mohammadali abdoli

According to statistics from the Ministry of Interior of Iran, more than 75% of the waste produced in the country is landfilled. Many of the programs proposed by waste management organizations and municipalities have not been effective due to the failure to consider the impacts of various economic and non-economic variables on waste generation. Therefore, this study aims to increase the effectiveness of proposed waste management programs for Tehran in line with sustainable development. An empirical modeling approach was used, utilizing 120 months of data (April 2011 to March 2021) to develop models for predicting different types of waste generation. Additionally, the statistical relationship between 32 macroeconomic variables, including industry and mining, agriculture, urban management, population, and climate, and five waste generation variables was examined at a 90% confidence level. The results indicate that 79% of the variations in the total waste generation tonnage, 73.4% of the variations in the mixed waste tonnage at the source, 80.3% of the variations in the separated dry waste tonnage at the source, and 81.4% of the variations in the construction and demolition waste tonnage in Tehran can be predicted using the models developed in this study.

The most problems in the field of municipal waste management are related to the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). In this experimental study, the effect of hydrochars produced at 150, 190, and 230 °C on AD process was analyzed with a sample of the OFMSW of Tehran. Due to the hydrothermal carbonization process, with increasing temperature, the hydrochar yield decreased and due to the increase in thermal value, the energy yield in hydrochar-190 was maximum. The effect of hydrochars on biogas production was variable and in hydrochars-150 and 190, 23.25 and 41.3% increase in biogas production was observed, respectively. This phenomenon was due to the destruction of the hard structure of the OFMSW. On the other hand, in hydrochar-230, there was a 30.63% reduction in biogas production, which was due to the production of inhibitor products such as phenol and furfural in the hydrothermal carbonation process. According to the results, the best conditions for the maximum production of biogas in the produced hydrochar at temperature of 190 °C and a retention time of 40 minutes. Also, the percentage of methane production in this condition was 63.25%.

Cities in developing countries like Shiraz in Iran face significant challenges due to a lack of an integrated solid waste management system. Climate change, soil, and water pollution are examples of environmental issues caused by improper Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems (MSWMS) in developing countries. The aim of this study is to find solutions for these environmental problems based on the experiences of developed countries. The data was collected using several methods such as visual observations, studying accessible documents of the current situation of the MSWMS in Shiraz, and participating in an interview with engineers the 'Shiraz Municipality Waste Management Organization' (SMWMO).  Results present the current functional elements of MSWMS in Shiraz, Shiraz waste diversion rate (0.22), and its Zero Waste Index (.015). Moreover, the results present some recommendations to find a way to transform cities like Shiraz into zero-waste cities. Results indicate that establishing zero-waste policies, legal frameworks, and financial strategies as well as convincing private sector involvements in installing waste-to-energy facilities and a proper sanitary landfill to move the city toward optimum recycling and zero landfilling in addition to reducing consumption and maximizing diversion rate and finally sustainable development by the cooperation of government, NGOs and media programs would solve many problems of the MSWMS and would solve environmental issues in many cities.

To remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions, nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) predicated on reduced expanded graphene oxide (rEGO) was used as the activator of persulfate.
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were used to investigate the surface morphology and to examine the surface elemental composition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the chemical compositions of the synthesized compound. In this study, the effects of pH (3-9), activator dose (0.4-1.6 g L-1), persulfate concentration (0.192-0.768 g L-1), and reaction time (0-60 minutes) on the removal of 10 mg L-1 MB were studied by nZVI -reduced expanded graphene oxide/persulfate (nZVI@rEGO/PS) process.
The maximum removal efficiencies of MB at optimum operational conditions (pH 3, activator dose = 1.2 g L-1, persulfate concentration = 0.576 g L-1, and reaction time = 20 minutes) by nZVI@rEGO/PS process was 96%. The chemical method was used to prepare expanded graphene. The volume of natural flake graphite increased about 25 times after the process. SEM image of the nZVI@rEGO showed the presence of nZVI placed on the EGO surface in chain structure with a diameter about 100 nm. The EDS analysis of the activator indicated the existence of Fe element to an amount greater than 50%.
According to the results, nZVI@rEGO is considered as a promising activator of persulfate.

In this study the process of producing bio-compost from rural separated solid wastes using aerated static piles method was investigated. The combination of waste ingredients, conditions and duration of processing, analysis of key parameters governing the process, the quality of the final product as well as economic assessment of costs and revenues were the most important parameters that were considered.

