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The cold filter plugging point (CFPP) value of biodiesel fuel blends need to be improved because of it has been reported that utilizing high concentrations of biodiesel blends in cold climates can cause major issues. Therefore, the main objective of the study is to improve CFPP value of biodiesel blends using ethyl proxitol additive. It is also to examine combustion and emission of the blends behavior. Biodiesel blends were prepared as; 5% ethyl proxitol-10% biodiesel-85% ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) named as E5B10 and 5% ethyl proxitol-20% biodiesel-75% ULSD named as E5B20 fuel. These fuel blends were compared with ULSD fuel in a compression ignition engine at a constant engine speed of 1500 rev/min and four different loads (idle, 1, 2, and 3 bar BMEP) of eddy current dynamometer. The addition of ethyl proxitol led to a decrease in in-cylinder pressure and temperature due to an about 1˚ later SOC and 2˚ earlier EOC compared to ULSD. The pressure rise rate was slightly higher compared to ULSD at both low and high loads, with a difference of about 1 bar per degree. As a result, these blends with improved CFPP value can be used in cold climates.

This study investigates the pilot-scale ozone treatment of reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC), originating from variable tank truck cleaning wastewater. The influence of ozonation on short- and long-term biodegradation potential was examined through respirometry and Zahn-Wellens, respectively. Ecotoxicity was also examined for several concentrate batches and ozonation steps. Chemical oxidation through ozone had a beneficial effect on chemical oxygen demand removal, with a removal efficiency up to 56%. Formation of short-term biochemical oxygen demand (BODst) was induced for several, but not all batches, showing the potential of subsequent biological treatment of ozonated ROC. An increase in the inherent biodegradability through Zahn-Wellens was observed for all tested samples after ozonation, rising to a maximum of 68% after 3 hours of ozonation, highlighting the importance of sludge adaptation. Ecotoxicity, tested with Artemia franciscana and the saltwater algae P. tricornutum, showed initial decreases in algae inhibition after short ozonation periods. An increase in algae inhibition was, however, seen after prolonged ozonation for all tested ROC samples, pointing to the formation of ecotoxic by-products. Artemia showed no significant toxicity effects. When applying biological treatment through Zahn-Wellens, a decrease in ecotoxicity was observed for several samples, likely through biological oxidation of the produced degradation products. ispartof: WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY vol:87 issue:1 pages:1-12 ispartof: location:England status: published

Halophilic organisms are a novel attractive option as cell factories for the production of industrially valuable bioproducts. Halomonas elongata is the cell factory of choice for ectoine production, but its levan production has not been well researched. Based on this scientifc motivation, in this study, we evaluated the chemical and biological properties of levan produced by the halophilic extremophile Halomonas elongata 153B (HeL). First, the central composite design was used to determine the optimal process variables for maximum levan biosynthesis. Then, the levan produced from HeL was purifed, quantifed, and chemically characterized with FTIR, 1 H-NMR, and GPC analyses. This was followed by antioxidant, anti-infammatory, antibioflm, and antimicrobial activity tests to assess its biological activities as well as a cytotoxcity assay. Maximum levan yields of 5.13±0.38 g/L were achieved after dialysis at the optimum levels of process variables. The 1 H-NMR spectrum of HeL revealed characteristic signals. It showed a strong antioxidant activity of 67.88% and the best radical scavenger. At a concentration of 400 µg/mL, HeL showed the most anti-infammatory efcacy. Also, at all indicated concentrations (250, 500, 750, and 1000 μg/mL) HeL, acted against bioflms formed by Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 11778, Candida albicans ATCC 10231. Furthermore, HeL displayed antimicrobial activities against all strains tested. Finally, HeL showed high Cell viability in all dosages and no cytotoxicity was observed. In light of these results, HeL may have high potential in the medical, pharmaceutical and dermo-cosmetics industries.

