Environmental Engineering
F.R. Sutikno; N.A. Sasongko; I.N. Djarot; H.S. Dillon
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Environmental, Social, and Governance reporting is universally recognized as a pivotal component embraced by the industry to address climate change and serve as a safeguard to the physical and social environments of society. In the absence of global standards, organizations ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Environmental, Social, and Governance reporting is universally recognized as a pivotal component embraced by the industry to address climate change and serve as a safeguard to the physical and social environments of society. In the absence of global standards, organizations have developed standardized reporting frameworks for companies. This study provides an adaptation easiness measurement and a wide range of environmental, social, and governance disclosure components extracted from several standards. Multiple standards and a broader range of scaling measurements were used in this study to observe the characteristics of each industry where each environmental, social, and governance component is specific. The objective of this study is to investigate how companies in Indonesia comply with various environmental, social, and governance standards, given the importance of identifying variations of easiness on environmental, social, and governance on sustainability reports.METHODS: Using multi-source analysis, content analysis, and exploratory data analysis, this study identified whether industries in Indonesia adopt selective patterns in the components included in their sustainability reports.FINDINGS: This study identified 26 environmental, 8 social, and 23 governance popular components, which are components with high environmental, social, and governance report applicability and company adaptability. The environmental components that is easy to adapt primarily center around formal environmental, social, and governance framework data, in social component revolves around customary practices in corporate social responsibility, and in governance component emphasizes corporate reputation. By employing industry-specific environmental, social, and governance components, this study identifies three distinct groups, enabling the formulation of tailored policies to effectively address the unique needs of each group.CONCLUSION: This study exposes several findings on how companies in Indonesia adopt different components of environmental, social, and governance reports according to their needs, regulations, and analysis complexity. The novelty of this study combined the use of unified comparison components, a wider range of scaling measurements, and specific environmental social, and governance components per-industry type.
D. Sivakumar
Abstract
The isolated fungi species of different kinds from chromium contaminated soil sites located in Nagalkeni, Chennai were used for reducing chromium(VI) in a tannery industry wastewater of Nagalkeni, Chennai. The experiments were conducted to know biosorption potential of isolated fungi species for ...
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The isolated fungi species of different kinds from chromium contaminated soil sites located in Nagalkeni, Chennai were used for reducing chromium(VI) in a tannery industry wastewater of Nagalkeni, Chennai. The experiments were conducted to know biosorption potential of isolated fungi species for removing chromium(VI) in a tannery industry wastewater against the different pH, fungi biomass and chromium(VI) concentration (dilution ratio). The results of this study indicated that the order of maximum removal of chromium(VI) by an isolated fungi species at an optimum pH of 3, fungi biomass of 4g andan initial chromium(VI) concentration of 18.125 mg/L (dilution ratio 4)is A. niger > A. flavus > A. fumigatus > A. nidulans > A. heteromorphus > A. foetidus > A. viridinutans. This study found that the maximum removal of chromium(VI) was achieved by Aspergillus niger (96.3 %) than other fungi species at chromium(VI) concentration of 18.125 mg/Lin a tannery industry wastewater. The chromium removal from tannery industry wastewater was validated by checking chromium removal in an aqueous solution and by checking the removal efficiency of other parameters in a tannery industry wastewater using same isolated A. niger. Biosorption model was proposed to simulate the experimental condition for removing chromium(VI) in a tannery industry wastewater by all isolated fungi species. The R2 and values of the proposed model predicted that the proposed biosorption model is very much useful for predicting the trend of reduction potential of chromium(VI) in a tannery industry wastewater by all isolated fungi species. This study suggested that one could select the type of fungi species, ion concentration level, selection of treatment period, quantity of biomass to be used, and pH level of the medium, to achieve the highest reduction of any toxic metals from any contaminated water, wastewater and soil environment.
A.R. Karbassi; M. Pazoki
Abstract
In this study, the concentrations of heavy metals (Ca, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni) in thesediment of Shavoor River in Khuzestan Province in Iran has been investigated. After the library studies and field studies, six samples of water and sediment were taken from the river in order to evaluate heavy metal pollution ...
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In this study, the concentrations of heavy metals (Ca, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni) in thesediment of Shavoor River in Khuzestan Province in Iran has been investigated. After the library studies and field studies, six samples of water and sediment were taken from the river in order to evaluate heavy metal pollution in sediments. To determine the geochemical phases of metals in sediment samples the 5-step method was used for chemical separation. For quantitative assessment of the severity of contamination in the sediments, the geochemical indicators such as enriched factor (EF) and the accumulation index (Igeo) were used. Also, the statistical analyses including methods such as correlation analysis cluster analysis the (CA), were conducted.The results of the experiments showed that the organic matter deposited varies with the average of 2.49 and ranges between 1.95% and 3.43%. Samples showed concentrations of metals such as calcium, iron, manganese, copper and nickel at all the sampling points were below the global average, whereas the concentration of copper was slightly higher than the global scale. Enriched factor (EF) was calculated for the elements revealed that heavy metals are classified as non-infected. The Geo-accumulation Index showed that the studied elements were uninfected peers. Based on the results of multivariate statistical analysis it was concluded that metals such as manganese, copper, iron, nickel and zinc are mainly natural and calcium metal is likely to have an organic origin.
S.M. Tajbakhsh; H. Memarian; M. Sobhani; A.H. Aghakhani Afshar
Abstract
Hydrologic modeling of semi-arid watersheds is imperative for the development of appropriate water and soil conservation plans. In the current study, the efficiency of Kinematic Runoff and Erosion model-version 2 (K2) model was used to evaluate water discharge and sediment load simulation of Bar watershed, ...
