Sharif Digital Repository

The biodegradability rates of two different kinds of polyethylene bonded with corn and potato starch are studied in this paper. While it is usual to use soil as the environment for biodegradation, an aerated sludge tank was used in this studywhich offers a richermicrobialmediumand increases the rate of biodegradation. The biodegradability is determined by two ways: first, comparing differences in the weight change of two samples, one placed inside distilled water and the other placed in aerated sludge tank. Second test for biodegradation is by examination of FTIR spectroscopy. Through FTIR spectroscopy, the biodegradability rate and reduction in some of the existing bonds in polymer before... 

Phenol is one of the aromatic hydrocarbons. Phenol and its derivatives are highly toxic. These pollutants can be observed in the effluents of many industries. This research investigates the removal of phenol by the use of activated sludge in a batch system. The effects of influencing factors on biodegradation efficiency have been evaluated. The main factors considered in this study were the volume of acclimatized activated sludge inoculation, pH, temperature, and initial concentration of phenol. The inoculation volumes of 1, 3, and 5 mL of acclimatized activated sludge were taken into account. Different pH values of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were examined. The experiments were conducted for... 

Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) is an oxygenated organic compound extensively substituted for lead in gasoline worldwide. MTBE can affect human and environment. In this research, biodegradation capability of MTBE by identified indigenous Bacillus cereus strain RJ1 was studied. Obtained results showed that biological removal of MTBE with 200 mg/L samples in 28°C is 27.5% while in 37°C within 120 days reaches to 34%. In addition, biodegradation of Bacillus cereus RJ1 in 500 mg/L and 1,000 mg/L is 28% and 23.9% in 28°C, respectively. Therefore, this bacterium could clean up MTBE from the environment  

Mazut as a source content of various hydrocarbons is hard to be degraded and its cracking could turn mazut into useful materials. Nevertheless degradation of mazut by routine methods is too expensive but application of indigenous microorganisms as biocatalysts could be effective and important to lower the costs and expand its consumption. Mazut biodegradation can be improved using various strategies; Therefore in this study newly isolated strain Enterobacter cloacae BBRC 10061 was used in a method of gradual addition of mazut into medium and its results were compared with simple addition method. To investigate degradation of mazut by BBRC 10061, influence of increase of mazut concentration... 

Biosurfactant production through a fermentation process involving the biodegradation of soybean oil refining wastes was studied. Pseudomonas aeruginosa MR01 was able to produce extracellular biosurfactant when it was cultured in three soybean oil refinement wastes; acid oil, deodorizer distillate and soapstock, at different carbon to nitrogen ratios. Subsequent fermentation kinetics in the three types of waste culture were also investigated and compared with kinetic behavior in soybean oil medium. Biodegradation of wastes, biosurfactant production, biomass growth, nitrate consumption and the number of colony forming units were detected in four proposed media, at specified time intervals.... 

Mazut as a source content of various hydrocarbons is hard to be degraded and its cracking could turn mazut into useful materials. Nevertheless degradation of mazut by routine methods is too expensive but application of indigenous microorganisms as biocatalysts could be effective and important to lower the costs and expand its consumption. Mazut biodegradation can be improved using various strategies; Therefore in this study newly isolated strain Enterobacter cloacae BBRC 10061 was used in a method of gradual addition of mazut into medium and its results were compared with simple addition method. To investigate degradation of mazut by BBRC 10061, influence of increase of mazut concentration... 

Modeling process is very important and valuable to predict process outcome, especially bioprocesses which are intricate. Because of complex hydrocarbon compounds and oscillations happened in the medium of process, biodegradation of mazut has not already been investigated by mathematical models. In this study, an indigenous bacterium was isolated from oil contaminated soil to investigate biodegradation of mazut at different experimental conditions. Data resulted from mazut degradation, pH, and electrical potential in the medium were recorded. Some reported kinetic models and combinations were investigated to practically model the process. In addition, a new equation that can predict various... 

