Sustainable Environment Research最新文献

{"title":"Optimization for biohydrogen purification process by chemical absorption techniques","authors":"Wichayaporn Chusut, Suwimon Kanchanasuta, Duangrat Inthorn","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00196-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00196-5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Palm oil decanter cake and crude glycerol, which are characterized by their highly biodegradable organic content and nutrient-rich composition, are attractive ingredients for biohydrogen production. In this experiment, we investigated (1) how to produce hydrogen more effectively by co-fermenting palm oil decanter cake and crude glycerol and (2) how to improve the quality of the hydrogen gas produced via chemical absorption technology. This study was divided into two parts. In the first part, the co-fermentation was conducted with a fixed decanter cake concentration of 1% total solids (TS) w/v and variable crude glycerol concentrations (0.25–2.0% w/v). The results showed that maximum biohydrogen production was achieved with 2.0% w/v crude glycerol, which had a hydrogen yield of 131 L kg −1 TS added and a hydrogen productivity of 1310 mL L −1 d −1 . In the second part of the experiment, biohydrogen purification was conducted using the chemical absorption technique by varying four different alkaline solutions: mono ethanolamine (MEA), ammonia (NH 3 ), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and potassium hydroxide (KOH). The highest hydrogen purity of 98.9% v/v was reached with the MEA solution at a 5 M concentration and a 280 mL min −1 feed mixed gas flow rate for an absorption time of 5 min. However, to achieve sustainable waste management in palm oil mill plants, the feasibility of integrating the biohydrogen production process with palm oil mill effluent from the biogas plants and applying a hydrogen gas quality improvement system need to be investigated further.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"42 4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135855606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Food waste supply and behaviour towards its alternative uses in Kampala city, Uganda","authors":"Geoffrey Ssepuuya, Elsie Nsiyona, Moses Kakungulu, Jane Frances Alowo, Paul Nampala","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00195-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00195-6","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Solid waste management is a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa in general and its food waste component is high and increasing with the rapidly increasing population. Survey data (class p1) collected from households, hotels, restaurants, schools and produce markets were analysed using descriptive and logistic regression analyses for insights into the types and amounts of food waste, and respondents’ attitudes and practices towards its collection, disposal and alternative uses. Households produce the highest amounts of food waste compared to institutions (hotels, schools and restaurants) and produce markets. In a week, about 96, 72, and 93% of all the respondents in households, institutions and produce markets respectively experienced food waste at least one to three times. On average, with a solid waste collection coverage of 45%, households, institutions and markets in Kampala can respectively supply 680, 80, and 8 t of food waste daily. Moulding, poor food storage, food leftovers, food expiry and excess food produce were the major reasons for condemning food to waste. Over 90% of the respondents recognized food waste as a problem, and as a resource especially for use in livestock feed production, and were willing to consume house crickets raised on feed from food waste. Lower levels of education (none, primary and secondary levels), unemployment, and being divorced at household level were positively associated with recognizing food waste as a resource [X 2 (21, N = 209) = 137.77, p = < 0.0001] and re-use for alternative purposes [X 2 (21, N = 209) = 47.44, p = 0.001] by households and institutions [X 2 (14, N = 92) = 30.97, p = < 0.019]. Majority of the respondents were willing to donate food waste, especially married people and institutions that have been in existence for a period of 5–10 years.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"94 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135142071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of UVC-LED/H2O2 in wastewater treatments: treatment efficacy on disinfection byproduct precursors and micropollutants","authors":"Dexter Leong, Hao-Bin Chen, Gen-Shuh Wang","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00194-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00194-7","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The applications of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for controlling microcontaminants are essential to meet the water quality criteria for potable or nonpotable water reuses. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the application of light emitting diode (LED) as a possible light source to substitute traditional low-pressure mercury lamp (LPUV) in UV/H 2 O 2 processes in treating precursors of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and pharmaceutical and personals care products (PPCPs) in wastewater. The results of this study revealed that UV fluence plays the most crucial role in the efficiency of UV/H 2 O 2 . At the same time, the initial concentration of H 2 O 2 , dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and turbidity had minimal effects, except that poor efficiency result of UV/H 2 O 2 was observed at a solution with low DOC concentration (2.4 mg L −1 ). Although the concentrations of organic matter decreased after UV/H 2 O 2 treatment, the concentration of precursors of DBPs increased in the early stage of the photolysis process and decreased after that; moreover, the profiles of precursors for trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids were different. A comparison between LPUV and UVC-LED as light sources revealed that, at a fixed UV fluence input into the UV/H 2 O 2 process, the trends and efficiencies in the degradation of organic matter and DBP precursors were similar. Meanwhile, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of UVC-LED should be improved for future applications in water treatment. Based on the UV/H 2 O 2 treatment results on synthetic PPCPs wastewater solution, this study showed the effectiveness of UV/H 2 O 2 to degrade micro organic contaminants.