Search results for: power plant
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Cognitive engineering and functional safety technology for reducing risks in hazardous plants
PublicationCognitive engineering is considered nowadays as interesting multidisciplinary domain that focuses on improving the relations between humans and the systems that are supervised and operated. The industrial automation and control systems (IACS) in hazardous plants are increasingly computerized and perform various safety functions. These are designed and implemented according to the functional safety concept. The objective is to maintain...
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Computer-Aided Automated Greenery Design—Towards a Green BIM
PublicationContemporary climate challenges are changing the architect’s awareness, which results in a broader spectrum of interest. The available software enables the design of vegetation, but it is often very limited and requires specialist knowledge. The available software allows the creation of individual solutions based on visual algorithms or writing scripts; however, they are still not common methods used in architecture and urban planning....
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Seaweed utilization issues in biogas production
PublicationMacroalgae can be seen as a renewable feedstock for the production of biofuels in many coastal areas around the World and especially in Baltic Sea region where the eutrophication is particularly troublesome. The investigation of anaerobic digestion technologies for extracting inexhaustible bioenergy from seaweed was conducted in many research institutions mainly in laboratory scale. Although seaweeds seem to have a great potential...
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Anti-cancer effect of Rumex obtusifolius in combination with arginase/nitric oxide synthase inhibitors via downregulation of oxidative stress, inflammation, and polyamine synthesis
PublicationCancer continues to be a leading cause of death worldwide, making the development of new treatment methods crucial in the fight against it. With cancer incidence rates increasing worldwide, ongoing research must focus on identifying new and effective ways to prevent and treat the disease. The combination of herbal extracts with chemotherapeutic agents has gained much interest as a novel strategy to combat cancer. Rumex obtusifolius...
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Heavy metal accumulation and distribution in Phragmites australis seedlings tissues originating from natural and urban catchment
PublicationThe retention of heavy metal (HM) was studied in root and rhizomes (BLG), stems (ST), and leaves (LF) of Phragmites australis (common reed) seedlings collected from different locations, differing in the scale of anthropogenic interference. The analysis includes the reference samples of sediments in uncontaminated lake Garczonki and contaminated roadside ditch in Cieplewo. The concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cr were analyzed...
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Application of the near-infrared spectroscopy in the pharmaceutical technology
PublicationNear-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is currently the fastest-growing and the most versatile analytical method not only in the pharmaceutical sciences but also in the industry. This review focuses on recent NIR applications in the pharmaceutical technology. This article covers monitoring, by NIR, of many manufacturing processes, such as granulation, mixing or drying, in order to determine the end-point of these processes. In this...
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Lightweight glass and metal roof structures in the 19th century. Architecture and construction.
PublicationThe 19th century brought new construction possibilities. The usage of metal elements in mesh structures, filled in with glass, resulted in creating entirely new types of objects. They have distinguished themselves in architecture and technical solutions. The envelope structures giving spatial interiors were arising very quickly. They have been enabling large light penetration, triggering them extremely bright. Thus these building...
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Strategies for Achieving Energy Neutrality in Biological Nutrient Removal Systems – a Case Study of the Slupsk WWTP (northern Poland)
PublicationThe paper presents a model-based evaluation of technological upgrades on the energy and cost balance in a large biological nutrient removal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the city of Slupsk (northern Poland). The proposed upgrades include chemically enhanced primary sludge removal and reduction of the nitrogen load in the deammonification process employed for reject water treatment. Simulations enabled to estimate the increased...
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SONIC - Self-optimizing narrowband interference canceler: comparison of two frequency tracking strategies
PublicationThis paper presents a new approach to rejection of complex-valued sinusoidal disturbances acting at the output of a discrete-time linear stable plant with unknown and possibly time-varying dynamics. It is assumed that both the instantaneous frequency of the sinusoidal disturbance and its amplitude may be slowly varying with time and that the output signal is contaminated with wideband measurement noise. The proposed disturbance...
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Integrated safety and security analysis of hazardous plants and systems of critical infrastructure
PublicationThis article addresses an integrated safety and security analysis approach of hazardous industrial plants and systems of critical infrastructure. Nowadays due to new hazards that emerge there are opinions among experts that these issues require an integrated approach in life cycle, from the design concept, through the design and operation of the plant, to its decommissioning. It is proposed to start from an interesting methodology...