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Hydrologic modeling of semi-arid watersheds is imperative for the development of appropriate water and soil conservation plans. In the current study, the efficiency of Kinematic Runoff and Erosion model-version 2 (K2) model was used to evaluate water discharge and sediment load simulation of Bar watershed, located in the north-eastern part of Iran. The K2 model relies on the kinematic wave approach to route surface flow. The drainage network and planes are discretized to represent the watershed. In order to evaluate the model, 3 and 2 reported rainfall incidents in various dates were selected for K2 calibration and validation, respectively. The multiplier approach was employed for model calibration. The results of sensitivity investigation revealed that the soil parameters Ks-CH, n and G had the highest impact on flow discharge. Through the calibration process, the Nash-Sutcliff Efficiency and the coefficient of determination as fitting metrics for water discharge simulation (based on event #2, dated 16 March 1992) were estimated to be 0.78 and 0.88, respectively. According to the aggregated measure, the highest K2 efficiency was obtained during the calibration process based on event #2. Other storm events were resulted in a good simulation, as well. During the validation process, K2 simulation (based on event #4, dated 07 March 1991) led to the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency and R2 of 0.77 and 0.71, respectively. The K2 calibration for sediment load simulation was performed through the alterations of the Pave and Rainsplash parameters. The bias percentages between simulated and observed total sediment loads based on events #2 and #4 were 5% and 16%, respectively. Conclusively, the K2 model showed an acceptable robustness in the hydrological simulation of Bar watershed as a representative semi-arid watershed in northeast of Iran.
Environmental Management
R. Mirzaei; M.R. Hemami; A. Esmaili Sari; H.R. Rezaei; A.T. Peterson
Abstract
Understanding distributions of wildlife species is a key step towards identifying biodiversity hotspots and designing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, the spatial pattern of diversity of birds in Golestan Province, Iran was estimated. Ecological niche modeling was used to determine distributions ...
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Understanding distributions of wildlife species is a key step towards identifying biodiversity hotspots and designing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, the spatial pattern of diversity of birds in Golestan Province, Iran was estimated. Ecological niche modeling was used to determine distributions of 144 bird species across the province using a maximum entropy algorithm. Richness maps across all birds, and separately for rare and threatened species, were prepared as approximations to hotspots. Results showed close similarity between hotspots for all birds and those for rare birds; hotspots were concentrated in the southern and especially the southwestern parts of the province. Hotspots for threatened birds tended more to the central and especially the western parts of the province, which include coastal habitats. Based on three criteria, it is clear that the western part is the most important area of the province in terms of bird Faunas. Despite some shortcomings, hotspot analysis for birds could be applied to guide conservation efforts and provide useful tool towards efficient conservation action.
D. Sivakumar
Abstract
Taguchi L9 orthogonal array was implemented to select optimum values of process parameters and to attain the maximum removal of pollutants and power generation from dairy industry wastewater using double chambered salt bridge microbial fuel cell. The maximum chemical oxygen demand reduction, current, ...
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Taguchi L9 orthogonal array was implemented to select optimum values of process parameters and to attain the maximum removal of pollutants and power generation from dairy industry wastewater using double chambered salt bridge microbial fuel cell. The maximum chemical oxygen demand reduction, current, voltage, power, current density and power density in double chambered salt bridge microbial fuel cell from dairy industry wastewater was found to be 86.30 %, 16.10 mA, 886.34 mV, 14.27 mW, 1219.69 mA/m2 and 1081.06 mW/m2 respectively for the optimum value of 1M NaCl concentration, 10 % agar concentration and 0.10 m salt bridge length. Double chambered salt bridge microbial fuel cell was not only removed chemical oxygen demand and produced power, but it also removed other pollutants at the maximum level against the best optimum value of process parameters from the dairy industry wastewater. The proposed regression model was used to select the right combination of process parameters for obtaining a maximum reduction of pollutants and simultaneous power production from the dairy industry wastewater.
Environmental Science
M. Ramli; M. Mukramati; M. Ikhwan; H. Hafnani
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The spread of COVID-19 is very fast because it is transmitted from human to human. Non-pharmaceutical control is one of the important actions in reducing the spread of COVID-19, such as the use of masks and physical distancing. This study aims to model COVID-19 by incorporating ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The spread of COVID-19 is very fast because it is transmitted from human to human. Non-pharmaceutical control is one of the important actions in reducing the spread of COVID-19, such as the use of masks and physical distancing. This study aims to model COVID-19 by incorporating people''s habits as a non-pharmaceutical preventive measure. The model formed emphasizes the importance of preventing with masks and physical distancing. The implication of this action is that the infected population is decreasing, resulting in less interaction between the susceptible and the infected. In this case, the virus has not vanished from the community, but the use of masks in certain populations or subpopulations is lower than before, which can reduce mask waste in the environment.METHODS: This study expands on a previous MERS-CoV research model using the susceptible-exposed-infected-quarantine-recovery model by incorporating behavioral control, specifically the use of masks and physical distancing as preventive measures. The susceptible population that interacts with the carrier/exposed and infected population is used to calculate mask use. The susceptible population was divided into two subpopulations based on their willingness to wear masks. The following breakthrough is the application of the same system to the infected population, which is required to wear masks at all times during their self-isolation period. The model-generated equation system is a nonlinear system of differential equations. The developed model is examined by determining the equilibrium point and the basic reproduction number.FINDINGS: The model resulted an asymptotically stable disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium. The disease-free stability is only examined if the compliance with physical distancing exceeds 0.55 and the compliance with the use of distancing exceeds 0.55. This compliance condition resulted in a decrease in basic reproduction number ranging from 0.48 to 0.07. The endemic stability is only investigated if compliance with physical distancing is 0.1 and compliance with use of distancing is 0.2. The endemic condition can arise if masks and physical separation are not used. Physical distancing compliance and mask use have values less than 0.1 and 0.2, respectively.CONCLUSION: The analysis of the equilibrium points and basic reproduction numbers, show that increasing compliance in carrying out the health protocol measures of physical distancing and mask use causes a decrease in the spread of COVID-19, so that the disease will disappear over time.
