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Determination Of Pentachlorophenol In Wood And Leachate From Discarded Treated Wooden Poles, Yan Zha

Theses

Pentachlorophenol(PCP) has long been used as a preservative in the wood industry. The disposal of the used treated wood poles in landfill is of an environmental concern.

The study presented in this paper was designed to determine the leaching of pentachlorophenol from treated aged wood. An analytical method for HPLC determination of PCP was developed and validated to perform the analysis of pentachlorophenol in samples of the oringinal wood and leaching solutions.

Further studies involved the description of the PCP distribution in wood poles, the estimation of the leaching rate of PCP and the factors which influence the leaching rate …

Bacterial Biosorption Of Heavy Metals From Liquid Wastestreams, Emilia Rus

Theses

In this study, immobilized activated sludge from a municipal wastewater aerobic treatment plant has been evaluated as a potential biosorbent for the removal of heavy metals from liquid waste streams. The method of immobilization consists of entrapment of the microorganisms in calcium alginate beads.

The affinity of immobilized activated sludge to cadmium, lead, chromium and copper has been evaluated under well defined laboratory conditions.

Initially, the time course of metallic ions uptake and the effect of pH and temperature on biosorption were studied for each metal. Then the biosorption pattern and the effect of biosorbent concentration on binding capacity were …

Thermal Decomposition Of Dichloromethane In Absence And Presence Of Added Oxygen And/Or Methane, Hong-Ming Chiang

Theses

Thermal decomposition experiments on dichloromethane in absence and presence of added O₂ and/or ₄ and in argon bath gas were conducted in a tubular flow reactor. The thermal reactions were studied at 1 atmosphere pressure with residence times of 0.3 - 2.0 seconds in the temperature range from 680 to 840 °C.

The degradation of dichloromethane and the decomposition product distributions were studied in both oxidative and pyrolytic reaction environments. The slowest decay of dichloromethane occurred when CH₄ was present and 02 was absent. The concentration of all products, (except HCl, CO, and CO₂ in the oxidation), …

Thermal Oxidative Decomposition Of Chlorobenzene In A Tubular Flow Reactor, Jian Liu

Theses

The thermal reaction experiments of chlorobenzene decomposition were carried out in a tubular flow reactor in hydrogen and oxygen mixtures ranged from 1% to 5% at one atmosphere total pressure. Experiment temperatures were varied over a range of 590--640°C. Residence times ranged from 0.3 to 2.0 seconds.

It was found that the decomposition of chlorobenzene increased with both temperature and residence time. The oxidation of chlorobenzene occurred more rapidly when oxygen concentration was increased. 95% decomposition of chlorobenzene occurred at 620°C, O₂/H₂ = 5%, and two seconds residence time.

The major products were benzene and HCl, and …

Microwave Treatment Of Hazardous Wastes : Feasibility Studies - Operating Costs, Yongping Lu

Theses

Pilot plant studies have been carried out on a process for the remediation of soils contaminated with volatile organics (VOCs) and semi-volatile organics (SVOCs) by microwave-assisted steam distillation that had been developed in benchscale studies. The major concern had been that the process is based upon the use of electrical energy, and thus could not be competitive with fossil fuel based technologies like incineration. That concern was addressed in the pilot plant studies.

A pilot plant rated at 6 kW power and a cavity of approximately 60 cubic feet was used. In studies carried out on a water load it …

Influence Of Fly Ash And Chromium Characteristics On Compressive Strength Of Mortar And Concrete, Lin Wang

Theses

The behavior of cement mortar incorporating fly ash varies with chemical and physical characteristics of fly ash. Of many parameters affecting the compressive strength of fly ash mortar, five were investigated in this study. They are the particle size, the particle size distribution, fineness of fly ash, the CaO content and the Fe₂O₃ content.

Fly ashes from two different sources were used in this study. One comes from the Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G)'s electrical generation station in Hudson County and the other is from the PSE&G plant in Mercer County. Each was separated into seven …

I: Reaction Of Ch3c1 With H2 And Ch4 Under Oxidation And Pyrolysis Conditions Ii: Kinetic Analysis Of C2h6, C2h4, And C2h2 Reactions With Oh, O, H, And Cl, Qing-Rui Yu

Theses

Experimental and detailed modeling are presented for the high temperature combustion systems involving CH₃Cl/CH₄/O₂ and C₃3Cl/H₂/O₂ reactions. More important C2 species reaction rate constant are created. A mechanism incorporating 263 step elementary reactions and 76 stable compounds and active radicals is developed based on (1) fundamental thermochemical and Kinetic principles (2) Quantum Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel (QRRK) theory analysis (3) accurate thermodynamic Properties and thermochemical analysis (4) reliable experimental data to validate our model.