The effects of synthetic fertilizer and nutrient leaching are causing serious problems impacting soil function and its fertility. Mitigation of nutrient leaching and use of chemical fertilizer is crucial as fertile land adds up sustainability to climate changes. Biochar produced from agricultural bio-waste and municipal solid waste has been used for crop production and when applied in combination with organic nutrients may support mitigation of nutrient loss and adverse effects of chemical fertilizers. Different types of biochar and their application for soil enhancement have been observed, pine needle and sewage sludge derived low-temperature biochar along with compost, organic fertilizer in the form of manure and microalgal biomass may interact with soil chemistry and plant growth to impact nutrient loss and compensate the hazardous effect of chemical fertilizer, but it has not been investigated yet. This present study elaborates application of sewage sludge and pine needle biochar produced at 400 °C in an application rate of 5 % w/w and 10 t h-1 in combination with compost, manure and microalgal biomasses of Closteriopsis acicularis (BM1) and Tetradesmus nygaardi (BM2) on the growth of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) crop assessed in a pot experiment over a two crop (Chickpea - Fenugreek) cycle in Pakistan. Results depict that the pine needle biochar with additives has increased plant height by 104.1 ± 2.76 cm and fresh biomass by 49.9 ± 1.02 g, buffered the soil pH to 6.5 for optimum growth of crops and enhance carbon retention by 36 %. This study highlights the valorization of sewage sludge and pine needle into biochar and the effect of biochar augmentation, its impact on soil nutrients and plant biomass enhancement. The greener approach also mitigates and helps in the sustainable management of solid wastes.

Noise barriers are one of the common solutions to control road traffic noise. Many studies have also shown that noise barriers cause reductions in near-road air pollutant concentrations. In this study, the simultaneous effects of a specific noise barrier application on near-road noise and air pollution at a specific location were investigated. In this context, air pollution, noise, and meteorological parameters were measured simultaneously at two points, road and receptor sides of a 50 m long, 4 m high glass fiber reinforced concrete noise barrier on a highway section. Results indicated that the noise barrier has an average 23 % reduction effect on the NOx concentration in addition to the noise level reduction at the receptor side. Besides, bi-weekly average passive sampler measurement results for BTEX pollutants indicate lower values at the receptor side of the barrier compared to the free field measurement results. In addition to real-time and passive sampler measurements, NOx and noise dispersions were modeled using RLINE and SoundPLAN 8.2 software, respectively. Comparisons of the measurement results with the model results indicated strong correlations. Model-calculated NOx and noise values under the free field conditions are highly compatible with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.78. Although the noise barrier has a reduction effect on both parameters, it has been observed that their dispersion mechanisms are different. This study showed that noise barriers considerably affect the dispersion of road-sourced air pollutants at the receptor side. Further studies are needed to optimize noise barrier designs with different physical and material properties and application scenarios considering noise and air pollutants together.

In many applications, free surface flow through rigid porous media has to be modeled. Examples refer to coastal engineering applications as well as geotechnical or biomedical applications. Albeit the frequent applications, slight inconsistencies in the formulation of the governing equations can be found in the literature. The main goal of this paper is to identify these differences and provide a quantitative assessment of different approaches. Following a review of the different formulations, simulation results obtained from three alternative formulations are compared with experimental and numerical data. Results obtained by 2D and 3D test cases indicate that the predictive differences returned by the different formulations remain small for most applications, in particular for small porous Reynolds number ReP < 5000. Thus it seems justified to select a simplified formulation that supports an efficient algorithm and coding structure in a computational fluid dynamics environment. An estimated accuracy depending on the porous Reynolds number or the mean grain diameter is given for the simplified formulation.

We present a new 2.5D model for predicting the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at street level in an urban area. This work develops the first prototype of a tool that should provide fast quantitative answers to help decision-making on the suitability of implementing traffic restrictions during air pollution episodes. The model first solves the wind flow over the city streets ignoring vorticity and turbulence. The obtained velocity field is used to transport the pollutant via a semi-Lagrangian model, combining the particle finite element method of second generation (PFEM2) with the finite element method. A variable absorption term is used to account for the part of the contaminant entering and leaving the calculation plane. The NO2 emissions are estimated from the historical traffic data. The model has been tested during four air pollution episodes in the city of Barcelona (Spain), two in summer and two in winter. A comparison against experimental measurements has been performed at seven different locations throughout the city with promising results.

Granular flow is common in many industrial applications, and involves heat generation from frictional contacts and inelastic collisions between particles. The self-heating process is still poorly understood despite being intrinsic to many processes. This work, for the first time, explores this problem experimentally by quantifying the temperature rise of granular flows in a rotating drum with a robust methodology based on infrared thermography. Particles of four different materials (lead, steel, plastic and glass) are used in the experiments, at various rotation speeds and drum fill ratios. To assess the mechanical behaviour, the flow regime of every experiment was determined. It was inferred that particles with higher density tend to generate more heat. It was also revealed that increasing the rotation speed favours the temperature rise. At the same time, the fill ratio had the least influence on the thermal response of the particulate systems considered. his project is funded through Marie SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE Innovative Training Network MATHEGRAM, the People Programme (Marie SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE Actions) of the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme H2020 under REA grant agreement No. 813202. Dr. Franci acknowledges the support from MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa for funding his work via project PID2021-122676NB-I00. Prof. Oñate acknowledges the Severo Ochoa Programme through the Grant CEX2018-000797-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.

