Nickel removal from electroplating waste water using stand-alone and electrically assisted ion exchange processes

Wastewater discharged from metal-finishing processes usually contains nickel, a hazardous substance that is used extensively in the surface finishing industry. In the present study, an acidic solution containing nickel was treated using strong acid cation exchange resin. A continuous lab-scale cation exchange arrangement permitting the assessment of electric current as an enhancement mechanism was designed and utilized at different flow rates successfully. Applying the electrical potential enhanced the nickel removal by 12.7 % at flow rate 240 ml/h, and 2.5 % at flow rate 500 ml/h. Nickel recovery has been also investigated using hydrochloric acid as an eluent with and without electric current enhancement.     

Investigation of groundwater potentiality in the eastern part of Qena,central Eastern Desert,Egypt, using 2D homogeneous function method

The present study represents an application of the 2D homogeneous function method to investigate the near-surface groundwater potentiality to the east of Qena town, Egypt. The homogeneous function automatically inverts first arrival refractions to derive a 2D velocity distribution, which involves seismic boundaries. A complex set of observed refracted traveltimes along four seismic profiles (12 spreads) is used to construct refraction velocity field section and structural section. Such sections allow viewing the complex layered structure and delineating its boundaries and faults. The interpreted geoseismic layers were traced, according to their own gradients and velocity ranges. The resultant models were successful in fulfilling the proposed objective, as they provide: (1) the required details on the delineation of the subsurface layers, where three geoseismic layers with different ranges of velocities were detected; (2) determination of the thickness and the inversion boundary of water-bearing layer; and (3) detection of normal and reverse faults with displacement of about 10–40 m and variable dipping directions. The obtained result was found to be completely compatible with the information gained from identified boundaries of the nearby borehole.     

Piezometric levels as possible indicator of aquifer structure: analysis of the data from Maknassy basin aquifer system (Central Tunisia)

The knowledge of piezometric data is of vast interest in many applications, such as assessing groundwater flow direction and identifying recharge zone of the aquifer. In this paper, a methodology is presented as a complementary approach to characterize multilayered aquifer system structure and functioning using piezometric data and the cartography of the hydraulic charge difference. The methodology is presented to gradually discriminate the aquifer system levels and to evaluate the spatial distribution of hydraulic heads. The hydraulic charge difference mapping permits to track spatial evolution of the impermeable levels. The methodology has been applied over the Maknassy basin aquifer system, located in central Tunisia. The obtained results, showing the multilayered aquifer structure, are validated using hydrochemical approach and piezometric data not considered in the reasoning.     

Higher dimensional inhomogeneous cosmological models in Lyra geometry

We have presented in homogeneous cosmological models within the framework of Lyra geometry. We have considered an inhomogeneous spherically symmetric higher dimensional model in presence of a mass less scalar field whose potential has a flat part. The scalar field is considered to be inhomogeneous. Also an inhomogeneous cosmological model is derived in a Kaluza-Klein type of space time. The matter field is taken as an inhomogeneous distribution of fluid. It is observed that there is no singularity at finite past in our model and the desirable feature of dimensional reduction is also possible for the extra space. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An application of fuzzy fault tree analysis for spread mooring systems

In this paper, a fuzzy fault tree analysis methodology for spread mooring systems is presented. The methodology combines the effects of operational failures and human errors under fuzzy environment for the spread mooring configurations. In conventional fault tree analysis (FTA), which is an established technique in hazard identification, the ambiguous and imprecise events such as human errors cannot be handled efficiently. In addition to this, the tolerances of the probability values of hazards are not taken into account. Moreover, it is difficult to have an exact estimation of the failure rates of the system components or the probability of the occurrence of undesired events due to the lack of sufficient data. To overcome these disadvantages, a fault tree analysis based on the fuzzy set theory is proposed and applied to the spread mooring system alternatives. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is carried out based on the fuzzy weighted index (FWI) in order to measure the impact of each basic event on the top event. The results show that the fuzzy fault tree risk analysis method (FFTA) is more flexible and adaptive than conventional fault tree analysis for fault diagnosis and hazard estimation of spread mooring systems.     

Spatial Distribution and Anthropogenic Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Surface Sediments of Klang River

The study was conducted to quantify the concentration and distribution of metals (Cd, Zn, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Fe) in the surface sediments and to assess the status of metal contaminations in the Klang River, Malaysia. The concentrations of metals (μg∕g, Fe%, dry weight) were as follows: 0.57-2.19 μg∕g Cd; 31.89-272.33 μg∕g Zn; 5.96-24.47 μg∕g Ni; 10.57-52.87 μg∕g Cu; 24.23-64.11 μg∕g Pb and 1.56%-3.03% Fe. Sequential extraction technique (SET) showed that mean anthropogenic portions of metals were in the order of Zn (60.22%), Cu (56.01%), Cd (45.63%), Ni (42.08%), Pb (33.22%) and Fe (10.26%). The highest concentrations of metals ( p<0.05) were found in the stations located close to industrial parks and highly populated areas. The results of the present study showed that the effectiveness of total organic carbon (TOC) contents in controlling the distribution and enrichment of metals was a more important factor compared to grain size. The study also indicated that the control of metals pollution from direct influx of domestic wastes and insufficiently treated industrial wastes in the Klang River was an important and desirable way to minimize the detrimental effects of metals.     

Water Problems in Gaza Strip,Palestine

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Engineering Properties, Microstructure and Strength Development of Lightweight Concrete Containing Pumice Aggregates

Lightweight aggregate concretes are widely incorporated in construction and development. This study presented an experimental investigation on the engineering properties of volcanic pumice lightweight aggregates concretes. Three groups of lightweight concretes: 1—coarse pumice aggregates (2–6 mm), 2—course pumice aggregates (2–6 mm)/sand size pumice aggregates and 3—course pumice aggregates (2–6 mm)/sand fraction were built and the physical/mechanical aspects of them were studied. The results of the compressive strength, density, water absorption, pH and shrinkage showed that these lightweight concretes were affected by the type of aggregates, the cement paste and the interfacial zone between cement and aggregates. One grain size pumice (2–6 mm) showed best compressive strength (65 kg/cm²), density of 0.60 g/cm³, linear shrinkage 0.4 % and high water absorption 29.73 %. Strength minerals represented by calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH) and calcium-aluminate-hydrate (CAH) leading the concrete strength.     

Mobility and impact of trace metals in Barapukuria coal mining area, Northwest Bangladesh

Trace metals were analyzed in water and sediment samples from Barapukuria coal mine area of Bangladesh in order to evaluate their mobility and possible environment consequences. Cadmium is the most mobile element with an average partition coefficient (log K _d ) of 2.95 L/kg, while V is the least mobile element with a mean log K _d of 5.50 L/kg, and their order of increasing mobility is: V < As < Pb < Fe < Cr < Se < Mn < Ni < Zn < Cu < Ba < Sr < Cd. Contents of organic carbon in sediment samples shows strong positive correlations with most trace metals as revealed by the multivariate geostatistical analysis. The overall variation in concentration is mainly attributed to the discharge of effluents originating from the coal mining activities around the study area. Compared to their background, Ni and Cu are the most enriched while significant enrichment of As, Mn, Ba, Sr, Cr, and Pb is also observed in the sediments. Geoaccumulation indices (I _geo ) suggest sediments are moderately to heavily polluted with respect to Ni and Cu. The metal pollution index (MPI) varied from 91.91 to 212.01 and the highest value is found at site CM03 that is close to discharge point. The sediment quality guideline index (SQG-I _Intervention ) values (0.56–1.52) suggest that the sediments at the study area have moderate to high ecotoxicological risk.