Abstract Modern requirements for activated carbons utilized in the refinement of water/alcohol mixtures are discussed. It is demonstrated that activated carbons obtained from coconut shells and apricot and peach stones are very similar in terms of durability, physicalchemical and adsorptive properties, providing high quality sorting. Utilization of novel stone-derived carbons allows 2,5 fold enhancement of filtration rate, as well as 3 fold enhancement of working resource of carbon columns. ...
Autori: Viktor Mihailovici Mukhin, Natalia Alexandrovna Shubina, Irina Mihailovna Abramova, Inna Dmitrevna Zubova, Tudor Grigore Lupascu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25543

Abstract The Air Quality Management problem calls for detailed, case-specific knowledge and requires, due to legal mandates, the development of operational, environmental parameter related, incident forecasting. Both targets can be met by applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods, and by employing relevant computational algorithms that are capable of producing reliable results. The current paper provides with an overview of the problem domain, identifies goals and proposes methods that ma...
Autori: Kostas D. Karatzas
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25616

AbstractFlood inundation modelling and flood risk mapping are primary cornerstones of flood risk assessment and management.Modelling activities generally assume that the morphology of the conveyance does not change, which certainly is not true foralluvial rivers. River bed elevations can quickly change during flood events. Flood water can induce different bed-forms (ripples,dunes, plain bed, etc.), which affects the flow resistance and as a result the flood water level. As a result integrating t...
Autori: Biswa Bhattacharya, Ioana Popescu, MdShamim Shams
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26016

AbstractThis paper deals with the experimental investigation related to removal of hydrogen sulfide from simulated groundwater byadsorption/oxidation on activated carbons. Carbonaceous adsorbents were synthesized from peach stones by physical-chemicalactivation method and modified by oxidation following impregnation with Cu2+ by ion-exchange method. Obtained carbonaceousadsorbents were characterized by specific surface area and micropore volume. Surface chemistry properties were evaluated usingB...
Autori: , , Vasile Rusu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26026

The book edited by Haibo Xie and NicholasGathergood focuses on one of the most importantscientific issues of the 21 century which is thereplacing fossil fuel with sustainable alternatives suchas biomass. Fossil fuels are conventional rawmaterials for many industrial sectors includingchemical and energy production. Usage of fossil fuelis limited by their availability, price and carbonfootprint. Biomass is a renewable resource globallyavailable, cheaper and carbon sequestering. Step bystep shiftin...
Autori: Adrian Catalin Puitel
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26101

AbstractDuring the normal operating of reservoir, the rock mass quality in hydro-fluctuation belt of reservoir bank will degrade graduallyunder the water-rock interaction because of the periodically impoundment and drainage. In this article, with the consideration ofthe change of water pressure, an experiment was performed to simulate the process of “immersion-air dry” cycles with sandstones selected from the hydro-fluctuation belt of Three Gorges reservoir area. Test results indicates that the ...
Autori: Huafeng Deng
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26161

AbstractOne of the key issues in building construction is environmental sustainability. Conventional methods of construction do not consider the in-built capacity to adapt over time according to new technical requirements and environmental consequences. Therefore, any change or renovation of the building will result in significant cost and lost use during its lifecycle. Designing flexible buildings for easy change and adaptation will assist the main concept of sustainability by reducing material...
Autori: M. Fauzi M. Zain, Maslina Jamil, Nasibeh Sadafi
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26293

AbstractThe most effective precautions to prevent environmental problems comprise the society’s willingness to save the environment, more than the politics set by the authorities. In this context, nature training projects offer great facilities for individuals by supplying the deficiencies for nature and environment in formal training programs and in means of gaining environment-friendly individuals to the society. “The Nature Training Projects at Natural Protected Areas in Isparta ” which has b...
Autori: İdris Oğurlu, Hasan Alkan
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26294

AbstractThe biosorption equilibrium isotherms of copper ions from wastewater onto date stones (DS) and palm-trees Waste (PTW) inaqueous solution over a range of temperatures between 25 and 70°C were studied and modelled. To predict the biosorptionisotherms and to determine the characteristic parameters for process design, five models frequently used in the literature -Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Sips and Redlich-Peterson were applied to experimental data.The Langmuir’s model gives the most acc...
Autori: Fatiha Mechati, Fatima Addoun, Mejdi Jeguirim, Meriem Belhachemi, Zohra Belala
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26319

