Suitable Treatment Technology Research Articles

P.450 Overvisted... and overmedicated? regular medication regimen in psychiatric frequent attenders

Water pollution is a problem globally, where untreated human and industrial waste is directly discharged into water bodies. Choosing a suitable wastewater treatment technology (WTT) is vital. We develop a novel multi-criteria group decision-making framework to evaluate four WTTs (Anaerobic Anoxic Oxic, Triple Oxidation Ditch, Anaerobic Single Oxidation Ditch, Sequencing Batch Reactor Activated Sludge). It consists of four phases: (1) collecting incomplete linguistic pairwise comparisons; (2) characterizing this matrix by incomplete interval type-2 fuzzy sets; (3) repairing incomplete information to reach predefined consistency/consensus levels; and (4) calculating the arithmetic ranking values. We demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of the model, inviting experts to evaluate the WTTs against eight criteria. Finally, we conduct a series of comparative analyses and a sensitivity analysis. The model gives a thorough measure of WTTs across multiple criteria. The suitable WTT is different for small or medium towns, and big cities in developing or developed countries.

Motor impairment in a rare form of spastic paraplegia (Spoan syndrome): a 10-year follow-up

BackgroundSpastic paraplegia, optic atrophy and neuropathy (Spoan syndrome) is an autosomal recessive disease with approximately 70 cases recorded in Brazil and Egypt.MethodsThis is a prospective longitudinal study performed with 47 patients affected with Spoan syndrome of seven communities of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil) to investigate changes in motor function based on comparative data obtained from a 10-year follow-up.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 47.21 ± 12.42 years old, and the mean age at loss of ambulation and hand function were 10.78 ± 5.55 and 33.58 ± 17.47 years old, respectively. Spearman’s correlation analysis between the score on the Modified Barthel Index and the investigated variables evidenced statistical significance for age (p < 0.001) and right- and left-hand grip strength (p = 0.042 and p = 0.021, respectively). Statistical significance was not evidenced for the remainder of the variables, including age at onset of symptoms (p = 0.634), age at loss of ambulation (p = 0.664) and age at loss of hand function (p = 0.118).ConclusionsOur analysis allows asserting that the participants exhibited slight dependence until age 35. The greatest losses occurred from ages 35 to 41, and starting at 50, practically all patients become completely dependent. These findings are relevant for determining the prognosis as well as suitable treatment, rehabilitation and assistive technology for these individuals.

Effects of ohmic heating on technological properties of whole egg

Abstract The aim of this work was to study the effects of different ohmic heating conditions on color, rheology, foaming, and gelling properties of whole egg. Industrial products treated by conventional heat pasteurization and the corresponding raw materials were also evaluated. Ohmic treatments accomplished in a static cell (65.5 °C × 3 min, 70 °C × 1 min, and 67 °C × 4.5 min) increased whole egg apparent viscosity (up to 190%), but also foam overrun (up to 28%) and gel hardness (up to 15%). The performance improvement was confirmed by treatments carried out in a continuous pilot plant (71 °C × 0.6 min, 68 °C × 1.4 min) and the products resulted stable during storage at 4 °C for 30 days. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that ohmic heating is a suitable alternative to conventional pasteurization. Low temperature treatments are preferable to avoid possible rheological issues due to protein denaturation. Industrial relevance Whole egg is a protein ingredient with multiple technological properties, used in many foods. Due to safety reasons, food manufacturers often use pasteurized liquid egg products, microbiologically safer and easier to handle with respect to shell eggs. In order to satisfy the required sanitary levels for liquid egg products, thermal pasteurization treatments are needed. However, since egg proteins are very sensitive to high temperatures, attention must be paid to avoid coagulation entailing deleterious effects against egg quality. In this study, different ohmic heating treatments were evaluated as milder alternatives to conventional pasteurization. The lab- and pilot-scale experiments and the subsequent statistical analyses of the obtained results contributed to assess the effects of the different ohmic treatments on technological features (e.g. color, rheology, foaming, and gelling properties) of liquid whole egg. This study demonstrated that ohmic heating is a suitable technology for whole egg treatment, paving the way for new opportunities in order to produce safe food ingredients with improved technological functionalities.

