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L'écopastoralisme est une pratique de gestion écologique en plein essor, dont les bienfaits pour le maintien ou la restauration des milieux naturels ont été largement démontrés. Mais cette solution alternative de gestion obtient-elle les mêmes résultats sur des milieux fortement anthropisés et artificialisés ? Une étude menée sur les digues artificielles du Rhône de la réserve de chasse de Donzère-Mondragon s'est intéressée aux impacts des différents troupeaux sur les communautés végétales d’écosystèmes récents. Grâce à un suivi botanique sur plusieurs années, les scientifiques ont pu démontrer que la gestion par les herbivores s'avérait efficace pour maintenir l'ouverture des milieux et augmenter significativement le nombre et la diversité des espèces par rapport à l’absence de gestion ou aux interventions mécaniques.

The objective of this paper is the parametric analysis of a solar-fed trigeneration system ideal for the building sector that produces useful heat, electricity and cooling. The examined unit is driven by 100 m2 of parabolic trough collectors which are combined with a sensible storage tank with thermal oil. An organic Rankine cycle is fed by solar useful heat production and it produces electricity while a part of its power drives a vapor compression cycle with R290. Heating is also produced by separate heat exchangers in the solar loop. The parametric analysis is conducted in steady-state conditions with a developed model in Engineering Equation Solver. The examined parameters are the following: superheating degree in the turbine inlet, cooling production, heating production, solar beam irradiation intense, sun angle, pressure level in the turbine inlet and heat source temperature level. For the nominal scenario of 10 kW cooling production at 5°C and 10 kW heating production at 60°C, the system produces 6.14 kW electricity, while the exergy and energy efficiencies are found 12.14% and 37.34% respectively. Assuming that the system operates 2500 h yearly, the simple payback period of the investment is calculated at 8.5 years. The maximum examined values for both heating and cooling production are at 20 kW.

To achieve carbon targets, the European Union (EU) aims to promote nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB). To enable the necessary transition, technical solutions need to converge with socio-economic factors, such values and awareness of stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. In this light, the aim of this paper is to characterise perceived drivers and barriers to nine energy-efficient technologies (EET), according to key decision-makers' and persuaders of the technology selection in the EU residential building context. Results are collected across eight EU countries, i.e. Belgium (BE), Germany (DE), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), and United Kingdom (UK). The stakeholders’ selected are architects, construction companies, engineers, installers and demand-side actors. Data from a multi-country survey is analysed to calculate the share of 15 drivers and 21 barriers (aggregated to 5 groups), being selected for each EET and country. The 5 groups considered to analyse drivers and barriers are environmental, technical, economic, social, legal. The perceived barriers and drivers were further studied for their association across the countries using the Pearson's Chi2 and a Cramer's V tests. The results demonstrate that across all EETs and countries, the technical and economic driver groups are perceived to have the highest potential to increase the implementation rate of EET. In terms of barriers, economic aspects are seen as the foremost reason that EET are not scaling faster. In both drivers and barriers legal aspects are the least often selected. In overall the barrier groups show significant variation across countries compared to driver groups. These findings provide an evidence-basis to better understand arguments in favour and against specific EETs and, in this way, support policy makers and other interested parties to increase the market share of the selected solutions.

The reduction of gained heat, heat peak shifting and the mitigation of air temperature fluctuations are some desirable properties that are sought after in any thermal insulation system. It cannot be overstated that these factors, in addition to others, govern the performance of such systems thus their effect on indoor ambient conditions. The effect of such systems extends also to Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems that are set up to operate optimally in certain conditions. Where literature shows that PCMs and natural materials such as wood-shavings can provide efficient passive insulation for buildings, it is evident that such approaches utilise methods that are of a degree of intricacy which requires specialist knowledge and complex techniques, such as micro-encapsulation for instance. With technical and economic aspects in mind, an amalgam of PCM and wood-shavings has been created for the purpose of being utilised as a feasible thermal insulation. The amalgamation was performed in the simplest of methods, through submerging the wood shavings in PCM. An experimental procedure was devised to test the thermal performance of the amalgam and compare this to the performance of the same un-amalgamated materials. Comparative analysis revealed that no significant thermal gains would be expected from such amalgamation. However, significant reduction in the total weight of the insulation system would be achieved that, in this case, shown to be up to 20.94%. Thus, further reducing possible strains on structural elements due to the application of insulation on buildings. This can be especially beneficial in vernacular architectural approaches where considerably large amounts and thicknesses of insulations are used. In addition, cost reduction could be attained as wood shavings are significantly cheaper compared to the cost of PCMs.

An indoor environmental quality (IEQ) assessment of academic libraries in Nigeria was conducted through objective measurements. The selected university libraries were Abubakar Gimba Library; Awwal Ibrahim Library; and Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida Library Complex. The libraries were evaluated under operating conditions and during their peak usage periods. Measurements of the main descriptors of good IEQ, including the acoustical, visual, and thermal comfort conditions were performed using portable IEQ meters. The methodology employed for the assessment of these IEQ descriptors followed prescriptions of international standards ASHRAE standard 55 and ISO 7730. To determine the time of the day in which the library buildings can achieve optimum IEQ, measurements were taken in the morning and afternoon. The results obtained were compared with reference values found in the international Standard CIBSE Guide A for adequate IEQ compliance of academic libraries. The findings of this study are expected to help in improving the IEQ of academic libraries in Nigeria and other parts of the world.

Recently, the requirement for cooling capacity decreased when the driving energy changed from liquid fuel to lithium batteries. Therefore, the structure and location of the forecabin could be adjusted based on the aerodynamic performance. The current study conducted a significant number of simulations in order to find out the effects of the internal flow through forecabin in an Ahmed body. The following conclusions have been identified:1, The flow through the forecabin would always increase the resistance of the entire body, and the drag coefficient increases, on average, by approximately 85%. 2, When the aspect ratio is higher or the position of the inlet opening is lower, the total drag coefficient is lower due to a weaker vortex strength, a simpler vortex structure and a relatively simple flow. 3, The existence of the forecabin will largely increase the oscillation frequency of the flow field by approximately 15 times compared to the original Ahmed model. Finally, the high drag coefficient moment always appears to be due to the formation of more complex or intense vortex motion. These conclusions can offer useful results and references for the structural design of the front cabin for new energy vehicles.

The ever-present demand for energy from various application in industrial and domestic processes has led to the consumption of fossil fuel at a rapid rate with adverse effect due to global warming. This study focuses on the thermal energy storage aspect intended for medium temperature applications. A novel composite A70 and PANI was prepared and characterized. The study investigates the composites thermophysical and optical properties. Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Transient Hot Bridge measured thermal storage capacity and thermal conductivity of the composite, respectively. The heat storage capacity of the composite remained stable within 4% whereas a highest rise of 11.96% in thermal conductivity was measured. The composites thermal, chemical, and physical stability were analysed from Thermogravimetric Analyser, Fourier Infrared Transform, and Scanning Electron Microscope, respectively. The composites were thermally stable up to a temperature of 250 °C. No chemical reaction occurred between the nanomaterial and base PCM matrix. The microscopic visuals did not show any considerable change in the microscopic structure of the material. In the case of optical properties, the composites showed significant reduction in transmittance of solar spectrum with respect to pure A70. The maximum decrement in transmission was around ~89% compared to A70. As the composite prepared were thermally stable till 250 °C, hence may be utilized for solar thermal and low concentrated photovoltaic application but not limited to these.