After the separation of rural wastes, two compost piles, one containing 100 percent of putrescible wastes and another one containing 75% putrescible wastes and 25% of cow dung were created. To better estimating the variables related to process maturity and identifying the errors, three replications were applied. Four main variables including: moisture, pH, temperature and carbon to nitrogen ratio were measured for each of the piles. Comprehensive statistical analysis including the comparison of the variables, correlation between variables and analysis of one-way variance was performed for the measured parameters.

Total Coliform reduction in both kinds of waste compositions observed in approximately about 3log. Reduction of parasite eggs in piles containing 100% organic wastes was about 75.8% and in piles containing 75% organic wastes & 25% cow dung obtained about 95%. Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and nickel, were not found in the piles. For finished compost the average of C/N and pH were recorded 12.35 & 8.05 respectively.

Comparing the final product by Iranian, American and Canadian standards showed that static method stabilized solid wastes in both kinds of piles and eventually was led to the production of good compost. The economic evaluation showed that the internal rate of return (IRR) for producing compost, using aerated static piles method, is equal to 12.4%.

IntroductionThe soils which are contaminated with oil hydrocarbons and heavy metals are among the environmental issues. Therefore, remediations of these soils are necessary according health and environment standards and needs to be under consideration by decision makers. Solidification and stabilization of oil hydrocarbons and heavy metals is well known as an appropriate technology in prohibition of contamination movement to the base layers of soil and underground water resources. The contamination of underground water resources often happens because of subsurface leakage of pollutants from soil to the subsurface layers. Organic hydrocarbon especially those originated from oil are the most prevalent soil contaminants. Hydrocarbon contaminants are among the family of carcinogens and neurotoxic organic pollutants. Therefore, remediation of contaminated soils with organic contaminants are necessary. The process of solidification and stabilization changes of the oil hydrocarbons and heavy metals into more stable materials from which the leakage of contamination is minimum. This process takes place by methods such as encapsulation or adsorption of the contaminant. Organophillic clay shows a great capacity in oil hydrocarbon or heavy metal contamination stabilization because of high specific area and cation exchange capacity. The main goal of this paper is to study the process of interaction between cement-lime-organophillic clay and oil hydrocarbon or heavy metal contamination considering microstructure in solidification and stabilization process. The leakage of contaminant from the solidified matrix is also studied and the best mixing fraction of stabilizer and solidifier for the best result is calculated.
Materials and MethodsThe main focus of this research is on solidification and stabilization process in removal of the contaminants from the used bleaching soils of engine oil secondary treatments unit which are contaminated with oil hydrocarbons. This process is done using cement and quicklime accompanied by organophillic clay.
Stabilization/solidification is an effective disposal method for hazardous contaminants such as heavy metals and toxic materials. It was firstly used for nuclear waste treatment in 1950s and got widespread as a treatment technology for hazardous wastes in 1970s. US EPA has identified S/S as the Best Demonstrated Available Technology for 57 hazardous wastes which are regulated. Figure 7 shows the frequency of S/S treatment method compared to other technologies in US.
Figure 7. frequency of S/S treatment method compared to other technologies in US
Using S/S treatment method, chemical fixation and encapsulation of contaminants will be possible and the rate of contaminant migration will be minimized. During S/S process, the surface area exposed to leaching is decreased by isolating the wastes in an impenetrable capsule. The combination of stabilization and solidification results in improvement of strength and reduction in leachability which is the main goal of the process and hydraulic conductivity of treated soil. The aim of stabilization process is to decrease the solubility of contaminants by changing the chemical state of wastes or capsulation while solidification attempts to convert the waste into an easily handled solid with reduced hazards from leaching and higher strength. S/S can be applied both in situ and ex situ. In situ process contains the injection