Sustainable Lightweight Biochar-Based Composites with Electromagnetic Shielding Properties.

Global warming has prompted a search for new materials that capture and sink carbon dioxide (CO). Biochar is a derivative of biomass pyrolysis and a carbon sink mainly used to improve crop production. This work explores the underlying mechanism behind biochar's electric conductivity using a wide range of feedstocks and its combination with a binder (gypsum).

Irrigation with permeates to upgrade the quality of red pepper: a case study in Arava region, Israel.

Management of environmental resources presents challenges across agricultural production. In the case of the semi-arid region of Arava Valley in Israel, irrigation with groundwater brackish water is a widespread practice that has severe limitations. In this research studies are taking place for brackish groundwater upgrading for unrestricted use for the irrigation and sustainable agricultural production.

Biochar alleviates phytotoxicity in Ficus elastica grown in Zn-contaminated soil.

Zinc (Zn) immobilization by two distinct biochars in soil, together with concomitant alleviation of phytotoxic responses in Ficus elastica Roxb. ex Hornem., were examined.

Biochar potential in intensive cultivation of Capsicum annuum L. (sweet pepper): crop yield and plant protection.

Background: The influence of various biochars on crop yield and disease resistance of Capsicum annuum L. (sweet pepper) under modern, high input, intensive net house cultivation was tested over the course of 2011-2014 in the Arava desert region of Israel. A pot experiment with Lactuca sativa L.

Performance assessment of different STPs based on UASB followed by aerobic post treatment systems.

This paper present the experiences gained from the study of ten up flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) based sewage treatment plants (STPs) of different cities of India. Presently 37 UASB based STPs were under operation and about 06 UASB based STPs are under construction and commissioning phase at different towns. The nature of sewage significantly varied at each STP.

Continuous fill intermittent decant type sequencing batch reactor application to upgrade the UASB treated sewage.

The performance of continuous flow intermittent decant type sequencing batch (CFID) reactor treating the effluent of an UASB reactor treating domestic wastewater and operated at 8 h hydraulic retention time (HRT) was investigated. The CFID was operated at three different HRTs (22, 8 and 6 h) and three different dissolved oxygen (DO) patterns (<0.5, 2.

Characterization of denitrifying granular sludge with and without the addition of external carbon source.

In this study granular sludge taken from a denitrifying upflow sludge reactor was characterized. Denitrification rates were determined in batch tests with and without external carbon source addition and pH microprofiles of the granules were studied. The microbial community structure was also determined.

UASB/flash aeration enable complete treatment of municipal wastewater for reuse.

A simple, efficient and cost-effective method for municipal wastewater treatment is examined in this paper. The municipal wastewater is treated using an upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor followed by flash aeration (FA) as the post-treatment, without implementing aerobic biological processes. The UASB reactor was operated without recycle, at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h and achieved consistent removal of BOD, COD and TSS of 60-70% for more than 12 months.

An integrated UASB-sludge digester system for raw domestic wastewater treatment in temperate climates.

To improve the performance of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating raw domestic wastewater under temperate climates conditions, the addition of a sludge digester to the process was investigated. With the decrease in temperature, the COD removal decreased from 78% at 28 °C to 42% at 10 °C for the UASB reactor operating alone at a hydraulic retention time of 6 h. The decrease was attributed to low hydrolytic activity at lower temperatures that reduced suspended matter degradation and resulted in solids accumulation in the top of the sludge blanket.

Anaerobic degradation pathway and kinetics of domestic wastewater at low temperatures.

The effect of temperatures below 20 degrees C (20, 15 and 10 degrees C) on the anaerobic degradation pathway and kinetics of domestic wastewater fractionated at different sizes was studied in a fluidized-bed batch reactor. The overall degradation pathway was characterized by a soluble fraction degrading according to zero-order kinetics and a colloidal fraction (between 0.45 and 4.

Potential effects of desalinated water quality on the operation stability of wastewater treatment plants.

Desalinated water is expected to become the major source of drinking water in many places in the near future, and thus the major source of wastewater to arrive at wastewater treatment plants. The paper examines the effect of the alkalinity value with which the water is released from the desalination plant on the alkalinity value that would develop within the wastewater treatment process under various nitrification-denitrification operational scenarios. The main hypothesis was that the difference in the alkalinity value between tap water and domestic wastewater is almost exclusively a result of the hydrolysis of urea (NH(2)CONH(2), excreted in the human urine) to ammonia (NH(3)), regardless of the question what fraction of NH(3(aq)) is transformed to NH(4)(+).