Strict enforcement of government policies to integrate high generation share from renewable energy sources (RES) like wind and PV would create inevitable operational challenges for the utilities to deliver Frequency Response (FR) services. Uncertain RES generation characteristics would worsen the situation for SO, to detain initial frequency deviation following the largest generation outage. This necessitates investigation of optimal generator combination for securing PFR adequacy with simultaneous characterization of uncertainty. In this regard, this paper proposes a novel Modified Interval (MI) based optimal generation mix formulation for operation cost minimization and FR adequacy. RES uncertainty is characterised by forecasted upper and lower bound, while hourly ramp needs are based on the net load scenarios. Proposed model is assessed on one area IEEE reliability test system. Rate of change of frequency (ROCOF) and frequency deviation are considered as network security limits to obtain optimal generation mix. Results obtained provide, overall cost performance, PFR and optimal generation mix, without violating system security criteria. This model would certainly assist SO, to enhance system's inertia and PFR adequacy at short-term system operations and could be extended for long-term planning framework.

Various systems and technologies have been developed in recent years to fulfil the growing needs of high-performance HVAC systems with better performance of energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and occupancy health. Intensified conditioning of human occupied areas and less intensified conditioning of surrounding areas are able to effectively improve the overall satisfaction by individual control of personalized micro-environments and also, achieve maximum energy efficiency. Four main concepts have been identified chronologically through the development of personal environmental conditioning, changing the intensified conditioning area closer to the human body and enhancing conditioning efforts, namely the task ambient conditioning (TAC) system, personal environmental control system (PECS), personal comfort system (PCS), and the personal thermal management (PTM) system. This review follows a clue of the concept progress and system evaluation, summarizes important findings and feasible applications, current gaps as well as future research needs.

Floods and flash floods are complex events, depending on weather dynamics, basin physiographical characteristics, land use cover and water management. For this reason, the prediction of such events usually deals with very accurate model tuning and validation, which is usually site-specific and based on climatological data, such as discharge time series or flood databases. In this work, we developed and tested two hydrological-stress indices for flood detection in the Italian Central Apennine District: a heterogeneous geographical area, characterized by complex topography and medium-to-small catchment extension. The proposed indices are threshold-based and developed considering operational requirements of National Civil Protection Department end-users. They are calibrated and tested through the application of signal theory, in order to overcome data scarcity over ungauged areas, as well as incomplete discharge time series. The validation has been carried out on a case study basis, using flood reports from various sources of information, as well as hydrometric-level time series, which represent the actual hydrological quantity monitored by Civil Protection operators. Obtained results show that the overall accuracy of flood prediction is greater than 0.8, with false alarm rates below 0.5 and the probability of detection ranging from 0.51 to 0.80. Moreover, the different nature of the proposed indices suggests their application in a complementary way, as the index based on drained precipitation appears to be more sensitive to rapid flood propagation in small tributaries, while the discharge-based index is particularly responsive to main-channel dynamics.

Lowland karst aquifers can generate unique wetland ecosystems which are caused by groundwater fluctuations that result in extensive groundwater–surface water interactions (i.e. flooding). However, the complex hydrogeological attributes of these systems, linked to extremely fast aquifer recharge processes and flow through well-connected conduit networks, often present difficulty in predicting how they will respond to changing climatological conditions. This study investigates the predicted impacts of climate change on a lowland karst catchment by using a semi-distributed pipe network model of the karst aquifer populated with output from the high spatial resolution (4 km) Consortium for Small-scale Modelling Climate Lokalmodell (COSMO-CLM) regional climate model simulations for Ireland. An ensemble of projections for the future Irish climate were generated by downscaling from five different global climate models (GCMs), each based on four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs; RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5) to account for the uncertainty in the estimation of future global emissions of greenhouse gases. The one-dimensional hydraulic/hydrologic karst model incorporates urban drainage software to simulate open channel and pressurised flow within the conduits, with flooding on the land surface represented by storage nodes with the same stage volume properties of the physical turlough basins. The lowland karst limestone catchment is located on the west coast of Ireland and is characterised by a well-developed conduit-dominated karst aquifer which discharges to the sea via intertidal and submarine springs. Annual above ground flooding associated with this complex karst system has led to the development of unique wetland ecosystems in the form of ephemeral lakes known as turloughs; however, extreme flooding of these features causes widespread damage and disruption in the catchment. This analysis has shown that mean, 95th and 99th percentile flood levels are expected to increase by significant proportions for all future emission scenarios. The frequency of events currently considered to be extreme is predicted to increase, indicating that more significant groundwater flooding events seem likely to become far more common. The depth and duration of flooding is of extreme importance, both from an ecological perspective in terms of wetland species distribution and for extreme flooding in terms of the disruption to homes, transport links and agricultural land inundated by flood waters. The seasonality of annual flooding is also predicted to shift later in the flooding season, which could have consequences in terms of ecology and land use in the catchment. The investigation of increasing mean sea levels, however, showed that anticipated rises would have very little impact on groundwater flooding due to the marginal impact on ebb tide outflow volumes. Overall, this study highlights the relative vulnerability of lowland karst systems to future changing climate conditions, mainly due to the extremely fast recharge which can occur in such systems. The study presents a novel and highly effective methodology for studying the impact of climate change in lowland karst systems by coupling karst hydrogeological models with the output from high-resolution climate simulations.

The combustion of fossil fuels is intensifying global warming and destructing the ecosystem with negative human health impacts as well. Even so, other anthropogenic activities have unfortunately constituted pollution also to our environment, say, in the form of waste waters. Beside these, the existing technologies for waste water treatment have problems such as high costs, sludge disposal challenges, etc. Thus, it is now important to find economically viable and safe alternatives to decontaminate waste waters. Hence, low cost, renewable, easily accessible, and readily prepared biosorbents have become favourable alternatives to traditional counterpart for the elimination of pollutants from aqueous systems. Fortunately, these biosorbents also have requisite and comparable properties necessary for adsorption of pollutants. Many studies have been reported on the application of biosorbents for pollutants removal. However, this paper provides an overview of biosorbents preparation, properties, their applications in pollutants removal and related use. Biosorbents are usually used in raw or processed forms such as activated carbon (AC), biobar (BC), and charcoal (CC) for removal of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, organics, inorganics, mycotoxins, etc. from aqueous systems. Besides classical sorption of the pollutants, biosorbents have prospect of applications as electrodes in the microbial fuel cells, green packaging materials, energy storage devices, catalysts, soil remediation agent, carbon sequestration, etc. Hence, further concerted investigations should be exercised to develop feasibly best conditions for the preparations and modifications of biosorbents. In addition, mean pore size, pore size distribution, porosity, surface functionality, and zeta potential studies are necessary to be had about biosorbents, especially novel types. There is need for development of biosorbents for specific tasks. Another essential thing is to determine desorption studies of these novel biosorbents. Focus should also be directed on more economically viable and sustainable biosorbents to enhance their use. Again, it is suggested that more suitable biomasses be identified to enable successful preparation of efficient biosorbents. More so, biosorbents can be recycled after use to avoid littering and possible pollution.

