The study deals with the experimental and numerical investigation of the hybrid Photovoltaic-thermal solar collector system in Duhok city during seven months and includes different measurements of temperatures, water mass flow rate, wind velocity, and solar intensity. A one-dimensional mathematical model is used to simulate the transient processes with constant thermo-physical properties and heat transfer

The work analyzes data of environmental geological mapping, groundwater monitoring of the region municipal waste landfill. This study examines the effectiveness of a modern landfill liner system in minimizing migration of pollutants in the groundwater of an open hydrogeological system. The results showed that dissolution of carbonates and dilution were the major processes controlling groundwater quality

Methane and carbon dioxide are of major concern as greenhouse gases; the landfills have the problem of controlling these gases. Al Akaider in Jordan is the second biggest landfill suffers controlling gases as it lacks a cover design system. In this work, the main goal is to investigate the appropriateness of amended expansive clayey soil in Irbid as a cover barrier. The expansive soil is unwanted in

Clarifying the biodegradation mechanism of lignin is not only the primary key scientific issue which needs to be elucidated, but also the urgent theoretical basis for solving the practical application problems. The study of lignin degradation mechanism needs to follow the change of substrate and start from enzyme itself. It’s a lot of work to figure out these problems, and some trace proteins are easily

Subsurface wastewater infiltration systems (SWIS) are one of the important sources of nitrous oxide (N2O) production; understanding the biological processes and contributions of N2O will help control the amount of N2O produced. To quantitatively reveal the contribution of nitrification and denitrifiaction processes, 8 g potassium nitrate with 99.99 atom % 15N (i.e. 15N accounts for 99.99% of the total

In this paper, taking desulphurizing ratio and economic cost as two objectives, a ten-input two-output prediction model was structured and validated for desulphurization system. Cerebellar model articulation controller (CMAC) neural network and genetic algorithm (GA) were used for model building and optimization of cost respectively. In the model building process, the grey relation entropy analysis

Spatial scale is an eternal topic in landscape pattern related analysis. This paper examined the spatial scale effect of landscape pattern changes and their relationships with urbanization indicators in Qingdao using a series of sampling blocks. The results indicated that, with the increasing block scale, the mean patch density and aggregation within a block decreased, whereas the diversity increased

This study is aimed to investigate factors that can affect the audio-visual comfort of tourists with a mountainous landscape. The results reveal that the audio-visual comfort of tourists is positively correlated with the percentage of tourists engaged in a dynamic state. In contrast, the audio-visual comfort has strong negative correlations with density, sound pressure level and sound characters including

This research is carried out to explore the relationship between economic growth, fossil energy, carbon emissions, hydropower, industrial development and energy endowment, and the effectiveness of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in China from 1965 to 2016 is tested. To this end, some econometric methods with structural breaks are employed. The results illustrate that the EKC considering

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects ionised water has on embryonic development using Wistar rat animal model. For that purpose, alkaline and acidic water was prepared with a domestic water ioniser. It was found that the concentrations of Cl–, SO42– ions increased in acidic water, while in alkaline water, Ca2+ concentration decreased and halogenated hydrocarbon concentrations exceeded

The traffic related environmental pollution problems have attracted a lot of attention. In this study, contents of eight trace elements along with Fe and Mn in the farmland soil near a trafficway of Suzhou, Anhui province, China have been measured for the pollution assessment and source identification (along with quantification). The results show that iron is the most abundant element, followed by

The construction of disaster prevention capability evaluation framework is the basic requirement of building a sustainable and harmonious society under the background of urban public security. This study had constructed a framework for disaster prevention capability assessment of urban park systems applicable to China through rigorous logical reasoning and careful selection of indicators. The framework

The assessment of ecological environment during the large-scale development of islands is a major topic in the study of current coastal islands. Choosing the appropriate assessment method to evaluate the suitability of carrying capacity of islands and making relevant suggestions are significant to the sustainable development of islands. Ecological footprint method is used to analyze the ecological

We study the effect of roots of alder trees on soil reinforcement and slope stabilization. Two types of soil, i.e. Marl and Clayey soils and alders of three ages are considered. The slope stability is studied according to the tree indices based on tree age and soil type. The effect of root reinforcement on slope stability is considered by an additional cohesion. The stability analyses are carried out

One of the most essential topics for the present and future generations is sustainability. Today, because of threats made by traditional and old manufacturing practices, sustainability has become an essential topic in manufacturing companies. Attaining a sustainable manufacturing process requires making decisions about the strategies of manufacturing. In this paper, a novel integrated model is developed

In the face of extreme climate, Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) represent a very high standard of building energy conservation. The design of NZEBs requires continuous design improvement and analysis in a decision-making process that seeks to meet energy conservation goals. This paper recommends the use of green Building Information Modelling (BIM) to support the design of zero-energy buildings.