M.B. Kulkarni; P.M. Ghanegaonkar
Abstract
The toxicity and corrosion potential of hydrogen sulfide in raw biogas underlines the need for biogas purification. Several techniques available for removal of hydrogen sulfide from biogas are out of the reach for common end users due to lack of knowledge, higher running costs, and insufficient ...
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The toxicity and corrosion potential of hydrogen sulfide in raw biogas underlines the need for biogas purification. Several techniques available for removal of hydrogen sulfide from biogas are out of the reach for common end users due to lack of knowledge, higher running costs, and insufficient operational skills. The present experimental study aims to propagate hydrogen sulfide removal techniques amongst the end users by using a low-cost chemical absorption technique and packed column reactors. Commercial grade chemicals like monoethanolamine, sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, granular activated carbon, and steel wool were used for biogas purification in packed column reactors of 1.2 liters capacity. Hydrogen sulfide removal efficiency up to 92.41% was achievable using single purification columns. The efficiency achieved by using multiple purification column was up to 96.84%. Hydrogen sulfide removal efficiency was calculated for experimental variants like the use of a dedicated purification column, multiple purification columns, flow variations and pressure variations of raw biogas. The data for the frequency of regeneration/replacement of different chemicals was also determined. The simplicity of operation and the use of low-cost reagents in the present study can enable the use of these methods amongst end users of biogas technology for minimizing health hazards and corrosion problems.
Environmental Engineering
N. Amani; F. Tirgar Fakheri; K. Safarzadeh
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: According to the latest energy balance sheets, the average energy consumption in the residential sector of Iran is about 41% of the total energy consumption in the country. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings can decrease the annual energy consumption in the residential ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: According to the latest energy balance sheets, the average energy consumption in the residential sector of Iran is about 41% of the total energy consumption in the country. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings can decrease the annual energy consumption in the residential sector and, thereby, the energy costs of families. The objectives of this study were to evaluate and prioritize the effective factors in reducing the energy consumption in residential buildings in the north of Iran using the climatic conditions analysis.METHODS: In the first step, the amount of energy consumption in the cooling and heating section was estimated in the base conditions, and in the next step, the amount of energy consumption was calculated. The obtained results were compared with each other with the help of optimization strategies for energy consumption using the Design Builder software. Finally, a set of effective factors were determined to be involved in decreasing the energy consumption.FINDING: The results showed that application of the LED lamps instead of the conventional fluorescent lamps could decrease the energy consumption by 980.4 kWh. Moreover, changing the materials of the walls and ceiling, using the polyurethane foam insulation with the thickness of 20 mm, and using the double-glazed UPVC windows reduced the energy consumption by 770 kWh. Energy reduction of about 101.5 kWh was also obtained after external movable awning and internal blind.CONCLUSION: The most commonly used materials were analyzed by the Design Builder software. The analysis was done by integrating building architecture engineering (the best form of orientation and facade) based on the reasonable costs of consuming common materials in the area. The obtained results can be used for both evaluating the energy efficiency in residential buildings and producing a comfortable living environment in a moderate and humid climate.
Environmental Engineering
M.F. Nikshoar; M.A. Rowshanzamir; S.M. Abtahi; S. Soleimanian-Zad
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Soil frost heaving causes significant destruction to road pavements, railways, pipelines, and other lifeline infrastructures. The conventional methods for dealing with the soil frost heave are primarily based on using the materials whose production and use are harmful to the ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Soil frost heaving causes significant destruction to road pavements, railways, pipelines, and other lifeline infrastructures. The conventional methods for dealing with the soil frost heave are primarily based on using the materials whose production and use are harmful to the environment. Due to the recent ecological concerns, developing novel alternative methods has received much attention. This study aims to investigate the possibility of using the microbially induced calcite precipitation method to control soil frost heave for less pollution introduction to the soil.METHODS: In this study, the Sporosarcina Pasteurii bacterium was used for calcite precipitation. The influence of three factors in four levels, including bacteria concentration, cementing solution concentration, and curing time, was investigated based on a plan set by Taguchi design of experiment method. The results were obtained by analysis of means and analysis of variance statistical methods and compared with the conventional frost heave reduction methods.FINDINGS: The results were presented in terms of heave ratio. Based on the testing results, the heave ratios (frost heave ratios of the treated to untreated samples) were obtained to be in the range of 0.21 to 0.42. The results showed that bacteria concentration was the most influential factor in the total frost heave of the treated soil. The influence of curing time was in second place, and the effect of cementing solution concentration was relatively less. The minimum frost heave was achieved in 108 colony-forming units per milliliter bacteria concentration, 0.6 mole per litre cementing solution concentration, and 21 days of curing.CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that the used method could be efficiently used to reach the desired objective. The heave ratios obtained by this method were promising to a great extent compared to the conventional methods. The reduction of frost heave due to the application of this method was attributed to the precipitated calcite within the soil voids and was justified by the scanning electron microscopy images of the treated soil samples. This study proved that the proposed method might be utilized as a potential ecological-friendly approach in the future researches.
