Utilizing silica fume and synthetically produced mesoporous silicas for simulated flue gas CO2 adsorption.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is crucial in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Solid adsorbents, notable for their reusability and corrosion resistance, are gaining attention in CO2 gas separation. This study uses Silica fume as an adsorbent and silica source for SiO2 and MCM-41 silica-based adsorbents. Silica was extracted via an alkaline dissolution method, and adsorbents were synthesized using a CO2-induced precipitation method, chosen for its shorter synthesis time and CO2 utilization. The effects of pore volume, average pore diameter, and specific surface area on amine loading and CO2 adsorption capacity were investigated using CTAB surfactant in SiO2 synthesis, resulting in MCM-41. The synthesized adsorbents were modified with TEPA and DEA amines due to their high affinity for CO2. After determining optimal amine loading, the impact of combining TEPA with DEA was examined. The highest CO2 adsorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions (15% volume CO2 and 85% volume N2) was 198 milligrams per gram of adsorbent for the SiO2 adsorbent functionalized with 50% by weight amine (28% TEPA and 22% DEA). Variations in CO2 adsorption over time, the influence of adsorbent quantity on adsorption capacity, the affinity of the adsorbent for N2 adsorption, and the adsorption-desorption cycle were investigated. The 28%TEPA-22%DEA-SiO2 adsorbent emerged as the optimal choice due to its large total volume and average pore diameter, absence of a template in its structure, excellent performance in CO2 adsorption, lack of affinity for N2, and robust adsorption-desorption stability.

Estimation of real-world traffic emissions for CO, SO2, and NO2 through measurements in urban tunnels in Tehran, Iran.

Mobile sources are considered to be one of the most important sources of air pollution among which are motor vehicles, recognized as the major contributor of air pollutants in urban areas. To determine the emissions for CO, SO2, and NO2 from motor vehicles as part of the attempt to realize the extent of traffic air pollution, measurements were carried out in two heavily traversed traffic tunnels in Tehran metropolitan area. The concentrations of pollutants and metrological and traffic data were collected through intensive measurements from September 27 to October 17, 2016. Resalat Tunnel fleet was composed of about 10% diesel-fueled vehicles and 90% non-diesel-fueled vehicles while throughout the entire duration of our campaign, only non-diesel-fueled vehicles traversed Niayesh Tunnel. Under an average traffic speed of 43 km h-1, emission factors from Resalat Tunnel campaign were measured to be (6.59 ± 2.69)E+3, (1.42 ± 0.84)E+2, and 6.80 ± 4.99 mg km-1 for CO, SO2, and NO2, respectively. These values were respectively 11% higher, 22% lower, and 40% higher than those from Niayesh Tunnel measurements which were recorded at a traffic speed of 30 km h-1. Current results indicate that the vehicular emissions in certain countries, especially the developing ones and in this case, Iran, are quite different from those measured in developed countries and that the high emission levels of SO2 in Iran are associated with the high sulfur content of the gasoline.

Evaluation and investigation of the effects of ventilation layout, rate, and room temperature on pollution dispersion across a laboratory indoor environment.

The presence of chemicals in laboratories and research centers exposes the staff working at such indoor environment to health risks. In this piece of research, a study was performed on the indoor environment of the Center for Environmental Engineering Research at Sahand University of Technology (Tabriz, Iran). For this purpose, the parameters affecting the dispersion of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including ventilation rate, room temperature, pollution emission time, venting location, air flow regime within the indoor environment, and the number of vents, were simulated via CFD modeling. The CFD modeling was performed three-dimensionally in unsteady state. In case of turbulent flow within the indoor environment, k-ε turbulence model was used to obtain air velocity profile. Experimental data was used to validate the model. Results of the present research showed that when the venting location is on the ceiling, pollution concentration of 25 ppm can be achieved at some low temperature under a particular set of conditions. However, when the venting location was on the walls close to the pollution source, concentrations as low as 5 ppm and lower were observed within the laboratory indoor environment.

