[Clinical treatment of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria from international experts' point of view].

Science.gov (United States)

Rutzen, Katharina M; Nieder, Timo Ole; Schreier, Herbert; Möller, Birgit

2014-01-01

The clinical treatment of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria is still a controversial issue. The aim of this study was to get an overview of the knowledge and experience of international experts and to highlight shared views as well as differences in theoretical convictions and treatment approaches. Half-structured, guide-line based interviews were carried out with international experts in the field. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis (Mayring, 2010).

The expert consensus guideline series. Optimizing pharmacologic treatment of psychotic disorders. Introduction: methods, commentary, and summary.

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, John M; Leucht, Stefan; Carpenter, Daniel; Docherty, John P

2003-01-01

A growing number of atypical antipsychotics are available for clinicians to choose from in the treatment of psychotic disorders. However, a number of important questions concerning medication selection, dosing and dose equivalence, and the management of inadequate response, compliance problems, and relapse have not been adequately addressed by clinical trials. To aid clinical decision-making, a consensus survey of expert opinion on the pharmacologic treatment of psychotic disorders was undertaken to address questions not definitively answered in the research literature. Based on a literature review, a written survey was developed with 60 questions and 994 options. Approximately half of the options were scored using a modified version of the RAND 9-point scale for rating the appropriateness of medical decisions. For the other options, the experts were asked to write in answers (e.g., average doses) or check a box to indicate their preferred answer. The survey was sent to 50 national experts on the pharmacologic treatment of psychotic disorders, 47 (94%) of whom completed it. In analyzing the responses to items rated on the 9-point scale, consensus on each option was defined as a non random distribution of scores by chi-square "goodness-of-fit"test. We assigned a categorical rank (first line/preferred choice,second line/alternate choice, third line/usually inappropriate) to each option based on the 95% confidence interval around the mean rating. Guideline tables indicating preferred treatment strategies were then developed for key clinical situations. The expert panel reached consensus on 88% of the options rated on the 9-point scale. The experts overwhelmingly endorsed the atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of psychotic disorders. Risperidone was the top choice for first-episode and multi-episode patients, with the other newer atypicals rated first line or high second line depending on the clinical situation. Clozapine and a long-acting injectable atypical

Multifactorial modelling of high-temperature treatment of timber in the saturated water steam medium

Science.gov (United States)

Prosvirnikov, D. B.; Safin, R. G.; Ziatdinova, D. F.; Timerbaev, N. F.; Lashkov, V. A.

2016-04-01

The paper analyses experimental data obtained in studies of high-temperature treatment of softwood and hardwood in an environment of saturated water steam. Data were processed in the Curve Expert software for the purpose of statistical modelling of processes and phenomena occurring during this process. The multifactorial modelling resulted in the empirical dependences, allowing determining the main parameters of this type of hydrothermal treatment with high accuracy.

Implementation of an expert system for xenon spatial control in pressurized-water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, S.K.

1988-01-01

Control of the axial xenon oscillations is a knowledge- and experience-intensive activity for reactor operators. To aid reactor operators in the control of axial xenon oscillations, an advisory expert system was developed. A rule-based expert system shell, INSIGHT2+, was used to build the expert system which was interfaced with a microcomputer-based core control model of a pressurized-water reactor, graphic engine, and data base. A core control model described by one-group diffusion theory with moderator temperature and xenon feedbacks was used to develop heuristic control rules and to test the system. Full- and part-length control rods, boron concentration, and coolant inlet temperature were considered as control variables of the core control model. This expert system consists of a search space: the set of possible power level and power shape patterns. The search space was made by combining the following core state variables: the sign of relative power and axial offset (AO) error, sign of the rate of change of power level and AO, and magnitude of relative power and AO error

[Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the elderly(2017)].

Science.gov (United States)

2017-11-01

China has stepped into an aging society. Hypertension is an independent risk factor of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and related to mortality and disability of the elderly. Compared to middle-aged and young patients with similar blood pressure elevation, the risks of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events significantly increase in the elderly. Since the Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the elderly(2008, 2011 version) were published, many guidelines have been accordingly updated, which further improved the prevention and control strategy of hypertension. In this article, Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the elderly(2017) is revised as to facilitate the prevention and treatment of hypertension in Chinese elderly. The consensus is composed of eight parts, including definition, epidemiology, characteristics, evidence, treatment objectives and measurements of elderly hypertension. The purpose of the consensus is to provide guidance for management of elderly hypertensive patients.

Expert Consensus on the Treatment of Hypertension with Chinese Patent Medicines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Ying Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. This study was aimed to determine the therapeutic principle and identify Chinese Patent Medicine (CPM with corresponding indications for hypertension treatment. Methods. Three rounds of Delphi survey were mailed among 40 cardiovascular integrative medicine specialists. Items with agreement of more than 80% respondents were included in the consensus. Results. According to majority of the panelists, CPM is suitable for most hypertensive patients and should be used according to traditional Chinese medicine pattern classification. CPM could be used alone for grade 1 hypertension and could be used in combination with Western biomedicine (WM for both grade 2 and grade 3 hypertension. It is recommended that less than two CPMs are used simultaneously. For the treatment of grade 2 and 3 hypertension, CPM and WM should be taken separately. Recommended CPMs included Tianma Gouteng granule, Qiju Dihuang capsule, Jinkui Shenqi pill, Yinxingye tablet, Niuhuang Jiangya pill and Banxia Tianma pill. The indications of 4 CPMs were specified with symptoms related to TCM pattern classification by the experts. Conclusions. An expert consensus on CMP application was formed for the treatment of hypertension in the form of integrative medicine. A flow of IM hypertension management was proposed based on the results of the survey.

Treatment of Soft Tissue Filler Complications: Expert Consensus Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Urdiales-Gálvez, Fernando; Delgado, Nuria Escoda; Figueiredo, Vitor; Lajo-Plaza, José V; Mira, Mar; Moreno, Antonio; Ortíz-Martí, Francisco; Del Rio-Reyes, Rosa; Romero-Álvarez, Nazaret; Del Cueto, Sofía Ruiz; Segurado, María A; Rebenaque, Cristina Villanueva

2018-04-01

Dermal fillers have been increasingly used in minimally invasive facial esthetic procedures. This widespread use has led to a rise in reports of associated complications. The aim of this expert consensus report is to describe potential adverse events associated with dermal fillers and to provide guidance on their treatment and avoidance. A multidisciplinary group of experts in esthetic treatments convened to discuss the management of the complications associated with dermal fillers use. A search was performed for English, French, and Spanish language articles in MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar using the search terms "complications" OR "soft filler complications" OR "injectable complications" AND "dermal fillers" AND "Therapy". An initial document was drafted by the Coordinating Committee, and it was reviewed and modified by the experts, until a final text was agreed upon and validated. The panel addressed consensus recommendations about the classification of filler complications according to the time of onset and about the clinical management of different complications including bruising, swelling, edema, infections, lumps and bumps, skin discoloration, and biofilm formation. Special attention was paid to vascular compromise and retinal artery occlusion. Clinicians should be fully aware of the signs and symptoms related to complications and be prepared to confidently treat them. Establishing action protocols for emergencies, with agents readily available in the office, would reduce the severity of adverse outcomes associated with injection of hyaluronic acid fillers in the cosmetic setting. This document seeks to lay down a set of recommendations and to identify key issues that may be useful for clinicians who are starting to use dermal fillers. Additionally, this document provides a better understanding about the diagnoses and management of complications if they do occur. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each

Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity: An Integrative Review of Recent Recommendations from Five Expert Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Kirschenbaum, Daniel S.; Gierut, Kristen

2013-01-01

Objective: To compare and contrast 5 sets of expert recommendations about the treatment of childhood and adolescent obesity. Method: We reviewed 5 sets of recent expert recommendations: 2007 health care organizations' four stage model, 2007 Canadian clinical practice guidelines, 2008 Endocrine Society recommendations, 2009 seven step model, and…

Treatment Guidelines for Preoperative Radiation Therapy for Retroperitoneal Sarcoma: Preliminary Consensus of an International Expert Panel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldini, Elizabeth H., E-mail: ebaldini@partners.org [Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women' s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States); Wang, Dian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois (United States); Haas, Rick L.M. [Department of Radiotherapy, The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Catton, Charles N. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Indelicato, Daniel J. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida Medical Center, Jacksonville, Florida (United States); Kirsch, David G. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Roberge, David [Department of Radiation Oncology, Centre Hospitalier de l' Université de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Salerno, Kilian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York (United States); Deville, Curtiland [Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Washington, DC (United States); Guadagnolo, B. Ashleigh [Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas (United States); O' Sullivan, Brian [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Petersen, Ivy A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (United States); Le Pechoux, Cecile [Department of Radiotherapy, Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif (France); Abrams, Ross A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois (United States); DeLaney, Thomas F. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)

2015-07-01

Purpose: Evidence for external beam radiation therapy (RT) as part of treatment for retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) is limited. Preoperative RT is the subject of a current randomized trial, but the results will not be available for many years. In the meantime, many practitioners use preoperative RT for RPS, and although this approach is used in practice, there are no radiation treatment guidelines. An international expert panel was convened to develop consensus treatment guidelines for preoperative RT for RPS. Methods and Materials: An expert panel of 15 academic radiation oncologists who specialize in the treatment of sarcoma was assembled. A systematic review of reports related to RT for RPS, RT for extremity sarcoma, and RT-related toxicities for organs at risk was performed. Due to the paucity of high-quality published data on the subject of RT for RPS, consensus recommendations were based largely on expert opinion derived from clinical experience and extrapolation of relevant published reports. It is intended that these clinical practice guidelines be updated as pertinent data become available. Results: Treatment guidelines for preoperative RT for RPS are presented. Conclusions: An international panel of radiation oncologists who specialize in sarcoma reached consensus guidelines for preoperative RT for RPS. Many of the recommendations are based on expert opinion because of the absence of higher level evidence and, thus, are best regarded as preliminary. We emphasize that the role of preoperative RT for RPS has not been proven, and we await data from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) study of preoperative radiotherapy plus surgery versus surgery alone for patients with RPS. Further data are also anticipated pertaining to normal tissue dose constraints, particularly for bowel tolerance. Nonetheless, as we await these data, the guidelines herein can be used to establish treatment uniformity to aid future assessments of efficacy

Expert system for diagnostics and status monitoring of NPP water chemistry condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shvedova, M.N.; Kritski, V.G.; Zakharova, S.V.; Benediktov, V.B.; Nikolaev, F.V.

2002-01-01

Water chemistry condition (WCC) has been the subject of constant study and improvement up to the present day. It is connected with the presence of a direct relationship between the violation of water chemistry regulation on the one hand and components reliability of the circuit's equipment and cost-effectiveness of their operation on the other. It dictates the necessity to apply different optimization methods in the field of monitoring and use of information analytical and diagnostic systems to assess WCC quality, control and support. LI ''VNIPIET'' employees have, for several years, been developing an expert diagnostic system for supporting WCC and status monitoring of RBMK - reactor NPPs [2]. This system has not only conveniently organized the traditional functions of information acquisition and storage, a complete presentation of information in the form of tables, graphs of a dynamical changes of parameters and formation regular reports, diagnostic functions and issuing recommendations on WCC correction, but it also allows the assessment of confidence in the diagnosis made, relying on a wide range of numerical estimates, which were calculated by the use of expert data, and to make a credible prediction of an existing situation development. (authors)

Design of an expert system for the development and formulation of push-pull osmotic pump tablets containing poorly water-soluble drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhi-hong; Dong, Hong-ye; Peng, Bo; Liu, Hong-fei; Li, Chun-lei; Liang, Min; Pan, Wei-san

2011-05-30

The purpose of this article was to build an expert system for the development and formulation of push-pull osmotic pump tablets (PPOP). Hundreds of PPOP formulations were studied according to different poorly water-soluble drugs and pharmaceutical acceptable excipients. The knowledge base including database and rule base was built based on the reported results of hundreds of PPOP formulations containing different poorly water-soluble drugs and pharmaceutical excipients and the experiences available from other researchers. The prediction model of release behavior was built using back propagation (BP) neural network, which is good at nonlinear mapping and learning function. Formulation design model was established based on the prediction model of release behavior, which was the nucleus of the inference engine. Finally, the expert system program was constructed by VB.NET associating with SQL Server. Expert system is one of the most popular aspects in artificial intelligence. To date there is no expert system available for the formulation of controlled release dosage forms yet. Moreover, osmotic pump technology (OPT) is gradually getting consummate all over the world. It is meaningful to apply expert system on OPT. Famotidine, a water insoluble drug was chosen as the model drug to validate the applicability of the developed expert system. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water Supply Treatment Sustainability of Panching Water Supply Treatment Process - Water Footprint Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Edriyana A.; Malek, Marlinda Abdul; Moni, Syazwan N.; Zulkifli, Nabil F.; Hadi, Iqmal H.

2018-03-01

In many parts of the world, freshwater is scarce and overexploited. The purpose of this study is to determine the water footprint of Water Supply Treatment Process (WSTP) at Panching Water Treatment Plant (WTP) as well as to identify the sustainability of the Sg. Kuantan as an intake resource due to the effect of land use development. The total water footprint (WF) will be calculated by using WF accounting manual. The results obtained shows that the water intake resource is still available but it is believed that it will not be able to cope with the increasing WF. The increment of water demand percentage by 1.8% from 2015 to 2016 has increased 11 times higher of the water footprint percentage, 19.9%. This result shows that the water consumption during the water supply treatment process is two times higher than the demand thus it shows the inefficient of the water management

Intelligent monitoring of water chemistry - Diagnostic expert system DIWATM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metzner, W.; Streit, K.

2002-01-01

For fast and comprehensive evaluation of power plant water chemistry conditions and reliable diagnosis in the event of disturbances considerable advantages are provided by employment of the Diagnostic Expert System DIWA. The interface to the process control system (I and C) and the integration of the DIWA system in the office PC network are the preconditions that DIWA operates as a monitoring system in real time. The performance of diagnosis, which are processed by a fuzzy-logic-supported knowledge base ensures not only the detection of all disturbances but also different analyses of the plant operation mode. By editing the knowledge base the Al of the system can increase without system programming. (authors)

Water Treatment Group

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — This team researches and designs desalination, water treatment, and wastewater treatment systems. These systems remediate water containing hazardous c hemicals and...

Mine water treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komissarov, S V

1980-10-01

This article discusses composition of chemical compounds dissolved or suspended in mine waters in various coal basins of the USSR: Moscow basin, Kuzbass, Pechora, Kizelovsk, Karaganda, Donetsk and Chelyabinsk basins. Percentage of suspended materials in water depending on water source (water from water drainage system of dust suppression system) is evaluated. Pollution of mine waters with oils and coli bacteria is also described. Recommendations on construction, capacity of water settling tanks, and methods of mine water treatment are presented. In mines where coal seams 2 m or thicker are mined a system of two settling tanks should be used: in the upper one large grains are settled, in the lower one finer grains. The upper tank should be large enough to store mine water discharged during one month, and the lower one to store water discharged over two months. Salty waters from coal mines mining thin coal seams should be treated in a system of water reservoirs from which water evaporates (if climatic conditions permit). Mine waters from mines with thin coal seams but without high salt content can be treated in a system of long channels with water plants, which increase amount of oxygen in treated water. System of biological treatment of waste waters from mine wash-houses and baths is also described. Influence of temperature, sunshine and season of the year on efficiency of mine water treatment is also assessed. (In Russian)

Knowledge-based radiation therapy (KBRT) treatment planning versus planning by experts: validation of a KBRT algorithm for prostate cancer treatment planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nwankwo, Obioma; Mekdash, Hana; Sihono, Dwi Seno Kuncoro; Wenz, Frederik; Glatting, Gerhard

2015-01-01

A knowledge-based radiation therapy (KBRT) treatment planning algorithm was recently developed. The purpose of this work is to investigate how plans that are generated with the objective KBRT approach compare to those that rely on the judgment of the experienced planner. Thirty volumetric modulated arc therapy plans were randomly selected from a database of prostate plans that were generated by experienced planners (expert plans). The anatomical data (CT scan and delineation of organs) of these patients and the KBRT algorithm were given to a novice with no prior treatment planning experience. The inexperienced planner used the knowledge-based algorithm to predict the dose that the OARs receive based on their proximity to the treated volume. The population-based OAR constraints were changed to the predicted doses. A KBRT plan was subsequently generated. The KBRT and expert plans were compared for the achieved target coverage and OAR sparing. The target coverages were compared using the Uniformity Index (UI), while 5 dose-volume points (D 10 , D 30, D 50 , D 70 and D 90 ) were used to compare the OARs (bladder and rectum) doses. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test was used to check for significant differences (p < 0.05) between both datasets. The KBRT and expert plans achieved mean UI values of 1.10 ± 0.03 and 1.10 ± 0.04, respectively. The Wilcoxon test showed no statistically significant difference between both results. The D 90 , D 70, D 50 , D 30 and D 10 values of the two planning strategies, and the Wilcoxon test results suggests that the KBRT plans achieved a statistically significant lower bladder dose (at D 30 ), while the expert plans achieved a statistically significant lower rectal dose (at D 10 and D 30 ). The results of this study show that the KBRT treatment planning approach is a promising method to objectively incorporate patient anatomical variations in radiotherapy treatment planning

A multi-agent architecture for sharing knowledge and experimental data about waste water treatment plants through the Internet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abu Yaman, I. R.; Kerckhoffs, J. E.

1998-01-01

In this paper, we present a first prototype of a local multi-agent architecture for the sharing of knowledge and experimental data about waste water treatment plants through the Internet, or more specifically the WWW. Applying a net browser such as nets cape, a user can have access to a CLIPS expert system (advising on waste water cleaning technologies) and experimental data files. The discussed local prototype is part of proposed global agent architecture. (authors)

Water purification by corona-above-water treatment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pemen, A.J.M.; Heesch, van E.J.M.; Hoeben, W.F.L.M.

2012-01-01

Advanced oxidation technologies (AOT), such as non-thermal plasmas, are considered to be very promising for the purpose of water treatment. The goal of this study is to test the feasibility of "Corona-above-water" technology for the treatment of drinking water. Experiments have been performed on the

Pre- and Postoperative Chemotherapy in Localized Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma: A European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Expert Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothermundt, Christian; Fischer, Galina F; Bauer, Sebastian; Blay, Jean-Yves; Grünwald, Viktor; Italiano, Antoine; Kasper, Bernd; Kollár, Attila; Lindner, Lars H; Miah, Aisha; Sleijfer, Stefan; Stacchiotti, Silvia; Putora, Paul Martin

2018-04-01

The management of localized extremity soft tissue sarcomas (STS) is challenging and the role of pre- and postoperative chemotherapy is unclear and debated among experts. Medical oncology experts of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group were asked to participate in this survey on the use of pre- and postoperative chemotherapy in STS. Experts from 12 centers in Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, and The Netherlands agreed to participate and provided their treatment algorithm. Answers were converted into decision trees based on the objective consensus methodology. The decision trees were used as a basis to identify consensus and discrepancies. Several criteria used for decision-making in extremity STS were identified: chemosensitivity, fitness, grading, location, and size. In addition, resectability and resection status were relevant in the pre- and postoperative setting, respectively. Preoperative chemotherapy is considered in most centers for marginally resectable tumors only. Yet, in some centers, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is used routinely and partially combined with hyperthermia. Although most centers do not recommend postoperative chemotherapy, some offer this treatment on a regular basis. Radiotherapy is an undisputed treatment modality in extremity STS. Due to lacking evidence on the utility of pre- and postoperative chemotherapy in localized extremity STS, treatment strategies vary considerably among European experts. The majority recommended neoadjuvant chemotherapy for marginally resectable grade 2-3 tumors; the majority did not recommend postoperative chemotherapy in any setting. The management of localized extremity soft tissue sarcomas (STS) is challenging and the role of pre- and postoperative chemotherapy is unclear and debated among experts. This study analyzed the decision-making process among 12 European experts on systemic therapy for STS. A wide range of

Biosorption treatment of brackish water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rizwan, M.; Ali, M.; Tariq, M.I.; Rehman, F.U.; Karim, A.; Makshoof, M.; Farooq, R.

2010-01-01

Biosorptivity of different agricultural wastes have been evaluated for the treatment of brackish water and a new method, based on the principle of bio-sorption has been described. Wastes of the Saccharum officinarum, Moringa oleifera, Triticum aestivcum and Oryza sativa have been used in raw forms as well as after converting them into ash and activated carbon as biosorbents for treatment of brackish water in this study. Samples of brackish water have been analyzed before and after treatment for quality control parameters of water. A significant Improvement has been observed in quality control parameters of water after treatment. pH of the water samples slightly increased from 7.68 to 7.97 with different treatments. A substantial decrease in conductivity,. TDS, TH, concentrations of cations and anions was observed in the samples of brackish water after treatment with different biosorbents. (author)

TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS ASSESSMENT OF THE DRINKING WATER TREATMENT AT TARGU-MURES WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CORNELIA DIANA HERTIA

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper intends to assess the technological process of obtaining drinking water at Targu-Mures water treatment plant. The assessment was performed before changing the technological process and four months were chosen to be analized during 2008: January, April, July and October for its efficiency analysis on treatment steps. Mures River is the water source for the water treatment plant, being characterized by unsteady flow and quality parameters with possible important variability in a very short period of time. The treatment technological process is the classic one, represented by coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and disinfection, but also prechlorination was constantly applied as additional treatment during 2008. Results showed that for the measured parameters, raw water at the water treatment plant fits into class A3 for surface waters, framing dictated by the bacterial load. The treatment processes efficiency is based on the performance calculation for sedimentation, filtration, global and for disinfection, a better conformation degree of technological steps standing out in January in comparison to the other three analyzed months. A variable non-compliance of turbidity and residual chlorine levels in the disinfected water was observed constantly. Previous treatment steps managed to maintain a low level of oxidisability, chlorine consumption and residual chlorine levels being also low. 12% samples were found inconsistent with the national legislation in terms of bacteriological quality. Measures for the water treatment plant retechnologization are taken primarily for hyperchlorination elimination, which currently constitutes a discomfort factor (taste, smell, and a generating factor of chlorination by-products.

Closed recirculation-Water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamza, Hamza B.; Ben Ali, Salah; Saad, Mohamed A.; Traish, Massud R.

2005-01-01

This water treatment is a practical work applied in the center, for a closed recirculation-water system. The system had experienced a serious corrosion problem, due to the use of inadequate water. This work includes chemical preparation for the system. Water treatment, special additives, and follow-up, which resulted in the stability of the case. This work can be applied specially for closed recirculation warm, normal, and chilled water. (author)

Prediction of response to antiretroviral therapy by human experts and by the EuResist data-driven expert system (the EVE study).

Science.gov (United States)

Zazzi, M; Kaiser, R; Sönnerborg, A; Struck, D; Altmann, A; Prosperi, M; Rosen-Zvi, M; Petroczi, A; Peres, Y; Schülter, E; Boucher, C A; Brun-Vezinet, F; Harrigan, P R; Morris, L; Obermeier, M; Perno, C-F; Phanuphak, P; Pillay, D; Shafer, R W; Vandamme, A-M; van Laethem, K; Wensing, A M J; Lengauer, T; Incardona, F

2011-04-01

The EuResist expert system is a novel data-driven online system for computing the probability of 8-week success for any given pair of HIV-1 genotype and combination antiretroviral therapy regimen plus optional patient information. The objective of this study was to compare the EuResist system vs. human experts (EVE) for the ability to predict response to treatment. The EuResist system was compared with 10 HIV-1 drug resistance experts for the ability to predict 8-week response to 25 treatment cases derived from the EuResist database validation data set. All current and past patient data were made available to simulate clinical practice. The experts were asked to provide a qualitative and quantitative estimate of the probability of treatment success. There were 15 treatment successes and 10 treatment failures. In the classification task, the number of mislabelled cases was six for EuResist and 6-13 for the human experts [mean±standard deviation (SD) 9.1±1.9]. The accuracy of EuResist was higher than the average for the experts (0.76 vs. 0.64, respectively). The quantitative estimates computed by EuResist were significantly correlated (Pearson r=0.695, Pexperts. However, the agreement among experts was only moderate (for the classification task, inter-rater κ=0.355; for the quantitative estimation, mean±SD coefficient of variation=55.9±22.4%). With this limited data set, the EuResist engine performed comparably to or better than human experts. The system warrants further investigation as a treatment-decision support tool in clinical practice. © 2010 British HIV Association.

Water Supply Treatment Sustainability of Semambu Water Supply Treatment Process - Water Footprint Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Edriyana A.; Malek, Marlinda Abdul; Moni, Syazwan N.; Hadi, Iqmal H.; Zulkifli, Nabil F.

2018-03-01

In this study, the assessment by using Water Footprint (WF) approach was conducted to assess water consumption within the water supply treatment process (WSTP) services of Semambu Water Treatment Plant (WTP). Identification of the type of WF at each stage of WSTP was carried out and later the WF accounting for the period 2010 – 2016 was calculated. Several factors that might influence the accounting such as population, and land use. The increasing value of total WF per year was due to the increasing water demand from population and land use activities. However, the pattern of rainfall intensity from the monsoonal changes was not majorly affected the total amount of WF per year. As a conclusion, if the value of WF per year keeps increasing due to unregulated development in addition to the occurrences of climate changing, the intake river water will be insufficient and may lead to water scarcity. The findings in this study suggest actions to reduce the WF will likely have a great impact on freshwater resources availability and sustainability.

Use of an on-line Fuzzy-logic expert system for water chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fandrich, J.; Metzner, W.

1998-01-01

The requirements for availability and operating economy of power plants have become steadily more stringent over the last few years. In addition to technological advances (e.g. in the form of new design measures, processes and materials), manufacturers have also increasingly applied secondary measures to enhance the safety and operating economy of power plant units. These include ever more sophisticated process monitoring and analytical systems and, (in recent times) diagnostic systems which perform continuous assessment of the plant condition to allow imminent changes that cam lead to damage and faults to be detected at the earliest possible time. The following paper presents an expert system, based on Fuzzy logic, which is used to perform a wide variety of tasks in the field of NPP water chemistry diagnostics. Thanks to the general nature of the approach selected, the system kernel is identical for all solutions which were implemented despite the wide variety of tasks and their diverse needs. This would not have been possible without the development and application of powerful and flexible engineering tools which can provide solutions to different types of problems at no extra effort. It will be shown in which way the system builds up diagnoses from the collected on-line data via a system -specific and easy- to-learn language and several tools. The presented module DIWA (Diagnostic System of Water Chemistry) was directly derived from the DIGEST system (diagnostic expert system for turbomachinery), which was developed over the last few years at the Power Generation Group (KWU) of the Siemens AG. (author)

Liquid low level waste management expert system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrada, J.J.; Abraham, T.J.; Jackson, J.R.

1991-01-01

An expert system has been developed as part of a new initiative for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) systems analysis program. This expert system will aid in prioritizing radioactive waste streams for treatment and disposal by evaluating the severity and treatability of the problem, as well as the final waste form. The objectives of the expert system development included: (1) collecting information on process treatment technologies for liquid low-level waste (LLLW) that can be incorporated in the knowledge base of the expert system, and (2) producing a prototype that suggests processes and disposal technologies for the ORNL LLLW system. 4 refs., 9 figs

Expert opinion on risks to the long-term viability of residential recycled water schemes: An Australian study.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Camilla; Kenway, Steven; Hassall, Maureen; Yuan, Zhiguo

2017-09-01

The water sector needs to make efficient and prudent investment decisions by carefully considering the long-term viability of water infrastructure projects. To support the assessment and planning of residential recycled water schemes in Australia, we have sought to clarify scheme objectives and to further define the array of critical risks that can impact the long-term viability of schemes. Building on historical information, we conducted a national survey which elicited responses from 88 Australian expert practitioners, of which 64% have over 10 years of industry experience and 42% have experience with more than five residential recycled water schemes. On the basis of expert opinion, residential recycled water schemes are considered to be highly relevant for diversifying and improving water supply security, reducing wastewater effluent discharge and pollutant load to waterways and contributing to sustainable urban development. At present however, the inability to demonstrate an incontestable business case is posing a significant risk to the long-term viability of residential recycled water schemes. Political, regulatory, organisational and financial factors were also rated as critical risks, in addition to community risk perception and fall in demand. The survey results shed further light on the regulatory environment of residential recycled water schemes, with regulatory participants rating the level and impact of risk factors higher than other survey participants in most cases. The research outcomes provide a comprehensive understanding of the critical risks to the long-term viability of residential recycled water schemes, thereby enabling the specification of targeted risk management measures at the assessment and planning stage of a scheme. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert assessment of the resilience of drinking water and sanitation systems to climate-related hazards.

Science.gov (United States)

Luh, Jeanne; Royster, Sarah; Sebastian, Daniel; Ojomo, Edema; Bartram, Jamie

2017-08-15

We conducted an expert assessment to obtain expert opinions on the relative global resilience of ten drinking water and five sanitation technologies to the following six climate-related hazards: drought, decreased inter-annual precipitation, flood, superstorm flood, wind damage, and saline intrusion. Resilience scores ranged from 1.7 to 9.9 out of a maximum resilience of 10, with high scores corresponding to high resilience. We find that for some climate-related hazards, such as drought, technologies demonstrated a large range in resilience, indicating that the choice of water and sanitation technologies is important for areas prone to drought. On the other hand, the range of resilience scores for superstorm flooding was much smaller, particularly for sanitation technologies, suggesting that the choice of technology is less of a determinant of functionality for superstorm flooding as compared to other climate-related hazards. For drinking water technologies, only treated piped utility-managed systems that use surface water had resilience scores >6.0 for all hazards, while protected dug wells were found to be one of the least resilient technologies, consistently scoring <5.0 for all hazards except wind damage. In general, sanitation technologies were found to have low to medium resilience, suggesting that sanitation systems need to be adapted to ensure functionality during and after climate-related hazards. The results of the study can be used to help communities decide which technologies are best suited for the climate-related challenges they face and help in future adaptation planning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The potential for expert system support in solving the pressurized water reactor fuel shuffling problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothleder, B.M.; Poetschat, G.R.; Faught, W.S.; Eich, V.J.

1988-01-01

The fuel shuffling problem is posed by the need to reposition partially burned assemblies to achieve minimum X-Y pin power peaks reload cycles of pressurized water reactors. This problem is a classic artificial intelligence (AI) problem and is highly suitable for AI expert system solution assistance, in contrast to the conventional solution, which ultimately depends solely on trial and error. Such a fuel shuffling assistant would significantly reduce engineering and computer execution time for conventional loading patterns and, much more importantly, even more significantly for low-leakage loading patterns. A successful hardware/software demonstrator has been introduced, paving the way for development of a broadly expert system program. Such a program, upon incorporating the recently developed technique perverse depletion, would provide a directed path for solving the low-leakage problem

Mine water treatment in Donbass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Azarenkov, P A; Anisimov, V M; Krol, V A

1980-10-01

About 2,000,000 m$SUP$3 of mine water are discharged by coal mines yearly to surface waters in the Donbass. Mine water in the region is rich in mineral salts and suspended matter (coal and rock particles). The DonUGI Institute developed a system of mine water treatment which permits the percentage of suspended matter to be reduced to 1.5 mg/l. The treated mine water can be used in fire fighting and in dust suppression systems in coal mines. A scheme of the water treatment system is shown. It consists of the following stages: reservoir of untreated mine water, chamber where mine water is mixed with reagents, primary sedimentation tanks, sand filters, and chlorination. Aluminium sulphate is used as a coagulation agent. To intensify coagulation polyacrylamide is added. Technical specifications of surface structures in which water treatment is carried out are discussed. Standardized mine water treatment systems with capacities of 600 m$SUP$3/h, with 900, 1200, 1500, 1800 and 2100 m$SUP$3/h capacities are used. (In Russian)

Oral contraception and menstrual bleeding during treatment of venous thromboembolism: Expert opinion versus current practice: Combined results of a systematic review, expert panel opinion and an international survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klok, F. A.; Schreiber, K.; Stach, K.; Ageno, W.; Middeldorp, S.; Eichinger, S.; Delluc, A.; Blondon, M.; Ay, C.

2017-01-01

The optimal management of oral contraception and menstrual bleeding during treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is largely unknown. We aimed to elicit expert opinion and compare that to current practice as assessed by a world-wide international web-based survey among physicians. 10

Treatment of Fukushima contaminated waters TEPCO selected Areva and Veolia solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seberac, Philippe; Paillard, Herve; Thierry, Jean-Marie; Bae, Ho-Il; Prevost, Thierry; Piot, Gregoire; Bertrand Ytournel

2012-09-01

The Actiflo-Rad TM system successfully contributed to treat the contaminated wastewaters from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The decontamination system jointly designed by AREVA and Veolia Water treated about 77 500 m 3 of high activity wastewater (∼10 6 Bq/cm 3 ), combining radionuclides adsorbents developed by AREVA and the know-how of Veolia in water treatment for the settlement of the adsorbed radioactive elements, producing sludge with a weight concentration of 80 g/L. Both companies delivered the treatment facility quickly with an efficient joint organization - in a very complex environment. Assembled on Fukushima site - badly damaged by the tsunami following the earthquake of March 11 th - the system was designed, built and started in a record time of 2 month 1 / 2 , instead of several years in a classical nuclear engineering project. The Actiflo-Rad TM was a key equipment to achieve a stable situation of reactors, allowing treated water to be reused for core cooling. Commissioned with the on-site support of Veolia experts, the system reduced by 10 000 the Cs-activity of the wastewater even with significant salt content (seawater diluted twice) at a flow-rate slightly below the design value of 50 m 3 /hr. The implemented technologies are already used separately on AREVA sites (la Hague, fuel reprocessing plant) and for many water treatment projects by Veolia all over the world (Actiflo TM and Multiflo TM processes, using lamellar settling devices - in addition, the first one making use of micro-sand for a better floc quality). The complete treatment process selected by TEPCO features a physico-chemical treatment and water desalination, in five steps. After de-oiling, wastewater is primarily decontaminated through zeolite columns (Kurion process). This pre-decontaminated water is then treated on the AREVA-Veolia two stages system; at each stage, more than 30 minutes contact time with radionuclides adsorbents is needed, adsorbed

EXPERT SYSTEMS SHOW PROMISE FOR CUSTOMER INQUIRIES

Science.gov (United States)

This article describes results of an agreement between the North Penn Water Authority in Lansdale, Pa., and the US Environmental Protection Agency, Drinking Water Research Division, Cincinnati, Ohio, to study use of expert systems technology in a water utility. The threeyear stud...

Estimating unknown parameters in haemophilia using expert judgement elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, K; Lewandowski, D; Janssen, M P

2013-09-01

The increasing attention to healthcare costs and treatment efficiency has led to an increasing demand for quantitative data concerning patient and treatment characteristics in haemophilia. However, most of these data are difficult to obtain. The aim of this study was to use expert judgement elicitation (EJE) to estimate currently unavailable key parameters for treatment models in severe haemophilia A. Using a formal expert elicitation procedure, 19 international experts provided information on (i) natural bleeding frequency according to age and onset of bleeding, (ii) treatment of bleeds, (iii) time needed to control bleeding after starting secondary prophylaxis, (iv) dose requirements for secondary prophylaxis according to onset of bleeding, and (v) life-expectancy. For each parameter experts provided their quantitative estimates (median, P10, P90), which were combined using a graphical method. In addition, information was obtained concerning key decision parameters of haemophilia treatment. There was most agreement between experts regarding bleeding frequencies for patients treated on demand with an average onset of joint bleeding (1.7 years): median 12 joint bleeds per year (95% confidence interval 0.9-36) for patients ≤ 18, and 11 (0.8-61) for adult patients. Less agreement was observed concerning estimated effective dose for secondary prophylaxis in adults: median 2000 IU every other day The majority (63%) of experts expected that a single minor joint bleed could cause irreversible damage, and would accept up to three minor joint bleeds or one trauma related joint bleed annually on prophylaxis. Expert judgement elicitation allowed structured capturing of quantitative expert estimates. It generated novel data to be used in computer modelling, clinical care, and trial design. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cost effective water treatment program in Heavy Water Plant (Manuguru)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohapatra, C.; Prasada Rao, G.

2002-01-01

Water treatment technology is in a state of continuous evolution. The increasing urgency to conserve water and reduce pollution has in recent years produced an enormous demand for new chemical treatment programs and technologies. Heavy water plant (Manuguru) uses water as raw material (about 3000 m 3 /hr) and its treatment and management has benefited the plant in a significant way. It is a fact that if the water treatment is not proper, it can result in deposit formation and corrosion of metals, which can finally leads to production losses. Therefore, before selecting treatment program, complying w.r.t. quality requirements, safety and pollution aspects cost effectiveness shall be examined. The areas where significant benefits are derived, are raw water treatment using polyelectrolyte instead of inorganic coagulant (alum), change over of regenerant of cation exchangers from hydrochloric acid to sulfuric acid and in-house development of cooling water treatment formulation. The advantages and cost effectiveness of these treatments are discussed in detail. Further these treatments has helped the plant in achieving zero discharge and indirectly increased cost reduction of final product (heavy water); the dosage of 3 ppm of polyelectrolyte can replace 90 ppm alum at turbidity level of 300 NTU of raw water which has resulted in cost saving of Rs. 15-20 lakhs in a year beside other advantages; the change over of regenerant from HCl to H 2 SO 4 will result in cost saving of at least Rs.1.4 crore a year besides other advantages; the change over to proprietary formulation to in-house formulation in cooling water treatment has resulted in a saving about Rs.11 lakhs a year. To achieve the above objectives in a sustainable way the performance results are being monitored. (author)

Subject Matter Expert Workshop to Identify Cybersecurity ...

Science.gov (United States)

Report In recognition of the growing need to better address cyber risk and cyber management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) held a Subject Matter Expert Workshop to Identify Cybersecurity Research Gaps and Needs of the Nation’s Water and Wastewater Systems Sector on March 30th and 31st, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. The workshop was designed to create a forum for subject matter experts (SMEs) to exchange ideas and address important cybersecurity challenges facing the water sector.