The oxygen-barrier properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(vinyl acetate-co-vinyl alcohol) [P(VAc-co-VA)] were investigated. P(VAc-co-VA)s with vinyl alcohol (VA) contents of 5, 10, and 15 mol % were prepared with the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of poly(vinyl acetate). The obtained copolymers with various contents of VA were blended with PLA at 5/95, 10/90, and 15/85 compositions. Films of the blends were prepared by a solution-casting method with chloroform as the cosolvent. Although the blend with 5% VA in the copolymer appeared to be miscible, the blends with 10 and 15% VA content in the copolymer were immiscible, as verified by dynamic mechanical analysis. The oxygen-barrier properties... 

A bacterial strain, FBHYA2, capable of degrading naphthalene, was isolated from the American Petroleum Institute (API) separator of the Tehran Oil Refinery Complex (TORC). Strain FBHYA2 was identified as Achromobacter sp. based on physiological and biochemical characteristics and also phylogenetic similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequence. The optimal growth conditions for strain FBHYA2 were pH 6.0, 30°C and 1.0% NaCl. Strain FBHYA2 can utilize naphthalene as the sole source of carbon and energy and was able to degrade naphthalene aerobically very fast, 48 h for 96% removal at 500 mg/L concentration. The physiological response of Achromobacter sp., FBHYA2 to several hydrophobic chemicals... 

While energy consumption is increasing worldwide due to population growth, the fossil fuels are unstable and exhaustible resources for establishing sustainable life. Using biodegradable compounds present in the wastewater produced in industrial process as a renewable source is an enchanting approach followed by scientists for maintaining a sustainable energy production to vanquish this problem for ulterior generations. In this research, bioelectricity generation with whey degradation was investigated in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell with humic acid as anodic electron mediator and a cathode compartment including combinational electron acceptor. Escherichia coli was able to use the... 

Effect of cathodic enzymatic decolorization of reactive blue 221 (RB221) on the performance of a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was investigated. Immobilized laccase on the surface of a modified graphite electrode was used in the cathode compartment in order to decolorize the azo dye and enhance the oxygen reduction reaction. First, methylene blue which is an electroactive polymer was electropolymerized on the surface of a graphite bar to prepare the modified electrode. Utilization of the modified electrode with no enzyme in the MFC increased the power density up to 57% due to the reduction of internal resistance from 1000 to 750 Ω. Using the electropolymerized-enzymatic cathode... 

The effects of leachate recycling and bed mixing on the removal rate of H 2S from waste gas stream were investigated. The experimental setup consisted of an epoxy-coated three-section biofilter with an ID of 8cm and effective bed height of 120cm. Bed material consisted of municipal solid waste compost and PVC bits with an overall porosity of 54% and dry bulk density of 0.456gcm -3. Leachate recycling had a positive effect of increasing elimination capacity (EC) up to 21gSm -3 bedh -1 at recycling rates of 75mld -1, but in the bed mixing period EC declined to 8g Sm -3bedh -1. Pressure drop had a range of zero to 18mm H 2Om -1 in the course of leachate recycling. Accumulation of sulfur reduced... 

The ability of Paraconiothyrium variabile, a laccase producing ascomycete recently isolated from soil, was studied to eliminate chlorophenol derivatives in submerged culture medium. Among the tested compounds, ρ-chlorophenol (ρ-CP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) were found to have minimum and maximum toxic effects, respectively, on the growth of the microorganism and at the same time high and low bioelimination percentages. The fungal strain was able to remove 86% of ρ-CP (with initial concentration of 40mgl -1) and 56% of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP; with same concentration as ρ-CP) after 9 days of incubation while no elimination was observed in the presence of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol... 

A novel kind of a biopolymer-based superabsorbent composite, salep-g-poly(sodium acrylate)/alumina, was prepared from salep, sodium acrylate, and alumina by aqueous polymerization, using N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a cross-linker and ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator. The reaction parameters [i.e., acrylic acid (AA), MBA, APS amounts, and neutralization percentage of AA as well as alumina/salep weight ratio] affecting the water absorbency of the hydrogel composite were optimized using systematic method to achieve a composite with high swelling capacity as possible. The swelling behavior of optimum superabsorbent composite was measured in various pH solutions. In addition,... 

