Pharmaceuticals have been widely remaining contaminants in wastewater, and diclofenac is the most common pharmaceutical pollutant. Therefore, the removal of diclofenac from aqueous solutions using activated carbon produced by pyrocarbonic acid and microwaves was investigated in this research. Apricot seed powder and pyrophosphoric acid (45 wt%) were selected as raw material and activator respectively, and microwave irradiation technique was used to prepare the activated carbon. The raw material was impregnated in pyrophosphoric acid at 80◦C with an impregnation ratio of 1: 3 (apricot seeds to phosphoric acid), the impregnation time was 4 h, whereas the power of the microwave was 700 watts with a radiation time of 20 min. A series of experiments were conducted at constant mixing speed (300 revolutions per minute) to evaluate the effect of experimental factors likes, adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, and dosage of activated carbon on removal efficiency. The design of experiments (version 13 Stat-Ease) was implemented using the central composite method to define the optimum effect of the process factors on the removal efficiency. The analysis of variance showed that the quadratic model for the experiment was significant with a very low probability value (P- value < 0.0001). The adjusted R2 of the model was 0.9826 and the predicted R2 was 0.9574. Whereas the optimum conditions suggested by the model for the process variable were found to be 150 min, 3.25 pH, 30 mg/L, 0.267g, for adsorption time, pH of diclofenac solution, diclofenac initial concentration, a dosage of activated carbon, respectively and the maximum removal efficiency was found to be 94.6%. The data obtained from the experiments were fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich models and the results show that the data was well fitted Langmuir model with R2 = 0.9685 as compared to the Freundlich model which has R2 = 0.93249. Likewise, the data was analyzed by pseudo first and second-order kinetic models and the results show that the adsorption on apricot-activated carbon was well adequate with the pseudo-second-order model.
This study found that one of the constructive, necessary, beneficial, most effective, and cost-effective ways to meet the great challenge of rising energy prices is to develop and improve energy quality and efficiency. The process of improving the quality of energy and its means has been carried out in many buildings and around the world. It was found that the thermal insulation process in buildings and educational facilities has become the primary tool for improving energy efficiency, enabling us to improve and develop the internal thermal environment quality processes recommended for users (student - teacher). An excellent and essential empirical study has been conducted to calculate the fundamental values of the
... Show MoreEuphemisms are advantageous in people’s social life by turning sensitive into a more acceptable ones so that resentful feelings and embarrassment can be avoided. This study investigates the ability of Iraqi English learners in using euphemistic expressions, meanwhile, raising their awareness and the faculty members in English teaching faculties regarding the relevance of discussing the topics that demand euphemisation. This study comprised three stages: initial test, explicit instruction with activities, and a final test for the students’ development in this domain. A test has been distributed among 50 respondents, who are at the fourth year of their undergraduate study at the University of Babylon/ College of Basic Education. The lo
... Show MoreExpectation in poetry is the ability of the poet to exceed the existence of the universe . It is the revealing of the hidden and the familiar. This feature of expecting is not related to the modern poetry only . It is a well - known feature that has long been assigned to old poetry like Al-Mutannabi an Al-Mu`arri who had their own unique ways of expecting and going beyond the current time and touching the future and making it a reality. Based on their awareness ,mature thinking and talent , they had the ability of reading what is to come ,even if they were mere suppositions and tentative readings. As for the modern poetry , we have poets like Amal Dunqil , Adonis ,and Al-Sayyab whose poems became expectati
... Show MoreThis research explores the obstacles teachers encounter in executing the smart schools initiative within the framework of Iraq, where educational facilities and digital preparedness are still at an early stage. Although worldwide trends reveal the growing use of smart technologies in education, Iraq has been hindered by systemic barriers, such as archaic curricula, restricted access to technologies, and an unqualified teaching staff. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire on 122 public school teachers working in Baghdad with a descriptive-analytical methodology. The study divided challenges into five areas: infrastructure, teacher preparedness, administrative support, curricular adaptation and cultural resistanc
... Show MoreBackground: Aesthetic archwires are used to overcome the aesthetic problems of stainless steel wires but the color of the coating layer can be changed with time when exposed to oral environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of color change of different aesthetic archwires from different companies under different coloring solutions. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty samples of coated archwires from three companies (Highland, G&H and Dany) were immersed in 5 solutions (artificial saliva, turmeric, tea, coffee and Miranda) to evaluate the degree of color changes after 7, 14 and 21 days using visible spectrophotometer. Data were collected and analyzed using one way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey’s tests. Resu
... Show MoreThe present study aims at scrutinizing the impoliteness types, causes, and purposes utilized by Iraqi English language learners when refusing marriage proposals. Thus, it attempts to answer the questions: (1) what are the impoliteness formulas used by the Iraqi learners of English in refusing marriage proposals?, and (2) What are their impoliteness triggers/causes and the purposes? The study is significant in bridging the gap that few linguistic types of research concentrate on studying intentionality and emotions allied with impoliteness. Data were collected from 35 Iraqi learners of English responding to 6 situations of marriage. The data were analyzed using Culpeper’s (2011) formulas of impoliteness and Bousfield’s (2007) impolite
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