We present a general framework for the analysis and modelling of frictional contact involving composite materials. The study has focused on composite materials formed by a matrix of rubber and synthetic or metallic fibres, which is the case of standard tires. We detail the numerical treatment of incompressibility at large deformations that rubber can experience, as well as the stiffening effect that properly oriented fibres will induce within the rubber. To solve the frictional contact between solids, a Dual Augmented Lagrangian Multiplier Method is used together with the Mortar method. This ensures a variationally consistent estimation of the contact forces. A modified Serial-Parallel Rule of Mixtures is employed to model the behaviour of composite materials. This is a simple and novel methodology that allows the blending of constitutive behaviours as diverse as rubber (very low stiffness and incompressible behaviour) and steel (high stiffness and compressible behaviour) taking into account the orientation of the fibres within the material. The locking due to the incompressibility constraint in the rubber material has been overcome by using Total Lagrangian mixed displacement-pressure elements. A collection of numerical examples is provided to show the accuracy and consistency of the methodology presented when solving frictional contact, incompressibility and composite materials under finite strains.

The city of Istanbul is constantly exposed to air pollution due to its high population, heavy traffic — sea and air transport — and urban industry. This study basically aims to determine the recent level of airborne heavy metals, using lichen biomonitoring method. The cosmopolitan foliose lichen Xanthoria parietina growing abundantly on trees was sampled from 16 urban green spaces in 8 districts on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. Multi-element analysis by ICP-MS was applied to measure the accumulation of 10 potentially toxic trace elements in lichen samples. Spatial distributions of element levels in the air in the sampling areas are shown by mapping. According to the analysis data, the sequence of element deposition levels in lichen samples was as follows; Al > Fe > Mn > Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > V > Ni > As. Most of the measured atmospheric element amounts yielded results much higher than the reference material in all areas. It was detected that the highest pollution in terms of Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Ni elements was in Elmasburnu Nature Park area in Beykoz district, which is a touristic place by the sea. Changes in the city’s air quality over the years have been evaluated by comparing element levels in these locations in a previous biomonitoring study and some differences were found. The resulting data is valuable for periodic monitoring of toxic elements in the air, for determining causes of air pollution, and for taking precautions.

The climate impact of carbon capture and storage depends on how much CO2 is stored underground, yet databases of industrial-scale projects report capture capacity as a measure of project size. We review publicly available sources to estimate the amount of CO2 that has been stored by facilities since 1996. We organize these sources into three categories corresponding to the associated degree of assurance: (1) legal assurance, (2) quality assurance through auditing, and (3) no assurance. Data were found for 20 facilities, with an aggregate capture capacity of 36 Mt of CO2 year–1. Combining data from all categories, we estimate that 29 Mt of CO2 was geologically stored in 2019 and there was cumulative storage of 197 Mt over the period of 1996–2020. These are climate relevant scales commensurate with recent cumulative and ongoing emissions impacts of renewables in some markets, e.g., solar photovoltaics in the United States. The widely used capture capacity is in aggregate 19–30% higher than storage rates and is not a good proxy for estimating storage volumes. However, the discrepancy is project-specific and not always a reflection of project performance. This work provides a snapshot of storage amounts and highlights the need for uniform reporting on capture and storage rates with quality assurance.

The main objective of this research is to formulate and couple technologies for modeling discrete and continuous media using real particle morphologies. To that end, two coupled formulations based on virtual modeling technologies of single real particles with another one called real particle packing technique are presented. The first formulation employs Fourier descriptors’ theory to virtually achieve the morphology and construct a repository of real particle geometries. The second formulation is a particle packing method, supported by advancing front techniques combined with dynamic methods. This method presents a stochastic formulation and allows the packing of particle systems following continuous, discrete and empirical statistical distributions. The coupling of both techniques is a very efficient tool to achieve discrete or continuous media geometries to solve engineering problems. Three different examples are developed to illustrate the usefulness of the formulations. The first one is a discrete angle-of-repose problem involving clusters of spheres (real particle morphologies are described with groups of spheres); in the second example the same angle-of-repose problem is resolved with real particles. In the third case, which involves continuous medium mechanics, a small-scale road engineering problem is modeled, specifically, the testing of an asphalt concrete.

