Determination of 4-nonylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol compounds in various types of wastewater and their removal rates in different treatment processes in nine wastewater treatment plants of Iran

Alkylphenols(APs), considered as xenoestrogenic compounds, mainly exist as 4-nonylphenol(4-NP) and 4-tertoctylphenol(4-t-OP) in environments. The high stability and accumulation of APs in aquatic systems have caused endocrine disruption. In this study we measured APs in the wastewater influent and effluent samples, from the urban, rural, livestock, commercial and hospital wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs) in Iran. Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction(DLLME) combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry(GC–MS) was used for the extraction and determination of 4-NP and 4-t-OP. In these treatment plants, various processes such as activated sludge, aerated lagoon, moving bed biofilm reactor and activated sludge along with wetland were applied. The highest concentration of 4-NP and 4-t-OP was observed in commercial and livestock sewages. The activated sludge along with wetland and then the MBBR process showed the highest removal rates of pollutants. The rates of biodegradability and accumulation in sludge were determined and also the specific adsorption coefficient Kdand the organic carbon–water partition coefficient kOCof the sludge for APs were calculated.     

Biodegradation of natural and synthetic estrogens in moving bed bioreactor

Estrogen hormones as a group of endocrine disruptive compounds(EDC) can interfere with endocrine system in humans and animals. The goal of this study was to investigate the elimination rate of Estrone(El), 17β-estradiol(E2) and 17α-ethinyl estradiol(EE2) in Moving Bed Bioreactor(MBBR). These analytes extracted by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction(DLLME) technique, followed by derivatization, and detected by GC/MS. Estrogen removal efficiency in MBBR improved at high solid retention times(SRTs), which notion is owing to development of nitrification. Estrogen specific removal rate was between 0.22-1.45 μg·(g VSS)~(-1)·d~(-1) for natural and synthetic hormones. The adsorption rate was 0.9%-3.2%, 0-1.3%, and 0.7%-5.7% for El, E2, and EE2, respectively. In addition, the biodegradation rates were more than 95% for these compounds. These results illustrated that in MBBR,the biodegradation and the adsorption to biomass are considered as two significant routes for elimination of estrogenic compounds. As a whole, the deterioration rate of estrogens enhanced by MBBR compared to other biological wastewater treatment processes such as conventional activated sludge.     

Optimal power generation from low concentration coal bed methane in Iran

Development of a model for optimal power generation from the thermal oxidation of a low concentration coal bed mine has been considered as the main objective of this investigation. The model has been applied to identify the optimal thermodynamic characteristics of the power generation system through using a mixture with 1.6% methane concentration in a recuperative lean-burn gas turbine and coupling a gas engine to the system for more power generation from the remaining coal bed methane. The implementation of the model based on the real site condition would lead to the generation of 6.97 MW electricity in Tabas coal mine of Iran.     

Synthesis of high performance polyamides utilizing copper‐catalyzed amidation of a dibromoarene with different diamides

A series of diphenylquinoxaline‐containing polyamides were prepared from the condensation polymerization of 2,3‐bis (4‐bromophenyl) quinoxaline (DBQ) with various primary and secondary diamides via copper‐catalyzed amidation reaction. The polyamides were characterized with FTIR, NMR, GPC, differential scanning calorimeter, and thermo gravimetric analysis, and their solubility and viscosity were measured. The polyamides synthesized here are amorphous and showed relatively good solubility in polar aprotic solvents and demonstrate the ability to form brownish hard films by solvent casting; their inherent viscosities ranged from 49 to 55 mL/g. The average molecular weights of polyamides were in the range of M_w = 11,950–5592 g/mol (MWD = 1.21–1.87). These polyamides had relatively high thermal stability with T_g values up to 276°C, 10% weight loss temperatures (T_10%) in the range of 364–476°C, and char yields at 600°C in N₂ up to 72%. They also exhibit emission in the solid state and in dilute (0.2 g/dL) DMAc solution at 425–484 nm with photoluminescence quantum (?_f) yields in the range of 14–23%. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Combination of In Situ Surfactant-based Solid Phase Extraction and Central Composite Design for Preconcentration and Determination of Manganese in Food and Water Samples

A new kind of solid phase extraction (SPE), which we named in situ surfactant-based solid phase extraction (ISS-SPE), represents a simple, selective and rapid method for preconcentration and determination of manganese from food and water samples. This method has distinct advantages: extraction times are short and recoveries are high; further, we can see formation of fine particles of large specific surface and their good dispersion in the solution. In this work, a small amount of cationic surfactant, n-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) was injected into the water sample containing Mn ions, which were complexed by 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN). After shaking, a little volume of NaPF₆ as an ion-pairing agent was added into the solution by a microsyringe. After preconcentration, the settled phase was dissolved in a specific volume of ethanol and then aspirated into the flame atomic absorption spectrometer by using a homemade microsample introduction system. The effective parameters such as pH, concentration of surfactant, concentration of chelating agent, concentration of ion-pairing agent and effect of salt concentration were optimized by a fractional factorial design to identify the most important parameters and their interactions, and central composite methodology was used to achieve the optimum point of effective parameters to the response. Under the optimum conditions, preconcentration of 10?ml of the sample solution permitted detection of 0.88???g?l^?1 with enhancement factor of 45.6, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) for five determinations of Mn ions was 3.5%. The developed method was applied to the determination of trace manganese in various real samples with satisfactory results.     

Corrosion performance of the electroless Ni–P coatings prepared in different conditions and optimized by the Taguchi method

This paper presents an experimental study on the influence of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), pH, substrate finishing and annealing temperature on the corrosion resistance of electroless nickel phosphorus (Ni–P) coatings using electrochemical techniques and optimization of process parameters based on the Taguchi method. Parameters were selected in three levels and L9 from orthogonal robust array design was used. Corrosion performance of the electroless Ni–P coatings was evaluated by polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were used for studying surface morphology and chemical composition of the electroless Ni–P coatings. The results showed that SDS surfactant causes increasing of corrosion resistance and improves surface morphology. Finally, optimum conditions were achieved as, surfactant concentration: 1.5 g L⁻¹, pH: 5.5, substrate finishing provided with emery paper no, 2000, and annealing temperature of 200 °C.     

Simultaneous influence of uni-univalent salt aqueous solutions and sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant on interfacial tension of toluene-water

The simultaneous influence of NaCl, KCl and KI salts and well known sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant on the interfacial tension (IFT) of conventionally used chemical system of toluene-water was studied. The concentration range of salts was within (0.010 to 0.075) mol/dm³ and of surfactant within (1.7 to 26.0)×10^?5 mol/dm³. SDS adsorption on interface is highly intensified in the presence of salts and IFT can reach to 67.1% of its initial value. Accordingly, the role of ions was investigated and the order of salts effectiveness was revealed as KI?KCl>NaCl. The obtained data, with both effects, were nicely reproduced using an equation of state, based on Gibbs adsorption equation and the Langmuir isotherm. Two relevant important adsorption parameters exhibited reasonable variations. Furthermore, the general revealed linear variation of IFT with a previously defined “effective concentration” indicates the strong influence of the surfactant counterions.