Soil nitrogen is a key indicator of soil quality and plays a significant role for plant growth. Therefore, it is very important to study soil nitrogen distribution, especially in semi-arid area of western China. Fewer scholars paid attention to the effect on soil nitrogen due to coal mining in semi-arid mining areas of western China. In this paper, soil samples of different locations were tested in

Present study analysed the influence of slow-pyrolyzed wood-derived biochar on growth performance and heavy metal accumulation in the leaves of spinach grown under groundwater and wastewater irrigation. Biochar was applied in soil as 5% (~30 t·ha−1) and 10% (~60 t·ha−1) amendment. According to results, plant biomass was significantly higher under wastewater than groundwater irrigation. Biochar amendment

In recent years, the European countries recycle only 5−7% of bio-waste. One activity of the biological waste disposal is granulation. The production of fertilizer from animal manure with supplement represents an important area of environmentally friendly bio-fertilizer production. This paper presents an investigation of estimation manure compost physical-mechanical properties for reuse of organic waste

The photo color is recognised as one of the most significant but not fully understood factors influencing the results of landscape preference research. In this context, this paper compares the performances of three photo color schemes (original, rendered and white-black color schemes) frequently used in landscape preference tests to figure out which is the more suitable alternative to an original color

This study investigated the batch experiments on biohydrogen production from wastes of plant and animal origin. Several substrates including sugar beet pulp (SBP), sugar beet leaves (SBL), sugar beet stillage (SBS), rye stillage (RS), maize silage (MS), fruit and vegetable waste (FVW), kitchen waste (KW) and slaughterhouse waste (SHW) including intestinal wastes, meat tissue, post flotation sludge

As a static method for testing pollution and strength of soil, the resistivity method has been used by many scholars, whereas few studies have been carried out on dynamic deformation monitoring by this method. To study the pressure sensitive properties of copper contaminated soils solidified by modified red mud, a series of unconfined compression tests were conducted. The compressive stress, strain

Horizontal well and large-scale fracturing are revolutionary technologies in petroleum industry. The technologies bring obvious economic benefits to exploiting unconventional oil and gas reservoirs with low permeability, ultra-low permeability and shale gas. With the increasingly extensive application of these technologies, other correlated technologies have also gained great development. However,

When harvesting winter oilseed rape (WOSR), leaving higher (~0.3–0.4 m) crop stubble is an effective method of reducing fuel consumption and contaminant emissions of a combine harvester equipped with the tangential threshing apparatus and straw walkers. At a speed of 4 km h−1, when the stubble height of WOSR was increased from 0.2 to 0.4 m, the mass of material other than grain (MOG) fed to the harvester

Oil palm fronds (OPF) and trunks contribute the highest biomass availability compared with other oil palm wastes. At the moment, they are usually left on the ground around the plantation area to decompose naturally and fertilize the soil. Previous researchers have focused on torrefaction of wood residues and other agricultural biomass with less atten¬tion has been paid to the utilization of Malaysia’s

The extensive layout of roadside green spaces make them important green disaster mitigation nodes in highdensity areas of any city; hence, further improvements in their disaster mitigation functions would make the urban disaster prevention system more effective. In the present research, different types of roadside green spaces in the Gulou district of Nanjing were identified to establish a highly efficient

The article discusses the effectiveness of alkalinisation with calcium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide in the treatment of groundwater from Quaternary formations with an increased content of total iron (up to 6.82 mgFe/dm3) and organic substances (TOC up to 5.60 mgC/dm3). The aim of the research was to determine the effectiveness of the groundwater treatment, in particular, the removal of iron and organic

Rivers have always been a unique space in urban landscapes. Regrettably, the river-town relationship was disturbed in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century as industrial plants and districts were established at banks, which changed the urban structure. This resulted in degradation of riverscapes among other things. Today, attempts are made to revitalise the areas and use them for ecological

This study investigated the optimal conditions for preparing desulfurizing stalk carbon, using corn stalk as a raw material and zinc chloride as an activator. The structure of stalk carbon was characterized using thermogravimetry (TG), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer – Emmelt – Teller (BET). Results

This article presents an investigation on the influence of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) as a binder in the stabilization treatment of lateritic soil contaminated with lead or naphthalene. To evaluate the performance of the binder, the contaminated soils were tested for mechanical strength and environmental performance before and after the stabilization treatment. Results showed that the strength