The interior of western Canada, like many similar cold mid- to high-latitude regions worldwide, is undergoing extensive and rapid climate and environmental change, which may accelerate in the coming decades. Understanding and predicting changes in coupled climate–land–hydrological systems are crucial to society yet limited by lack of understanding of changes in cold-region process responses and interactions, along with their representation in most current-generation land-surface and hydrological models. It is essential to consider the underlying processes and base predictive models on the proper physics, especially under conditions of non-stationarity where the past is no longer a reliable guide to the future and system trajectories can be unexpected. These challenges were forefront in the recently completed Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN), which assembled and focused a wide range of multi-disciplinary expertise to improve the understanding, diagnosis, and prediction of change over the cold interior of western Canada. CCRN advanced knowledge of fundamental cold-region ecological and hydrological processes through observation and experimentation across a network of highly instrumented research basins and other sites. Significant efforts were made to improve the functionality and process representation, based on this improved understanding, within the fine-scale Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling (CRHM) platform and the large-scale Modélisation Environmentale Communautaire (MEC) – Surface and Hydrology (MESH) model. These models were, and continue to be, applied under past and projected future climates and under current and expected future land and vegetation cover configurations to diagnose historical change and predict possible future hydrological responses. This second of two articles synthesizes the nature and understanding of cold-region processes and Earth system responses to future climate, as advanced by CCRN. These include changing precipitation and moisture feedbacks to the atmosphere; altered snow regimes, changing balance of snowfall and rainfall, and glacier loss; vegetation responses to climate and the loss of ecosystem resilience to wildfire and disturbance; thawing permafrost and its influence on landscapes and hydrology; groundwater storage and cycling and its connections to surface water; and stream and river discharge as influenced by the various drivers of hydrological change. Collective insights, expert elicitation, and model application are used to provide a synthesis of this change over the CCRN region for the late 21st century.

Solvents are an inevitable part of industries. They are widely used in manufacturing and processing industries. Despite the numerous controlling measures taken, solvents contaminate our environment to a vast extent. Green and sustainable solvents have been a matter of growing interest within the research community over the past few years due to the increasing environmental concerns. Solvents are categorized as “green” based on their nonvolatility, nonflammability, availability, biodegradability and so on. The use of ionic liquids, super critical carbon dioxide and aqueous solvents for the fabrication of polymer composites is discussed in this review. The progress of utilizing solvent-free approaches for polymer composite preparation and efforts to produce new biobased solvents are also summarized.

The present work evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of a rhamnolipids production process that utilizes digestate from anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste. Technical feasibility, profitability and extent of investment risks between fermenter scale and its operating strategy for rhamnolipids production was investigated in the present study. Three scenarios were generated and compared: production using a single large fermenter (Scenario I), using two small fermenters operated alternately (Scenario II) or simultaneously (Scenario III). It was found that all the scenarios were economically feasible, and Scenario III was the most profitable since it allowed the most optimum fermenter operation with utilization of multiple small-scale equipment to reduce the downtime of each equipment and increase the production capacity and overall productivity. It had the highest net present value, internal rate of return and shortest payback time at a discount rate of 7%. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to indicate how the variation in factors such as feedstock (digestate) cost, rhamnolipids selling price, extractant recyclability and process capacity influenced the process economics. The work provides important insights on techno-economic performance of a food waste digestate valorization process which would be useful to guide its sustainable scale-up.

Within the critical zone, regolith plays a key role in the fundamental hydrological functions of water collection, storage, mixing and release. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is recognized as a remarkable tool for characterizing the geometry and properties of the regolith, overcoming limitations inherent to conventional borehole-based investigations. For exploring shallow layers, a small electrode spacing (ES) will provide a denser set of apparent resistivity measurements of the subsurface. As this option is cumbersome and time-consuming, larger ES – albeit offering poorer shallow apparent resistivity data – is often preferred for large horizontal ERT surveys. To investigate the negative trade-off between larger ES and reduced accuracy of the inverted ERT images for shallow layers, we use a set of synthetic “conductive–resistive–conductive” three-layered soil–saprock/saprolite–bedrock models in combination with a reference field dataset. Our results suggest that an increase in ES causes a deterioration of the accuracy of the inverted ERT images in terms of both resistivity distribution and interface delineation and, most importantly, that this degradation increases sharply when the ES exceeds the thickness of the top subsurface layer. This finding, which is obvious for the characterization of shallow layers, is also relevant even when solely aiming for the characterization of deeper layers. We show that an oversized ES leads to overestimations of depth to bedrock and that this overestimation is even more important for subsurface structures with high resistivity contrast. To overcome this limitation, we propose adding interpolated levels of surficial apparent resistivity relying on a limited number of ERT profiles with a smaller ES. We demonstrate that our protocol significantly improves the accuracy of ERT profiles when using large ES, provided that the top layer has a rather constant thickness and resistivity. For the specific case of large-scale ERT surveys the proposed upgrading procedure is cost-effective in comparison to protocols based on small ES.

This article aims to study the interest of spent coffee grounds (SCG) valorization through caffeine recovery. In an original way, this study takes into account all the parameters such as (i) the brewing coffee methods (household, coffee shops, etc.), (ii) the storage conditions, in particular the drying step, (iii) the solid/liquid extraction parameters such as the nature of solvent, the temperature, the extraction time and the solid/liquid ratio, and (iv) the liquid/liquid purification parameters such as the nature, the volume and the pH of extraction medium. Results have shown that spent coffee grounds from coffee-shops obtained by percolation contain a higher amount of caffeine than spent coffee grounds from households obtained from spent pods or filters. A drying treatment is not required when extraction is performed under one week after the spent coffee grounds collection with 96.4% of not degraded caffeine. Solid/liquid extraction performed with 25 mL.g−1SCG of hydroalcoholic solvent (water/EtOH, v/v 60/40) at 60 °C during 15 min have given a caffeine yield up to 4.67 mg.g−1SCG. When using ethyl acetate, 93.4% of the caffeine has been selectively recovered by liquid/liquid extraction. Finally, the extraction of caffeine for the valorization of spent coffee grounds is a promising and easy way, which fits with an already important and well established market.