X.Z. Yu; Y.X. Feng; D.M. Yue
Abstract
Methylene blue is widely used in various industrial branches. Due to insufficient treatment, its occurrence in wastewater is frequently detected, which may result in serious environment problems to aquatic organisms. Hydroponic experiments were conducted with rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L. cv. XZX 45) ...
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Methylene blue is widely used in various industrial branches. Due to insufficient treatment, its occurrence in wastewater is frequently detected, which may result in serious environment problems to aquatic organisms. Hydroponic experiments were conducted with rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L. cv. XZX 45) exposed to methylene blue to determine the effective concentration using relative growth rate and water use efficiency as response endpoints. Results showed that acute toxicity of methylene blue to rice seedlings was evident. Although a linear decrease in relative growth rate and water use efficiency was observed in rice seedlings with increasing methylene blue concentrations, relative growth rate of rice seedlings was more sensitive to change of methylene blue than water use efficiency. Using non-linear regression, EC-48 h values for 10%, 20% and 50% inhibition of the relative growth rate were estimated to be 1.54, 3.22 and 10.13 mg MB/L for rice seedlings exposed to methylene blue, respectively, while smaller EC were obtained for 96 h exposure. In conclusion, the toxic response of young rice seedlings to methylene blue is obvious and inhibitory effects are highly dependent on response endpoints and the duration of exposure period.
A. Azizi; B. Malakmohamadi; H.R. Jafari
Abstract
Analyzing the process of land use and cover changes during long periods of time and predicting the future changes is highly important and useful for the land use managers. In this study, the land use maps in the Ardabil plain in north-west part of Iran for four periods (1989, 1998, 2009 and 2013) are ...
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Analyzing the process of land use and cover changes during long periods of time and predicting the future changes is highly important and useful for the land use managers. In this study, the land use maps in the Ardabil plain in north-west part of Iran for four periods (1989, 1998, 2009 and 2013) are extracted and analyzed through remote sensing technique, using the land-sat satellite images. Then, the future land use changes are simulated for 2030 using integrated CA-Markov model according to the scenario of continuing current management process. The results show that in the period between 1989 and 2009, i.e. since two-thirds of the plain was declared restricted till all of it was declared thus, the study area has experienced a total of about 58645.08 ha changes. After the whole plain was restricted (since 2009 till 2014), the changes have been estimated to be 22466.88 ha. The prediction also indicates that the changes will equal 8908.83 ha by 2030. Agricultural lands and human-built environment constitute the majority of changes and are increasing continuously. The obtained Kappa values for the model accuracy assessment (higher than 0.8) indicated the model's capability to predict future Land use/cover changes in the study area. Thus, analyzing Land use and cover changes trends from past to near future using CA-Markov model can play a significant role in land use policy making, planning, and managing of the restricted plains especially in the proposed study area.
Environmental Management
Z. Abdollahi; A. Kavian; S.H.R. Sadeghi
Abstract
Quality of river varies widely depending on the land use in the catchment and environmental factors. Many rivers in developing countries are unhealthy because they contain harmful physical, chemical and biological agents. Zanjanrud River, located in Zanjan Province, Iran, where recently faced human intervention ...
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Quality of river varies widely depending on the land use in the catchment and environmental factors. Many rivers in developing countries are unhealthy because they contain harmful physical, chemical and biological agents. Zanjanrud River, located in Zanjan Province, Iran, where recently faced human intervention needs a regular monitoring from upstream to downstream for sustainable management. Hence, the current study aimed to assess spatial and temporal variations of pollutant in Zanjanrud River in different stations from headstream to tail of the river. To achieve this goal, semi-monthly samples were collected from October 2015 to Jun 2016 at 5 stations along the river. The physicochemical variables were monitored and analysed using two-way analysis of variance. The results showed the highest values of suspended and dissolved solids and total solids (220.13±5.57, 641.6±39.63 and 793.6±34.5mg/L respectively) were at the tail site in low-flow period. Nitrate-nitrogen and nitrate were also highest (5.39±02.44 and 23.90±10.85 mg/L) at the middle of the river where was vicinity to farm lands. The values of pH and dissolved oxygen ranged from 6 to 8.15 and 0.5 to 4mg/L respectively with the highest values in high-flow period at most of the study sites. The maximum and minimum values of electrical conductivity (1439 and 256µs/cm) were recorded at tail site and headstream site respectively. Hardness had an increasing trend from upstream to downstream (189.60±53.53 to 515.83±64.77mg/L). Phosphorus was also lowest (0.09±0.04mg/L) at upstream. Results illustrated the high degree of pollutant in studied river. So, an effective management of erosion, domestic waste and agricultural activities in watershed is highly recommended.
S.M. Tajbakhsh; H. Memarian; K. Moradi; A.H. Aghakhani Afshar
Abstract
The change of land use/land cover has been known as an imperative force in environmental alteration, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. This research was mainly aimed to assess the validity of two major types of land change modeling techniques via a three dimensional approach in Birjand urban watershed ...