Incomplete interval type-2 fuzzy preference relations based on a multi-criteria group decision-making model for the evaluation of wastewater treatment technologies

Water pollution is a problem globally, where untreated human and industrial waste is directly discharged into water bodies. Choosing a suitable wastewater treatment technology (WTT) is vital. We develop a novel multi-criteria group decision-making framework to evaluate four WTTs (Anaerobic Anoxic Oxic, Triple Oxidation Ditch, Anaerobic Single Oxidation Ditch, Sequencing Batch Reactor Activated Sludge). It consists of four phases: (1) collecting incomplete linguistic pairwise comparisons; (2) characterizing this matrix by incomplete interval type-2 fuzzy sets; (3) repairing incomplete information to reach predefined consistency/consensus levels; and (4) calculating the arithmetic ranking values. We demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of the model, inviting experts to evaluate the WTTs against eight criteria. Finally, we conduct a series of comparative analyses and a sensitivity analysis. The model gives a thorough measure of WTTs across multiple criteria. The suitable WTT is different for small or medium towns, and big cities in developing or developed countries.

Ozonation of the 5-fluorouracil anticancer drug and its prodrug capecitabine: Reaction kinetics, oxidation mechanisms, and residual toxicity

Anticancer drugs (ADs) have been detected in the environment and represent a risk to aquatic organisms, necessitating AD removal in drinking water and wastewater treatment. In this study, ozonation of the most commonly used antimetabolite ADs, namely 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and its prodrug capecitabine (CAP), was investigated to determine reaction kinetics, oxidation mechanisms, and residual toxicity. The specific second-order rate constants between aqueous ozone and 5-FU, 5-FU−, 5-FU2−, CAP, and CAP− were determined to be 7.07(±0.11)×104 M−1·s−1, 1.36(±0.06)×106 M−1·s−1, 2.62(±0.17)×107 M−1·s−1, 9.69(±0.08)×103 M−1·s−1, and 4.28(±0.07)×105 M−1·s−1, respectively; furthermore, the second-order rate constants for •OH reaction with 5-FU and CAP at pH 7 were determined to be 1.85(±0.20)×109 M−1·s−1 and 9.95(±0.26)×109 M−1·s−1, respectively. Density functional theory was used to predict the main ozone reaction sites of 5-FU (olefin) and CAP (olefin and deprotonated secondary amine), and these mechanisms were supported by the identified transformation products. Carboxylic acids constituted a majority of the residual organic matter for 5-FU ozonation; however, carboxylic acids and aldehydes were important components of the residual organic matter generated by CAP. Ozone removed the toxicity of 5-FU to Vibrio fischeri, but the residual toxicity of ozonated CAP solutions exhibited an initial increase before subsequent removal. Ultimately, these results suggest that ozone is a suitable technology for treatment of 5-FU and CAP, although the residual toxicity of transformation products must be carefully considered.

Environmental technology for leachate treatment. joint project between Sweden and Lithuania

There is a need for more efficient treatment methods for purification of leachate from municipal landfills. The leachate can contain toxic compounds that can be harmful to organisms in the surroundings. There have recently been several reports of dead fishes in lakes situated close to landfills. In a joint project named "LAQUA" between Sweden and Lithuania efforts will be taken to find suitable technology for treatment of leachate water from municipal landfills.