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IMPACT OF DIRECT CURRENT ON NITRIFYING BIOMASS
PublicationEffects of short term exposure of nitrifying biomass to direct current were studied. DC was applied to mixed liquor from municipal BNR plant using graphite electrodes in no substrate limiting conditions. Both, ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) populations were affected by the current, however in opposite ways. The AOB population activity was inhibited by applied voltage. Activity decrease was...
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The properties, functions and use of selenium compounds in living organisms
PublicationSelenium occurs in the environment in inorganic and organic compounds. For many years it was regarded as a toxic element, causing numerous illnesses and diseases. But research in the last 50 years has revealed a "bright side" to this element, especially as a component of selenoproteins, selenium makes a significant contribution to the health of humans and animals. The selenium content in an organism depends on its concentration...
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The role of colloidal and particulate organic compounds in idenitrification and EBPR occurring in a full-scale activatedsludge system
PublicationThe aim of this study was to determine the immediate effects of slowly biodegradable substrates on the denitrification capability andphosphate release/uptake interactions for a full-scale biomass process from the ''Wschod'' wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Gdansk (Poland). Since it is hard to distinguish the slowlybiodegradable substrate in a direct way, a novel procedure based on batch experiments was developed and implemented....
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Balancing Energy Inputs/Outputs and GHG Emissions for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment – a Case Study
PublicationThe aim of the study is a model-based evaluation of the selected operating modes and technological upgrades on the energy balance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a large wastewater treatment plant in the city of Slupsk (northern Poland). The considered scenarios focus on energy savings for aeration, increasing energy recovery via biogas cogeneration and reduction of the CO2 equivalent emission from both direct processes (related...
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Aminy w środowisku - niebezpieczeństwo czy jego naturalny element?
PublicationA lot of amines and their compounds are used in the industry. First of all they are used for the preparation of medicines, plant protection agents, fertilizers and plastics. Amines are also released into the environment as a result of natural biological processes such as the release of certain species of flowers to lure insects, and also biochemical breakdown of amino acids in the protein during decomposition of organic matter. Unfortunately,...
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Renewable natural resources as green alternative substrates to obtain bio-based non-isocyanate polyurethanes-review
PublicationCommercially available polyurethanes are synthesized by the polyaddition of diisocyanates with polyols and low molecular weight chain extenders. A new approach to polyurethanes synthesis is realized via non-isocyanate routes. Negative impacts of petroleum-based chemicals on the environment and human health as well as gradual reduction of fuel-based resources, which leads to an increase in their prices, are an incentive to looking...
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Strategies for achieving energy neutrality in biological nutrient removal systems - a case study of the Slupsk WWTP (northern Poland)
PublicationThe paper presents a model-based evaluation of technological upgrades on the energy and cost balance in a large biological nutrient removal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the city of Slupsk (northern Poland). The proposed upgrades include chemically enhanced primary sludge removal and reduction of the nitrogen load in the deammonification process employed for reject water treatment. Simulations enabled to estimate the increased...
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Phytoremediation—From Environment Cleaning to Energy Generation—Current Status and Future Perspectives
Publication:Phytoremediationis a technology based on the use of green plants to remove, relocate, deactivate, or destroy harmful environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, radionuclides, hydrocarbons, and pharmaceuticals. Under the general term of phytoremediation, several processes with distinctively different mechanisms of action are hidden. In this paper, the most popular modes of phytoremediation are described and discussed. A broad...
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Determination of phenylbutazone, sulfamethazine, carbendazim and linuron using a novel pine bark biosorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE) with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
PublicationThe paper presents a novel pine bark based biosorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE). The morphology and composition of the pine bark were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The biosorbent was used for the preparation of wastewater for the determination of phenylbutazone, sulfamethazine, carbendazim, and linuron by high performance liquid chromatography with...
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Zieleń miejska Gdyni okresu międzywojennego oraz problematyka jej zachowania = Urban greenery of Gdynia of interwar period and the issues of its retaining
PublicationURBAN GREENERY OF GDYNIA OF INTERWAR PERIOD AND THE ISSUES OF ITS RETAINING The subject of this article is the urban greenery arrangement in interwar Gdynia and the issues of its retaining after the II World War. The article will concern retaining the authenticity and integrity of the historic urban greenery of Gdynia, both greenery layouts and the plant material creating it. The author of the article will present in what...