The thermal runaway of Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is a fire hazard. The Accelerating Rate Calorimetry (ARC) device is commonly used to investigate thermal runaway parameters of LIBs by assuming adiabatic conditions. However, this assumption ignores internal heat transfer within the cell and external heat transfer at the cell surface. In this work, we conducted ARC experiments using prismatic LiCoO2 cells of 50 mm in side to study the effect of heat transfer limitations. Results show that the external temperature difference between this cell surface and ARC walls varies between 0 and 1.5 ℃ before thermal runaway and increases from 10 to 130 ℃ while thermal runaway occurs. Ignoring external heat transfer causes the heat of reaction of the cell to be underestimated by 12%. To study the internal heat transfer, two models are developed and show that heat transfer causes an internal temperature difference that causes an error of kinetics estimation, and the error grows with cell size. Ignoring heat transfer leads to errors on the thermal runaway parameters quantified by ARC, and these errors could propagate to battery safety design and predictions. This study contributes to designing better ARC experiments and a better understanding of battery safety.

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the total environmental impact of state-of-the-art Waste-to-Energy (WtE) in Belgium, with respect to recovered energy utilization and addition of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Four energy output scenarios were modelled on Umberto LCA software using primary data of mass and energy flows surrounding the six incinerators at the considered WtE plant, and predefined processes from the Ecoinvent 3.6 database. The normalized LCA results suggest that by utilizing all the recovered energy as steam, the WtE plant can avoid an equivalent annual environmental impact value of approximately 21200, 36800, 6700, 15800, 37000 and 6900 average European citizens in the impact categories ‘climate change’, ‘freshwater and terrestrial acidification’, ‘freshwater eutrophication, ‘photochemical ozone creation’ and ‘respiratory effects, inorganics’, ‘terrestrial eutrophication’, respectively. The ‘Electricity and Steam with CCS’ scenario resulted in the most avoided environmental impact in the impact category ‘climate change’. However, in all other impact categories, it resulted in less avoided environmental impact compared to the ‘Steam’ scenario. The comparative analysis showed that 19 out of 24 of the LCA results varied by more than 50% between two energy substitution models, thus quantifying the influence of energy substitution in LCA modelling. This study exemplifies the environmental benefit WtE technology can realize by substituting conventional energy production processes that are reliant on fossil resources, whilst performing its primary function that is reducing the volume of non-recyclable waste, destroying hazardous organic components it contains and recovering useful materials from it.

The methodology previously proposed by the authors to solve particle-laden turbulent flows through a multiscale approach is extended by introducing a continuous function for thedispersed phaseconcentration. The proposed continuous model is especially useful for studying the motion of particle streams in which gravitational and inertial effects cause the particles to deviate from a simple trajectory following the surrounding flow, as would be the case for the limit of very small, massless particles. The results show an excellent comparison between the solutions obtained using the continuous model and simulations evaluating the forces on each particle individually. Distinct advantages of the continuous approach are a much lower computational overhead, a better load balance and ease ofparallelization. The multiscale methodology proposed may be used in the area ofmodeling and simulationof airborne infectious diseases.

In this paper an enhanced version of the semi-explicit Particle Finite Element Method for incompressible flow problems is presented. This goal is achieved by improving the solution of the advective sub-problem that results of applying the Strang operator splitting to the Navier–Stokes equations. An acceleration term is taken into account in the solution of the advective step and the Stokes problem. The solution of the advetive step is perfomed using a SPH kernel. Two test cases are solved for validating the methodology and estimating its accuracy. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed scheme improves the accuracy of the semi-explicit PFEM scheme.

In order to help China achieve the "double carbon" goal of achieving the overall carbon peak and the high quality and sustainable development of the economy, and to enrich the work and content of energy saving and emission reduction in the building sector, a feasibility study was conducted for the most complex and energy-consuming hospital as a key project for energy saving and carbon reduction. The feasibility study was carried out by designing a photovoltaic power generation and upgrading the existing systems (including air conditioning, hot water system and intelligent control system), taking into account the local climate characteristics. The results show that after the implementation of this system, the energy saving and carbon reduction effect of the project is obvious, and the annual electricity saving of the hospital is expected to reach 1987.486 MWh, which is 14% more than the energy saving rate before the renovation, and the direct saving of electricity cost is 2.077 million RMB, and the reduction of carbon dioxide emission is 1212.666 tonnes. The carbon dioxide emission reduction of the photovoltaic power generation system in this project is 86.559 tonnes, which can be promoted and popularised in the field of energy saving and carbon dioxide reduction. To provide a useful reference for energy-saving and environment-friendly building design.