Abstract This paper proposes an expert system based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to model road traffic noise. Feed-Forward Neural Networks (FFNNs) that are trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt back-propagation algorithm were used. Models were evaluated using mean squared error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R2) as statistical performance parameters. In traffic noise modelling, the noise level at a receptor position due to the source of traffic emission is modelled as a funct...
Autori: Leila Khouban
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26700

Abstract Deformation, damage and permanent loss of heritage assets due to various physical and environmental factors has always been a major problem. As the availability of funds for conservation and restoration is limited, the digital documentation of heritage objects and monitoring of environment-induced deformations are increasingly important for cultural heritage preservation. Our study elucidates developments in the digital image capturing and processing for recording architectural heri...
Autori: Jūratė Sužiedelytė-Visockienė
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26759

Abstract Based on the study on the reformation of Dawsonite-bearing sandstones with CO2 fluids at different temperature (100oC 200oC and 300oC) and different CO2/H2O/sandstone systems, it is suggested that as the temperature increases, the corrosion intensity of dawsonite-bearing sandstones is gradually increased, but the stability of the sandstone is reduced. The SEM study shows that there are radiated aggregate sediments of boehmite in all samples. At 200oC, with the dissolving of dawsonit...
Autori: Xi-Yu Qu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26814

Abstract The feasibility of treating tannery wastewater having high organic loads was studied using ceramic membrane based microfiltration process. The common effluent treatment plant (CETP) of a centralized leather complex was selected for the study which accommodates about 450 tanneries in the city, processing hides from raw to finished products. Effluent sample was collected from different locations of the CETP, i.e. untreated composite effluent, effluent from primary clarifier and from ...
Autori: Priyankari Bhattacharya
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26837

The coastal zone accommodates some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and offers a wide range of ecosystem goods and services; therefore it has become a focal point of human development. Over the last five decades, starting from 1960s, Kuwait has seen a tremendous alteration in the natural coastal morphological landscape (CML) due to the tremendous increase on coastal population that existed 50 years ago to the present manmade environment today. Most of the population is located in ...
Autori: Saji Baby
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26947

The generation of energy via fossil fuel burning results in carbon emissions. These emissions contribute to the climate change of our world, particularly in terms of global warming. On the contrary, energy has become blood of life for the existence and functioning of our built environments. In order to control carbon emissions, the UK has taken lead among many countries around the globe and especially in Europe by passing a bill for the Climate Change Act 2008 which legally binds the UK to at...
Autori: Talib E. Butt
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27045

The release of low molecular weight (LMW) organic acids under lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) stresses in Typha latifolia (T. Latifolia) and Vetiver zizanioides (V. zizanioides) were investigated. In addition, changes in antioxidative enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) in the leaves of T. Latifolia under Pb stress were also examined. Amongst the eight types of LMW organic acids detected in the present study, oxalic acid was found to be the most dominant during Pb and Zn treatmen...
Autori: Yu Bon Man
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27092

Risk management forecasts those situations that can damage the proposed goals or jeopardize the completion of projects in time. The aim of this paper is to highlight risk management tailored practices for pavement roads maintenance projects. All presented practices and risk management analysis are consistent with international standards, processes and assets. Present work also describes a particular analysis and prioritization of risk factors for their implementation in a web application. For ri...
Autori: Dan Benta
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27340

Considering that glass containers are generally highly transparent they are good candidates for spectroscopic measurements and application of a transmittance for glass separation. The selection of glass container samples directly from municipal waste disposal bins, characterized by different colors, thicknesses, and shapes was done. Transmittance spectra of clear, green, amber and black clean glass containers were recorded, along with spectra of the usual bottled liquids. Positions of the absorp...
Autori: Dragana D. Strbac
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27452

