Stability of Isoflavones in a Model System during Heating

H. C. Hsieh, J. T. Chein, T. H. Kao, B. H. Chen

The stability of isoflavones during dry or moist heating at 100, 150 and 200°C for varied length of time was studied. A fast HPLC method was used to monitor the changes of five isoflavone standards, including malonylgenistin, acetylgenistin, genistin, genistein and daidzein during heating. Results showed that the stability of all five isoflavones decreased with increasing temperature, and dry heating showed a higher stability than moist heating. The degradations of all five isoflavones fit a first-order model based on the concentration changes during moist-heating at 100°C or dry- and moist-heating at 150 or 200°C. The highest degradation rate constant was found for malonylgenistin, which ranged from 0.026 (h-1) to 319.3 (h-1), followed by acetylgenistin (0.266-25.54 (h-1)). The other three isoflavones showed lower rate constants, which ranged 0.074-12.60 (h-1), 0.036-11.56 (h-1), and 0.029-4.10 (h-1) for genistein, genistin and daidzein, respectively. The correlation coefficients (r2) for all the reactions ranged from 0.864 to 0.998.

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Benzil-a-monoxime isonicotinoyl hydrazone (BMIH) as a chromogenic reagent for spectrophotometric determination of Copper (II)

K.B. Chandra Sekhar and K. Hussain Reddy

Benzil-a-monoxime isonicotinoyl hydrazone (BMIH) reagent gives yellow coloured water soluble complex with copper in basic medium. The maximum colour intensity is observed in pH 8-9. The molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity of the complex at lmax 346 nm is found to be 1.2 x 104 L mol-1cm-1 and 0.0053 mg/cm2 respectively. Beer’s law validity range is found to be 0.50-5.08 mg/ml. Copper forms 1:1 (M: L) complex with BMIH and stability constant of the complex is 1.1 x 106. The developed spectrophotometric method is used for the determination of Cu (II) in alloy samples.

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Laboratory Investigations of Photocatalytic Detoxification for the Prevention of Biological Fouling in Reverse Osmosis Membrane

N. D. Kaushika and Mritunjay Chaubey

The photocatalytic degradation of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), iron and E - Coli bacteria typically found in dairy effluent and domestic effluent of automobile industries, has been investigated in the laboratory using ultra violet sterilizer as radiation source. It is found that the photocatalytic detoxification is very effective at tertiary stage of treatment for removal of BOD, COD, Iron and E-Coli bacteria. The feed limiting conditions of Reverse Osmosis membrane are discussed and it is established that solar photocatalytic detoxification can indeed be used as an intermediate stage between biological treatment and reverse osmosis process to prevent the biological fouling of reverse osmosis membrane.

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Defluoridizing Effect Of Vermiculite On High Fluoride Content Water

D. Shanthakumari, S. Subramanian and S. Srinivasalu

Fluoride is an essential nutritional trace element in the formation of bones and teeth of all animals. Fluoride in excess amount leads to dental and skeletal fluorosis. Defluoridation is the removal of excess fluoride. In the present study a simple defluoridation method using vermiculite, a type of mica, as a fluoride adsorbent was performed. This adsorbent was charactersied as having high selectivity for fluoride and exhibits a large adsorption capacity. Raw and exfoliated vermiculite were used in our present study. It was found that the percentage of fluoride adsorption by raw vermiculite is greater than the exfoliated vermiculite. The effect of pH on defluoridation and raw vermiculite was also studied and it shows that as the pH increases, the percentage of fluoride adsorption decreases.

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Energy Management in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Optimization of Energy Production

J. Nouri and K.R. Pagilla

Energy management in wastewater treatment plants includes methane production, optimization and utilization in the form of biogas from anaerobic digestion process. The research being conducted in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department at the Illinois Institute of Technology involves energy production analysis at the largest wastewater treatment plant in the world, Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in Chicago, as the model. The plant has a design capacity of 1200 million gallons wastewater per day and serves approximately 12 million population equivalent. The main focus of the work is on biogas potential of domestic municipal wastewater, specifically methane content and track changes in the biogas potential as the wastewater and sludge produced pass through different treatment units of the plant. The task is done to determine BOD, COD, TSS, VS, COD-Equivalent values of the liquid and solid waste streams at the lowest and highest raw wastewater temperature ranges during the year and then convert them into CH4 potential using chemical stoichiometric equations. The results are compiled into a spread sheet-based model to determine mass balance in terms of organic carbon for the plant. The output CH4 production prediction is compared with the actual biogas production at the plant following which strategies to implement the model in the plant and optimize gas production can be developed.