Cornell Mixing Zone Expert System

Science.gov (United States)

This page provides an overview Cornell Mixing Zone Expert System water quality modeling and decision support system designed for environmental impact assessment of mixing zones resulting from wastewater discharge from point sources

Industrial water pollution, water environment treatment, and health risks in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qing; Yang, Zhiming

2016-11-01

The negative health effects of water pollution remain a major source of morbidity and mortality in China. The Chinese government is making great efforts to strengthen water environment treatment; however, no studies have evaluated the effects of water treatment on human health by water pollution in China. This study evaluated the association between water pollution and health outcomes, and determined the extent to which environmental regulations on water pollution may lead to health benefits. Data were extracted from the 2011 and 2013 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Random effects model and random effects Logit model were applied to study the relationship between health and water pollution, while a Mediator model was used to estimate the effects of environmental water treatment on health outcomes by the intensity of water pollution. Unsurprisingly, water pollution was negatively associated with health outcomes, and the common pollutants in industrial wastewater had differential impacts on health outcomes. The effects were stronger for low-income respondents. Water environment treatment led to improved health outcomes among Chinese people. Reduced water pollution mediated the associations between water environment treatment and health outcomes. The results of this study offer compelling evidence to support treatment of water pollution in China. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CO2 and H2O: Understanding Different Stakeholder Perspectives on the Use of Carbon Credits to Finance Household Water Treatment Projects.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah K Summers

Full Text Available Carbon credits are an increasingly prevalent market-based mechanism used to subsidize household water treatment technologies (HWT. This involves generating credits through the reduction of carbon emissions from boiling water by providing a technology that reduces greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. Proponents claim this process delivers health and environmental benefits by providing clean drinking water and reducing greenhouse gases. Selling carbon credits associated with HWT projects requires rigorous monitoring to ensure households are using the HWT and achieving the desired benefits of the device. Critics have suggested that the technologies provide neither the benefits of clean water nor reduced emissions. This study explores the perspectives of carbon credit and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH experts on HWT carbon credit projects.Thirteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants from the WASH and carbon credit development sectors. The interviews explored perceptions of the two groups with respect to the procedures applied in the Gold Standard methodology for trading Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER credits.Agreement among the WASH and carbon credit experts existed for the concept of suppressed demand and parameters in the baseline water boiling test. Key differences, however, existed. WASH experts' responses highlighted a focus on objectively verifiable data for monitoring carbon projects while carbon credit experts called for contextualizing observed data with the need for flexibility and balancing financial viability with quality assurance.Carbon credit projects have the potential to become an important financing mechanism for clean energy in low- and middle-income countries. Based on this research we recommend that more effort be placed on building consensus on the underlying assumptions for obtaining carbon credits from HWT projects, as well as the approved methods for monitoring

CO2 and H2O: Understanding Different Stakeholder Perspectives on the Use of Carbon Credits to Finance Household Water Treatment Projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Summers, Sarah K; Rainey, Rochelle; Kaur, Maneet; Graham, Jay P

2015-01-01

Carbon credits are an increasingly prevalent market-based mechanism used to subsidize household water treatment technologies (HWT). This involves generating credits through the reduction of carbon emissions from boiling water by providing a technology that reduces greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. Proponents claim this process delivers health and environmental benefits by providing clean drinking water and reducing greenhouse gases. Selling carbon credits associated with HWT projects requires rigorous monitoring to ensure households are using the HWT and achieving the desired benefits of the device. Critics have suggested that the technologies provide neither the benefits of clean water nor reduced emissions. This study explores the perspectives of carbon credit and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) experts on HWT carbon credit projects. Thirteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants from the WASH and carbon credit development sectors. The interviews explored perceptions of the two groups with respect to the procedures applied in the Gold Standard methodology for trading Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER) credits. Agreement among the WASH and carbon credit experts existed for the concept of suppressed demand and parameters in the baseline water boiling test. Key differences, however, existed. WASH experts' responses highlighted a focus on objectively verifiable data for monitoring carbon projects while carbon credit experts called for contextualizing observed data with the need for flexibility and balancing financial viability with quality assurance. Carbon credit projects have the potential to become an important financing mechanism for clean energy in low- and middle-income countries. Based on this research we recommend that more effort be placed on building consensus on the underlying assumptions for obtaining carbon credits from HWT projects, as well as the approved methods for monitoring correct and

The function of advanced treatment process in a drinking water treatment plant with organic matter-polluted source water.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Huirong; Zhang, Shuting; Zhang, Shenghua; Lin, Wenfang; Yu, Xin

2017-04-01

To understand the relationship between chemical and microbial treatment at each treatment step, as well as the relationship between microbial community structure in biofilms in biofilters and their ecological functions, a drinking water plant with severe organic matter-polluted source water was investigated. The bacterial community dynamics of two drinking water supply systems (traditional and advanced treatment processes) in this plant were studied from the source to the product water. Analysis by 454 pyrosequencing was conducted to characterize the bacterial diversity in each step of the treatment processes. The bacterial communities in these two treatment processes were highly diverse. Proteobacteria, which mainly consisted of beta-proteobacteria, was the dominant phylum. The two treatment processes used in the plant could effectively remove organic pollutants and microbial polution, especially the advanced treatment process. Significant differences in the detection of the major groups were observed in the product water samples in the treatment processes. The treatment processes, particularly the biological pretreatment and O 3 -biological activated carbon in the advanced treatment process, highly influenced the microbial community composition and the water quality. Some opportunistic pathogens were found in the water. Nitrogen-relative microorganisms found in the biofilm of filters may perform an important function on the microbial community composition and water quality improvement.

Expert Systems: What Is an Expert System?

Science.gov (United States)

Duval, Beverly K.; Main, Linda

1994-01-01

Describes expert systems and discusses their use in libraries. Highlights include parts of an expert system; expert system shells; an example of how to build an expert system; a bibliography of 34 sources of information on expert systems in libraries; and a list of 10 expert system shells used in libraries. (Contains five references.) (LRW)

Sustainable treatment of municipal waste water

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Peter Augusto; Larsen, Henrik Fred

The main goal of the EU FP6 NEPTUNE program is to develop new and improve existing waste water treatment technologies (WWTT) and sludge handling technologies for municipal waste water, in accordance with the concepts behind the EU Water Framework Directive. As part of this work, the project.......e. heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors) in the waste water. As a novel approach, the potential ecotoxicity and human toxicity impacts from a high number of micropollutants and the potential impacts from pathogens will be included. In total, more that 20 different waste water and sludge...... treatment technologies are to be assessed. This paper will present the first LCA results from running existing life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methodology on some of the waste water treatment technologies. Keywords: Sustainability, LCA, micropollutants, waste water treatment technologies....

Expert system for liquid low-level waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrada, J.J.

1992-01-01

An expert system prototype has been developed to support system analysis activities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for waste management tasks. This expert system will aid in prioritizing radioactive waste streams for treatment and disposal by evaluating the severity and treatability of the problem as well as the final waste form. The objectives of the expert system development included: (1) collecting information on process treatment technologies for liquid low-level waste (LLLW) that can be incorporated in the knowledge base of the expert system, and (2) producing a prototype that suggests processes and disposal technologies for the ORNL LLLW system. The concept under which the expert system has been designed is integration of knowledge. There are many sources of knowledge (data bases, text files, simulation programs, etc.) that an expert would regularly consult in order to solve a problem of liquid waste management. The expert would normally know how to extract the information from these different sources of knowledge. The general scope of this project would be to include as much pertinent information as possible within the boundaries of the expert system. As a result, the user, who may not be an expert in every aspect of liquid waste management, may be able to apply the content of the information to a specific waste problem. This paper gives the methodological steps to develop the expert system under this general framework

High Throughput Plasma Water Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Mujovic, Selman; Foster, John

2016-10-01

The troublesome emergence of new classes of micro-pollutants, such as pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors, poses challenges for conventional water treatment systems. In an effort to address these contaminants and to support water reuse in drought stricken regions, new technologies must be introduced. The interaction of water with plasma rapidly mineralizes organics by inducing advanced oxidation in addition to other chemical, physical and radiative processes. The primary barrier to the implementation of plasma-based water treatment is process volume scale up. In this work, we investigate a potentially scalable, high throughput plasma water reactor that utilizes a packed bed dielectric barrier-like geometry to maximize the plasma-water interface. Here, the water serves as the dielectric medium. High-speed imaging and emission spectroscopy are used to characterize the reactor discharges. Changes in methylene blue concentration and basic water parameters are mapped as a function of plasma treatment time. Experimental results are compared to electrostatic and plasma chemistry computations, which will provide insight into the reactor's operation so that efficiency can be assessed. Supported by NSF (CBET 1336375).

Novel Americium Treatment Process for Surface Water and Dust Suppression Water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiepel, E.W.; Pigeon, P.; Nesta, S.; Anderson, J.

2006-01-01

The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS), a former nuclear weapons production plant, has been remediated under CERCLA and decommissioned to become a National Wildlife Refuge. The site conducted this cleanup effort under the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement (RFCA) that established limits for the discharge of surface and process waters from the site. At the end of 2004, while a number of process buildings were undergoing decommissioning, routine monitoring of a discharge pond (Pond A-4) containing approximately 28 million gallons of water was discovered to have been contaminated with a trace amount of Americium-241 (Am-241). While the amount of Am-241 in the pond waters was very low (0.5 - 0.7 pCi/l), it was above the established Colorado stream standard of 0.15 pCi/l for release to off site drainage waters. The rapid successful treatment of these waters to the regulatory limit was important to the site for two reasons. The first was that the pond was approaching its hold-up limit. Without rapid treatment and release of the Pond A-4 water, typical spring run-off would require water management actions to other drainages onsite or a mass shuttling of water for disposal. The second reason was that this type of contaminated water had not been treated to the stringent stream standard at Rocky Flats before. Technical challenges in treatment could translate to impacts on water and secondary waste management, and ultimately, cost impacts. All of the technical challenges and specific site criteria led to the conclusion that a different approach to the treatment of this problem was necessary and a crash treatability program to identify applicable treatment techniques was undertaken. The goal of this program was to develop treatment options that could be implemented very quickly and would result in the generation of no high volume secondary waste that would be costly to dispose. A novel chemical treatment system was developed and implemented at the RFETS to treat Am

Evaluation of innovative arsenic treatment technologies :the arsenic water technology partnership vendors forums summary report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Everett, Randy L.; Siegel, Malcolm Dean; McConnell, Paul E.; Kirby, Carolyn (Comforce Technical Services, Inc.)

2006-09-01

The lowering of the drinking water standard (MCL) for arsenic from 50 {micro}g/L to 10 {micro}g/L in January 2006 could lead to significant increases in the cost of water for many rural systems throughout the United States. The Arsenic Water Technology Partnership (AWTP), a collaborative effort of Sandia National Laboratories, the Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF) and WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development, was formed to address this problem by developing and testing novel treatment technologies that could potentially reduce the costs of arsenic treatment. As a member of the AWTP, Sandia National Laboratories evaluated cutting-edge commercial products in three annual Arsenic Treatment Technology Vendors Forums held during the annual New Mexico Environmental Health Conferences (NMEHC) in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The Forums were comprised of two parts. At the first session, open to all conference attendees, commercial developers of innovative treatment technologies gave 15-minute talks that described project histories demonstrating the effectiveness of their products. During the second part, these same technologies were evaluated and ranked in closed sessions by independent technical experts for possible use in pilot-scale field demonstrations being conducted by Sandia National Laboratories. The results of the evaluations including numerical rankings of the products, links to company websites and copies of presentations made by the representatives of the companies are posted on the project website at http://www.sandia.gov/water/arsenic.htm. This report summarizes the contents of the website by providing brief descriptions of the technologies represented at the Forums and the results of the evaluations.

Knowledge base expert system control of spatial xenon oscillations in pressurized water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alten, S.

1992-01-01

Nuclear reactor operators are required to pay special attention to spatial xenon oscillations during the load-follow operation of pressurized water reactors. They are expected to observe the axial offset of the core, and to estimate the correct time and amount of necessary control action based on heuristic rules given in axial xenon oscillations are knowledge intensive, and heuristic in nature. An expert system, ACES (Axial offset Control using Expert Systems) is developed to implement a heuristic constant axial offset control procedure to aid reactor operators in increasing the plant reliability by reducing the human error component of the failure probability. ACES is written in a production system language, OPS5, based on the forward chaining algorithm. It samples reactor data with a certain time interval in terms of measurable parameters, such as the power, period, and the axial offset of the core. It then processes the core status utilizing a set of equations which are used in a back of the envelope calculations by domain experts. Heuristic rules of ACES identify the control variable to be used among the full and part length control rods and boron concentration, while a knowledge base is used to determine the amount of control. ACES is designed as a set of generic rules to avoid reducing the system into a set of patterns. Instead ACES evaluates the system, determines the necessary corrective actions in terms of reactivity insertion, and provides this reactivity insertion using the control variables. The amount of control action is determined using a knowledge base which consists of the differential rod worth curves, and the boron reactivity worth of a given reactor. Having the reactor dependent parameters in its knowledge base, ACES is applicable to an arbitrary reactor for axial offset control purposes

Expert opinion vs. empirical evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, Rod A; Raybould, Alan

2014-01-01

Expert opinion is often sought by government regulatory agencies when there is insufficient empirical evidence to judge the safety implications of a course of action. However, it can be reckless to continue following expert opinion when a preponderance of evidence is amassed that conflicts with this opinion. Factual evidence should always trump opinion in prioritizing the information that is used to guide regulatory policy. Evidence-based medicine has seen a dramatic upturn in recent years spurred by examples where evidence indicated that certain treatments recommended by expert opinions increased death rates. We suggest that scientific evidence should also take priority over expert opinion in the regulation of genetically modified crops (GM). Examples of regulatory data requirements that are not justified based on the mass of evidence are described, and it is suggested that expertise in risk assessment should guide evidence-based regulation of GM crops. PMID:24637724

A Subject Matter Expert View of Curriculum Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Milazzo, M. P.; Anderson, R. B.; Edgar, L. A.; Gaither, T. A.; Vaughan, R. G.

2017-12-01

In 2015, NASA selected for funding the PLANETS project: Planetary Learning that Advances the Nexus of Engineering, Technology, and Science. The PLANETS partnership develops planetary science and engineering curricula for out of classroom time (OST) education settings. This partnership is between planetary science Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) at the US Geological Survey (USGS), curriculum developers at the Boston Museum of Science (MOS) Engineering is Everywhere (EiE), science and engineering teacher professional development experts at Northern Arizona University (NAU) Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL), and OST teacher networks across the world. For the 2016 and 2017 Fiscal Years, our focus was on creating science material for two OST modules designed for middle school students. We have begun development of a third module for elementary school students. The first model teaches about the science and engineering of the availability of water in the Solar System, finding accessible water, evaluating it for quality, treating it for impurities, initial use, a cycle of greywater treatment and re-use, and final treatment of blackwater. This module is described in more detail in the abstract by L. Edgar et al., Water in the Solar System: The Development of Science Education Curriculum Focused on Planetary Exploration (233008) The second module involves the science and engineering of remote sensing in planetary exploration. This includes discussion and activities related to the electromagnetic spectrum, spectroscopy and various remote sensing systems and techniques. In these activities and discussions, we include observation and measurement techniques and tools as well as collection and use of specific data of interest to scientists. This module is described in more detail in the abstract by R. Anderson et al., Remote Sensing Mars Landing Sites: An Out-of-School Time Planetary Science Education Activity for Middle School Students (232683) The third module

Nanotechnology-based water treatment strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sandeep; Ahlawat, Wandit; Bhanjana, Gaurav; Heydarifard, Solmaz; Nazhad, Mousa M; Dilbaghi, Neeraj

2014-02-01

The most important component for living beings on the earth is access to clean and safe drinking water. Globally, water scarcity is pervasive even in water-rich areas as immense pressure has been created by the burgeoning human population, industrialization, civilization, environmental changes and agricultural activities. The problem of access to safe water is inevitable and requires tremendous research to devise new, cheaper technologies for purification of water, while taking into account energy requirements and environmental impact. This review highlights nanotechnology-based water treatment technologies being developed and used to improve desalination of sea and brackish water, safe reuse of wastewater, disinfection and decontamination of water, i.e., biosorption and nanoadsorption for contaminant removal, nanophotocatalysis for chemical degradation of contaminants, nanosensors for contaminant detection, different membrane technologies including reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, electro-dialysis etc. This review also deals with the fate and transport of engineered nanomaterials in water and wastewater treatment systems along with the risks associated with nanomaterials.

Evidence - based pharmacological treatment of atopic dermatitis: An expert opinion and new expectations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnold P Oranje

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Atopic dermatitis (AD is one of the most common skin diseases with a complex multifactorial background. The clinical presentation, the aggravating factors and the complications vary according to the age of the patients. Most cases, approximately 60-80%, present for the 1 st time before the age of 12 months. Adult-onset AD has been observed as a special variant. Pruritus is the worst sign of AD, which also often indicates an exacerbation and is considered to be the most annoying symptom of AD. Treatment is preferably started based on the severity of AD. In only 10% of the cases, AD is so severe that systemic treatment is necessary. Systemic treatment including topical wet-wrap treatment is indicated in the worst and recalcitrant cases of AD. Systemic treatment of AD is discussed with regards to the evidence-based efficacy and safety aspects. I prefer wet-wraps as a crisis intervention in severe childhood cases, whereas UV and systemic treatments are the choices in patients older than 10 years. Probiotics are not useful in the treatment. If they have any effect at all it may only be in food-allergic children with AD. Finally, anti-histamines are not effective against pruritus in AD. They are only effective against urticarial flares and in cases with food-allergy. This article consists of an expert opinion on evidence-based pharmacological treatment of AD, but it is not a systemic review.

Treating tension-type headache -- an expert opinion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendtsen, Lars; Jensen, Rigmor

2011-01-01

treatment of chronic TTH. Mirtazapine and venlafaxine are second-choice drugs. EXPERT OPINION: There is an urgent need for more research in nonpharmacological as well as pharmacological treatment possibilities of TTH. Future studies should examine the relative efficacy of the various treatment modalities...

Water Treatment Technology - Filtration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross-Harrington, Melinda; Kincaid, G. David

One of twelve water treatment technology units, this student manual on filtration provides instructional materials for six competencies. (The twelve units are designed for a continuing education training course for public water supply operators.) The competencies focus on the following areas: purposes of sedimentation basins and flocculation…

A new approach for water treatment

CERN Document Server

Principe, R

1999-01-01

A quantity of up to 4000 m3/h of water is used at CERN for cooling purposes: experiments, magnets and radio frequency cavities are refrigerated by closed circuits filled with deionized water; other utilities, such as air-conditioning, use chilled/hot water, also in closed circuits. All these methods all employ a cold source, the primary supply of water, coming from the cooling towers. About 500 kCHF are spent every year on water treatment in order to keep the water within these networks in operational conditions. In the line of further rationalization of resources, the next generation of contracts with the water treatment industry will aim for improved performance and better monitoring of quality related parameters in this context. The author will provide a concise report based upon an examination of the state of the installations and of the philosophy followed up until now for water treatment. Furthermore, he/she will propose a new approach from both a technical and contractual point of view, in preparation ...

AUTOLOAD, an automatic optimal pressurized water reactor reload design system with an expert module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Z.; Levine, S.H.

1994-01-01

An automatic optimal pressurized water reactor (PWR) reload design expert system AUTOLOAD has been developed. It employs two important new techniques. The first is a new loading priority scheme that defines the optimal placement of the fuel in the core that has the maximum end-of-cycle state k eff . The second is a new power-shape-driven progressive iteration method for automatically determining the burnable poison (BP) loading in the fresh fuel assemblies. The Haling power distribution is used in converting the theoretically optimal solution into the practical design, which meets the design constraints for the given fuel assemblies. AUTOLOAD is a combination of C and FORTRAN languages. It requires only the required cycle length, the maximum peak normalized power, the BP type, the number of fresh fuel assemblies, the assembly burnup, and BP histories of the available fuel assemblies as its input. Knowledge-based modules have been built into the expert system computer code to perform all of the tasks involved in reloading a PWR. AUTOLOAD takes only ∼ 30 CPU min on an IBM 3090 600s mainframe to accomplish a practical reload design. A maximum of 12.5% fresh fuel enrichment saving is observed compared with the core used by the utility

Price competition between an expert and a non-expert

OpenAIRE

Bouckaert, J.M.C.; Degryse, H.A.

1998-01-01

This paper characterizes price competition between an expert and a non-expert. In contrast with the expert, the non-expert’s repair technology is not always successful. Consumers visit the expert after experiencing an unsuccessful match at the non-expert. This re-entry affects the behaviour of both sellers. For low enough probability of successful repair at the non-expert, all consumers first visit the non-expert, and a ‘timid-pricing’ equilibrium results. If the non-expert’s repair technolog...

[Expert consensus statement on interventional renal sympathetic denervation for hypertension treatment].

Science.gov (United States)

Mahfoud, F; Vonend, O; Bruck, H; Clasen, W; Eckert, S; Frye, B; Haller, H; Hausberg, M; Hoppe, U C; Hoyer, J; Hahn, K; Keller, T; Krämer, B K; Kreutz, R; Potthoff, S A; Reinecke, H; Schmieder, R; Schwenger, V; Kintscher, U; Böhm, M; Rump, L C

2011-11-01

This commentary summarizes the expert consensus and recommendations of the working group 'Herz und Niere' of the German Society of Cardiology (DGK), the German Society of Nephrology (DGfN) and the German Hypertension League (DHL) on renal denervation for antihypertensive treatment. Renal denervation is a new, interventional approach to selectively denervate renal afferent and efferent sympathetic fibers. Renal denervation has been demonstrated to reduce office systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients with resistant hypertension, defined as systolic office blood pressure ≥ 160 mm Hg and ≥ 150 mm Hg in patients with diabetes type 2, which should currently be used as blood pressure thresholds for undergoing the procedure. Exclusion of secondary hypertension causes and optimized antihypertensive drug treatment is mandatory in every patient with resistant hypertension. In order to exclude pseudoresistance, 24-hour blood pressure measurements should be performed. Preserved renal function was an inclusion criterion in the Symplicity studies, therefore, renal denervation should be only considered in patients with a glomerular filtration rate > 45 ml/min. Adequate centre qualification in both, treatment of hypertension and interventional expertise are essential to ensure correct patient selection and procedural safety. Long-term follow-up after renal denervation and participation in the German Renal Denervation (GREAT) Registry are recommended to assess safety and efficacy after renal denervation over time. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Improved Energy Recovery by Anaerobic Grey Water Sludge Treatment with Black Water

OpenAIRE

Tervahauta, Taina; Bryant, Isaac; Leal, Lucía; Buisman, Cees; Zeeman, Grietje

2014-01-01

This study presents the potential of combining anaerobic grey water sludge treatment with black water in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor to improve energy recovery within source-separated sanitation concepts. Black water and the mixture of black water and grey water sludge were compared in terms of biochemical methane potential (BMP), UASB reactor performance, chemical oxygen demand (COD) mass balance and methanization. Grey water sludge treatment with black water increased...

Water Treatment Technology - Wells.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross-Harrington, Melinda; Kincaid, G. David

One of twelve water treatment technology units, this student manual on wells provides instructional materials for five competencies. (The twelve units are designed for a continuing education training course for public water supply operators.) The competencies focus on the following areas: dug, driven, and chilled wells, aquifer types, deep well…

Water Treatment Technology - Hydraulics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross-Harrington, Melinda; Kincaid, G. David

One of twelve water treatment technology units, this student manual on hydraulics provides instructional materials for three competencies. (The twelve units are designed for a continuing education training course for public water supply operators.) The competencies focus on the following areas: head loss in pipes in series, function loss in…

Design of operating rules in complex water resources systems using historical records, expert criteria and fuzzy logic

Science.gov (United States)

Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel; Macian-Sorribes, Hector; María Benlliure-Moreno, Jose; Fullana-Montoro, Juan

2015-04-01

Water resources systems in areas with a strong tradition in water use are complex to manage by the high amount of constraints that overlap in time and space, creating a complicated framework in which past, present and future collide between them. In addition, it is usual to find "hidden constraints" in system operations, which condition operation decisions being unnoticed by anyone but the river managers and users. Being aware of those hidden constraints requires usually years of experience and a degree of involvement in that system's management operations normally beyond the possibilities of technicians. However, their impact in the management decisions is strongly imprinted in the historical data records available. The purpose of this contribution is to present a methodology capable of assessing operating rules in complex water resources systems combining historical records and expert criteria. Both sources are coupled using fuzzy logic. The procedure stages are: 1) organize expert-technicians preliminary meetings to let the first explain how they manage the system; 2) set up a fuzzy rule-based system (FRB) structure according to the way the system is managed; 3) use the historical records available to estimate the inputs' fuzzy numbers, to assign preliminary output values to the FRB rules and to train and validate these rules; 4) organize expert-technician meetings to discuss the rule structure and the input's quantification, returning if required to the second stage; 5) once the FRB structure is accepted, its output values must be refined and completed with the aid of the experts by using meetings, workshops or surveys; 6) combine the FRB with a Decision Support System (DSS) to simulate the effect of those management decisions; 7) compare its results with the ones offered by the historical records and/or simulation or optimization models; and 8) discuss with the stakeholders the model performance returning, if it's required, to the fifth or the second stage

CO2 and H2O: Understanding Different Stakeholder Perspectives on the Use of Carbon Credits to Finance Household Water Treatment Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Summers, Sarah K.; Rainey, Rochelle; Kaur, Maneet; Graham, Jay P.

2015-01-01

Background Carbon credits are an increasingly prevalent market-based mechanism used to subsidize household water treatment technologies (HWT). This involves generating credits through the reduction of carbon emissions from boiling water by providing a technology that reduces greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. Proponents claim this process delivers health and environmental benefits by providing clean drinking water and reducing greenhouse gases. Selling carbon credits associated with HWT projects requires rigorous monitoring to ensure households are using the HWT and achieving the desired benefits of the device. Critics have suggested that the technologies provide neither the benefits of clean water nor reduced emissions. This study explores the perspectives of carbon credit and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) experts on HWT carbon credit projects. Methods Thirteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants from the WASH and carbon credit development sectors. The interviews explored perceptions of the two groups with respect to the procedures applied in the Gold Standard methodology for trading Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER) credits. Results Agreement among the WASH and carbon credit experts existed for the concept of suppressed demand and parameters in the baseline water boiling test. Key differences, however, existed. WASH experts’ responses highlighted a focus on objectively verifiable data for monitoring carbon projects while carbon credit experts called for contextualizing observed data with the need for flexibility and balancing financial viability with quality assurance. Conclusions Carbon credit projects have the potential to become an important financing mechanism for clean energy in low- and middle-income countries. Based on this research we recommend that more effort be placed on building consensus on the underlying assumptions for obtaining carbon credits from HWT projects, as well as the approved

Interdisciplinary management of EGFR-inhibitor-induced skin reactions: a German expert opinion.

Science.gov (United States)

Potthoff, K; Hofheinz, R; Hassel, J C; Volkenandt, M; Lordick, F; Hartmann, J T; Karthaus, M; Riess, H; Lipp, H P; Hauschild, A; Trarbach, T; Wollenberg, A

2011-03-01

Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor treatment strategies, i.e. monoclonal antibodies such as cetuximab and panitumumab, or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as erlotinib and gefitinib, have expanded the treatment options for different tumor types. Dermatologic toxic effects are the most common side-effects of EGFR inhibitor therapy. They can profoundly affect the patient's quality of life. The aim of this study was to provide interdisciplinary expert recommendations on how to treat patients with skin reactions undergoing anti-EGFR treatment. An expert panel from Germany with expertise in medical oncology, dermatology or clinical pharmacology was convened to develop expert recommendations based on published peer-reviewed literature. The expert recommendations for the state-of-the-art treatment of skin reactions induced by EGFR inhibitor therapy include recommendations for diagnostics and grading as well as grade-specific and stage-adapted treatment approaches and preventive measures. It was concluded that EGFR-inhibitor-related dermatologic reactions should always be treated combining basic care of the skin and a specific therapy adapted to stage and grade of skin reaction. For grade 2 and above, specific treatment recommendations for early- and later-stage skin reactions induced by EGFR-inhibitor therapy were proposed. This paper presents a German national expert opinion for the treatment of skin reactions in patients receiving EGFR inhibitor therapy.

Cooperative expert system reasoning for waste remediations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohn, S.J.; Pennock, K.A.; Franklin, A.L.

1991-12-01

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is facing a large task in completing Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies (RI/FS) for hazardous waste sites across the nation. One of the primary objectives of an RI/FS is the specification of viable sequences of technology treatment trains which can provide implementable site solutions. We present a methodology which integrates expert system technology within an object-oriented framework to create a cooperative reasoning system designed to provide a comprehensive list of these implementable solutions. The system accomplishes its goal of specifying technology trains by utilizing a ''team'' of expert system objects. The system distributes the problem solving among the individual expert objects, and then coordinates the combination of individual decisions into a joint solution. Each expert object possesses the knowledge of an expert in a particular technology. An expert object can examine the parameters and characteristics of the waste site, seek information and support from other expert objects, and then make decisions concerning its own applicability. This methodology has at least two primary benefits. First, the creation of multiple expert objects provides a more direct mapping from the actual process to a software system, making the system easier to build. Second, the distribution of the inferencing among a number of loosely connected expert objects allows for a more robust and maintainable final product

Vernacular Knowledge and Water Management – Towards the Integration of Expert Science and Local Knowledge in Ontario, Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugh Simpson

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Complex environmental problems cannot be solved using expert science alone. Rather, these kinds of problems benefit from problem-solving processes that draw on 'vernacular' knowledge. Vernacular knowledge integrates expert science and local knowledge with community beliefs and values. Collaborative approaches to water problem-solving can provide forums for bringing together diverse, and often competing, interests to produce vernacular knowledge through deliberation and negotiation of solutions. Organised stakeholder groups are participating increasingly in such forums, often through involvement of networks, but it is unclear what roles these networks play in the creation and sharing of vernacular knowledge. A case-study approach was used to evaluate the involvement of a key stakeholder group, the agricultural community in Ontario, Canada, in creating vernacular knowledge during a prescribed multi-stakeholder problem-solving process for source water protection for municipal supplies. Data sources – including survey questionnaire responses, participant observation, and publicly available documents – illustrate how respondents supported and participated in the creation of vernacular knowledge. The results of the evaluation indicate that the respondents recognised and valued agricultural knowledge as an information source for resolving complex problems. The research also provided insight concerning the complementary roles and effectiveness of the agricultural community in sharing knowledge within a prescribed problem-solving process.

Evaluating Nanoparticle Breakthrough during Drinking Water Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Chalew, Talia E. Abbott; Ajmani, Gaurav S.; Huang, Haiou

2013-01-01

Background: Use of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) in consumer products is resulting in NPs in drinking water sources. Subsequent NP breakthrough into treated drinking water is a potential exposure route and human health threat. Objectives: In this study we investigated the breakthrough of common NPs—silver (Ag), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and zinc oxide (ZnO)—into finished drinking water following conventional and advanced treatment. Methods: NPs were spiked into five experimental waters: groundwater, surface water, synthetic freshwater, synthetic freshwater containing natural organic matter, and tertiary wastewater effluent. Bench-scale coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation simulated conventional treatment, and microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) simulated advanced treatment. We monitored breakthrough of NPs into treated water by turbidity removal and inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: Conventional treatment resulted in 2–20%, 3–8%, and 48–99% of Ag, TiO2, and ZnO NPs, respectively, or their dissolved ions remaining in finished water. Breakthrough following MF was 1–45% for Ag, 0–44% for TiO2, and 36–83% for ZnO. With UF, NP breakthrough was 0–2%, 0–4%, and 2–96% for Ag, TiO2, and ZnO, respectively. Variability was dependent on NP stability, with less breakthrough of aggregated NPs compared with stable NPs and dissolved NP ions. Conclusions: Although a majority of aggregated or stable NPs were removed by simulated conventional and advanced treatment, NP metals were detectable in finished water. As environmental NP concentrations increase, we need to consider NPs as emerging drinking water contaminants and determine appropriate drinking water treatment processes to fully remove NPs in order to reduce their potential harmful health outcomes. Citation: Abbott Chalew TE, Ajmani GS, Huang H, Schwab KJ. 2013. Evaluating nanoparticle breakthrough during drinking water treatment. Environ Health Perspect 121

Evaluation of Water Treatment Problems: Case Study of Maiduguri Water Treatment Plant (MWTP and Maiduguri Environs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. N. Idris

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Water remains the most useful universal solvent to human being and other animals, because of its derivative importance. However, effort to improve on raw water treatment would continue to be a subject of concern, because the process procedures are been violated or not properly upheld. This study was carried out in order to identify peculiar problems associate with water treatment at the Maiduguri Water Treatment Plant (MWTP. This research study was based on prompt time-schedules and plant site-visits, interviewed questions were made and accessing the technology adopted in the process stages. Analytical data were obtained through the use of sampling bottles, camera, record sheets and other necessary laboratory equipment. The analysis showed that treated water contained excess chlorine and aluminum with 1.10mg/l and 0.68mg/l respectively. From this study, the following are the root causes: poor facility lay out, poor organizational and functional structures, wear of pump impellers and surface deterioration in the transmission line, lack of calibration test, constant head system not operation properly, lack of jar test conduction, improper maintenance of filter system, and the use of chemical coagulant. Inferences were made at the end of the research to enhance process efficiency, healthier and more economical treatment MWTP.

Fixed-biofilm reactors applied to waste water treatment and aquacultural water recirculating systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bovendeur, J.

1989-01-01

Fixed-biofilm waste water treatment may be regarded as one of the oldest engineered biological waste water treatment methods. With the recent introduction of modern packing materials, this type of reactor has received a renewed impuls for implementation in a wide field of water treatment.

In

Rational design of nanomaterials for water treatment

KAUST Repository

Li, Renyuan

2015-08-26

The ever-increasing human demand for safe and clean water is gradually pushing conventional water treatment technologies to their limits and it is now a popular perception that the solutions to the existing and future water challenges will highly hinge upon the further development of nanomaterial sciences. The concept of rational design emphasizes ‘design-for-purpose’ and it necessitates a scientifically clear problem definition to initiate the nanomaterial design. The field of rational design of nanomaterials for water treatment has experienced a significant growth in the past decade and is poised to make its contribution in creating advanced next-generation water treatment technologies in the years to come. Within the water treatment context, this review offers a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the latest progress of the rational design, synthesis and applications of nanomaterials in adsorption, chemical oxidation and reduction reactions, membrane-based separation, oil/water separation, and synergistic multifunctional all-in-one nanomaterials/nanodevices. Special attention is paid on chemical concepts of the nanomaterial designs throughout the review.

Improved Energy Recovery by Anaerobic Grey Water Sludge Treatment with Black Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taina Tervahauta

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study presents the potential of combining anaerobic grey water sludge treatment with black water in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB reactor to improve energy recovery within source-separated sanitation concepts. Black water and the mixture of black water and grey water sludge were compared in terms of biochemical methane potential (BMP, UASB reactor performance, chemical oxygen demand (COD mass balance and methanization. Grey water sludge treatment with black water increased the energy recovery by 23% in the UASB reactor compared to black water treatment. The increase in the energy recovery can cover the increased heat demand of the UASB reactor and the electricity demand of the grey water bioflocculation system with a surplus of 0.7 kWh/cap/y electricity and 14 MJ/cap/y heat. However, grey water sludge introduced more heavy metals in the excess sludge of the UASB reactor and might therefore hinder its soil application.

[The methodological basis of expert assessment of unfavourable outcomes of the stomatological treatment in the framework of civil law proceedings].

Science.gov (United States)

Pigolkin, Iu I; Murzova, T V; Mirzoev, Kh M

2011-01-01

The authors discuss peculiarities of the performance of forensic medical expertise in the cases of unfavourable outcomes of the stomatological treatment. The methodological basis of expert assessment has been created to be applied in situations related to the unfavourable outcomes of dental care.

Peracids in water treatment:a critical review

OpenAIRE

Luukkonen, T. (Tero); Pehkonen, S. O. (Simo O.)

2017-01-01

Abstract Peracids have gained interest in the water treatment over the last few decades. Peracetic acid (CH₃CO₃H) has already become an accepted alternative disinfectant in wastewater disinfection whereas performic acid (CHO₃H) has been studied much less, although it is also already commercially available. Additionally, peracids have been studied for drinking water disinfection, oxidation of aqueous (micro)pollutants, sludge treatment, and ballast water treatment, to name just a few exampl...

Ask the experts how to treat individuals with spatial neglect: a survey study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Peii; Pitteri, Marco; Gillen, Glen; Ayyala, Harsha

2017-07-11

Spatial neglect (SN) impedes rehabilitation success and leaves long-term consequences. We asked experts to provide their opinions in addressing SN by scenario (ideal vs. reality) and by recovery phase (earliest, acute, subacute, and chronic). Experts were individuals who have assessed or treated patients with SN clinically. This study was conducted using an anonymous survey on the Internet with 189 responders over 3 months. Located in 23 different countries, 127 experts of seven disciplines were included (occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, speech and language pathology or therapy, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and psychology or neuropsychology). Comparing the two scenarios, more treatments were selected in the ideal than in the reality scenario for all recovery phases except for the chronic phase. In both scenarios, (1) more treatments were selected in acute and subacute phases than in earliest or chronic phases, (2) less experienced experts selected diverse treatment options more often, and (3) highly experienced experts were more likely to provide their reasons of treatment selection, suggestions of treatment delivery methods, and other insights. Finally, 83.7% reported obstacles in treating SN. Experts' treatment selections are consistent with current evidence and practice guidelines. Recognizing the limitation of evidence, their opinions may help generate ideas in various topics (e.g., dosing, integrative intervention, and treatment implementation) to be examined in future studies. Implications for Rehabilitation Clinicians with experience in treating people with spatial neglect (i.e., experts as defined in the present study) recognized the limitation of evidence but nonetheless suggested specific treatments by recovery phase. In both the reality and ideal scenarios, experts included visual scanning, active limb activation, and sustained attention training in the top-five selections. Prism adaptation was in the top

Waste Water Treatment Unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramadan, A.E.K.

2004-01-01

A wastewater treatment plant to treat both the sanitary and industrial effluent originated from process, utilities and off site units of the refinery is described. The purpose is to obtain at the end of the treatment plant, a water quality that is in compliance with contractual requirements and relevant environmental regulations. first treatment (pretreatment). Primary de-oiling, Equalization, Neutralization, Secondary de-oiling. Second treatment (Biological), The mechanism of BOD removal, Biological flocculation, Nutrient requirements, Nitrification, De-nitrification, Effect of temperature, Effect of ph, Toxicity

Application of expert elicitation techniques in human reliability, assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanyasi Rao, V.V.S.; Saraf, R.K.; Ghosh, A.K.; Kushwaha, H.S.