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135351239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Model-based assessment of interbasin groundwater flow in data scarce areas: the Gallocanta Lake endorheic watershed (Spain)","authors":"Manuel Arce, Jose Maria Orellana-Macías, Jesus Causapé, Javier Ramajo, Carlos Galè, Rudy Rossetto","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00192-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00192-9","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Aquifer systems, because of the presence of frequently complex geological structures, may extend beyond watersheds limits. Interbasin groundwater flow is often identified among watersheds. Because geological systems are complex ones, modelling tools are needed for its estimation. In this paper, we quantify the outflows from the endhoreic Gallocanta watershed (Spain) by means of a MODFLOW numerical model in order to assess the robustness of the boundaries of the Gallocanta Groundwater Body. Our results show the Gallocanta watershed is hydrogeologically connected with the adjoining Piedra-Ortiz and Jiloca watersheds (discharging annually in these basins about 4 and 1 Mm 3 respectively). Furthermore, we hypothesized the presence of geological features altering the groundwater flow. Additional simulations were run to analyse the changes in the water budget in the cases of: i) groundwater pumping no longer allowed by the authorities, and ii) a potential drought scenario. In the first case, the results forecast an increase in discharge to the Piedra-Ortiz and Jiloca watersheds, while in the second case a diminution of the outflows to the two neighboring basins is foreseen. We then propose a larger and unique groundwater body, spanning from the Caminreal Springs on the east and the Piedra-Ortiz basin on the west, including a moving groundwater divide internal to the Gallocanta watershed. Monitoring the baseflow of the Piedra-Ortiz river and of the Caminreal Springs will allow to get information on the evolution of the groundwater resource availability in the Gallocanta watershed. Our results stress the importance of conjunctively using data and traditional geologic knowledge (i.e. surface geology maps) along with numerical modelling analyses. This holds especially true in areas, such those of hard-rock aquifers, where scarce hydrogeologic data are available, to test conceptual models, to derive and to infer information on water budgets and on the presence of relevant structural features driving the groundwater flow. This approach may lead to informed decision-making on groundwater body boundaries definition for the application of relevant groundwater management regulations.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"50 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135689768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Renewable energy, agriculture, and carbon dioxide emissions nexus: implications for sustainable development in sub-Saharan African countries","authors":"Jingyi Wang, Chenglin Jiang, Mingquan Li, Shuai Zhang, Xuebiao Zhang","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00193-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00193-8","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has experienced a high economic growth rate over the last two decades, which has been accompanied by concerns about increasing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. This study aims to find out whether renewable energy and agriculture can help reduce CO 2 emissions for selected SSA countries. A balanced dataset incorporating CO 2 emissions, renewable energy consumption, agricultural land per capita, GDP per capita, urbanization level and energy intensity of 38 SSA countries covering the period 2000–2019 is utilized. The differentiated-generalized method of moments (GMM) is employed as a benchmark estimation method to estimate the effects of renewable energy and agriculture on CO 2 . The regional heterogeneity analysis of countries at different income levels is then carried out. The moderating role of government governance in the energy-agriculture-environment nexus is also investigated. The following conclusions are highlighted: (1) the consumption of renewable energy can reduce CO 2 emissions, while agriculture increases them; (2) the mitigating effect of renewable energy on CO 2 emissions is relatively larger in countries at a low income level countries than in high-income countries, while agriculture aggravates CO 2 emissions in lower middle-income and low-income regions, but mitigates emissions in upper middle-income regions; and (3) governance quality turns the mitigating role of renewable energy use on CO 2 emissions into an increasing one, and exaggerates the polluting effect of agriculture. Finally, the study proposes policy implications for improving renewable energy use and green agricultural growth to achieve sustainable development in SSA.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134886849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimization of removal of toluene from industrial wastewater using RSM Box–Behnken experimental design","authors":"Dariush Jafari, Morteza Esfandyari, Mehdi Mojahed","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00189-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00189-4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The study is concerned with the adsorption of toluene from real wastewater using granular beads of activated carbon. The adsorbent was analyzed before and after the process using Scanning Electron Microscope analysis to characterize its surface characteristics. The adsorption parameters including solution pH, contact time, dosage of adsorbent, temperature and toluene initial concentration were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) Box-Behnken experimental design to maximize the toluene adsorption. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent was 298 mg g −1 and the maximum toluene removal was 99.5% which was achieved in the following optimal conditions: pH: 2, 100 min, adsorbent dosage: 0.7 g L −1 , 40 °C and initial concentration: 30 mg L −1 . The adjusted coefficient of determination of the model was over 0.99 which denotes that the model was quite appropriate and accurate and also it was effective in the optimization of toluene adsorption. Finally, the activated carbon adsorbent was applied to remove toluene from a real sample of wastewater under the optimal operating conditions and the uptake percentage of 96.9% was achieved which was in accordance with the output of the removal of toluene from synthetic wastewater.