This paper provides experimental data on the temperature rise during granular flows in a small-scale rotating drum due to heat generation. All heat is believed to be generated by conversion of some mechanical energy, through mechanisms such as friction and collisions between particles and between particles and walls. Particles of different material types were used, while multiple rotation speeds were considered, and the drum was filled with different amounts of particles. The temperature of the granular materials inside the rotating drum was monitored using a thermal camera. The temperature increases at specific times of each experiment are presented in form of tables, along with the average and standard deviation of the repetitions of each setup configuration. The data can be used as a reference to set the operating conditions of rotating drums, in addition to calibrating numerical models and validating computer simulations. This project is funded through Marie SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE Innovative Training Network MATHEGRAM1, the People Programme (Marie SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE Actions) of the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme H2020 under REA grant agreement No. 813202. Dr. Franci acknowledges the support from MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa for funding his work via project PID2021-122676NB-I00. Prof. Oñate acknowledges the Severo Ochoa Programme through the Grant CEX2018-000797-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.

Environment-friendly textile processing is the demand of the current global scenario, where the application of sustainable technologies such as microwave radiation has been gaining fame in all global fields due to their green and human-friendly nature. This study has been conducted to employ sustainable technology such as microwave (MW) rays for dyeing polyamide-based proteinous fabric using Acid Blue 07 dye. The fabric before and after MW treatment for up to 10 min has been dyed using an acid dye solution. Spectrophotometric analysis of the dye solution was performed before and after irradiation at a specific selected level. Using selected dyes and irradiation conditions, a series of 32 experiments using a central composite design has been employed. The shades made at selected conditions of irradiation and dyeing were assessed for colorfastness as per ISO standards. It was observed that for dyeing silk, 55 mL of Acid Blue 07 dye solution containing 1 g/100 mL salt solution at 65 °C for 55 min should be employed after MW treatment for 10 min. In comparison, for dyeing wool, 55 mL of Acid Blue 07 dye solution containing 2 g/100 mL salt solution at 65 °C for 55 min should be employed after MW treatment for 10 min. Physiochemical analysis shows that sustainable tool has not altered the chemical nature of fabric but has modified the fabric surface physically to enhance uptake ability. Colorfastness shows that the shades made have offered good resistance to fade and have given good to excellent ratings on the gray scale.

This study analysed the spatial and temporal occurrence of 29 disinfection by-products (DBPs) formed by chlorination and chloramination. Four full-scale treatment works, and distribution system locations were sampled, and the results were compared with laboratory-based simulated distribution system (SDS) tests. The DBPs monitored incorporated 4 trihalomethanes (THMs), 9 haloacetic acids (HAAs), 7 haloacetonitriles (HANs) and 9 haloacetamides (HAcAms). For the first time, SDS tests were shown to successfully simulate the levels and speciation of HANs and HAcAms in both chlorinated and chloraminated systems. While THM and HAA concentrations generally increased with water age, HAN and HAcAm concentrations fluctuated and resulted in less pronounced overall increases. To explore the impact of switching the disinfectant in distribution, free chlorine and chloramines were applied in the SDS tests, which showed that chloramination not only reduces the yields of THMs (by 34%) and HAAs (by 49%), but also HANs (by 61%) and HAcAms (by 51%), although it shifts speciation towards more brominated HAAs, HANs and HAcAms species when compared against chlorination. Overall, the aim of the study was to demonstrate that SDS tests can be recommended for the simultaneous estimation of THM, HAA, HAN and HAcAm concentrations in distribution systems and to assess the effect of potential DBP minimisation strategies, such as switching the disinfectant in distribution.

The adverse health and environmental effects of petroleum-based materials have become a driving force for the fabrication of bio-based monomers. In this study, we synthesized a novel bio-based reactive phosphorus-containing; eugenol-DOPO, which was prepared in one step by the reaction of 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) and eugenol via Atherton–Todd reaction. Moreover, a diallyl compound was also prepared by using eugenol and piperazine. All monomers were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies. Thiol-ene photocured polysulfide thermoset networks were prepared by using these newly synthesized bio-based monomers. Thermal and thermomechanical properties of the thermosets were measured. Photo-crosslinked networks displayed over 88% gel content values. The thermal stability of the networks as well as the resulting char yields were improved as the percentage of eugenol-DOPO was increased in the formulations. The presence of N and P played a synergistic effect and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) values for the thermoset materials were enhanced. We believe eugenol-DOPO is not only a good alternative monomer for the preparation of thermally stable photocurable thermosets, but it is also a suitable bio-based additive for other polymers as well. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