2006-01-01

Expert elicitation techniques are being used, in the area of technological forecasting, in estimating data needed for analysis when it is either difficult to arrive at the data by experimental means or when it is quite involved to plan and conduct the experiment. In this study, expert elicitation techniques are applied to the evaluation of the frequencies of the various accident sequences that can result from the initiating event (IE) 'High Pressure Process Water (HPPW) system failure' in typical Indian Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (IPHWR) of the older generation. The Operating Procedure under Emergency Conditions (OPEC) for this IE involves human actions according to a pre-defined procedure. The Human Error Probabilities for all these human actions are obtained using expert elicitation techniques. These techniques aim at eliciting the opinion of the experts in the area of interest with regard to the issue in question. The uncertainty is analysed by employing the measure of dissonance and the most probable range of human error probabilities are arrived at by maximizing this measure. These values are combined using the same procedures mentioned above to yield a distribution representing the uncertainty associated with the predictions. (author)

Expert system for skin problem consultation in Thai traditional medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Nopparatkiat, Pornchai; na Nagara, Byaporn; Chansa-ngavej, Chuvej

2014-01-01

This paper aimed to demonstrate the research and development of a rule-based expert system for skin problem consulting in the areas of acne, melasma, freckle, wrinkle, and uneven skin tone, with recommended treatments from Thai traditional medicine knowledge. The tool selected for developing the expert system is a software program written in the PHP language. MySQL database is used to work together with PHP for building database of the expert system. The system is web-based and can be reached from anywhere with Internet access. The developed expert system gave recommendations on the skin problem treatment with Thai herbal recipes and Thai herbal cosmetics based on 416 rules derived from primary and secondary sources. The system had been tested by 50 users consisting of dermatologists, Thai traditional medicine doctors, and general users. The developed system was considered good for learning and consultation. The present work showed how such a scattered body of traditional knowledge as Thai traditional medicine and herbal recipes could be collected, organised and made accessible to users and interested parties. The expert system developed herein should contribute in a meaningful way towards preserving the knowledge and helping promote the use of Thai traditional medicine as a practical alternative medicine for the treatment of illnesses.

Waste water treatment in surface mines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Navasardyants, M A; Esipov, V Z; Ryzhkov, Yu A

1981-01-01

This paper evaluates problems associated with waste water from coal surface mines of the Kemerovougol' association in the Kuzbass. Waste water treatment in the Kuzbass is of major importance as the region is supplied with water from only one river, the Tom river. Water influx to Kemerovougol' surface mines in a year amounts to 136 million m/sup 3/. The water is used during technological processes, for fire fighting, and spraying to prevent dusting; the rest, about 82.1 million m/sup 3/, is discharged into surface waters. Of this amount, 25.1 million m/sup 3/ is heavily polluted water, 46.6 million m3 are polluted but within limits, and 10.4 million m/sup 3/ are characterized as relatively clean. Waste water is polluted with: suspended matters, oils and oil products, nitrates, nitrides and chlorides. Suspended matter content sometimes reaches 4,000 and 5,000 mg/l, and oil product content in water amounts to 2.17 mg/l. Water treatment in surface mines is two-staged: sumps and sedimentation tanks are used. Water with suspended matter content of 50 to 100 mg/l in winter and summer, and 200 to 250 mg/l in spring and autumn is reduced in sumps to 25 to 30 mg/l in summer and winter and to 40 to 50 mg/l in autumn and spring. During the first stage water treatment efficiency ranges from 50 to 80%. During the second stage water is collected in sedimentation tanks. It is noted that so-called secondary pollution is one of the causes of the relatively high level of suspended matter in discharged water. Water discharged from sedimentation tanks carries clay and loam particles from the bottom and walls of water tanks and channels.

The effects of high-Ca hardness water treatment for secondary cooling water in HANARO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, T. J.; Park, Y. C.; Hwang, S. R.; Lim, I. C.; Choi, H. Y.

2003-01-01

Water-quality control of the second cooling system in HANARO has been altered from low Ca-hardness treatment to high Ca-hardness treatment since March, 2001. High Ca-hardness water treatment in HANARO is to maintain the calcium hardness around 12 by minimizing the blowdown of secondary cooling water. This paper describes the effect of cost reduction after change of water-quility treatment method. The result shows that the cost of the water could be reduced by 25% using the pond water in KAERI. The amount and cost for the chemical agent could be reduced by 40% and 10% respectively

Experts' opinion on the radioecology of the waste water of Esensham nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bliefert, M.; Marks, R.; Meier, A.; Wallenschus, M.

1978-01-01

Review of the legal steps taken in the dispute over the radiation burden due to the nuclear power plant. There are the experts Prof. Feld (official expert's opunion) with 0.0028 mrem/a and Prof. Bleck (plaintiff's expert's opinion) with 230 mrem/a. The different values obtained are attributed to transfer factors of Cs and to a manipulation of dose factors. (GL) [de

Treatment of Liver Tumors with Lipiodol TACE: Technical Recommendations from Experts Opinion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baere, Thierry de, E-mail: thierry.debaere@gustaveroussy.fr [Gustave Roussy, Department of Interventional Radiology (France); Arai, Yasuaki, E-mail: arai-y3111@mvh.biglobe.ne.jp [National Cancer Center, Department of Diagnostic Radiology (Japan); Lencioni, Riccardo, E-mail: riccardo.lencioni@med.unipi.it [Pisa University School of Medicine, Division of Diagnostic Imaging and Intervention (R.L.) (Italy); Geschwind, Jean-Francois, E-mail: jfg@jhmi.edu [The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Vascular and Interventional Radiology (United States); Rilling, William, E-mail: wrilling@mcw.edu [Medical College of Wisconsin, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology Rm2803 (United States); Salem, Riad, E-mail: r-salem@northwestern.edu [Northwestern University, Department of Radiology (United States); Matsui, Osamu, E-mail: matsuio@med.kanazawa-u.ac.jp [Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Department of Advanced Medical Imaging (Japan); Soulen, Michael C., E-mail: michael.soulen@uphs.upenn.edu [University of Pennsylvania, Division of Interventional Radiology (MCS) (United States)

2016-03-15

Transarterial chemoembolization with Lipiodol (Lipiodol TACE), also called conventional TACE, was developed in the early 1980s and widely adopted worldwide after randomized control trials and meta-analysis demonstrated superiority of Lipiodol TACE to best supportive care. Presently, there is no level one evidence that other TACE techniques are superior to Lipiodol TACE for intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which includes patients with preserved liver function and nonsurgical large or multinodular HCC without distant metastases. In addition, TACE is part of the treatment for progressive or symptomatic liver metastases from gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. When injected into the hepatic artery, Lipiodol has the unique property of selective uptake and retention in hyperarterialyzed liver tumors. Lipiodol/drug emulsion followed by particle embolization has been demonstrated to improve the pharmacokinetic of the drug and tumor response. Radio opacity of Lipiodol helps to monitor treatment delivery, with retention of Lipiodol serving as an imaging biomarker for tumor response. For 30 years, Lipiodol TACE has been inconsistently referenced in many publications with various levels of details for the method of preparation and administration, with reported progressive outcomes following improvements in the technique and the devices used to deliver the treatment and better patient selection. Consequently, there is no consensus on the standard method of TACE regarding the use of anticancer agents, embolic material, technical details, and the treatment schedule. In order to develop an internationally validated technical recommendation to standardize the Lipiodol TACE procedure, a worldwide panel of experts participated in a consensus meeting held on May 10, 2014.

Frontiers of interfacial water research :workshop report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cygan, Randall Timothy; Greathouse, Jeffery A.

2005-10-01

Water is the critical natural resource of the new century. Significant improvements in traditional water treatment processes require novel approaches based on a fundamental understanding of nanoscale and atomic interactions at interfaces between aqueous solution and materials. To better understand these critical issues and to promote an open dialog among leading international experts in water-related specialties, Sandia National Laboratories sponsored a workshop on April 24-26, 2005 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ''Frontiers of Interfacial Water Research Workshop'' provided attendees with a critical review of water technologies and emphasized the new advances in surface and interfacial microscopy, spectroscopy, diffraction, and computer simulation needed for the development of new materials for water treatment.

DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT RESEARCH AT SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rigali, Mark J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Miller, James E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Altman, Susan J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Biedermann, Laura [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Brady, Patrick Vane. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Kuzio, Stephanie P. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Nenoff, Tina M. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rempe, Susan [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-11-01

Water is the backbone of our economy - safe and adequate supplies of water are vital for agriculture, industry, recreation, and human consumption. While our supply of water today is largely safe and adequate, we as a nation face increasing water supply challenges in the form of extended droughts, demand growth due to population increase, more stringent health-based regulation, and competing demands from a variety of users. To meet these challenges in the coming decades, water treatment technologies, including desalination, will contribute substantially to ensuring a safe, sustainable, affordable, and adequate water supply for the United States. This overview documents Sandia National Laboratories' (SNL, or Sandia) Water Treatment Program which focused on the development and demonstration of advanced water purification technologies as part of the larger Sandia Water Initiative. Projects under the Water Treatment Program include: (1) the development of desalination research roadmaps (2) our efforts to accelerate the commercialization of new desalination and water treatment technologies (known as the 'Jump-Start Program),' (3) long range (high risk, early stage) desalination research (known as the 'Long Range Research Program'), (4) treatment research projects under the Joint Water Reuse & Desalination Task Force, (5) the Arsenic Water Technology Partnership Program, (6) water treatment projects funded under the New Mexico Small Business Administration, (7) water treatment projects for the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), (8) Sandia- developed contaminant-selective treatment technologies, and finally (9) current Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funded desalination projects.

Impact of dialectical behavior therapy versus community treatment by experts on emotional experience, expression, and acceptance in borderline personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Neacsiu, Andrada D; Lungu, Anita; Harned, Melanie S; Rizvi, Shireen L; Linehan, Marsha M

2014-02-01

Evidence suggests that heightened negative affectivity is a prominent feature of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) that often leads to maladaptive behaviors. Nevertheless, there is little research examining treatment effects on the experience and expression of specific negative emotions. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an effective treatment for BPD, hypothesized to reduce negative affectivity (Linehan, 1993a). The present study analyzes secondary data from a randomized controlled trial with the aim to assess the unique effectiveness of DBT when compared to Community Treatment by Experts (CTBE) in changing the experience, expression, and acceptance of negative emotions. Suicidal and/or self-injuring women with BPD (n = 101) were randomly assigned to DBT or CTBE for one year of treatment and one year of follow-up. Several indices of emotional experience and expression were assessed. Results indicate that DBT decreased experiential avoidance and expressed anger significantly more than CTBE. No differences between DBT and CTBE were found in improving guilt, shame, anxiety, or anger suppression, trait, and control. These results suggest that DBT has unique effects on improving the expression of anger and experiential avoidance, whereas changes in the experience of specific negative emotions may be accounted for by general factors associated with expert therapy. Implications of the findings are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Electrocoagulation in Water Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Huijuan; Zhao, Xu; Qu, Jiuhui

Electrocoagulation (EC) is an electrochemical method of treating polluted water where sacrificial anodes corrode to release active coagulant precursors (usually aluminum or iron cations) into solution. At the cathode, gas evolves (usually as hydrogen bubbles) accompanying electrolytic reactions. EC needs simple equipments and is designable for virtually any size. It is cost effective and easily operable. Specially, the recent technical improvements combined with a growing need for small-scale water treatment facilities have led to a revaluation of EC. In this chapter, the basic principle of EC was introduced first. Following that, reactions at the electrodes and electrode assignment were reviewed; electrode passivation process and activation method were presented; comparison between electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation was performed; typical design of the EC reactors was also described; and factors affecting electrocoagulation including current density, effect of conductivity, temperature, and pH were introduced in details. Finally, application of EC in water treatment was given in details.

NESSUS/EXPERT - An expert system for probabilistic structural analysis methods

Science.gov (United States)

Millwater, H.; Palmer, K.; Fink, P.

1988-01-01

An expert system (NESSUS/EXPERT) is presented which provides assistance in using probabilistic structural analysis methods. NESSUS/EXPERT is an interactive menu-driven expert system that provides information to assist in the use of the probabilistic finite element code NESSUS/FEM and the fast probability integrator. NESSUS/EXPERT was developed with a combination of FORTRAN and CLIPS, a C language expert system tool, to exploit the strengths of each language.

Planetary Exploration Education: As Seen From the Point of View of Subject Matter Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Milazzo, M. P.; Anderson, R. B.; Gaither, T. A.; Vaughan, R. G.

2016-12-01

Planetary Learning that Advances the Nexus of Engineering, Technology, and Science (PLANETS) was selected as one of 27 new projects to support the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Science Education Cooperative Agreement Notice. Our goal is to develop and disseminate out-of-school time (OST) curricular and related educator professional development modules that integrate planetary science, technology, and engineering. We are a partnership between planetary science Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), curriculum developers, science and engineering teacher professional development experts and OST teacher networks. The PLANETS team includes the Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL) at Northern Arizona University (NAU); the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Science Center (Astrogeology), and the Boston Museum of Science (MOS). Here, we present the work and approach by the SMEs at Astrogeology. As part of this overarching project, we will create a model for improved integration of SMEs, curriculum developers, professional development experts, and educators. For the 2016 and 2017 Fiscal Years, our focus is on creating science material for two OST modules designed for middle school students. We will begin development of a third module for elementary school students in the latter part of FY2017. The first module focuses on water conservation and treatment as applied on Earth, the International Space Station, and at a fictional Mars base. This unit involves the science and engineering of finding accessible water, evaluating it for quality, treating it for impurities (i.e., dissolved and suspended), initial use, a cycle of greywater treatment and re-use, and final treatment of blackwater. The second module involves the science and engineering of remote sensing as it is related to Earth and planetary exploration. This includes discussion and activities related to the electromagnetic spectrum, spectroscopy and various remote sensing systems and techniques. In

Water treatment process for nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marwan, M.A.; Khattab, M.S.; Hanna, A.N.

1992-01-01

Water treatment for purification is very important in reactor cooling systems as well as in many industrial applications. Since impurities in water are main source of problems, it is necessary to achieve and maintain high purity of water before utilization in reactor cooling systems. The present work investigate water treatment process for nuclear reactor utilization. Analysis of output water chemistry proved that demineralizing process is an appropriate method. Extensive experiments were conducted to determine economical concentration of the regenerates to obtain the optimum quantity of pure water which reached to 15 cubic meter instead of 10 cubic-meter per regeneration. Running cost is consequently decreased by about 30 %. output water chemistry agree with the recommended specifications for reactor utilization. The radionuclides produced in the primary cooling water due to reactor operation are determined. It is found that 70% of radioactive contaminants are retained by purification through resin of reactor filter. Decontamination factor and filter efficiency are also determined.5 fig., 3 tab

Public health aspects of waste-water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lund, E.

1975-01-01

Among the bacteria, viruses and parasites which may be found in waste-water and polluted waters, those that are pathogenic to man are briefly described. The efficiency of different conventional waste-water treatments in removing the pathogens is reviewed, as well as additional factors of importance for the presence of micro-organisms in recipient waters. It is concluded that at present for treated waters no conventional treatment results in an effluent free from pathogens if they are present in the original waste-water. This is also true for sludges apart from pasteurization. The importance to public health of the presence of pathogens in recipient waters is briefly discussed. (author)

A water treatment case study for quantifying model performance with multilevel flow modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emil K. Nielsen

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Decision support systems are a key focus of research on developing control rooms to aid operators in making reliable decisions and reducing incidents caused by human errors. For this purpose, models of complex systems can be developed to diagnose causes or consequences for specific alarms. Models applied in safety systems of complex and safety-critical systems require rigorous and reliable model building and testing. Multilevel flow modeling is a qualitative and discrete method for diagnosing faults and has previously only been validated by subjective and qualitative means. To ensure reliability during operation, this work aims to synthesize a procedure to measure model performance according to diagnostic requirements. A simple procedure is proposed for validating and evaluating the concept of multilevel flow modeling. For this purpose, expert statements, dynamic process simulations, and pilot plant experiments are used for validation of simple multilevel flow modeling models of a hydrocyclone unit for oil removal from produced water. Keywords: Fault Diagnosis, Model Validation, Multilevel Flow Modeling, Produced Water Treatment

POOL WATER TREATMENT AND COOLING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, V.

2000-01-01

The Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System is located in the Waste Handling Building (WHB), and is comprised of various process subsystems designed to support waste handling operations. This system maintains the pool water temperature within an acceptable range, maintains water quality standards that support remote underwater operations and prevent corrosion, detects leakage from the pool liner, provides the capability to remove debris from the pool, controls the pool water level, and helps limit radiological exposure to personnel. The pool structure and liner, pool lighting, and the fuel staging racks in the pool are not within the scope of the Pool Water Treatment and Cooling System. Pool water temperature control is accomplished by circulating the pool water through heat exchangers. Adequate circulation and mixing of the pool water is provided to prevent localized thermal hotspots in the pool. Treatment of the pool water is accomplished by a water treatment system that circulates the pool water through filters, and ion exchange units. These water treatment units remove radioactive and non-radioactive particulate and dissolved solids from the water, thereby providing the water clarity needed to conduct waste handling operations. The system also controls pool water chemistry to prevent advanced corrosion of the pool liner, pool components, and fuel assemblies. Removal of radioactivity from the pool water contributes to the project ALARA (as low as is reasonably achievable) goals. A leak detection system is provided to detect and alarm leaks through the pool liner. The pool level control system monitors the water level to ensure that the minimum water level required for adequate radiological shielding is maintained. Through interface with a demineralized water system, adequate makeup is provided to compensate for loss of water inventory through evaporation and waste handling operations. Interface with the Site Radiological Monitoring System provides continuous

Water treatments of the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poon, John; Moore Kenneth

2011-01-01

This article discusses and reviews nine water technologies. They are solar desalination, synthetic aquaporin membranes, microbial fuel cell and desalination, forward osmosis, resource recovery and brine managment, 'Smart' water grids, micropollutant treatment, the Cities of the Future program and high retention membrane bioreactors.

The micro-electrolysis technique in waste water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiti Zhou; Weihen Yang; Fenglin Yang; Xuemin Xiang; Yulu Wang

1997-01-01

The micro-electrolysis is one of the efficient methods to treat some kinds of waste water. The experiments have shown its high efficiency in sewage treatment and some kinds of industrial waste water. It is suitable for pre-treatment of high concentrated waste water and deep treatment of waste water for reuse purpose. The disadvantage of micro-electrolysis is its high energy consumption in case of high electrolyte concentration. (author) 2 figs., 11 tabs., 2 refs

The micro-electrolysis technique in waste water treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiti Zhou; Weihen Yang; Fenglin Yang; Xuemin Xiang; Yulu Wang [Dalian Univ. of Technology, Dalian (China)

1997-12-31

The micro-electrolysis is one of the efficient methods to treat some kinds of waste water. The experiments have shown its high efficiency in sewage treatment and some kinds of industrial waste water. It is suitable for pre-treatment of high concentrated waste water and deep treatment of waste water for reuse purpose. The disadvantage of micro-electrolysis is its high energy consumption in case of high electrolyte concentration. (author) 2 figs., 11 tabs., 2 refs.

Pollution of water sources and removal of pollutants by advanced drinking-water treatment in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, L; Wang, B

2000-01-01

The pollution of water resources and drinking water sources in China is described in this paper with basic data. About 90% of surface waters and over 60% of drinking water sources in urban areas have been polluted to different extents. The main pollutants present in drinking water sources are organic substances, ammonia nitrogen, phenols, pesticides and pathogenic micro-organisms, some of which cannot be removed effectively by the traditional water treatment processes like coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and chlorination, and the product water usually does not meet Chinese national drinking water standards, when polluted source water is treated. In some drinking-water plants in China, advanced treatment processes including activated carbon filtration and adsorption, ozonation, biological activated carbon and membrane separation have been employed for further treatment of the filtrate from a traditional treatment system producing unqualified drinking water, to make final product water meet the WHO guidelines and some developed countries' standards, as well as the Chinese national standards for drinking water. Some case studies of advanced water treatment plants are described in this paper as well.

Environmental policy. 2000 environmental expert opinion of the Council of Experimental Experts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-05-01

The reorientation of energy policy is a key issue. The Council of Environmental Experts considers the further use of atomic energy to be irresponsible and recommends a new orientation. Recommendations are made on ecology-centered taxation. Critical comments are made in the context of conservation of nature, where many species of plants and animals still continue to be endangered. The conservation programme of the Federal government, which also comprises a system of large, interconnected biotopes on 10% of Germany's total surface, is approved, and the potential contribution of sustainable agricultural and forestry policy is discussed in a separate chapter. Further subjects discussed are recycling and waste management, protection of water and soil, air pollution abatement, health protection and genetic engineering. The environmental aspects of Eastern European states becoming EC members are gone into in particular. The network of Europen Environmental Councils, for which the German Council of Environmental Experts currently acts as a coordinator, makes intensive efforts to improve environmental counselling in these states [de

Contemporary Expert Debates on the SCO-Related Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Evgen'evich Denisov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Since its establishment the SCO has always attracted a lot of expert attention. The SCO Forum was founded in 2006 to bring together for annual debates experts from all member-states. Within this format in-depth discussions took place in April 2016 in Dushanbe, which hosted this year conference of the SCO Forum. Participating experts and officials reviewed problems of security, economic cooperation (including transport and water-energy issues and SCO enlargement, the latter being one of the most debatable. Experts presented some new thesis on all these problems, in particular on the enlargement issue. These new thesis are summed up in this article. Besides, the SCO Forum this year had many statements on the organization approaching a sort of new phase in its development. This line of discussions may lead in the future to even more active debates on SCO's role in the world. This article puts emphasis on the new elements of these debates and reviews major experts' attitudes within this line of discussion on the SCO being in front of a new stage of development.

Expert systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haldy, P.A.

1988-01-01

The definitions of the terms 'artificial intelligence' and 'expert systems', the methodology, areas of employment and limits of expert systems are discussed. The operation of an expert system is described, especially the presentation and organization of knowledge as well as interference and control. Methods and tools for expert system development are presented and their application in nuclear energy are briefly addressed. 7 figs., 2 tabs., 6 refs

Water treatment process for nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marwan, M.A.; Khattab, M.S.; Hanna, A.N.

1993-01-01

Water treatment for purification is very important in reactor cooling systems as well as in many industrial applications. Since impurities in water are main source of problems, it is necessary to achieve and maintain high purity of water before utilization in reactor cooling systems. The present work investigates water treatment process for nuclear reactor utilization. Analysis of outwater chemistry proved that demineralizing process is an appropriate method. Extensive experiments were conducted to determine economical concentration of the regenerants to obtain the optimum quantity of pure water which reached to 15 cubic-meter instead of 10 cubic-meter per regeneration. Running cost is consequently decreased by about 30%. Output water chemistry agrees with the recommended specifications for reactor utilization. The radionuclides produced in the primary cooling water due to reactor operation are determined. It is found that 70% of radioactive contaminants are retained by purification through resin of reactor filter. Decontamination factor and filter efficiency are also determined

Treatment of water closet flush water for recycle and reuse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parker, C.E.

1985-01-01

Results from the operation of a 37.8 m/sup 3//d extended aeration and sand filtration system in the closed-loop treatment of water closet flush water are presented. The system has operated for four and one-half years at 95 percent recycle. During this period over 30,000 m/sup 3/ of flush water was treated and reused. Water inputs into the recycle system resulted from liquid human wastes plus wastage form potable water uses. Wasted potable water inputs were from wash basins, water fountains and custodial services. Operation of both the biological treatment unit and the pressure sand filter followed acceptable conventional practice. Variations in nitrogen (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate), pH and alkalinity that were observed could be accounted for through fundamental biological, chemical and physical relationships. The pH throughout the entire recycle system varied between 5.5 and 8.4. Recycled water pH rose from a preflush pH of approximately 7.0 to a pH of 8.4 immediately after flushing. The biological unit lowered the pH and functioned between pH values of 5.5 and 7.0. A slight rise in pH between the biological unit (through storage and filtration) and water closets was observed. The predominate biomass in the biological unit was fungi. Biological solids were threadlike; however, they readily separated by gravity settling. Wastage of biological solids from the biological unit in the recycle-reuse system was the same experienced for a comparable biological unit used to treat water closet wastewater that was not recycled. Results from this study have conclusively demonstrated on a full-scale basis the acceptability of using biological oxidation and sand filtration as a treatment train in the reuse of water closet wastewater with a recycle ratio of 20.

Discharge and Treatment of Waste Water in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Torben

1990-01-01

This paper describes the waste water treatment situation in the area of Esbjerg. This example was chosen because the situation in Esbjerg is typical of that of most towns in Denmark, and because Esbjerg is closest to the British situation with respect to the receiving water. Esbjerg has...... a population of 70.000 inhabitans, and waste water treatment takes place in two treatment plants. These plants are now being extended to perform tertiary treatment, to fulfil the new Danish requirements. From 1992, the maximum average concentrations allowed for municipal waste water discharges to receiving...... waters will be; 15 mg/1 for BOD5, 8 mg/1 for total nitrogen, and 1.5 mg/1 for total phosphorus. These general requirements cover all types of receiving waters, but regional authorities have, in a number of cases, fixed lower values for sensitive areas....

A review of expert judgement and treatment of probability in SR 97

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilmot, R.D.; Crawford, M.B.

2000-01-01

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) recently published its latest performance assessment for deep disposal of spent nuclear fuel, based on the KBS-3 concept. This assessment, SR 97, uses three hypothetical repository sites (known as Aberg, Beberg and Ceberg) to provide a range of geological settings and hydrogeological conditions for the assessment. The long-term performance of these sites is compared for several sets of assumptions relating to canister lifetimes, climate evolution, and patterns of human behaviour. This report is a review of SR 97 conducted by Galson Sciences Ltd on behalf of the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI). The review focussed on the use of expert judgement in the assessment and on the treatment of uncertainty and the use of probability in assessment calculations. The review of SR 97 concluded that SKB had identified many of the judgements made in developing and implementing the assessment and modelling approaches, but that a more formal documentation of the assumptions involved would add to the clarity and transparency of the use of judgements. Similarly, explicit acknowledgement of the basis for making judgements about the treatment of FEPs would improve confidence in the assessment. There are a number of tools that can be useful in justifying the judgements made in an assessment. The review concluded that more use of dialogue with stake holders, peer review and expert elicitation could all be of value in SKB's assessment programme. Recently introduced regulations in Sweden have established an individual risk criterion for the long-term performance of repositories. SKB has previously identified 'pessimistic' and 'reasonable' values for a number of model parameters, and used these in a range of deterministic calculations to calculate dose and to illustrate system performance. To allow for the calculation of risk, SKB introduced probabilistic analyses into the SR 97 assessment by assigning probabilities of 10

Waste Water Treatment And Data Book Of Method Of Water Quality Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-03-01

This book indicates the method of water quality analysis and waste water treatment with collecting water quality data of advanced country and WHO, which introduces poisonous substance in industrial waste water such as heavy metal, ammonia, chlorine ion, PCB, chloroform, residual chlorine and manganese, reports about influence of those materials on human health, lists on method of analysis the poisonous substance, research way like working order and precautions on treatment and method of chemical process and use.

Modification of water treatment plant at Heavy Water Plant (Kota)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gajpati, C.R.; Shrivastava, C.S.; Shrivastava, D.C.; Shrivastava, J.; Vithal, G.K.; Bhowmick, A.

2008-01-01

Heavy Water Production by GS process viz. H 2 S - H 2 O bi-thermal exchange process requires a huge quantity of demineralized (DM) water as a source of deuterium. Since the deuterium recovery of GS process is only 18-19%, the water treatment plant (WTP) was designed and commissioned at Heavy Water Plant (Kota) to produce demineralized water at the rate of 680 m 3 /hr. The WTP was commissioned in 1980 and till 2005; the plant was producing DM water of required quality. It was having three streams of strong cation resin, atmospheric degasser and strong anion exchange resin with co-current regeneration. In 2001 a new concept of layered bed resin was developed and engineered for water treatment plant. The concept was attractive in terms of saving of chemicals and thus preservation of environment. Being an ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 plant, the modification of WTP was executed in 2005 during major turn around. After modification, a substantial amount of acid and alkali is saved

Assessment and management of agitation in psychiatry: Expert consensus.

Science.gov (United States)

Garriga, Marina; Pacchiarotti, Isabella; Kasper, Siegfried; Zeller, Scott L; Allen, Michael H; Vázquez, Gustavo; Baldaçara, Leonardo; San, Luis; McAllister-Williams, R Hamish; Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N; Courtet, Philippe; Naber, Dieter; Chan, Esther W; Fagiolini, Andrea; Möller, Hans Jürgen; Grunze, Heinz; Llorca, Pierre Michel; Jaffe, Richard L; Yatham, Lakshmi N; Hidalgo-Mazzei, Diego; Passamar, Marc; Messer, Thomas; Bernardo, Miquel; Vieta, Eduard

2016-01-01

Psychomotor agitation is associated with different psychiatric conditions and represents an important issue in psychiatry. Current recommendations on agitation in psychiatry are not univocal. Actually, an improper assessment and management may result in unnecessary coercive or sedative treatments. A thorough and balanced review plus an expert consensus can guide assessment and treatment decisions. An expert task force iteratively developed consensus using the Delphi method. Initial survey items were based on systematic review of the literature. Subsequent surveys included new, re-worded or re-rated items. Out of 2175 papers assessing psychomotor agitation, 124 were included in the review. Each component was assigned a level of evidence. Integrating the evidence and the experience of the task force members, a consensus was reached on 22 statements on this topic. Recommendations on the assessment of agitation emphasise the importance of identifying any possible medical cause. For its management, experts agreed in considering verbal de-escalation and environmental modification techniques as first choice, considering physical restraint as a last resort strategy. Regarding pharmacological treatment, the "ideal" medication should calm without over-sedate. Generally, oral or inhaled formulations should be preferred over i.m. routes in mildly agitated patients. Intravenous treatments should be avoided.

Progress of Nanocomposite Membranes for Water Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Ursino

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The use of membrane-based technologies has been applied for water treatment applications; however, the limitations of conventional polymeric membranes have led to the addition of inorganic fillers to enhance their performance. In recent years, nanocomposite membranes have greatly attracted the attention of scientists for water treatment applications such as wastewater treatment, water purification, removal of microorganisms, chemical compounds, heavy metals, etc. The incorporation of different nanofillers, such as carbon nanotubes, zinc oxide, graphene oxide, silver and copper nanoparticles, titanium dioxide, 2D materials, and some other novel nano-scale materials into polymeric membranes have provided great advances, e.g., enhancing on hydrophilicity, suppressing the accumulation of pollutants and foulants, enhancing rejection efficiencies and improving mechanical properties and thermal stabilities. Thereby, the aim of this work is to provide up-to-date information related to those novel nanocomposite membranes and their contribution for water treatment applications.

Progress of Nanocomposite Membranes for Water Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ursino, Claudia; Castro-Muñoz, Roberto; Drioli, Enrico; Gzara, Lassaad; Albeirutty, Mohammad H; Figoli, Alberto

2018-04-03

The use of membrane-based technologies has been applied for water treatment applications; however, the limitations of conventional polymeric membranes have led to the addition of inorganic fillers to enhance their performance. In recent years, nanocomposite membranes have greatly attracted the attention of scientists for water treatment applications such as wastewater treatment, water purification, removal of microorganisms, chemical compounds, heavy metals, etc. The incorporation of different nanofillers, such as carbon nanotubes, zinc oxide, graphene oxide, silver and copper nanoparticles, titanium dioxide, 2D materials, and some other novel nano-scale materials into polymeric membranes have provided great advances, e.g., enhancing on hydrophilicity, suppressing the accumulation of pollutants and foulants, enhancing rejection efficiencies and improving mechanical properties and thermal stabilities. Thereby, the aim of this work is to provide up-to-date information related to those novel nanocomposite membranes and their contribution for water treatment applications.

Effect of magnetic treatment of water on chemical properties of water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study assessed effect of magnetic treatment of water on chemical properties of water, sodium adsorption ratio, electrical conductivity (EC) of the water and the lifespan of the magnetic effect on water. Magnetic flux densities used for treating the water were 124, 319, 443 and 719 gauss. All the cations (Calcium, Sodium, ...

Expert Systems

OpenAIRE

Lucas, P.J.F.

2005-01-01

Expert systems mimic the problem-solving activity of human experts in specialized domains by capturing and representing expert knowledge. Expert systems include a knowledge base, an inference engine that derives conclusions from the knowledge, and a user interface. Knowledge may be stored as if-then rules, orusing other formalisms such as frames and predicate logic. Uncertain knowledge may be represented using certainty factors, Bayesian networks, Dempster-Shafer belief functions, or fuzzy se...

Treatment of Oil & Gas Produced Water.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dwyer, Brian P. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-02-01

Production of oil and gas reserves in the New Mexico Four Corners Region results in large volumes of "produced water". The common method for handling the produced water from well production is re-injection in regulatory permitted salt water disposal wells. This is expensive (%7E $5/bbl.) and does not recycle water, an ever increasingly valuable commodity. Previously, Sandia National Laboratories and several NM small business tested pressure driven membrane-filtration techniques to remove the high TDS (total dissolved solids) from a Four Corners Coal Bed Methane produced water. Treatment effectiveness was less than optimal due to problems with pre-treatment. Inadequate pre-treatment allowed hydrocarbons, wax and biological growth to foul the membranes. Recently, an innovative pre-treatment scheme using ozone and hydrogen peroxide was pilot tested. Results showed complete removal of hydrocarbons and the majority of organic constituents from a gas well production water. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was made possible through funding from the New Mexico Small Business Administration (NMSBA) Program at Sandia National Laboratories. Special thanks to Juan Martinez and Genaro Montoya for guidance and support from project inception to completion. Also, special thanks to Frank McDonald, the small businesses team POC, for laying the ground work for the entire project; Teresa McCown, the gas well owner and very knowledgeable- fantastic site host; Lea and Tim Phillips for their tremendous knowledge and passion in the oil & gas industry.; and Frank Miller and Steve Addleman for providing a pilot scale version of their proprietary process to facilitate the pilot testing.

Online NPP monitoring with neuro-expert system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nabeshima, K.

2002-01-01

This study present a hybrid monitoring system for nuclear power plant utilizing neural networks and a rule-based expert system. The whole monitoring system including a data acquisition system and the advisory displays has been tested by an on-line simulator of pressurized water reactor. From the testing results, it was shown that the neural network in the monitoring system successfully modeled the plant dynamics and detected the symptoms of anomalies earlier than the conventional alarm system. The expert system also worked satisfactorily in diagnosing and displaying the system status by using the outputs of neural networks and a priori knowledge base

Water Treatment Technology - Distribution Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross-Harrington, Melinda; Kincaid, G. David

One of twelve water treatment technology units, this student manual on distribution systems provides instructional materials for six competencies. (The twelve units are designed for a continuing education training course for public water supply operators.) The competencies focus on the following areas: types of pipe for distribution systems, types…

[The application of the expert system in prosthedontics].

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, P; Li, G; Wang, Y

1996-11-01

In this study, we developed an expert system for designing of frame work of Removable Partial Denture by the method of Artificial Intelligence. Both of Quick Basic and Tuber C language are used in this program. This system consider more other relative factors in removable partial denture designing except the amount and position of missing teeth. Base the idea of multy-layer knowledge we divide the process RPD designing into different layers according to their logical relationships. So, this system could imitate better the expert of prosthedontics to do the clinical examination, diagnosis, treatment plan and denture designing. There are 11 modules in this system totally. They are used to accomplish the case register, first visit examination, treatment plan, abutment examination, denture designing, biomechanic analysis of abutment, reference, explanation and etc. We used this system for 20 partial edentulous patients and compared the results with the designing plans of expert of prosthedontics, the rate of conformity is 83.6%.

Photocatalytic Water Treatment by Titanium Dioxide: Recent Updates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manoj A. Lazar

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Photocatalytic water treatment using nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (NTO is a well-known advanced oxidation process (AOP for environmental remediation. With the in situ generation of electron-hole pairs upon irradiation with light, NTO can mineralize a wide range of organic compounds into harmless end products such as carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic ions. Photocatalytic degradation kinetics of pollutants by NTO is a topic of debate and the mostly reporting Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics must accompanied with proper experimental evidences. Different NTO morphologies or surface treatments on NTO can increase the photocatalytic efficiency in degradation reactions. Wisely designed photocatalytic reactors can decrease energy consumption or can avoid post-separation stages in photocatalytic water treatment processes. Doping NTO with metals or non-metals can reduce the band gap of the doped catalyst, enabling light absorption in the visible region. Coupling NTO photocatalysis with other water-treatment technologies can be more beneficial, especially in large-scale treatments. This review describes recent developments in the field of photocatalytic water treatment using NTO.

Expert system support and juridical quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groothuis, Marga M.; Svensson, Jorgen S.; Breuker, J.; Leenes, R.E.; Winkels, R.

2000-01-01

This article discusses the use of expert systems as a means of achieving juridical quality within administrative organisations. Do these systems really improve the quality of decision making and provide the desired guarantees with respect to the correct treatment of clients?

Waste water treatment in Bukkerup (VB)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Rikke; Overgaard, Morten; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

1999-01-01

In connection to the new waste water plan of Tølløse municipal the technical and environmental board has suggested that Bukkerup get a sewer system which brings the waste water to the treatment plant for Tysinge. All though the residents would like to list alternative suggestions which improve...... the local water environment but is still competitive.In this report the alternatives are listed, e.i. root system plants, sand filters and mini treatment plants.The conclusion is that root system plants and a combination of root system plants and sand filters are better that the sewer system....

Grey water treatment systems: A review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abu-Ghunmi, L.N.A.H.; Zeeman, G.; Fayyad, M.; Lier, van J.B.

2011-01-01

This review aims to discern a treatment for grey water by examining grey water characteristics, reuse standards, technology performance and costs. The review reveals that the systems for treating grey water, whatever its quality, should consist of processes that are able to trap pollutants with a

[Telemedicine correlation in retinopathy of prematurity between experts and non-expert observers].