The aim of this paper was to present the current state and the need for development of the sanitary infrastructure in the communes of the Ryki District located in the Lublin Voivodeship. The Ryki District encompasses 1 urban Commune – Dęblin, 1 urban-rural Commune – Ryki and 4 rural communes: Kłoczew, Nowodwór, Stężyca and Ułęż. The paper is based on the data from the surveys conducted in all the afore-mentioned communes in 2016. In the whole district on average 71.3% of the population used the water supply network, while 42% of the inhabitants were able to discharge wastewater to the sewage system. Within the area of the Ryki District, 5 collective wastewater treatment plants with a capacity exceeding 5 m3/d functioned in 2016. The households which were not connected to the sewage network discharged wastewater mainly to non-return tanks. About 440 household sewage treatment plants were found in the surveyed communes. The overwhelming majority of such small objects in the discussed district were activated sludge systems (92%). The research carried out in 2016 proved a strong need to develop the current state of the sanitary infrastructure in the Ryki District. A particular emphasis should be placed on the wastewater management by connecting the inhabitants of urban areas to a joint sewage disposal system. Ecological awareness must be raised so as to encourage people to invest in household wastewater treatment plants, which should be used in the areas with scattered development.

At present, the development and optimization of methods to eliminate the consequences of soil contamination with hydrocarbons is gaining increasing economic and social importance; it is the basis for sustainable development of the oil industry. Within the frames of the scientific research, a review of literature was carried out in the sphere of utilization of organic wastes from the food industry in reclamation of oil-contaminated soils; an experimental study of efficiency of the use of wastes from the brewing industry in the process of bioremediation of oil-contaminated soils was conducted and phytotoxicity of these wastes was determined. Experimental research was conducted at different initial concentrations of oil in the soil, which allowed to establish the optimal range of oil pollution level at which the efficiency of brewing waste use is the highest. Thus, at low concentrations (1000-2000 mg/kg), the dynamics of oil concentration decrease in the soil remained preserved throughout the whole duration of the experiment, and the efficiency of oil destruction in the soil exceeded 98%, which confirmed the overall efficiency of application of brewing waste for reclamation of oil-contaminated soils.

The work was supported by National research fund of Ukraine, grant No.144/01.2020. The processes of removal of manganese (II) ions from water using sorbent catalysts, ion exchange materials modified with iron oxides have been studied. It is shown that manganese ions oxidize very slowly in artesian water even when the pH is adjusted to 9.0. Intensive aeration of solutions due to stirring also does not promote oxidation of manganese (II) ions. The degree of manganese extraction due to oxidation is reduced from 20–30 % for solutions with a concentration of manganese ions of 1 and 5 mg/dm3 to 11–15 % for solutions with a concentration of 15 and 30 mg/dm3. A significant increase in the oxidation efficiency of manganese ions was achieved by using magnetite as a sorbent catalyst. The efficiency of water demanganization increases with increasing intensity of water aeration when mixing solutions. It has been established that strongly acid cation exchangers provide efficient extraction of manganese ions from water. At the same time, a high exchange capacity of strong acid cation exchange resin KU-2-8 in acid and salt form was noted. It is shown that the capacity of manganese ions of this cation exchange resin in the Ca2+-form is slightly lower. When using the cation exchange resin KU-2-8 in Ca2+-form to remove manganese ions from the solution already in the first samples, the leakage of manganese ions at the level of 10 mg/dm3 and above was observed. This indicates that this form of ion exchanger is not suitable for deep purification of water from manganese (II) ions. To increase the efficiency of manganese ion extraction from water, increase the duration of the filter cycle, magnetite and magnetite-modified cation exchange resin KU-2-8 were used as a sorbent-catalyst. It was shown that the cation exchange resin modified with magnetite provides the removal of a significant part of manganese ions due to catalytic oxidation on magnetite. The conditions of effective manganese extraction in static and dynamic conditions are determined.

Efforts that have been done to manage the Hazardous and Toxic waste into non-Hazardous and Toxic waste are done by emptying, shredding, washing, and rinsing at least 3 times and disinfecting using chlorine. This is in accordance with the Indonesian Regulation of Ministry of Health No. 27 of 2017, which has stated that surface cleaning is permitted to use 0.05% chlorine during the process. Furthermore, in the Indonesian Regulation of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry No.56 of 2015, the chemical disinfection process is permitted to use an additional 3%-6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). However, there are still differences in dosage and it has not been mentioned regarding the immersion period during the disinfection process on both of the regulations. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in contact time and the dose of chlorine as a disinfectant on the number of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus stearothermophilus in the medical waste recycling process. The research design used in this study was a Randomized Factorial Design with experimental research type. A total of 104 recyclable medical waste samples were taken, using 3 treatments and 6 repetitions. The average temperature of the chlorine solution at the contact time of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 45 minutes was 24.342°C; 24,531°C; and 24,544°C respectively, while the average pH of the chlorine solution at the contact time of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 45 minutes was 8.344; 8,375; and 8,461 respectively. The results showed that there was no difference in the duration of contact and the dose of chlorine as a disinfectant in the medical waste recycling process with a p-value of 0.377. The percentage reduction in the number of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus stearothermophilus before and after treatment was 99.99% based on 4 positive controls. The findings in this study were the duration of contact time and the effective dose used in the recycling process of medical waste, which was at a dosage of 0.03% with 45 minutes of contact time. The government needs to conduct a re-assessment regarding the recommended ideal dosage in the surface disinfection process so that it would not cause a potential risk to humans or the environment.

The aim of the research was to determine, using statistical methods, the interdependence between COD and such parameters as: BOD5, TN and TP in raw wastewater and in mechanically treated wastewater, which would allow to estimate the values of these parameters based on COD. Moreover, the aim of the study was to determine the susceptibility of wastewater before and after mechanical treatment to decomposition of organic and biogenic pollutants. The research was conducted since 2006 to 2015 in a collective wastewater treatment plant in Nowy Sącz. During the research period, 120 samples of raw and mechanically treated wastewater were collected and analyzed once a month. In the analytical part of the research the quality of sewage was characterized, the strength of correlation of the examined indicators was determined and the susceptibility of sewage to biological decomposition was assessed. On the basis of the analysis it was found that knowing the value of the COD parameter it is possible to determine the values of the other indicators, i.e. BOD5, TN and TP. Moreover, it was shown that wastewater is largely susceptible to biological decomposition of pollutants, and during the period when there occurs the inflow of sewage with reduced susceptibility, wastewater with high content of organic carbon should be dosed.

With the global climate change and rapid urbanization, urban flood disasters spread and become increasingly serious in China. Urban rainstorms and waterlogging have become an urgent challenge that needs to be monitored in real time and further predicted for the improvement of urbanization construction. We trained a recurrent neural network (RNN) model to classify microblogging posts related to urban waterlogging and establish an online monitoring system of urban waterlogging caused by flood disasters. We manually curated more than 4400 waterlogging posts to train the RNN model so that it can precisely identify waterlogging-related posts of Sina Weibo to timely determine urban waterlogging. The RNN model has been thoroughly evaluated, and our experimental results showed that it achieved higher accuracy than traditional machine learning methods, such as the support vector machine (SVM) and gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT). Furthermore, we build a nationwide map of urban waterlogging based on recent 2-year microblogging data.