Health risk assessment of VOC emissions in laboratory rooms via a modeling approach.

One of the important agents menacing buildings' employees and residents' health is the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the indoor environment. The present research studied the VOC emission to evaluate indoor air quality (IAQ) through studying in-laboratory processes and tasks. On account of that, three different pollutants (acetone, benzene, and toluene) were chosen as candidate VOCs, and Environmental Engineering Research Center at Sahand University of Technology was selected as a sample laboratory for each VOC. Using CFD model, concentrations of pollutants under unsteady state in a three-dimensional geometry at various temperatures were provided. To validate the considered model, the modeling results were compared to experimental data. Health risk was evaluated through the building using the OEL-C, OEL-STEL, and OEL-TWA parameters for the three pollutants. According to the mentioned parameters and the modeling results, 1 h following the emission, in order to reduce the health risk associated with short-term exposure to the emission, the staff should observe a minimum distance of 3, 2, and 1.8 m to the sources of acetone, benzene, and toluene, respectively. This is while, since average concentration of emission within the laboratory in an 8-h period is several times as large as OEL-TWA, then the laboratory staffs are strictly recommended not to work in the laboratory for long hours. Furthermore, using the results of this research, the staff can detect safe locations within the laboratory without any need to use emission monitoring equipment.

Using Chitosan/CHPATC as coagulant to remove color and turbidity of industrial wastewater: Optimization through RSM design.

One of the most important solid-liquid separation processes is coagulation and flocculation that is extensively used in the primary treatment of industrial wastewater. The biopolymers, because of biodegradable properties and low cost have been used as coagulants. In this study, chitosan as a natural coagulant of choice, was modified by (3-chloro 2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride and was used to remove the color and turbidity of industrial wastewater. To evaluate the effect of pH, settling time, the initial turbidity of wastewater, the amount of coagulant, and the concentration of dye (Melanoidin) were chosen to study their effects on removal of wastewater color and turbidity. The experiments were done in a batch system by using a jar test. To achieve the optimum conditions for the removal of color and turbidity, the response surface methodology (RSM) experimental design method was used. The results obtained from experiments showed that the optimum conditions for the removal of color were as: pH = 3, concentration of dye = 1000 mg/L, settling time = 78.93 min, and dose of coagulant = 3 g/L. The maximum color removal in these conditions was predicted 82.78% by the RSM model. The optimal conditions for the removal of turbidity of the waste water were as: pH = 5.66, initial turbidity = 60 NTU, settling time = 105 min, and amount of coagulant = 3 g/L. The maximum turbidity removal in these circumstances was predicted 94.19% by the model. The experimental results obtained in optimum conditions for removal of color and turbidity were 76.20% and 90.14%, respectively, indicating the high accuracy of the prediction model.

The simultaneous removal of calcium, magnesium and chloride ions from industrial wastewater using magnesium-aluminum oxide.

In this article, a method for simultaneous removal of calcium, magnesium and chloride by using Mg0.80Al0.20O1.10 as a Magnesium-Aluminum oxide (Mg‒Al oxide) was investigated. Mg‒Al oxide obtained by thermal decomposition of the Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (Mg-Al LDH). The synthesized Mg‒Al oxide were characterized with respect to nitrogen physicosorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scan electron microscopy (FESEM) morphology. Due to high anion-exchange capacity of Mg‒Al oxide, it was employed in simultaneously removal of Cl(-), Mg(+2) and Ca(+2) from distiller waste of a sodium carbonate production factory. For this purpose, experiments were designed to evaluate the effects of quantity of Mg‒Al oxide, temperature and time on the removal process. The removal of Cl(-), Mg(+2) and Ca(+2) from wastewater was found 93.9%, 93.74% and 93.25% at 60°C after 0.5 h, respectively. Results showed that the removal of Cl(-), Mg(+2) and Ca(+2) by Mg‒Al oxide increased with increasing temperature, time and Mg‒Al oxide quantity.