International Journal Of Environmental Research
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Spring 2009

Temperature restrictions on aqueous effluents dictate that streams with a temperature higher than the permitted level needed to pass through cooling systems to reduce the effluent temperature before discharge. In this study, by considering the grouping design rules based on pinch technology, an optimum design for a distributed effluent cooling system, has been developed. A counter-flow wet cooling tower, with a mechanical air draft, is also assumed as an effluent thermal treatment facility in predicting the exit water and air conditions of the tower in the system. In this new design method, an optimum inlet flow rate to cooling tower has been achieved by exploring the feasible region. Also, the evaporation loss effect, flexible design variables, and physical properties have been incorporated in targeting the optimal conditions for the cooling tower. A case study is presented to illustrate the design methodology and the optimization model of cooling systems

The major objectives of this study were to find out the mechanism behind the sapstaining fungal hyphae penetration into wood elements using electron microscope and to evaluate the exact role of phenolic compounds existing in wood vinegar towards the sapstaining fungal growth inhibition. To formulate the new environmental friendly wood preservative, we neutralized (to pH 7) wood vinegar with NaOH and hot water extracts of Pinus densiflora and Quercus serrata saw dusts were used in the media instead of sterilized distilled water to enhance the fungal growth inhibition property of neutralized wood vinegar. The initial calibration of wood extract was done by calculating the specific gravity, tar calculation and total organic content. GC-MS analysis was performed to identify the phenolic compounds and other ingredients present in both neutralized wood vinegar and acidic wood vinegar by chloroform extraction method. Eleven major compounds were identified in acidic wood vinegar and 7 major compounds in neutralized wood vinegar. Ophiostoma polonicum, O. ips, O. flexuosum, O. narcissi and O. tetropii were the sapstaining fungi used in this study against neutralized wood vinegar, extracts of Pinus densiflora and Quercus serrata. More than 2.5% neutralized wood vinegar contained agar plates were showed strong antifungal activity against sapstaining fungi. The Scanning Electron Microscopy image of fungal growth on wood samples showed the phenomenon of fungal penetration into wood elements. Pinus densiflora was used as wood element for SEM analysis.

Eighteen kilometers long coastal stretch from the New Mangalore Port in the north toTalapadi in the south has been studied in order to understand shoreline changes and erosion/ accretion patterns that have taken place due to the natural processes and anthropogenic activities. Shoreline changes and quantification of beach erosion/accretion were made using the Survey of India topomap, multidated satellite images and beach profile surveys. During 1967-97 period, most of the beaches were accreted, except those lie just towards south of the Netravati and Gurpur river mouth in Sector III. During 1997-2001 period also, the beaches showed accretion trend, but they were subjected to severe erosion during 2001-05 in all the four sectors. The beaches in Sectors I-III are polluted due to discharges of effluents and very poor maintenance.

Twenty samples of the recent sediments were collected from the Tigris River and some of its tributaries of northern Iraq and twelve samples from the Miocene and Quaternary sediments. The study is conducted to define and assess the paleoenvironmental pollution by some heavy metals in these sediments in order to elucidate the probable source rocks and the main mineral phases suggested to be a source of such pollution by using X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopes analyses. The study indicates a polluted level of some heavy metals mainly Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. Clay and heavy minerals may form the main sources for this natural pollution. The combined affects of mechanical attrition and chemical etching during the transportation by the river water are indicated through several morphological characteristics on the surface textures of the heavy minerals. The high concentration of some of the studied trace elements could be attributed to incorporation of such elements in the lattice of the heavy and clay minerals.

In this study the direct effects of urban green space dispersal and density on quality of the environment of the regions of Tehran have been investigated and evaluated. In order to do so, the area and green space per capita and vegetation cover density of the regions of Tehran have been measured as ecological indices for evaluating their environmental quality. The measurements have been done by means of land use layers in GIS, satellite images of vegetation cover dispersal and density and calculating the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). High levels of population density and carbon monoxide concentration in each city region have been considered as human indices for low quality of urban environments. Comparison of these indices, and analysis of the correlation level between them, indicates that the regions which have the least green space area per capita and vegetation cover density are also the most polluted and populated areas. The results of this study would introduce planning priorities for urban green space development in Tehran.

The specific vulnerability of children and by extension, the need to promote disaster awareness among children as an integral part of disaster risk-reduction strategies is an emergent theme in the disaster management fraternity. The challenge however, is in the design of awarenesspromotion tools that are relevant to and appropriate for the specific learning needs of children. The Disaster Awareness Game (DAG) on which this paper is based has been designed to address this challenge. Preliminary testing of the Game among Caribbean school children suggests that it is appropriate for and effective in rising levels of awareness and consequent behaviour of children in disaster situations. In light of the preliminary nature of these results further testing of the DAG is imperative if confirmation of its reliability is to be obtained.

