• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental solutions

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Removal of Phenol from Aqueous Solutions by Activated Red Mud: Equilibrium and Kinetics Studies

  • Shirzad-Siboni, Mehdi;Jafari, Seyed-Javad;Farrokhi, Mehrdad;Yang, Jae Kyu
    • Environmental Engineering Research
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.247-252
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    • 2013
  • In this work, removal of phenol from aqueous solutions by activated red mud was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to observe the morphology and surface components of activated red mud, respectively. The effects of various parameters on the removal efficiency were studied, such as contact time, pH, initial phenol concentration, and adsorbent dosage. The removal percentage of phenol was initially increased, as the solution pH increased from 3 to 7, and then decreased above neutral pH. The removal percentage of phenol was decreased by increasing the initial phenol concentrations. Adsorption results show that equilibrium data follow the Freundlich isotherm, and kinetic data was well described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Experimental results show that the activated red mud can be used to treat aqueous solutions containing phenol, as a low cost adsorbent with high efficiency.

Discrete sizing and layout optimization of steel truss-framed structures with Simulated Annealing Algorithm

  • Bresolin, Jessica M.;Pravia, Zacarias M.C.;Kripka, Moacir
    • Steel and Composite Structures
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    • v.44 no.5
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    • pp.603-617
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    • 2022
  • Structural design, in general, is developed through trial and error technique which is guided by standards criteria and based on the intuition and experience of the engineer, a context that leads to structural over-dimensioning, with uneconomic solutions. Aiming to find the optimal design, structural optimization methods have been developed to find a balance between cost, structural safety, and material performance. These methods have become a great opportunity in the steel structural engineering domain since they have as their main purpose is weight minimization, a factor directly correlated to the real cost of the structure. Assuming an objective function of minimum weight with stress and displacement constraints provided by Brazilian standards, the present research proposes the sizing optimization and combined approach of sizing and shape optimization, through a software developed to implement the Simulated Annealing metaheuristic algorithm. Therefore, two steel plane frame layouts, each admitting four typical truss geometries, were proposed in order to expose the difference between the optimal solutions. The assessment of the optimal solutions indicates a notable weight reduction, especially in sizing and shape optimization combination, in which the quantity of design variables is increased along with the search space, improving the efficiency of the optimal solutions achieved.

Scattering of Obliquely Incident Waves by a Semi-infinite Breakwater or a Breakwater Gap of Partial Reflection (부분 반사 반무한 방파제 또는 방파제 개구부에 사각으로 입사하는 파의 산란)

  • Kim, Han-Na;Suh, Kyung-Duck
    • Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.334-344
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    • 2009
  • In the present paper, analytic solutions are derived for scattering of obliquely incident waves by a semi-infinite breakwater or a breakwater gap of partial reflection. In order to examine the appropriateness of the derived solutions, they are compared with the solutions derived by McIver in 1999 and Bowen and McIver in 2002 for a semi-infinite breakwater and a breakwater gap, respectively, in the case of perfect reflection. The derived analytic solutions are used to investigate the effect of reflection coefficient of the breakwater and wave incident angle upon the tranquility at harbor entrance. The tranquility is deteriorated by the reflected waves as the reflection coefficient increases and as the waves are incident more obliquely.

SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS USING TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGIES IN URBAN UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

  • Dae-Hyun (Dan) Koo;Samuel Ariaratnam
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2013.01a
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    • pp.367-374
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    • 2013
  • Underground infrastructure systems provide essential public services and goods through buried structures including water and sewer, gas and petroleum, power and communication pipelines. The majority of existing underground infrastructure systems was installed in green field areas prior to development of complex urban built environments. Currently, there is a global trend to escalate major demand for underground infrastructure system renewal and new installation while minimizing disruption and maintaining functions of existing superstructures. Therefore, Engineers and utility owners are rigorously seeking technologies that minimize environmental, social, and economic impact during the renewal and installation process. Trenchless technologies have proven to be socially less disruptive, more environmentally friendly, energy conservative and economically viable alternative methods. All of those benefits are adequate to enhance overall sustainability. This paper describes effective sustainable solutions using trenchless technologies. Sustainability is assessed by a comparison between conventional open cut and trenchless technology methods. Sustainability analysis is based on a broad perspective combining the three main aspects of sustainability: economic; environmental; and social. Economic includes construction cost, benefit, and social cost analysis. Environmental includes emission estimation and environmental quality impact study. Social includes various social impacts on an urban area. This paper summarizes sustainable trenchless technology solutions and presents a sustainable construction method selection process in a proposed framework to be used in urban underground infrastructure capital improvement projects.