Past research has shown that occupancy information can be used to reduce building energy consumption through occupant-based controls and by mitigating wasteful occupant behavior. In this study, we investigate the dynamic relationship between WiFi connection counts (as a proxy to occupancy) and building electricity consumption across four building typologies (office, lab, health center, and library). Our findings based on one year of data show a strong positive linear correlation between electricity consumption and WiFi count across all four building when the building is in operation. The data exploration also indicates higher interactions between occupants with the plug and lighting loads in office and lab space types as compared to in a health center and a library. Next, using principal component analysis (PCA) for feature extraction followed by Density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN), we show that distinct clusters could be generated, characterized by an increase in the between-cluster variance and smaller within-cluster variation. Lastly, we apply linear regression to manifest how the clustering results can be used to better model the variables.

Processing of metals by cutting under modern conditions becomes impossible without the use of effective cutting fluids. The main purpose of cutting fluids is cooling, lubrication of the workpiece processing area. Spent emulsion is a special type of wastewater, very dangerous to the environment, as it contains a large number of persistently emulsified petroleum products. The methods using various surfactants were tested for the cutting fluid disposal. The obtained results allowed proposing a general flow diagram of treatment of spent cutting fluids, as well as a block diagram of their purification. After processing the spent cutting fluids according to the proposed diagram, two products were obtained, namely water and sludge. This technology can be used in metalworking shops of railway enterprises, as well as the enterprises of machine-building, metallurgical and other industries where CF-effluents are formed within the wastewater complex. It will provide both an economic result through the reuse of water and will give a significant environmental effect by minimizing the amount of hazardous waste.

This paper investigates the expansion of electric cars and their impact on the environment and the user; assuming a future scenario where all of the light-duty vehicles that use an internal combustion engine will be replaced by electric cars in Scotland. The idea is to investigate the impact on the environment and the financial effect on the user. The methodology is based on analysing the most common electric and conventional vehicles to estimate the amount of additional electricity that would be needed to charge that expansion. The paper has also looked at the running costs. The results show that approximately 4 GWh per annum of additional electricity will be needed to compensate for such growth in electricity demand. With the rise in electricity production, the amount of carbon emissions from the electrical grid is expected to increase slightly by 0.47 megatons CO2 per annum. Given that the carbon dioxide generated by the light internal combustion vehicles at the moment is 3.6 megatons of CO2 per year, it is concluded that the total amount of greenhouse gases from the electricity grid will decrease by circa 33.7% if all conventional cars in Scotland are replaced by electric cars. The initial cost of an electric car is found to be higher than conventional diesel or petrol one, but in the long term, the cost to power an electric vehicle is expected to be much cheaper. However, electric cars still have their own drawbacks as they need significant time to be charged, and will consume significant energy for heating the interior and windscreens to prevent condensation in cold weather leading to an estimated reduction in range of approximately 28% in some situations.

Over the past decades, a large amount of petroleum pollutants has been released into the environment resulting from various activities related to petrochemicals. The discharge of wastewater with petrochemicals can pose considerable risk of harm to the human health and the environment. The use of adsorbents has received much consideration across the environmental field as an effective approach for organic pollutant removal. There is a particular interest in the use of biomass adsorbent as a promising environmentally-friendly and low-cost option for removing pollutants. In this article, we present a review of biomass-derived adsorbents for the removal of petroleum pollutants from water. The features of different adsorbents such as algae, fungi, and bacteria biomasses are summarized, as is the process of removing oil and PAHs using biomass-derived adsorbents. Finally, recommendations for future study are proposed.

Research on the window operating behavior of offices is of great significance for reducing building energy consumption and improving indoor comfort. The open-plan office is a common office form that involves a large number of people and a complex staff composition. The window operating behaviors in open-plan offices are also random and various. This study took three open-plan offices with different situations (area, office type, staff composition, etc.) as an example, which provides a new perspective on how people behave differently when opening or closing windows. The window operating behaviors in two typical seasons (summer and transition seasons) were recorded and analyzed. The occupants’ schedules and influencing factors of window operating behavior were investigated by questionnaire surveys. In addition, the indoor environmental parameters, occupancy situation, and on-off statuses of windows and air conditioning were acquired through field measurements. Furthermore, the differences in window operating behaviors in the three open-plan offices were compared from the perspectives of influencing factors, duration of the window on-off statuses, and cause of window control actions, among others. In addition, Spearman Correlation Coefficient was used to analyze the ranks of the candidate motivations for window operating behaviors. The preliminary results show that influenced by the personnel composition, type of air conditioner and adjustable degree of windows, the window operating behaviors of different office buildings have larger discrepancies than that in the same building. However, there were some common characteristics in the window regulation behaviors of the three open-plan offices: they were generally influenced by the coupling of environmental factors, schedule factors, and equipment factors. This study reveals that when expand the research object from a single building to multiple buildings, more difficulties and challenges would be involved into behavior research.

This study was aimed to study the potential of biogas (methane) production from vinasse wastewater in real full-scale application using a two-stage sequencing Up-flow High Rate Anaerobic Reactor (UHRAR), with effluent recirculation and substrate modification. Batch experiment was initially conducted prior full-scale application experiment. Batch experiment was done with experimental condition variable: undiluted sample (pH 6) and diluted samples (pH: 5; 6 and 7). pH and methane production were observed for 50 days. Full-scale application was carried out in two-stage UHRAR reactors with volume 60 m3, HRT 40 d and OLR 60.1 – 104 kg COD/m3.d. Observation was lasted for 32 d. Result from batch experiment showed that diluted samples achieved higher COD degradation and methane generation than undiluted sample. The optimum condition occurred at pH 7, with theoretical methane yield of 7.51 – 10.64 L CH4 per kg COD. While in full scale application, at day 32, COD removal was 71% (69.1 kg COD/d removed), with methane production was 36.72 m3 CH4/d. Methane production per COD removed was 0.53 m3 CH4/kg COD.d. Substrate modification and effluent recirculation could improve the substrate biodegradability, maintain microbial diversity and enrich nutrients in the reactor.

The phosphogypsum dumps are one of the most toxic solid wastes of phosphoric acid, phosphate and phosphorus fertilizers manufacturing enterprises. In the article the possibility of remodeling of phosphogypsum dumps with using the Poaceae family herbaceous plants seeding was considered. On the basis of determination of growth parameters as well as sulfur and fluorine ions accumulation in the plants, the expediency of the dumps surface covering with a ground-covering mixture consisting of sand and sediment of wastewater in the amount of 10 or 20 % by weight is established. In the dumps Bromus inermis Leyss., Dactylis glomerata L., Elytrigia pseudocaesia (Pacz.) Procud., Festuca arundinacea L. and Festuca altissima L. are the most suitable plants for cultivation.

A three-dimensional finite element dynamic simulation platform of the ground source heat pump system (GSHPS) is established. According to the outlet temperature of ground heat exchangers (GHEs) required by the code in summer and winter, the calculated minimum buried depth of GHEs meeting the requirements is 60 m, when the number of borehole is 9. By using the established platform, the annual operation performance and cost of the GSHPS under different buried pipe depths are studied. The results show that the deeper the buried depth of GHEs is, the better the heat exchange effect of GHEs is. Compared with the GHEs with 60 m buried depth, when the buried depth of GHEs is 65 m, 70 m, 75 m and 80 m, the average coefficient of performance (COP) of the unit increases by 4.1%, 6.3%, 7.7% and 8.2% in cooling period and 1.0%, 1.6%, 1.8% and 1.9% in heating period, respectively. Considering the performance and initial investment of the GHSPS comprehensively, the optimal buried depth of GHEs is 60 m. However, considering the performance the system and the total cost of the system running for 20 years comprehensively, the optimal buried depth of GHEs is 70 m.