Characterization of electricity production and microbial community of food waste-fed microbial fuel cells

Food waste (FW) contributes to a great proportion in the municipal solid waste and is generated during disposal from different life cycles of food processing and consumption. FW treatment is a big challenge and there is an urgent need to develop a suitable treatment technology. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising bioelectrochemical technology using bacteria as the catalyst, which has been developed to effectively generate bioelectricity from diverse organic wastes. The present study investigated the treatment of food waste collected from a Chinese canteen using MFCs under different conditions. It was observed that the highest closed circuit voltage and maximum power density obtained were 775 ± 21 mV and 422 mW m−2, respectively, when using food waste with nutrient medium as the anolyte and permanganate as the catholyte. Under this condition, biodegradation processes in the MFCs could achieve 69 ± 18% COD, 88 ± 5% carbohydrate, 76 ± 9% protein, 65 ± 8% TOC and 71 ± 8% total nitrogen removal. Microbial community analysis using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing showed Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla and Geobacter was the most abundant genus. Therefore, our microbial community results suggested that the mixture of exoelectrogenic and fermentative bacteria have a pronounced effect on MFCs system treating FW while affecting on organic degradation and energy production. A power management system was used to demonstrate that electricity from FW-fed MFCs can be successfully harvested to provide intermittent electricity to loads. Overall, this study demonstrated the potential of using MFCs for food waste treatment to achieve electricity production and waste reduction.

Bioceramic Coating Produced on AZ80 Magnesium Alloy by One-Step Microarc Oxidation Process

A self-sealing bioceramic coating was prepared on AZ80 magnesium alloy by one-step microarc oxidation (MAO) in an alkaline silicate solution in the presence of HA nanoparticles and K2TiF6. The influence of oxidation time on the microstructure and corrosion resistance was investigated. The surface and cross-sectional morphologies of the coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, while their phase structure and chemical composition were obtained by x-ray diffraction analysis and energy-dispersive spectroscopy, respectively. The corrosion behavior of the coatings was evaluated by electrochemical measurements in a simulated body fluid. The results show that the self-sealing bioceramic coatings are mainly composed of MgO, MgF2, Ti3O5, Mg2SiO4, and HA phases, which effectively improve the corrosion resistance of the AZ80 magnesium alloy. The added K2TiF6 plays a key role in producing self-sealing coating, while the HA nanoparticles improve the bioactivity of the coating. Thus, the self-sealing bioceramic coating obtained by the one-step MAO process may develop into a suitable surface treatment technology for bone implants in clinical application.

Dielectric Barrier Discharge for Hydrogen Sulphide Waste Gas Decomposition

Non-thermal plasma is considered to be a suitable treatment technology for H2S waste gas pollution, but it still need to improve the energy efficiency. This work proposed a cylindrical DBD reactor used for H2S decomposition. Performance of the reactor is evaluated by O3 generation and H2S removal. The results show that the DBD can produce O3 with high efficiency at high specific input energy or low humidity. With regard to the energy yield of ozone generation, the G-value is about 2.29 molecules (100 eV)−1 at the relative humidity of 18%. The H2S removal efficiency increases as the specific input energy increases, but a high humidity can reduce the H2S decomposition. The H2S with the concentration of 8 mg m−3 can be 100% removed at the specific input energy of 4.5 J L−1, but for ozone used only, 65% removal efficiency can be realized at the ozone concentration of 65 mg m−3. It is can be concluted that, in addition to the ozone, other active species such as electron, ions and free radicals also play an important role in the degradation of H2S.

Development and evaluation of a constructed pilot-scale horizontal subsurface flow wetland treating piggery wastewater

Abstract This paper reports on the development and evaluation of a pilot horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSFCW) for removal of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) from primary piggery wastewater. Two locally available plants, Pennisetum clandestinum and Pennisetum purpureum, were planted in two of three cells while the remaining unplanted cell served as the control. Monitoring of the wetland influent and effluent wastewater was carried out every two weeks for 7 months. The study revealed successful treatment of the wastewater by the wetland in terms of BOD, COD, TDS, TN and TP effluent compliance with Nigerian discharge standards. Average removal efficiencies were 66.53, 64.95, and 60.27% for BOD5; 44.85, 41.61 and 36.37% for COD; 63.61, 58.27 and 52.88% for TDS; 62.49, 58.89 and 50.14% for TN and 48.53, 44.91 and 41.27% for TP for the three wetland cells including the control respectively. Planted cells achieved the highest removal efficiency with no significant difference in pollutant removal between the two planted cells indicating their suitability for use as wetland plants. Effluent concentrations were within FEPA discharge limits except TP. The performance of the constructed wetland suggests that HSSFCW could be a suitable alternative technology for on-farm treatment of piggery wastewater in Nigeria. The study has provided a starting point for the use of HSSFCW and gives insight of the potential application of this technology for on- farm pollution control in Nigeria.

