Global NEST Journal

The efficacy of low cost adsorbing materials for removal of 2,4-D (2,4 dichloro phenoxy acetic acid) and
atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethyamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5 triazine) herbicides from drinking water was
evaluated. Five low cost adsorbents, viz. wood charcoal, rubber granules, bottom ash, macro fungi sajor
caju and florida were tested. The above materials were selected from organic, inorganic and biological
sources. For the selection of the suitable adsorbent for 2,4-D and atrazine uptake, the maximum
adsorption capacity (Qmax) was chosen as the main parameter. Using linearized forms of equilibrium
models like Langmuir, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET), Freundlich and Lopez-Gonzalez models
(L-G models), the maximum adsorptive capacities were determined. Wood charcoal showed the best
adsorptive capacity with Qmax of 0.70 mg g-1 for 2,4-D and 0.80 mg g-1 for atrazine followed by 0.40 mg g-1
for 2,4-D and 0.47 mg g-1 for atrazine by rubber granules. Bottom ash, sajor caju and florida gave poor
performance.

During the production of cephradine (a main constituent of anti-osmotic drug) a large quantity of concentrated
effluent was produced. The main polluting compounds in this effluent are osmotic drug,
acetic acid and ammonia. The main objectives of the study were to assess the toxicity in terms of specific
methanogenic activity on anaerobic degradation of cephradine with Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) as
co-substrate in batch systems using adapted and non-adapted cultures and to study the effect of
bioaugmentation with adapted and non-adapted cultures on anaerobic treatment of anti-osmotic drug
based pharmaceutical effluent in continuous mode using a fluidised bed reactor. The toxicity assessment
was measured in terms of specific methanogenic activity (ml CH4 g-1 VSS d-1), which was found
to decrease with increase in cephradine concentration and attained a maximum at 100 mg l-1. The COD
reduction (%) in continuous mode reached maximum of 88.5 at a Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of
12 h using bioaugmentation through periodic addition of 14 to 20 g l-1 of biomass (acclimated cells)
every 2 days from an off-line enricher-reactor.

In recent years, a considerable research effort has been devoted to Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA).
However, most of the work has been focusing on improving the methodology as such and providing
guidelines for carrying out LCA studies. Much less effort has been dedicated to the exploration and
analysis of the applications of LCA within the actual context of business. Which are the drivers for
starting LCA activities in a company? Which are the main applications? Which business departments
are involved? This is the kind of questions addressed by the present paper.
The paper reports the results of a survey about the use of LCA in business in four selected European
Countries, namely Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. 1600 questionnaires have been sent out to
selected companies in the four countries. As expected, there are considerable differences between
countries because of a different level of environmental awareness. However, there are some main common
results. The first one is that the cultural approach of Life-Cycle-Thinking is spreading out, but not
yet the tool. LCA is not yet used as a routine tool for assessing environmental aspects of product innovation
and it is still rather employed in a retrospective way than in a prospective one. Benefits of LCA
are considered to be rather long-term ones. On the other hand, the large majority of firms is optimistic
about the future use of LCA, most likely linked together with other instruments.

The work deals with coal combustion in a pilot-plant fluidised bed (7 cm i.d.) under atmospheric conditions.
The aims are to capture and analyse qualitatively as well as quantitatively the volatile polycyclic
hydrocarbons emitted by using coal as energy source under various combustion conditions. After establishing
the sampling procedure, the emissions are caught in five different traps (two cyclones, nylon and
teflon filters, and XAD-2). The contribution of each of the sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAH) listed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority pollutants is analysed, and
their emissions as a function of the combustion variables (combustion temperature, percentage of
excess oxygen, air flow and fluidising agent) are reported. Synchronous Fluorescence Spectroscopy is
the analytical tool used for identification and quantification of the PAH emissions.