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The change of land use/land cover has been known as an imperative force in environmental alteration, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. This research was mainly aimed to assess the validity of two major types of land change modeling techniques via a three dimensional approach in Birjand urban watershed located in an arid climatic region of Iran. Thus, a Markovian approach based on two suitability and transition potential mappers, i.e. fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and artificial neural network-multi layer perceptron was used to simulate land use map. Validation metrics, quantity disagreement, allocation disagreement and figure of merit in a three-dimensional space were used to perform model validation. Utilizing the fuzzy-analytic hierarchy processsimulation of total landscape in the target point 2015, quantity error, the figure of merit and allocation error were 2%, 18.5% and 8%, respectively. However, Artificial neural network-multi layer perceptron simulation led to a marginal improvement in figure of merit, i.e. 3.25%.
A.R. Karbassi; S. Tajziehchi; S. Afshar
Abstract
Oil and pollutants resulting from its extraction and exploitation are considered as one of the serious problems for human health. Vast oil fields of Ahvaz City located in southern Iran are known as one of controversial subjects in contamination with heavy metals. In this study, oil fields' soils of Ahvaz ...
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Oil and pollutants resulting from its extraction and exploitation are considered as one of the serious problems for human health. Vast oil fields of Ahvaz City located in southern Iran are known as one of controversial subjects in contamination with heavy metals. In this study, oil fields' soils of Ahvaz city (Ab-Teymour) were chemically analyzed in order to determine the concentration of eight heavy elements (Cu, Ni, V, Co, Cd, Zn, Mo and Pb) and intensity of contamination. The area was divided into 12 plots with respect to proximity to drilled oil wells as well as the existing flares. The results show that concentration of studied metals is higher than earth’s crust mean values. According to Muller’s geochemical index, intensity of contamination varies from unpolluted to highly polluted ones. These highly polluted areas require methods such as phytoremediation more than ever. By comparing list of local plants with that of heavy metals absorbing plants and given the local climate, a suitable absorbing plant for each of the existing heavy metals was recommended.
G.R. Puno; R.C.C. Puno
Abstract
Geomorphometric features and land use/land cover are essential in the context of watershed prioritization for resources conservation and protection. Watersheds in tropical regions like the Philippines are under threat of degradation due to the combined effects of uncontrolled agricultural activities ...
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Geomorphometric features and land use/land cover are essential in the context of watershed prioritization for resources conservation and protection. Watersheds in tropical regions like the Philippines are under threat of degradation due to the combined effects of uncontrolled agricultural activities in the uplands and frequently increasing erosive precipitations brought about by climate change. Watershed managers are challenged with these pressing issues and concerns because most watersheds have no sufficient data as a basis for decision making. This paper presents the method of analyzing the different geomorphometric features and the existing land use or land cover to assess the propensity of the watershed against erosion so that areas needing immediate treatment can be prioritized. Arbitrarily, fourteen subwatersheds coded as SW1 to SW14 were delineated using a digital elevation model and geographic information system tool. Geomorphometric features categorized as areal aspect, relief features, and channel morphology parameters were generated and analyzed. Parameters having direct and inverse effect to erosion risk was used as the criteria in the ranking process. Land use/land cover was added to geomorphometric parameters to come up with compound values for final prioritization. Results showed that SW13, SW14, and SW4 were classified under very high priority implying focus for appropriate management actions while SW10, SW6, and SW7 were classified under very low priority suggesting favorable environmental condition in these areas. The study provides significant information helpful to watershed managers and planners especially in crafting a plan for integrated watershed management wherein programs and projects implementation have to be prioritized.
F.M. Torres-Bejarano; A.C. Torregroza-Espinosa; E. Martinez-Mera; D. Castañeda-Valbuena; M.P. Tejera-Gonzalez
Abstract
Ciénaga de Mallorquín is a coastal lagoon designated as a RAMSAR site due to its ecological regional and international importance. In this work, the environmental fluid dynamics code explorer modeling system was implemented to determine the spatio-temporal distribution of temperature, dissolved ...
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Ciénaga de Mallorquín is a coastal lagoon designated as a RAMSAR site due to its ecological regional and international importance. In this work, the environmental fluid dynamics code explorer modeling system was implemented to determine the spatio-temporal distribution of temperature, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand and nutrient levels, and assess the trophic status of Ciénaga de Mallorquín. The model was set up with field measurement data taken during transition period and wet season, and secondary information obtained from local authorities and environmental agencies. The results of model simulations were calibrated and verified by the root mean square error method, achieving a consistent fit for all considered variables. Average velocities were between 0.006 m/s and 0.013 m/s during the analyzed periods. The temperature was higher in the wet season than in the transition period (29°C and 31.5°C, respectively). The dissolved oxygen was similar in both periods (6.6 and 6.7 mg/L). NO3 concentrations were higher during the transition period (3.28 mg/L), with a minimum of 1.76 mg/L and a maximum of 5.09 mg/L. The lowest NO3 concentrations were found in the area influenced by the connection with the Caribbean Sea. PO4 concentrations in the wet season were lower than in the transition period (0.20 mg/L). Finally, Ciénaga de Mallorquín exhibits high productivity levels with Trophic State Index > 50 and temporal variations of mesotrophic to eutrophic. The use of Trophic State Index is useful for the management of water body eutrophication and productivity, making it particularly important in aquatic ecosystems.