Science.gov (United States)

Ossandón, D; Zanolli, M; López, J P; Stevenson, R; Agurto, R; Cartes, C

2015-01-01

To study the correlation between expert and non-expert observers in the reporting images for the diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in a telemedicine setting. A cross-sectional, multicenter study, consisting of 25 sets of images of patients screened for ROP. They were evaluated by two experts in ROP and 1 non-expert and classified according to telemedicine classification, zone, stage, plus disease and Ells referral criteria. The telemedicine classification was: no ROP, mild ROP, type 2 ROP, or ROP that requires treatment. Ells referral criteria is defined as the presence at least one of the following: ROP in zone I, Stage 3 in zone I or II, or plus+ For statistical analysis, SPSS 16.0 was used. For correlation, Kappa value was performed. There was a high correlation between observers for the assessment of ROP stage (0.75; 0.54-0.88) plus disease (0.85; 0.71-0.92), and Ells criteria (0.89; 0.83-1.0). However, inter-observer values were low for zone (0.41; 0.27-0.54) and telemedicine classification (0.43; 0.33-0.6). When evaluating telemedicine images by examiners with different levels of expertise in ROP, the Ells criteria gave the best correlation. In addition, stage of disease and plus disease have good correlation among observers. In contrast, the correlation between observers was low for zone and telemedicine classification. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Oftalmología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Life cycle assessment of advanced waste water treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Henrik Fred; Hansen, Peter Augusto

The EU FP6 NEPTUNE project is related to the EU Water Framework Directive and the main goal is to develop new and optimize existing waste water treatment technologies (WWTT) and sludge handling methods for municipal waste water. Besides nutrients, a special focus area is micropollutants (e....... In total more that 20 different waste water and sludge treatment technologies are to be assessed. This paper will present the preliminary LCA results from running the induced versus avoided impact approach (mainly based on existing LCIA methodology) on one of the advanced treatment technologies, i...

Comparing the treatment of uncertainty in Bayesian networks and fuzzy expert systems used for a human reliability analysis application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baraldi, Piero; Podofillini, Luca; Mkrtchyan, Lusine; Zio, Enrico; Dang, Vinh N.

2015-01-01

The use of expert systems can be helpful to improve the transparency and repeatability of assessments in areas of risk analysis with limited data available. In this field, human reliability analysis (HRA) is no exception, and, in particular, dependence analysis is an HRA task strongly based on analyst judgement. The analysis of dependence among Human Failure Events refers to the assessment of the effect of an earlier human failure on the probability of the subsequent ones. This paper analyses and compares two expert systems, based on Bayesian Belief Networks and Fuzzy Logic (a Fuzzy Expert System, FES), respectively. The comparison shows that a BBN approach should be preferred in all the cases characterized by quantifiable uncertainty in the input (i.e. when probability distributions can be assigned to describe the input parameters uncertainty), since it provides a satisfactory representation of the uncertainty and its output is directly interpretable for use within PSA. On the other hand, in cases characterized by very limited knowledge, an analyst may feel constrained by the probabilistic framework, which requires assigning probability distributions for describing uncertainty. In these cases, the FES seems to lead to a more transparent representation of the input and output uncertainty. - Highlights: • We analyse treatment of uncertainty in two expert systems. • We compare a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) and a Fuzzy Expert System (FES). • We focus on the input assessment, inference engines and output assessment. • We focus on an application problem of interest for human reliability analysis. • We emphasize the application rather than math to reach non-BBN or FES specialists

Decentralised water and wastewater treatment technologies to produce functional water for irrigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Battilani, Adriano; Steiner, Michele; Andersen, Martin

2010-01-01

The EU project SAFIR aimed to help farmers solve problems related to the use of low quality water for irrigation in a context of increasing scarcity of conventional freshwater resources. New decentralised water treatment devices (prototypes) were developed to allow a safe direct or indirect reuse...... of wastewater produced by small communities/industries or the use of polluted surface water. Water treatment technologies were coupled with irrigation strategies and technologies to obtain a flexible, easy to use, integrated management of the system. The challenge is to apply new strategies and technologies...... which allow using the lowest irrigation water quality without harming food safety or yield and fruit or derivatives quality. This study presents the results of prototype testing of a small-scale compact pressurized membrane bioreactor and of a modular field treatment system including commercial gravel...

Fusing probability density function into Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence for the evaluation of water treatment plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Chowdhury, Shakhawat

2013-05-01

The evaluation of the status of a municipal drinking water treatment plant (WTP) is important. The evaluation depends on several factors, including, human health risks from disinfection by-products (R), disinfection performance (D), and cost (C) of water production and distribution. The Dempster-Shafer theory (DST) of evidence can combine the individual status with respect to R, D, and C to generate a new indicator, from which the overall status of a WTP can be evaluated. In the DST, the ranges of different factors affecting the overall status are divided into several segments. The basic probability assignments (BPA) for each segment of these factors are provided by multiple experts, which are then combined to obtain the overall status. In assigning the BPA, the experts use their individual judgments, which can impart subjective biases in the overall evaluation. In this research, an approach has been introduced to avoid the assignment of subjective BPA. The factors contributing to the overall status were characterized using the probability density functions (PDF). The cumulative probabilities for different segments of these factors were determined from the cumulative density function, which were then assigned as the BPA for these factors. A case study is presented to demonstrate the application of PDF in DST to evaluate a WTP, leading to the selection of the required level of upgradation for the WTP.

Applications of nanotechnology in water and wastewater treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Xiaolei; Alvarez, Pedro J J; Li, Qilin

2013-08-01

Providing clean and affordable water to meet human needs is a grand challenge of the 21st century. Worldwide, water supply struggles to keep up with the fast growing demand, which is exacerbated by population growth, global climate change, and water quality deterioration. The need for technological innovation to enable integrated water management cannot be overstated. Nanotechnology holds great potential in advancing water and wastewater treatment to improve treatment efficiency as well as to augment water supply through safe use of unconventional water sources. Here we review recent development in nanotechnology for water and wastewater treatment. The discussion covers candidate nanomaterials, properties and mechanisms that enable the applications, advantages and limitations as compared to existing processes, and barriers and research needs for commercialization. By tracing these technological advances to the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials, the present review outlines the opportunities and limitations to further capitalize on these unique properties for sustainable water management. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert - Non-expert differences in visual behaviour during alpine slalom skiing.

Science.gov (United States)

Decroix, Marjolein; Wazir, Mohd Rozilee Wazir Norjali; Zeuwts, Linus; Deconinck, Frederik F J A; Lenoir, Matthieu; Vansteenkiste, Pieter

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate visual behaviour of expert and non-expert ski athletes during an alpine slalom. Fourteen non-experts and five expert slalom skiers completed an alpine slalom course in an indoor ski slope while wearing a head-mounted eye tracking device. Experts completed the slalom clearly faster than non-experts, but no significant difference was found in timing and position of the turn initiation. Although both groups already looked at future obstacles approximately 0,5s before passing the upcoming pole, the higher speed of experts implied that they shifted gaze spatially earlier in the bend than non-experts. Furthermore, experts focussed more on the second next pole while non-expert slalom skiers looked more to the snow surface immediately in front of their body. No difference was found in the fixation frequency, average fixation duration, and quiet eye duration between both groups. These results suggest that experts focus on the timing of their actions while non-experts still need to pay attention to the execution of these actions. These results also might suggest that ski trainers should instruct non-experts and experts to focus on the next pole and, shift their gaze to the second next pole shortly before reaching it. Based on the current study it seems unadvisable to instruct slalom skiers to look several poles ahead during the actual slalom. However, future research should test if these results still hold on a real outdoor slope, including multiple vertical gates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Review of Traditional and Novel Treatments for Seizures in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from a Systematic Review and Expert Panel

OpenAIRE

Frye, Richard E.; Rossignol, Daniel; Casanova, Manuel F.; Brown, Gregory L.; Martin, Victoria; Edelson, Stephen; Coben, Robert; Lewine, Jeffrey; Slattery, John C.; Lau, Chrystal; Hardy, Paul; Fatemi, S. Hossein; Folsom, Timothy D.; MacFabe, Derrick; Adams, James B.

2013-01-01

Despite the fact that seizures are commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the effectiveness of treatments for seizures has not been well studied in individuals with ASD. This manuscript reviews both traditional and novel treatments for seizures associated with ASD. Studies were selected by systematically searching major electronic databases and by a panel of experts that treat ASD individuals. Only a few anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) have undergone carefully controlled trials ...

Medicine Of Water Treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Jeong Rae

1987-02-01

This book deals with the medicine of water handling, which includes medicine for dispersion and cohesion, zeta-potential, congelation with Shalze Hardy's law, inorganic coagulants, inorganic high molecule coagulants, aid coagulant such as fly ash and sodium hydroxide, and effect of aluminum and iron on cohesion of clay suspension, organic coagulants like history of organic coagulants, a polyelectrolyte, coagulants for cation, and organic polymer coagulant, heavy metal and cyan exfoliants, application of drugs of water treatment.

Present municipal water treatment and potential removal methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.Y.; White, S.K.; Bondietti, E.A.

1982-01-01

Uranium analyses of raw water, intermediate stage, and treated water samples from 20 municipal water treatment plants indicated that the present treatment practices were not effective in removing uranium from raw waters when the influent concentration was in the range of 0.1 to 16 μg/L uranium. Laboratory batch tests revealed that the water softening and coagulant chemicals commonly used were able to remove more than 90% of the dissolved uranium ( < 100 μg/L) in waters if an optimum pH and dosage were provided. Absorbents, titanium oxide and activated charcoal, were also effective in uranium removal under specific conditions. Strong base anion exchange resin was the most efficient uranium adsorbent, and an anion exchange column is a recommended option for the treatment of private well waters containing uranium at higher than desirable levels

MWH's water treatment: principles and design

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Crittenden, John C

2012-01-01

... with additional worked problems and new treatment approaches. It covers both the principles and theory of water treatment as well as the practical considerations of plant design and distribution...

Waste water treatment today and tomorrow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The papers discuss waste water treatment in the legislation of the EC, the German state, the Laender and communities, as well as water protection by preventing waste production and pollutant emissions. (EF) [de

Artificial intelligence/expert (AI/EX) systems for steelworks pollution control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schofield, N.; Le Louer, P.; Mirabile, D.; Hubner, R. [Corus UK Ltd., Rotherham (United Kingdom)

2002-07-01

The objectives of this project have been to develop and apply artificial intelligence and expert system (AI/EX) methods to improve the control and operational performance of steelworks' pollution control equipment and to assess the viability and benefits of using such systems in dynamic process plant applications. Four distinct sub-projects were carried out: an expert system incorporating knowledge-based rules and neural network simulations has been developed by Corus which provides plant personnel with a real-time condition monitoring tool for the plant. Abnormalities with plant operation are now instantly recognised and alarmed, allowing prioritised maintenance to increase plant availability. The LECES project focused on studies concerning three different sites in order to evaluate predictive emission monitoring systems using neural networks to replace conventional instrumental and controls in steelworks' combustion systems. VAI developed a software template for pollution control expert systems to demonstrate the transferability of AI/EX technology. This has been done through the development of a validated process database containing data from the Corus sub-project and the subsequent integration of this data with dynamic emission models to produce rules for input to an evaluation database. CSM developed a fuzzy logic controlled process management system applied to the biological treatment of coke-oven waste water. A pilot plant has been installed and results on simulations performed using the fuzzy logic system linked to a neural network simulator show that it is possible to obtain great advantages in the biological pilot plant performance.

Optimal operating rules definition in complex water resource systems combining fuzzy logic, expert criteria and stochastic programming

Science.gov (United States)

Macian-Sorribes, Hector; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel

2016-04-01

This contribution presents a methodology for defining optimal seasonal operating rules in multireservoir systems coupling expert criteria and stochastic optimization. Both sources of information are combined using fuzzy logic. The structure of the operating rules is defined based on expert criteria, via a joint expert-technician framework consisting in a series of meetings, workshops and surveys carried out between reservoir managers and modelers. As a result, the decision-making process used by managers can be assessed and expressed using fuzzy logic: fuzzy rule-based systems are employed to represent the operating rules and fuzzy regression procedures are used for forecasting future inflows. Once done that, a stochastic optimization algorithm can be used to define optimal decisions and transform them into fuzzy rules. Finally, the optimal fuzzy rules and the inflow prediction scheme are combined into a Decision Support System for making seasonal forecasts and simulate the effect of different alternatives in response to the initial system state and the foreseen inflows. The approach presented has been applied to the Jucar River Basin (Spain). Reservoir managers explained how the system is operated, taking into account the reservoirs' states at the beginning of the irrigation season and the inflows previewed during that season. According to the information given by them, the Jucar River Basin operating policies were expressed via two fuzzy rule-based (FRB) systems that estimate the amount of water to be allocated to the users and how the reservoir storages should be balanced to guarantee those deliveries. A stochastic optimization model using Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP) was developed to define optimal decisions, which are transformed into optimal operating rules embedding them into the two FRBs previously created. As a benchmark, historical records are used to develop alternative operating rules. A fuzzy linear regression procedure was employed to

Water treatment in the EBR-II steam system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, M.A.; Hurst, H.

1975-01-01

Boiler-water treatment in the EBR-II steam system consists of demineralizing makeup water and using hydrazine to remove traces of oxygen and morpholine to adjust pH to 8.8-9.2. This treatment is called a ''zero-solids'' method, because the chemical agents and reaction products are either volatile or form water and do not contribute solids to the boiler water. A continuous blowdown is cooled, filtered, and deionized to remove impurities and maintain high purity of the water. If a cooling-water leak occurs, phosphate is added to control scaling, and the ''zero-solids'' eatment is suspended until the leak is repaired. Water streams are sampled at six points to control water purity. Examination of the steam drum and an evaporator show the metal surfaces to be in excellent condition with minimal corrosion. The EBR-II steam-generating plant has accumulated over 85,000 hours of in-service operation and has operated successfully for over ten years with the ''zero-solids'' treatment. (auth)

Innovations in nanotechnology for water treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gehrke I

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Ilka Gehrke, Andreas Geiser, Annette Somborn-SchulzFraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, Oberhausen, GermanyAbstract: Important challenges in the global water situation, mainly resulting from worldwide population growth and climate change, require novel innovative water technologies in order to ensure a supply of drinking water and reduce global water pollution. Against this background, the adaptation of highly advanced nanotechnology to traditional process engineering offers new opportunities in technological developments for advanced water and wastewater technology processes. Here, an overview of recent advances in nanotechnologies for water and wastewater treatment processes is provided, including nanobased materials, such as nanoadsorbents, nanometals, nanomembranes, and photocatalysts. The beneficial properties of these materials as well as technical barriers when compared with conventional processes are reported. The state of commercialization is presented and an outlook on further research opportunities is given for each type of nanobased material and process. In addition to the promising technological enhancements, the limitations of nanotechnology for water applications, such as laws and regulations as well as potential health risks, are summarized. The legal framework according to nanoengineered materials and processes that are used for water and wastewater treatment is considered for European countries and for the USA.Keywords: nanotechnology, water technology, nanoadsorbents, nanometals, nanomembranes, photocatalysis

Risk-Informed SSCs Categorization: Elicitation Method of Expert's Opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Mee Jeong; Yang, Joon Eon; Kim, Kil Yoo

2005-01-01

The regulations have been performing by deterministic way since nuclear power plants have been operating. However, some SSCs identified as safety-significance by deterministic way, were turned out to be low or non safety-significant and some SSCs identified as non-safety significance were turned out to be high safety-significant according to the results of PSA. Considering these risk insights, Regulatory Guide 1.174 and 10CFR50.69 were drawn up, and we can re-categorize the SSCs according to their safety significance. Therefore, a study and an interest about the risk-informed SSCs re-categorization and treatment has been continued. The objective of this regulatory initiative is to adjust the scope of equipment subject to special regulatory treatment to better focus licensee and regulatory attention and resources on equipment that has safety significance. Current most regulations define the plant equipment necessary to meet deterministic regulatory basis as 'safety-related.' This equipment is subject to special treatment regulations. Other plant equipment is categorized as 'non-safety related,' and is not subject to a select number of special treatment requirement or a subset of those requirement. However, risk information is not a magic tool making a decision but a supporting tool to categorize SSCs. This is because only small parts of a plant are modeled in PSA model. Thus, engineering and deterministic judgments are also used for risk-informed SSCs categorization, and expert opinion elicitation is very important for risk-informed SSCs categorization. Therefore, we need a rational method to elicit the expert's opinions, and in this study, we developed a systematic method for expert elicitation to categorize the nuclear power plants' SSCs. Current states for SSCs categorization of the USA and the existing methods for expert elicitation were surveyed and more systematic way eliciting the expert opinions and combining was developed. To validate the developed method

Discussing simply waste water treatment in building green mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Yousheng

2010-01-01

Analysis simplfy it is important and necessary that uran ore enterprise build the green mine .According to focusing on waste water treatment in building green mine of some uran ore enterprise,analysis the problem in treating mine water, technics waste water, tailings water before remoulding the system of waster water treatment, evaluate the advanced technics, satisfy ability, steady effect, reach the mark of discharge. According to the experimental unit of building the green mine,some uran ore enterprise make the waster water reaching the mark of discharge after remoulding the system of waster water treatment.It provides valuable experienceto uran ore enterprise in building green mine. (authors)

Improved Energy Recovery by Anaerobic Grey Water Sludge Treatment with Black Water

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tervahauta, T.H.; Bryant, I.M.; Hernandez Leal, L.; Buisman, C.J.N.; Zeeman, G.

2014-01-01

This study presents the potential of combining anaerobic grey water sludge treatment with black water in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor to improve energy recovery within source-separated sanitation concepts. Black water and the mixture of black water and grey water sludge were

Membrane technology water treatment facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruzdev, E. N.; Starikov, E.N.

2009-01-01

The suggested technical solution, in contrast with the traditional treatment methods using pressure filtration and sorption cleaning, can be applied with minimal used for equipment, stable production and the use of reagents, prevention of the formation of waste water with high mineral content and avoid the need for neutralization of the main stream of waste water

Waste water treatment by flotation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camelia Badulescu

2005-11-01

Full Text Available The flotation is succesfully applied as a cleaning method of waste water refineries, textile fabrics (tissues, food industry, paper plants, oils plants, etc. In the flotation process with the released air, first of all, the water is saturated with air compressed at pressures between 0,3 – 3 bar, followed by the relaxed phenomenon of the air-water solution in a flotation cell with slowly flowing. The supersaturation could be applied in the waste water treatment. In this case the waste water, which is in the atmospheric equilibrum, is introduced in a closed space where the depression is 0,3 – 0,5 bar. Our paper presents the hypobaric flotation cell and the technological flow of cleaning of domestic waste waters

Household Water Treatments in Developing Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Smieja, Joanne A.

2011-01-01

Household water treatments (HWT) can help provide clean water to millions of people worldwide who do not have access to safe water. This article describes four common HWT used in developing countries and the pertinent chemistry involved. The intent of this article is to inform both high school and college chemical educators and chemistry students…

Expert Systems: Implications for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Learning Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmeister, Alan M.; Lubke, Margaret M.

1986-01-01

Expert systems are briefly reviewed and applications in special education diagnosis and classification are described. Future applications are noted to include text interpretation and pupil performance monitoring. (CL)

Expert Recommendations on Treating Psoriasis in Special Circumstances (Part II).

Science.gov (United States)

Carrascosa, J M; Galán, M; de Lucas, R; Pérez-Ferriols, A; Ribera, M; Yanguas, I

2016-11-01

There is insufficient information on how best to treat moderate to severe psoriasis in difficult clinical circumstances. We considered 5 areas where there is conflicting or insufficient evidence: pediatric psoriasis, risk of infection in patients being treated with biologics, psoriasis in difficult locations, biologic drug survival, and impact of disease on quality of life. Following discussion of the issues by an expert panel of dermatologists specialized in the management of psoriasis, participants answered a questionnaire survey according to the Delphi method. Consensus was reached on 66 (70.9%) of the 93 items analyzed; the experts agreed with 49 statements and disagreed with 17. It was agreed that body mass index, metabolic comorbidities, and quality of life should be monitored in children with psoriasis. The experts also agreed that the most appropriate systemic treatment for this age group was methotrexate, while the most appropriate biologic treatment was etanercept. Although it was recognized that the available evidence was inconsistent and difficult to extrapolate, the panel agreed that biologic drug survival could be increased by flexible, individualized dosing regimens, continuous treatment, and combination therapies. Finally, consensus was reached on using the Dermatology Quality of Life Index to assess treatment effectiveness and aid decision-making in clinical practice. The structured opinion of experts guides decision-making regarding aspects of clinical practice for which there is incomplete or conflicting information. Copyright © 2016 AEDV. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Application of hydrodynamic cavitation in ballast water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cvetković, Martina; Kompare, Boris; Klemenčič, Aleksandra Krivograd

2015-05-01

Ballast water is, together with hull fouling and aquaculture, considered the most important factor of the worldwide transfer of invasive non-indigenous organisms in aquatic ecosystems and the most important factor in European Union. With the aim of preventing and halting the spread of the transfer of invasive organisms in aquatic ecosystems and also in accordance with IMO's International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water and Sediments, the systems for ballast water treatment, whose work includes, e.g. chemical treatment, ozonation and filtration, are used. Although hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is used in many different areas, such as science and engineering, implied acoustics, biomedicine, botany, chemistry and hydraulics, the application of HC in ballast water treatment area remains insufficiently researched. This paper presents the first literature review that studies lab- and large-scale setups for ballast water treatment together with the type-approved systems currently available on the market that use HC as a step in their operation. This paper deals with the possible advantages and disadvantages of such systems, as well as their influence on the crew and marine environment. It also analyses perspectives on the further development and application of HC in ballast water treatment.

Chemistry of cost effective water treatment programme in HWP (Manuguru)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohapatra, C.; Laxmana Prasad, K.

2008-01-01

In order to develop a water treatment programme following points must be kept in mind: Effectiveness to achieve desired water quality objectives; Compliance with regulatory requirements; Cost minimization; Safety; Easy operation and protection to equipments. Heavy Water Plant (Manuguru) laboratory has developed treatment programs to treat raw water and cooling water which satisfy the above requirements and has been in use for last several years successfully without any problem. These treatment programs have been given to other plants in Heavy Water Board for implementation. This paper describes the chemistry of the treatment program and cost minimization achieved. Further these treatments have helped the plant in achieving ΦZero Discharge and indirectly reduced the production cost. The chemistry parameters are monitored regularly to ascertain the effectiveness of these treatments. The areas where significant benefits derived are raw water treatment using polyelectrolyte instead of inorganic coagulant (alum), change over of regenerant of cation exchangers from hydrochloric acid to sulfuric acid and development of in-house cooling water treatment formulation. The advantages and cost effectiveness of these treatments are discussed in detail. Further these treatments helped the plant in achieving Zero discharge and indirectly reduced production cost of heavy water. The dosage of 3 ppm of polyelectrolyte can replace 90 ppm alum at turbidity level of 300 NTU of raw water which has resulted in cost saving of Rs. 15 - 20 Lakhs in a year besides other advantages. The changeover of regenerant from HCl to H 2 SO 4 will result in cost saving of at least Rs. 1.4 Crore a year along with other advantages. The change over of proprietary formulation to in-house formulation in cooling water treatment has resulted a saving about Rs. 11 Lakhs a year. To achieve the above objectives in a sustainable way the performance results are being monitored (author)

Microbial Communities Shaped by Treatment Processes in a Drinking Water Treatment Plant and Their Contribution and Threat to Drinking Water Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qi; Yu, Shuili; Li, Lei; Liu, Guicai; Gu, Zhengyang; Liu, Minmin; Liu, Zhiyuan; Ye, Yubing; Xia, Qing; Ren, Liumo

2017-01-01

Bacteria play an important role in water purification in drinking water treatment systems. On one hand, bacteria present in the untreated water may help in its purification through biodegradation of the contaminants. On the other hand, some bacteria may be human pathogens and pose a threat to consumers. The present study investigated bacterial communities using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and their functions were predicted using PICRUSt in a treatment system, including the biofilms on sand filters and biological activated carbon (BAC) filters, in 4 months. In addition, quantitative analyses of specific bacterial populations were performed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The bacterial community composition of post-ozonation effluent, BAC effluent and disinfected water varied with sampling time. However, the bacterial community structures at other treatment steps were relatively stable, despite great variations of source water quality, resulting in stable treatment performance. Illumina MiSeq sequencing illustrated that Proteobacteria was dominant bacterial phylum. Chlorine disinfection significantly influenced the microbial community structure, while other treatment processes were synergetic. Bacterial communities in water and biofilms were distinct, and distinctions of bacterial communities also existed between different biofilms. By contrast, the functional composition of biofilms on different filters were similar. Some functional genes related to pollutant degradation were found widely distributed throughout the treatment processes. The distributions of Mycobacterium spp. and Legionella spp. in water and biofilms were revealed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Most bacteria, including potential pathogens, could be effectively removed by chlorine disinfection. However, some bacteria presented great resistance to chlorine. qPCRs showed that Mycobacterium spp. could not be effectively removed by

A Primer on Waste Water Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. Federal Water Pollution Control Administration.

This information pamphlet is for teachers, students, or the general public concerned with the types of waste water treatment systems, the need for further treatment, and advanced methods of treating wastes. Present day pollution control methods utilizing primary and secondary waste treatment plants, lagoons, and septic tanks are described,…

Hydraulic modelling of drinking water treatment plant operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. C. Rietveld

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The flow through a unit of a drinking water treatment plant is one of the most important parameters in terms of a unit's effectiveness. In the present paper, a new EPAnet library is presented with the typical hydraulic elements for drinking water treatment processes well abstraction, rapid sand filtration and cascade and tower aeration. Using this treatment step library, a hydraulic model was set up, calibrated and validated for the drinking water treatment plant Harderbroek. With the actual valve position and pump speeds, the flows were calculated through the several treatment steps. A case shows the use of the model to calculate the new setpoints for the current frequency converters of the effluent pumps during a filter backwash.

Evaluation of two methods in controlling dental treatment water contamination.

Science.gov (United States)

Bansal, Ritu; Puttaiah, Raghunath; Harris, Robert; Reddy, Anil

2011-03-01

Dental unit water systems are contaminated with biofilms that amplify bacterial counts in dental treatment water in excess of a million colony forming units per milliliter (cfu/ml). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Dental Association have agreed that the maximum allowable contamination of dental treatment water not exceed 500 cfu/ml. This study was conducted to evaluate two protocols in controlling contamination of dental unit water systems and dental treatment water. Both methods used an antimicrobial self-dissolving chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) tablet at a high concentration (50 ppm) to shock the dental unit water system biofilms initially followed by periodic exposure. To treat dental treatment source water for patient care, 3 parts per million (ppm) ClO₂ in municipal/tap water was compared to use of a citrus botanical extract dissolved in municipal water. Heterotrophic microbial counts of effluent water and laser scanning confocal microscopy were performed to evaluate effects of the two treatments. Results from this study indicated that both treatments were effective in controlling biofilm contamination and reducing heterotrophic plate counts Contemp Dent Pract 2011;12(2):73-83. Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None declared.

Water treatment technologies for a mixed waste remedial action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reith, C.; Freeman, G.; Ballew, B.

1992-01-01

Water treatment is an important element of the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP), which is cleaning up a former uranium processing plant near St. Louis, Missouri. This project, under the management of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), includes treatment and release of contaminated surface water and possibly groundwater at the plant site and a nearby quarry, which was once used for waste disposal. The contaminants include uranium, thorium, radium, nitroaromatics, nitrates, and metals. Three water treatment plants will be used to treat contaminated water prior to its release to the Missouri River. The first, construction of which is nearly complete, will treat contaminated surface water and interstitial water in and around the quarry. A stepwise process of sedimentation, clarification, filtration, adsorption, and ion exchange will be used to remove the contaminants. A similar sequence will be used for the first train of the water treatment plant at the plant site, although process details have been adjusted to address the different contaminant concentrations. The site water treatment plant will also have a second train consisting of a vapor compression/ distillation (VCD) system. Train 2 is necessary to treat waters primarily from four raffinate pits containing high concentrations of inorganics (e.g., nitrates, sulfates, and chlorides) in addition to radionuclides, nitroaromatics, and metals contamination that are common in most of the waters at the site. Construction is under way on the First train of this facility. After it is treated, all water will be impounded and batch tested for compliance with the project's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits prior to release to the Missouri River. The third water treatment plant is a mobile system that will be used to treat waters in some of the building sumps. (author)

Water treatment technologies for a mixed waste remedial action

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reith, C; Freeman, G [Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project, Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., St. Charles, MO (United States); Ballew, B [Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project, Dames and Moore, St. Charles, MO (United States)

1992-07-01

Water treatment is an important element of the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP), which is cleaning up a former uranium processing plant near St. Louis, Missouri. This project, under the management of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), includes treatment and release of contaminated surface water and possibly groundwater at the plant site and a nearby quarry, which was once used for waste disposal. The contaminants include uranium, thorium, radium, nitroaromatics, nitrates, and metals. Three water treatment plants will be used to treat contaminated water prior to its release to the Missouri River. The first, construction of which is nearly complete, will treat contaminated surface water and interstitial water in and around the quarry. A stepwise process of sedimentation, clarification, filtration, adsorption, and ion exchange will be used to remove the contaminants. A similar sequence will be used for the first train of the water treatment plant at the plant site, although process details have been adjusted to address the different contaminant concentrations. The site water treatment plant will also have a second train consisting of a vapor compression/ distillation (VCD) system. Train 2 is necessary to treat waters primarily from four raffinate pits containing high concentrations of inorganics (e.g., nitrates, sulfates, and chlorides) in addition to radionuclides, nitroaromatics, and metals contamination that are common in most of the waters at the site. Construction is under way on the First train of this facility. After it is treated, all water will be impounded and batch tested for compliance with the project's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits prior to release to the Missouri River. The third water treatment plant is a mobile system that will be used to treat waters in some of the building sumps. (author)

Isolation of viruses from drinking water at the Point-Viau water treatment plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Payment, P.

1981-04-01

Viruses were isolated from every sample of raw (100 L) and treated (1000 L) water collected at a water treatment plant drawing sewage-contaminated river water. Few plaque-forming isolates were formed but cytopathogenic viruses were isolated as frequently in drinking water as in raw water. In drinking water some samples contained more than 1 cytopathogenic unit per litre, but most contained 1-10/100 L. These viruses had not been inactivated or removed by prechlorination, flocculation, filtration, ozonation, and postchlorination. There were no coliforms present and a residual chlorine level had been maintained. Poliovirus type 1 was a frequent isolate but many isolates were nonpoliovirus. The presence of these viruses in drinking water raises questions about the efficacy of some water treatment processes to remove viruses from polluted water.

An expert system for microbiologically influenced corrosion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carney, C.E.; Licina, G.J.

1991-01-01

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) is a damage mechanism that can cause serious degradation of service water system components. MIC can be particularly insidious since damage can occur very quickly, even in environments otherwise resistant to corrosion. Plant operations or maintenance personnel or system engineers typically do not have sufficient expertise to predict when and where MIC may occur or what methods of treatment are effective. An expert system (MICPro) has been devised which provides a tool for utilities to predict where MIC will occur, which systems or components are most susceptible, how operating parameters may affect vulnerability, and how to implement corrective and preventative measures. The system is designed to be simple to use: required inputs are common system parameters and results are presented as numbers from 1 to 10 indicating the likelihood of damage due to the given input. In this paper the structure and operation of the system is described, and future refinements are discussed

Expert ease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1984-04-01

Expert-ease allows the most inexperienced of computer users to build an expert system in a matter of hours. It is nothing more or less than a computer based problem-solving system. It allows the expert to preserve his or her knowledge in the form of rules, which can be applied to problems put to the system by the non-expert. The crucial piece of software at the heart of Expert-Ease extracts rules from data, and is called the analogue concept learning system. It was developed by Intelligent Terminals Ltd. and supplied to Export Software International to be incorporated into a commercially attractive package for business users. The resulting product runs on the Act Sirius and the IBM PC and compatibles. It is a well conceived and polished product with a popular appeal that should ensure widespread acceptance even at a cost of >1500 plus vat.

Residual water treatment for gamma radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendez, L.

1990-01-01

The treatment of residual water by means of gamma radiation for its use in agricultural irrigation is evaluated. Measurements of physical, chemical, biological and microbiological contamination indicators were performed. For that, samples from the treatment center of residual water of San Juan de Miraflores were irradiated up to a 52.5 kGy dose. The study concludes that gamma radiation is effective to remove parasites and bacteria, but not for removal of the organic and inorganic matter. (author). 15 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs

An expert system to estimate SNM production at LWR systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandquist, G.M.; Allison, J.L.; Rogers, V.C.

1988-01-01

An artificial intelligence expert system, analysis of proliferation by expert system (APES), has been developed and tested to permit a nonexpert to quickly evaluate the capabilities and capacities of a reactor and reprocessing system for producing and separating plutonium [special nuclear material (SNM)] even when system information may be limited and uncertain. The present analysis domain of APES is directed at light water reactors and Purex reprocessing, but extension of the domain is planned

Rational design of nanomaterials for water treatment

KAUST Repository

Li, Renyuan; Zhang, Lianbin; Wang, Peng

2015-01-01

The ever-increasing human demand for safe and clean water is gradually pushing conventional water treatment technologies to their limits and it is now a popular perception that the solutions to the existing and future water challenges will highly

Process for the treatment of salt water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hull, R J

1966-06-12

A procedure is described for the treatment of salty or brackish water for the production of steam, which is directly utilized afterward, either in a condensed form as sweet water or deoxidized for injection into oil formations for raising the temperature thereof and other uses. The water-purification treatment is continuous, and is of the type in which the salty or brackish water is passed in direct heat exchange relationship with the steam produced for preheating the water up to a temperature where some of the dissolved ions of calcium and magnesium are precipitated in the form of insoluble salts. In the passage of the preheated water being purified, a zone is created for the completion of the reaction. A part of the water is retained in this reaction zone while the other part is being passed in indirect heat exchange relationship with a heating means, for converting this part of the water into steam. All of the steam obtained in the latter described heat exchange is utilized in the water purification, and/or added to the produced steam, as first noted.

Hanford facilities tracer study report (315 Water Treatment Facility)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambalam, T.

1995-01-01

This report presents the results and findings of a tracer study to determine contact time for the disinfection process of 315 Water Treatment Facility that supplies sanitary water for the 300 Area. The study utilized fluoride as the tracer and contact times were determined for two flow rates. Interpolation of data and short circuiting effects are also discussed. The 315 Water Treatment Facility supplies sanitary water for the 300 Area to various process and domestic users. The Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR), outlined in the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments enacted by the EPA in 1989 and regulated by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) in Section 246-290-600 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), stipulates filtration and disinfection requirements for public water systems under the direct influence of surface water. The SWTR disinfection guidelines require that each treatment system achieves predetermined inactivation ratios. The inactivation by disinfection is approximated with a measure called CxT, where C is the disinfectant residual concentration and T is the effective contact time of the water with the disinfectant. The CxT calculations for the Hanford water treatment plants were derived from the total volume of the contact basin(s). In the absence of empirical data to support CxT calculations, the DOH determined that the CxT values used in the monthly reports for the water treatment plants on the Hanford site were invalid and required the performance of a tracer study at each plant. In response to that determination, a tracer study will be performed to determine the actual contact times of the facilities for the CxT calculations

Effluent and water treatment at AERE Harwell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, J.B.

1977-01-01

The treatment of liquid wastes at Harwell is based on two main principles: separation of surface water, domestic sewage, trade wastes and radioactive effluents at source, and a system of holding tanks which are sampled so that the appropriate treatment can be given to any batch. All discharges are subject to independent monitoring by the authorising departments and the Thames Water Inspectors. (author)

Expert System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hildebrandt, Thomas Troels; Cattani, Gian Luca

2016-01-01

An expert system is a computer system for inferring knowledge from a knowledge base, typically by using a set of inference rules. When the concept of expert systems was introduced at Stanford University in the early 1970s, the knowledge base was an unstructured set of facts. Today the knowledge b...... for the application of expert systems, but also raises issues regarding privacy and legal liability....

The treatment of river water by reverse osmosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ray, N.J.; Jenkins, M.A.; Coates, A.

1977-01-01

The suitability of rod, spirally would and hollow fibre reverse osmosis systems has been assessed for the treatment of River Trent water to produce water of boiler feed quality. Particular attention has been paid to the effects of the suspended solids level of the influent water supply on operating and cleaning regimes. The best performance was given by the rod-type membranes which could be used with relatively dirty water if suitable chemical and/or physical cleaning techniques were applied. However, even this system, requires some form of clarification of the raw supply, and this affects capital and overall running costs. The hollow fibre membrane, which cannot be readily cleaned required an excessively clean water supply to avoid rapid and irreversible loss of output and is unlikely to have full-scale application on this, or similar, water. The spirally wound membranes, whilst not so susceptible to suspended solids as the hollow fibre system, did not tolerate dirty water, and required the raw water to be clarified to a level that is unlikely to be continuously guaranteed. In its current stage of development reverse osmosis is unlikely to give a cost advantage over the main cation/anion exchange stage of present water treatment plant, even for the treatment of waters relatively high in dissolved salts (500 mg kg -1 ). Moreover, conventional pretreatment and final mixed ion-exchange beds would still be required to produce water of boiler feed quality. Reverse osmosis does, however, remove organic species and non reactive silicon; its selection is likely to be dictated by such requirements or where space is at a premium e.g. extensions to existing water treatment plants. (orig.) [de

Physical water treatment against calcification and rust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burger, A.

1995-01-01

In contrast to Germany, where the installation of small-sized, decentralised plants is still prefered, water supply companies in countries such as Denmark have already for some time successfully been using physical water treatment systems. Although the health and environmental benefits of this non-chemical method of water treatment are undisputed and its proper application is also economically beneficial, there is still a widerspread lack of information as to where such plants can be used. Consequently, older methods are often resorted to combatting calcification and rust. (orig.) [de

Cooling water treatment for heavy water project (Paper No. 6.9)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valsangkar, H.N.

1992-01-01

With minor exceptions, water is the preferred industrial medium for the removal of unwanted heat from process systems. The application of various chemical treatments is required to protect the system from water related and process related problems of corrosion, scale and deposition and biofouling. The paper discusses the cooling water problems for heavy water industries along with the impact caused by associated fertilizer units. (author). 6 figs

WATER MICROPOLLUTANTS: CLASSIFICATION AND TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yolanda Patiño

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This article reviews the different kinds of emerging contaminants, their origin and use, and their presence in the Spanish waters, both in surface and groundwater. Micropollutants are compounds of different origin and chemical nature which had been unnoticed (due to their low concentration and don’t have specific regulation. They are divided into six major groups, and many of them behave as endocrine disruptors causing large negative effects on human health and environment. They are in waters because the waste water treatment plants are not designed for their removal, so they are being discharged. Different alternatives for their removal are discussed - physico- chemical, biological and hybrid treatment technologies -. Among the physicochemical process, the advance oxidation processes (AOPs are very promising.