In the paper, the results of studies on changes in the concentration of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the reject water coming from aerobic stabilization of sewage sludge process were given. The sewage sludge samples originating from a treatment of municipal wastewater treatment plant and an industrial coking wastewater treatment plant were investigated. A technological study was conducted using a municipal sewage sludge (control sample) and a mixture of municipal and industrial sewage sludge simultaneously. Aerobic stabilization of sewage sludge process was carried out for 21 days. The concentration of PAHs was determined at the beginning of the experiment (day 0) and in seven-day intervals: after 7, 14 and 21 days. The initial concentration of PAHs in the reject water coming from the municipal sewage sludge was over 44 g/dm3. Industrial sewage sludge was heavily loaded with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In a reject water of the mixture of municipal and industrial sludge, the initial content of PAHs reached over 5200 g/dm3. During aerobic stabilization of sewage sludge, a decrease in PAHs concentration in reject water was observed. After 21 days of the experiment, the decrease of the sum of analyzed PAHs was in the range of 62–98 %.

The study reported here was to determine the effect of an application of organic and mineral materials and their mixtures, combined with mineral fertiliser regime, on the content of selected macroelements in cocksfoot grass and maize. The trial was a completely randomised arrangement with three replicates. Two experimental factors were tested: factor A – fertilisation with organic and mineral materials ( sewage sludge fresh and composted, hard coal incineration ashes , calcium carbonate, mixture of this components) and factor B – mineral fertilisation. The observed effects are indicative of the legitimacy of applying sewage sludge and its mixture with hard coal ash to fertilise agricultural crops as this would reduce reliance on mineral fertiliser, which is very desirable in sustainable agriculture. Mineral fertilisation applied to both the test plants significantly reduced their contents of calcium and magnesium but it increased their content of potassium.

In late winter, solar radiation is the main driver of water motion in ice-covered lakes. The resulting circulation and mixing determine the spatial distribution of heat within the lake and affect the heat budget of the ice cover. Although under-ice lake warming is often modeled as a one-dimensional (1D) vertical process, lake bathymetry induces a relative excess heating of shallow waters, creating horizontal density gradients. This study shows that the dynamic response to these gradients depends sensitively on lake size and latitude – Earth's rotation – and is controlled by the Rossby number. In the ageostrophic limit, horizontal density gradients drive cross-shore circulation that transports excess heat to the lake interior, accelerating the under-ice warming there. In the geostrophic regime, the circulation of the near- and off-shore waters decouples, and excess heat is retained in the shallows. The flow regime controls the fate of this excess heat and its contribution to water-induced ice melt.

The dynamics of hydrochemical parameters of surface waters of the upper, middle and lower reaches of the river is analyzed. Based on the analysis of temporal and spatial monitoring data, a comprehensive assessment of the environmental status of the waters of the Inhulets river (Ukraine) by hydrochemical indicators was carried out. The study performed a comparative analysis of river water quality assessment by different methods: an integrated assessment based on the calculation of water pollution indexes, pollution rate. A result of the evaluation of water quality in certain classes: in terms of ammonium ions and BOD5 ˗ III quality class, the water is slightly polluted; phosphate content ˗ V quality class, water is very low in the bottom; according to the content of suspended solids, in phosphates and BOD5 ˗ III class of water quality, water is polluted; by a concentration of chlorides ˗ V class of quality, degree of purity ÷ very dirty; the value of suspended solids and chlorides ˗ III class; in terms of sulfate content ˗ IV class. In general, the very excessive concentration of substances in the middle course remains stable, the environmental state is poor (quality class IV).

Leachate from landfill is wastewater with high pollutant content. The high pollutant content impacts the public and ecosystem health surrounding the landfill site. Therefore, it is essential to process the leachate first before its disposal to water body. Landfill leachate processing can be carried out using three processes, i.e., physical-chemical, biological, and combination. A constructed wetland is currently considered as an environmentally friendly technology to tackle water pollution and leachate. Another advantage of a constructed wetland is the low operational cost and natural maintenance, so it can be a solution related to cost, technical, and operating system problems of conventional processing. This article aimed to discover characteristic differences of landfill leachate, constructed wetland installation position, and types of plants used in the constructed wetland. This article was carried out using literature reviews from experimental studies on water processing with the same parameter for leachate and leachate processing. The literature review result shows that landfill leachate processing depends on different leachate characteristics. The toxic quality of landfill leachate was found through a toxicity test. Leachate processing by physical-chemical process contains toxic and non-biodegradable organic substances. Hence, the physical-chemical methods should be applied at the beginning of the process and coupled with the biological method at the end of the process to improve quality. A constructed wetland with diverse plants was found to be more effective in biomass distribution, was less prone to seasonal variations, and had a more diverse microbe population than the constructed wetland with a single plant.

The heavy metal pollution in seawater and sediment can damage mangrove ecosystems and accumulate in mudskipper that lives in mangrove forests. The accumulation of heavy metal in mudskipper can affect the structure of its gill tissue, liver, and muscles. This research aims at (1) analyzing the levels of Pb, Cd, and Cu heavy metals in mudskipper, sediment, and seawater and (2) analyzing the damage to the gill, liver, and muscle tissue of mudskipper due to the exposure to heavy metals. The mudskipper samples were collected from the mangrove forests of Poka, Waai, and Rutong from May to June in 2019. The heavy metal analysis was conducted using the AAS method, while the gill, liver and muscle tissue staining was carried out with the HE (Hematoxylin Eosin) staining method with 40x magnification. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and correlational analysis. The results of the analysis showed that based on the mangrove locations, the order of Pb and Cu accumulation in mudskipper was Rutong> Poka> Waai; while the order of the Cd accumulation was Rutong> Waai> Poka. The changes in the gill tissue structure due to the exposure to heavy metals were in the form of teleangiectasia, secondary lamellar edema, hyperplasia, epithelial desquamation, clubbing, and primary lamellar edema. The changes in the liver tissue structure due to the exposure to heavy metals involved hemorrhage and fat degeneration. The changes in the muscle tissue structure due to the exposure to heavy metals include changes in muscle fibers, edema, and necrosis. The highest accumulation of Pb and Cd was found in gills and muscles from seawater, while low level of heavy metal Cu was found in the liver.