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State of the art and prospects of methods for determination of lipophilicity of chemical compounds
PublicationLipophilicity of the compounds is useful to (i) explain their distribution in biological systems, which is different in plant and in animal organisms, (ii) predict the possible pathways of pollutant transport in the environment, and (iii) support drug discovery process and select optimal composition in terms of bioactivity and bioavailability. The lipophilic properties can be determined by two main approaches, experimental, which...
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Sewage sludge pretreatment by low thermal disintegration for better efficacy of sludge digestion process
PublicationThe wastewater water treatment plant (WWTP) sector and it is developing technologies strive to be implement circular economy. The methane production from the sludge digestion process constitute promising source of the renewable energy for WWTP and approaching circular economy assumptions. For this reason, the objective of the study was to examine the modification of sludge characteristics due to the low temperature pretreatment....
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Proportional-Derivative and Model-Based Controllers for Control of a Variable Mass Manipulator
PublicationIn the paper, numerical analysis of dynamics of a variable mass manipulator is presented. A revolute joints composed manipulator is considered. Payload of the gripper is considered as the only element characterized by unknown value of its mass (variable between subsequent operations). As in other cases of the revolute joints composed manipulators, its behaviour dependents significantly on the pose of the manipulator. When the manipulator...
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Glucosinolates from lepidium peruvianum as potential antiamnestic drugs
PublicationLepidium peruvianum (maca) (Brassicaceae) is a naturally occurring plant mainly in the high Andes of Peru. In recent years, it has been intensively researched in terms of its influence on various diseases and towards health improvement. Alzheimer’s disease is an incurable disease that most often affects adults over the age of 60. As since 2003 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not approve any new drug for Alzheimer’s...
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Bioaugmentation of a sequencing batch reactor with Archaea for the treatment of reject water
PublicationIn this study, the bioaugmentation of a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for the treatment of reject water from wastewater treatment plant was evaluated. For the bioaugmentation step a product containing an enrichment of microorganisms from the Archaea domain was used to enhance the performance of the reactor for treating reject water. The experiment was carried out in two parallel lab-scale sequencing batch reactors. The first one...
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Problems in designing and operating the functional safety solutions of higher integriity levels
PublicationThe aim of this article is to identify and discuss some problems that have been encountered in designing and operating the functional safety solutions of higher safety integrity levels (SIL 3 and SIL 4) in the light of analyses outlined in a new version of the international standard IEC 61508:2010. Examples of such solutions are the electric / electronic / programmable electronic systems (E/E/PESs) and the safety instrumented systems...
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Removal of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds in Sequencing Batch Reactor
PublicationIn recent years, considerable attention was paid to the presence of organic micro-pollutants such as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) in the aquatic environment due to their negative impact on public health and aquatic ecosystems. Numerous papers have pointed out API presence as common constituents of effluents from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). This is the result of various efficiencies of API removal by conventional...
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On degradation of glass/polyester laminate immersed in water
PublicationMechanical behaviour was compared for glass/ polyester laminates manufactured in the boatbuilding plant using three methods: hand lay-up, vacuum bagging, infusion. Specimens were tested in dry condition and following accelerated water immersion test (70°C- corresponding to the exposure of 30 years at 19°C). In three point bending test 40-50% reduction in laminate strength was observed due to water immersion. The highest degradation...
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Selection of material for X-ray tomography analysis and DEM simulations: comparison between granular materials of biological and non-biological origins
PublicationPhysical properties and X-ray tomography images of five different granular materials: glass bead, glass grit, short grain white rice, sorghum and clay granules (Seramis) are investigated to select the most promising materials for numerical simulations and time-lapse X-ray tomography imaging. The examined materials represent granular materials of non-biological origin (glass bead, glass grit and Seramis) and granular plant materials...
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Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Model of Dissolved Oxygen Concentration Dynamics in a Bioreactor at WWTP
PublicationThe importance of dissolved oxygen concentration controlinaerationtanksofabioreactoratflow-throughwastewater treatment plant (WWTP) can easily be justified by technological requirements as well as simple economics. Firstly, appropriate levels of dissolved oxygen concentration are essential for the vitality of microorganisms that comprise the bioreactor. Secondly, the costs of dissolved oxygen concentration control related to the...
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Modeling hydrolysis of slowly biodegradable organic compounds in biological nutrient removal activated sludge systems
PublicationHydrolysis is an important process in biological wastewater treatment and has been known as the rate limiting step in organic carbon removal from municipal or industrial wastewater. The biodegradation of XS is initiated by hydrolysis which is an integral part of activated sludge models, such as the Activated Sludge Model no. 2d (ASM2d). The aim of this study was to evaluate different concepts of modeling the hydrolysis process...
