Biological treatment of chemical industry effluents by stabilization ponds

The aim of the work has been to develop a biological treatment for chemical industry effluents.

A multistage photosynthetic chemostat, fed by chemical industry effluents, was operated continuously as a bench scale experiment aimed at testing the possibility of treating these effluents by means of stabilization ponds. 70–80% of COD and 80–85% of BOD could be removed together with the pesticidal activity present in the raw wastewater. Optimal number of reactors was found to be 6.

Most of the COD and BOD elimination took place during a 30 day detention time. The effluents cannot be considered suitable for free discharge, but can be disposed of by irrigating carefully a halotolerant vegetation.     

Improved efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells by treatment of the dyed titania electrode with alkyl(trialkoxy)silanes

Dye sensitized cells are improved by passivation of the dyed titania electrode by silanizing the dyed surface with alkyl(trialkoxy)silanes. In cells utilizing the ruthenium dye bis(4,4′-dicarboxy-2,2′-bipyridine)bis(thiocyanato)ruthenium (II) (N3) optimum performance is produced by treating the dyed electrode with octyl(trimethoxy)silane in dry toluene. Such treatment increases efficiency as much as 66%, raising cells utilizing an ionic liquid electrolyte with high [I₃⁻] from 1.7% to 2.8% (1 sun AM1.5). The effect on dark currents and on cell efficiencies of this silanization and of dyeing both the FTO and TiO₂ surfaces is discussed for ionic liquid and acetonitrile based electrolytes.     

HYDROFLUORIC ACID EXTRACTION BY TBP AND BY AMINES: I. A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE HF-H2O-EXTRACTANT SYSTEM

Literature on HF extraction by amines and by tributyl phosphate is critically reviewed. The system amine-HF-H₂O shows an interesting feature concerning properties such as distribution curves compared to those for extraction of other acids, similarity to extraction by TBP, water extraction, selectivity, effect of amine type and dilution and diluent effect These properties sharply change (or even invert) when HF/amine molar ratio exceeds 2.     

One-step synthesis of prolate spheroidal-shaped carbon produced by the thermolysis of octene under its autogenic pressure

The dependence of the macroscopic shape of pure carbon on the precursor structure is observed using Reactions under Autogenic Pressure at Elevated Temperatures (RAPET) for the thermal dissociation of several precursors, including stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, methyl 3 butenoate, methyl butyrate, octadecane, octadecene, octane, octene and acrolein. The precursors are dissociated under their autogenic pressure developed at 700 °C to create a range of pure carbon microstructures. Prolate spheroidal-shaped carbon (PSSHC) is prepared by heating octene, among others, at 700 °C in a closed cell in a one-step process. The dimensions of the carbon bodies were 3–5 μm for the polar diameter and 6–8 μm for the equatorial diameter. Obtaining the PSSHC from octene is in contrast to a previous work, which required a long hydrocarbon chain and the presence of oxygen for the formation of PSSHC upon thermolysis under identical autogenic pressure. The products of the RAPET reaction of octene showed a strong ESR signal, resulting from nonbonding dangling electrons on the carbon surface. However, treating the carbons with a beam of hydrogen atoms has almost completely eliminated the ESR signal. The question why the thermal dissociation of some precursors yield PSSHC, while other precursors yield other morphologies, is discussed.     

HYDROFLUORIC ACID EXTRACTION BY TBP AND BY AMINES: MECHANISM,SPECIES FORMED AND UNIQUE PROPERTIES AT HIGH ACID TO AMINE MOLAR RATIOS

Analysis of data concerning HF extraction by amines reveals a change in extraction mechanism when HF/amine molar ratio in organic phase (Z) reaches 2. Up to this point extraction is by ion-pair formation and after it by H-bonding. As a result, the two HF molecules initially extracted differ in nature from subsequent ones. The change in mechanism explains why seemingly unrelated properties such as water co-extraction dilution and diluent effects, selectivity and viscosity - all change when amine bifluoride composition is attained. Similar change in extraction of other mono-basic acids occurs at Z=1. The system with Z>2 for HF is equivalent to that with Z>1 for other mono-basic acids and to that of extraction by TBP. It therefore provides a model for extraction from concentrated aqueous solutions.     