of agents into the contaminated soil using mixing equipment or pressure injection while in ex situ process the soil will be excavated. In ex situ systems, the control of process conditions is improved in comparison to in situ systems but its need to soil excavation is the most important drawback in comparison to in situ process. The most important parameter in S/S applicability is its limitation to immobilization of inorganic contaminants. However, under certain circumstances it can be applied to organic contaminants. The choice of appropriate binder in S/S process highly depends on the nature of contaminant and environmental conditions. The binders include inorganic cementitous materials (such as Portland cement, pozzolans, hydraulic slags and lime), organic binders, and thermosetting organic polymers.
In the first step, the characteristics of the wastes of the engine oil treatment industry are determined. For this purpose, the sampling takes place from the waste disposal site in Salafchegan Industrial City based on the method proposed by EPA. The wastes are measured to determine the total amount of oil hydrocarbons, total aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, pH and humidity. The tests for determination of density, particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, diffusivity and oil contaminant content is done as well. Studying the amount and the types of the organic compounds in the soil is a necessity which determines the remediation methods in next processes. In other words, if the soil has a noticeable amount of organic and contaminating compounds (such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), it must be clarified before being used in solidification and stabilization process.
In the second step, the characteristics of the leakage of contaminants from the solidified samples is studied under different circumstances which is done using TCLP and free pushing resistance tests and analyzing the morphologies of the samples using SEM electroscopy.
Portland cement, the contaminated bleaching soil, organophillic clay and quicklime are the main materials used in this research. Some solvent and chemicals are used as well which are introduced in the paper.
Results and DiscussionThe results show that the humidity content and specific gravity of the soil are 12.26% and 1.22 respectively. The results of the tests for measuring Atterberg limits and plasticity index shows that the soil which is being studied in this research, is from the types of the soils with high concentration of organic compounds with low diffusivity. Its pH is about neutral and it is heavy soil overall. The tests of heavy metal have shown the traces of iron, barium, lead, chrome, cobalt, cadmium, manganese, copper, nickel and zinc in the soil samples but their amounts are under the standard limits except barium which is above the standard limit.
The tests of aromatic hydrocarbons shows the existence of acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorine, fluoranthene and pyrene in the soil in amounts more than other aromatic compounds but still their amounts are under the standard limits. Therefore, the soil being studied in this research does not have the polycyclic aromatic contamination potential.
To analyze the effectiveness of the solidification and stabilization of the soil, the leakage in a control sample (without organophillic clay and quicklime as solidifiers) is measured and compared to the samples containing solidifiers. The comparison between the leaked contaminants concentrations from stabilized samples and control sample shows that in all of the solidified and stabilized samples, an appropriate percentage of oil hydrocarbon removal has happened. In other words, most of the organic compounds and heavy metals diagnosed in the soil are encapsulated in the matrix and are not present during TCLP test. It shows that using organophillic clay has a good effectiveness for solidification and stabilization of the used bleaching soil in waste disposal site of Salafchegan Industrial City. The tests of free pushing resistance show that the addition of clay will increase the resistance of the samples.
ConclusionsThe results show that addition of the clay has reduced the leakage in the soil. In total hydrocarbon removal, the samples with 20% of cement or quicklime and 30% of organophillic clay has the highest effectiveness with 98% removal of TPH and 98% removal of barium and producing 368-398 kPa pushing resistance.
Moreover, SEM electroscopy and TCLP test results show that increase in organophillic clay content and decrease in porosity volume in matrix are the two main reasons which enhanced the effectiveness of the stabilization process. The first will enhance the capability of the adsorption of the contaminant and the second will reduce the leakage amount.

