The production of biodiesel generates soap impurities that hinder biodiesel performance and complicate its purification. This study presents a novel approach for soap removal from biodiesel using NiO–doped ZnO nanoparticle (NP) adsorbent. The NPs are synthesized using a gliding arc discharge (GAD) method as a non-thermal plasma source (NTP). NiO doping reduced the bandgap energy by 74%, reduced the crystallite size, and increased the surface area by 78%, entailing lattice strain and structural modifications. Soap removal efficiency was 99.7% for NiO–doped ZnO within 16 min, compared with 95.5% for ZnO. Soap uptake as high as 2320 mg/g NiO–doped ZnO was reported, which could be equally fitted by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms su

This study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr

This study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr

Five different bacterial isolates [ Vibrio cholera (Ogawa) , Vibrio cholera (Inaba) , Salmonella typhi , Salmonella paratyphi and ? Salmonella typhimurium ] were obtained from the Central Health Laboratory . Both sensitivity tests (MIC , MBC and wells method ) against these bacteria were performed by using the aqueous of leaves extract of Marjoram plant. The results cleared that the values of MIC for Vibrio cholera serotypes Ogawa and Inaba were 100 mg/ml , while the value of MBC was 200 mg/ml. The value of the Inhibition zone at 100 mg /ml concentration for both Ogawa and Inaba were 13 mm and 9 mm respectively. Our results showed that the three types of Salmonella didn’t show any inhibition zone at 200 mg/ml .

The removal of fluoride ions from aqueous solution onto algal biomass as biosorbent in batch and continuous fluidized bed systems was studied. Batch system was used to study the effects of process parameters such as, pH (2-3.5), influent fluoride ions concentration (10- 50 mg/l), algal biomass dose (0–1.5 g/ 200 ml solution), to determine the best operating conditions. These conditions were pH=2.5, influent fluoride ions concentration= 10 mg/l, and algal biomass dose=3.5 mg/l. While, in continuous fluidized bed system, different operating conditions were used; flow rate (0.667- 0.800 l/min), bed depth (8-15 cm) corresponded to bed weight of (80- 150 g). The results show that the breakthrough time increases with the inc

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been viewed as a power affecting economic growth (EG) directly and indirectly during the past few decades. This paper reviewed an amount of researches examining the relationships between FDI and EG, especially the effects of FDI on EG, from 1994 up to 2012. The results show that the main finding of the FDI-EG relation is significantly positive, but in some cases it is negative or even null. And within the relation, there exist several influencing factors such as the adequate levels of human capital, the well-developed financial markets, the complementarity between domestic and foreign investment and the open trade regimes, etc.

In this study, low cost biosorbent ̶inactive biomass (IB) granules (dp=0.433mm) taken from drying beds of Al-Rustomia Wastewater Treatment Plant, Baghdad-Iraq were used for investigating the optimum conditions of Pb(II), Cu(II), and Ni(II) biosorption from aqueous solutions. Various physico-chemical parameters such as initial metal ion concentration (50 to 200 mg/l), equilibrium time (0-180 min), pH (2-9), agitation speed (50-200 rpm), particles size (0.433 mm), and adsorbent dosage (0.05-1 g/100 ml) were studied. Six mathematical models describing the biosorption equilibrium and isotherm constants were tested to find the maximum uptake capacities: Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich–Peterson, Sips, Khan, and Toth models. The best fit to the P

In this study, Zizphus spina-christi leaf powder was applied for the adsorption of methyl orange. The effect of different operating parameters on the Batch Process adsorption was investigated such as solution pH (2-12), effect of contact time (0-60 min.), initial dye concentration (2-20 mg/L), effect of adsorbent dosage (0-4.5 g) and effect of temperature (20-50ᵒC). The results show a maximum removal rate and adsorption capacity (%R= 23.146, q_e = 2.778 mg/g) at pH = 2 and equilibrium was reached at 40 min. The pseudo- second-order kinetics were found to be best fit for the removal process (R² = 0.997). Different isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubini-Radushkevich,Temkin)  were applied in this stud