The problem of water and land pollution in the coastal area of the river Bor, downstream from the Bor flotation tailings, dates back to 70-year of the last century. The paper provides an attempt to restore this degraded area by flotation tailings using method of setting the neutralization layer of wasted lime –filler height 0.1 m between layers of flotation tailings and newly drifted 0.5 m height mold layer on top. The newly formed recultivated area can be used for food production, whether...
Autori: Ljubisa Obradovic
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27453

The artifacts, as part of our cultural heritage, are exposed to fungal attack. Fungi can cause irreversible damage to the artifacts, resulting in economic, aesthetic and historical loss. The use of chemicals for the elimination of fungal biodeteriogens is currently a controversial subject, due to the potential toxic effect on human health and environment. The aim of this paper is to study the potential antifungal effect (on “environmental moulds”) of a series of extracts from nati...
Autori: Radu Claudiu Fierăscu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27472

In the current work, a numerical model for the prediction of temperature, air velocity, relative humidity and ammonia distribution released by sheep and goats manure inside a naturally ventilated livestock building is presented. Given that noteworthy amount of gaseous pollutants are emitted by the agricultural and animal husbandry activities, the study of the indoor microclimate is essential to be investigated for the healthy growth of the breeding livestock. The developed numerical model is sat...
Autori: Catherine Baxevanou
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27482

Protected areas are valuable ecosystems standpoint providing various ecological processes and functions. Unfortunately, during the recent decades, population growth and human development have been changed the land use/land cover of the most protected areas in the world. Varjin Protected Area is one of the oldest protected areas. In this study, landscape metrics were used to reveal landscape patterns in Varjin Protected Area using Landsat satellite imagery from 1986, 2000 and 2010. For this purpo...
Autori: Shirkou Jaafari
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27512

This paper introduces basic information on the biodegradation of polymers as well as the mechanisms of degradation and factors influencing this process. This paper describes prodegradant additives that induce decomposition of polymers to biodegradable compounds with regard to additives causing oxo-biodegradation. Based on the results of experiments conducted for molded pieces made of polypropylene and extrudates made of low density polyethylene with a d2w prodegradant additive, dependences betwe...
Autori: Tomasz Jachowicz
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27519

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI), a constituent of wastewater from many industries, is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the priority pollutants. Adsorption is an important technique that can be used for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater. The challenge in adsorption techniques is to find a cheap, widely available adsorbent that has a high adsorption capacity to Cr(VI). Dates stones (DS) and palm fiber (PF) are two agricultural wastes that are produced from palm trees. These...
Autori: Reda Abubeah
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27689

Gaseous toluene biofiltration as affected by ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) roots was investigated in this study. The results revealed that the populations of bacteria, actinomycetes were larger in the ryegrass rhizosphere than in the bulk soil since ryegrass provided root exudates as major nutrients available for the microorganisms. An increase in the microbial populations in a ryegrass-growing biofilter would significantly stimulate toluene biodegradation in comparison with a vegetation-free bio...
Autori: Zhongjun Xu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27772

An innovative strategy significantly increasing data density by introducing a flexible, problem-orientated, and cost-effective water quality monitoring approach is presented. Most current monitoring strategies produce water quality data based on fixed stations conducted on fixed dates throughout a defined period of time and, thus, often give a biased and insufficient picture of the water quality. Establishing a refined picture of water quality while not increasing monitoring costs clearly needs ...
Autori: Wiebke Warner
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27805

Soluble dyes are intensively used in various industrial activities. They represent an important class of water pollutants from which they are rather difficult to remove. This paper focusses on the elimination of Congo Red (CR) ionic azo dye by adsorption on a low cost material. Cherry stones were used for activated carbon preparation by carbonization method. A temperature of 600 °C and a time of 4 h were found as adequate parameters for the physical activation and led to a final white powder...
Autori: Cristina-Gabriela Grigoraș
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28153

Bad water quality has serious implications for human health, which may include gastrointestinal, liver, respiratory diseases and even cancer. In view of drinking water hardness in the study area, it was hypothesized that bad water quality has some association with the renal disorders. The possible association between nephrolithiasis, drinking water quality and diet in human subjects in district Abbottabad, Pakistan was investigated. Drinking water samples were collected from different areas (tot...
Autori: Suneela Jadoon
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28252