The need for food produced from animal husbandry has made it a growing industry which result in increment of livestock waste. On the basis of environmental and economic considerations, these materials require treatment and management. Anaerobic digestion and creation of biogas are the most effective methods of waste management. Several parameters affect the anaerobic digestion of animal wastes which should be studied in order to optimize the biogas production of reactors.
The parameters affecting the performance of anaerobic processes in different scientific databases within 1984 -2016 were searched and related information were obtained.
A wide range of reactors with retention times of 0.5 to 140 days and organic loading rates from 0.11 to 7.5 grams per liter of organic matter in a day were studied based on the Volatile Solid (VS) in different temperature range. Also, studies conducted on mixing, co-digestion, changes in pH and ammonia content of the substrate, C/N ratio, as well as the effect of chemical interference were investigated.
High COD removal decrement of VS were achieved in the range of 80-95 % and 65- 92 % respectively in bioreactors. The produced methane was also 48 mmol L-1 to 4681.3 m3 per month for reactors with a volume of 120 ml to 1330 m3 achieved respectively at 37 and 55˚C from the Mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures. Results summarized on the physical and chemical conditions in this paper, can be used to study the effective parameters and optimize conditions used in biogas production.

Energy crisis is the most important crisis threatening mankind. Recently, using biogas has been put under focus due to the problems caused by widespread dependence to oil and scarcity of energy resources. In addition, using biogas as a fuel supply can saliently reduce greenhouse gases and consequently reduce global warming. Also, other advantages of biogas generation from biomass resources are waste minimization and sanitary manure generation. The aim of this study was to estimate the potential of biogas and energy production from biomass resources in the villages of Iran with anapproach to supply energy at the consumption place and to reduce transportation costs.
In this study, potential of biogas production from cattle refuse is evaluated according to the numbers of cattle existing in Iran villages and determination of cattle refuse quantity.
Results show that 11.195 million m3 biogas can be produced from 63 million cattle in villages of Iran. The extractable biogas from rustic biodegradable wastes was also determined. It was found that, annually, 487 million m3 biogas can be produced from 1249000 tons of waste per.
Generally, this study revealed that biogas and energy generation from biomass resources in villages of Iran with an approach to supply energy at the consumption place and to reduce transportation costs has economical efficiency and can be as a national strategy for achieving sustainable development.

The expanding production of fuels, drugs, fertilizers, chemicals, and hazardous materials has caused considerable environmental contaminations. The contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum hydrocarbon-based fuels as a result of accidental spills or improper storage has been reported frequently. Iran is seriously facing soil contamination problem, due to owning 8.58% of the global oil fields; generating 35 million tons of petrochemical products; and having more than 20 000 km of pipelines. The extraction of 1 kg of crude oil usually generates 10–20 g of waste residues Petroleum refineries are burdened with the problem of handling large sludge quantities. It is estimated that more than 28,000 tons of petroleum oily sludge are being generated each year from each petroleum refinery. This oily sludge is recognized as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Since the early 1970s leaks from evaporation ponds, storage tanks and under- ground pipelines at the Tehran Oil Refinery (TOR), which is located in the Shahre-Ray district, south of Tehran, Iran, were the major sources of soil and groundwater pollution in the area. For many years, wastes contaminated with chromium and mercury from the TOR site have contaminated the area, thus causing the pollution of soil, air and groundwater in the region. Heavy metals have toxic characteristics, and due to their non-degradability and persistency, they impose adverse effects on humans and ecosystems. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) consider mercury and chromium among the 100 most dangerous toxic substances .Furthermore, the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) lists these metals as toxic metals, while their concentration in soil leachates should not exceed 0.2 and 5 ppm, respectively. Chromium is also the 21st most abundant element in the Earth’s crust with an average concentration of 100 ppm.
Chromium damages the kidneys the liver and blood cells through oxidation reactions When reaches the blood stream. Contact with products containing chromates can lead to allergic contact dermatitis and irritant dermatitis, resulting in ulceration of the skin. In addition to these sorts of effects, the carcinogenicity of chromate dust has been proved since 1980 when the first publication described the increasing cancer risk of workers in a chromate dye company.
Mercury (Hg) is a silvery liquid metal. The primary source of Hg is a sulfide ore called cinnabar (HgS). Although Hg usually obtained as the by-product of processing complex ores which contains mixed sulfides, chloride, oxides and minerals, it could occur as the principal ore product.