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Utilization of Paper Mill Sludge for Removal of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solution

Sarabjeet Singh Ahluwalia and Dinesh Goyal

Paper mill sludge was used as an adsorbent for removal of Pb, Ni, Fe and Zn from the aqueous solution in batch system. At equilibrium adsorption of lead, iron, zinc and nickel from 20 mg l-1 metal containing aqueous solution (pH 5.0) was in the order of Zn (96%) > Pb (94%) > Ni (93%) > Fe (82%) by 1% of dried paper mill sludge. Conventional Langmuir and Freundlich sorption isotherms were fitted into sorption equilibrium data, which indicated that the binding of the metals takes place either through ion exchange or physico-chemical interaction. A flow through biosorption column packed with paper mill sludge attained a sorption capacity of 238 mg Pb g-1.

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Microbial Detoxification of Phenol by Acclimatized Sludge/Soil Pseudomonads

D.K. Markandey, Inamul. Haq, Neelima Markanday and M. Zafar

A study on laboratory scale detoxification of phenol was carried out in axenic- as well as mixed microbial system by employing chemostat and rotating biological contactor (R.B.C.). The pseudomonads used were indigenously developed and acclimatized from sludge/soil. The isolates were studied for their morphology, staining and their efficiency to degrade phenol in synthetic solution under variable environmental conditions. The various pure forms of pseudomonads were conveniently designated as IS, SF, SS, SR, IC and SM. Pure isolates were used in stationary states, shake flask, and in chemostat, whereas in RBC unit, a mixed microbial mass was used as inoculum. In static and shake flask states, isolates were harvested and their efficiencies were examined in pure culture state. The promising isolates were identified in phenol synthetic media. The isolates of mesophilic range showed maximum detoxification at a temperature of 28°C as well as in shake flask state than in stationary state The overall pattern of degradation efficiency of various isolates for stationary and shake flask states were observed as SS>IC>SM »SF>IS »SR and IS>SF »SS>SR>IC »SM respectively. In chemostat, the efficiency of various isolates at different hydraulic retention time was also examined in terms of phenol utilizing count. The isolates behaved differently. At high retention time i.e. 0.057L/h, flow rate, the pattern of phenol removal efficiency, as shown by the various isolates was found as SM>IS>SS>IC=SR>SF and phenol utilizing count as. IC>IS>SS » SM>SF>SR. At lower retention time i.e.0.25L/h, the behaviour of isolate for phenol removal was found as SR>SF>IS> SS>SM>IC and for phenol utilizing count, as SS>SF=IS > IC>SM>SR. As the concentration of phenol increases, there is an increase in the biomass indicating that the microbes are using it as a sole source of carbon for their excessive growth. The lowering of the pH of microbiologically treated effluent showed a positive indication of production of organic acids and phenol degradation concomitantly.

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Mercury Pollution in Different Lotic Environment

K. Ayyadurai

Mercury is considered to be the most toxic metal. In organic form it enters the human through fish. Hence, this investigation of monitoring the levels of Hg in water, sediment and fish (muscle, gill, liver and viscera) in two different lotic systems (the Cauvery river and Chetput pond in Chennai city) was undertaken. The concentration of mercury in water, sediment and edible portion of fish was below the permissible limit stipulated by W.H.O. and pollution control organizations of other countries. Mean Hg content in the Cauvery river fish was maximum (0.172 mg/kg fresh weight) in liver whereas it was maximum (0.164) mg/kg fresh weight) in viscera in the Chetput pond fish

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Assessment of the quality of Sewage Effluent around Indore and Ujjain Districts of Madhya Pradesh, India

