Sharif Digital Repository

Water is used as a key material in different processes of chemical industries. Considering abundant demand of chemical industries for water, pollution that threats this valuable material and the fact that there is currently no proper substitute for water, an urgent necessity is felt for economic utilization of water in industrial processes and optimal use of water resources. A variety of methods have been developed for analysis of water consumption in industrial processes, amongst are Pinch methodology and Mathematical Programming approach. In this thesis a Petroleum Refinery has been preferred as a case study in which optimization of water consumption in the aforementioned petroleum... 

Because of production of large volumes of Produces Water during oil exploration, it is necessary to purify this water for reuse or discharging to environment. Thus, finding a suitable method for removing contaminations seems necessary. In the present study, removal of soluble and dispersed organic contaminants from produced water by Dissolved Air Precipitation/ Solvent Sublation has been studied. Combination of floatation by dissolved air and extraction with solvent has been used for removal of organic compounds in order to study simultaneous effect of both methods on removal efficiency. Samples used in the experiments were tested in two groups: the first group was synthesized samples of... 

In this thesis, an algorithm is developed based on Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (Analytical Hierarchy Process, TOPSIS) combination with Fuzzy logic, and then user-friendly software with a GUI was designed and introduced. By using this method, it becomes possible to compare processes based on their ratings and users desired importance, and finally determine the closest process to the user ideal choice  

In this thesis was investigated the effect of solid retention time (SRT), Hydraulic retention time (HRT), activated carbon and suspended carrier on styrene and ethylbenzene biological removal and also on membrane fouling. In addition to the typical analysis (COD, MLSS, MLVSS, and SVI), the flocculation ability, sludge particle size distribution (PSD), FTIR analysis, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy, soluble microbial product (SMP), extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), microscopic observations, microbial activities, microorganism population, and filamentous bacteria are considered to determine sludge characteristics. This study was done in five sections: in the... 

The goal of this research is to optimize the parameters of a process through which it would be possible to separate and recovery a considerable portion of ammonia nitrogen available in anaerobic digestion effluent slurry. To achieve this goal, after completing the construction of batch setup (including anaerobic reactor and stripper) and after the digestion of (cow and poultry manure) , the experiments of separation on amounts 9, 10, 11 and 12 of pH and on temperature 14, 25, and 38 celsius degrees were done on digested slurry. Then, the resulting equations of the experimental outcome fitting were used in the optimization of parameters. The results showed that the amount of the parameters of... 

Most countries regard to parameters such as equipment, cost, facilities, manpower, geographical conditions and environmental regulations select one (or combination) of the methods of burning in incinerators and burial in the landfill for municipal solid waste management. Both methods have undesirable environmental effects and are dangerous. Composting is another proposed option for solid waste management that is more consistent with the environment. In this process, different bacterial species transfer organic materials under aerobic conditions to the products such as CO2, H2O, minerals and compost. One of the effective and economical method for solid waste management is vermicomposting... 

Submerged Membrane Electro-Bioreactor (SMEBR) was invented to increase the efficiency of Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) systems by reducing the fouling amount. The objective of this study was to understand the physical effects of Electrocoagulation (EC) method on membrane fouling and compares the critical flux number by applying electricity under different conditions and without any electrifying. This paper measured the critical flux, that obtained under different process condition including different MLSS concentrations (8000 ppm, 5000 ppm, 2000 ppm), different current densities and electrodes distance. The best result was obtained during highest CD (30 mA/cm2) and lowest distance of electrodes... 

In this study, for removing ammonia from air, biofilters which is suitable method for removing odors, volatile organic compounds and toxic materials are used. Biofiltration is an efficient, easy and cost effective, environmental friendly process for degradation of ammonia from waste air. Aim of this study is comparative study of biofilters application for ammonia elimination from industrial sites.In order to remove ammonia, two columns with 14 cm inner diameter were used. One of the columns is filled with vermicompost and mineral shell (mineral shell : vermicompost, 1 : 4) and another column is filled with concentrated sludge and scallop (scallop : concentrated sludge, 2 : 3). Each of the... 

In the present thesis, the adsorption ability of the functionalized magnetic nano-particles supported on the walnut and almond based activated carbons was evaluated to prepare the efficient and low cost adsorbents for removal of Pb(II), Cr(VI) and Hg(II) ions aqueous solutions in the presence of salinity. The activated carbons were derived from almond and walnut shell by the physical activation method. The functionalized nano-magnetic activated carbons were synthesized by co-precipitation consisting of AC(almond)@Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2-COOH and AC(walnut)@Fe3O4-NH2-COOH which were modified by the oxygen containing functional groups to enhance the adsorption capacity. The prepared carbonaceous... 

Over 90 percent of the wastewater treatment systems use activated sludge which, yields to increase in organic loadings, these systems do not have appropriate performance. For upgrading of these systems a UASB reactor has been used prior to the activated sludge system, to improve the system performance and also reduce the excess sludge production. A membrane was also used instead of the sedimentation tank, to betterment the effluent quality. COD influent concentration was about 600 to 2400 mg/l, up to 98 percent of COD reduction obtain in this system. Also excess sludge reduction was over 90%. Such a system upgrading will increase treatment capacity by factor of 5. As it was shown, for UASBR,... 