Sludge pumping in water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solar Manuel, M. A.

2010-01-01

In water treatment processes is frequent to separate residual solids, with sludge shape, and minimize its volume in a later management. the technologies to applicate include pumping across pipelines, even to long distance. In wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), the management of these sludges is very important because their characteristics affect load losses calculation. Pumping sludge can modify its behavior and pumping frequency can concern treatment process. This paper explains advantages and disadvantages of different pumps to realize transportation sludge operations. (Author) 11 refs.

Waste water treatment plant city of Kraljevo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marinović Dragan D.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In all countries, in the fight for the preservation of environmental protection, water pollution, waste water is one of the very serious and complex environmental problems. Waste waters pollute rivers, lakes, sea and ground water and promote the development of micro-organisms that consume oxygen, which leads to the death of fish and the occurrence of pathogenic microbes. Water pollution and determination of its numerous microbiological contamination, physical agents and various chemical substances, is becoming an increasing health and general social problem. Purification of industrial and municipal waste water before discharge into waterways is of great importance for the contamination of the water ecosystems and the protection of human health. To present the results of purification of industrial and municipal wastewater in the city center Kraljevo system for wastewater treatment. The investigated physical and chemical parameters were performed before and after the city's system for wastewater treatment. The results indicate that the effect of purification present the physical and chemical parameters in waste water ranges from 0 - 19%.

Removal of antibiotics from surface and distilled water in conventional water treatment processes

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, C.; Wang, Y.; Loftin, K.; Meyer, M.

2002-01-01

Conventional drinking water treatment processes were evaluated under typical water treatment plant conditions to determine their effectiveness in the removal of seven common antibiotics: carbadox, sulfachlorpyridazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfathiazole, and trimethoprim. Experiments were conducted using synthetic solutions prepared by spiking both distilled/ deionized water and Missouri River water with the studied compounds. Sorption on Calgon WPH powdered activated carbon, reverse osmosis, and oxidation with chlorine and ozone under typical plant conditions were all shown to be effective in removing the studied antibiotics. Conversely, coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation with alum and iron salts, excess lime/soda ash softening, ultraviolet irradiation at disinfection dosages, and ion exchange were all relatively ineffective methods of antibiotic removal. This study shows that the studied antibiotics could be effectively removed using processes already in use many water treatment plants. Additional work is needed on by-product formation and the removal of other classes of antibiotics.

Produced water treatment methods for SAGD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minnich, K. [Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies, Mississauga, ON (Canada)

2008-07-01

Produced water treatment methods for steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) processes were presented. Lime softening is used to remove sludge before weak acid cation processes. However, the process is not reliable in cold climates, and disposal of the sludge is now posing environmental problems in Alberta. High pH MVC evaporation processes use sodium hydroxide (NaOH) additions to prevent silica scaling. However the process produces silica wastes that are difficult to dispose of. The sorption slurry process was designed to reduce the use of caustic soda and develop a cost-effective method of disposing evaporator concentrates. The method produces 98 per cent steam quality for SAGD injection. Silica is sorbed onto crystals in order to prevent silica scaling. The evaporator concentrate from the process is suitable for on- and off-site deep well disposal. The ceramic membrane process was designed to reduce the consumption of chemicals and improve the reliability of water treatment processes. The ion exchange desilication process uses 80 per cent less power and produces 80 per cent fewer CO{sub 2} emissions than MVC evaporators. A comparative operating cost evaluation of various electric supply configurations and produced water treatment processes was also included, as well as an analysis of produced water chemistry. tabs., figs.

Occurrence of neonicotinoid insecticides in finished drinking water and fate during drinking water treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Klarich, Kathryn L.; Pflug, Nicholas C.; DeWald, Eden M.; Hladik, Michelle L.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Cwiertny, David M.; LeFevre, Gergory H.

2017-01-01

Neonicotinoid insecticides are widespread in surface waters across the agriculturally-intensive Midwestern US. We report for the first time the presence of three neonicotinoids in finished drinking water and demonstrate their general persistence during conventional water treatment. Periodic tap water grab samples were collected at the University of Iowa over seven weeks in 2016 (May-July) after maize/soy planting. Clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam were ubiquitously detected in finished water samples and ranged from 0.24-57.3 ng/L. Samples collected along the University of Iowa treatment train indicate no apparent removal of clothianidin and imidacloprid, with modest thiamethoxam removal (~50%). In contrast, the concentrations of all neonicotinoids were substantially lower in the Iowa City treatment facility finished water using granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration. Batch experiments investigated potential losses. Thiamethoxam losses are due to base-catalyzed hydrolysis at high pH conditions during lime softening. GAC rapidly and nearly completely removed all three neonicotinoids. Clothianidin is susceptible to reaction with free chlorine and may undergo at least partial transformation during chlorination. Our work provides new insights into the persistence of neonicotinoids and their potential for transformation during water treatment and distribution, while also identifying GAC as an effective management tool to lower neonicotinoid concentrations in finished drinking water.

EXPERT SYSTEMS

OpenAIRE

Georgiana Marin; Mihai Catalin Andrei

2011-01-01

In recent decades IT and computer systems have evolved rapidly in economic informatics field. The goal is to create user friendly information systems that respond promptly and accurately to requests. Informatics systems evolved into decision assisted systems, and such systems are converted, based on gained experience, in expert systems for creative problem solving that an organization is facing. Expert systems are aimed at rebuilding human reasoning on the expertise obtained from experts, sto...

Sensitivity Verification of PWR Monitoring System Using Neuro-Expert For LOCA Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhammad Subekti

2009-01-01

Sensitivity Verification of PWR Monitoring System Using Neuro-Expert For LOCA Detection. The present research was done for verification of previous developed method on Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) detection and perform simulations for knowing the sensitivity of the PWR monitoring system that applied neuro-expert method. The previous research continuing on present research, has developed and has tested the neuro-expert method for several anomaly detections in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) typed Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Neuro-expert can detect the LOCA anomaly with sensitivity of primary coolant leakage of 7 gallon/min and the conventional method could not detect the primary coolant leakage of 30 gallon/min. Neuro expert method detects significantly LOCA anomaly faster than conventional system in Surry-1 NPP as well so that the impact risk is reducible. (author)

Green Walls as an Approach in Grey Water Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Rysulova, Martina; Kaposztasova, Daniela; Vranayova, Zuzana

2017-10-01

Grey water contributes significantly to waste water parameters such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (Ptotal), total nitrogen (Ntotal), ammonium, boron, metals, salts, surfactants, synthetic chemicals, oils and greases, xenobiotic substances and microorganisms. Concentration of these pollutants and the water quality highlights the importance of treatment process in grey water systems. Treatment technologies operating under low energy and maintenance are usually preferred, since they are more cost effective for users. Treatment technologies based on natural processes represent an example of such technology including vegetated wall. Main aim of this paper is to introduce the proposal of vegetated wall managing grey water and brief characteristic of proposed system. Is expected that prepared experiment will establish the purifying ability and the potential of green wall application as an efficient treatment technology.

A transportable system for radioactivity contaminated water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

Contaminated water treatment system called SARRY for retrieval and recovery of water in operation at the site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant since August 2011 has been modified by compacting the system size to develop a mobile system SARRY-Aqua that can process Cs-contaminated water (one ton/hour) to the level of 10 Bq/kg. Installing the system in a small container with dimensions conforming to the international standards facilitates transportation by truck and enables the contaminated water treatment occurring in a variety of locations. (S. Ohno)

Expert and competent non-expert visual cues during simulated diagnosis in intensive care.

Science.gov (United States)

McCormack, Clare; Wiggins, Mark W; Loveday, Thomas; Festa, Marino

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the information acquisition strategies of expert and competent non-expert intensive care physicians during two simulated diagnostic scenarios involving respiratory distress in an infant. Specifically, the information acquisition performance of six experts and 12 competent non-experts was examined using an eye-tracker during the initial 90 s of the assessment of the patient. The results indicated that, in comparison to competent non-experts, experts recorded longer mean fixations, irrespective of the scenario. When the dwell times were examined against specific areas of interest, the results revealed that competent non-experts recorded greater overall dwell times on the nurse, where experts recorded relatively greater dwell times on the head and face of the manikin. In the context of the scenarios, experts recorded differential dwell times, spending relatively more time on the head and face during the seizure scenario than during the coughing scenario. The differences evident between experts and competent non-experts were interpreted as evidence of the relative availability of task-specific cues or heuristics in memory that might direct the process of information acquisition amongst expert physicians. The implications are discussed for the training and assessment of diagnostic skills.

Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events: Expert judgment elicitation. Part 1: Expert panel results. Part 2: Project staff results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wheeler, T A; Cramond, W R [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hora, S C [University of Hawii at Hilo (United States); Unwin, S D [Brookhaven National Laboratory (United States)

1989-04-01

Quantitative modeling techniques have limitations as to the resolution of important issues in probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). Not all issues can be resolved via the existing set of methods such as fault trees, event trees, statistical analyses, data collection, and computer simulation. Therefore, an expert judgment process was developed to address issues perceived as important to risk in the NUREG-1150 analysis but which could not be resolved with existing techniques. This process was applied to several issues that could significantly affect the internal event core damage frequencies of the PRAs performed on six light water reactors. Detailed descriptions of these issues and the results of the expert judgment elicitation are reported here, as well as an explanation of the methodology used and the procedure followed in performing the overall elicitation task. The process is time-consuming and expensive. However, the results are very useful, and represent an improvement over the draft NUREG-1150 analysis in the areas of expert selection, elicitation training, issue selection and presentation, elicitation of judgment and aggregation of results. The results are presented in two parts. Part documents the expert panel elicitations, where the most important issues were presented to a panel of experts convened from throughout the nuclear power risk assessment community. Part 2 documents the process by which the project staff performed expert judgment on other important issues, using the project staff as panel members. (author)

Persistence of antibiotic resistance genes and bacterial community changes in drinking water treatment system: From drinking water source to tap water.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Hao-Chang; Liu, You-Sheng; Pan, Chang-Gui; Chen, Jun; He, Liang-Ying; Ying, Guang-Guo

2018-03-01

As emerging contaminants, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become a public concern. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and diversity of ARGs, and variation in the composition of bacterial communities in source water, drinking water treatment plants, and tap water in the Pearl River Delta region, South China. Various ARGs were present in the different types of water. Among the 27 target ARGs, floR and sul1 dominated in source water from three large rivers in the region. Pearson correlation analysis suggested that sul1, sul2, floR, and cmlA could be potential indicators for ARGs in water samples. The total abundance of the detected ARGs in tap water was much lower than that in source water. Sand filtration and sedimentation in drinking water treatment plants could effectively remove ARGs; in contrast, granular activated carbon filtration increased the abundance of ARGs. It was found that Pseudomonas may be involved in the proliferation and dissemination of ARGs in the studied drinking water treatment system. Bacteria and ARGs were still present in tap water after treatment, though they were significantly reduced. More research is needed to optimize the water treatment process for ARG removal. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Citrus processing waste water treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hawash, S; Hafez, A J; El-Diwani, G

1988-02-01

The process utilizes biological treatment to decompose organic matter and decreases the COD to a value of 230 ppm, using 161 of air per 1 of treated waste water for a contact time of 2.5 h. Ozone is used subsequently for further purification of the waste water by destroying refractory organics. This reduces the COD to a value of 40 ppm, and consequently also lowers the BOD. Ozone also effectively removed the yellow-brown colour due to humic substances in dissolved or colloidal form; their oxidation leaves the water sparkling. Iron and manganese are also eliminated.

SISTEM PENGOLAHAN AIR MINUM SEDERHANA (PORTABLE WATER TREATMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isna Syauqiah

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Water is the most important thing for living. Lately it is difficult to get clean water and suitable for consumption. Many water sources are commonly used not as good as it used to be. It needs to research about making a simple water treatment system with variable time and suitable volume for Martapura river conditions by knowing the quality of drinking water that produced. The technology used includes water treatment conducted physically (filtration and aeration, chemical processing (adsorption and desinfection using UV. This research was conducted in several stages. First is the design of portable water treatment itself is by making the columns of aeration, filtration column, adsorption column, and columns where the desinfection equipment are separated. Second, the optimizing tools that aim to determine the optimum time and volume of each instrument. So it will be obtained the optimum time and volume for whole instrument. Third, the analysis results of Martapura river. Based on research results obtained that the design of this tool is less effective with the quality of Martapura river water conditions to be processed into drinking water that is usually consumed by people around because the quality of drinking water that produced has not reached the standard of specified drinking water quality standard. Optimum time for this tool is 135 s with a desinfection time for 2 minutes and the optimum volume of entering water amounts to 2 L

BTEX compounds in water - future trends and directions for water treatment

OpenAIRE

Fayemiwo, OM; Daramola, MO; Moothi, K

2017-01-01

BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) compounds are common water resource and potable water pollutants that are often left undetected and untreated by municipal treatment systems in spite of the negative repercussions associated with their ingestion. The US EPA has classified these pollutants as priority pollutant, yet they are persistently present in a variety of water resources. In this review paper, we highlight the sources and reported concentrations of BTEX compounds in water...

Hydraulic modelling of drinking water treatment plant operations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Worm, G.I.M.; Mesman, G.A.M.; Van Schagen, K.M.; Borger, K.J.; Rietveld, L.C.

2009-01-01

The flow through a unit of a drinking water treatment plant is one of the most important parameters in terms of a unit's effectiveness. In the present paper, a new EPAnet library is presented with the typical hydraulic elements for drinking water treatment processes well abstraction, rapid sand

Water Supply and Treatment Equipment. Change Notice 1

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-05

Coagulation Filtration Total Dissolved Solids Water Quality Conductivity Potable water Turbidity Water Treatment/Purification Disinfection ...microorganisms (pathogenic) found in the raw water . The preferred Army field method of water disinfection is chlorination. Filtration Filtration...senses. It looks, tastes, and smells good and is neither too hot nor too cold. Potable water Water that is safe for drinking . Reverse osmosis

Magnetic Field Water Treatment Section - Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopec, M.

1999-01-01

Full text: In the last year the activity of the team was focused on industrial implementing of methods developed, as well as on designing and implementing devices for magnetohydrodynamic water treatment and water filtration in the magnetic field. - Phase 1 of research for Ostrowiec Steelworks in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski (IFJ N-3454 Research) on the possibilities of implementation of the methods of magnetohydrodynamic water treatment in water and sewage circuits, as well as of the method of filtration in the magnetic field were completed. In this part of research, phase analyses of deposits from water and sewage circuits were carried out. In the rolling mill circuit of Ostrowiec Steelworks, a magnetic filter with a capacity of 200 m 3 /h, designed in the Institute of Nuclear Physics was installed and tested. Implementation of this filter is predicted for the year 1999. - Research for the Kozienice Power Station in Swierze Gorne (IFJ N-3450 Research) on determination of the phase composition of total suspended solids in water-steam circuits was completed. - A preliminary evaluation was completed on economic effects of implementation of the prototype magnetic filter FM-500 which has been operational since 1993 in the circuit of turbine condensate cleaning in the 225 MW unit in the power station in Polaniec. (author)

Managing peatland vegetation for drinking water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritson, Jonathan P; Bell, Michael; Brazier, Richard E; Grand-Clement, Emilie; Graham, Nigel J D; Freeman, Chris; Smith, David; Templeton, Michael R; Clark, Joanna M

2016-11-18

Peatland ecosystem services include drinking water provision, flood mitigation, habitat provision and carbon sequestration. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal is a key treatment process for the supply of potable water downstream from peat-dominated catchments. A transition from peat-forming Sphagnum moss to vascular plants has been observed in peatlands degraded by (a) land management, (b) atmospheric deposition and (c) climate change. Here within we show that the presence of vascular plants with higher annual above-ground biomass production leads to a seasonal addition of labile plant material into the peatland ecosystem as litter recalcitrance is lower. The net effect will be a smaller litter carbon pool due to higher rates of decomposition, and a greater seasonal pattern of DOC flux. Conventional water treatment involving coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation may be impeded by vascular plant-derived DOC. It has been shown that vascular plant-derived DOC is more difficult to remove via these methods than DOC derived from Sphagnum, whilst also being less susceptible to microbial mineralisation before reaching the treatment works. These results provide evidence that practices aimed at re-establishing Sphagnum moss on degraded peatlands could reduce costs and improve efficacy at water treatment works, offering an alternative to 'end-of-pipe' solutions through management of ecosystem service provision.

Expert and Competent Non-Expert Visual Cues during Simulated Diagnosis in Intensive Care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clare eMcCormack

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to examine the information acquisition strategies of expert and competent non-expert intensive care physicians during two simulated diagnostic scenarios involving respiratory distress in an infant. Specifically, the information acquisition performance of six experts and 12 competent non-experts was examined using an eye tracker during the initial 90 seconds of the assessment of the patient. The results indicated that, in comparison to competent non-experts, experts recorded longer mean fixations, irrespective of the scenario. When the dwell times were examined against specific areas of interest, the results revealed that competent non-experts recorded greater overall dwell times on the nurse, where experts recorded relatively greater dwell times on the head and face of the manikin. In the context of the scenarios, experts recorded differential dwell times, spending relatively more time on the head and face during the seizure scenario than during the coughing scenario. The differences evident between experts and competent non-experts were interpreted as evidence of the relative availability of task-specific cues or heuristics in memory that might direct the process of information acquisition amongst expert physicians. The implications are discussed for the training and assessment of diagnostic skills.

Sterols indicate water quality and wastewater treatment efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Reichwaldt, Elke S; Ho, Wei Y; Zhou, Wenxu; Ghadouani, Anas

2017-01-01

As the world's population continues to grow, water pollution is presenting one of the biggest challenges worldwide. More wastewater is being generated and the demand for clean water is increasing. To ensure the safety and health of humans and the environment, highly efficient wastewater treatment systems, and a reliable assessment of water quality and pollutants are required. The advance of holistic approaches to water quality management and the increasing use of ecological water treatment technologies, such as constructed wetlands and waste stabilisation ponds (WSPs), challenge the appropriateness of commonly used water quality indicators. Instead, additional indicators, which are direct measures of the processes involved in the stabilisation of human waste, have to be established to provide an in-depth understanding of system performance. In this study we identified the sterol composition of wastewater treated in WSPs and assessed the suitability of human sterol levels as a bioindicator of treatment efficiency of wastewater in WSPs. As treatment progressed in WSPs, the relative abundance of human faecal sterols, such as coprostanol, epicoprostanol, 24-ethylcoprostanol, and sitostanol decreased significantly and the sterol composition in wastewater changed significantly. Furthermore, sterol levels were found to be correlated with commonly used wastewater quality indicators, such as BOD, TSS and E. coli. Three of the seven sterol ratios that have previously been used to track sewage pollution in the environment, detected a faecal signal in the effluent of WSPs, however, the others were influenced by high prevalence of sterols originating from algal and fungal activities. This finding poses a concern for environmental assessment studies, because environmental pollution from waste stabilisation ponds can go unnoticed. In conclusion, faecal sterols and their ratios can be used as reliable indicators of treatment efficiency and water quality during wastewater

Technique of complex slime water treatment of coal-mining branch

OpenAIRE

Solodov, G. А.; Zhbyr, Е. V.; Papin, А. V.; Nevedrov, А. V.

2007-01-01

The possibility of complex slime water treatment at coal-mining and coal-treating plants producing marketable products: power-generating concentrate, coal-water fuel, magnetic fraction, industrial water is shown. A basic process flowsheet of slime water treatment presenting a united technological complex is suggested.

Use of ionizing radiation in waste water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cech, R.

1976-01-01

A survey is presented of methods and possibilities of applying ionizing radiation in industrial waste water treatment. The most frequently used radiation sources include the 60 Co and 137 Cs isotopes and the 90 Sr- 90 Y combined source. The results are reported and the methods used are described of waste water treatment by sedimenting impurities and decomposing organic and inorganic compounds by ionizing radiation. It was found that waste water irradiation accelerated sedimentation and decomposition processes. The doses used varied between 50 and 500 krads. Ionizing radiation may also be used in waste water disinfection in which the effects are used of radiation on microorganisms and of the synthesis of ozone which does not smell like normally used chlorine. The described methods are still controversial from the economic point of view but the cost of waste water treatment by irradiation will significantly be reduced by the use of spent fuel elements. (J.B.)

Estrogen-related receptor gamma disruption of source water and drinking water treatment processes extracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Na; Jiang, Weiwei; Rao, Kaifeng; Ma, Mei; Wang, Zijian; Kumaran, Satyanarayanan Senthik

2011-01-01

Environmental chemicals in drinking water can impact human health through nuclear receptors. Additionally, estrogen-related receptors (ERRs) are vulnerable to endocrine-disrupting effects. To date, however, ERR disruption of drinking water potency has not been reported. We used ERRgamma two-hybrid yeast assay to screen ERRgamma disrupting activities in a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) located in north China and in source water from a reservoir, focusing on agonistic, antagonistic, and inverse agonistic activity to 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT). Water treatment processes in the DWTP consisted of pre-chlorination, coagulation, coal and sand filtration, activated carbon filtration, and secondary chlorination processes. Samples were extracted by solid phase extraction. Results showed that ERRgamma antagonistic activities were found in all sample extracts, but agonistic and inverse agonistic activity to 4-OHT was not found. When calibrated with the toxic equivalent of 4-OHT, antagonistic effluent effects ranged from 3.4 to 33.1 microg/L. In the treatment processes, secondary chlorination was effective in removing ERRgamma antagonists, but the coagulation process led to significantly increased ERRgamma antagonistic activity. The drinking water treatment processes removed 73.5% of ERRgamma antagonists. To our knowledge, the occurrence of ERRgamma disruption activities on source and drinking water in vitro had not been reported previously. It is vital, therefore, to increase our understanding of ERRy disrupting activities in drinking water.

Substantial variation among hernia experts in the decision for treatment of patients with incisional hernia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kokotovic, D; Gögenur, I; Helgstrand, F

2017-01-01

PURPOSE: Benign elective procedures give rise to heterogeneity in indication for surgery and surgical technique among specialized surgeons in a variety of surgical fields. The objective was to analyze the extent of agreement in surgical management among expert hernia surgeons when evaluating the ...... of treatment strategy for patients with incisional hernias was very low among experienced surgeons. A standardization of surgical decision making is desirable to develop new interventions and improve clinical outcomes....... was present in 14 cases (56%). The most common reason for not performing surgery was due to comorbidities. Agreement in operation type (open vs. laparoscopic) was present in 10 cases (40%). Agreement in mesh fixation (absorbable tacks/non-absorbable tacks/suture/other) method was also present in 10 cases (40...

Physico-chemical pre-treatment for drinking water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanien, W. A. M.

2004-08-01

The objective of this work is to attempt to improve the quality of town water by application of alternating current, direct current and magnetic field to raw water as pre-treatment to enhance the coagulation and flocculation. The design and operation for these processes and the evaluation there of have been mentioned. Treatment generally requires application of electric current Ac or Dc (0.1-1.0 A) for residence current time 2-12 minutes, or application of magnetic field (20-400 mt). The measurement of turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) of raw water were determined before and after treatment to obtain the efficiency of turbidity and TSS removal. Total bacteria count was determined using standard plate count method. Most probable number (MPN) technique was used to determine the number of coliform organisms that were present in water to obtain the efficiency of water purification. The results obtain revealed that treatment by Ac and Dc electric current gave turbidity removal efficiency in the range 40-81%, 17-76% and TSS in the range 37-61%, 9-57%, respectively. Coagulation of natural colloids and other material suspended in water is faster in water impacted by an electric current. When alum and polymer was used as coagulant together with Ac electric current, clarification rate was greater by 1.8-2.4 times in Damira 2001; 1.5-3.3 times by poly aluminum chloride together with Ac electric current ; 2.4-4.5 times by alum and poly diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride together with Dc electric current in Damira 2002. The mortality efficiency of total bacteria count was 57-83% and of total coliform was 58-93% when exposed to electric current for an extended residence current times between 2 to 11 minutes. The mortality efficiency of total bacteria count was 60-85%, and of total coliform was 53-95% when exposed to current between 0.16-0.60 A at constant current time. The results obtained from physical and chemical analysis of raw water and water treated by Ac, Dc

Physico-chemical pre-treatment for drinking water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hassanien, W A. M. [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Education, University of Khartoum, Khartoum (Sudan)

2004-08-01

The objective of this work is to attempt to improve the quality of town water by application of alternating current, direct current and magnetic field to raw water as pre-treatment to enhance the coagulation and flocculation. The design and operation for these processes and the evaluation there of have been mentioned. Treatment generally requires application of electric current Ac or Dc (0.1-1.0 A) for residence current time 2-12 minutes, or application of magnetic field (20-400 mt). The measurement of turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) of raw water were determined before and after treatment to obtain the efficiency of turbidity and TSS removal. Total bacteria count was determined using standard plate count method. Most probable number (MPN) technique was used to determine the number of coliform organisms that were present in water to obtain the efficiency of water purification. The results obtain revealed that treatment by Ac and Dc electric current gave turbidity removal efficiency in the range 40-81%, 17-76% and TSS in the range 37-61%, 9-57%, respectively. Coagulation of natural colloids and other material suspended in water is faster in water impacted by an electric current. When alum and polymer was used as coagulant together with Ac electric current, clarification rate was greater by 1.8-2.4 times in Damira 2001; 1.5-3.3 times by poly aluminum chloride together with Ac electric current ; 2.4-4.5 times by alum and poly diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride together with Dc electric current in Damira 2002. The mortality efficiency of total bacteria count was 57-83% and of total coliform was 58-93% when exposed to electric current for an extended residence current times between 2 to 11 minutes. The mortality efficiency of total bacteria count was 60-85%, and of total coliform was 53-95% when exposed to current between 0.16-0.60 A at constant current time. The results obtained from physical and chemical analysis of raw water and water treated by Ac, Dc

Innovative on-site treatment cuts frac flowback water costs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-11-15

Water is an essential component of the drilling and hydraulic fracturing or fracking process and so the natural gas industry is a heavy user of water. Learning from other industries, gas producers are now employing mobile service providers with the latest integrated treatment systems (ITS) to clean flowback and produced water from fracturing operations at the wellhead. This paper presents a novel on-site treatment for frac water. ITS are pre-fabricated on moveable skids or a truck trailer with all the necessary controls, piping, valves, instrumentation, pumps, mixers and chemical injection modules. They remove oil and other hydrocarbons, suspended solids, and dissolved metals from the frac water using the tightly controlled chemistry, separation and filtration technology. This method can cut the average cost of treating produced water by 50%, simultaneously allowing drillers to maximize their efforts and manpower on generating oil and gas profits, rather than on water treatment.

Process water treatment in Canada's oil sands industry : 1 : target pollutants and treatment objectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, E.W.

2008-01-01

The continuous recycling of tailings pond water in the oil sands industry has contributed to an overall decline in water quality used for bitumen recovery, general water consumption, and remedial activities. This paper reviewed process water quality and toxicity data from 2 long-term oil sands operations. The aim of the study was to determine potential roles for water treatment and provide benchmarks for the selection of candidate water treatment technologies in the oil sands region of Alberta. An overview of the oil sands industry was provided as well as details of bitumen recovery processes. The study examined target pollutants and exceedances identified in environmental and industrial water quality guidelines. The study demonstrated that the salinity of tailings pond water increased at a rate of 75 mg per litre per year between 1980 and 2001. Increases in hardness, chloride, ammonia, and sulphates were also noted. Naphthenic acids released during bitumen extraction activities were determined as the primary cause of tailings pond water toxicity. A summary of recent studies on experimental reclamation ponds and treatment wetlands in the oil sands region was included. 19 refs., 4 tabs., 11 figs

Treatment of oily water by flotation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortiz O, H.B.

2002-01-01

The operation of the nuclear power plants such as Laguna Verde (CLV) with nuclear reactors of the boiling water type (BWR) produce radioactive waste solids, liquids and gaseous which require of a special treatment in their operation and arrangement. Such is the case of the liquid wastes from CLV which are a mixture of water and synthetic oils coming from leaks and spilling by pressure of maintenance of electro-mechanical equipment associated to the performance of the nuclear power plant. This mixture of water and spent oils is pretreated by means of sedimentation, centrifugation and evaporation. However the realized efforts by the CLV, the spent oil obtained from the pretreatment contains concentrations of radioactive material higher than the tolerance limits established in the normative in force in radiological safety (0.37 Bq m L -1 for 60 Co and 54 Mn). In this context it was necessary to design an efficient treatment system and economically profitable which separates the oil, the heavy metals and the leftovers of radioactive material that could be present in water, with the purpose of fulfil with the Mexican Official Standards corresponding for its unload or even it can reuse it in the wash process of treated oil. The treatment system of oily water waste consists of: a) Coagulation-flocculation, b) Flotation system with modified air dissolved (DAFm). The proposed flotation process allows to reach a higher separation efficiencies of: Concentration of greases and oils: 94.11 %; Turbidity: 98.6 %; 60 Co: 82.3 % ; Co: 94.8 % and Cr: 99.9 % (Author)

2016 Expert consensus document on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of short-term peripheral venous catheter-related infections in adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josep A. Capdevila

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The use of endovascular catheters is a routine practice in secondary and tertiary care level hospitals. The short-term use of peripheral catheters has been found to be associated with the risk of nosocomial bacteraemia, resulting in morbidity and mortality. Staphylococcus aureus is mostly associated with peripheral catheter insertion. This Consensus Document has been prepared by a panel of experts of the Spanish Society of Cardiovascular Infections, in cooperation with experts from the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine, Spanish Society of Chemotherapy, and the Spanish Society of Thoracic-Cardiovascular Surgery, and aims to define and establish guidelines for the management of short duration peripheral vascular catheters. The document addresses the indications for insertion, catheter maintenance, registering, diagnosis and treatment of infection, indications for removal, as well as placing an emphasis on continuous education as a drive toward quality. Implementation of these guidelines will allow uniformity in use, thus minimizing the risk of infections and their complications.

Feed type based expert systems in mineral processing plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamsa-Jounela, S.-L.; Laine, S.; Laurila, H.

1999-01-01

Artificial Intelligence includes excellent tools for the control and supervision of industrial processes. Several thousand industrial applications have been reported worldwide. Recently, the designers of the AI systems have begun to hybridize the intelligent techniques, expert systems, fuzzy logic and neural networks, to enhance the capability of the AI systems. Expert systems have proved to be ideal candidates especially for the control of mineral processes. As successful case projects, expert system based on on-line classification of the feed type is described in this paper. The essential feature of this expert system is the classification of different feed types and their distinct control strategies at the plant. In addition to the classification, the expert system has a database containing information about how to handle the determined feed type. This self-learning database scans historical process data to suggest the best treatment for the ore type under processing. The system has been tested in two concentrators, the Outokumpu Finnmines Oy, Hitura mine and Outokumpu Chrome Oy, Kemi mine. (author)

Bring in the experts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McFarland, Susan

1999-01-01

This article focuses on the outsourcing of water treatment by the British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.'s (BNFL) Bradwell-on-Sea nuclear power plant to Ecolochem to avoid the large initial investment cost and reduce maintenance costs. Details are given of the design of a cascade system to produce demineralized water for nuclear cooling by Ecolochem who own, operate and maintain the water treatment plant. (UK)

Characterization of hydraulic fracturing flowback water in Colorado: implications for water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, Yaal; Ferrer, Imma; Thurman, E Michael; Sitterley, Kurban A; Korak, Julie A; Aiken, George; Linden, Karl G

2015-04-15

A suite of analytical tools was applied to thoroughly analyze the chemical composition of an oil/gas well flowback water from the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) basin in Colorado, and the water quality data was translated to propose effective treatment solutions tailored to specific reuse goals. Analysis included bulk quality parameters, trace organic and inorganic constituents, and organic matter characterization. The flowback sample contained salts (TDS=22,500 mg/L), metals (e.g., iron at 81.4 mg/L) and high concentration of dissolved organic matter (DOC=590 mgC/L). The organic matter comprised fracturing fluid additives such as surfactants (e.g., linear alkyl ethoxylates) and high levels of acetic acid (an additives' degradation product), indicating the anthropogenic impact on this wastewater. Based on the water quality results and preliminary treatability tests, the removal of suspended solids and iron by aeration/precipitation (and/or filtration) followed by disinfection was identified as appropriate for flowback recycling in future fracturing operations. In addition to these treatments, a biological treatment (to remove dissolved organic matter) followed by reverse osmosis desalination was determined to be necessary to attain water quality standards appropriate for other water reuse options (e.g., crop irrigation). The study provides a framework for evaluating site-specific hydraulic fracturing wastewaters, proposing a suite of analytical methods for characterization, and a process for guiding the choice of a tailored treatment approach. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Home Water Treatment Habits and Effectiveness in a Rural Arizona Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Lothrop, Nathan; Wilkinson, Sarah T; Verhougstraete, Marc; Sugeng, Anastasia; Loh, Miranda M; Klimecki, Walter; Beamer, Paloma I

Drinking water quality in the United States (US) is among the safest in the world. However, many residents, often in rural areas, rely on unregulated private wells or small municipal utilities for water needs. These utilities may violate the Safe Drinking Water Act contaminant guidelines, often because they lack the required financial resources. Residents may use alternative water sources or install a home water treatment system. Despite increased home water treatment adoption, few studies have examined their use and effectiveness in the US. Our study addresses this knowledge gap by examining home water treatment in a rural Arizona community. Water samples were analyzed for metal(loid)s, and home treatment and demographic data were recorded in 31 homes. Approximately 42% of homes treated their water. Independent of source water quality, residents with higher income (OR = 1.25; 95%CI (1.00 - 1.64)) and education levels (OR = 1.49; 95%CI (1.12 - 2.12)) were more likely to treat their water. Some contaminant concentrations were effectively reduced with treatment, while some were not. We conclude that increased educational outreach on contaminant testing and treatment, especially to rural areas with endemic water contamination, would result in a greater public health impact while reducing rural health disparities.

Innovative Treatment Technologies for Natural Waters and Wastewaters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Childress, Amy E.

2011-07-01

The research described in this report focused on the development of novel membrane contactor processes (in particular, forward osmosis (FO), pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), and membrane distillation (MD)) in low energy desalination and wastewater treatment applications and in renewable energy generation. FO and MD are recently gaining national and international attention as viable, economic alternatives for removal of both established and emerging contaminants from natural and process waters; PRO is gaining worldwide attention as a viable source of renewable energy. The interrelationship of energy and water are at the core of this study. Energy and water are inextricably bound; energy usage and production must be considered when evaluating any water treatment process for practical application. Both FO and MD offer the potential for substantial energy and resource savings over conventional treatment processes and PRO offers the potential for renewable energy or energy offsets in desalination. Combination of these novel technologies with each other, with existing technologies (e.g., reverse osmosis (RO)), and with existing renewable energy sources (e.g., salinity gradient solar ponds) may enable much less expensive water production and also potable water production in remote or distributed locations. Two inter-related projects were carried out in this investigation. One focused on membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment and PRO for renewable energy generation; the other focused on MD driven by a salinity gradient solar pond.

Laser removal of water repellent treatments on limestone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gomez-Heras, Miguel; Alvarez de Buergo, Monica; Rebollar, Esther; Oujja, Mohamed; Castillejo, Marta; Fort, Rafael

2003-12-15

Protective and water repellent treatments are applied on stone materials used on buildings or sculptures of artistic value to reduce water intrusion without limiting the natural permeability to water vapour of the material. The effect of the wavelength associated with the laser removal of two water repellent treatments applied on limestone, Paraloid B-72, a copolymer of methyl acrylate and ethyl methacrylate, and Tegosivin HL-100, a modified polysiloxane resin, was investigated by using the four harmonics of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1064, 532, 355 and 266 nm). The modifications induced on the surface of limestone samples by laser irradiation were studied using colorimetry, roughness measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The removal of the treatments was found to be dependent on the laser irradiation conditions and on the characteristics of the coatings. The fundamental laser radiation was effective in removing both treatments, but thermal alteration processes were induced on the constituent calcite crystals. The best results were obtained by irradiation in the near UV at 355 nm.

Water treatment for fossil fuel power generation - technology status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This technology status report focuses on the use of water treatment technology in fossil fuel power plants. The use of polymeric ion exchange resins for deionization of water, the currently preferred use of ion exchange for economically treating water containing low dissolved salts, the use of low pressure high-flux membranes, membrane microfiltration, and reverse osmosis are discussed. Details are given of the benefits of the technologies, water use at power plants, the current status of water treatment technologies, and the potential for future developments, along with power plant market trends and potentials, worldwide developments, and UK capabilities in water treatment plant design and manufacturing

Hybrid expert system implementation to determine core reload patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greek, K.J.; Robinson, A.H.

1989-01-01

Determining reactor reload fuel patterns is a computationally intensive problem solving process for which automation can be of significant benefit. Often much effort is expended in the search for an optimal loading. While any modern programming language could be used to automate solution, the specialized tools of artificial intelligence (AI) are the most efficient means of introducing the fuel management expert's knowledge into the search for an optimum reload pattern. Prior research in pressurized water reactor refueling strategies developed FORTRAN programs that automated an expert's basic knowledge to direct a search for an acceptable minimum peak power loading. The dissatisfaction with maintenance of compiled knowledge in FORTRAN programs has served as the motivation for the development of the SHUFFLE expert system. SHUFFLE is written in Smalltalk, an object-oriented programming language, and evaluates loadings as it generates them using a two-group, two-dimensional nodal power calculation compiled in a personal computer-based FORTRAN. This paper reviews the object-oriented representation developed to solve the core reload problem with an expert system tool and its operating prototype, SHUFFLE

Plutonium - the ultrapoison? An expert's opinion about an expert opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoll, W.; Becker, K.