Mercury can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes. Mercury vapors can also be inhaled. Accordingly, containers of mercury are extremely sealed to avoid any spill and evaporation. In order to avoid exposure to mercury vapor, heating of mercury or decomposable compounds of it is always carried out with adequate ventilation.
Soil washing is a combination of using liquids (usually water, occasionally combined with solvents) and mechanical processes to scrub soils. “Solvents are selected on the basis of their ability to solubilize specific contaminants, and on their environmental and health effects.” The soil washing process separates fine soil (clay, silt, etc) from coarse soil (sand and gravel). Since hydrocarbon contaminants tend to bind to fine soil particles (mainly clay and silt), separating the smaller particles from the larger ones decreases the volume of contaminated soil. The smaller volume of soil, which contains the majority of clay and silt particles, can be further treated by other methods, such as incineration or bioremediation, or disposed in according to federal regulations. The clean, considerable volume of soil is seemed to be non-toxic and can be used as backfill. Generally, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), petroleum and fuel residuals, heavy metals, PCBs, PAHs, and pesticides are the target contaminant groups for soil washing. This technology lets the recovery of metals and it can purify a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants from coarse-grained soils. because of reducing the quantity of material which would require further treatment, soil washing is cost-effective compare to other technologies.
In this paper, 3-mercaptopropionic acid reagent was used for soil washing of the samples. Brief description of this reagent is as follows:• 3-Mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), HSCH 2CH 2COOH, is used in a variety of applications. The MPA itself is used as cocatalyst in the manufacture of Bisphenol A, which is a key raw material in Polycarbonate production. MPA enhances the process efficiency.
Reagents preparation
A 250-mL solution of 3-mercaptopropionic acid with the concentration of 1.22 kg/L was prepared in the laboratory for testing of the samples. This solution was used as the main washing reagent to evaluate the contaminants removal efficiency under various temperature and concentration conditions.
Washing procedure
Twenty grams of contaminated soil were placed in a 600-mL beaker and 400 mL of reagents solution were added to the sample (1-20 is TCLP ratio). The soil was mixed with the designated washing solution using Jar test equipment for 4 hours at the rotational rate of 250 rpm.
Temperature effects
To obtain the effects of temperature on contaminants removal efficiencies, three washing solutions were made at 25, 35 and 45°C (respectively named T1, T2, and T3). To maintain the desired testing temperatures, the samples were kept in different water baths during the washing procedure.
Concentration effects
To evaluate effects of solutions concentration on the soil washing efficiency 4 different concentrations of 3-mercaptopropionic acid solutions (0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 normal) were prepared.
Extraction method U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) METHOD 3050B was applied to digest soil samples for ICM-MS tests. This method has been written to provide two separate digestion procedures, one for the preparation of sediments, sludge, and soil samples for analysis by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FLAA) or inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and one for the preparation of sediments, sludge, and soil samples for analysis of samples by Graphite Furnace AA (GFAA) or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
The average values of 155.7 and 27.2 ppm, respectively were used as the concentrations of chromium and mercury in raw soil samples of Tehran oil refinery contaminated site throughout this paper.
Discussion of Effects of solutions concentration on mercury removal efficiency
The removal efficiencies of the contaminants were 67.88, 73.39, 81.57, and 84.53% at 0.05, 0.15, 0.1 and 0.2 N concentrations of 3-mercaptopropionic acid solution, respectively.
Effects of solutions temperature on mercury removal efficiency By using 3-mercaptopropionic acid in 4 different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2N) the removal efficiencies of mercury were measured to be 71.31, 79.12, 84.94, and 86.98% at 35°C and to be 75.15, 83.44, 86.79, and 87.90% at 45°C, respectively.
Effects of solutions concentration on chromium removal efficiency The average amounts of chromium removals corresponding to 0.05 N and 0.2 M 3-mercaptopropionic acid solutions at 25°C were in the order of 51.37%, and 63.45%, respectively.
Effects of solutions temperature on chromium removal efficiency By using 3-mercaptopropionic acid in 4 different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2N) the removal efficiencies of chromium were reported to be 52.35, 53.98, 57.89, and 67.63% at 35°C and to be 55.11, 57.89, 62.76, and 75.21% at 45°C, respectively.
The outcomes illustrate that the highest mercury and chromium removal efficiencies from the sludge samples achieved by using 0.2 N 3-mercaptopropionic acid solution at 45°C (87.90% and 75.21% respectively) Furthermore, by using 0.2 N 3-mercaptopropionic acid solution at 25 °C, %84.53 of Mercury and %63.45 of Chromium were extracted.