Healthcare Waste Management: A Case Study from Sudan

Healthcare waste (HCW) represents a major public health issue, especially in developing countries. Among HCW categories, sharps waste is one of the most hazardous. Exposure to needle-stick injuries can lead to blood-borne pathogens, therefore HCW should be managed in an effective manner. The main aims of this study were to assess the current management of used needles and to suggest suitable recommendations for an improved and safer system for needle management in Khartoum, Sudan. The study showed that the management of both healthcare and home-generated HCW in Sudan is inefficient, as all wastes are mixed together and disposed of improperly, especially used needles. The study attributes this to many reasons, including lack of waste segregation at the source, lack of policies, failure of planning, inadequate training, lack of awareness of the hazardous nature of such kinds of waste, weak infrastructure, and a lack of suitable treatment technologies. The estimated average generated rate of HCW ranged from 0.38 to 0.87 kg/bed/day in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Such ineffective healthcare waste management HCWM, especially used needles, can put public health as well as the environment at risk, particularly waste workers, thus urgent action needs to be taken by all involved parties and at all levels.

Technological Solutions for Recycling Ash Slag from the Cao Ngan Coal Power Plant in Vietnam

Annually, coal-fired power plants in Vietnam discharge hundreds of thousand tons of coal ash. Most of this ash goes into the environment without treatment or any plan for the efficient reuse of this precious resource. There are many reasons for this, such as poor quality of the ash, no suitable and feasible ash treatment technology, a lack of awareness about environmental pollution and resource saving, and inappropriate sanctions and policies. This study analyzed and summarized information and data pertaining to the current status of the production, discharge, and utilization of coal ash from the Cao Ngan Power Plant (CNPP) in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. In addition, the potential for applying advanced emission reduction technologies in order to recycle coal ash for cement production, as well as geographical, socio-economic, and market factors were assessed. This paper reveals the results of a preliminary assessment of carbon-mineralization technologies which seek to achieve the following three goals: (1) effectively disposing of coal ash to protect the environment and local community, (2) contributing to the nationally determined effort to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change, and (3) making value-added products and bringing economic benefits to a sustainable society.

ALTERNATIF TEKNOLOGI PENGOLAHAN AIR UNTUK MEMENUHI KEBUTUHAN AIR BERSIH DI DAERAH PEMUKIMAN NELAYAN Studi Kasus Perencanaan Penyediaan Air Bersih di Daerah Pedesaaan Nelayan Kab. Pasir, Kalimantan Timur

Primary water source of people in fisherman area in Kabupaten Pasir, Kalimantan Timur for daily water need generally is from surface water or deep well. Surface water is affected by water tide of sea water, so that almost all the time in a year the water quality is salty or brakish. Beside high salt concentration, deep well quality is also worst. This is caused by poor environmental sanitation of fisherman community. Rainy water use as water source alternative in problem solving for limited water drinking only provide in rainy season. Other alternative, people must find from other area where is far from their house or buy water with expensive price. To solve this critical problem is required the application of suitable water treatment technology. This water treatment technology must produce drinking water that meet technical standard and the technology is applicable, easy and cheap in operation and maintenance because it is hoped that community in that area can manage, operate and maintenance. Kata Kunci : Penduduk nelayan, penyediaan air bersih, teknologi pengolahan air bersih.