1989-01-01

In an expert opinion written by Professor H. Kuni, Marburg, for the North Rhine-Westphalian state government, plutonium is called by far the most dangerous element in the Periodic Table. The Marburg medical expert holds that even improved legal instruments are unable to warrant effective protection of the workers handling this material, in the light of the present standards of industrial safety, because of radiological conditions and measuring problems with plutonium isotopes. In this article by an internationally renowned expert in the field, the ideas expressed in the expert opinion about the toxicity of plutonium, the cause-and-effect relationship in radiation damage by plutonium, and recent findings about the toxicity are subjected to a critical review. On the basis of results of radiation protection and of case studies, the statements in the expert opinion are contrasted with facts which make them appear in a very different light. (orig./RB) [de

Are expert systems needed on the power exchange?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nilsson, David.

1991-09-01

The goal of this masters thesis is to investigate whether it is possible to improve the activities at the power production unit (PDP) at Sydkraft with the help of expert systems. Another goal is that the produced result should work as an education material for the production operators. Therefore the work contains a detailed description of the power exchange and the factors that influence it, in addition to a description of the work tasks of the operators. The conclusions are, first, that an embedded critiquing system would enable a quicker training of new operators, while also giving the more experienced operators feedback on their decisions. Secondly, the water storage operation should be documented, to create a basis for the development of an expert system, and to create more material for education. The thesis also suggests a new model for the development of expert systems in areas where it is not known whether such a solution is possible. (au)

Centralized Drinking Water Treatment Operations Shape Bacterial and Fungal Community Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xiao; Vikram, Amit; Casson, Leonard; Bibby, Kyle

2017-07-05

Drinking water microbial communities impact opportunistic pathogen colonization and corrosion of water distribution systems, and centralized drinking water treatment represents a potential control for microbial community structure in finished drinking water. In this article, we examine bacterial and fungal abundance and diversity, as well as the microbial community taxonomic structure following each unit operation in a conventional surface water treatment plant. Treatment operations drove the microbial composition more strongly than sampling time. Both bacterial and fungal abundance and diversity decreased following sedimentation and filtration; however, only bacterial abundance and diversity was significantly impacted by free chlorine disinfection. Similarly, each treatment step was found to shift bacterial and fungal community beta-diversity, with the exception of disinfection on the fungal community structure. We observed the enrichment of bacterial and fungal taxa commonly found in drinking water distribution systems through the treatment process, for example, Sphingomonas following filtration and Leptospirillium and Penicillium following disinfection. Study results suggest that centralized drinking water treatment processes shape the final drinking water microbial community via selection of community members and that the bacterial community is primarily driven by disinfection while the eukaryotic community is primarily controlled by physical treatment processes.

Expert status and performance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark A Burgman

Full Text Available Expert judgements are essential when time and resources are stretched or we face novel dilemmas requiring fast solutions. Good advice can save lives and large sums of money. Typically, experts are defined by their qualifications, track record and experience. The social expectation hypothesis argues that more highly regarded and more experienced experts will give better advice. We asked experts to predict how they will perform, and how their peers will perform, on sets of questions. The results indicate that the way experts regard each other is consistent, but unfortunately, ranks are a poor guide to actual performance. Expert advice will be more accurate if technical decisions routinely use broadly-defined expert groups, structured question protocols and feedback.

The science-policy interface: Perceptions and strategies of the Iberian 'new water culture' expert community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeanie J. Bukowski

2017-02-01

Full Text Available There is a normative consensus that science should contribute to decision-making in environmental policy, given that science provides a means of understanding natural systems, human impacts upon them, and the consequences of those impacts for human systems. Despite this general agreement, however, the means through which science is transmitted into policy is contested. This paper envisions several of the competing characterisations of the science-policy interface as a continuum with the endpoints of 'fortress science' and 'co-production', and applies this continuum in an empirical analysis of the transboundary expert community promoting a 'new water culture' on the Iberian Peninsula. In engaging directly with members of this community, the paper finds that these characterisations are better seen as strategies among which scientists and their communities may choose and over which they may disagree. These trade-offs and disagreements in turn have implications for policy impact.

Evaluation of appropriate technologies for grey water treatments and reuses.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fangyue; Wichmann, Knut; Otterpohl, Ralf

2009-01-01

As water is becoming a rare resource, the onsite reuse and recycling of grey water is practiced in many countries as a sustainable solution to reduce the overall urban water demand. However, the lack of appropriate water quality standards or guidelines has hampered the appropriate grey water reuses. Based on literature review, a non-potable urban grey water treatment and reuse scheme is proposed and the treatment alternatives for grey water reuse are evaluated according to the grey water characteristics, the proposed standards and economical feasibility.

Cellulose Nanomaterials in Water Treatment Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Alexis Wells; de Lannoy, Charles François; Wiesner, Mark R.

2015-01-01

Cellulose nanomaterials are naturally occurring with unique structural, mechanical and optical properties. While the paper and packaging, automotive, personal care, construction, and textiles industries have recognized cellulose nanomaterials’ potential, we suggest cellulose nanomaterials have great untapped potential in water treatment technologies. In this review, we gather evidence of cellulose nanomaterials’ beneficial role in environmental remediation and membranes for water filtration, including their high surface area-to-volume ratio, low environmental impact, high strength, functionalizability, and sustainability. We make direct comparison between cellulose nanomaterials and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in terms of physical and chemical properties, production costs, use and disposal in order to show the potential of cellulose nanomaterials as a sustainable replacement for CNTs in water treatment technologies. Finally, we comment on the need for improved communication and collaboration across the myriad industries invested in cellulose nanomaterials production and development to achieve an efficient means to commercialization. PMID:25837659

Cellulose nanomaterials in water treatment technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Alexis Wells; de Lannoy, Charles-François; Wiesner, Mark R

2015-05-05

Cellulose nanomaterials are naturally occurring with unique structural, mechanical and optical properties. While the paper and packaging, automotive, personal care, construction, and textiles industries have recognized cellulose nanomaterials' potential, we suggest cellulose nanomaterials have great untapped potential in water treatment technologies. In this review, we gather evidence of cellulose nanomaterials' beneficial role in environmental remediation and membranes for water filtration, including their high surface area-to-volume ratio, low environmental impact, high strength, functionalizability, and sustainability. We make direct comparison between cellulose nanomaterials and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in terms of physical and chemical properties, production costs, use and disposal in order to show the potential of cellulose nanomaterials as a sustainable replacement for CNTs in water treatment technologies. Finally, we comment on the need for improved communication and collaboration across the myriad industries invested in cellulose nanomaterials production and development to achieve an efficient means to commercialization.

Medical Expert Systems Survey

OpenAIRE

Abu-Nasser, Bassem S.

2017-01-01

International audience; There is an increased interest in the area of Artificial Intelligence in general and expert systems in particular. Expert systems are rapidly growing technology. Expert systems are a branch of Artificial Intelligence which is having a great impact on many fields of human life. Expert systems use human expert knowledge to solve complex problems in many fields such as Health, science, engineering, business, and weather forecasting. Organizations employing the technology ...

Eliciting and communicating expert judgments: methodology and application to nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winterfeldt, D. von; Commission of the European Communities, Ispra

1989-01-01

Expert judgment has always been used informally in the analysis of complex engineering problems. Increasingly, however, the use of expert judgment has been formalized by eliciting judgments in an explicit, documented and often quantitative way. In nuclear safety studies the need for formal elicitation of expert judgments arises because of the lack of data and experiences, the need to adapt model results to the specific circumstances of a plant, and the large uncertainties surrounding the events and quantities that characterize an accident sequence. The recognition of the need for a formal elicitation of expert judgments has led to one of the most extensive expert elicitation processes to date in the context of the NUREG 1150 study. About 30 safety issues were quantified using expert judgments about probabilities of various uncertain events and quantities, ranging from the failure of a check valve in the cooling system to the pressure built up due to hydrogen production to release fractions of various radionuclides. In total, some 1000 probability distributions were elicited from some 50 experts. This paper first motivates the use of formal expert elicitation in complex engineering studies and describes the methodology of formal expert elicitation. Subsequently, it describes the overall approach of NUREG 1150 and provides an example of the elicitation of the probability of a bypass failure in a pressurized water reactor. The paper ends by discussing some lessons learned, problems encountered and by providing some recommendations

Inter-expert and intra-expert reliability in sleep spindle scoring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wendt, Sabrina Lyngbye; Welinder, Peter; Sørensen, Helge Bjarup Dissing

2015-01-01

Objectives To measure the inter-expert and intra-expert agreement in sleep spindle scoring, and to quantify how many experts are needed to build a reliable dataset of sleep spindle scorings. Methods The EEG dataset was comprised of 400 randomly selected 115 s segments of stage 2 sleep from 110...... with higher reliability than the estimation of spindle duration. Reliability of sleep spindle scoring can be improved by using qualitative confidence scores, rather than a dichotomous yes/no scoring system. Conclusions We estimate that 2–3 experts are needed to build a spindle scoring dataset...... with ‘substantial’ reliability (κ: 0.61–0.8), and 4 or more experts are needed to build a dataset with ‘almost perfect’ reliability (κ: 0.81–1). Significance Spindle scoring is a critical part of sleep staging, and spindles are believed to play an important role in development, aging, and diseases of the nervous...

Occurrence and elimination of cyanobacterial toxins in drinking water treatment plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoeger, Stefan J.; Hitzfeld, Bettina C.; Dietrich, Daniel R.

2005-01-01

Toxin-producing cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are abundant in surface waters used as drinking water resources. The toxicity of one group of these toxins, the microcystins, and their presence in surface waters used for drinking water production has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to publish a provisional guideline value of 1.0 μg microcystin (MC)-LR/l drinking water. To verify the efficiency of two different water treatment systems with respect to reduction of cyanobacterial toxins, the concentrations of MC in water samples from surface waters and their associated water treatment plants in Switzerland and Germany were investigated. Toxin concentrations in samples from drinking water treatment plants ranged from below 1.0 μg MC-LR equiv./l to more than 8.0 μg/l in raw water and were distinctly below 1.0 μg/l after treatment. In addition, data to the worldwide occurrence of cyanobacteria in raw and final water of water works and the corresponding guidelines for cyanobacterial toxins in drinking water worldwide are summarized

CFD in drinking water treatment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wols, B.A.

2010-01-01

Hydrodynamic processes largely determine the efficacy of drinking water treatment systems, in particular disinfection systems. A lack of understanding of the hydrodynamics has resulted in suboptimal designs of these systems. The formation of unwanted disinfection-by-products and the energy

An opacity-sampled treatment of water vapor

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, David R.; Augason, Gordon C.; Johnson, Hollis R.

1989-01-01

Although the bands of H2O are strong in the spectra of cool stars and calculations have repeatedly demonstrated their significance as opacity sources, only approximate opacities are currently available, due both to the difficulty of accounting for the millions of lines involved and to the inadequacy of laboratory and theoretical data. To overcome these obstacles, a new treatment is presented, based upon a statistical representation of the water vapor spectrum derived from available laboratory data. This statistical spectrum of water vapor employs an exponential distribution of line strengths and random positions of lines whose overall properties are forced to reproduce the mean opacities observed in the laboratory. The resultant data set is then treated by the opacity-sampling method exactly as are all other lines, both molecular and atomic. Significant differences are found between the results of this improved treatment and the results obtained with previous treatments of water-vapor opacity.

Applications of artificial intelligence technology to wastewater treatment fields in China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

QING Xiao-xia; WANG Bo; MENG De-tao

2005-01-01

Current applications of artificial intelligence technology to wastewater treatment in China are summarized. Wastewater treatment plants use expert system mainly in the operation decision-making and fault diagnosis of system operation, use artificial neuron network for system modeling, water quality forecast and soft measure, and use fuzzy control technology for the intelligence control of wastewater treatment process. Finally, the main problems in applying artificial intelligence technology to wastewater treatment in China are analyzed.

Analysis of the Difference of Radon Concentration between Water Treatment Plant and Tap water in house

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Jeongil; Yoo, Donghan; Kim, Heereyoung

2013-01-01

As importance for the health, measurements and analysis about radon is active recently. Especially, radon concentration measurement about underground water which people drink was been carried out by the environment organizations in Korea and has been hot-issued because of the high radon concentration in water source. In present study, the difference of radon concentration among water source, water treatment plant and tap water in house is analyzed. It makes sense that the radon concentration in water treatment plant can represent the radon concentration in the tap water. Through the above experiments, the difference of the radon concentration between water treatment plant and tap water in house is figured out. It contributes to confirm more specific basis for estimating the annual radon exposure for the public. With further experiments and analysis, it is thought that it will be used as tool to assess more qualitatively for the radon concentration in tap water. Finally, this Fundamental approach will help in making new regulations about radon

Analysis of the Difference of Radon Concentration between Water Treatment Plant and Tap water in house

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seo, Jeongil; Yoo, Donghan; Kim, Heereyoung [Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

As importance for the health, measurements and analysis about radon is active recently. Especially, radon concentration measurement about underground water which people drink was been carried out by the environment organizations in Korea and has been hot-issued because of the high radon concentration in water source. In present study, the difference of radon concentration among water source, water treatment plant and tap water in house is analyzed. It makes sense that the radon concentration in water treatment plant can represent the radon concentration in the tap water. Through the above experiments, the difference of the radon concentration between water treatment plant and tap water in house is figured out. It contributes to confirm more specific basis for estimating the annual radon exposure for the public. With further experiments and analysis, it is thought that it will be used as tool to assess more qualitatively for the radon concentration in tap water. Finally, this Fundamental approach will help in making new regulations about radon.

Evaluation of advanced wastewater treatment systems for water reuse in the era of advanced wastewater treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Kon, Hisao; Watanabe, Masahiro

This study focuses on effluent COD concentration from wastewater treatment in regards to the reduction of pathogenic bacteria and trace substances in public waters. The main types of secondary wastewater treatment were conventional activated sludge processes. Recently, however, advance wastewater treatment processes have been developed aimed at the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, and the effluent quality of these processes was analyzed in this study. Treatment processes for water reclamation that make effluent to meet the target water quality for reuse purposes were selected and also optimum design parameters for these processes were proposed. It was found that the treatment cost to water reclamation was greatly affected by the effluent COD of the secondary treatment. It is important to maintain low COD concentration in the secondary treated effluent. Therefore, it is considered that adequate cost benefits would be obtained by achieving target COD quality through shifting from a conventional activated sludge process to an advanced treatment process.

Risk-Informed SSCs Categorization: Elicitation Method of Expert's Opinion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, Mee Jeong; Yang, Joon Eon; Kim, Kil Yoo

2005-01-15

The regulations have been performing by deterministic way since nuclear power plants have been operating. However, some SSCs identified as safety-significance by deterministic way, were turned out to be low or non safety-significant and some SSCs identified as non-safety significance were turned out to be high safety-significant according to the results of PSA. Considering these risk insights, Regulatory Guide 1.174 and 10CFR50.69 were drawn up, and we can re-categorize the SSCs according to their safety significance. Therefore, a study and an interest about the risk-informed SSCs re-categorization and treatment has been continued. The objective of this regulatory initiative is to adjust the scope of equipment subject to special regulatory treatment to better focus licensee and regulatory attention and resources on equipment that has safety significance. Current most regulations define the plant equipment necessary to meet deterministic regulatory basis as 'safety-related.' This equipment is subject to special treatment regulations. Other plant equipment is categorized as 'non-safety related,' and is not subject to a select number of special treatment requirement or a subset of those requirement. However, risk information is not a magic tool making a decision but a supporting tool to categorize SSCs. This is because only small parts of a plant are modeled in PSA model. Thus, engineering and deterministic judgments are also used for risk-informed SSCs categorization, and expert opinion elicitation is very important for risk-informed SSCs categorization. Therefore, we need a rational method to elicit the expert's opinions, and in this study, we developed a systematic method for expert elicitation to categorize the nuclear power plants' SSCs. Current states for SSCs categorization of the USA and the existing methods for expert elicitation were surveyed and more systematic way eliciting the expert opinions and combining was developed. To

Design and implementation of expert decision system in Yellow River Irrigation

Science.gov (United States)

Fuping, Wang; Bingbing, Lei; Jie, Pan

2018-03-01

How to make full use of water resources in the Yellow River irrigation is a problem needed to be solved urgently. On account of the different irrigation strategies in various growth stages of wheat, this paper proposes a novel irrigation expert decision system basing on fuzzy control technique. According to the control experience, expert knowledge and MATLAB simulation optimization, we obtain the irrigation fuzzy control table stored in the computer memory. The controlling irrigation is accomplished by reading the data from fuzzy control table. The experimental results show that the expert system can be used in the production of wheat to achieve timely and appropriate irrigation, and ensure that wheat growth cycle is always in the best growth environment.

An expert system for diagnostics and estimation of steam turbine components condition

Science.gov (United States)

Murmansky, B. E.; Aronson, K. E.; Brodov, Yu. M.

2017-11-01

The report describes an expert system of probability type for diagnostics and state estimation of steam turbine technological subsystems components. The expert system is based on Bayes’ theorem and permits to troubleshoot the equipment components, using expert experience, when there is a lack of baseline information on the indicators of turbine operation. Within a unified approach the expert system solves the problems of diagnosing the flow steam path of the turbine, bearings, thermal expansion system, regulatory system, condensing unit, the systems of regenerative feed-water and hot water heating. The knowledge base of the expert system for turbine unit rotors and bearings contains a description of 34 defects and of 104 related diagnostic features that cause a change in its vibration state. The knowledge base for the condensing unit contains 12 hypotheses and 15 evidence (indications); the procedures are also designated for 20 state parameters estimation. Similar knowledge base containing the diagnostic features and faults hypotheses are formulated for other technological subsystems of turbine unit. With the necessary initial information available a number of problems can be solved within the expert system for various technological subsystems of steam turbine unit: for steam flow path it is the correlation and regression analysis of multifactor relationship between the vibration parameters variations and the regime parameters; for system of thermal expansions it is the evaluation of force acting on the longitudinal keys depending on the temperature state of the turbine cylinder; for condensing unit it is the evaluation of separate effect of the heat exchange surface contamination and of the presence of air in condenser steam space on condenser thermal efficiency performance, as well as the evaluation of term for condenser cleaning and for tube system replacement and so forth. With a lack of initial information the expert system enables to formulate a diagnosis

A Tool to Support Optimal Industrial Wastewater Treatment Design and Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Quaglia, Alberto; Pennati, Alessandra; Bozkurt, Hande

2013-01-01

may be suboptimal or disregard opportunities for water recycle or resource recovery and reuse. In this contribution, we propose a model-based toolbox developed to help wastewater professionals to screen among a large number of alternatives in order to identify the optimal treatment configuration from......Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant (IWWTP) design is often based on in-house expert knowledge and experience. Because of time and resources constraints, only a small number of alternative treatment configurations and ideas are evaluated while designing an IWWTP. Consequently, the selected design...... an economic cost-benefit perspective. The toolbox is demonstrated through a case study, dealing with oil refinery wastewater treatment and water recycle....

[Newly Designed Water Treatment Systems for Hospital Effluent].

Science.gov (United States)

Azuma, Takashi

2018-01-01

　Pharmaceuticals are indispensable to contemporary life. Recently, the emerging problem of pharmaceutical-based pollution of river environments, including drinking water sources and lakes, has begun to receive significant attention worldwide. Because pharmaceuticals are designed to perform specific physiological functions in targeted regions of the human body, there is increasing concern regarding their toxic effects, even at low concentrations, on aquatic ecosystems and human health, via residues in drinking water. Pharmaceuticals are consistently employed in hospitals to treat disease; and Japan, one of the most advanced countries in medical treatment, ranks second worldwide in the quantity of pharmaceuticals employed. Therefore, the development of technologies that minimize or lessen the related environmental risks for clinical effluent is an important task as well as that for sewage treatment plants (STPs). However, there has been limited research on clinical effluent, and much remains to be elucidated. In light of this, we are investigating the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, and the development of water treatment systems for clinical effluent. This review discusses the current research on clinical effluent and the development of advanced water treatment systems targeted at hospital effluent, and explores strategies for future environmental risk assessment and risk management.

Real time expert systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asami, Tohru; Hashimoto, Kazuo; Yamamoto, Seiichi

1992-01-01

Recently, aiming at the application to the plant control for nuclear reactors and traffic and communication control, the research and the practical use of the expert system suitable to real time processing have become conspicuous. In this report, the condition for the required function to control the object that dynamically changes within a limited time is presented, and the technical difference between the real time expert system developed so as to satisfy it and the expert system of conventional type is explained with the actual examples and from theoretical aspect. The expert system of conventional type has the technical base in the problem-solving equipment originating in STRIPS. The real time expert system is applied to the fields accompanied by surveillance and control, to which conventional expert system is hard to be applied. The requirement for the real time expert system, the example of the real time expert system, and as the techniques of realizing real time processing, the realization of interruption processing, dispersion processing, and the mechanism of maintaining the consistency of knowledge are explained. (K.I.)

Linking ceragenins to water-treatment membranes to minimize biofouling.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hibbs, Michael R.; Altman, Susan Jeanne; Feng, Yanshu (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah); Savage, Paul B. (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah); Pollard, Jacob (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah); Branda, Steven S.; Goeres, Darla (Montana State University, Bozeman, MT); Buckingham-Meyer, Kelli (Montana State University, Bozeman, MT); Stafslien, Shane (North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND); Marry, Christopher; Jones, Howland D. T.; Lichtenberger, Alyssa; Kirk, Matthew F.; McGrath, Lucas K. (LMATA, Albuquerque, NM)

2012-01-01

Ceragenins were used to create biofouling resistant water-treatment membranes. Ceragenins are synthetically produced antimicrobial peptide mimics that display broad-spectrum bactericidal activity. While ceragenins have been used on bio-medical devices, use of ceragenins on water-treatment membranes is novel. Biofouling impacts membrane separation processes for many industrial applications such as desalination, waste-water treatment, oil and gas extraction, and power generation. Biofouling results in a loss of permeate flux and increase in energy use. Creation of biofouling resistant membranes will assist in creation of clean water with lower energy usage and energy with lower water usage. Five methods of attaching three different ceragenin molecules were conducted and tested. Biofouling reduction was observed in the majority of the tests, indicating the ceragenins are a viable solution to biofouling on water treatment membranes. Silane direct attachment appears to be the most promising attachment method if a high concentration of CSA-121a is used. Additional refinement of the attachment methods are needed in order to achieve our goal of several log-reduction in biofilm cell density without impacting the membrane flux. Concurrently, biofilm forming bacteria were isolated from source waters relevant for water treatment: wastewater, agricultural drainage, river water, seawater, and brackish groundwater. These isolates can be used for future testing of methods to control biofouling. Once isolated, the ability of the isolates to grow biofilms was tested with high-throughput multiwell methods. Based on these tests, the following species were selected for further testing in tube reactors and CDC reactors: Pseudomonas ssp. (wastewater, agricultural drainage, and Colorado River water), Nocardia coeliaca or Rhodococcus spp. (wastewater), Pseudomonas fluorescens and Hydrogenophaga palleronii (agricultural drainage), Sulfitobacter donghicola, Rhodococcus fascians, Rhodobacter

Increase in extraction yields of coals by water treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Masashi Iino; Toshimasa Takanohashi; Chunqi Li; Haruo Kumagai [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan). Institute for Energy Utilization

2004-10-01

The effect of water treatment at 500 and 600 K on solvent extractions of Pocahontas No. 3 (PO), Upper Freeport (UF), and Illinois No. 6 (IL) coals was investigated. All the coals used show that the water treatments at 600 K increased the extraction yields greatly in the extractions with a 1:1 carbon disulfide/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (CS{sub 2}/NMP) mixed solvent, NMP, or 1-methylnaphthalene (1-MN). However, the water treatments at 500 K and the heat treatments at 600 K without water gave only a slight increase in the yields. Characterizations of the water-treated coals were performed using ultimate and proximate compositions, Fourier transform infrared analysis, solvent swelling, nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation time, and viscoelasticity behavior. The swelling degree in methanol and toluene was increased by the water treatment at 600 K, suggesting that crosslinks become loosened by the treatment. The results of infrared analysis and the extraction temperature dependency of the extraction yields with NMP and 1-MN suggest that the loosening of {pi} - interactions, and of both {pi} - interactions and hydrogen bonds, are responsible for the yield enhancements for PO and UF coals, respectively. However, for IL coal, which exhibited a decrease in oxygen content and the amount of hydrogen-bonded OH, suggesting the occurrence of some chemical reactions, the yield enhancements may be due to the relaxation of hydrogen bonds and the removal of oxygen functional groups, such as the breaking of ether bonds. 17 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs.

Modeling of the water uptake process for cowpea seeds (vigna unguiculata l.) under common treatment and microwave treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demirhan, E.

2015-01-01

The water uptake kinetics of cowpea seeds were carried out at two different water absorption treatments - common treatment and microwave treatment - to evaluate the effects of rehydration temperatures and microwave output powers on rehydration. Water uptake of cowpea seeds during soaking in water was studied at various temperatures of 20 - 45 degree C, and at various microwave output powers of 180 - 900 W. As the rehydration temperature and microwave output power increased, the water uptake of cowpea seeds increased and the rehydration time decreased. The Peleg and Richards Models were capable of predicting water uptake of cowpea seeds undergoing common treatment and microwave treatment, respectively. The effective diffusivity values were evaluated by fitting experimental absorption data to Fick second law of diffusion. The effective diffusivity coefficients for cowpea seeds varied from 7.75*10-11 to 1.99*10-10 m2/s and from 2.23*10-9 to 9.78*10-9 m2/s for common treatment and microwave treatment, respectively. (author)

Radiological assessment of water treatment processes in a water treatment plant in Saudi Arabia: Water and sludge radium content, radon air concentrations and dose rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Jaseem, Q.Kh., E-mail: qjassem@kacst.edu.sa [Nuclear Science Research Institute (NSRI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442 (Saudi Arabia); Almasoud, Fahad I. [Nuclear Science Research Institute (NSRI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442 (Saudi Arabia); Ababneh, Anas M. [Physics Dept., Faculty of Science, Islamic University in Madinah, Al-Madinah, P.O. Box 170 (Saudi Arabia); Al-Hobaib, A.S. [Nuclear Science Research Institute (NSRI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442 (Saudi Arabia)

2016-09-01

There is an increase demand for clean water sources in Saudi Arabia and, yet, renewable water resources are very limited. This has forced the authorities to explore deep groundwater which is known to contain large concentrations of radionuclides, mainly radium isotopes. Lately, there has been an increase in the number of water treatment plants (WTPs) around the country. In this study, a radiological assessment of a WTP in Saudi Arabia was performed. Raw water was found to have total radium activity of 0.23 Bq/L, which exceeds the international limit of 0.185 Bq/L (5 pCi/L). The WTP investigated uses three stages of treatment: flocculation/sedimentation, sand filtration and reverse osmosis. The radium removal efficiency was evaluated for each stage and the respective values were 33%, 22% and 98%. Moreover, the activity of radium in the solid waste generated from the WTP in the sedimentation and sand filtrations stages were measured and found to be 4490 and 6750 Bq/kg, respectively, which exceed the national limit of 1000 Bq/kg for radioactive waste. A radiological assessment of the air inside the WTP was also performed by measuring the radon concentrations and dose rates and were found in the ranges of 2–18 Bq/m{sup 3} and 70–1000 nSv/h, respectively. The annual effective dose was calculated and the average values was found to be 0.3 mSv which is below the 1 mSv limit. - Highlights: • Radiological assessment of groundwater treatment plant was performed. • Radium Removal efficiency was calculated for different stages during water treatment. • Radium concentrations in sludge were measured and found to exceed the national limit for radioactive waste. • Air radon concentrations and dose rates were monitored in the water treatment plant. • The Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit was found to record the highest air radon concentrations and dose rates.

Water: from the source to the treatment plan

Science.gov (United States)

Baude, I.; Marquet, V.

2012-04-01

Isabelle BAUDE isa.baude@free.fr Lycee français de Vienne Liechtensteinstrasse 37AVienna As a physics and chemistry teacher, I have worked on water from the source to the treatment plant with 27 pupils between 14 and 15 years old enrolled in the option "Science and laboratory". The objectives of this option are to interest students in science, to introduce them to practical methods of laboratory analyses, and let them use computer technology. Teaching takes place every two weeks and lasts 1.5 hours. The theme of water is a common project with the biology and geology teacher, Mrs. Virginie Marquet. Lesson 1: Introduction: The water in Vienna The pupils have to consider why the water is so important in Vienna (history, economy etc.) and where tap water comes from. Activities: Brainstorming about where and why we use water every day and why the water is different in Vienna. Lesson 2: Objectives of the session: What are the differences between mineral waters? Activities: Compare water from different origins (France: Evian, Vittel, Contrex. Austria: Vöslauer, Juvina, Gasteiner and tap water from Vienna) by tasting and finding the main ions they contain. Testing ions: Calcium, magnesium, sulphate, chloride, sodium, and potassium Lesson 3: Objectives of the session: Build a hydrometer Activities: Producing a range of calibration solutions, build and calibrate the hydrometer with different salt-water solutions. Measure the density of the Dead Sea's water and other mineral waters. Lesson 4: Objectives of the session: How does a fountain work? Activities: Construction of a fountain as Heron of Alexandria with simple equipment and try to understand the hydrostatic principles. Lesson 5: Objectives of the session: Study of the physical processes of water treatment (decantation, filtration, screening) Activities: Build a natural filter with sand, stone, carbon, and cotton wool. Retrieve the filtered water to test it during lesson 7. Lesson 6: Visit of the biggest treatment

Security of water treatment facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forsha, C.A. [Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Johnstowne, PA (United States)

2002-06-15

The safety of the nation's water supply is at risk. Although harm may or may not be done to water sources, the fear is definitely a factor. No matter what size system supplies water, the community will expect increased security. Decisions must be made as to how much will be spent on security and what measures will be taken with the money. Small systems often have a difficult time in finding a direction to focus on. Physical and electronic protection is less involved because of the scale of service. Biological contamination is difficult to prevent if the assailants are determined. Small-scale water storage and low magnitudes of flow increase a contamination threat. Large systems have a size advantage when dealing with biological contamination because of the dilution factor, but physical and electronic protection is more involved. Large-scale systems are more likely to overlook components. A balance is maintained through anything dealing with the public. Having greater assurance that water quality will be maintained comes at the cost of knowing less about how water is protected and treated, and being banned from public land within watersheds that supply drinking water. Whether good or bad ideas are being implemented, security of water treatment facilities is changing. (author)

Security of water treatment facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsha, C.A.

2002-01-01

The safety of the nation's water supply is at risk. Although harm may or may not be done to water sources, the fear is definitely a factor. No matter what size system supplies water, the community will expect increased security. Decisions must be made as to how much will be spent on security and what measures will be taken with the money. Small systems often have a difficult time in finding a direction to focus on. Physical and electronic protection is less involved because of the scale of service. Biological contamination is difficult to prevent if the assailants are determined. Small-scale water storage and low magnitudes of flow increase a contamination threat. Large systems have a size advantage when dealing with biological contamination because of the dilution factor, but physical and electronic protection is more involved. Large-scale systems are more likely to overlook components. A balance is maintained through anything dealing with the public. Having greater assurance that water quality will be maintained comes at the cost of knowing less about how water is protected and treated, and being banned from public land within watersheds that supply drinking water. Whether good or bad ideas are being implemented, security of water treatment facilities is changing. (author)

Plant wide chemical water stability modelling with PHREEQC for drinking water treatment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Helm, A.W.C.; Kramer, O.J.I.; Hooft, J.F.M.; De Moel, P.J.

2015-01-01

In practice, drinking water technologists use simplified calculation methods for aquatic chemistry calculations. Recently, the database stimela.dat is developed especially for aquatic chemistry for drinking water treatment processes. The database is used in PHREEQC, the standard in geohydrology for

REVIEW ON NATURAL METHODS FOR WASTE WATER TREATMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashwani Kumar Dubey

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In Ethiopia, the most common method of disposal of waste water is by land spreading. This treatment method has numerous problems, namely high labor requirements and the potential for eutrophication of surface an d ground waters. Constructed wetlands are commonl y used for treatment of seconda ry municipal wastewaters and they have been gaining popularity for treatment of agricultural wastewaters in Ethiopia. Intermittent sand filtration may offer an alternative to traditional treatment methods. As well as providing comparable treatment performance, they also have a smaller footprint, due to the substantially higher organic loading rates that may be applied to their surfaces. Th is paper discusses the performance and design criteria of constructed wetlands for the treatment of domestic and agricultural wastewater, and sand filters for the treatment of domestic wastewater. It also proposes sand filtration as an alt ernative treatment mechanism for agricultural wa stewater and suggests design guide lines.

Survey of disinfection efficiency of small drinking water treatment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A survey involving 181 water treatment plants across 7 provinces of South Africa: Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape was undertaken to identify the challenges facing small water treatment plants (SWTPs) in South Africa . Information gathered included ...

Radiation treatment of polluted water and wastewater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-09-01

Strategies to tackle environmental pollution have been receiving increasing attention throughout the world in recent years. Radiation processing using electron beam accelerators and gamma irradiators has shown very promising results in this area. Radiation processing in wastewater treatment is an additive-free process that uses the short lived reactive species formed during the radiolysis of water for efficient decomposition of pollutants therein. The rapid growth of the global population, together with the increased development of agriculture and industry, have led to the generation of large quantities of polluted industrial and municipal wastewater. The recognition that these polluted waters may pose a serious threat to humans has led technologists to look for cost effective technologies for their treatment. A variety of methods based on biological, chemical, photochemical and electrochemical processes are being explored for decomposing the chemical and biological contaminants present in the wastewaters. Studies in recent years have demonstrated the effectiveness of ionizing radiation such as, gamma rays and electron beams or in combination with other treatments, in the decomposition of refractory organic compounds in aqueous solutions and in the effective removal or inactivation of various microorganisms and parasites. The application of electron beam processing for drinking water, wastewater and groundwater treatment offers the promise of a cost effective process. The installation of the first full scale electron beam plant in Daegu, Republic of Korea, to treat 10 000 m 3 day -1 textile wastewater has demonstrated that the process is a cost effective technology when compared to conventional treatment. The regular operation of this facility provides operational data on reliability and additional data for a detailed economic evaluation. The IAEA has been supporting activities in this area by organizing advisory group meetings, consultants meetings, symposia and

International, Expert-Based, Consensus Statement Regarding the Management of Acute Diverticulitis.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Leary, D Peter; Lynch, Noel; Clancy, Cillian; Winter, Desmond C; Myers, Eddie

2015-09-01

This Delphi study provides consensus related to many aspects of acute diverticulitis and identifies other areas in need of research. To generate an international, expert-based, consensus statement to address controversies in the management of acute diverticulitis. This study was conducted using the Delphi technique from April 3 through October 21, 2014. A survey website was used and a panel of acute diverticulitis experts was formed via the snowball method. The top 5 acute diverticulitis experts in 5 international geographic regions were identified based on their number of publications related to acute diverticulitis. The Delphi study used 3 rounds of questions, after which the consensus statement was collated. A consensus statement related to the management of acute diverticulitis. Twenty items were selected for inclusion in the consensus statement following 3 rounds of questioning. A clear definition of uncomplicated and complicated diverticulitis is provided. In uncomplicated diverticulitis, consensus was reached regarding appropriate laboratory and radiological evaluation of patients as well as nonsurgical, surgical, and follow-up strategies. A number of important topics, including antibiotic treatment, failed to reach consensus. In addition, consensus was reached regarding many nonsurgical and surgical treatment strategies in complicated diverticulitis. Controversy continues internationally regarding the management of acute diverticulitis. This study demonstrates that there is more nonconsensus among experts than consensus regarding most issues, even in the same region. It also provides insight into the status quo regarding the treatment of acute diverticulitis and provides important direction for future research.

Characterisation of some South African water treatment residues ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2005-07-03

Jul 3, 2005 ... Land application of water treatment residue (WTR) the by-product from the production of potable water, is becoming the preferred ... were analysed for some physical (particle size distribution, particle density and plant available water) and chemical attributes ...... for Industrial Wastes – Theory and Practice.

Do marketing and alcohol treatment/public health experts think televised alcohol advertisements abide by regulatory guidelines?

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd, Kelly; Cameron, Elaine; Williams, Hannah; Banister, Emma; Donmall, Michael; Higgins, Alan; French, David P

2018-04-01

Televised alcohol advertisements in the United Kingdom must abide by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Code, which provides guidelines concerning advertisements not implying, condoning or encouraging immoderate, irresponsible or antisocial drinking. Previously, 75 per cent of 373 general public respondents were shown one of seven advertisements rated a breach of at least one guideline. This study assessed whether experts in marketing ( n = 25) and alcohol treatment/public health ( n = 25) perceived the same seven television alcohol advertisements as complying with the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Code. Overall, 83 per cent of advertisements were rated as breaching at least one guideline. This provides further proof that self-regulatory alcohol guidelines are not fit for purpose.

The beneficial usage of water treatment sludge as pottery product ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The disposal of sludge from water treatment operations has become a major problem in Malaysia. The problem becomes acute because of scarcity of space for installation of sludge treatment facilities and disposal of treated sludge. Traditionally, treated sludge from water treatment plant will be sent to landfill for disposal.

Treatment differences in the therapeutic relationship and introject during a 2-year randomized controlled trial of dialectical behavior therapy versus nonbehavioral psychotherapy experts for borderline personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Bedics, Jamie D; Atkins, David C; Comtois, Katherine A; Linehan, Marsha M

2012-02-01

The present study explored the role of the therapeutic relationship and introject during the course of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993) for the treatment of borderline personality disorder. Women meeting DSM-IV criteria for borderline personality disorder (N = 101) were randomized to receive DBT or community treatment by experts. The Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (Benjamin, 1974) was used to measure both the therapeutic relationship and introject. Relative to community treatment by experts, DBT participants reported the development of a more positive introject, including significantly greater self-affirmation, self-love, self-protection, and less self-attack, during the course of treatment and 1-year follow-up. The therapeutic relationship did not have an independent effect on intrapsychic or symptomatic outcome but did interact with treatment. DBT participants who perceived their therapist as affirming and protecting reported less frequent occurrences of nonsuicidal self-injury. The study showed positive intrapsychic change during DBT and emphasized the importance of affirmation and control in the therapeutic relationship. Results are discussed in the context of understanding the mechanisms of change in DBT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Treating co-occurring Axis I disorders in recurrently suicidal women with borderline personality disorder: a 2-year randomized trial of dialectical behavior therapy versus community treatment by experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Harned, Melanie S; Chapman, Alexander L; Dexter-Mazza, Elizabeth T; Murray, Angela; Comtois, Katherine A; Linehan, Marsha M

2008-12-01

This study evaluated whether dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was more efficacious than treatment by nonbehavioral psychotherapy experts in reducing co-occurring Axis I disorders among suicidal individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Women with BPD and recent and repeated suicidal and/or self-injurious behavior (n = 101) were randomly assigned to 1 year of DBT or community treatment by experts (CTBE), plus 1 year of follow-up assessment. For substance dependence disorders (SDD), DBT patients were more likely to achieve full remission, spent more time in partial remission, spent less time meeting full criteria, and reported more drug- and alcohol-abstinent days than did CTBE patients. These findings suggest that improvements in co-occurring SDD among suicidal BPD patients are specific to DBT and cannot be attributed to general factors associated with nonbehavioral expert psychotherapy. Further, group differences in SDD remission were not explained by either psychotropic medication usage or changes in BPD criterion behaviors. DBT and CTBE did not significantly differ in the reduction of anxiety disorders, eating disorders, or major depressive disorder.