Light is never being distributed homogeneously and it forms a gradient over biomass. The unidirectional nature of light gives rise to a vertical gradient of light intensity as a function of depth. The maximum depth of the light zone suitable for phytoplankton photosynthesis is designated as the euphotic depth. This study was designed to test the hypothesis of mixing depth of phytoplankton and its compensation depth. In a water column undergoing turbulent mixing, where phytoplankton cells are around by the fluid motion, the irradiance encountered by cells will be a function of the ratio between the euphotic depth (zy) and the depth of mixing (zm). During the course of study the zy/zm ratio value were observed in the range of 0.4427 to 3.242. However, identification of Compensation point values for zy/zm indicates that light conditions are suitable for net phytoplankton production, because the mean value (0.3413) was good for the phytoplanktonic growth, which was greater than the minimum 0.20 limit.

In the present investigation, dead bacterium biomass Streptomyces rimosus was used as an inexpensive and efficient biosorbent for Cr (III) removal from aqueous solution. The bacterial biomass was treated with 0.1 M NaOH. Sorption level of 65 mg/g was observed at pH 4.8 while precipitation effect augmented this value at higher pH range. Chromium desorption increased with decreasing desorption agents pH (including HCl and H2SO4) to a maximum value of 95% at approximately zero pH. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin models were applied to describe the biosorption isotherm of the metal ions by Streptomyces rimosus biomass. Langmuir model fitted the equilibrium data better than the Freundlich isotherm. Maximum metal uptake qmax was observed as 83.33 mg g”1 indicate good biosorbents than other biomass. Experimental data were also tested in terms of biosorption kinetics using fractional power, Elovich, pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order rate expressions. The results showed that the biosorption processes followed well pseudosecond- order kinetics and the intra-particle diffusion is not the rate-limiting step for the whole reaction.

Distribution and abundance of plants has been correlated with a variety of complex environmental gradients. Environmental factors affect plants growth and need to be understood by ecosystem managers. This study was carried out to examine the relationships between site factors and different vascular and non-vascular plants in north of Iran. For this purpose, vegetation and soil sampling was performed along 8 transects each with a length of 300 m in key areas of the rangeland. Also, topographic properties including elevation, slope and aspect were recorded in sampling points, too. Using TWINSPAN, classification of the vegetation was performed. After grouping of the species, Multivariate technique of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the relationships between vegetation and site factors. The results of classification revealed that species are classified to 6 ecological groups. The interesting result was that vascular and non-vascular plants were positioned in approximately separated groups. Also, each group according to the contained species showed different correlation with site factors. Properties of nutrient status, EC, texture and slope aspect were the most important factors that correlated strongly with the distribution of ecological groups in the study area, but the strength and weakness of the correlation was different based on the species of each group.

One of the sacred water tank Brahmsarovar, at Kurukshetra in India was studied to assess the impact of mass bathing during new moon day (called as Amavasya in India) in terms of physico-chemical and biological characteristics. Overall water quality index was calculated using online calculator. Results have revealed significant (P<0.05) increase in organic pollution indicating parameters viz. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), total solids, chlorides, alkalinity and decline in dissolved oxygen (DO) which may be attributed to organic, domestic waste, their microbial decomposition, addition of soaps, detergents and their absorption by aquatic flora. A sharp and significant increase in ammonia concentration was also observed which is again due to high organic matter of animal origin. No significant variation in plankton population was observed, however, numerical value of species diversity index showed a decrease indicating the elimination of sensitive taxa. Since the conditions are not beyond the limit so proper legislative efforts to disinfect the water regularly and to educate the pilgrims can improve it. Since fish netting is banned in such holy tanks so it is recommended to use it for the conservation of wild stocks of important fish species

Speciated samples of PM2.5 were collected at the Hamshire and Orange sites in Golden Triangle of Texas by US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) from July of 2003 to August of 2005. A total of 269 samples for the Hamshire site and 293 samples for the Orange site with 52 species were measured; however, 22 species were excluded because of too many below-detectionlimit data. Among the 22 species excluded, 20 species are common to both sites. Due to the laboratory change about November 1st of 2004 and possible analytical artifacts, phosphorous was excluded as well. The two data sets were analyzed by positive matrix factorization (PMF) to infer the sources of PM observed at the two sites. The analysis identified nine common source-related factors: sulfaterich secondary aerosol, cement/carbon-rich, wood smoke, motor vehicle/road dust, metal processing, nitrate-rich secondary aerosol, soil, sea salt, and chloride depleted marine aerosol. Sulfate and nitrate mainly exist as ammonium salts. The sulfate-rich secondary aerosol accounts for 42% and 43% of the PM mass concentrations at the Hamshire and the Orange sites, respectively. The factor containing highest concentrations of Cl and Na was attributed to sea salt due to the proximity of the monitoring sites to the Gulf of Mexico. The chloride depleted marine aerosol was related to the sea salt aerosol but was identified separately due to the chlorine replacement reactions. Basically, the factors of sulfate, motor vehicle/road dust, nitrate, soil, sea salt, and chloride depleted marine aerosol at the two sites showed similar chemical composition profiles and seasonal variation reflecting these six factors were likely to be Golden Triangle regionally related sources. Cement/carbon-rich, wood smoke, and metal processing factor were likely to be the local sources.