CeO 2-TiO 2 nanoparticles were prepared by the sol-gel process using 2-hydroxylethylammonium formate as room-temperature ionic liquid and calcined at different temperatures (500-700°C). CeO 2-TiO 2-graphene nanocomposites were prepared by hydrothermal reaction of graphene oxide with CeO 2-TiO 2 nanoparticles in aqueous solution of ethanol. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, BET surface area, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transformed infrared techniques. The results demonstrate that the room-temperature ionic liquid inhibits the anatase-rutile phase transformation. This effect was promoted by addition of CeO 2 to TiO 2.... 

Adaptation of Penicillium simplicissimum with different heavy metals present in a spent hydrocracking catalyst, as well as one-step, two-step, and spent medium bioleaching of the spent catalyst by the adapted fungus, was examined in batch cultures. Adaptation experiments with the single metal ions Ni, Mo, Fe, and W showed that the fungus could tolerate up to 1500. mg/L Ni, 8000. mg/L Mo, 3000. mg/L Fe, and 8000. mg/L W. In the presence of multi-metals, the fungus was able to tolerate up to 300. mg/L Ni, 200. mg/L Mo, 150. mg/L Fe and 2500. mg/L W. A total of 3% (w/v) spent catalyst generally gave the maximum extraction yields in the two-step bioleaching process (100% of W, 100% of Fe, 92.7%... 

Azotobacter beijerinckii DSMZ 1041 strain was used for production of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and the optimum glucose concentration, as the carbon source and ammonium chloride, as the nitrogen source were obtained 60gr/lit and 0.5gr/lit respectively. The resulting optimum PHB production was investigated 2.95gr/lit. The obtained yield of PHB with respect to glucose (Yp/s) and PHB productivity (Qp) were 0.202 g/g and 0.123 g/lit.hr, respectively. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to verify the accuracy of the designed experiments. azotobacter beijerinckii microorganism from Deutsch sammlung von microorganismen und zellkulturen(DSMZ) bank is used for production of Poly Hydroxy... 

Penicillin G is an active pharmaceutical ingredient of great importance in health sectors. Meanwhile, because of its huge quantity production and resistance to biodegradability, this antibiotic is ubiquitously presented in aquatic environment. In this study, the degradation of effluent wastewater from Penicillin G production plant by Photo- Fenton process and Ultrasound process (Sonolysis) was investigated, the effects of different process variables in both methods were evaluated and at last the degradation of Pen-G by these two processes in the optimum conditions was compared. Pen-G concentration and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) were selected as the environmental parameters to follow the... 

The objective of this study is the investigation of formaldehyde degradation in a bioreactor with pumice stone as a support. The reactor was tested at different synthetic wastewater concentrations with total COD of 500, 1000 and 1500 mgL, respectively, at 24 h hydraulic retention time. The effect of feed composition was tested by changing the COD TCOD FA ratio in order to analyze the impact of formaldehyde concentration. The average formaldehyde and COD removal efficiencies obtained in the reactor were 97.1% and 88%, respectively. The maximum COD and formaldehyde removal efficiencies occurred at the COD TCOD F of 41 at COD T=1000mgL. The effect of toxic shock on reactor performance was... 

Batch cultures of Azohydromonas lata DSMZ 1123, Hydrogenophaga pseudoflava DSMZ 1034, Cupriavidus necator DSMZ 545 and Azotobacter beijinckii DSMZ 1041 were investigated for producing the intracellular bioplastic poly-•-hydroxybutyrate (PHB). The effects of temperature, seed age, type of carbon sources and the agitation rate on the production rate of PHB were investigated using four mentioned spices. The optimized shaking rate, temperature and seed age were obtained 250 rpm, 30°C and 15 hrs for H. pseudoflava DSMZ 1034 and A. beijerinckii DSMZ 1041 and 18 hrs and 24 hrs for A. lata DSMZ 1123 and C. necator DSM 545, respectively.The effect of carbon sources including glucose, fructose, whey...