Optimisation of lightweight green wall media for greywater treatment and reuse

Green walls are increasingly being considered as a suitable greywater treatment technology. Nevertheless, until now there have been no clear recommendations for the use of effective lightweight media in greywater treating green walls. Previous studies of potentially suitable growing media have suggested that a combination of perlite and coco coir might be the most effective for these novel systems. However, there is no clear understanding of what proportion of perlite and coir should be used and how different mixes would affect greywater treatment. This work tested the hydraulic and pollutant removal performance of six different perlite and coco coir media mixes in an unvegetated column experiment. The results suggested that there is a point between 2:1 and 3:1 ratios of perlite to coir where the infiltration rate significantly increases, as the result of perlite dominance. As the infiltration rate increases, the mix gets less prone to clogging, but this negatively affects pollutant removal performance, with insufficient time for biological processes. We therefore optimised the mix for effective long-term treatment of total suspended solids, total nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand and Escherichia coli. Unfortunately, total phosphorus removal from greywater was limited for all tested mixes. This study also showed that attention should be given to greywater inflow dynamics and expected daily water treatment capacity; e.g. systems with a lower hydraulic loading were able to use greater proportion of coir in the mix achieving greater water treatment performance, while systems with higher hydraulic loadings require faster flowing mixes with lower coir proportion.

人工湿地技术在污水处理中的应用

人工湿地法处理污水技术是目前国际污水处理研究领域的热点。本文主要从人工湿地的分类、净化机理、影响净化的因素、国内外应用现状和应用前景等方面对人工湿地技术进行了阐述。人工湿地系统是一个完整的生态系统，是正在不断得到研究应用和发展的污水处理实用新技术，具有投资低，出水水质好，抗冲击力强，增加绿地面积，改善和美化生态环境，操作简单，维护和运行费用低廉等优点。这项技术适合我国国情，尤其适合广大农村、中小城市的污水处理，具有极其广阔的应用前景。 Technique of wastewater treatment with constructed wetlands is currently the highlight in the field of international wastewater treatment research. This review briefly described the classification of constructed wetland, the mechanisms of cleaning wastewater, the factors affecting cleaning, the present situation of the application, and the development direction of constructed wetland application. The constructed wetland system is an integrated ecosystem. It’s also a new wastewater treatment technology being developed and applied. It has such advantages as low investment, high quality effluent, good impact resistance, ecological environment improvement and beautification, increase of green land, simple performance, cheap operation fee, and so on. The constructed wetland system is a suitable technology for wastewater treatment in China, which has wide application prospects especially in rural areas and small cities.

Carbon and energy footprint analysis of tannery wastewater treatment: A Global overview

In this study the carbon footprint and power demand of tannery wastewater treatment processes for the largest bovine leather producing regions were quantified and analysed. Moreover, we present a case in which we benchmarked the carbon footprint and energy demand analysis of tannery wastewater treatment to municipal wastewater treatment. We quantified the greenhouse gas direct and indirect emissions from tannery wastewater treatment facilities. Our results show that the total CO2-equivalent emission for tannery wastewater treatment is 1.49 103 tCO2,eqd−1. Moreover, the energy intensity of tannery wastewater treatment processes are evaluated at 3.9kWhkg−1bCOD,removed, compared to 1.4kWhkg−1bCOD,removed of municipal wastewater treatment processes. Based on this work in the field of tannery wastewater treatment, an effort to innovate suitable treatment trains and technologies has the strong potential to reduce the carbon footprint.

Machine Learning Algorithms for the Forecasting of Wastewater Quality Indicators

Stormwater runoff is often contaminated by human activities. Stormwater discharge into water bodies significantly contributes to environmental pollution. The choice of suitable treatment technologies is dependent on the pollutant concentrations. Wastewater quality indicators such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and total dissolved solids (TDS) give a measure of the main pollutants. The aim of this study is to provide an indirect methodology for the estimation of the main wastewater quality indicators, based on some characteristics of the drainage basin. The catchment is seen as a black box: the physical processes of accumulation, washing, and transport of pollutants are not mathematically described. Two models deriving from studies on artificial intelligence have been used in this research: Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Regression Trees (RT). Both the models showed robustness, reliability, and high generalization capability. However, with reference to coefficient of determination R2 and root‐mean square error, Support Vector Regression showed a better performance than Regression Tree in predicting TSS, TDS, and COD. As regards BOD5, the two models showed a comparable performance. Therefore, the considered machine learning algorithms may be useful for providing an estimation of the values to be considered for the sizing of the treatment units in absence of direct measures.