Background & Aims of the Study: Studying the phasic process of the biogas yieldis required to optimize the design and operations; it also helps to lower energy production costs by decreasing the capital investment and operational costs. Here we determine the biogas process by measuring pH, ORP, electrical power and make compatibility to the biogas production trend.
In this research, one 1150 ml single chamber reactor is used. Biogas production trend was precisely followed by a probable compatibleness with pH, Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP), electrical Power at a temperature of 37 0.5˚C with the substrate of cattle manure. The experiment was followed for 120 days approximately.
As a result, the phases of biogas yield could be determined by the measuring of pH, ORP and its compatibility to gas production. In the reactor, hydrolytic, acetogenic and methanogenic phases were occurred in the days 1-7, 8-16 and 17-104, respectively. Also the electrical power at first showed to be produced at high range but by increasing, the production of biogas decreased and then by decreasing the biogas production gradually, it increased slightly.
Our results indicated that the phases of biogas production can be separated completely and by diffracting the phases, the efficiency of biogas production could be increased.

Nonstop growth of urban population and concentration of industrial and agricultural activities in many parts of the world and Iran have given rise to increased demand for water for different uses .Furthermore, as one important factor of lack of exchange between human and environment resulting in wide exploitation from agricultural lands, mine extraction, and application of various industrial tools, increased population has no role except pollution and contamination. Within this framework, one can view the issue of pollutions from two perspectives of natural resource destruction and development of waste stemming from various consumer goods. It might even have caused great transformations in quality and quantity of waste in response to rapid development of human artifacts and production of chemicals after industrial revolution .Threat to groundwater by landfill sites has always existed in many parts of the world. In particular, in developing countries, as a result of industrial and household wastes, even when there is no hazardous waste at the landfill site, the resulting leachate is still a significant threat to groundwater.
Although through immuring waste, hygienic landfill sites have brought about beauty and cleanliness to the environment and provided people and environment with health and hygiene, they will cause potential adverse effects due to generation of two by products, gas and leachate.
Leachate consists of the extract from the passage of waters mainly ditch water through waste mass containing numerous contaminants. Gas is also produced at the landfill site in response to chemical decomposition and decay of perishable waste and food. This gas mainly consists of methane, some carbon dioxide and volatile organic acids . Although soil is the most important and widely used physical, chemical, and biological filter for waters, waste recycler, and a host for many substances, its capacity is limited and many toxins and materials added to soil may become more concentrated and in turn create serious threats to the environment . Greenhouse effects of methane and carbon dioxide gases, development of global warming, suffocation caused by carbon dioxide gas, and explodability of methane are among the effects brought about by gases emitted from landfill sites. The influence of methane gas on world atmosphere and greenhouse conditions is about 21 times as large as the effect of carbon dioxide .
Takestan city is situated in southwest of Ghazvin between 46° and 42’ east and 36° and 4’ northeast (Fig. 1) with an altitude of 1265 m. Except for northwest and west of the city with a relatively steep slope, other regions of the city have a moderate slope. The general slope of the region extends from west to east and gradual decrease of slope has resulted in subsidence of remaining water of Abharrood and Kharrood rivers in the southern part. The maximum slope extending from northwest toward Takestan is around 3% and its average is 1.7% towards northwest. The general slopw of the region from Takestan toward Ghazvin northeastwards is approximately 0.3%.
Takestan city, located in the plain of Ghavzin is restricted to Alinaghieh, Aghdagh, and Abuhanifeh altitudes from northern, northwestern, and western fronts situated at 7-15 km distance from the city. Regarding the limitation for development of the city in eastern and southeastern fronts, due to presence of vineyards and industrial lands at northeastern front of the city along with artificial barriers of development such as railways at the southern front, the only appropriate direction for urban development is the northwestern front limited by Tehran-Zanjan highway. On the other hand, since the region is earthquake prone and there are some known faults including Parandak, Ipek, Shtehard, Geshlagh, and Abyek, vertical development of the city is only possible by following Earthquake Code 2800 in urban constructions. The general slope of the city is about 2% from northwest to southeast and is 0.3% from west to east.
Samples of groundwater and leachate were analyzed chemically in laboratory after sampling followed by measurement of heavy metal concentration together with BOD5 and COD.
According to the main objective of the research, 5 sampling stations were specified within the study area from which water samples were taken in Mehr of 1393. In order to investigate the trend of qualitative variations, the obtained results were further compared with the results of 1393. Four sampling stations were selected from Takestan landfill downstream (A, B, C, D) and the fifth one (E) was selected from landfill upstream so that the potential effect of leachate on groundwater resource contamination within the study area be investigated more accurately. The leachate sample was further analyzed and the results were then compared with discharge standards. The studied parameters were electrical conductance, pH, TDS, TSS, BOD, COD, Na, Ca, and some heavy metals (including copper, zinc, iron, lead, chromium, cadmium, molybdenum, manganese, nickel, and aluminum).
In order to analyze water standards qualitatively, some valid standards presented by Iranian institute of industrial research and standard, the standard of potable water in the country’s water industry, world health organization, and European Union potable water standard were used for drinking usages.
The qualitative parameters measured regarding water sampling included pH, EC, TDS, TSS, BOD, COD, Na, Ca, and some heavy metals (including copper, zinc, iron, lead, chromium, cadmium, molybdenum, manganese, nickel, and aluminum).
The comparison of qualitative parameters values in Takestan landfill leachate in 1383 and 1393 indicated reduced value of most qualitative parameters particularly heavy metals in 1393 in response to alterations of landfill reactions (acidic conditions to methanogen).
The comparison of qualitative parameters values in leachate with the national standard of discharge to surface waters and absorbent wells manifested that Takestan landfill leachate both in 1383 and 1393 has had values (for most contaminants) over than national standard of discharge. Therefore, it should not spread into the environment easily and with no proper management.
The comparison of analysis results of groundwater qualitative parameters within the study area revealed a significant increase of some contaminants particularly heavy metals. The probable reason could be leachate leakage to the environment and permeation to groundwater resources in the vicinity of landfill.
Concentration of lead, cadmium, and nickel in water samples had the largest violation from national and international qualitative standards compared with other studied contaminants.
Regarding the ascending trend of many studied contaminants (especially heavy metals) in water samples next to Takestan landfill, it can be stated that the leachate emitted from the landfill may have had a significant impact on the contamination of water resources around the landfill.