This research was done in order to test the capability of endemic microorganisms in treating hydro-carbonic pollutants found in the soil specimens of Assaluye industrial region. To find the optimum conditions for treating the contaminations, we tried several amounts of substrate as well as temperature and humidity. The total concentration of hydrocarbon compounds in polluted soil samples was measured by both infrared spectrometry and gas chromatography, in treatment process after extraction. The results show that, having 50mg substrate per 1kg of contaminated soil added and keeping humidity at 11%, in a 60-days course the level of initial pollution decreased by 60%. 10 degrees increase in... 

Activated sludge systems are widespread biological wastewater treatment systems that have a very complex and nonlinear dynamics with a wide range of time constants and, as a consequence, are difficult to model and control. On the other hand, using neural networks as function approximators has provided a reliable tool for modeling complex dynamic systems like activated sludge. In this study a multi-input multi-output neural network model predictive controller (NNMPC) is developed and tested based on the basic control strategy of a benchmark simulation model (called BSM1) suggested by european co-operation in the field of science and technical research (COST) actions 682/624. The controller... 

Due to the large portion of organic fraction of municipal solid wastes in Iran, the needing for stabilization and treatment of this waste is obvious. An appropriate method for treatment of these wastes is anaerobic digestion. By skimming through open literature which are investigated about anaerobic bioreactors, declared that despite the benefits of thermophilic bioreactors over mesophilic ones, (more destruction of pathogens, more removal of volatile solids, more production of biogas and greater resilient to organic loading rate shocks) but because of more difficulties in controlling of thermophilic bioreactors, most studies have been done in mesophilic state. This motivated us to a deeper... 

In this study as representatives of alkenylbenzenes and mono-alkylbenzenes respectively were considered individually and as binary mixtures. It was observed that styrene, and ethyl benzene were inhibitory types of substrates across the tested concentration ranges. Thus, biodegradation kinetic is well described by the Haldane model. Kinetic parameter's assessments from single substrate degradation tests and these parameters were used to predict possibly interaction factors achieved from dual substrate experiments. The achieved outcomes from mixture of experiments revealed that the ratio of depletion for each substrate is affected by the presence of the other. It was also inferred that ethyl... 

Nanotechnology as an interdisciplinary science is used in many fields. The use of nanomaterial, make new opportunities in the industry. However, safety issues and environmental risks of the consequences of their use in various applications are the matters of concern. Because of the new emergence of this technology, it is essential that all aspects including possible harmful effects on the environment will also be considered. One way to remove the nanoparticles, is electrocoagulation method, assemble nanoparticles into larger particles with an electric current. In this study, the removal of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, due to its high use in the industry, with electrocoagulation method and... 

Underground water is one of major resources of drinking water in Iran and thus, its quality (in terms of absence of pollutants) is a matter of great importance. The main goal of this research was to investigate the pollution concentration in underground water and soil in two regions: Dasht-e-naz in Sari and the fields near Sarkhoun gas refinery. The second goal was to determine the source and measure the distribution of the pollutants (in case of presence) and determine potential risks caused by them. The first step was to perform experimental tests in the two regions. In Sari's Dasht-e-naz region, a number of wells were chosen for sampling according to the direction of underground water... 

In this project, performance of anaerobic digestion of organic waste in liquid phase has been investigated in an experimental process. Thus, the objective of this study was to optimize the organic loading rates, temperature and mixing of anaerobic digestion to the treatment of municipal solid wastes. To achieve this, the pilot scale experiment was conducted in 70l, fully mixed reactor. The start-up process was established over a period of 2 months. Starting the digestion in two stages was done with two different feed stocks, in which the feed stock of the first stage was star and in the second stage vegetables were considered as the organic waste. Experiment was investigated in mesophilic... 

In this study the performance of the conventional activated sludge and the membrane bioreactor systems were investigated and their operations were compared. . A membrane bioreactor and a conventional activated sludge system which includes one aeration basin and one settling tank were designed and constructed. The feed was synthetic and the BOD:N:P ratio was 100:5:1. In order to starting the systems, the sludge supplied from the municipal wastewater treatment plant and inoculated. Then, the inoculated sludge was adapted to treat the starch wastewater with step by step increasing the feed COD. . The performance of two systems investigated in inlet COD=2500 mg/L and four hydraulic retention... 

The oilfields' wastewater, the water that is produced beside oil and is called ''Produced Water'', includes a large variety of pollutants. Heavy metals such as Lead, Manganese, Zinc and Barium and their compounds are some of the produced water's pollutants and because of their high stability they accumulate in life cycle. So a suitable and proper treatment is necessary. A combination of effectual and important parameters such as good adsorption, magnetic properties and low prices made Iron nanoparticles have a bright future in management of environmental pollutions. In this study Maghemite and Magnetite nanoparticles are used to remove heavy metals and effect of others factors such as pH,...