A tidal channel will be affected by the intrusion of seawater, so the current and water depth in the channel will change at every moment. These changes are critical to the hydrodynamic characteristics of water intakes in tidal rivers. This paper establishes a 3D model and validates it through laboratory models, then analyzes the influences of dynamic change of flow velocity and water depth, and the amplitude changes of velocity and water depth on the secondary flow in the water withdrawal process. With the increase of the main flow velocity and the decrease of the water depth, diversion width at the water intake decreases, the peak velocity increases, and the intensity of the secondary flow also increases. With the increase of the velocity of the main channel and the changing rate in water depth, the lag time of the velocity change at the water intake is also longer, and the peak velocity will be greater than the velocity of the constant flow. The influence of the water depth change is greater than that of the main channel velocity change. Combining these four factors, more sand may be washed into the inlet channel under conditions of high flow and low water depth.

Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have gained increasing negative attention in re-cent years owing to their potential carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, and ability to bio-accumulate in wildlife, making their rapid and low-cost detection highly desirable. Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) were therefore implemented as robust, cost-effective, and highly selective affinity reagent in a thermal sensing platform (the "Heat Transfer Method"), enabling the development of a time-efficient sensor that is capable of analyzing both river water and soil samples. To this end, a MIP was synthesized for the detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) with an optimized rebinding capacity of 123 Imol g-1 and an imprinting factor of 2.1 as determined by UV-Vis spectrophotom-etry. Integration of the MIP into the thermal readout platform revealed a calculated limit of detection (LoD) of 22 pM in controlled buffer solutions. The sensor is able to distinguish PFOA from other PFAS and detect the compound in a mixture of PFAS, providing a proof-of-concept towards the desired application, the specific detection of PFOA in complex samples. To further illustrate the performance of the sensor in this sense, it was exposed to spiked (0.1 nM-500 nM) river water and soil samples, with a calculated LoD of 91 pM and 154 pM respectively. These findings highlight that the developed sensor has the potential to operate at a relevant sensitivity for the analysis of both aqueous and solid environmental samples, facilitating a more straightforward method of screening for PFAS against more complex and time-consuming methodologies.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

© 2022 Elsevier LtdIn this study, the use of Deep Cascade Forward Neural Network (DCFNN) was investigated to model both linear and non-linear chaotic relationships in co-composting of dewatered sewage sludge and biomass fly ash (BFA). Model results were evaluated in comparison with RSM, Feed Forward Neural Network (FFNN) and Feed Back Neural Network (FBNN), and Cascade Forward Neural Network (CFNN). DCFNN produced predictive results with MAPE values less than 1% for all datasets in all experimental designs except one with 1.99%. Furthermore, the decision variables were optimized by Genetic Algorithm (GA). The desirability level obtained from the optimization results was found to be 100% in a few designs and above 95% in all other designs. The results showed that DCFNN is a reliable and consistent tool for modeling composting process parameters, also GA is a satisfactory tool for determining which outputs the input parameters will produce in an experimental setup.

© 2023, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Iranian Society of Environmentalists (IRSEN) and Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University.The aim of this study was to treat dairy wastewater by using an anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor equipped with a 20-µm polyester mesh filter and at organic loading rate of 8.1 ± 1.5 kg COD/(m3 day). The dynamic membrane was formed in 42 d, and the operation was continued for additional 50 days. In order to prevent membrane fouling and to ensure efficient cake layer formation, a wide range of cross flow velocity ranging from 5 m/h to 54 m/h was applied until a stable cake layer was formed. The chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency was 85 ± 9% in the dynamic membrane formation period (Day 0–42). In the stable operational period, the chemical oxygen demand removal improved by more than 10% owing to the well-developed Dynamic Membrane. Carbon, calcium, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur elements were detected in selected points of the dynamic membrane layer. Proteins and polysaccharides were detected in the dynamic membrane layer as organic compounds. The inorganic compounds in dynamic membrane layer were detected and found as 1.16% sodium, 1.50% magnesium, 0.76% potassium, 3.34% calcium, and 0.41% iron in mass concentration. The analysis results showed that organic and inorganic materials led to the formation of a strict/dense cake layer.