A microwave route for the synthesis of nanoflakes and dendrites-type beta-ln2S3 and their characterization

In this article, a simple microwave route was applied for the synthesis of nanoflakes and dendrite-type beta-indium sulfide (In2S3) in high yield (> 97%), using a homogeneous mixture of indium(lll)chloride and thiourea in an ethylene glycol (EG)/polyethylene glycol (PEG400) solvent. The reaction was conducted in a simple domestic microwave oven (DMO). Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), low resolution and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (LRTEM and HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), were applied to investigate the crystallinity, structure, morphology, and composition of the In2S3 nano-materials. Both the as-synthesized and calcined In2S3 products were a body-centered tetragonal (bct) phase, observed by XRD and HRTEM. The length and width of the resulting nanoflakes were in the range of 70-600 nm and 4-10 nm, respectively. The optical band gap of the powder was determined by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and was found to be 2.44 eV. The electronic properties of the products were studied by measuring the optical absorption spectra using photoacoustic spectroscopy. The band gap calculated by this method was found to be 2.52 eV. A possible mechanism for the formation of nanoflakes/dendrites-type In2S3 was also discussed.     

Polymers with pendant isocyanate groups. I. Dual synthesis and properties of poly(styrene-co-styryl isocyanate)

The copolymer poly(styrene-co-styryl isocyanate) was synthesized directly by radical initiation from two different monomer pairs: styrene–cinnamoyl azide and styrene–styryl isocyanate. The copolymerization parameters r₁ = 0.93 ± 0.08, r₂ = ?0.7 ± 0.8 for the first monomer pair and r₁ = 7.8 ± 0.6, r₂ = 0 ± 0.3 for the second pair were determined according to the conventional scheme of copolymerization. The intrinsic viscosities and the thermal behavior of the various copolymers were determined. Further, the chemical reactivity of the pendant isocyanate groups toward alcohol and amines was investigated.     

Wheat straw as substrate for water denitrification

Biological denitrification of drinking water was studied in up-flow laboratory reactors packed with wheat straw which served as the sole carbon source as well as the only physical support for the microorganisms. The highest rates of denitrification (0.053 g N removed l⁻¹ d⁻¹) were observed in fresh reactors during their first week of operation and the efficiency of the process declined thereafter. The addition of fresh wheat straw brought about a temporary improvement of the denitrification performance and a regime of one weekly addition prevented the deterioration of a reactor which was operated for 5 months. The rate of denitrification was affected by the water velocity and decreased at velocities above 0.054 m d⁻¹. Colour and soluble organic carbon associated with fresh straw were removed by adsorption on powdered activated carbon.     

An easy single step route to synthesize open−ended carbon nanotubes

A simple and easy route is described for the synthesis of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by pyrolysis of cetyltrimethyl ammonium decatungstate and cetylpyridinium decatungstate in a specially made LET-LOK union cell. The advantages of using a single component precursor is that the organic moiety present in the precursor acts as the source for carbon and in-situ formed tungsten/tungsten carbide acts as a catalyst for the formation of carbon nanotubes. The method produces large quantities of carbon nanotubes with monodisperse, hollow, open ends. The MWCNTs were characterized systematically using SEM, TEM, HRTEM, Raman and XRD analysis. The MWCNTs have average diameters in the range of 15–35 nm and lengths of several hundreds of nanometers.     

What is the leanest stream to sustain a nonadiabatic loop reactor: Analysis and methane combustion experiments

While previous studies experimentally demonstrated that loop reactor (LR) can be sustained with a lean feed (using ethylene combustion) and have analyzed the single‐reaction adiabatic case, this work analyzes the effects of heat loss and of reactor size to determine the leanest stream (expressed in terms of adiabatic temperature rise ΔT_lim) that will sustain the operation. For an adiabatic infinitely long reactor ΔT_lim→0 while for a finite reactor ΔT_lim scales as (1 + Pe/4)^?1 where Pe = Luρc_pf/k, and heat loss increases this limit by (β/Pe)^1/2. Thus, a good design of a LR will aim to decrease conductivity (k) and radial heat‐transfer coefficient (β) while increasing throughput (u) and reactor length. This article is also the first experimental demonstration of auto‐thermal operation in a LR for catalytic abatement of low‐concentration of methane, showing the leanest stream to be of 8000 ppm vs. 33,000 ppm in a once‐through reactor. Experimental combustion results of methane and of ethylene are compared with model predictions. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 2030–2042, 2017