The electrospun nanofibers membranes have gained considerable interest in water filtration applications. In this work, the fabrication and characterization of the electrospun polyacrylonitrile-based nonwoven nanofibers membrane are reported. Then, the membrane's performance and antifouling properties were evaluated in removing emulsified oil using a cross flow filtration system. The membranes were fabricated with different polyacrylonitrile (PAN) concentrations (8, 11, and 14 wt. %) in N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent resulted in various average fiber sizes, porosity, contact angle, permeability, oil rejection, and antifouling properties. Analyses of surface morphology of the fabricated membranes before and after oil removal revealed increasing the fiber size, decreasing the fouling amount, and increasing the permeate flux. On the other hand, decreasing the fiber size resulting in increases the oil rejection. It was observed that 11 wt. % PAN based nonwoven nanofiber membrane was the optimum membrane for emulsified oil removal due to its good porosity, permeability with good oil rejection. In addition, fouled nonwoven nanofiber membrane cleaning was done by backwashing technique using warm distilled water which was effective in retaining the membrane permeability and oil rejection for 7 times. The obtained results confirmed an efficient performance of the fabricated nanofibers membrane for oil-water separation with oil rejection percentage of 92.5% and a permeate flux of 120 LMH.
Feasibility of biosorbent of England bamboo plant origin was tested for removal of priority metal ions such as Cu and Zn from aqueous solutions in single metal state. Batch single metal state experiments were performed to determine the effect of dosage (0.5, 1 and 1.5 g), pH (3, 4, 4.5, 5 and 6), mixing speed (90, 111, 131, 156 and 170 rpm), temperature (20, 25, 30 and 35 °C) and metal ion concentration (10, 50, 70, 90 and 100 mg/L) on the ability of dried biomass to remove metal from solutions which were investigated. Dried powder of bamboo removed (for single metal state) about 74 % Cu and 69% Zn and maximum uptake of Cu and Zn was 7.39 mg/g and 6.96 mg/g respectively, from 100 mg/L of synthetic metal solution in 120 min. of contact t
... Show MoreCoated sand (CS) filter media was investigated to remove phenol and 4-nitrophenol from aqueous solutions in batch experiments. Local sand was subjected to surface modification as impregnated with iron. The influence of process variables represented by solution pH value, contact time, initial concentration and adsorbent dosage on removal efficiency of phenol and 4-nitrophenol onto CS was studied. Batch studies were performed to evaluate the adsorption process, and it was found that the Langmuir isotherm effectively fits the experimental data for the adsorbates better than the Freundlich model with the CS highest adsorption capacity of 0.45 mg/g for 4-nitrophenol and 0.25 mg/g for phenol. The CS was found to adsorb 85% of 4-nitrophenol and
... Show MoreA phytoremediation experiment was carried out with kerosene as a model for total petroleum hydrocarbons. A constructed wetland of barley was exposed to kerosene pollutants at varying concentrations (1, 2, and 3% v/v) in a subsurface flow (SSF) system. After a period of 42 days of exposure, it was found that the average ability to eliminate kerosene ranged from 56.5% to 61.2%, with the highest removal obtained at a kerosene concentration of 1% v/v. The analysis of kerosene at varying initial concentrations allowed the kinetics of kerosene to be fitted with the Grau model, which was closer than that with the zero order, first order, or second order kinetic models. The experimental study showed that the barley plant designed in a subsu
... Show MoreA phytoremediation experiment was carried out with kerosene as a model for total petroleum hydrocarbons. A constructed wetland of barley was exposed to kerosene pollutants at varying concentrations (1, 2, and 3% v/v) in a subsurface flow (SSF) system. After a period of 42 days of exposure, it was found that the average ability to eliminate kerosene ranged from 56.5% to 61.2%, with the highest removal obtained at a kerosene concentration of 1% v/v. The analysis of kerosene at varying initial concentrations allowed the kinetics of kerosene to be fitted with the Grau model, which was closer than that with the zero order, first order, or second order kinetic models. The experimental study showed that the barley plant designed in a subsu
... Show MoreThe effluent quality improvement being discharged from wastewater treatment plants is essential to maintain an environment and healthy water resources. This study was carried out to evaluate the possibility of intermittent slow sand filtration as a promising tertiary treatment method for the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) effluent. Laboratory scale slow sand filter (SSF) of 1.5 UC and 0.1 m/h filtration rate, was used to study the process performance. It was found that SSF IS very efficient in oxidizing organic matter with COD removal efficiency up to 95%, also it is capable of removing considerable amounts of phosphate with 76% and turbidity with 87% removal efficiencies. Slow sand filter efficiently reduced the mass of suspended
... Show MoreThe research aims to use a new technology for industrial water concentrating that contains poisonous metals and recovery quantities from pure water. Therefore, the technology investigated is the forward osmosis process (FO). It is a new process that use membranes available commercial and this process distinguishes by its low cost compared to other process. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was used as draw solution to extract water from poisonous metals solution. The driving force in the FO process is provided by a different in osmotic pressure (concentration) across the membrane between the draw and poisonous metals solution sides. Experimental work was divided into three parts. The first part includes operating the forward osmosis process using T
... Show MoreThe presence of heavy metals in the environment is major concern due to their toxicity. In the present study a strong acid cation exchange resin, Amberlite IR 120 was used for the removal of lead, zinc and copper from simulated wastewater. The optimum conditions were determined in a batch system of concentration 100 mg/L, pH range between 1 and 8, contact time between 5 and 120 minutes, and amount of adsorbent was from 0.05 to 0.45 g/100 ml. A constant stirring speed, 180 rpm, was chosen during all of the experiments. The optimum conditions were found to be pH of 4 for copper and lead and pH 6 for zinc, contact time of 60 min and 0.35 g of adsorbent. Three different temperatures (25, 40 and 60°C) were selected to investigate the effect
... Show MoreA series of batch demulsification runs were carried out to evaluate the final emulsified water content of emulsion samples after the exposure to microwave. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a set of operating variables on the demulsification performance. Several microwave irradiation demulsification runs were carried out at different irradiation powers (700, 800, and 900 watt), using water-in-oil emulsion samples containing different water contents (20-80%, 30-70%, and 50-50%) and salt contents (10000, 20000, and 30000 ppm). It was found that the best separation efficiency was obtained at 900watt, 50% water content and 160 s of irradiation time. Experimental results showed that microwave radiation method can
... Show MoreThree isolates of P. aeruginosa were isolated from burnt patients. The ability of these isolates for adhesion and formation of slime layer were tested, the result showed that all isolates were able to adherence on the smooth surface. The sensitivity of P. aeruginosa isolates for antibiotics were tested , all isolates were sensitive to Gentamycin, Piperacillin and Amikacin Ciprofloxacin, and resist to Tetracyclin, Amoxicillin, Cephalexine , Ceftriaxone. Ciprofloxacin and Amikacin were found effective against P. aeruginosa isolates with MIC values of 3.8 μg/ ml for Ciprofloxacin and 0.244 μg/ ml for Amikacin The antibacterial effect of Different concentrations of Aloe
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