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135015922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring circularity potential for medical waste management – a dynamic circularity performance analysis","authors":"Chih-Kai Yang, Hwong-Wen Ma, Mei-Hua Yuan","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00188-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00188-5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The global transition towards circular economy (CE) signifies a shift in industrial waste management objective from “expansion of recycling industry” to achieve “waste as resource”. The medical industry has attracted CE research attention the due to its significant waste generation and relatively slower progress towards CE, despite the substantial recycling potential identified by the WHO. Studies indicate that this can be attributed to the hazardous nature of medical waste and the prioritization of safety in waste treatment over potential economic and health co-benefits. Recognizing the limitations of current waste management performance evaluation framework, this research introduces the dynamic circularity performance index, and further introduces the two new indicators of “recycling circularity (Rc)” and “real circularity performance”, in conjunction with “recycling rate”, to enable industry-specific sustainability assessment of waste management performance. The case study on Taiwan medical waste management performance from 2014 to 2021 on the four identified medical waste categories confirms the limitations of assessing performance solely based on the quantity-based metric of “recycling rate”. For example, the significant decline in the recycling rate from 33.1% to only 12.2% between 2019 and 2020 might be interpreted as a drop in environmental performance. However, the increase in both overall recycling efficiency and total volume of waste recycled, as demonstrated by “circularity performance” and “real circularity performance” reveals a well-maintained resource recovery performance in coping with the stunning 327% increase in total waste generation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, while the “recyclable waste’ category exhibits a significant increasing in the recycling rate over the assessment period, the “Rc” results highlight a degradation in recycling efficiency. The synergistic effect of the newly introduced indicators unveils several unique phenomena affecting the CE transition of the medical industry. These includes regulatory control, the single-use mindset, hazardous nature of the waste, the classification of waste, policy incentives and recycling capacity. Further improvement can be made to expand the coverage to all life cycle stages and refine the method for determining the relative circularity of treatment performance. Such advancements can attribute to enhance waste management performance assessment and the development of effective CE transition strategies and policies.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"130 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134911268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Efect of coupling primary sedimentation tank (PST) and microscreen (MS) to remove particulate organic carbon (POC): a study to mitigate energy demand in municipal wastewater treatment plants","authors":"Behnam Askari Lasaki, Peter Maurer, Harald Schönberger","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00191-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00191-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135878454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Efficient degradation of various recalcitrant azo dyes in aqueous medium by immobilized Origanum vulgare peroxidase","authors":"Mahsa Golbabaie, Behzad Gharahchei, Fatemeh Mirazizi, Alireza Abbasi Baharanchi, Ali Khosronejad, Ali Asghar Karkhanie, Kamahldin Haghbeen","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00190-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00190-x","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Hybrid xerogels, constructed from organic and inorganic silanes, have emerged as materials with versatile applications. They have shown promising potential for immobilization as their chemical structures encompass the mechanical, thermal, and structural stability of inorganic compounds in synergy with the functionality and flexibility of organic compounds. Incorporating a magnetic core and preparation at the nanoscale multiply their attraction for enzyme immobilization. To evaluate how efficiently this technology works for the immobilization of a plant peroxidase, a novel peroxidase (POX ov ) from a famous medicinal herb, Origanum vulgare , was immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles of a hybrid xerogel obtained from tetraethyl orthosilicate and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane. Immobilization boosted the physicochemical properties of the enzyme so that the immobilized POX ov (I.POX ov ) could tolerate lower pHs and higher temperatures. It oxidized all types of the examined phenolic, catecholic, guaiacolic, and aniline diazo dyes, while the free POX ov (F.POX ov ) failed to oxidize the last group. These improvements also made I.POX ov capable of oxidizing the recalcitrant azo dyes carrying electron-withdrawing groups much faster than F.POX ov . I.POX ov was employed in 7 successive cycles of oxidation of both phenolic and guaiacolic dyes with an average efficiency of 69%. The efficacy of the immobilization method and I.POXov competency for the enzymatic remediation of polluted water resources have been quantitatively demonstrated.","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135827017","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bio-green synthesis of calcium acetate from oyster shell waste at low cost and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases","authors":"S. Seesanong, Chaowared Seangarun, B. Boonchom, N. Laohavisuti, Somphob Thompho, W. Boonmee, Sorakit Mongkol, Pesak Rungrojchaipon","doi":"10.1186/s42834-023-00187-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s42834-023-00187-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":22130,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Environment Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43042878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}