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Potential Effect of Using Ultrasonic Irradiation to Reduce
Concentration of COD in Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)
-- Nurliza Rosli, Puziah Abdul Latif and Sidek Abd Aziz
Many researchers have attempted in the past to look at the possibility of using ultrasonic irradiation or
sonication in degrading organic compounds in aqueous wastewater. Ultrasonic irradiation was found to be a safe, clean
and effective method for deterioration of specific organic compounds. Ultrasonic irradiation can be used as a
stand-alone process, or can be integrated with other treatment methods. However, very limited study focuses on
the application of ultrasonic irradiation for treating industrial wastewater; therefore, it is considered as a new
research. When water is exposed to ultrasonic irradiation, +H and _OH radicals are produced; the latter is a strong
oxidizing agent which can degrade organic pollutants. This study uses raw Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) as a test
media to investigate the effectiveness of ultrasonic irradiation in reducing organic compounds based on the
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) concentration at selected operating conditions, namely power density of
ultrasonic probe and addition of catalysts. Results showed percentage reduction of COD was highest at power density
29W/L than power density 55W/L. Power density 29W/L of ultrasonic probe chose to combine with
catalysts. Application of ultrasonic irradiation with presence of the catalysts
CuSO4 and FeSO4, increased the percentage
of COD reduction, but FeSO4 gave a better result.The highest percentage reduction of COD of raw POME is
around 30% after ultrasonic irradiation process combined with the catalyst
FeSO4.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Integration of Remote Sensing and GIS for Urban Storm
Water Management
-- Srinivas Naik L, M Anji Reddy, P Sudha
Rani and Chandrashekhar A
This paper presents an integrated system to improve the urban storm water management with Remote
Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and hydrologic simulation. Satellite images are used to
acquire land use information of the developed urban area. GIS software is used to derive hydrologic parameters
from the processed satellite data. The parameters thus derived are incorporated in the GIS spatial database.
The paper discusses the techniques to model an urban drainage with a large database. Storm water
management planning requires an accurate assessment of the current land use/land cover. In rapidly growing
communities, this assessment must be frequently updated. Remote Sensing is a new approach for rapidly
documenting watershed characteristics for storm water management planning. When RS is combined with GIS, it can
save labor and reduce the time of delivery of storm water modeling parameters, required for computer modeling,
as part of the storm water management planning.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Best Decision Making Technique in Forest Management Using
Analytic Hierarchy Process
-- Nur Ilyana M Z, Latifah A M, Alias M S and Mohd. Armi A
S
Making decision about the environment, especially forest resources
management, often involves the balancing of conflicting, incommensurate and incompatible values of many users and uses of a resource.
Therefore, one of the most fundamental and difficult tasks
involved is the effective integration or synthesis of all
values—environmental, economic and social, which is a
necessary first step to achieve and maintain ecologically sustainable
development. This research shows Analytic Hierarchy Process
(AHP) as a potential decision-making tool in forest
resources management. Three levels of hierarchy were developed with goal at the highest level, followed by criteria
and alternative. Criteria were chosen based on the
Malaysian Criteria and Indicator (2002) for assessment of
sustainable forest management. Using this technique,
the determination of priority for all the
alternatives will be considered and where the option of forest resources use with highest priority value is more suitable to be
implemented will be verified.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Elemental Contamination with Particular Reference to Heavy Metals in
Surface Water and Sediment of the Eutrophic Hussainsagar Lake in Hyderabad (India)
-- M Vikram Reddy and A Vijaya Kumar
Assessment of the concentrations of various elements in the surface water and sediment at four stations in
the littoral zone of the eutrophic Hussainsagar Lake in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad,
indicated heavy metal pollution of both surface water and sediment of the lake. It was confirmed that of all the elements,
the mean concentrations of Calcium (Ca) and Selenium (Se), and Mercury (Hg) among the heavy metals were
higher in the surface water. The study further revealed abnormal concentration of the toxic heavy
metals—Cadmium (Cd), Hg, Chromium (Cr), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn) and Cobalt (Co) in the sediment. The
concentration of most of the elements in the sediment was typically and significantly several folds higher than that of the
surface water. Besides, the concentration of many of these elements was significantly higher at Station-IV that
directly received inflow of municipal raw sewage along with industrial effluents from different catchments of the
twin cities.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Characteristics of Durian Shell
as Support Media in Biofilter
-- Nur Hidayah Abdul Latip and Puziah Abdul Latif
Malaysia is an agriculture-based country that produces a lot of agricultural by-products every year. There
are potential agriculture by-products yet to be investigated, which can be used as biofilter carriers. This
study investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of Durian Shell (DS), an agricultural waste, in assessing
its potential to be used as a biofilter media for removing toxic vapors. Ultimate analysis was performed using
an elemental analyzer. The presence of functional groups in samples was determined by Fourier Transform
Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The powdered DS was mixed with calcium hydroxide
(Ca(OH)2) in 23:1 ratio (w/w) dry basis for pH adjustment to be within pH 7-8. The sample was then prepared into a pellet (30 mmØ) by
hydraulic hand pressure (5 psi). The specific surface area and average pore size were measured based on
Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) method and surface morphology was determined by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
analyzer. The results showed that DS has a potential alternative to other carriers, especially peat in term of
characteristics, which is not available at a low price or in large quantities in Malaysia.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Zooplankton Diversity in the Nearshore Waters
of Bay of Bengal, Off Rushikulya Estuary
-- Gouri Sahu, A K Mohanty,
Brajeswari Singhsamanta, D Mahapatra,
R C Panigrahy,
K K Satpathy and B K Sahu
The study was carried out in the coastal waters of Bay of Bengal off Rushikulya estuary, to evaluate the
diversity of zooplankton and its distribution with respect to hydrographical parameters. A gradual increase in salinity
from 27.12-34.78‰ and water temperature from 25.8-31.9 oC was noticed. The zooplankton volume ranged from
0.1-3.8 mL per 10 m3. The density of zooplankton varied from 0.34-6.55
´ 104 individuals 10 m3, out of
which copepods were found to be the dominant group contributing 53.4-67.9% of the total zooplankton standing
stock. In total, 93 species of zooplankters belonging to 46 genera and 33 families of six different phyla were
identified. Copepods were represented by 49 species of 21 genera, belonging to 15 families and three orders. The lowest
and highest contribution of copepods was recorded during January and June respectively. Chaetognaths appeared
as the second dominant group and their contribution ranged from 9.0-10.7% of the total density. The share
of meroplankton components accounted for about 9.4-15.7% of the bulk zooplankton density. A gradual increase
in zooplankton volume and density from post-winter to summer showed a significant influence of salinity
and temperature on zooplankton community at this locality.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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