Water treatment for 500 MWe PHWR plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasist, Sudheer; Sharma, M.C.; Agarwal, N.K.

1995-01-01

Large quantities of treated water is required for power generation. For a typical 500 MWe PHWR inland station with cooling towers, raw water at the rate of 6000 m 3 /hr is required. Impurities in cooling water give rise to the problems of corrosion, scaling, microbiological contamination, fouling, silical deposition etc. These problems lead to increased maintenance cost, reduced heat transfer efficiency, and possible production cut backs or shutdowns. The problems in coastal based power plants are more serious because of the highly corrosive nature of sea water used for cooling. An overview of the cooling water systems and water treatment method is enumerated. (author). 2 refs., 1 fig

Online-Expert: An Expert System for Online Database Selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Zahir, Sajjad; Chang, Chew Lik

1992-01-01

Describes the design and development of a prototype expert system called ONLINE-EXPERT that helps users select online databases and vendors that meet users' needs. Search strategies are discussed; knowledge acquisition and knowledge bases are described; and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a decision analysis technique that ranks databases,…

Nanofiltration technology in water treatment and reuse: applications and costs.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahmansouri, Arash; Bellona, Christopher

2015-01-01

Nanofiltration (NF) is a relatively recent development in membrane technology with characteristics that fall between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (RO). While RO membranes dominate the seawater desalination industry, NF is employed in a variety of water and wastewater treatment and industrial applications for the selective removal of ions and organic substances, as well as certain niche seawater desalination applications. The purpose of this study was to review the application of NF membranes in the water and wastewater industry including water softening and color removal, industrial wastewater treatment, water reuse, and desalination. Basic economic analyses were also performed to compare the profitability of using NF membranes over alternative processes. Although any detailed cost estimation is hampered by some uncertainty (e.g. applicability of estimation methods to large-scale systems, labor costs in different areas of the world), NF was found to be a cost-effective technology for certain investigated applications. The selection of NF over other treatment technologies, however, is dependent on several factors including pretreatment requirements, influent water quality, treatment facility capacity, and treatment goals.

Being an expert

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brechet, Y.; Musseau, O.; Bruna, G.; Sperandio, M.; Roulleaux-Dugage, M.; Andrieux, S.; Metteau, L.

2014-01-01

This series of short articles are dedicated to the role of the expert in the enterprise. There is an important difference between a scientific counsellor and an expert, the expert, recognized by his peers, can speak publicly in his field of expertise but has a duty of transparency while the job of a scientific counsellor requires confidentiality. The making and the use of an expert in an enterprise requires a dedicated organization. The organization of the expertise in 5 enterprises in nuclear industry are considered: CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), IRSN (Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety), AREVA, ANDRA (National Radioactive Waste Management Agency) and EDF (Electricity of France)

Utilisation of drinking water treatment sludge for the manufacturing of ceramic products

Science.gov (United States)

Kizinievič, O.; Kizinievič, V.

2017-10-01

The influence of the additive of drinking water treatment sludge on the physical and mechanical properties, structural parameters, microstructure of the ceramic products is analysed in the research. Drinking water treatment sludge is renewable, environmentally-friendly, economical additive saving expensive natural raw materials when introduced into the ceramic products. The main drinking water treatment sludge component is amorphous Fe2O3 (70%). Formation masses are prepared by incorporating from 5 % to 60 % of drinking water treatment additive and by burning out at the temperature 1000 °C. Investigation showed that the physical and mechanical properties, microstructure of the ceramic bodies vary depending on the amount of drinking water treatment additive incorporated. In addition, drinking water treatment additive affects the ceramic body as a pigment that dyes the ceramic body in darker red colour.

Obesity prevention, screening, and treatment: practices of pediatric providers since the 2007 expert committee recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rausch, John Conrad; Perito, Emily Rothbaum; Hametz, Patricia

2011-05-01

This study surveyed pediatric primary care providers at a major academic center regarding their attitudes and practices of obesity screening, prevention, and treatment. The authors compared the care providers' reported practices to the 2007 American Medical Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Expert Committee Recommendations to evaluate their adherence to the guidelines and differences based on level of training and specialty. Of 96 providers surveyed, less than half used the currently recommended criteria for identifying children who are overweight (24.7%) and obese (34.4%), with attendings more likely to use the correct criteria than residents (P obesity, the majority felt their counseling was not effective. There was considerable variability in reported practices of lab screening and referral patterns of overweight and obese children. More efforts are needed to standardize providers' approach to overweight and obese children.

Household pasteurization of drinking-water: the chulli water-treatment system.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Mohammad Fakhrul; Johnston, Richard B

2006-09-01

A simple flow-through system has been developed which makes use of wasted heat generated in traditional clay ovens (chullis) to pasteurize surface water. A hollow aluminium coil is built into the clay chulli, and water is passed through the coil during normal cooking events. By adjusting the flow rate, effluent temperature can be maintained at approximately 70 degrees C. Laboratory testing, along with over 400 field tests on chulli systems deployed in six pilot villages, showed that the treatment completely inactivated thermotolerant coliforms. The chulli system produces up to 90 litres per day of treated water at the household level, without any additional time or fuel requirement. The technology has been developed to provide a safe alternative source of drinking-water in arsenic-contaminated areas, but can also have wide application wherever people consume microbiologically-contaminated water.

[Maintenance and monitoring of water treatment system].

Science.gov (United States)

Pontoriero, G; Pozzoni, P; Tentori, F; Scaravilli, P; Locatelli, F

2005-01-01

Water treatment systems must be submitted to maintenance, disinfections and monitoring periodically. The aim of this review is to analyze how these processes must complement each other in order to preserve the efficiency of the system and optimize the dialysis fluid quality. The correct working of the preparatory process (pre-treatment) and the final phase of depuration (reverse osmosis) of the system need a periodic preventive maintenance and the regular substitution of worn or exhausted components (i.e. the salt of softeners' brine tank, cartridge filters, activated carbon of carbon tanks) by a competent and trained staff. The membranes of reverse osmosis and the water distribution system, including dialysis machine connections, should be submitted to dis-infections at least monthly. For this purpose it is possible to use chemical and physical agents according to manufacturer' recommendations. Each dialysis unit should predispose a monitoring program designed to check the effectiveness of technical working, maintenance and disinfections and the achievement of chemical and microbiological standards taken as a reference. Generally, the correct composition of purified water is monitored by continuous measuring of conductivity, controlling bacteriological cultures and endotoxin levels (monthly) and checking water contaminants (every 6-12 months). During pre-treatment, water hardness (after softeners) and total chlorine (after chlorine tank) should be checked periodically. Recently the Italian Society of Nephrology has developed clinical guidelines for water and dialysis solutions aimed at suggesting rational procedures for production and monitoring of dialysis fluids. It is hopeful that the application of these guidelines will lead to a positive cultural change and to an improvement in dialysis fluid quality.

Enhanced drinking water supply through harvested rainwater treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Naddeo, Vincenzo; Scannapieco, Davide; Belgiorno, Vincenzo

2013-08-01

Decentralized drinking water systems represent an important element in the process of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, as centralized systems are often inefficient or nonexistent in developing countries. In those countries, most water quality related problems are due to hygiene factors and pathogens. A potential solution might include decentralized systems, which might rely on thermal and/or UV disinfection methods as well as physical and chemical treatments to provide drinking water from rainwater. For application in developing countries, decentralized systems major constraints include low cost, ease of use, environmental sustainability, reduced maintenance and independence from energy sources. This work focuses on an innovative decentralized system that can be used to collect and treat rainwater for potable use (drinking and cooking purposes) of a single household, or a small community. The experimented treatment system combines in one compact unit a Filtration process with an adsorption step on GAC and a UV disinfection phase in an innovative design (FAD - Filtration Adsorption Disinfection). All tests have been carried out using a full scale FAD treatment unit. The efficiency of FAD technology has been discussed in terms of pH, turbidity, COD, TOC, DOC, Escherichia coli and Total coliforms. FAD technology is attractive since it provides a total barrier for pathogens and organic contaminants, and reduces turbidity, thus increasing the overall quality of the water. The FAD unit costs are low, especially if compared to other water treatment technologies and could become a viable option for developing countries.

Heuristics in Managing Complex Clinical Decision Tasks in Experts' Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Roosan; Weir, Charlene; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2014-09-01

Clinical decision support is a tool to help experts make optimal and efficient decisions. However, little is known about the high level of abstractions in the thinking process for the experts. The objective of the study is to understand how clinicians manage complexity while dealing with complex clinical decision tasks. After approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), three clinical experts were interviewed the transcripts from these interviews were analyzed. We found five broad categories of strategies by experts for managing complex clinical decision tasks: decision conflict, mental projection, decision trade-offs, managing uncertainty and generating rule of thumb. Complexity is created by decision conflicts, mental projection, limited options and treatment uncertainty. Experts cope with complexity in a variety of ways, including using efficient and fast decision strategies to simplify complex decision tasks, mentally simulating outcomes and focusing on only the most relevant information. Understanding complex decision making processes can help design allocation based on the complexity of task for clinical decision support design.

Assessment of drinking water quality and rural household water treatment in Balaka District, Malawi

Science.gov (United States)

Mkwate, Raphael C.; Chidya, Russel C. G.; Wanda, Elijah M. M.

2017-08-01

Access to drinking water from unsafe sources is widespread amongst communities in rural areas such as Balaka District in Malawi. This situation puts many individuals and communities at risk of waterborne diseases despite some households adopting household water treatment to improve the quality of the water. However, there still remains data gaps regarding the quality of drinking water from such sources and the household water treatment methods used to improve public health. This study was, therefore, conducted to help bridge the knowledge gap by evaluating drinking water quality and adoption rate of household water treatment and storage (HWTS) practices in Nkaya, Balaka District. Water samples were collected from eleven systematically selected sites and analyzed for physico-chemical and microbiological parameters: pH, TDS, electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, F-, Cl-, NO3-, Na, K, Fe, Faecal Coliform (FC) and Faecal Streptococcus (FS) bacteria using standard methods. The mean results were compared to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) (MS 733:2005) to ascertain the water quality for drinking purposes. A total of 204 randomly selected households were interviewed to determine their access to drinking water, water quality perception and HWTS among others. The majority of households (72%, n = 83) in Njerenje accessed water from shallow wells and rivers whilst in Phimbi boreholes were commonly used. Several households (>95%, n = 204) were observed to be practicing HWST techniques by boiling or chlorination and water storage in closed containers. The levels of pH (7.10-7.64), F- (0.89-1.46 mg/L), Cl- (5.45-89.84 mg/L), NO3- (0-0.16 mg/L), Na (20-490 mg/L), K (2.40-14 mg/L) and Fe (0.10-0.40 mg/L) for most sites were within the standard limits. The EC (358-2220 μS/cm), turbidity (0.54-14.60 NTU), FC (0-56 cfu/100 mL) and FS (0-120 cfu/100 mL) - mainly in shallow wells, were found to be above the WHO and MBS water quality

Significant Need for a French Network of Expert Centers Enabling a Better Characterization and Management of Treatment-Resistant Depression (Fondation FondaMental

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antoine Yrondi

2017-11-01

Full Text Available BackgroundMajor depression is characterized by (i a high lifetime prevalence of 16–17% in the general population; (ii a high frequency of treatment resistance in around 20–30% of cases; (iii a recurrent or chronic course; (iv a negative impact on the general functioning and quality of life; and (v a high level of comorbidity with various psychiatric and non-psychiatric disorders, high occurrence of completed suicide, significant burden along with the personal, societal, and economic costs. In this context, there is an important need for the development of a network of expert centers for treatment-resistant depression (TRD, as performed under the leadership of the Fondation FondaMental.MethodsThe principal mission of this national network is to establish a genuine prevention, screening, and diagnosis policy for TRD to offer a systematic, comprehensive, longitudinal, and multidimensional evaluation of cases. A shared electronic medical file is used referring to a common exhaustive and standardized set of assessment tools exploring psychiatric, non-psychiatric, metabolic, biological, and cognitive dimensions of TRD. This is paralleled by a medico-economic evaluation to examine the global economic burden of the disease and related health-care resource utilization. In addition, an integrated biobank has been built by the collection of serum and DNA samples for the measurement of several biomarkers that could further be associated with the treatment resistance in the recruited depressed patients. A French observational long-term follow-up cohort study is currently in progress enabling the extensive assessment of resistant depressed patients. In those unresponsive cases, each expert center proposes relevant therapeutic options that are classically aligned to the international guidelines referring to recognized scientific societies.DiscussionThis approach is expected to improve the overall clinical assessments and to provide evidence

Application of graphene oxide in water treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yongchen

2017-11-01

Graphene oxide has good hydrophilicity and has been tried to use it into thin films for water treatment in recent years. In this paper, the preparation methods of graphene oxide membrane are reviewed, including vacuum suction filtration, spray coating, spin coating, dip coating and the layer by layer method. Secondly, the mechanism of mass transfer of graphene membrane is introduced in detail. The application of the graphene oxide membrane, modified graphene oxide membrane and graphene hybrid membranes were discussed in RO, vaporization, nanofiltration and other aspects. Finally, the development and application of graphene membrane in water treatment were discussed.

System Experts and Decision Making Experts in Transdisciplinary Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Mieg, Harald A.

2006-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims at a better understanding of expert roles in transdisciplinary projects. Thus, the main purpose is the analysis of the roles of experts in transdisciplinary projects. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis of the ETH-UNS case studies from the point of view of the psychology of expertise and the sociology of professions…

A new water treatment scheme for thermal development : the SIBE process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pedenaud, P.; Dang, F. [Total, Paris (France)

2008-10-15

The production of extra heavy oil or bitumen through thermal methods such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) involves the generation and injection into the reservoir of large quantities of steam which is recirculated with the produced bitumen. It is expected that maximizing the recycling of the produced water into steam will be mandatory, because of the need to minimize fresh water consumption and the possibility of increasingly stringent environmental regulations. The SAGD water treatment scheme is complex. It depends on the water characteristics, the steam generator type selected, and the decision to completely eliminate waste water disposal or use other waste handling and disposal methods. Other challenges such as the high silica content in the produced water, are encountered with SAGD water treatment. This paper presented an overview of the current water treatment process options for SAGD, as well as a new patented process called silica inhibition and blowdown evaporation (SIBE). The paper also presented an estimate of the economic benefit of the new SIBE process relative to conventional process schemes. Treatment objectives and water characteristics and the steps involved in conventional water treatment were first outlined. It was concluded that the silica and hardness removal scheme combined with the boiler blowdown evaporator were less economical because of higher investment cost due to the evaporation unit. 1 ref., 3 tabs., 4 figs.

Zoujiashan uranium waste water treatment optimizaiton design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Lianjun

2014-01-01

Optimization design follows the decontamination triage, comprehensive management, such as wastewater treatment principle and from easy to difficult. increasing the slurry treatment, optimization design containing ρ (U) > defines I mg/L wastewater for higher uranium concentration wastewater, whereas low uranium concentration wastewater. Through the optimization design, solve the problem of water turbidity 721-15 wastewater treatment station of the lack of capacity and mine. (author)

Treatment of mine-water from decommissioning uranium mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan Quanhui

2002-01-01

Treatment methods for mine-water from decommissioning uranium mines are introduced and classified. The suggestions on optimal treatment methods are presented as a matter of experience with decommissioned Chenzhou Uranium Mine

Chitosan Coagulation to Improve Microbial and Turbidity Removal by Ceramic Water Filtration for Household Drinking Water Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Abebe, Lydia S; Chen, Xinyu; Sobsey, Mark D

2016-02-27

The use of porous ceramic filters is promoted globally for household water treatment, but these filters are ineffective in removing viruses from water. In order to increase virus removal, we combine a promising natural coagulant, chitosan, as a pretreatment for ceramic water filters (CWFs) and evaluate the performance of this dual barrier water treatment system. Chitosan is a non-toxic and biodegradable organic polymer derived by simple chemical treatments from chitin, a major source of which is the leftover shells of crustacean seafoods, such as shrimp, prawns, crabs, and lobsters. To determine the effectiveness of chitosan, model test water was contaminated with Escherichia coli K011 and coliphage MS2 as a model enteric bacterium and virus, respectively. Kaolinite clay was used to model turbidity. Coagulation effectiveness of three types of modified chitosans was determine at various doses ranging from 5 to 30 mg/L, followed by flocculation and sedimentation. The pre-treated supernatant water was then decanted into the CWF for further treatment by filtration. There were appreciable microbial removals by chitosan HCl, acetate, and lactate pretreatment followed by CWF treatment, with mean reductions (95% CI) between 4.7 (± 1.56) and 7.5 (± 0.02) log10 for Escherichia coli, and between 2.8 (± 0.10) and 4.5 (± 1.04) log10 for MS2. Turbidity reduction with chitosan treatment and filtration consistently resulted in turbidities water treatment technology, chitosan coagulation achieved health protective targets for both viruses and bacteria. Therefore, the results of this study support the use of chitosan to improve household drinking water filtration processes by increasing virus and bacteria reductions.

Expert auditors’ services classification

OpenAIRE

Jolanta Wisniewska

2013-01-01

The profession of an expert auditor is a public trust occupation with a distinctive feature of taking responsibility for actions in the public interest. The main responsibility of expert auditors is performing financial auditing; however, expert auditors are prepared to carry out different tasks which encompass a wide plethora of financial and auditing services for different kinds of institutions and companies. The aim of the article is first of all the description of expert auditors’ service...

Minireview: the health implications of water treatment with ozone.

Science.gov (United States)

Carmichael, N G; Winder, C; Borges, S H; Backhouse, B L; Lewis, P D

1982-01-11

Ozone is a highly efficient disinfectant which may have significant advantages in water treatment compared to chlorine. It has, however, been shown that mutagenic and possibly carcinogenic byproducts may be produced under certain conditions of ozonation. Light chlorination following ozonization may meet the highest standards of disinfection. In addition the destruction of much of the organic matter by prior ozone treatment may well result in less harmful chlorinated and brominated products in the finished water. In many cases ozone treatment alone may suffice. It would be desirable to test with long term in vivo experiments which of the alternatives produces the best combination of microbiologically clean and pleasant water with minimum mutagenic and carcinogenic effect.

TREATMENT OF PRODUCED OIL AND GAS WATERS WITH SURFACTANT-MODIFIED ZEOLITE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lynn E. Katz; R.S. Bowman; E.J. Sullivan

2003-11-01

Co-produced water from the oil and gas industry accounts for a significant waste stream in the United States. It is by some estimates the largest single waste stream in the country, aside from nonhazardous industrial wastes. Characteristics of produced water include high total dissolved solids content, dissolved organic constituents such as benzene and toluene, an oil and grease component, and chemicals added during the oil-production process. While most of the produced water is disposed via reinjection, some must be treated to remove organic constituents before the water is discharged. Current treatment options are successful in reducing the organic content; however, they cannot always meet the levels of current or proposed regulations for discharged water. Therefore, an efficient, cost-effective treatment technology is needed. Surfactant-modified zeolite (SMZ) has been used successfully to treat contaminated ground water for organic and inorganic constituents. In addition, the low cost of natural zeolites makes their use attractive in water-treatment applications. This report summarizes the work and results of this four-year project. We tested the effectiveness of surfactant-modified zeolite (SMZ) for removal of BTEX with batch and column experiments using waters with BTEX concentrations that are comparable to those of produced waters. The data from our experimental investigations showed that BTEX sorption to SMZ can be described by a linear isotherm model, and competitive effects between compounds were not significant. The SMZ can be readily regenerated using air stripping. We field-tested a prototype SMZ-based water treatment system at produced water treatment facilities and found that the SMZ successfully removes BTEX from produced waters as predicted by laboratory studies. When compared to other existing treatment technologies, the cost of the SMZ system is very competitive. Furthermore, the SMZ system is relatively compact, does not require the storage of

Integrated modeling of ozonation for optimization of drinking water treatment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Helm, A.W.C.

2007-01-01

Drinking water treatment plants automation becomes more sophisticated, more on-line monitoring systems become available and integration of modeling environments with control systems becomes easier. This gives possibilities for model-based optimization. In operation of drinking water treatment

Heterotrophic monitoring at a drinking water treatment plant by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry after different drinking water treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Sala-Comorera, Laura; Blanch, Anicet R; Vilaró, Carles; Galofré, Belén; García-Aljaro, Cristina

2017-10-01

The aim of this work was to assess the suitability of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for routine heterotrophic monitoring in a drinking water treatment plant. Water samples were collected from raw surface water and after different treatments during two campaigns over a 1-year period. Heterotrophic bacteria were studied and isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF MS. Moreover, the diversity index and the coefficient of population similarity were also calculated using biochemical fingerprinting of the populations studied. MALDI-TOF MS enabled us to characterize and detect changes in the bacterial community composition throughout the water treatment plant. Raw water showed a large and diverse population which was slightly modified after initial treatment steps (sand filtration and ultrafiltration). Reverse osmosis had a significant impact on the microbial diversity, while the final chlorination step produced a shift in the composition of the bacterial community. Although MALDI-TOF MS could not identify all the isolates since the available MALDI-TOF MS database does not cover all the bacterial diversity in water, this technique could be used to monitor bacterial changes in drinking water treatment plants by creating a specific protein profile database for tracking purposes.

Grey water treatment in UASB reactor at ambient temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmitwalli, T A; Shalabi, M; Wendland, C; Otterpohl, R

2007-01-01

In this paper, the feasibility of grey water treatment in a UASB reactor was investigated. The batch recirculation experiments showed that a maximum total-COD removal of 79% can be obtained in grey-water treatment in the UASB reactor. The continuous operational results of a UASB reactor treating grey water at different hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20, 12 and 8 hours at ambient temperature (14-24 degrees C) showed that 31-41% of total COD was removed. These results were significantly higher than that achieved by a septic tank (11-14%), the most common system for grey water pre-treatment, at HRT of 2-3 days. The relatively lower removal of total COD in the UASB reactor was mainly due to a higher amount of colloidal COD in the grey water, as compared to that reported in domestic wastewater. The grey water had a limited amount of nitrogen, which was mainly in particulate form (80-90%). The UASB reactor removed 24-36% and 10-24% of total nitrogen and total phosphorus, respectively, in the grey water, due to particulate nutrients removal by physical entrapment and sedimentation. The sludge characteristics of the UASB reactor showed that the system had stable performance and the recommended HRT for the reactor is 12 hours.

Abatement vs. treatment for efficient diffuse source water pollution management in terrestrial-marine systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Roebeling, P C; Cunha, M C; Arroja, L; van Grieken, M E

2015-01-01

Marine ecosystems are affected by water pollution originating from coastal catchments. The delivery of water pollutants can be reduced through water pollution abatement as well as water pollution treatment. Hence, sustainable economic development of coastal regions requires balancing of the marginal costs from water pollution abatement and/or treatment and the associated marginal benefits from marine resource appreciation. Water pollution delivery reduction costs are, however, not equal across abatement and treatment options. In this paper, an optimal control approach is developed and applied to explore welfare maximizing rates of water pollution abatement and/or treatment for efficient diffuse source water pollution management in terrestrial-marine systems. For the case of diffuse source dissolved inorganic nitrogen water pollution in the Tully-Murray region, Queensland, Australia, (agricultural) water pollution abatement cost, (wetland) water pollution treatment cost and marine benefit functions are determined to explore welfare maximizing rates of water pollution abatement and/or treatment. Considering partial (wetland) treatment costs and positive water quality improvement benefits, results show that welfare gains can be obtained, primarily, through diffuse source water pollution abatement (improved agricultural management practices) and, to a minor extent, through diffuse source water pollution treatment (wetland restoration).

Region 9 NPDES Facilities - Waste Water Treatment Plants

Science.gov (United States)

Point geospatial dataset representing locations of NPDES Waste Water Treatment Plant Facilities. NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) is an EPA permit program that regulates direct discharges from facilities that discharge treated waste water into waters of the US. Facilities are issued NPDES permits regulating their discharge as required by the Clean Water Act. A facility may have one or more outfalls (dischargers). The location represents the facility or operating plant.

Biological treatment of drinking water by chitosan based ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ABI

2015-03-18

Mar 18, 2015 ... method. A membrane filtration technique is used for the treatment of water to remove or kill ... The characterization of synthesized nanoparticles was done by dynamic ... water and just 3% is available for drinking, agriculture,.

Water Wells Monitoring Using SCADA System for Water Supply Network, Case Study: Water Treatment Plant Urseni, Timis County, Romania

Science.gov (United States)

Adrian-Lucian, Cococeanu; Ioana-Alina, Cretan; Ivona, Cojocinescu Mihaela; Teodor Eugen, Man; Narcis, Pelea George

2017-10-01

The water supply system in Timisoara Municipality is insured with about 25-30 % of the water demand from wells. The underground water headed to the water treatment plant in order to ensure equal distribution and pressure to consumers. The treatment plants used are Urseni and Ronaţ, near Timisoara, in Timis County. In Timisoara groundwater represents an alternative source for water supply and complementary to the surface water source. The present paper presents a case study with proposal and solutions for rehabilitation /equipment /modernization/ automation of water drilling in order to ensure that the entire system can be monitored and controlled remotely through SCADA (Supervisory control and data acquisition) system. The data collected from the field are designed for online efficiency monitoring regarding the energy consumption and water flow intake, performance indicators such as specific energy consumption KW/m3 and also in order to create a hydraulically system of the operating area to track the behavior of aquifers in time regarding the quality and quantity aspects.

Treatment differences in the therapeutic relationship and introject during a 2-year randomized controlled trial of dialectical behavior therapy versus non-behavioral psychotherapy experts for borderline personality disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Bedics, Jamie D.; Atkins, David C.; Comtois, Katherine A.; Linehan, Marsha M.

2011-01-01

Objective The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of the therapeutic relationship and introject during the course of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993) for the treatment of borderline personality disorder. Method Women meeting DSM-IV criteria for borderline personality disorder (N = 101) were randomized to receive DBT or community treatment by experts. The Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB; Benjamin, 1974) was used to measure both the therapeutic relationship and introject. Results Using hierarchical linear modeling, DBT patients reported the development of a more positive introject including significantly greater self-affirmation, self-love, self-protection, and less self-attack during the course of treatment and one-year follow-up relative to community treatment by experts. The therapeutic relationship did not have an independent effect on intrapsychic or symptomatic outcome but did interact with treatment. DBT patients who perceived their therapist as affirming and protecting reported less frequent occurrences of non-suicidal self-injury. Conclusions The study showed positive intrapsychic change during DBT while emphasizing the importance of affirmation and control in the therapeutic relationship. Results are discussed in the context of understanding the mechanisms of change in DBT. PMID:22061867

Treatment of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in U.S. full-scale water treatment systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Appleman, Timothy D; Higgins, Christopher P; Quiñones, Oscar; Vanderford, Brett J; Kolstad, Chad; Zeigler-Holady, Janie C; Dickenson, Eric R V

2014-03-15

The near ubiquitous presence of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in humans has raised concerns about potential human health effects from these chemicals, some of which are both extremely persistent and bioaccumulative. Because some of these chemicals are highly water soluble, one major pathway for human exposure is the consumption of contaminated drinking water. This study measured concentrations of PFASs in 18 raw drinking water sources and 2 treated wastewater effluents and evaluated 15 full-scale treatment systems for the attenuation of PFASs in water treatment utilities throughout the U.S. A liquid-chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry method was used to enable measurement of a suite of 23 PFASs, including perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs). Despite the differences in reporting levels, the PFASs that were detected in >70% of the source water samples (n = 39) included PFSAs, perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (74%), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (79%), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (84%), and PFCAs, perfluoropentanoic acid (74%), perfluorohexanoic acid (79%), perfluoroheptanoic acid (74%), and perfluorooctanoic acid (74%). More importantly, water treatment techniques such as ferric or alum coagulation, granular/micro-/ultra- filtration, aeration, oxidation (i.e., permanganate, ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide), and disinfection (i.e., ozonation, chlorine dioxide, chlorination, and chloramination) were mostly ineffective in removing PFASs. However, anion exchange and granular activated carbon treatment preferably removed longer-chain PFASs and the PFSAs compared to the PFCAs, and reverse osmosis demonstrated significant removal for all the PFASs, including the smallest PFAS, perfluorobutanoic acid. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert study to select indicators of the occurrence of emerging mycotoxin hazards.

Science.gov (United States)

Kandhai, M C; Booij, C J H; Van der Fels-Klerx, H J

2011-01-01

This article describes a Delphi-based expert judgment study aimed at the selection of indicators to identify the occurrence of emerging mycotoxin hazards related to Fusarium spp. in wheat supply chains. A panel of 29 experts from 12 European countries followed a holistic approach to evaluate the most important indicators for different chain stages (growth, transport and storage, and processing) and their relative importance. After three e-mailing rounds, the experts reached consensus on the most important indicators for each of the three stages: wheat growth, transport and storage, and processing. For wheat growth, these indicators include: relative humidity/rainfall, crop rotation, temperature, tillage practice, water activity of the kernels, and crop variety/cultivar. For the transport and storage stage, they include water activity in the kernels, relative humidity, ventilation, temperature, storage capacity, and logistics. For wheat processing, indicators include quality data, fraction of the cereal used, water activity in the kernels, quality management and traceability systems, and carryover of contamination. The indicators selected in this study can be used in an identification system for the occurrence of emerging mycotoxin hazards in wheat supply chains. Such a system can be used by risk managers within governmental (related) organizations and/or the food and feed industry in order to react proactively to the occurrence of these emerging mycotoxins. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

The increase in extraction yields of coals by water treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

M. Iino; T. Takanohashi; C. Li; N. Kashimura; K. Masaki; T. Shishido; I. Saito; H. Kumagai [Institute for Energy Utilization, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Ibaraki (Japan)

2005-07-01

We have reported that the water treatments of bituminous coals at 600 K for 1 h increased their extraction yields greatly (Energy Fuels, 2005, 18, 1414). In this paper the effect of coal rank on the extraction yields enhancement by the water treatment has been investigated using four Argonne Premium coals, i.e., Pocahontas No. 3 (PO), Upper Freeport (UF), Illinois No.6 (IL), and Beulah Zap (BZ) coals with C % (daf) in the range 67 - 90%. All the coals used show that the water treatments at 600 K increased the extraction yields greatly with a 1:1 carbon disulfide / N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone mixed solvent (CS2 / NMP) at room temperature. While, the water treatments at 500 K or the heat treatments at 600 K without water gave little increase in the yields. Characterizations of the water-treated coals were carried out from ultimate and proximate compositions, FT-IR spectrum, solvent swelling, NMR relaxation time, and viscoelasticity behavior. The effect of extraction temperature on the extraction yield enhancement was also investigated using polar NMP or non-polar 1-MN solvent. From these results it is concluded that for high coal rank coals the loosening of non-covalent bonds is responsible for the extraction yields enhancement by the water treatment. The loosening non-covalent bonds may be {pi}-{pi} interactions between aromatic rings for PO, and both {pi}-{pi} interactions and hydrogen bonds for UF. While, for lower rank IL and BZ, which showed decrease in O% and hydrogen-bonded OH, the yield enhancements may be due to the loosening of hydrogen bonds and the removal of oxygen functional groups. 9 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

Mineralizing urban net-zero water treatment: Field experience for energy-positive water management.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tingting; Englehardt, James D

2016-12-01

An urban net-zero water treatment system, designed for energy-positive water management, 100% recycle of comingled black/grey water to drinking water standards, and mineralization of hormones and other organics, without production of concentrate, was constructed and operated for two years, serving an occupied four-bedroom, four-bath university residence hall apartment. The system comprised septic tank, denitrifying membrane bioreactor (MBR), iron-mediated aeration (IMA) reactor, vacuum ultrafilter, and peroxone or UV/H 2 O 2 advanced oxidation, with 14% rainwater make-up and concomitant discharge of 14% of treated water (ultimately for reuse in irrigation). Chemical oxygen demand was reduced to 12.9 ± 3.7 mg/L by MBR and further decreased to below the detection limit (treatment. The process produced a mineral water meeting 115 of 115 Florida drinking water standards that, after 10 months of recycle operation with ∼14% rainwater make-up, had a total dissolved solids of ∼500 mg/L, pH 7.8 ± 0.4, turbidity 0.12 ± 0.06 NTU, and NO 3 -N concentration 3.0 ± 1.0 mg/L. None of 97 hormones, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals analyzed were detected in the product water. For a typical single-home system with full occupancy, sludge pumping is projected on a 12-24 month cycle. Operational aspects, including disinfection requirements, pH evolution through the process, mineral control, advanced oxidation by-products, and applicability of point-of-use filters, are discussed. A distributed, peroxone-based NZW management system is projected to save more energy than is consumed in treatment, due largely to retention of wastewater thermal energy. Recommendations regarding design and operation are offered. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sludge quantification at water treatment plant and its management scenario.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Tarique; Ahmad, Kafeel; Alam, Mehtab

2017-08-15

Large volume of sludge is generated at the water treatment plants during the purification of surface water for potable supplies. Handling and disposal of sludge require careful attention from civic bodies, plant operators, and environmentalists. Quantification of the sludge produced at the treatment plants is important to develop suitable management strategies for its economical and environment friendly disposal. Present study deals with the quantification of sludge using empirical relation between turbidity, suspended solids, and coagulant dosing. Seasonal variation has significant effect on the raw water quality received at the water treatment plants so forth sludge generation also varies. Yearly production of the sludge in a water treatment plant at Ghaziabad, India, is estimated to be 29,700 ton. Sustainable disposal of such a quantity of sludge is a challenging task under stringent environmental legislation. Several beneficial reuses of sludge in civil engineering and constructional work have been identified globally such as raw material in manufacturing cement, bricks, and artificial aggregates, as cementitious material, and sand substitute in preparing concrete and mortar. About 54 to 60% sand, 24 to 28% silt, and 16% clay constitute the sludge generated at the water treatment plant under investigation. Characteristics of the sludge are found suitable for its potential utilization as locally available construction material for safe disposal. An overview of the sustainable management scenario involving beneficial reuses of the sludge has also been presented.

Chitosan Coagulation to Improve Microbial and Turbidity Removal by Ceramic Water Filtration for Household Drinking Water Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Abebe, Lydia S.; Chen, Xinyu; Sobsey, Mark D.

2016-01-01

The use of porous ceramic filters is promoted globally for household water treatment, but these filters are ineffective in removing viruses from water. In order to increase virus removal, we combine a promising natural coagulant, chitosan, as a pretreatment for ceramic water filters (CWFs) and evaluate the performance of this dual barrier water treatment system. Chitosan is a non-toxic and biodegradable organic polymer derived by simple chemical treatments from chitin, a major source of which is the leftover shells of crustacean seafoods, such as shrimp, prawns, crabs, and lobsters. To determine the effectiveness of chitosan, model test water was contaminated with Escherichia coli K011 and coliphage MS2 as a model enteric bacterium and virus, respectively. Kaolinite clay was used to model turbidity. Coagulation effectiveness of three types of modified chitosans was determine at various doses ranging from 5 to 30 mg/L, followed by flocculation and sedimentation. The pre-treated supernatant water was then decanted into the CWF for further treatment by filtration. There were appreciable microbial removals by chitosan HCl, acetate, and lactate pretreatment followed by CWF treatment, with mean reductions (95% CI) between 4.7 (±1.56) and 7.5 (±0.02) log10 for Escherichia coli, and between 2.8 (±0.10) and 4.5 (±1.04) log10 for MS2. Turbidity reduction with chitosan treatment and filtration consistently resulted in turbidities turbidity standards of the US EPA and guidance by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to WHO health-based microbial removal targets for household water treatment technology, chitosan coagulation achieved health protective targets for both viruses and bacteria. Therefore, the results of this study support the use of chitosan to improve household drinking water filtration processes by increasing virus and bacteria reductions. PMID:26927152

Chitosan Coagulation to Improve Microbial and Turbidity Removal by Ceramic Water Filtration for Household Drinking Water Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lydia S. Abebe

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The use of porous ceramic filters is promoted globally for household water treatment, but these filters are ineffective in removing viruses from water. In order to increase virus removal, we combine a promising natural coagulant, chitosan, as a pretreatment for ceramic water filters (CWFs and evaluate the performance of this dual barrier water treatment system. Chitosan is a non-toxic and biodegradable organic polymer derived by simple chemical treatments from chitin, a major source of which is the leftover shells of crustacean seafoods, such as shrimp, prawns, crabs, and lobsters. To determine the effectiveness of chitosan, model test water was contaminated with Escherichia coli K011 and coliphage MS2 as a model enteric bacterium and virus, respectively. Kaolinite clay was used to model turbidity. Coagulation effectiveness of three types of modified chitosans was determine at various doses ranging from 5 to 30 mg/L, followed by flocculation and sedimentation. The pre-treated supernatant water was then decanted into the CWF for further treatment by filtration. There were appreciable microbial removals by chitosan HCl, acetate, and lactate pretreatment followed by CWF treatment, with mean reductions (95% CI between 4.7 (±1.56 and 7.5 (±0.02 log10 for Escherichia coli, and between 2.8 (±0.10 and 4.5 (±1.04 log10 for MS2. Turbidity reduction with chitosan treatment and filtration consistently resulted in turbidities < 1 NTU, which meet turbidity standards of the US EPA and guidance by the World Health Organization (WHO. According to WHO health-based microbial removal targets for household water treatment technology, chitosan coagulation achieved health protective targets for both viruses and bacteria. Therefore, the results of this study support the use of chitosan to improve household drinking water filtration processes by increasing virus and bacteria reductions.