In this work, fullerene (C60) was selected as a model carbon nanomaterial, humic acid (HA) as the model natural organic matter and bisphenol A (BPA), as a moderate hydrophobic organic contaminant. The effects of ionic strength, concentration of organic matter and of the pH over the adsorption of BPA on C60 were studied, as well as the competition between the BPA and the HA at the active sites of the

The study was designed to examine the relationship between features of forests and the quality of forest landscapes, and to determine the strength of effect of the features in the aesthetic value of the landscape. The methodology applied to assess forest landscapes took into account the following features: forest site humidity, age of forest, terrain slope, site index of stands, species composition

In this study, an idea of using multiple layers of adsorbents in adsorption column is proposed for treatment of synthetic wastewater for removal of Cr(VI) ions. In the present study, an effort has been made to study and compare the performance of fixed bed column with single bed adsorbent (RH only) and multi bed adsorbent of Rice Husk (RH), Saw Dust (SD) and Coir Dust (CD) in removal of Cr(VI) from

This research presents the optimization of soil washing conditions in the removal of multiple heavy metals (Cu-Pb-Zn-Cd) under the using of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The optimum combination of washing parameters in a bench-scale soil washing experiments is determined by response surface methodology (RSM). Central composite design is applied after single factor experiment, EDTA concentration

Maintaining urban greenspace results in energy use and GHG emissions. To understand the change of the annual maintenance energy consumption and GHG emissions in varying combinations of plant structures (plant density or proportion of area covered) in urban greenspace, this study investigated 34 urban plant communities as sample plots (20×20 m), and divided them into woodland, shrub, herbaceous and

As the need for environmental protection and resource sustainability has increased in recent times, wastewater treatment has become increasingly important. In this paper, a group decision-making model for plans selection in wastewater treatment is proposed. In order to deal with uncertainties and multiple attributes in wastewater treatment, an intuitionistic fuzzy set is employed to evaluate wastewater

Complex topography and wind characteristics play important roles in rising air masses and in daily spatial distribution of the precipitations in complex region. As a result, its spatial discontinuity and behaviour in complex areas can affect the spatial distribution of precipitation. In this work, a two-fold concept was used to consider both spatial discontinuity and topographic and wind speed in average

The conceiving of future cities converged at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo from 246 different countries and regional organizations. With a focus on the world energy crisis, the expo’s design, construction and exhibitions offer solutions to this issue. Energy planning is integrated into the overall planning of the expo to continue and diffuse the follow-up effect of the Shanghai World Expo in the social

Biological wastewater treatment plants produce great amounts of sludge daily. It is a very big loading (cost) for treating the waste sludge. Polyhydroxyalkanoates are a family of polyhydroxyesters. The technologies of extracting PHAs from wasted sewage sludges of municipal wastewater, fermentation industry and husbandry were developed in the study. In the NaOCl/SDS extraction technology, the concentration

Ecological problems are inherent in the issue of air quality in the buildings. The main goal thus becomes the creation of indoor clime, where concentration of the detrimental impurities, such as carbon dioxide, would not exceed established norms. Thus, it is proposed to develop an alternative system of ventilation, which would ensure necessary indoor climate without outside air use. In order to decrease

Urban heat islands (UHIs) are a worldwide phenomenon that have many ecological and social consequences. It has become increasingly important to examine the relationships between land surface temperatures (LSTs) and all related factors. This study analyses Landsat data, spatial metrics, and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model for a case study of Hangzhou, China, to explore the correlation

Various planting designs behave in different ways on microclimate and thermal comfort due to mainly distinct features of vegetation type and ratio. The papers simulated the microclimate behavior and thermal comfort of different planting design scenarios of an urban park using ENVI-met model. We measured temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity during the coldest period of 2016. Seven scenarios

Geochemical analysis of selected plant fibres used as geotextiles for erosion control was conducted to evaluate their geochemical composition and to determine the elements that could potentially be nutrients for plants or cause heavy metal contamination in soils. Analysis of the samples was performed using X-ray Diffraction and X-ray Fluorescence spectrometry. Results revealed that potassium concentrations

Due to the significant importance of petrochemical industry for Iran’s national economy and the environmental impacts such as wastewater, pollutant emissions, and hazardous wastes, the present study aimed to assess the construction and operation in two phases. Some relevant criteria were distinguished and weighted using Shannon’s entropy, as the objective weighting measures used to measure uncertainty

Wildfires are one of the main processes that currently shape Mediterranean ecosystems. The analysis of wildfire risk combined with historical records allows for a greater understanding of trends and their relation to territorial variables that are favourable to future events. Using GIS analysis, we assess wildfire risk in La Campana – Penuelas Biosphere Reserve, in Central Chile. Additionally, with

