (PANi/PVA) composite was examined for arsenite (As(III)) removal from aqueous solution. The effect of several parameters including PVA concetration (0–5 g/L), pH (1–13), adsorbent dosage (0.5–6 g/L), contact time (0–120 min), initial As(III) concentration (0.5–100 mg/L), and As(III) oxidation were evaluated on the adsorption efficiency. The results indicated that PVA has an effective role in increasing adsorptive capacity of PANi, by changing its morphology and extending its active surface sites. The adsorption process was pH dependent and As(III) removal consistently improved by increasing solution pH. Adsorption reached equilibrium within... 

Horseradish peroxidase was encapsulated in calcium alginate for the purpose of phenol removal. Considering enzyme encapsulation efficiency, retention activity and enzyme leakage of the capsules, the best gelation condition was found to be 1 % w/v of sodium alginate solution and 5.5 % w/v of calcium chloride hexahydrate. Upon immobilization, pH profile of enzyme activity changes as it shows higher value at basic and acidic solution. Besides, for each phenol concentration there would be an enzyme concentration which going further than this value has no significant effect on phenol removal. Investigation into time course of phenol removal for both encapsulated and free enzyme showed that... 

Heterogeneous photocatalytic reactions have experienced many efforts in developing new materials to tackle environmental and energy crises through utilizing appropriate photocatalysts in wastewater treatment, H2 generation, organic transformations, CO2 reduction, N2 photofixation, and biomass conversion. While these processes are addressed in the literature separately, a recent innovative viewpoint is to employ a photocatalytic system to achieve simultaneously two or more functions. The challenging point is that the combination of two functions in one photocatalytic system requires a novel design and engineering of an appropriate semiconductor photocatalyst with special characteristics for... 

Preparation and evaluation of chitosan-coated eggshell (CTS-ES) particles as a biosorbent for removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous media was considered in this research. For this purpose, chitosan was coated on eggshell (ES) particles through precipitation procedure. The coated particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, and field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. Kinetic studies showed that coating of chitosan on ES particles improved their Cu(II) adsorption capacity. The removal of Cu(II) ions by either ES or CTS-ES particles followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics, indicating that chemical sorption is the rate-limiting step for... 

Most sulfide oxidizing bioreactors are based on pure cultures or artificial mixes of microorganisms with strict requirements for growth, which make the system unstable and do not guarantee their long term performance. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop a natural mix of chemotrophic bacteria that may be applied anaerobically for the treatment of sour gas. Activated sludge from local municipal wastewater treatment plant that was maintained in endogenous anaerobic conditions for one year was used in this study. Total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) of the sludge was 22 gl-1 and 14.3 gl-1, respectively. A glass culture vessel had a volume of 0.65 L was used... 

In this work, the process of starch removal from starchy wastewater using a hydrophilic polyethersulfone membrane was investigated. The pore size of the membrane was 0.65 μm and the pattern of stream in plate and frame handmade membrane module was cross-flow. To design the layout of the experiments, response surface methodology was applied. The performance of the filtration process was evaluated by calculating the (chemical oxygen demand) COD removal percentage (rejection factor) and permeate flux. In this study, five operative parameters were investigated, including trans-membrane pressure, flow rate and temperature of feed, pH, and the COD concentration of starch wastewater. Two models... 

This study investigated the diesel and COD removal from oily wastewater by electrocoagulation. Experiments were conducted in a 2-l reactor using aluminum and iron electrodes. Effects of different parameters including pH (3–11), time (10–60 min), voltage (4.5–10.5 V), supporting electrolyte (NaCl concentration), electrode material and initial diesel concentration (3500–11,000 mg/L) were studied in order to evaluate the efficiency of electrocoagulation. Furthermore, the consumption of energy and the amount of sludge produced by this method were evaluated. The highest removal efficiency (COD removal of 99.1 ± 0.2 % and diesel removal of 98.8 ± 0.2 %) was observed under the following conditions:... 

Electrocoagulation is an effective, fast, and economic method for treatment of industrial wastewaters. In this study, effects of different parameters including electrolysis time, voltage, and pH on the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD), lignin, and color in pulp and paper wastewaters were studied. Iron and aluminum were used as anode and cathode electrodes, respectively. Under the optimal conditions (pH 5, 60 min, 10 V), this treatment method led to 85% removal of COD and 78.5% removal of lignin. Furthermore, clear treated water with complete color removal was generated that suggests the application of electrocoagulation for industrial wastewater treatment, especially in pulp and... 

Preparation and evaluation of chitosan-coated eggshell (CTS-ES) particles as a biosorbent for removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous media was considered in this research. For this purpose, chitosan was coated on eggshell (ES) particles through precipitation procedure. The coated particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, and field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. Kinetic studies showed that coating of chitosan on ES particles improved their Cu(II) adsorption capacity. The removal of Cu(II) ions by either ES or CTS-ES particles followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics, indicating that chemical sorption is the rate-limiting step for... 