Environmental Engineering
S. Rahman; M. Ramli; F. Arnia; R. Muharar; M. Ikhwan; S. Munzir
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The increase in the number of vehicles has several negative impacts, including traffic congestion, air pollution, noise levels, and the availability of parking spaces. Drivers looking for parking spaces can cause traffic jams and air pollution. The solution offered at this ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The increase in the number of vehicles has several negative impacts, including traffic congestion, air pollution, noise levels, and the availability of parking spaces. Drivers looking for parking spaces can cause traffic jams and air pollution. The solution offered at this time is the development of a smart parking system to overcome these problems. The smart parking system offers a parking availability information feature in a parking area to break up congestion in the parking space. Deep learning is a successful method to solve parking space classification problems. It is known that this method requires a large computational process. Th aims of this study are to modified the architecture of Convolutional Neural Networks, part of deep learning to classify parking spaces. Modification of the Convolutional Neural Networks architecture is assumed to increase the work efficiency of the smart parking system in processing parking availability information.METHODS: Research is focusing on developing parking space classification techniques using camera sensors due to the rapid advancement of technology and algorithms in computer vision. The input image has 3x3 dimensions. The first convolution layer accepts the input image and converts it into 56x56 dimensions. The second convolution layer is composed in the same way as the first layer with dimensions of 25x25. The third convolution layer employs a 3 x 3 filter matrix with padding of up to 15 and converts it into 10x10 dimensions. The fourth layer is composed in the same way as the third layer, but with the addition of maximum pooling. The software used in the test is Python with a Python framework.FINDINGS: The proposed architecture is the Efficient Parking Network or EfficientParkingNet. It can be shown that this architecture is more efficient in classifying parking spaces compared to some other architectures, such as the mini–Alex Network (mAlexnet) and the Grassmannian Deep Stacking Network with Illumination Correction (GDSN-IC). EfficientParkingNet has not been able to pass the accuracy of Yolo Mobile Network (Yolo+MobileNet). Furthermore, Yolo+MobileNet has so many parameters that it cannot be used on low computing devices. Selection of EfficientParkingNet as a lightweight architecture tailored to the needs of use. EfficientParkingNet's lightweight computing architecture can increase the speed of information on parking availability to users.CONCLUSION: EfficientParkingNet is more efficient in determining the availability of parking spaces compared to mAlexnet, but still cannot match Yolo+MobileNet. Based on the number of parameters, EfficientParkingNet uses half of the number of parameters of mAlexnet and is much smaller than Yolo+MobileNet. EfficientParkingNet has an accuracy rate of 98.44% for the National Research Council parking dataset and higher than other architectures. EfficientParkingNet is suitable for use in parking systems with low computing devices such as the Raspberry Pi because of the small number of parameters.
B. Shokati; M.R. Asgharipour; B. Feizizadeh
Abstract
Lack of awareness of the critical factors involved in production of plants and sometimes, the cultivation of plants in areas unsusceptible to plant, can increase the amount of chemical fertilizer consumption in order to compensate the subsequent reduction of plant yield. This would increase environmental ...
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Lack of awareness of the critical factors involved in production of plants and sometimes, the cultivation of plants in areas unsusceptible to plant, can increase the amount of chemical fertilizer consumption in order to compensate the subsequent reduction of plant yield. This would increase environmental pollution. Thus, identifying of suitable areas where could supply plants initial needs of the environment is critical. For this goal, several criteria including soil conditions, climatologically indicators, topography situation and agro-climatology criteria were taken into account of modeling processing. Doing so, standardization process was performed on criteria and weighting process was performed by using of analytic hierarchy process approach. Geographical information system based on multi-criteria decision analysis was employed for weighted overlapping of indicators. Initial results indicated that East-Azerbaijan Province in the northern part of Iran has high potential for cultivating of Damask Rose. Results indicate that about 34.4% of East Azerbaijan Province has classified to be high suitability for cultivating this plant, while about 65.5 and 0.1 % of this area classified to be in the moderate and low suitability category respectively. In comparison of Damask Rose production during the 2014 and resulted analytic hierarchy process map results showed that areas with high suitability are not more under cultivation of this plant. Then, the findings of this study are great of importance for the purpose of regional planning in East-Azerbaijan Province.
Environmental Science
S. Pourkarimi; A. Hallajisani; A. Alizadehdakhel; A. Nouralishahi
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In this study, the characteristics of bio-oil samples produced through slow pyrolysis of two different macroalgae, i.e. Azolla filiculoides and Ulva fasciata, at optimized conditions were determined and compared.METHODS: For this purpose, the effects of temperature (300-500 ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In this study, the characteristics of bio-oil samples produced through slow pyrolysis of two different macroalgae, i.e. Azolla filiculoides and Ulva fasciata, at optimized conditions were determined and compared.METHODS: For this purpose, the effects of temperature (300-500 °C), carrier gas flow rate (0.2-0.8 L/min), and heating rate (10-20 °C/min) on the final bio-oil production were optimized using response surface methodology established by a central composite design.FINDINGS: The highest bio-oil yield from U. fasciata (34.29%) was obtained at the temperature of 500 °C, nitrogen flow rate of 0.2 L/min, and heating rate of 10 °C/min. As for A. filiculoides feedstock, the highest bio-oil yield (30.83%) was achieved at the temperature of 461 °C, nitrogen flow rate of 0.5 L/min, and heating rate of 20 °C/min. Both bio-oil samples contained saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons. However, the average hydrocarbon chain length was relatively shorter in U. fasciata bio-oil (C4-C16) than in bio-oil from A. filiculoides (C6-C24). Although both bio-oils had almost identical heating values, the U. fasciata bio-oil showed more appropriate properties, i.e. lower viscosity and density. Furthermore, the energy recovery from U. fasciata pyrolysis was calculated as 56.6% which was almost 1.5 times higher than the energy recovery from A. filiculoides pyrolysis.CONCLUSION: The results indicated that U. fasciata bio-oil, with its superior characteristics, could be proposed as a promising candidate for application in diesel-based automotive industries.