The study of Part II evaluates and analyzes theoretically the rate constants of C₂H₆, C …

Measurement Of Vocs Pollution From Recycling Petroleum Contaminated Soils In Hot Mix Asphalt Concrete, Yaoqing Chen

Theses

The petroleum contaminated soils (PCSs) due to leaking underground storagetanks are required to be removed and isolated in a designated area for proper treatment. Recently, a technique of recycle has been developed to incorporate PCSs into hot mixing asphalt (HMA) as a partial substitute for stone aggregate; the mixture then was used for road paving.

This study focuses on the estimation of the emission of volatile organic compounds from the process of mixing asphalt with PCSs and the contamination of ground water by paving the asphalt mixture made with PCSs. Eleven volatile organic compounds and total non-methane organic compounds emitted …

Irreversible Immobilization Of Heavy Metal, Hyoung-Seog Ko

Theses

Heavy metals are contaminants of both solid and liquid wastes. For example, the ash produced from the incineration of domestic or industrial wastes often contains substantial concentration of lead, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals that make it a hazardous waste. These heavy metals in wastes are hazardous because they are mobile. Immobilization of the metals is an effective method of rendering the metals harmless, provided that immobilization is irreversible. This study focused on the heavy metal immobilization potential associated with the activities of anaerobic bacteria known as the dissimilatory sulfate reducers (Postgate, 1984). The sulfate-reducing bacteria produce sulfide and …

Microwave Treatment Of Hazardous Wastes : Feasibility Studies-Mass Balances, Liu Liu

Theses

This laboratory has been developing processes for the remediation of soils contaminated with hazardous wastes using microwave treatment. The initial stage was to define situations in which microwave treatment could potentially have unique advantages, and to define the relevant physical chemical mechanisms. That having been accomplished, at the present stage, feasibility studies are being carried to determine whether or not on-site field testing is justified. To that end, mass balances on the processes are needed. In this study mass balance studies were carried out on the microwave assisted steam distillation of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and semi-volatile organics (SVOCs), respectively, …

Kinetics Of Phenol Biodegradation By Pseudomonas Resinovorans (Atcc 14235), Susmita Guptapal

Theses

The kinetics of phenol biodegradation were studied by using a pure culture of Pseudomonas resinovorans (ATCC 14235). Experiments were performed in shaker flasks and samples were analyzed for biomass content (based on optical density), and for phenol concentrations (based on HPLC measurements). The experimental data indicated that phenol is an inhibitory substrate at high concentrations. Specific growth rate data were fitted to an Andrews' expression with good success. The regressed kinetic constants were also used in predicting phenol biodegradation as a function of time. It was found that predicted and actual experimental values were close at least for the first …

Immobilization Of Heavy Metals In Incinerator Ash Using A Microbiological System, Gordon Hinshalwood

Theses

The heavy metals contained in incinerator ash constitute an environmental hazard because they can be leached out of the ash matrix by rain water after the ash is landfilled. This study focused on a novel biological treatment process in which immobilization of the heavy metal content of incinerator ash is achieved using naturally occurring microorganisms. Specifically, immobilization was obtained by the use of a sulfide producing bacteriological system. The genus Desulfovibrio was cultured under anaerobic conditions, providing a source of sulfide from the reduction of sulfate as a natural metabolic function. The sulfide produced then formed highly insoluble precipitates with …

Attempts To Demonstrate Reductive Dechlorination Of Chlorobenzenes By Anaerobic Microorganisms, Melissa S. Gross

Theses

Chlorobenzenes are a source of environmental pollution throughout the world. Investigations of the potential biodegradability of these compounds have been conducted employing different media under various conditions. In this study, the biodegradability of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), pentachlorobenzene (QCB), and 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobenzene (1,2,3,4-TetCB) at a concentration of 70 uM (20 ppm), 80 uM (20 ppm), and 93 uM (20 ppm), respectively, was investigated. The source of inoculum was fresh anaerobic digester sewage sludge. Compound and sludge were combined in a serum bottle incubation system under anaerobic conditions and allowed to incubate at 30°C for several weeks. An extraction method utilizing hexane and acetone …

Recalcitrance Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls To Biodegradation By Phanerochaete Chrysosporium In Soil, Thierry B. Poncet

Theses

The white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium has been shown in the past to effectively degrade a number of chlorinated aromatic compounds. Previous investigators (Eaton, D. C., "Mineralization of Polychlorinated Biphenyls by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a Lignolytic Fungus", Enz. Microb. Technol., 7, 194-196 (1985); Bumpus, J. A., Tien, M., Wright, D., and Aust, S. D., "Oxidation of Persistent Environmental Pollutants by White Rot Fungus", Science, 228, 1434-1436 (1985)) have also claimed that this fungus is capable of mineralizing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in submerged cultures under stationary conditions. Therefore, the objective of this work was to study the biodegradation activity of the fungus …