Human activities such as oil and gas production can enhance the natural level of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in by-product and waste streams. Iran has been among the top five oil producing countries since 2005. This high production rate emphasizes the importance of NORM management to ensure the safety of humans and wildlife. Petroleum storage and transport facilities are located at Lavan Island, Iran. Presence of animals including dolphins, sea turtles, and chinkaras make this island one of the most unique wildlife refuges in Iran. This paper combines waste disposal methods relevant to the petroleum offshore industries, NORM waste characteristics, and geographical, geological, and climate conditions of Lavan Island in order to develop enveloping exposure scenarios. Sludge burning is determined as the most concerning scenario by assuming chinkaras as the endpoint. Ecological and radiological assessment procedure is modeled with MATLAB-Simulink as a dynamic system. Clearance level for radiation protection of chinkaras is calculated as 41 Bq/kg. This value may be insufficient for radiation protection of workers, because exposure pathways are not derived based on human behavior. According to environmental pathways and condition of chinkaras, this value sufficiently covers all aspects of radiation protection.

Waste generation in today industries is a serious problem. Waste generation from the production stage to the final disposal is an inevitable issue. Development of the cities and the industrialization causes the everyday increasing in solid waste generation. Therefore, knowing the waste values is an essential tool for solid waste management systems. In this research, artificial neural network is used as a financial tool for modeling solid waste generation in Mashhad. For this purpose, first, some pre-processing on the dependent and independent variables are done and the effect of this procedure on the accuracy of the model is investigated. Research findings clearly indicate that by using some preprocessing on the input data accurate results can be obtained. Three different conditions have been evaluated and the best one is selected which contains logarithm, trend removing and standardizing. The selected network has two hidden layers with five neurons in each one. Network performance parameters are MAPE, MSE and R2 that equals to 0.06, 0.46 and 0.86 respectively.

One of the major concerns of today’s human is the contamination of agricultural soil with different chemical pollutants، especially heavy metals which is considered as one of the important challenges of agricultural development and hence rural development. The use of a variety of organic and chemical fertilizers، municipal waste، pesticides، insecticides، herbicides and many other agricultural processes that affect locally on the soil potentially will face agricultural and rural development with problem. This research، in order to evaluate the effect of organic manure (animal and compost) on the growth rate and performance of Barbarea Verna (Lepidium sativum) plant as well as the uptake of copper، lead and chromium as heavy metals by the root and aerial organs of the plant، by split plot based on the completely randomized block design with six Treatment and four replications was conducted in the Crop Field Research Paradise of Zabol University in 2008-2009. The Treatments consists of plots contaminated with heavy metals three Treatments (manure، compost and chemical fertilizer) and non-contaminated plots three Treatments (manure، compost and chemical fertilizer). The results showed that the non-contaminated Treatments compared with contaminated Treatments enjoyed higher performance. But this difference was not statistically significant. Considering the comparison of the data average، the most performance of Barbarea Verna plant was obtained from the chemical fertilizer Treatment non-contaminated with heavy metals (6. 09 ton/ha) and the least performance of Barbarea Verna plant was also taken from the manure Treatment contaminated with heavy metal (4 ton/ha). The results of data variance analysis showed that among various types of fertilizers، from the view of heavy elements accumulation in the plant mass، there is a significant difference. The comparison of data average of both contaminated Treatment and non-contaminated Treatment indicated that the accumulation of heavy elements both in the root tissue and in the aerial organs of Barbarea Verna plant that were treated with various types of fertilizers contaminated with heavy metals was more than non-contaminated Treatments.