Soil moisture is highly variable in space, and its deficits (i.e. droughts) plays an important role in modulating crop yields and its variability across landscapes. Limited hydroclimate and yield data, however, hampers drought impact monitoring and assessment at the farmer field-scale. This study demonstrates the potential of field-scale soil moisture simulations to advance high-resolution agricultural yield prediction and drought monitoring at the smallholder farm field-scale. We present a multi-scale modeling approach that combines HydroBlocks, a physically-based hyper-resolution Land Surface Model (LSM), and machine learning. We applied HydroBlocks to simulate root zone soil moisture and soil temperature in Zambia at 3-hourly 30-m resolution. These simulations along with remotely sensed vegetation indices, meteorological conditions, and data describing the physical properties of the landscape (topography, land cover, soil properties) were combined with district-level maize data to train a random forest model (RF) to predict maize yields at the district- and field-scale (250-m) levels. Our model predicted yields with a coefficient of variation (R2) of 0.61, Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 349 kg ha−1, and mean normalized error of 22 %. We captured maize losses due to the 2015/2016 El Niño drought at similar levels to losses reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Our results revealed that soil moisture is the strongest and most reliable predictor of maize yield, driving its spatial and temporal variability. Consequently, soil moisture was also the most effective indicator of drought impacts in crops when compared with precipitation, soil and air temperatures, and remotely-sensed NDVI-based drought indices. By combining field-scale root zone soil moisture estimates with observed maize yield data, this research demonstrates how field-scale modeling can help bridge the spatial scale discontinuity gap between drought monitoring and agricultural impacts.

The drought of 2018 in central and northern Europe showed once more the large impact that this natural hazard can have on the environment and society. Such droughts are often seen as slowly developing phenomena. However, root zone soil moisture deficits can rapidly develop during periods lacking precipitation and meteorological conditions that favor high evapotranspiration rates. These periods of soil moisture stress can persist for as long as the meteorological drought conditions last, thereby negatively affecting vegetation and crop health. In this study, we aim to characterize past soil moisture stress events over the croplands of southwestern Germany and, furthermore, to relate the characteristics of these past events to different soil and climate properties. We first simulated daily soil moisture over the period 1989–2018 on a 1 km resolution grid, using the physically based hydrological model TRAIN. We then derived various soil moisture stress characteristics, including probability, development time, and persistence, from the simulated time series of all agricultural grid cells (n≈15 000). Logistic regression and correlation were then applied to relate the derived characteristics to the plant-available storage capacity of the root zone and to the climatological setting. Finally, sensitivity analyses were carried out to investigate how results changed when using a different parameterization of the root zone, i.e., soil based or fixed, or when assessing soil moisture drought (anomaly) instead of stress. Results reveal that the majority of agricultural grid cells across the study region reached soil moisture stress during prominent drought years. The development time of these soil moisture stress events varied substantially, from as little as 10 d to over 4 months. The persistence of soil moisture stress varied as well and was especially high for the drought of 2018. A strong control on the probability and development time of soil moisture stress was found to be the storage capacity of the root zone, whereas the persistence was not strongly linearly related to any of the considered controls. On the other hand, the sensitivity analyses revealed the increased control of climate on soil moisture stress characteristics when using a fixed instead of a soil-based root zone storage. Thus, the strength of different controls depends on the assumptions made during modeling. Nonetheless, the storage capacity of the root zone, whether it is a characteristic of the soil or a difference between a shallow or deep rooting crop, remains an important control on soil moisture stress characteristics. This is different for SM drought characteristics, which have little or contrasting relation with the storage capacity of the root zone. Overall, the results give insight to the large spatial and temporal variability in soil moisture stress characteristics and suggest the importance of considering differences in root zone soil storage for agricultural drought assessments.

A transparent radiative cooling (T-RC) film with low transmittance in solar spectra and selectively high emissivity in the atmospheric window (8–13 μm) is applied on roof glazing for building energy saving. To evaluate the performance of the T-RC film, two identical model boxes (1.0 m × 0.6 m × 1.2 m, L × W × H) were constructed and the inside air temperatures were measured in August in Ningbo, China. Results show that the maximum temperature difference between the two model boxes with and without the T-RC film was 21.6 °C during the experiment. A whole building model was built in EnergyPlus for the model box. With a good agreement achieved between the calculation results and the measured temperature data, the experimentally validated EnergyPlus model was then extended to an 815.1 m2 exhibition building with roof glazing to analyze the annual air conditioning (AC) energy consumption. The results show that by incorporating both the T-RC film's cooling benefit in summer and heating penalty in winter, the annual AC energy consumption of the exhibition building can be reduced by 40.9–63.4%, varying with different climate conditions.

Technologies associated with the use of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) is becoming one of the dynamically developing directions in the wastewater disposal system. However, a certain part of the used design of membrane units are exposed to mechanical contamination, which significantly impairs their performance. This is especially noticeable when working at wastewater treatment plants, where the required degree of preliminary cleaning from solid mechanical particles and suspended solids is not provided. The purpose of the work is to improve the process of post-treatment of urban wastewater and protect the membrane element of the installation from clogging with coarse impurities and wear, with an overestimated concentration of suspended solids. The essence of the improved membrane technology of wastewater treatment consists in the preliminary capture of heavy and suspended particles with a size of more than 0.03 microns in a hydrocyclone, followed by water treatment in a chamber of a membrane bioreactor of modern design. The operating conditions of the membranes were determined by the operating modes and parameters of the bioreactor, in particular, by the degree of formation of colloidal compounds in it, which adversely affect the permeability. The density of the initial water varied within 1.059 - 1.078 g / cm³, and the content of solid particles was up to 0.3 mm. activated sludge was filtered under vacuum on a Buchner funnel through a thin layer of cotton wool and gauze. During the tests, the indicators for capturing suspended solids were 5.0 - 9.0 mg / dm³, while, when working without a hydrocyclone, they were equal to 27 - 30 mg / dm³. The maximum performance of the hydrocyclone is provided at an inlet pressure of 225-300 kPa, and the pressure loss in the hydrocyclone chamber is 7.9 - 9.0 kPa.. It has been established that additional preparation of waste water for the post-treatment process using a hydrocyclone increases the cleaning capacity of membrane elements by reducing the load of accumulation of coarse impurities on the membrane surface.

The aim of this paper was to study the microbiological stability of bio-based composite building materials, which are made using organic-rich lake sediments (further – sapropel) with lime and magnesium cement as binders and hemp shives as filler. The microbial stability properties of the obtained composite materials were investigated and compared to similar composites. Because of their high organic content, these materials are prone to biodegradation; therefore, they were coated with ALINA LIFE TM organoclay coating, which helps to extend the product life, reducing the rate of biodegradation compared to the biocides used in industry. The effect of the coating on the resistance to decay by the Aspergillus versicolor, Penicillium chrysogenum, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium herbarum, Chaetomium sp. and Trichoderma asperellum fungi was investigated under different conditions: relative humidity modes of 75% and 99% at 20°C for 45 days and four months. The results indicated that the composites made of sapropel and lime have similar microbial stability properties as lime and magnesium cement binder composite materials. ALINA LIFE TM organoclay coating showed advanced resistance to biodegradation; sapropel-lime composites have shown several good properties that make them suitable to be considered for use in the construction material industry.