Batch adsorption experiments were carried out for the removal of malachite green (MG) cationic dye from aqueous solution using novel hydrogel nanocomposite that was prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) onto kappa-carrageenan (κC) biopolymer in the presence of a crosslinking agent, a free radical initiator and aminosilica-functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles (κC-g-PAA/TiO2-NH2). The factors influencing adsorption capacity of the adsorbents such as initial pH value (pH0) of the dye solutions, TiO2-NH2 content (wt%), initial concentration of the dye, amount of adsorbents, and temperature were investigated. The adsorption capacity of hydrogel nanocomposite for MG was compared... 

The functionalized copper oxide–zinc oxide nanocomposite (FCZN) was synthesized and characterized using Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and BET. Dye removal from aqueous solution was done in a batch system using FCZN as an adsorbent. The effects of adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, pH, temperature, and additive salts on dye removal were investigated. Isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamics of dye adsorption were studied. Equilibrium and kinetic data were fitted by Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic, respectively. The thermodynamic data showed that dye adsorption was spontaneous, endothermic, and... 

The present investigation demonstrates the effective removal of Hg(II) ions from aqueous solution by means of thiol-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (TF-MNPs). After preparation, TF-MNPs have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Thermogravimetric (TG) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The XRD and FESEM analyses revealed the presence of magnetic nanoparticles with an average particle size of 15–30 nm. The result of FT-IR analysis confirmed that the magnetite nanoparticles have been successfully functionalized by thiol groups. The particles illustrated enough response... 

Endoscopic endonasal surgery is a minimal invasive surgery that has been used to dissect pituitary gland tumour via curettes with the help of endoscope. However, this type of surgery has a high risk of failure because curettes may cause damages to blood vessels and optical nerves that lead to more complication for the patient. The aim of this study is to develop a new technique to dissect the tumour by using liquid jet. A series of experimental tests have been performed on animal tissue to study the effect of liquid pressure and nozzle diameter on dissecting and cutting the tissue. Continuous/pulsed liquid jet used with variable nozzle diameters, distances, pressures and angles. The study... 

The fluoride ion is usually added to drinking water because of its prominent role in treating osteoporosis and improving dental health. However, fluoride contents over the optimal level (>1.5 ppm) in water resources has been found to have harmful effects on human health such as bone and dental fluorosis, Alzheimer's syndrome, DNA damage, infertility, kidney failure, acute gastric problems, thyroid disorder, brain damage, and even cancer. Therefore, sensitive and selective detection of fluoride ions and their removal from drinking water are of great significance. The unique features of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), such as chemical activities, a broad range of functionalities, high... 

The fluoride ion is usually added to drinking water because of its prominent role in treating osteoporosis and improving dental health. However, fluoride contents over the optimal level (>1.5 ppm) in water resources has been found to have harmful effects on human health such as bone and dental fluorosis, Alzheimer's syndrome, DNA damage, infertility, kidney failure, acute gastric problems, thyroid disorder, brain damage, and even cancer. Therefore, sensitive and selective detection of fluoride ions and their removal from drinking water are of great significance. The unique features of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), such as chemical activities, a broad range of functionalities, high... 

Since the advent of conventional activated sludge biological treatment plants, their low efficiency in nitrogen and phosphorus removal has become a significant concern. Therefore, in this study, the performance of microalgal-activated sludge membrane bioreactor (MAS-MBR) as a self-biological treatment or as a post-treatment for conventional biological treatments was investigated. A continuous MAS-MBR with two ratios of algae/sludge (only microalgae and 5:1) was used to treat raw and treated wastewater. The optimum case was achieved with the cultivation of mixed algae/sludge in raw wastewater (R2 case). In this case, the ammonium and phosphorus removal efficiencies were 94.36 ± 3.5 and 88.37... 

This paper reports the results of a study of the transient removal of contaminant particle from enclosures containing an obstacle. We study specially a phenomena occur sometimes called the step effect. This phenomenon may occur if the size of the obstacle is small enough in comparison with the length or height of the enclosure. These results are the basic instruments for finding a model for contaminant particle removal from an enclosure containing an obstacle. A numerical CFD code is developed and validated with different cases, and then proper two- and three-dimensional cases are modeled. The size of the obstacle affect the order of magnitude of the convection-diffusion terms in the... 

This paper reports the results of a study of the transient removal of contaminant particle from enclosures. These results are the basic instruments for finding a model for contaminant particle removal from an enclosure containing an obstacle. A numerical CFD code is developed and validated with different cases, then proper two- and three-dimensional cases are modeled and improvements are done. The improvements are done by proper positioning the inlet/outlet vents. The size and position of the obstacle affect the order of magnitude of the convection-diffusion terms in the Navier-Stokes equations, hence results in different phenomena while removing the particles. One of these phenomena, the...