One of serious problems facing country’s environment especially in urban areas is the ongoing trend of hazardous waste mismanagement. The mismanagement of hazardous waste makes a lot of risks to the human health and the nature considering combustion, reactive, corrosive and toxic characteristics. In order to reduce these side effects the country needs a more comprehensive hazardous waste disposal program (e.g. legislation and regulation).
Research In this study, to overcome these challenges with regard to social - economic conditions and a better commitment by the manufacturers an appropriate legislation has been provided. The purpose of the revision and development of specific regulations for hazardous waste could be described based on the reduce of the severe damage caused by illegal disposal of pollutants into the urban environment as well as filling the existing gaps in state law to preserve nature and the environment. The study also criticized the existing law and administrative regulations of the Waste Management and following a comparison with some of the laws of developed countries, the topics for special legislation for the legal disposal was determined.
Consisted of 23 articles and 19 notes, as well as a regulatory counterpart including 87 article and 64 notes have been compared.
As a result, following a thorough and careful investigation, a piece of legislation In this revised regulations, a special attention is given based on the decrease of production and considering a recycling and reuse program. In addition to the applicable responsibilities, supervision for the implementation of the commitments is considered. This piece of legislation is annually audited by EPA with its divisions. In this regard, there is an especial emphasis by EPA on the private sector for the Waste Management. Site selection is carried out by EPA based on Land Use Planning and Environmental Impact Assessment. However, the Waste Management programs could be done by the private sector as a long contract. To transport and disposal of waste materials by the private sector, a maximum support by EPA has been considered. To reduce of environmental costs, a recycling and reuse program is emphasized. Meanwhile, the producer is responsible for disposal costs. In this proposed piece of legislation, in order to reduce the disposal costs and waste volume, some encouragements have been determined through ISO 14001. In addition, some solutions for business income and updated database are considered by the proposed piece of legislation. Overall, an organized educational program is proposed for public and private sectors.
This research revealed that to protect the urban environment, a specialized law should be codified. With regard to economic, social, cultural and political situation, a draft law for Waste Management has been developed. The illegal disposal of hazardous waste material is the most important problem in developing countries (e.g. Iran). To address this failure, the Special Waste Management Act and Regulations were presented. The advantages of this new legislation could be described in terms of the establishment of environment, and the view points of citizens on decision making processes the found could provide money for financing the costs associated with environmental recovery, primary evaluation of different legal disposal sites, and study the different environmental aspects for making decision about urgent reaction or improvement actions.

This research has been carried out with the purpose of Internal Evaluation of Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Tehran. Presenting a comprehensive and clear profile from a programme or an institution based on self evaluation and analysis of points of strengths, sore points, opportunities and threats calls for employing evaluation process. In this regard, the evaluation research and action research methods are used. Required information is gained using questionnaire and check list. The population from which data is collected are head of department, faculty members, students and the faculty librarian utilizing census method and graduates and their employers applying existing sampling methods. According to the applied criteria and indicators, the mean in factors of scientific board(2/66), students(2/43), graduate-outcome(2/5), and research and scientific publications(2/5) showed favorable situation in intended factors and the mean in factors of facilities and training spaces(2/15), organizational structure(1/83), learning and teaching process and implemented training courses(2/13) showed a relatively favorable situation in intended factors. These results suggest that reaching desired optimum and/or final goals is not far from expectations in Environmental Engineering Department in University of Tehran. However, it should be bear in mind that fulfilling such aim demands a thoughtful planning and employing solutions to omit sore points in needed areas.

The daily increase of organic waste materials resulting from different activities in the country is one of the main factors for the pollution of environment. Today, with regard to the low level of the output of using traditional methods, the high cost of disposal waste materials and environmental pollutions, the use of modern methods such as anaerobic digestion for the production of biogas has been prevailing. The collected biogas from the process of anaerobic digestion, as a renewable energy source similar to natural gas but with a less methane and heating value is usable. Today, with the help of technologies of filtration and proper preparation, access to biogas with features fully similar to natural gas has become possible [1]. At present biogas is one of the main sources of supplying electrical and thermal energy and also an appropriate option to be used in four stroke engine, diesel engine, sterling engine, gas turbine, gas micro turbine and fuel cell to produce electricity [2]. The use of biogas for different reasons which returns to socio-economic and environmental advantages has been noticed in CHP for the production of energy in the world [3, 4]. The production of biogas from the technology of anaerobic digestion and its application in CHP power plants in Iran can not only supply part of the energy demands in the country, but it can materialize moving in line with the sustainable development. In this article, the necessity of the development of CHP plants with biogas fuels in the country will be dealt based on studies performed from the economic, environmental and social aspects. Also to prove the importance of the establishment of these kinds of power plants from the economic point of view, necessary calculations has been done as a case study for a CHP power plant with a biogas fuel.