According to Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019, single-use plastic cutlery, cotton buds, straws and stirrers will be banned in the member states of EU from summer 2021 onwards. Many of them are being replaced by compostable products. The aim of the research was to assess the biological disintegration of selected single-use products under real conditions of urban composting facility. All tested products are established for the Slovak market as 100 % compostable by a composting facility. The eight selected products from five different producers were placed into a composting pile of the urban composting facility for 12 weeks. The samples were visually inspected on a regular basis. Temperature and humidity of the pile were continuously measured at the same time. Three samples from each kind of tested product were analyzed, 3 pieces of filter paper were used as the reference samples. The research showed that all tested products were completely or partially disintegrated during the considered period. The average degree of the disintegration of 90% was not reached for one producer only.

The objective of this study was to estimate the height of roughness element (ZH) and zero-displacement length (Zd) for Baghdad city using remote sensing and GIS techniques and resources such as DEM, DSM, and shapefile. The difference between DEM and DSM produced digital height model which represents the height of the roughness element for the region, which was used to determine the zero-displacement height. The results showed that the variations in Zd values depend strongly on ZH. Rusafa had the highest Zd (15.8 m) while Dora had the lowest values (4.7 m). Thus, Baghdad city has medium density classification according to the results of Zd and ZH values.

Negative effects of the urban environment on the morphological and physiological states of Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd' have been investigated. For comparison, two plots were selected for the cultivation of eastern arborvitae cultivars: one in a public garden (the control plot) and the other one in street planting with its positive vertical temperature gradient associated with overheating and dehydration of the soil. This situation had a negative impact on the biometric and physiological parameters of the plants, and, in the end, the level of their vitality. If, under optimal growth conditions, the vertical temperature gradient is negative (in the crown the air temperature is higher and the soil temperature in the rhizosphere zone is lower), physiological processes in Thuja ocidentalis 'Smaragd' (transpiration, water-holding capacity) proceed in a normal mode. A change in the temperature regime (soil temperature is higher than the air temperature in the crown), under conditions of a positive temperature gradient, leads to negative consequences: the morphological structure of plants changes (the growth of the apical and side shoots slows down, the number of needles increases, the lower parts of the trunks get bared, the length and volume of the crown are reduced), also physiological processes are disturbed - moisture deficiency increases, water holding capacity decreases, the needles' pigment composition changes towards decreasing the amount of chlorophylls (a + b) and carotenoids. A decrease in the vitality level of the study plants with a positive temperature gradient was confirmed by the vitality indices Rfd established by the fluorescence means (negative gradient 0.64; positive gradient 0.33).

Groundwater table dynamics extensively modify the volume of the hyporheic zone and the rate of hyporheic exchange processes. Understanding the effects of daily groundwater table fluctuations on the tightly coupled flow and heat transport within hyporheic zones is crucial for water resources management. With this aim in mind, a physically based model is used to explore hyporheic responses to varying groundwater table fluctuation scenarios. The effects of different timing and amplitude of groundwater table daily drawdowns under gaining and losing conditions are explored in hyporheic zones influenced by natural flood events and diel river temperature fluctuations. We find that both diel river temperature fluctuations and daily groundwater table drawdowns play important roles in determining the spatiotemporal variability of hyporheic exchange rates, temperature of exfiltrating hyporheic fluxes, mean residence times, and hyporheic denitrification potentials. Groundwater table dynamics present substantially distinct impacts on hyporheic exchange under gaining or losing conditions. The timing of groundwater table drawdown has a direct influence on hyporheic exchange rates and hyporheic buffering capacity on thermal disturbances. Consequently, the selection of aquifer pumping regimes has significant impacts on the dispersal of pollutants in the aquifer and thermal heterogeneity in the sediment.

For the purpose that relieves the suffering of the patients and shortens their hospital stay, it is crucial to design and manage the environment control systems reasonably to maintain an appropriate indoor thermal environment. However, all of the current thermal comfort theories are based on a healthy population. There are significant differences in metabolism and clothing thermal resistance between inpatients and healthy people, which are regarded as vital influenced factors on people's thermal comfort. Therefore, these existing thermal comfort models may not be applicable for inpatients. In this paper, the patients' comfort equation was derived by modifying the metabolism and the clothing thermal resistance based on the thermal comfort model of Professor Fanger, and the rationality of the model was tested by using field experiment data obtained in general wards. Validated by t-tests, the value of AMV and PMV calculated by the modified equation is not markedly different on a 5% significant level for all patients lying on bed in winter. Moreover, the typical comfort diagrams of inpatients were established by solving the thermal comfort equation. The results of this study are intended to assist in the formulation of useful guidelines to facilitate the assessment and management of hospital ward thermal environments.

According to UN experts, by 2030, about half of the world's population will suffer from a shortage of fresh water, and this may cause future hostilities and conflicts. In this regard, extraction of such a valuable mineral as groundwater must be rationally managed. However, practice has shown that managing and protecting groundwater resources is a very challenging task. As part of the analysis of the problem of legal regulation of groundwater extraction from transboundary aquifers and complexes, it is proposed to consider this aspect on the example of Russia. The problems of regulation of rational use and protection of fresh water in the bilateral agreements of the Russian Federation have been identified; a methodology for managing groundwater extraction in the territory of a transboundary aquifer has been developed, dimensions, parameters and factors affecting the formation of a transboundary zone have been determined (using the example of research and analysis of water intake activities in the border territories of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia).

Layered double hydroxide (LDH) Zn/Al and Cu/Al was synthesized by using the coprecipitation method under base condition at pH 10 following with formation of composites based on biochar (BC) to form Zn/Al-BC and Cu/Al-BC. The materials were characterized by XRD, FTIR, BET, and thermal analyses. Furthermore, materials was applied as adsorbent of Cr(VI) on aqueous solution. The performance of composites as adsorbent was evaluated by reusability of adsorbent toward Cr(VI) adsorption process. The results showed that Cu/Al-BC and Zn/Al-BC can reuse the re-adsorption process with the adsorption ability of more than 60%. The adsorption capacity of Cu/Al-BC and Zn/Al-BC was higher than that of starting materials and up to 384.615 mg/g for Cu/Al-BC and 666.667 mg/g for Zn/Al-BC. Both composites showed the potential adsorbents to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solution.

This study addresses estimation of emission rates and concentrations of SO2, CO and NO2 gases emitted from Daura Refinery (DR), Daura Power Plant (DPP) and South of Baghdad Power Plant (SBPP) by calculating the fuel discharge. The estimations were made by using the Gaussian plume model of dispersion at distances within 10 km from the pollution source for January, April, July and October 2017 under two stability conditions, slightly stable and moderately unstable. The effect of wind speed and direction as well as the ambient temperature of the surrounding air on the dispersion and transmission of air pollutants were also investigated. It was found that the unstable conditions are better for dispersing out atmospheric pollutants. The results showed that Zafarania District was the most affected by pollutants emitted from DR and BSPP while Daura District was more affected by DPP due to the prevailing wind direction. It was also found that an increase in wind speed leads to a decrease in the concentration of pollutants. The concentration of pollutants is inversely proportional to the height of the chimney, the speed of the gas leaving the chimney, while it is directly proportional to the diameter of the chimney. DPP has higher emission rates than DR and SBPP while at the surface level, the pollutants concentrations emitted from DR are greater than those emitted from DPP and SBPP.