Environmental Science
R. Alijani Ardeshir; H. Zolgharnein; A.A. Movahedinia; N. Salamat; E. Zabihi; J. Regenstein
Abstract
Fipronil is a relatively new insecticide in agriculture with health and environmental effects. This is the first report studying effect of fipronil on fish administered via intraperitoneal route. Intraperitoneal LD50 of fipronil in 16.3 g Caspian kutum, Rutilus frisii kutum, fingerlings was determined ...
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Fipronil is a relatively new insecticide in agriculture with health and environmental effects. This is the first report studying effect of fipronil on fish administered via intraperitoneal route. Intraperitoneal LD50 of fipronil in 16.3 g Caspian kutum, Rutilus frisii kutum, fingerlings was determined using a total of 133 fish in 19 tanks (7 fish/tank) including one control and 6 treatment groups (300, 450, 550, 650, 750, 850 mg/kg). Fish were injected intraperitoneally and monitored at 96 h. The LD50 of fipronil was 632 mg/kg in Caspian kutum. Sub-lethal test doses of 10, 20, and 30% of the LD50 at 96 h were used to assess the effect of fipronil on the fish’s liver. The blood plasma of 90 fish were used (18 at each test dose and in controls) on days 7 and 14 for biochemistry. The hepatosomatic index (HSI) of the livers were obtained and histopathology done on the same days. Pyknosis, sinusoid dilation and vacuolization were common histological changes, and these changes became more severe in a time and dose dependent manner. This dependence was also observed for HSI and the liver biochemical test (alanine and aspartate transaminase). Liver histological alterations showed that fipronil can be a potential factor in liver carcinoma.
Environmental Engineering
J. Oliver Paul Nayagam; K. Prasanna
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The prediction models, response surface methodology and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system are utilized in this study. This study delves into the removal efficiency of reactive orange 16 using hydrochar derived from the Prosopis juliflora roots. Hydrochar dose, pH, temperature, ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The prediction models, response surface methodology and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system are utilized in this study. This study delves into the removal efficiency of reactive orange 16 using hydrochar derived from the Prosopis juliflora roots. Hydrochar dose, pH, temperature, and initial reactive orange 16 concentration were studied in batch processes. The correlation coefficients for the batch processes were found to be 0.978 and 0.9999. The results denote that the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system predicted the reactive orange 16 removal efficiency more accurately than the response surface methodology model.METHODS: Prosopis juliflora roots roots are converted into hydrochar to remove azo dye from textile waste water. Prosopis juliflora roots roots were collected from Ramanad District, Southern Tamil Nadu, India. The moisture content was lowered by drying for 24 hours at 103 degree celcius in an oven with hot air. This biomass was thermally destroyed at 300 degree celcius for 15 minutes without oxygen in an autoclave in a muffle furnace (heating rate: 5 degree celcius per minute). As soon as it reaches room temperature, the hydrochar residue of this biomass was used for adsorption investigations. The batch adsorption process was conducted for 6 hours in a 250 milliliter Erlenmeyer conical flask with a 100 milliliter working volume using an orbital shaker. The pH, dosage, concentration, and temperature are the four parameters chosen for this study to find the maximum removal efficiency of the dye from aqueous solutions. This study validated adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, an artificial neural network with a fuzzy inference system, using response surface methodology projected experimental run with Box–Behnken method.FINDINGS: The adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system model is created alongside the response surface methodology model to compare experimental outcomes. Experimental data was evaluated using a hybrid least square and gradient technique. Statistical and residual errors assessed experimental and mathematical model correctness. Experimental data matched the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system results. Statistical error analysis verified the model’s accuracy and precision against experimental data.CONCLUSION: Response surface methodology and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system optimized process conditions. At pH 2, 2 gram per litre hydrochar dosage, 35 degree celcius , and a reactive orange 16 starting concentration of 250 milligram per liter, removal effectiveness reached 86.1 percent. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system predicted higher values than response surface methodology, with batch correlation coefficients of 0.9999 and 0.9997, respectively. Mathematical techniques can accurately estimate dye removal efficiency from aqueous solutions.
D. Pham Van; M.G. Hoang; S.T. Pham Phu; T. Fujiwara
Abstract
Kinetic models which can express the behaviors of hydrolysis and biogas generation more precisely than the conventional models were developed. The developed models were evaluated based on the experimental data of six batch reactors. Anaerobic digestion test was co-digestion of food and vegetable waste ...