The building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applied to buildings requires collecting and organizing large quantities of data over all building life cycles. To overcome specific difficulties related to the system boundaries definition and life cycle inventory stages, the literature recognizes that systematic building decomposition methods (SBDM) can be used to classify building components, elements and materials, as well as to increase the reliability and transparency of LCA results, particularly for embodied carbon and other environmental impacts. In this paper developed in the context of the research project IEA EBC Annex 72, the authors aim to provide a basis for understanding how different SBDMs decompose a building and classify its parts. This study analyses the implications of using different SBDM along the steps of an LCA study. Such as to support transparent and comprehensible (de)composition of the life cycle inventory (LCI), definition of service lives for different building parts or clear and comparable communication of assessment results and environmental hotspots particularly when using digital tools to conduct LCA. The study analyses 12 national SBDMs used in participating countries of IEA EBC Annex 72. To showcase the implications of SBDMs in building LCA practice, an office building was used as a common case study for applying the different SBDM approaches. Differences were identified among the decomposition levels and the consequences of these differences on the LCI organization. Thus, some of the main contributions to this study are the investigation of different SBDM approaches for improving the design workflows, by discussing BIM model definitions and the recommendation to use hierarchically based methods to allow the building elements and materials decomposition.

Economic and environmental impact assessments are increasingly being adopted in the design and implementation of emerging systems. However, their emerging nature leads to several assessment challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the validity and usefulness of results in understanding their potential performance and supporting their development. There is the need to (i) account for spatial and temporal variability to allow a broader perspective at an early stage of development; (ii) handle uncertainties to systematically identify the critical factors and their interrelations that drive the results; (iii) integrate environmental and economic results to support sound decision-making based on two sustainability aspects. To address these assessment challenges, this study presents an alternative approach with the following corresponding features: (i) multiple scenario development to conduct an exploratory assessment of the systems under varying conditions and settings, (ii) global sensitivity analysis to identify the main critical factors and their interrelations, and (iii) trade-off and ecoefficiency analysis to integrate the economic and environmental results. The integrated approach is applied to a case study on plasma gasification for solid waste management. The results of the study highlight how the approach allows the identification of the dynamic relations between project settings and surrounding conditions. For example, the choice of gasifying agent largely depends on the background energy system, which dictates the impacts of the process energy requirement and the savings from the substituted energy of the syngas output. Based on these findings, the usefulness and validity of the proposed integrated approach are discussed in terms of how the key assessment challenges are addressed and how it can provide guidance for the development of emerging systems.

© 2022 Elsevier B.V.Lignocellulosics are abundant carbon sources in nature, therefore they gain increasing attention in biotechnology for production of value-added chemicals. In this proof-of-concept study highlighting the techno-economic potential of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) production from lignocellulosic agro-waste hazelnut husk, first an exploratory model-based optimization was used to release the sugar content of the husk whilst maximizing sugar concentration. The sugar hydrolysate was then evaluated as a feedstock for production using an engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum strain. Optimal treatment conditions were found by Kriging model as 12.5% husk load with 3.8% acid for 50 min at 121 °C, which gave a hydrolysate of 27.67 g L−1 reducing sugar with a yield of 11.07 g sugar/100 g husk. When this hydrolysate was used as the sole carbon source during fermentative production, 20 ± 0.4 mg L−1 of L-DOPA was produced. When cells grown on husk hydrolysate were used for whole-cell biotransformation, a titer of 82 ± 1 mg L−1 of L-DOPA was obtained. From an economical point of view, the titer obtained during fermentative production would allow production of L-DOPA from hazelnut husk right around the breakeven point. However, further engineering of the strains and optimization of bioprocess conditions, would make it possible to bring the revenues to higher levels.

Shifting the concept of municipal wastewater treatment to recover resources is one of the key factors contributing to a sustainable society. A novel concept based on research is proposed to recover four main bio-based products from municipal wastewater while reaching the necessary regulatory standards. The main resource recovery units of the proposed system include upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor for the recovery of biogas (as product 1) from mainstream municipal wastewater after primary sedimentation. Sewage sludge is co-fermented with external organic waste such as food waste for volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production as precursors for other bio-based production. A portion of the VFA mixture (product 2) is used as carbon sources in the denitrification step of the nitrification/denitrification process as an alternative for nitrogen removal. The other alternative for nitrogen removal is the partial nitrification/anammx process. The VFA mixture is separated with nanofiltration/reverse osmosis membrane technology into low-carbon VFAs and high-carbon VFAs. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (as product 3) is produced from the low-carbon VFAs. Using membrane contactor-based processes and ion-exchange techniques, high-carbon VFAs are recovered as one-type VFA (pure VFA) and in ester forms (product 4). The nutrient-rich fermented and dewatered biosolid is applied as a fertilizer. The proposed units are seen as individual resource recovery systems as well as a concept of an integrated system. A qualitative environmental assessment of the proposed resource recovery units confirms the positive environmental impacts of the proposed system.