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Fe3O4 nanoparticle, stabilized with polyacrylic acid on cadmium removal from the contaminated soils. To investigate the effect of important parameters, including nanoparticle concentration, pH, contact time, and the ratio of contaminated soil mass to nanofluid volume, several batch tests were performed. The maximum removal rate (100%) of cadmium was

In recent years, inappropriate land use, urban and industrial development along with different pollutions emanating from it gives rise to loss of natural resources and further leads to destructive floods, soil erosion, sedimentation and other various environmental, economic and social damages. Thus, management and planning are essential for the proper utilization, protection and revival of these resources

Rapid population growth, economic development and industrialization have created many problems related to municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in developing countries like Turkey. Solid waste disposal has become mandatory because of increasingly common factors such as global warming and contamination of water resources. In recent years, this situation has revealed the need for effective management

Over the last decades, the number of motor vehicles has increased dramatically in Iran, where different traffic characteristics and urban structures are notable. In the present study, a multilayer perceptron neural network model trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was used for predicting the equivalent sound level (LAeq) originating from traffic. Fifty-one samples were collected from different

The effect of road location on natural and landscape elements is presented in this paper. Special care was focused on nature conservation areas located along three proposed road variants. Landscape metrics as a supplemental tool for selection of the most environmentally friendly road variant were here examined. The matrix method was used to analyse the potential negative effect of the road on the nature

In order to better understand the processes of removing atmospheric particles to the surface, dry particle deposition in Monastir region (eastern Tunisia) has been studied. As a first step, a biweekly monitoring of the particulate deposits was carried out in 26 sites from January to August, 2012. Secondly, two particular sites were investigated from October, 2014 to August, 2015. A very high fluctuation

The research is devoted to the investigation of chemical composition of epiphytic lichens Lobaria pulmonaria growing in the territory of the Barguzin Nature Reserve in the Republic of Buryatia (Russia). This reserve is considered as a background area because of its far location from anthropogenic pollution sources. The objective of this research is to assess the chemical composition of lichens of the

The aim of this study was to identify the toxicity, determine and verify safe concentration of effluents containing phenol to the aquatic ecosystems on the basis of single- and multispecies ecotoxicological bioassays. Synthetic wastewater imitating municipal sewage showed acute toxicity in relation to all bioindicators and belonged to the third toxicity class. The most sensible organism was Danio rerio

This study presents an integrated model based on cellular automata for assessing and simulating land use/cover changes and their impact on the environment. Satellite images from Landsat TM and ETM + sensors from the time period of 1985 to 2014 were applied. Seven static and five dynamic variables were applied. These included elevation, slope, aspect, soil salinity, soil texture, distance from rivers

Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) microporous film was successfully synthesized and functionalized by poly acrylic acid (PAA) for immobilization of nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI). PAA was innovatively introduced onto PVDF film via in situ polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) and followed by ion exchange procedure. The as-prepared PAA/PVDF-NZVI hybrids (PPN) were characterized in terms of morphology

Soils exhibit undesirable volume changes when exposed to high concentrations of acids, which is manifested most frequently in the beds of foundations of industrial establishments associated with their production or use. However, control of this phenomenon has received less attention than it deserves. This paper aims to investigate the mineralogical and micro-structural changes occurred during the volume

The most significant factors of indoor air quality – besides temperature and humidity – are the concentrations of carbon-dioxide (CO2) and radon (222Rn). Radon seepage is caused by and affected by the materials used in walls and floors, the quality of insulation, cracks and even the amount of pipes running through the walls. The amount of CO2 is predominantly affected by the biological processes of

The fixed-bed column adsorption-desorption of As(V) by the porous composite of iron oxides and carbon with eucalyptus wood hierarchical microstructure (PC-Fe/C) was experimentally studied. The increase in the influent As(V) concentration and the inflow rate resulted in an earlier exhaustion of the column. The breakthrough curves indicated that a larger adsorbent mass, a smaller adsorbent grain size

Due to the rapid urbanization of the Yangtze River Delta in China, large numbers of formerly rural residents have migrated to the cities. To adjust the structure of rural land use, the government has performed extensive land consolidation. Previous studies indicated that the land consolidation has affected farmland quality to some extent. However, the effect of the land consolidation on farmland heavy

AbstractIn this study we investigated the variation of soil attributes according to urban-related land cover categories. The study was carried out in an urbanized watershed located in the Brazilian subtropical region (Sorocaba Municipality, Sao Paulo). Soil samples were collected considering the land cover category for analysis of physical, chemical and isotopic attributes. The land cover influenced