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Kinetic models which can express the behaviors of hydrolysis and biogas generation more precisely than the conventional models were developed. The developed models were evaluated based on the experimental data of six batch reactors. Anaerobic digestion test was co-digestion of food and vegetable waste with inoculating horse dung by 15% of the total wet weight, at the temperature of 37oC. For hydrolysis, the modified model was developed from an original first-order kinetic model. The modified first-order kinetic model was proved to be better than the original one with the hydrolysis rate constant in the range of 0.22-0.34/day and hydrolyzable rate of 0.80 to 0.84. Kinetics of carbon dioxide and methane were developed from a current potential model. The comparison between experimental data and modeling values had the high correlation of determination (0.9918-0.9998) and low root mean square errors (0.08-4.51) indicating the feasibility of the developed model. In which, the evolution of methane showed the rate constant in the range of 0.031-0.039/day. The carbon dioxide from fermentation accounted for 12-44% of the total observed carbon dioxide. Thus, separation of fermentation and methanogenesis by various reactors may reduce the price of methane enrichment significantly. There was a lag time between methanogenesis and fermentation in reactors (λ = 7-11 days). Also, the biogas yield was in the range of 431.6-596.9 Nml/g-VS with the CH4 concentration of 56.2-67.5%. The best methane yield (393.7 Nml/g-VS) was in a reactor with food waste to the vegetable waste ratio by 1.8:1 (wet basis) and C/N ratio by 25.4.
F.M. Muvea; G.M. Ogendi; S.O. Omondi
Abstract
The use of constructed wetlands for purifying pre-treated wastewater is a cost effective technology that has been found to be more appropriate for many developing countries. The technology is also environmentally friendly with the wetlands being habitats for many water birds and other aquatic organisms. ...
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The use of constructed wetlands for purifying pre-treated wastewater is a cost effective technology that has been found to be more appropriate for many developing countries. The technology is also environmentally friendly with the wetlands being habitats for many water birds and other aquatic organisms. This study assessed nutrient removal efficiency of two floating macrophytes (Lemna minor and Azolla pinnata). The data generated was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The significance level was maintained at 0.05. The results showed that the wastewater physicochemical parameters did not vary during the study period. The concentrations of nitrites and nitrates increased over the experimental period in all the treatments (Azolla pinnata, Lemna minor and control), and the increase between the sampling occasions was statistically significant for the two nutrients (Nitrates: F=24.78, P= 0.00; Nitrates: F=198.26, P= 0.00). To the contrary, in all the treatments the concentrations of ammonia, total phosphorous, soluble reactive phosphorous and total nitrogen, decreased over the experimental period. The decrease in concentration for these nutrients between the sampling occasions was statistically significant (ammonia: F=195.57, p= 0.00; total phosphorous: F= 56.50, p= 0.00; soluble reactive phosphorous: F= 37.11, p= 0.00; total phosphorous: F= 104.025, p= 0.00). Azolla pinnata proved to be better than Lemna minor in the uptake of the nutrients particularly for the soluble reactive phosphorous (F= 35.18, P= 0.044). We conclude that the two macrophytes are good for wastewater treatment. It is recommended introduction and/or multiplication of Azolla pinnata in the constructed wetlands meant for wastewater treatment especially within the tropics.
Environmental Engineering
R. Abdallat; A.N. Bdour; A. Abu Haifa; F.F. Al-Rawash; L. Almakhadmeh; S. Hazaimeh
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Jordan's limited water resources have reduced daily water consumption, leading to a highly concentrated greywater production rate of 54 million cubic meters per year. The presence of nitrate ions, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, and biological ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Jordan's limited water resources have reduced daily water consumption, leading to a highly concentrated greywater production rate of 54 million cubic meters per year. The presence of nitrate ions, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, and biological oxygen demand in greywater poses excellent environmental and health risks when disposed untreated. Water scarcity directly impacts water and food security and is expected to intensify at the current resources management practices. The significance of the current and predictable water shortage in the context of sustainable development and the presence of new technologies brought further attention to utilizing non-conventional water sources. Reclamation of treated wastewater, greywater, brackish, and seawater desalination is Jordan's water budget's only non-conventional water resource. This study aims to address Jordan's water scarcity crisis by developing a low-energy, solar-powered greywater filtration system using natural materials while ensuring compliance with Jordanian standards for safe agricultural applications.METHODS: Several treatment methods have been proposed; however, most of these systems require high to medium energy levels for treatment purposes. Hence, the running cost of the system is relatively high. To address this issue, a four-stage, low-energy, green, and decentralized solar filtration system for greywater treatment has been developed, which uses natural materials available in Jordan and activated carbon to reduce organic and solids content and remove pathogens. The system also uses hot water generated by a Photovoltaic solar system to sanitize the greywater, a novel concept of approach for sanitization. This innovative system is powered entirely by solar energy and can be installed in individual homes.FINDINGS: The results of the developed solar filtration system were very efficient in reducing turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, and Escherichia coli removal: 92, 95, and 100 percent, respectively. Furthermore, the system showed a high potential for total coliforms and Escherichia coli inactivation, reaching 4.64 and 3.15 log units, respectively. Product water meets Jordan standards, ensuring safe reuse for irrigation applications. The findings of this study highlight the satisfactory performance of the developed greywater solar filtration setup. The economic feasibility analysis demonstrates that the proposed system is economically viable and financially sound. The system’s reliance on solar energy and the absence of consumables contribute to its sustainability. They are addressing sustainable practices in greywater treatment in addition to water scarcity concerns.CONCLUSION: The treated greywater, obtained through the series of treatment steps, including solar disinfection, successfully met the Jordanian standards for safe reuse. The substantial reduction of Escherichia coli and total coliforms to acceptable levels demonstrates the treatment system's effectiveness in generating pathogen-free greywater, suitable for a wide range of applications. The study concludes that the solar filtration setup consistently delivers high-quality, pathogen-free greywater, meeting stringent regulatory requirements. This innovative, sustainable system offers a viable solution to Jordan’s water scarcity, introducing a new non-conventional water resource that requires no consumables (non-chemical, non-hazardous materials), thereby addressing sustainability concerns in greywater treatment.