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Photodegradation of 17α-ethynylestradiol in nitrate aqueous solutions

  • Ren, Dong;Bi, Tingting;Gao, Shumei;Li, Xukun;Huang, Bin;Pan, Xuejun
    • Environmental Engineering Research
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.188-195
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    • 2016
  • $17{\alpha}$-Ethynylestradiol (EE2) has gotten growing concerns due to its widely detected in the environment and high estrogenic potency. However, the knowledge on the photochemical behaviors of EE2 in natural waters is still limited. Herein, the photodegradation and estrogenic potency variation of EE2 induced by nitrate were studied using a sunlight simulator consisted by a 300 W medium pressure mercury lamp and 290 nm cut-off filters. It was found that EE2 could be photodegraded at a rate of $0.0193h^{-1}$ in pure aqueous solutions, and the photodegradation of EE2 could be significantly promoted by nitrate. The photodegradation removal rate of EE2 was increased from 9% in Milli-Q water to 85% in 2.0 mM nitrate solutions. Reactive species scavenging experiments demonstrated that the photogenerated $HO{\bullet}$ contributed about 55% to EE2 degradation. Fe(III), Cl- and dissolved humic acid (DHA) could inhibit the photodegradation of EE2 by competing the incident light and photogenerated $HO{\bullet}$, while $HCO_3{^-}$ had no influence on EE2 photodegradation. EE2 was determined to be phototransformed into organic chemicals without estrogenic potency by GC-MS and MCF-7 cell proliferation toxicity tests. These findings could extend our knowledge on the photochemical behaviors of steroid estrogens and provide information for ecological risk assessment.

Characterization of Quintinite Particles in Fluoride Removal from Aqueous Solutions

  • Kim, Jae-Hyun;Park, Jeong-Ann;Kang, Jin-Kyu;Son, Jeong-Woo;Yi, In-Geol;Kim, Song-Bae
    • Environmental Engineering Research
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.247-253
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    • 2014
  • The aim of this study was to characterize quintinite in fluoride removal from aqueous solutions, using batch experiments. Experimental results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of fluoride to quintinite was 7.71 mg/g. The adsorption of fluoride to quintinite was not changed at pH 5-9, but decreased considerably in highly acidic (pH < 3) and alkaline (pH > 11) solution conditions. Kinetic model analysis showed that among the three models (pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and Elovich), the pseudo-second-order model was the most suitable for describing the kinetic data. From the nonlinear regression analysis, the pseudo-second-order parameter values were determined to be $q_e=0.18mg/g$ and $k_2=28.80g/mg/hr$. Equilibrium isotherm model analysis demonstrated that among the three models (Langmuir, Freundlich, and Redlich-Peterson), both the Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson models were suitable for describing the equilibrium data. The model analysis superimposed the Redlich-Peterson model fit on the Freundlich fit. The Freundlich model parameter values were determined from the nonlinear regression to be $K_F=0.20L/g$ and 1/n=0.51. This study demonstrated that quintinite could be used as an adsorbent for the removal of fluoride from aqueous solutions.

Sensitivity of Numerical Solutions to Time Step in a Nonlinear Atmospheric Model (비선형 대기 모형에서 수치 해의 시간 간격 민감도)

  • Lee, Hyunho;Baik, Jong-Jin;Han, Ji-Young
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.51-58
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    • 2013
  • An appropriate determination of time step is one of the important problems in atmospheric modeling. In this study, we investigate the sensitivity of numerical solutions to time step in a nonlinear atmospheric model. For this purpose, a simple nondimensional dynamical model is employed, and numerical experiments are performed with various time steps and nonlinearity factors. Results show that numerical solutions are not sensitive to time step when the nonlinearity factor is not influentially large and truncation error is negligible. On the other hand, when the nonlinearity factor is large (i.e., in a highly nonlinear regime), numerical solutions are found to be sensitive to time step. In this situation, smaller time step increases the intensity of the spatial filter, which makes small-scale phenomena weaken. This conflicts with the fact that smaller time step generally results in more accurate numerical solutions owing to reduced truncation error. This conflict is inevitable because the spatial filter is necessary to stabilize the numerical solutions of the nonlinear model.

Development of Ionomer Binder Solutions Using Polymer Grinding for Solid Alkaline Fuel Cells (고분자 분쇄 기술을 활용한 고체 알칼리연료전지용 이오노머 바인더 용액 개발)

  • Shin, Mun-Sik;Kim, Do-Hyeong;Kang, Moon-Sung;Park, Jin-Soo
    • Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.107-113
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    • 2016
  • In this study, an anion-exchange ionomer solution was prepared by grinding poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) in liquid nitrogen for solid alkaline fuel cells (SAFCs). Type of quaternized PPO (QPPO) solutions was controlled by grinding time. The ionomer binder solutions were characterized in terms of dispersity, particle size, and electrochemical properties. As a result, ionomer binder solutions using grinded polymer showed higher dispersion and smaller particle size distribution than that using non-grinded polymer. The highest ionic conductivity and IEC of the membrane recast by using BPPO-G120s were $0.025S\;cm^{-1}$ and $1.26meq\;g^{-1}$, respectively.