Introduction: The current study investigated the use of acid-treated rice husks to remove heavy metals and organic pollutants from water containing heavy metals (R2C and Cd2) and organic pollutants (phenol and atrazine). Methods: The adsorption effect of acid-treated rice husks was compared with other adsorbents such as activated carbon, chitosan, and bentonite clay. Result: both acid-treated rice husks and activated carbon were highly efficient materials, and thus, rice husks were established as a cost-effective alternative. It was revealed that acid treatment of rice husks enhanced adsorption capacity by half, and lead removal was nearly doubled. The most effective pH value for optimizing organic pollutants and heavy metals while minimizing conditions was found to be 6.5. Regarding the temperature findings, the data revealed a minor increase in temperature; nevertheless, the result was not statistically significant, even if the temperatures became more efficient. When compared to activated carbon, chitosan, and bentonite clay, acid-treated rice husks demonstrated high removal performance, making them a very cost-effective raw material. Finally, the presence of active functional groups that transfer the action of rice husks to pollutants was established by adsorption processes studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) surface area. Conclusion: Therefore, it has been demonstrated that this technique, which entails removing at least one acid-treated rice husk, is more effective at treating industrial wastewater than previously documented and widely used technologies like flocculation, coagulation, and reverse osmosis. It also offers a safe and sustainable substitute for conventional water quality methods.
A two-year study (harvest years 2019 and 2020) was conducted to investigate the effect of a commercially available biofertilizer, in combination with variable nitrogen (N) rate, on bread baking quality and agronomic traits in hard winter wheat grown in conventional (CONV) and organic (ORG) farming systems in Kentucky, USA. The hard red winter wheat cultivar ‘Vision 45’ was used with three N rates (44, 89.6 and 134.5 kg/ha as Low, Med and High, respectively) and three biofertilizer spray regimes (no spray, one spray and two sprays). All traits measured were significantly affected by the agricultural production system (CONV or ORG) and N rate, although trends in their interactions were inconsistent between years. In Y2, yield was
... Show MoreThe detection of fungi contaminating maize grain and the effect of four plant extracts Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus globulus Glycyrrhiza glabra and Zingiber officinale on the growth of A. flavus and its ability to produce AflatoxinB1. The results showed that the incidence of Aspergillus spp., was 52.75% of the isolated fungi, of which 29.50% was due to Aspergillus flavus, followed by Penicillium spp., with an incidence of 21.06%, and then Fusarium spp., with a rate of 18.13%. The percentage of toxin-producing A. flavus isolates reached 70.8% out of 24 isolates. The results showed the effect of alcoholic plant extracts at a concentration of 10 mg/ml on the fungal growth activity of A. flavus, the alcoholic extract of neem leaves was superi
... Show MoreA study in the treatment and reuse of oily wastewater generated from the process of fuel oil treatment of gas turbine power plant was performed. The feasibility of using hollow fiber ultrafiltration (UF) membrane and nanofiltration (NF) membrane type polyamide thin-film composite in a pilot plant was investigated. Three different variables: pressure (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 bars), oil content (10, 20, 30 and 40 ppm), and temperature (15, 20, 30 and 40 ᵒC) were employed in the UF process while TDS was kept constant at 150 ppm. Four different variables: pressure (2, 3, 4 and 5 bar), oil content (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 ppm), total dissolved solids (TDS) (100, 200,300 and 400 ppm), and temperature (15, 20, 30 and 40 ᵒC) were manipulated with the h
... Show MoreThe present work provides to treat real oily saline wastewater released from drilling oil sites by the use of electrocoagulation technique. Aluminum tubes were utilized as electrodes in a concentric manner to minimize the concentrations of 113400 mg TDS/L, 65623 mg TSS/L, and the ions of 477 mg HCO3/L, 102000 mg Cl/L and 5600 mg Ca/L presented in real oily wastewater under the effect of the operational parameters (the applied current and reaction time) by making use of the central composite rotatable design. The final concentrations of TDS, TSS, HCO3, Cl, and Ca that obtained were 93555 ppm (17.50%), 11011 ppm (83.22%), 189ppm (60.38%), 80000ppm (22%), and 4200 ppm (25%), respectively, under the optimum values of the operational parameters
... Show MoreWater samples were collected from output of water for Al-Wahda plant where located in al-karrada area in Baghdad city to study water contamination with bacteria, fungi and Algae. The study lasted one year started on August, 2016 to July,2017.Results were acquired according to two tests performed, the first is biological test included total coliform,E.coli, pseudomonas aeruginosa, total fungi, Diatom and non Diatom Algae and the second is physiochemical test included temperature, turbidity and residual chlorine. The results of bacteria were within the permitted specification in the Iraqi standards no. 14/2270 for the year 2015 except August was exceeded the permitted standard for total coliform, it was 1.1< cell/100 ml.Total Fungi, Dia
... Show MoreMany water supplies are now contaminated by anthropogenic sources such as domestic and agricultural waste, as well as manufacturing activities, the public's concern about the environmental effects of wastewater contamination has grown. Several traditional wastewater treatment methods, such as chemical coagulation, adsorption, and activated sludge, have been used to eliminate pollution; however, there are several drawbacks, most notably high operating costs, because of its low operating and repair costs, the usage of aerobic waste water treatment as a reductive medium is gaining popularity. Furthermore, it is simple to produce and has a high efficacy and potential to degrade pollu
... Show MoreOrganic permeable‐base transistors (OPBTs) show potential for high‐speed, flexible electronics. Scaling laws of OPBTs are discussed and it is shown that OPBT performance can be increased by reducing their effective device area. Comparing the performance of optimized OPBTs with state‐of‐the‐art organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs), it is shown that OPBTs have a higher potential for an increased transit frequency. Not only do OPBTs reach higher transconductance values without the need for sophisticated structuring techniques, but they are also less sensitive to parasitic contact resistances. With the help of a 2D numerical model, the reduced contact resistances of OPBTs are explained by a homogeneous injection of current acros
... Show MoreGlobal concerns are rising due to complications associated with the use of chemical agents and antibiotic resistance. Consequently, research focus has shifted towards the quest for effective agents of biological origin. The aim of the present study was to assess the antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials of aqueous and organic extracts derived from various parts of Alcea kurdica. Different parts of A. kurdica were obtained and prepared into leaf, flower and root powders. The powders were extracted with aqueous and organic solvents. The antimicrobial activity of these extracts was assessed against bacterial pathogens using the agar well-diffusion assay. Additionally, the antioxidant effects of the extracts were evaluated using the
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