A study of the bacteriological quality of roof-harvested rainwater and an evaluation of SODIS as a suitable treatment technology in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

Harvested rainwater (HRW) is of great socio-economic importance particularly in areas where water sources are scarce or polluted. This case study was carried out in a rural area of Southern Uganda where the community has limited access to safe drinking water. The aims of the project were to investigate the quality of harvested rainwater over a year long period covering wet and dry seasons and to investigate the use of solar waterdisinfection (SODIS) as a water treatment technology. Fifty households using roof HRW were selected. The systems used included catchment ponds, metallic, concrete and plastic tanks. All households used the HRW for drinking. The raw HRW was analysed for temperature, pH and total dissolved solids (TDS) and for the presence of the bacterial indicators of faecal pollution – Escherichia coli, faecal enterococci and Clostridium perfringens. Results indicated that while the HRW met the required physiochemical drinking water standards, the majority of samples from all types of system showed levels of microbiological contamination indicating that the water was unsafe for drinking without treatment. The use of SODIS to treat the water was investigated using 2Liter PET bottles and was shown to be an effective treatment technology.

Degradation of pharmaceuticals by ultrasound-based advanced oxidation process

Water pollution by pharmaceutically active compounds is an emerging issue. Toxicological studies reveal that pharmaceuticals are indeed toxic for living organisms. The lack of suitable treatment technology for the complete removal of pharmaceuticals is therefore a major challenge. Advanced oxidation processes are emerging removal techniques that have many advantages versus conventional technologies. Many studies indicate that advanced oxidation processes, either in single or in combination with other degradation techniques, can enhance the degradation of pharmaceuticals in aqueous solutions. Here, we review the degradation of pharmaceuticals by sonolysis, an oxidation processes using ultrasound. In this technique, hydroxyl radicals are generated by pyrolytic cleavage of water molecules. We review the influence of operational parameters, additives and hybrid techniques on the degradation of pharmaceuticals. The maximum degradation of organic compounds was observed in the frequency range of 100–1000 kHz, which is in the high-frequency medium-power ultrasound. Even though almost all the experiments presented more than 90 % removal and good biodegradability of the target compound, good mineralization and the toxicity removal were hardly achieved. The efficiency of the degradation varies with water matrixes and varying pH. Major pathways of degradation are hydroxylation, dehalogenation, demethylation, decarboxylation, deamination, etc. More hybrid techniques have to be developed to scale up the application of ultrasound.

Assessment and selection of the best treatment alternative for infectious waste by modified Sustainability Assessment of Technologies methodology.

BackgroundImproper treatment of infectious waste can cause numerous adverse environmental and health effects such as transmission of diseases through health personnel and other susceptible groups,who come in contact with such wastes. On the other hand, selection of appropriate treatment alternatives in infectious waste management has become a challenging task for public health authorities especially in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to select the best infectious waste treatment alternative by the modified Sustainability Assessment of Technologies (SAT) methodology, developed by the International Environmental Technology Center of the United Nations Environment Program (IETC-UNEP).MethodsSAT methodology consists of three main components, including screening, scoping and detailed assessment. In screening, different infectious waste treatment alternatives undergo screening using the finalized environmental and technical criteria. Short-listed treatment options from the previous step, then go through the comprehensive scoping and detailed assessment (2nd and 3rd components) which is more qualitative and quantitative in nature. An empirical case in Tehran, the largest city in Iran, is provided to illustrate the potential of the proposed methodology.ResultsAccording to the final score, “Hydroclave”, was the most suitable infectious treatment technology. The ranking order of the treatment alternatives were “Autoclave with a shredder”, “Autoclave”, “Central Incineration” and “chemical treatment” on the basis of technical, economical, social and environmental aspects and their related criteria.ConclusionsAccording to the results it could be concluded that the top ranking technologies basically have higher scores in all the aspects. Hence it is easier to arrive at a decision for the final technology selection based on the principles of sustainability.