The concentration (mg/kg dry weight) of Cd, Cr and Pb were determined in onion leaves samples using the atomic absorption spectrometry. A total of 16 onion leaves each were collected from both the study and control sites for analysis. The heavy metals, Cd, Cr and Pb in onion leaves of study sites were found in the range of 0.667 – 0.933, 3.870 – 7.870 and 5.870 – 7.537mg/kg respectively, while the results of control sites showed values ranging from 0.583 – 0.700, 0.447 – 0.842 and 3.833 – 7.333mg/kg for Cd, Cr and Pb respectively. The trend of abundance of heavy metals in both sites followed the same sequence: Pb > Cr > Cd. The metals levels in both sites are higher than WHO/EU recommended limits with exception of Cd. The high levels of the metals suggest that effluent water irrigated fields could be indicative of bio-accumulation of the metals in the leaves, consequently putting the consumers of this vegetable crop are at health risk.

This paper investigates householders’ attitudes to the recycling of solid wastes in one part of northern Malaysia, namely Alor Setar town, Kedah State. A postal questionnaire survey was administered to households in Alor Setar town in selected areas of high, middle and low incomes. 389 responses were obtained, a response rate of 86.4%. A personal interview with an official of the Municipal Council of Alor Setar was conducted in order to identify the current situation of solid waste recycling and household participation as well as obtaining views on the recycling campaigns carried out by the Malaysian government in 1993 and 2000. The paper indicates that participation in recycling of household waste relies on the level of awareness and understanding of recycling. Improved education and increasing the accessibility of recycling facilities are the best means of promoting positive attitudes to recycling attitude, partly because they help to remove barriers preventing households from recycling. Households in Alor Setor town have identified some of the effective strategies that can be initiated by the government to increase the rate of recycling in Malaysia which would also encourage them to participate in recycling. One of these strategies was providing recycling bins in every residential area.

Water and energy are key commodities utilized in the process industries.Water minimization and energy minimization have been studied separately. In this paper, a new systematic design methodology has been developed for the simultaneous management of energy and water systems that also feature maximum re-use of water. In addition to allowing re-use of water, issues about heat losses inside unit operations have also been incorporated in this new design method. To implement such a design, two new design aspects are introduced; new method for “Non-isothermal Mixing” points identification and new “Separate System” generation. The first aspect involves “non-isothermal mixing”, which enables direct heat recovery between water streams, and therefore allows the reduction of the number of heat transfer units. An NLP model is formulated to identify feasible non-isothermal mixing points in the network regarding minimum operation cost, which satisfy minimum freshwater and utility requirements. The other aspect is the generation of “separate system” in heat exchanger network design. The flexibility of mixing and splitting of water streams allows separate systems to be created as a cost-efficient series of heat exchanger units between freshwater and wastewater streams. The new design aspects have been illustrated with an example.

Significant damages incurred across Lebanon during the July 2006 war encompassing the destruction of road networks, bridges and overpasses as well as a vast number of dwelling units. It is anticipated that reconstruction works after the war shall unavoidably create a newly founded demand for natural resources, most notably primary and secondary construction material. This paper assesses the war-related impacts of the construction sector on the environment coupled with recommendations for controlling and mitigating these impacts. A cost benefit analysis of four different scenarios for supplying construction material was conducted based on their environmental and fiscal costs as well as their economic benefits and government returns. The Fixed Box Model was applied to estimate air pollutants concentration. Results indicated that the preferred alternative for the supply of cement primarily consists of local manufacturing of 100 percent of the required quantities. With regards to sand and aggregates, the analysis indicated that the preferred alternatives are to either rely on local production or import 25 percent of the required material. The predicted average concentration of Total Suspended Particulates at the southern suburb of Beirut site exceeded the recommended values of the Lebanese, EU, USEPA, and WHO standards.

Transportation sector is one of the major contributors to noise in the urban areas. The traffic noise environment in Balasore, a city of Orissa, India in terms of standard noise indices, community response and community health effects are worked out in the present study. Noise Pollution is assessed in six different squares (road sections) of the town. It is inferred that the noise levels are more than permissible limit in all the six investigated locations of Balasore. A preliminary survey adopting questionnaire method amongst 212 local inhabitants also carried out to gather secondary information about the suffering of noise related health problems.

The development of a conceptual model that best accounts for the different parameters influencing LNAPL fate and transport in groundwater is ultimate the key to a successful simulation of LNAPL concentration in groundwater. Characterization of hydrocarbon sources and identification of areas with heavy LNAPL loadings from point and non-point sources is important for land use planners and environmental regulators.Bistoon petrochemical site has discharged the light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) contamination for 10 months. Since the amount of contamination in this source is not clear and the only available data is the amount of contamination in the observed well, an attempt was made to solve this problem by using inverse method. The amount of source contaminant was found through observed data in the well. In this method the analytical results with numerical ones were compared. Upon computation of the contamination concentration, the mass of contaminants can be calculated by multiplying concentration by volume. The numerical method used is finite difference which is an engine in Modflow program.