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Fungal biomass, Aspergillus terricola, was synthesized and employed for the biosorption of aqueous hexavalent chromium via batch technique. Insight into the nature of the surface chemistry and morphology of the fungal biomass was obtained via infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses, respectively. Also, the effect of selected process variables on the Aspergillus terricola biosorption capacity was elucidated. By employing isotherm and kinetic of varying parametric equations, the study investigated the effect of the number of parameters in a given model equation on their modelling performance. Marczewki-Jaroniec (4-parameter) and Fractal-like Pseudo-first order (3-parameter) model emerged as the best fit for isotherm and kinetics studies, respectively. The finding demonstrated the dependence of modelling accuracy on the inherent number of parameters of a given model. Meanwhile, the result of the mechanistic studies highlighted the superiority of the film diffusion mechanism during the hexavalent chromium biosorption, with a Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity (q max) of 87.3 mg. g-1. Notably, the biosorption efficacy of Aspergillus terricola biomass was succinctly demonstrated in the study.

Abstract Desalination has become one of the principal sources of fresh water in arid and semi-arid zones. In Egypt, desalination finds wider applications in different production sectors. Different types of desalting technologies are currently in use. The present paper outlines the problems encountered by the consumers when using a particular technology and the procedures followed to deal with those problems. Guidlines for proper selection of the desalting technology are presented which may apply to similar developing countries. Methods to reduce desalination costs through scientific management and proper operating cycles are discussed. Other alternatives to provide fresh water for a specific location in West Egyptian desert have been presented associated with the comparative economics. Guidlines for water planning have been concluded

A study of solar desalination still combined with air-conditioning system is presented in this work. Combining the solar still with the air-conditioning system can increase the condensate output from the solar still while meeting the cooling load needs. The operation of the combined solar distillation and air-conditioning system, that utilized the heat rejected by the condenser and the heat sink of the evaporator, has been tested to obtain the distillate output from the solar still during the air-conditioning of a space application. Experimental work of the present system is carried out in June 2009 (summer month), in Cairo, Egypt. The present problem is tested to use the integrated system operation for already utilizing air-conditioning energy consumption; that is, meeting the hourly air-conditioning load and the daily fresh water production. The system is tested for day and nighttimes of operation of the combined system for the summer month: June 2009, Cairo, Egypt. Economic study evaluation is presented. The results show that the maximum fresh water productivity through June is 29 Liters in daytime of June 5 2009 and 37 liters in nighttime (nocturnal time) of June 3 2009. The present system more efficient in day time (8:00 AM–8:00 PM) and night time (8:00 PM–8:00 AM). Therefore, the maximum efficiency is recorded 40% for the present system in daytime, 36% in nighttime, and 25% for conventional solar still. COP increases with inside temperature (Ti), however it decreases with outside temperature (Tamb). The average cost of one liter of distillate water from the present combined system = 0.021441 (LE).

The effect of addition of kitchen wastewater (KWW) on H2 fermentation of municipal food waste (MFW) was investigated in a mesophillic anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR). A better H2 production of 5.54 ± 0.9 lH2d−1., and H2 yield of 164 ± 22 mlH2gCOD removed−1d−1., was achieved for co-digestion of MFW+KWW as compared to MFW diluted with raw water at a mixing ratio of 1:2, respectively. However, co-digestion process was strongly dependent on the applied pH, COD/TKj-N ratio, and hydraulic retention time (HRT). At pH value of 5, H2 potential (P) and maximum H2 production rate (Rm) were 6912 ml and 141 mlh−1., which were dropped with increasing pH values between 6.2 and 9.0. H2 yield increased from 93.2 ± 12 to 150.9 ± 7 mlH2gVS removed−1d−1., when the COD/TKj-N ratio was increased from 12 to 24.1. Nevertheless, a further increase in COD/TKj-N ratio to greater than 24.1 resulted in a significant drop in H2 yield. Increasing the HRT from 1.82 to 4.6 d., significantly (p < 0.01) increased the H2 yield from 156 ± 73...