Natural dyes have grown in popularity due to their eco-friendliness. They can be used as a substitute for synthetic dyes to minimize environmental pollution. This research investigates the natural colouring behaviour of haar singhar flower (HSF) extract in cotton dyeing. Colorant was extracted under various conditions utilizing various extraction mediums such as aqueous, basic, and acidic. On cotton, it was discovered that applying 55 mL of aqueous extract containing 1.5 g/100 mL sodium chloride for 40 minutes at 70 °C yielded the best colour output. A new hue with good colour fastness was developed utilizing chemical and bio-mordants. The existence of nyctanthin as a colouring agent in haar singhar flowers was discovered through FTIR analysis of the extract. The CIE Lab system revealed that using 2 g/100 mL of pistachio shell as a bio-mordant resulted in good quality reddish yellow hues. It was discovered that ultrasonic radiations have a high potential for isolating colourants and dyeing cotton fabric under decreased conditions of temperature, time and volume. The application of biomordants has made the procedure greener, more efficient, and safer.

Thus far, reanalysis-based meteorological products have drawn little attention to the influence of meteorological elements of products on hydrological modeling. This study aims to evaluate the hydrological application potential of the precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation of the China Meteorological Assimilation Driving Datasets for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model (CMADS) and Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) in an alpine basin. The precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation of the gauge-observed meteorological dataset (GD), CFSR, and CMADS were cross-combined, and 20 scenarios were constructed to drive the SWAT model. From the comprehensive comparisons of all scenarios, we drew the following conclusions: (1) among the three meteorological elements, precipitation has the greatest impact on the simulation results, and using GD precipitation from sparse stations yielded better performance than CMADS and CFSR; (2) although the SWAT modeling driven by CMADS and CFSR performed poorly, with CMADS underestimation and CFSR overestimation, the temperature and solar radiation of CMADS and CFSR can be an alternative data source for streamflow simulation; (3) models using GD precipitation, CFSR temperature, and CFSR solar radiation as input yielded the best performance in streamflow simulation, suggesting that these data sources can be applied to this data-scarce alpine region.

The tall grass vegetation in the Andean grassland ecosystems covers the largest area compared to other types of vegetation such as Puna grass, wetland and others. The grasslands are frequently set on fire by livestock farmer, seriously affecting the ecosystem. One way to mitigate this problem is to use these species as a source of plant fibre, which can be economically useful to the interests of the livestock family without affecting the ecosystem. To advance in this approach, it is necessary to know the functional characteristics of the plants; therefore, we evaluated the aerial primary productivity, plant density per m2, basal cover, aerial cover and leaf height, whose data were analysed using the generalised linear mixed model and the correlation between these variables with the physical-chemical characteristics of the soil, by means of principal component analysis and canonical correlation, in seven species of grassland and seven control plots, located between 3860 and 4333 metres above sea level. The results showed significant differences for p=0.001 between species, and between plots, and a canonical correlation grouped in two clusters that showed the differentiated importance of soil elements with the phytomass produced.

This study evaluates the performance of commercial reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes for the removal of metal ions from synthetic water and surface water carried from the north-west of Lake Tanganyika in the city of Uvira, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Metal ion analyses were performed by the standardized ICP-MS and ICP-OES methods. The RO membrane showed higher metal ion rejection in high-concentration solutions (synthetic samples) prepared in the laboratory as well as in low-concentration samples from real raw water collected near Lake Tanganyika. Rejection levels were higher than 98% for Cr3+, Pb2+, Cd2+, As3+, Ni2+, and Sb+3 ions in the synthetic solutions, and 99.2, 98.8, 98.6, 99.2, 98.4, and 98.8%, respectively, in the real samples. The concentrations of metals in the permeate varied depending on the feed concentration and were 0.15 to 1.02 mg/L, 0.33 to 22 mg/L, and 0.11 to 22 mg/L in RO, NF90, and NF270 membranes, respectively. Regarding the NF membranes, the rejection of Cr, Ni, and Cd ions was interesting: 98.2, 97.8, and 92.3%, respectively. However, it was lower for Pb, As, and Sb ions: 76.9, 52.5 and 64.1%, respectively. The flux of NF was 329 to 375 L/m2.h, much higher than for RO membranes, which had a flux of 98 to 132 L/m2.h. The studied membranes are thus a feasible solution to remove the studied metals from real water sources at low concentrations since they meet the standards of the World Health Organization on specific values assigned to chemicals from industrial sources and human habitation areas where these ions are present in drinking water.