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Is sequential batch reactor an efficient technology to protect recipient against non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol in treated wastewater?
PublicationThe tested facility was a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Swarzewo, where the wastewater treatment takes place in aeration chambers with activated sludge using sequential batch reactors (SBRs). The concentration of the following pharmaceuticals: ibuprofen, paracetamol, flurbiprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, and its metabolites 5OH-diclofenac and 4OH-diclofenac was tested in influents and effluents. Simultaneously, the conventional...
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Synthesis of a state feedback controller for an averaging tank with variable filling
PublicationIn paper, a nonlinear averaging tank with variable filling is considered. The main purpose of this research work was the modelling and control system synthesis of an averaging tank. The control objectives included ensuring stability and zero steady-state error of the system and achieving settling time as short as possible, while maintaining a minimal overshoot. In order to achieve the intended purpose, firstly a mathematical model...
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Assessment of wastewater quality indicators for wastewater treatment influent using an advanced logistic regression model
PublicationInfluent quality indicators play a significant role in wastewater treatment plant performance due to their correlation with reactor operations and effluent quality. However, selecting a specific/best parameter indicator for predicting influent wastewater quality is one of the challenges in wastewa- ter treatment. This study, therefore, focused on determining suitable variables as influent quality indicators. For this purpose, a...
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A comprehensive approach to SBR modelling for monitoring and control system design
PublicationThe aim of this research is to provide a comprehensive description of the Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) modelling for monitoring, control, and plant operational optimisation validation. The paper provides a detailed modelling of the SBR, its components and constituent processes. For this purpose, the mass balance principle and continuity equations were provided with a reactive term implemented using Activated Sludge Model (ASM)....
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The biological role of prolyl oligopeptidase and the procognitive potential of its peptidic inhibitors from food proteins
PublicationProlyl oligopeptidase (POP) is a conserved serine protease belonging to proline-specific peptidases. It has both enzymatic and non-enzymatic activity and is involved in numerous biological processes in the human body, playing a role in e.g., cellular growth and differentiation, inflammation, as well as the development of some neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. This article describes the physiological and pathological...
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Natural Products Counteracting Cardiotoxicity during Cancer Chemotherapy: The Special Case of Doxorubicin, a Comprehensive Review
PublicationCardiotoxicity is a frequent undesirable phenomenon observed during oncological treatment that limits the therapeutic dose of antitumor drugs and thus may decrease the effec-‐‑ tiveness of cancer eradication. Almost all antitumor drugs exhibit toxic properties towards cardiac muscle. One of the underlying causes of cardiotoxicity is stimulation of oxidative...
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Golden artefacts, resin figurines, body adhesives and tomb sediments from the pre-Columbian burial site El Caño (Gran Coclé, Panamá): tracing organic contents using molecular archaeometry
PublicationThis research aimed to determine the origin of organic residues from funerary contexts in the El Ca~no settlement (Gran Cocl�e area, Panam�a, Central America) by means of multiple molecular probing techniques (GC-MS of organic solvent extracts and pyrolysis-GC-MS, THM-GC-MS and FTIR of solid samples). The samples include particles of precious resin figurines, fillings of golden objects, tomb sediments, plant exudates from extant...
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A new approach to designing control of dissolved oxygen and aeration system in sequencing batch reactor by applied backstepping control algorithm
PublicationThe Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is a very complex system, due to its nonlinearity, time-variance, and multiple time scales in its dynamics among others. The most important control parameter in a WWTP is the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) concentration. The tracking problem of the DO concentration is one of the most fundamental issues in biological wastewater treatment. Proper DO concentration control is necessary to achieve adequate...
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Fecal indicators resistance to antimicrobial agents present in municipal wastewater
PublicationIn this study removal rate of six antimicrobial compounds (belonging to folate pathway inhibitors and macrolides class) was analyzed in processes of local wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) together with susceptibility patterns of erythromycin (E) resistant Enterococcus spp. and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT) resistant Escherichia coli. According to the obtained data, six of tested antimicrobial agents, namely erythromycin,...
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Modeling the Effects of Slowly Biodegradable Substrate at Large WWTP in Northern Poland
PublicationThe essential study was divided into two parts: experimental investigation and mathematical modeling using special platform to computer simulations. In the first part of research an innovative measurement procedure for an indirect determination of the effect of biodegradable particulate and colloidal Xs substrate was developed and implemented. The results of laboratory tests were used futher to verify the mechanism of the hydrolysis...