O.P. Sharma, K.S. Bangar, Rajesh Jain and P.K. Sharma

The physico-chemical properties of domestic sewage effluents disposed off in the river and streams around Indore and Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh were studied. The results indicated that the salt load (electrical conductivity) was in between 815 and 3530 mScm-1. Sewage effluents also showed the higher BOD above the BIS standard. Total viable count, E.coli and Coliform count mL-1 were highest in the post monsoon season and ranged from 1000 to 45000 and 3000 to 62500. Such waters are non-potable. Although, the effluents contain heavy metals Pb, Co, Cr and Cd, an appropriate dilution can make them worth using in agricultural fields to minimize its hazardous effect. Cadmium content was found to be above the BIS limits (0.01 mgL-1). Long-term application of these effluents may increase concentration of heavy metals to considerable levels vis-à-vis in the agricultural crops and vegetation.

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Reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand of Sugar Industry Effluents using natural clays as adsorbents

V. Srihari and Asutosh Das

Natural clays, due to their higher microporosity, are often studied for adsorption of various organic and inorganic pollutants. The present paper is aimed at study of adsorption of sugar industry wastewater by three commonly available natural clays (viz.laterite, kaolinite and montmorillonite). The isotherms of the adsorbents were studied which indicated higher adsorption capacity as well as higher adsorption amount and a higher Mass Transfer Zone(MTZ) by montmorillonite. All the clay samples showed highest Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD) removal at neutral pH conditions of the wastewater

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Survey : Should Irrigated Agriculture in Usangu Basin be abandoned for Sustainable Wildlife Conservation in the Ruaha National Park in Tanzania?

Reuben M.J. Kadigi and Ntengua S. Mdoe

As in other parts of the world, water scarcity in Usangu basin is becoming rampant, largely due to increasing human population and over-abstraction of water resources by upstream irrigators. This has of recent caused serious water shortages downstream [including the fragile ecosystems in the Ruaha National Park (RNP)]. Tourism in the park has also suffered due to death of animals caused by drying up of the Great Ruaha River (GRR). Consequently, the Government of Tanzania committed its support for a program to ensure that the GRR has a year-round flow by 2010. The program aims at integrated comprehensive approaches towards resource planning, development and management. In line with this program is the challenge of making irrigated agriculture produce more “crops per drop”, utilize less water and release adequate water for other intersectoral needs. This paper presents a trade-off analysis between irrigated agriculture and wildlife conservation in Usangu basin. It explores the “opportunity windows” for balancing water demands between the two sectors. The findings show that irrigated paddy remains the most important economic activity in Usangu basin currently supplying about 14.4% of the national annual rice production. The same consumes about 576 Mm3 of irrigation water per annum, out of which 60% or 345.6 Mm3 is inter-regionally traded outside the basin as “virtual water”. The value of irrigation water in this activity is estimated at 0.18kg of paddy or Tsh 28.13 (US $ 0.027) per cubic meter. The paper suggests no abandoning of irrigated paddy but striving to improve its water use efficiency and productivity. Achieving an increase in efficiency of 13 - 17% would release about 6 - 8 cumecs of water downstream to the RNP, which is considered adequate enough to maintain the minimum annual flow in the park. However, a number of actions need to be done. Among others, these include: raising awareness among water users, promoting good practices and mobilizing the energy and participation of the local communities in sustainable water resource management and wildlife conservation.

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Review Article: The Crucial Concept Posed by Aquatic Organisms in Assessing the Lotic System Water Quality: A Review

Lim Sun Hoo, Abdullah Samat1 and Mohd. Rozali Othman

The aquatic organisms have highlighted different concept in assessing the lotic system water quality. Environmental factors have effectuated regeneration of microhabitat in an ecosystem which inhabit by a wide range of aquatic fauna and flora. Objective of this paper is to divulge the biological characteristic exhibited by fish and macrobenthos in evaluation of the inland water quality at a part of sub-Langat Basin, Labu River System. The results obtained indicated neither macrobenthos nor fish posed propinquity towards the deterioration of environmental quality. Quantitative survey disclosed that fish was able to demonstrate present water quality status and degree of pollution whilst macrobenthos was able to reveal the pollution history and type of pollutants.

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