Abstract The impact of Ni nanoparticles (NPs) and Ni-graphene nanocomposite (Ni-Gr NC) on hydrogen production from industrial wastewater containing mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) via anaerobic digestion was investigated. Batch reactors were supplemented with different dosages of Ni NPs and Ni-Gr NC ranging from 0 to 100 mg/L. Maximum hydrogen yields (HYs) of 24.73 ± 1.12 and 41.28 ± 1.69 mL/gCOD initial were achieved at a dosage of 60 mg/L for Ni NPs and Ni-Gr NC, respectively. Substantial improvements of 23% and 105% in hydrogen production were registered at an optimum dosage of 60 mg/L for Ni NPs and Ni-Gr NC, respectively, compared with the control without nanomaterials addition. However, increasing the dosage of Ni NPs and Ni-Gr NC to 100 mg/L resulted in a significant decrease in HY to 20.80 ± 1.12 and 24.24 ± 1.13 mL/gCOD initial , respectively. A non-linear regression model revealed that the higher maximum hydrogen production (129% improvement) could be achieved at a dosage of 50 mg/L Ni-Gr NC and an initial pH of 5.0. Economic and environmental revenues due to bioenergy recovery from MEG-containing wastewater were also estimated.

Soil quality assessment is the first step towards precision farming and agricultural management. In the present study, a multivariate analysis and geographical information system (GIS) were used to assess and map a soil quality index (SQI) in El-Fayoum depression in the Western Desert of Egypt. For this purpose, a total of 36 geo-referenced representative soil samples (0–0.6 m) were collected and analyzed according to standardized protocols. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the dataset into new variables, to avoid multi-collinearity, and to determine relative weights (Wi) and soil indicators (Si), which were used to obtain the soil quality index (SQI). The zones of soil quality were determined using principal component scores and cluster analysis of soil properties. A soil quality index map was generated using a geostatistical approach based on ordinary kriging (OK) interpolation. The results show that the soil data can be classified into three clusters: Cluster I represents about 13.89% of soil samples, Cluster II represents about 16.6% of samples, and Cluster III represents the rest of the soil data (69.44% of samples). In addition, the simulation results of cluster analysis using the Monte Carlo method show satisfactory results for all clusters. The SQI results reveal that the study area is classified into three zones: very good, good, and fair soil quality. The areas categorized as very good and good quality occupy about 14.48% and 50.77% of the total surface investigated, and fair soil quality (mainly due to salinity and low soil nutrients) constitutes about 34.75%. As a whole, the results indicate that the joint use of PCA and GIS allows for an accurate and effective assessment of the SQI.

Abstract The factors responsible for the premature failure of reinforcement in the Pumping Station at Manzala Lake in Egypt have been investigated. Concrete analysis indicated that the water used contained high concentration of salts. The total alkalinity of the cement showed that ordinary concrete has been used instead of dense concrete. General and pitting attack was observed microscopically on the reinforcement outside the building. Transgranular corrosion cracking was observed on the reinforcement of an external column carrying the building as well as on the reinforcement taken from two locations close to the pumps inside the building. The combined action of repeated stress due to the building vibration during pumps operation and the corrosive environment resulted in reinforcement cracking.

The effect of cultural growth treating gelatinaceous wastewater on hydrogen fermentative was assessed using up-flow multi-stage anaerobic sponge reactor (UMASR) and anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (AnSBR). Both reactors were operated at five hydraulic retention times (HRTs). UMASR achieved the maximum COD removal efficiency of 60.2±4.4% at HRT of 48h. Moreover, UMASR exhibited superiority in the course of carbohydrates and proteins removal efficiencies' of 100 and 52.5±2.4% due to high amylase and protease activities' of 4.1±0.3 and 0.032±0.002U, respectively. Contrariwise, AnSBR assigned for the peak hydrogen production rate of 1.17±0.14L/L/day at HRT of 24-h. Lipase activity was quite high (0.307±0.023U) in AnSBR resulting in removal efficiency of 35.2±2.1% for lipids. Stover-Kincannon model emphasized that UMASR required lesser volume than AnSBR to sustain the same substrate degradation efficacy. Nevertheless, the net gain energy harvested from AnSBR surpassed UMASR by 4.0-folds at HRT of 24-h.

Billions of grams of ectodermic fruits, such as prickly pear fruits, are removed and thrown as waste worldwide. In this study, an inexpensive approach was used to successfully transform the agricultural waste prickly pear fruit peels (PPFP) into a new adsorbent used to remove dye (PTZIDM). The adsorbent PPFP revealed a porous structure and a fair surface area. It was characterized and evaluated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and surface area measurements (BET). The effectiveness of the PPFP’s adsorption was assessed in relation to pH, PPFP dose, contact time, and initial dye concentration. The kinetics and isotherm characteristics were investigated. More than 95% removal efficiency was obtained within 60 min at the adsorbent dose of 0.1 g for an initial dye concentration of 1 × 10−5 M at pH 3. The pseudo-second-order models and the Langmuir isotherm are excellent at explaining the characteristic of dye adsorption. This work offers a rapid and simple method for efficiently converting biomass waste and using it to remove pollutants.