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Merging extremum seeking and self-optimizing narrowband interference canceller - overdetermined case
PublicationActive cancellation systems rely on destructive interference to achieve rejection of unwanted disturbances entering the system of interest. Typical practical applications of this method employ a simple single input, single output arrangement. However, when a spatial wavefield (e.g. acoustic noise or vibration) needs to be controlled, multichannel active cancellation systems arise naturally. Among these, the so-called overdetermined...
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The application of Monod equation to denitrification kinetics description in the moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR)
PublicationIn this paper, the kinetic constants Vmax and KCOD occurring in the Monod equation, which describe the denitrification process in the moving bed, are determined. For this purpose, a laboratory moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was used. The filling of the reactor consisted of EvU Perl carriers. The experiment was carried out with an excess of nitrate, and denitrification rate was dependent on the concentration of external organic...
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Thermoplastic polyurethanes derived from petrochemical or renewable resources: A comprehensive review
PublicationThermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) materials are obtained by the reaction of polyol (ether-, ester-, and carbonate-based diols with average molecular weight in the range from 1,000 to 3,000 g/mol) with aliphatic or aromatic diisocyanates. Synthesized materials consist of the hard and soft segments which are separated in different level. All mechanical and thermal properties of TPUs depend on the chemical structure of used monomers,...
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Elementary analysis and energetic potential of the sludge from the Gdynia Dębogórze and Lębork wastewater treatment plants
PublicationThe paper aims to show the results of the elementary analysis of the sewage sludges from wastewater treatment plants in Gdynia Dębogórze and Lębork as well as measurements of the heat of combustion and the calculated calorific values according to regulation PN-93/Z-15008, taking into account water content and the composition of sewage sludge at different utilisation stages. The results presented in this paper are based on the analysis...
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Electrochemical detection of 4,4',5,5'-tetranitro-1H,1'H-2,2'-biimidazole on boron-doped diamond/graphene nanowall electrodes
PublicationWe present a promising approach to the electroanalytical detection of a specific nitroaromatic explosive in landfill leachates (LLs) that originated from a municipal solid waste plant. The paper is focused but not limited to the sensing of 4,4',5,5'-tetranitro-1H,1'H-2,2'-biimidazole (TNBI) using differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry. Highly electroactive nanocarbon was applied to determine low concentrations of...
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Influence of alkaline and oxidative pre-treatment of waste corn cobs on biohydrogen generation efficiency via dark fermentation
PublicationStages of waste corn cobs processing leading to the production of biohydrogen via dark fermentation are presented and discussed in this paper. Firstly, the effects of pretreatment conditions i.e. alkaline, alkaline-oxidizing and Fenton oxidizing pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass on the removal of lignin were examined. The solid residue obtained in the first stage was subjected to saccharification by means of enzymatic hydrolysis....
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Chemometric Evaluation of WWTPs’ Wastewaters and Receiving Surface Waters in Bulgaria
PublicationWastewater treatment plant (WWTP) installations are designed and operated to reduce the quantity of pollutants emitted to surface waters receiving treated wastewaters. In this work, we used classical instrumental studies (to determine chemicals and parameters under obligations put with Directive 91/271/EEC), ecotoxicological tools (Sinapis alba root growth inhibition (SA-RG) and Heterocypris incongruens mortality (MORT) and growth...
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Adaptive stochastic and hybrid nonlinear optimization algorithms for improving the effectiveness of the biological processes at WWTP
PublicationWastewater treatment plays an important factor in the modern world. Insufficient treatment may result in environmental pollution which can further lead to disasters and diseases. However, processes that take place inside wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are highly complex in nature, therefore it is difficult to design an efficient, optimal control system. The problem regarding biochemical reactions inside Sequential Batch Reactor...
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Evidence of mutations conferring resistance to clarithromycin in wastewater and activated sludge
PublicationThe occurrence of clarithromycin in wastewater samples and of the activated sludge bacteria possibly resistant to this pharmaceutical was the object of the study. Samples of wastewater or activated sludge were taken from a municipal wastewater treatment plant in summer and winter and characterised regarding their clarithromycin concentrations and the presence of nucleic acid fragments (Cla-sequences) known to be responsible for...