Treatment technology for removing radon from small community water supplies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinner, N.E.; Quern, P.A.; Schell, G.S.; Lessard, C.E.; Clement, J.A.

1989-01-01

Radon contamination of drinking water primarily affects individual homeowners and small communities using ground-water supplies. Presently, three types of treatment processes have been used to remove radon: granular activated carbon adsorption (GAC), diffused-bubble aeration, and packed-tower aeration. In order to obtain data on these treatment alternatives for small communities water supplies, a field evaluation study was conducted on these three processes as well as on several modifications to aeration of water in storage tanks considered to be low cost/low technology alternatives. The paper presents the results of these field studies conducted at a small mobile home park in rural New Hampshire. The conclusion of the study was that the selection of the appropriate treatment system to remove radon from drinking water depends primarily upon: (1) precent removal of process; (2) capital operating and maintenance costs; (3) safety (radiation); and (4) raw water quality (Fe, Mn, bacteria and organics)

Development of an Integrated Wastewater Treatment System/water reuse/agriculture model

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, C. H.; Schuler, A.

2017-12-01

Factors like increasing population, urbanization, and climate change have made the management of water resources a challenge for municipalities. By understanding wastewater recycling for agriculture in arid regions, we can expand the supply of water to agriculture and reduce energy use at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This can improve management decisions between WWTPs and water managers. The objective of this research is to develop a prototype integrated model of the wastewater treatment system and nearby agricultural areas linked by water and nutrients, using the Albuquerque Southeast Eastern Reclamation Facility (SWRF) and downstream agricultural system as a case study. Little work has been done to understand how such treatment technology decisions affect the potential for water ruse, nutrient recovery in agriculture, overall energy consumption and agriculture production and water quality. A holistic approach to understanding synergies and tradeoffs between treatment, reuse, and agriculture is needed. For example, critical wastewater treatment process decisions include options to nitrify (oxidize ammonia), which requires large amounts of energy, to operate at low dissolved oxygen concentrations, which requires much less energy, whether to recover nitrogen and phosphorus, chemically in biosolids, or in reuse water for agriculture, whether to generate energy from anaerobic digestion, and whether to develop infrastructure for agricultural reuse. The research first includes quantifying existing and feasible agricultural sites suitable for irrigation by reuse wastewater as well as existing infrastructure such as irrigation canals and piping by using GIS databases. Second, a nutrient and water requirement for common New Mexico crop is being determined. Third, a wastewater treatment model will be utilized to quantify energy usage and nutrient removal under various scenarios. Different agricultural reuse sensors and treatment technologies will be explored. The

Forecasting land cover change impacts on drinking water treatment costs in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Science.gov (United States)

Woznicki, S. A.; Wickham, J.

2017-12-01

Source protection is a critical aspect of drinking water treatment. The benefits of protecting source water quality in reducing drinking water treatment costs are clear. However, forecasting the impacts of environmental change on source water quality and its potential to influence future treatment processes is lacking. The drinking water treatment plant in Minneapolis, MN has recognized that land cover change threatens water quality in their source watershed, the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). Over 1,000 km2 of forests, wetlands, and grasslands in the UMRB were lost to agriculture from 2008-2013. This trend, coupled with a projected population increase of one million people in Minnesota by 2030, concerns drinking water treatment plant operators in Minneapolis with respect to meeting future demand for clean water in the UMRB. The objective of this study is to relate land cover change (forest and wetland loss, agricultural expansion, urbanization) to changes in treatment costs for the Minneapolis, MN drinking water utility. To do this, we first developed a framework to determine the relationship between land cover change and water quality in the context of recent historical changes and projected future changes in land cover. Next we coupled a watershed model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to projections of land cover change from the FOREcasting SCEnarios of Land-use Change (FORE-SCE) model for the mid-21st century. Using historical Minneapolis drinking water treatment data (chemical usage and costs), source water quality in the UMRB was linked to changes in treatment requirements as a function of projected future land cover change. These analyses will quantify the value of natural landscapes in protecting drinking water quality and future treatment processes requirements. In addition, our study provides the Minneapolis drinking water utility with information critical to their planning and capital improvement process.

STUDY ON WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana DUMITRU

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Biogas is more and more used as an alternative source of energy, considering the fact that it is obtained from waste materials and it can be easily used in cities and rural communities for many uses, between which, as a fuel for households. Biogas has many energy utilisations, depending on the nature of the biogas source and the local demand. Generally, biogas can be used for heat production by direct combustion, electricity production by fuel cells or micro-turbines, Combined Hest and Power generation or as vehicle fuel. In this paper we search for another uses of biogas and Anaerobe Digestion substrate, such as: waste water treatment plants and agricultural wastewater treatment, which are very important in urban and rural communities, solid waste treatment plants, industrial biogas plants, landfill gas recovery plants. These uses of biogas are very important, because the gas emissions and leaching to ground water from landfill sites are serious threats for the environment, which increase more and more bigger during the constant growth of some human communities. That is why, in the developed European countries, the sewage sludge is treated by anaerobe digestion, depending on national laws. In Romania, in the last years more efforts were destined to use anaerobe digestion for treating waste waters and management of waste in general. This paper can be placed in this trend of searching new ways of using with maximum efficiency the waste resulted in big communities.

New electrochemical and photochemical systems for water and wastewater treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarria, Victor M; Parra, Sandra; Rincon, Angela G; Torres, Ricardo A; Pulgarin, Cesar

2005-01-01

With the increasing pressure on a more effective use of water resources, the development of appropriate water treatment technologies become more and more important. Photochemical and electrochemical oxidation processes have been proposed in recent years as an attractive alternative for the treatment of contaminated water containing anthropogenic substances hardly biodegradable as well as to purify and disinfect drinking waters. The aim of this paper is to present some of our last results demonstrating that electrochemical, photochemical, and the coupling of these processes with biological systems are very promising alternatives for the improvement of the water quality

Methods for waste waters treatment in textile industry

OpenAIRE

Srebrenkoska, Vineta; Zhezhova, Silvana; Risteski, Sanja; Golomeova, Saska

2014-01-01

The processes of production of textiles or wet treatments and finishing processes of textile materials are huge consumers of water with high quality. As a result of these various processes, considerable amounts of polluted water are released. This paper puts emphasis on the problem of environmental protection against waste waters generated by textile industry. The methods of pretreatment or purification of waste waters in the textile industry can be: Primary (screening, sedimentation, homo...

Potential applications of plasma science techniques for water treatment systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavlik, D.

1994-01-01

The historical evolution of water treatment techniques and their impact on man and his environment are presented. Ancient man recognized the relationship between good water and good health. However, it was not until the late 1800's that man's own contribution to the pollution of water via biological and chemical contamination of the water stream was recognized as having adverse affects on water quality. Since that time virtually every nation has adopted laws and regulations to ensure that safe sources of unpolluted water are available to its citizens. In the United States, water quality is governed by the Clean Water Act of 1972 administered at the federal level by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Further, each state has established its equivalent agency which administers its own laws and regulations. Different biological and chemical biohazards present in the water system are discussed. Biological contaminants include various types of viruses, bacteria, fungii, molds, yeasts, algae, amoebas, and parasites. Chemical contaminates include elemental heavy metals and other organic and inorganic compounds which interfere with normal biological functions. Conventional water treatments for both consumption and sewage effluent commonly employ four different principals: mechanical filtration, quiescent gravity settling, biological oxidation, and chemical treatment. Although these techniques have greatly reduced the incidence of water-borne disease recent studies suggest that more effective means of eliminating biohazards are needed. Regulatory requirements for more aggressive treatment and elimination of residual contaminants present a significant opportunity for the application of various forms of electromagnetic radiation techniques. A comparison between conventional techniques and more advanced methods using various forms of electromagnetic radiation is discussed

Methods of removing uranium from drinking water. 1. A literature survey. 2. Present municipal water treatment and potential removal methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drury, J.S.; Michelson, D.; Ensminger, J.T.; Lee, S.Y.; White, S.K.

1982-12-01

Literature was searched for methods of removing uranium from drinking water. U.S. manufacturers and users of water-treatment equipment and products were also contacted regarding methods of removing uranium from potable water. Based on the results of these surveys, it was recommended that untreated, partially treated, and finished water samples from municipal water-treatment facilities be analyzed to determine the extent of removal of uranium by presently used procedures, and that additional laboratory studies be performed to determine what changes are needed to maximize the effectiveness of treatments that are already in use in existing water-treatment plants

Characterization and treatment of grey water : option for (re)use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abu-Ghunmi, L.N.A.H.

2009-01-01

Addressing the issues of water shortage and appropriate sanitation in Jordan, domestic grey water treatment receives growing interest. Grey water comprises the domestic wastewater flows excluding waters associated with the toilet. The topics of concern for grey water are its characteristics,

77 FR 12227 - Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule: Uncovered Finished Water Reservoirs; Public...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-29

... Water Treatment Rule: Uncovered Finished Water Reservoirs; Public Meeting AGENCY: Environmental... review of the uncovered finished water reservoir requirement in the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water... uncovered finished water reservoir requirement and the agency's Six Year Review process. EPA also plans to...

An Expert System for Diagnosis of Broiler Diseases using Certainty Factor

Science.gov (United States)

Setyohadi, D. P. S.; Octavia, R. A.; Puspitasari, T. D.

2018-01-01

Broilers are defined as chickens of meat-type strains raised specifically for meat production. Based on data production from the Ministry of the Republic of Indonesia raised 3.76% from 2015 - 2016. But in reality the price of chicken is expensive, because the amount of market demand is more than the amount of production. Harvest failure due to chicken disease is one of the causes. Detecting diseases at early stage can enable to overcome and treat them appropriately. Identifying the treatment accurately depends on the method that is used in diagnosing the diseases. A Diagnosis expert system can help a great deal in identifying those diseases and describing methods of treatment to be carried out taking into account the user capability in order to deal and interact with expert system easily and clearly. This system has 25 symptoms and 6 diseases using certainty factor method to solve the problem of uncertainty. The result of the research is that Broiler Expert System has been successfully identifying diseases that can solve the problem with accuracy 90%.

Energy requirements for waste water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Svardal, K; Kroiss, H

2011-01-01

The actual mathematical models describing global climate closely link the detected increase in global temperature to anthropogenic activity. The only energy source we can rely on in a long perspective is solar irradiation which is in the order of 10,000 kW/inhabitant. The actual primary power consumption (mainly based on fossil resources) in the developed countries is in the range of 5 to 10 kW/inhabitant. The total power contained in our nutrition is in the range of 0.11 kW/inhabitant. The organic pollution of domestic waste water corresponds to approximately 0.018 kW/inhabitant. The nutrients contained in the waste water can also be converted into energy equivalents replacing market fertiliser production. This energy equivalent is in the range of 0.009 kW/inhabitant. Hence waste water will never be a relevant source of energy as long as our primary energy consumption is in the range of several kW/inhabitant. The annual mean primary power demand of conventional municipal waste water treatment with nutrient removal is in the range of 0.003-0.015 kW/inhabitant. In principle it is already possible to reduce this value for external energy supply to zero. Such plants should be connected to an electrical grid in order to keep investment costs low. Peak energy demand will be supported from the grid and surplus electric energy from the plant can be is fed to the grid. Zero 'carbon footprint' will not be affected by this solution. Energy minimisation must never negatively affect treatment efficiency because water quality conservation is more important for sustainable development than the possible reduction in energy demand. This argument is strongly supported by economical considerations as the fixed costs for waste water infrastructure are dominant.

An expert system for PWR core operation management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ida, Toshio; Masuda, Masahiro; Nishioka, Hiromasa

1988-01-01

Planning for restartup after planned or unplanned reactor shutdown and load-follow operations is an important task in the core operation management of pressurized water reactors (PWRs). These planning problems have been solved by planning experts using their expertise and the computational prediction of core behavior. Therefore, the quality of the plan and the time consumed in the planning depend heavily on the skillfulness of the planning experts. A knowledge engineering approach has been recently considered as a promising means to solve such complicated planning problems. Many knowledge-based systems have been developed so far, and some of them have already been applied because of their effectiveness. The expert system REPLEX has been developed to aid core management engineers in making a successful plan for the restartup or the load-follow operation of PWRs within a shorter time. It can maintain planning tasks at a high-quality level independent of the skillfulness of core management engineers and enhance the efficiency of management. REPLEX has an explanation function that helps user understanding of plans. It could be a useful took, therefore, for the training of core management engineers.

An expert system for PWR core operation management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ida, Toshio; Masuda, Masahiro; Nishioka, Hiromasa.

1988-01-01

Planning for restartup after planned or unplanned reactor shutdown and load-follow operations is an important task in the core operation management of pressurized water reactors (PWRs). These planning problems have been solved by planning experts using their expertise and the computational prediction of core behavior. Therefore, the quality of the plan and the time consumed in the planning depend heavily on the skillfulness of the planning experts. A knowledge engineering approach has been recently considered as a promising means to solve such complicated planning problems. Many knowledge-based systems have been developed so far, and some of them have already been applied because of their effectiveness. The expert system REPLEX has been developed to aid core management engineers in making a successful plan for the restartup or the load-follow operation of PWRs within a shorter time. It can maintain planning tasks at a high-quality level independent of the skillfulness of core management engineers and enhance the efficiency of management. REPLEX has an explanation function that helps user understanding of plans. It could be a useful took, therefore, for the training of core management engineers

ETV REPORT: REMOVAL OF ARSENIC IN DRINKING WATER ORCA WATER TECHNOLOGIES KEMLOOP 1000 COAGULATION AND FILTRATION WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM

Science.gov (United States)

Verification testing of the ORCA Water Technologies KemLoop 1000 Coagulation and Filtration Water Treatment System for arsenic removal was conducted at the St. Louis Center located in Washtenaw County, Michigan, from March 23 through April 6, 2005. The source water was groundwate...

Treatment of water contaminated with N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Volchek, K; Lakanowski, C; Somers, A; Whittaker, H; Hamid, H B [Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Anantaraman, A [Ottawa Univ., ON (Canada)

1996-12-31

A series of remediation technologies for contaminated soil and water at former nuclear missile sites in the countries of Eastern Europe have been developed. As part of this project the applicability of electrolytic reduction of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in groundwater, using relatively cheap materials, was evaluated. It was found that reduction of NDMA in water could be achieved using inexpensive carbon electrodes and a simple two-electrode cell, making the process potentially applicable for the treatment of contaminated surface and groundwater in field conditions. Best results were achieved at pH 1 and a potential difference of 3 to 3.5 V. It is worth noting that the residual concentration of NDMA was still too high to discharge the water into the environment without additional treatment.

Knowledge based expert system to minimise environmental pollution in Malaysian construction sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Hadu, Ibrahiem Abdul Razak; Sidek, Lariyah Mohd; Desa, Mohamad Nor Mohamad [Civil Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang, Selangor (Malaysia); Basri, Noor Ezlin Ahmad [Civil Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang, Selangor (Malaysia)

2011-07-01

Construction activities generate enormous amount of erosion and sediments sediments that is the result of soil disturbance during construction activities, thus, will pollute the adjacent water bodies and make it unfeasible for different uses. This paper aimed to develop and create the main features of an expert system prototype (ESCES) for minimising erosion and sedimentation due to stormwater generated from the construction activities by recommending a feasible BMPs. Multi criteria Analysis (MCA) technique has been integrated so as to select the best control measure among many stormwater control alternatives. A questionnaire has been distributed to the relevant experts so as to rank the stormwater control measures to be used in the MCA technique. Using Visual Basic 6, Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) were developed. The knowledge and experience were acquired from various textural sources (i.e. guidelines, manuals, literature, and human expert). Results from this study showed that the Best Management Practices (BMPs) reommended have good suited the site characteristics. As a conclusion from this study, the ESCES can be considered as part of the 'Green Technology Tool' since it helps in protecting the environment and preserve good quality of water adjacent to the construction sites in Malaysia.

Radiation processing technology for industrial waste water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

Radiation sterilization technology, cross-linked polymers and curing, food and environmental applications of the radiation is widely used for many years. At the same time, drinking water and wastewater treatment are the part of the radiation technology applications. For this purpose, drinking water and wastewater treatment plants in various countries has been established. In this project, gamma / electron beam radiation treatment is intended to be used for the treatment of alkaloid, textiles and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) wastewater. In this regard, the chemical characterization of wastewater, the interaction with radiation, biological treatment and determination of toxicological properties are the laboratory studies milestones. After laboratory studies, the establishment of a pilot scale treatment plant has been planned. Within the framework of the project a series of dye used in textile industry were examined. Besides the irradiation, the changes in treatment efficiency were investigated by using of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide in conjunction with the irradiation. Same working methods were implemented in the wastewater treatment of Bolvadin Opium Alkaloid Factory as well. In addition to chemical analysis in this study, aerobic and anaerobic biological treatment process also have been applied. Standard reference materials has been used for the marine sediment study contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls.

Drinking water treatment plant costs and source water quality: An updated case study (2013-2016)

Science.gov (United States)

Watershed protection can play an important role in producing safe drinking water. However, many municipalities and drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) lack the information on the potential benefits of watershed protection as an approach to improving source water quality. This...

Colorado Water Institute

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Study on the TOC concentration in raw water and HAAs in Tehran's water treatment plant outlet.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghoochani, Mahboobeh; Rastkari, Noushin; Nabizadeh Nodehi, Ramin; Mahvi, Amir Hossein; Nasseri, Simin; Nazmara, Shahrokh

2013-11-12

A sampling has been undertaken to investigate the variation of haloacetic acids formation and nature organic matter through 81 samples were collected from three water treatment plant and three major rivers of Tehran Iran. Changes in the total organic matter (TOC), ultraviolet absorbance (UV254), specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) were measured in raw water samples. Haloacetic acids concentrations were monitored using a new static headspace GC-ECD method without a manual pre-concentration in three water treatment plants. The average concentration of TOC and HAAs in three rivers and three water treatment plants in spring, summer and fall, were 4, 2.41 and 4.03 mg/L and 48.75, 43.79 and 51.07 μg/L respectively. Seasonal variation indicated that HAAs levels were much higher in spring and fall.

Selenium Adsorption To Aluminum-Based Water Treatment Residuals

Science.gov (United States)

Aluminum-based water treatment residuals (WTR) can adsorb water-and soil-borne P, As(V), As(III), and perchlorate, and may be able to adsorb excess environmental selenium. WTR, clay minerals, and amorphous aluminum hydroxide were shaken for 24 hours in selenate or selenite solut...

Biological black water treatment combined with membrane separation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Voorthuizen, E.M.; Zwijnenburg, A.; van der Meer, Walterus Gijsbertus Joseph; Temmink, Hardy

2008-01-01

Separate treatment of black (toilet) water offers the possibility to recover energy and nutrients. In this study three combinations of biological treatment and membrane filtration were compared for their biological and membrane performance and nutrient conservation: a UASB followed by effluent

Industrial process water treatment and reuse: A framework for synthesis and design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Quaglia, Alberto; Pennati, Alessandra; Bogataj, Milos

2014-01-01

Mathematical optimization has shown the potential to contribute to industrial water management, through the development of the solution methods needed for optimization-based design of wastewater treatment and reuse networks (also called water networks). Nevertheless, the application of this appro......, allowing a reduced water footprint, and the treatment costs are identified.......Mathematical optimization has shown the potential to contribute to industrial water management, through the development of the solution methods needed for optimization-based design of wastewater treatment and reuse networks (also called water networks). Nevertheless, the application...... algorithms. To this end, we propose a computer-aided framework for the design of water treatment and reuse networks. In the framework, optimization methods, problem analysis tools and wastewater engineering knowledge are integrated in a computer-aided environment, in order to facilitate the formulation...

Gamma radiation treatment of waste waters from textile industries in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Effects of gamma irradiation alone, and in combination with chemical treatment on color, odor, chemical oxyg-en demand (COD) and suspended solids in waste waters from textile industries in Ghana were studied to explore the potential of alternative and innovative processes for treatment of industrial waste waters. Waste ...

ARSENIC MOBILITY FROM IRON OXIDE SOLIDS PRODUCED DURING WATER TREATMENT

Science.gov (United States)

The Arsenic Rule under the Safe Drinking Water Act will require certain drinking water suppliers to add to or modify their existing treatment in order to comply with the new 10 ppb arsenic standard. One of the treatment options is co-precipitation of arsenic with iron. This tre...

Dataset on the cost estimation for spent filter backwash water (SFBW treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afshin Ebrahimi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The dataset presented in this article are related to the research article entitled “Hybrid coagulation-UF processes for spent filter backwash water treatment: a comparison studies for PAFCl and FeCl3 as a pre-treatment” (Ebrahimi et al., 2017 [1]. This article reports the cost estimation for treating produced spent filter backwash water (SFBW during water treatment in Isfahan- Iran by various methods including primary sedimentation, coagulation & flocculation, second clarification, ultra filtration (UF and recirculation of settled SFBW to water treatment plant (WTP entrance. Coagulation conducted by PAFCl and FeCl3 as pre polymerized and traditional coagulants. Cost estimation showed that contrary to expectations, the recirculation of settled SFBW to WTP entrance is more expensive than other method and it costs about $ 37,814,817.6. Versus the cheapest option related to separate primary sedimentation, coagulation & flocculation in WTP. This option cost about $ 4,757,200 and $ 950,213 when FeCl3 and PAFCl used as coagulant, respectively. Keywords: Spent filter backwash water, Water treatment, Coat estimation, Water reuse

Biochar-based water treatment systems as a potential low-cost and sustainable technology for clean water provision.

Science.gov (United States)

Gwenzi, Willis; Chaukura, Nhamo; Noubactep, Chicgoua; Mukome, Fungai N D

2017-07-15

Approximately 600 million people lack access to safe drinking water, hence achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030) calls for rapid translation of recent research into practical and frugal solutions within the remaining 13 years. Biochars, with excellent capacity to remove several contaminants from aqueous solutions, constitute an untapped technology for drinking water treatment. Biochar water treatment has several potential merits compared to existing low-cost methods (i.e., sand filtration, boiling, solar disinfection, chlorination): (1) biochar is a low-cost and renewable adsorbent made using readily available biomaterials and skills, making it appropriate for low-income communities; (2) existing methods predominantly remove pathogens, but biochars remove chemical, biological and physical contaminants; (3) biochars maintain organoleptic properties of water, while existing methods generate carcinogenic by-products (e.g., chlorination) and/or increase concentrations of chemical contaminants (e.g., boiling). Biochars have co-benefits including provision of clean energy for household heating and cooking, and soil application of spent biochar improves soil quality and crop yields. Integrating biochar into the water and sanitation system transforms linear material flows into looped material cycles, consistent with terra preta sanitation. Lack of design information on biochar water treatment, and environmental and public health risks constrain the biochar technology. Seven hypotheses for future research are highlighted under three themes: (1) design and optimization of biochar water treatment; (2) ecotoxicology and human health risks associated with contaminant transfer along the biochar-soil-food-human pathway, and (3) life cycle analyses of carbon and energy footprints of biochar water treatment systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Water Treatment Systems for Long Spaceflights

Science.gov (United States)

FLynn, Michael T.

2012-01-01

Space exploration will require new life support systems to support the crew on journeys lasting from a few days to several weeks, or longer. These systems should also be designed to reduce the mass required to keep humans alive in space. Water accounts for about 80 percent of the daily mass intake required to keep a person alive. As a result, recycling water offers a high return on investment for space life support. Water recycling can also increase mission safety by providing an emergency supply of drinking water, where another supply is exhausted or contaminated. These technologies also increase safety by providing a lightweight backup to stored supplies, and they allow astronauts to meet daily drinking water requirements by recycling the water contained in their own urine. They also convert urine into concentrated brine that is biologically stable and nonthreatening, and can be safely stored onboard. This approach eliminates the need to have a dedicated vent to dump urine overboard. These needs are met by a system that provides a contaminant treatment pouch, referred to as a urine cell or contaminant cell, that converts urine or another liquid containing contaminants into a fortified drink, engineered to meet human hydration, electrolyte, and caloric requirements, using a variant of forward osmosis (FO) to draw water from a urine container into the concentrated fortified drink as part of a recycling stage. An activated carbon pretreatment removes most organic molecules. Salinity of the initial liquid mix (urine plus other) is synergistically used to enhance the precipitation of organic molecules so that activated carbon can remove most of the organics. A functional osmotic bag is then used to remove inorganic contaminants. If a contaminant is processed for which the saline content is different than optimal for precipitating organic molecules, the saline content of the liquid should be adjusted toward the optimal value for that contaminant. A first urine

Occurrence, molecular characterization and antibiogram of water quality indicator bacteria in river water serving a water treatment plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okeke, Benedict C., E-mail: bokeke@aum.edu [Department of Biology, Auburn University at Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery, AL 36124 (United States); Thomson, M. Sue [Department of Biology, Auburn University at Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery, AL 36124 (United States); Moss, Elica M. [Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Alabama A and M University, AL 35762 (United States)

2011-11-01

Water pollution by microorganisms of fecal origin is a current world-wide public health concern. Total coliforms, fecal coliforms (Escherichia coli) and enterococci are indicators commonly used to assess the microbiological safety of water resources. In this study, influent water samples and treated water were collected seasonally from a water treatment plant and two major water wells in a Black Belt county of Alabama and evaluated for water quality indicator bacteria. Influent river water samples serving the treatment plant were positive for total coliforms, fecal coliforms (E. coli), and enterococci. The highest number of total coliform most probable number (MPN) was observed in the winter (847.5 MPN/100 mL) and the lowest number in the summer (385.6 MPN/100 mL). Similarly E. coli MPN was substantially higher in the winter (62.25 MPN/100 mL). Seasonal variation of E. coli MPN in influent river water samples was strongly correlated with color (R{sup 2} = 0.998) and turbidity (R{sup 2} = 0.992). Neither E. coli nor other coliform type bacteria were detected in effluent potable water from the treatment plant. The MPN of enterococci was the highest in the fall and the lowest in the winter. Approximately 99.7 and 51.5 enterococci MPN/100 mL were recorded in fall and winter seasons respectively. One-way ANOVA tests revealed significant differences in seasonal variation of total coliforms (P < 0.05), fecal coliforms (P < 0.01) and enterococci (P < 0.01). Treated effluent river water samples and well water samples revealed no enterococci contamination. Representative coliform bacteria selected by differential screening on Coliscan Easygel were identified by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence analysis. E. coli isolates were sensitive to gentamicin, trimethoprim/sulfamethazole, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin, tetracycline, ampicillin, cefixime, and nitrofurantoin. Nonetheless, isolate BO-54 displayed decreased sensitivity compared to other E. coli isolates. Antibiotic sensitivity

Occurrence, molecular characterization and antibiogram of water quality indicator bacteria in river water serving a water treatment plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okeke, Benedict C.; Thomson, M. Sue; Moss, Elica M.

2011-01-01

Water pollution by microorganisms of fecal origin is a current world-wide public health concern. Total coliforms, fecal coliforms (Escherichia coli) and enterococci are indicators commonly used to assess the microbiological safety of water resources. In this study, influent water samples and treated water were collected seasonally from a water treatment plant and two major water wells in a Black Belt county of Alabama and evaluated for water quality indicator bacteria. Influent river water samples serving the treatment plant were positive for total coliforms, fecal coliforms (E. coli), and enterococci. The highest number of total coliform most probable number (MPN) was observed in the winter (847.5 MPN/100 mL) and the lowest number in the summer (385.6 MPN/100 mL). Similarly E. coli MPN was substantially higher in the winter (62.25 MPN/100 mL). Seasonal variation of E. coli MPN in influent river water samples was strongly correlated with color (R 2 = 0.998) and turbidity (R 2 = 0.992). Neither E. coli nor other coliform type bacteria were detected in effluent potable water from the treatment plant. The MPN of enterococci was the highest in the fall and the lowest in the winter. Approximately 99.7 and 51.5 enterococci MPN/100 mL were recorded in fall and winter seasons respectively. One-way ANOVA tests revealed significant differences in seasonal variation of total coliforms (P < 0.05), fecal coliforms (P < 0.01) and enterococci (P < 0.01). Treated effluent river water samples and well water samples revealed no enterococci contamination. Representative coliform bacteria selected by differential screening on Coliscan Easygel were identified by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence analysis. E. coli isolates were sensitive to gentamicin, trimethoprim/sulfamethazole, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin, tetracycline, ampicillin, cefixime, and nitrofurantoin. Nonetheless, isolate BO-54 displayed decreased sensitivity compared to other E. coli isolates. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern

A review of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins removal/inactivation in drinking water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Westrick, Judy A; Szlag, David C; Southwell, Benjamin J; Sinclair, James

2010-07-01

This review focuses on the efficiency of different water treatment processes for the removal of cyanotoxins from potable water. Although several investigators have studied full-scale drinking water processes to determine the efficiency of cyanotoxin inactivation, many of the studies were based on ancillary practice. In this context, "ancillary practice" refers to the removal or inactivation of cyanotoxins by standard daily operational procedures and without a contingency operational plan utilizing specific treatment barriers. In this review, "auxiliary practice" refers to the implementation of inactivation/removal treatment barriers or operational changes explicitly designed to minimize risk from toxin-forming algae and their toxins to make potable water. Furthermore, the best drinking water treatment practices are based on extension of the multibarrier approach to remove cyanotoxins from water. Cyanotoxins are considered natural contaminants that occur worldwide and specific classes of cyanotoxins have shown regional prevalence. For example, freshwaters in the Americas often show high concentrations of microcystin, anatoxin-a, and cylindrospermopsin, whereas Australian water sources often show high concentrations of microcystin, cylindrospermopsin, and saxitoxins. Other less frequently reported cyanotoxins include lyngbyatoxin A, debromoaplysiatoxin, and beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine. This review focuses on the commonly used unit processes and treatment trains to reduce the toxicity of four classes of cyanotoxins: the microcystins, cylindrospermopsin, anatoxin-a, and saxitoxins. The goal of this review is to inform the reader of how each unit process participates in a treatment train and how an auxiliary multibarrier approach to water treatment can provide safer water for the consumer.

Delegating Decisions to Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hao; Suen, Wing

2004-01-01

We present a model of delegation with self-interested and privately informed experts. A team of experts with extreme but opposite biases is acceptable to a wide range of decision makers with diverse preferences, but the value of expertise from such a team is low. A decision maker wants to appoint experts who are less partisan than he is in order…

Microbial pathogens in source and treated waters from drinking water treatment plants in the US

Science.gov (United States)

An occurrence survey was conducted on selected pathogens in source and treated drinking water collected from 25 drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) in the United States. Water samples were analyzed for the protozoa Giardia and Cryptosporidium (EPA Method 1623); the fungi Asp...

Selection of the Best Wastewater Treatment Alternative for RIPI Based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP and Expert Choice Software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

faramarz Tarkian

2014-05-01

Full Text Available RIPI as one of the largest and most important research centers in Iran is located in zone 22 of Tehran municipality. According to the environmental priorities in the region taking all necessary measures to control pollution sources is necessary. In this paper, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP method is used for the selection of the best wastewater treatment method for RIPI. For this purpose four alternatives including SBR, Extended aeration activated sludge, Rotating MBR, Fix MBR were evaluated. These alternatives were weighted by four main criteria: Environment, Economic, Technical, Management and the defined sub-criteria ,then paired compared with respect to any form of wastewater treatment alternatives and ultimately the results was evaluated by Expert Choice software. The evaluation results indicate that Rotating MBR was the most suitable alternative of wastewater treatment method for RIPI. After the Rotating MBR, the Fix MBR, SBR and Extended activated sludge were considered suitable respectively. Degree of inconsistency is equal to 0.07, indicating that the number of paired comparisons is consistent.

Radiation chemical studies on the treatment of waste water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakumoto, Akihisa; Miyata, Teijiro; Arai, Michimasa; Arai, Hidehiko

1982-10-01

The radiation induced reaction in aqueous solution was studied to develope the radiation treatment as a new technique for waste water and to elevate the effectiveness of radiation. The effectiveness of radiation was enhanced by combination of radiation induced reaction with conventional methods such as biological treatment and coagulation treatment. The synergistic effect of radiation and ozone was studied by using phenol and ethylene glycol. The chain reaction was observed in the radiation induced oxidation. The combination of radiation and ozone is considered to be one of the most useful method. In this report, the mechanism of each reaction and the applicability of the reaction to the treatment of waste water are discussed. (author)

Investigation of the potential influence of production treatment chemicals on produced water toxicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stine, E.R.; Gala, W.R.; Henry, L.R.

1993-01-01

Production treatment chemicals represent a diverse collection of chemical classes, added at various points from the wellhead to the final flotation cell, to prevent operational upsets and enhance the separation of oil from water. Information in the literature indicates that while many treatment chemicals are thought to partition into oil and not into the produced water, there are cases where a sufficiently water soluble treatment chemical is added at high enough concentrations to suggest that the treatment chemical may add to the aquatic toxicity of the produced water. A study was conducted to evaluate the potential effect of production treatment chemicals on the toxicity of produced waters using the US EPA Seven-day Mysidopsis bahia Survival, Growth and Fecundity Test. Samples of produced water were collected and tested for toxicity from three platforms under normal operating conditions, followed by repeated sampling and testing after a 72-hour period in which treatment chemical usage was discontinued, to the degree possible. Significant reductions in produced water toxicity were observed for two of the three platforms tested following either cessation of treatment chemical usage, or by comparing the toxicity of samples collected upstream and downstream of the point of treatment chemical addition

A PC-based expert system for nondestructive testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shankar, R.; Williams, R.; Smith, C.; Selby, G.

1991-01-01

Rule-based decision logic which can emulate problem-solving expertise of humans is being explored for power plant nondestructive evaluation (NDE) applications. This paper describes an effort underway at the EPRI NDE Center to assist in the interpretation of NDE data acquired by automatic systems during ultrasonic weld examination of boiling-water reactors (BWRs). A personal computer (PC) -based expert system shell was used to encode rules and assemble knowledge to address the discrimination of intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) from benign reflectors in the inspection of pipe-to-component welds. The rules attempt to factor in plant inspection history, ultrasonic examination data nd, if available, radiography testing data; a majority of them deal with specific ultrasonic signal temporal and spatial behavior during automatic scanning. The paper describes the efforts in the development of the expert system

ANAEROBIC BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF PRODUCED WATER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

John R. Gallagher

2001-07-31

During the production of oil and gas, large amounts of water are brought to the surface and must be disposed of in an environmentally sensitive manner. This is an especially difficult problem in offshore production facilities where space is a major constraint. The chief regulatory criterion for produced water is oil and grease. Most facilities have little trouble meeting this criterion using conventional oil-water separation technologies. However, some operations have significant amounts of naphthenic acids in the water that behave as oil and grease but are not well removed by conventional technologies. Aerobic biological treatment of naphthenic acids in simulated-produced water has been demonstrated by others; however, the system was easily overloaded by the large amounts of low-molecular-weight organic acids often found in produced waters. The objective of this research was to determine the ability of an anaerobic biological system to treat these organic acids in a simulated produced water and to examine the potential for biodegradation of the naphthenic acids in the anaerobic environment. A small fixed-film anaerobic biological reactor was constructed and adapted to treat a simulated produced water. The bioreactor was tubular, with a low-density porous glass packing material. The inocula to the reactor was sediment from a produced-water holding pond from a municipal anaerobic digester and two salt-loving methanogenic bacteria. During start-up, the feed to the reactor contained glucose as well as typical produced-water components. When glucose was used, rapid gas production was observed. However, when glucose was eliminated and the major organic component was acetate, little gas was generated. Methane production from acetate may have been inhibited by the high salt concentrations, by sulfide, or because of the lack, despite seeding, of microbes capable of converting acetate to methane. Toluene, a minor component of the produced water (0.1 g/L) was removed in the

Grey water treatment concept integrating water and carbon recovery and removal of micropollutants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hernandez Leal, L.; Zeeman, G.; Buisman, C.J.N.

2011-01-01

A total treatment concept was developed for grey water from 32 houses in Sneek, The Netherlands. A thorough characterization of COD, nutrients, metals, micropollutants and anions was carried out. Four biological treatment systems were tested: aerobic, anaerobic, combined anaerobic¿+¿aerobic and a

Expert system for skin problem consultation in Thai traditional ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: This paper aimed to demonstrate the research and development of a rule-based expert system for skin problem consulting in the areas of acne, melasma, freckle, wrinkle, and uneven skin tone, with recommended treatments from Thai traditional medicine knowledge. Materials and Methods: The tool selected ...

Treatment of Highly Turbid Water by Polyaluminum Ferric Chloride (PAFCL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fazel Fazel Mohammadi-Moghaddam

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background & Aims of the Study: In some situation like rainfall seasons raw water become very turbid so it affected the water treatment plant processes and quality of produced water. Treatment of very high turbid water has some concerns like precursors for disinfection by-products and very loading rate of particle on filter's media and consequently increases in water consumption for filter backwash. This paper investigates the performance of a composite inorganic polymer of aluminium and ferric salt, Polyaluminium ferric chloride (PAFCl, for the removal of turbidity, color and natural organic matter (NOM from high turbid water. Materials and Methods: Experiments were carried out by Jar test experiment by synthetic water samples with 250 and 500 NTU turbidity that prepared in laboratory. Results: The results of conventional jar test showed that the optimum pH for coagulation of water sample was 7.5 to 8 and optimum dosage of the coagulant was 10 mg/L. Removal efficiency of turbidity, color and UV adsorbent at 254 nm at optimum dose and pH without filtration was 99.92%, 100% and 80.6% respectively for first sample (250 NTU and 99.95%, 99.49% and 84.77 for second sample (500 NTU respectively. Conclusion: It concluded that polyaluminium ferric chloride has a very good efficiency for the removal of turbidity, color and organic matter in high turbid water. Also it can be select as a coagulant for high turbid water and some waste water from water treatment plant like filter backwash water.

Ecotoxicological assessment of grey water treatment systems with Daphnia magna and Chironomus riparius.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández Leal, L; Soeter, A M; Kools, S A E; Kraak, M H S; Parsons, J R; Temmink, H; Zeeman, G; Buisman, C J N

2012-03-15

In order to meet environmental quality criteria, grey water was treated in four different ways: 1) aerobic 2) anaerobic+aerobic 3) aerobic+activated carbon 4) aerobic+ozone. Since each treatment has its own specific advantages and disadvantages, the aim of this study was to compare the ecotoxicity of differently treated grey water using Chironomus riparius (96 h test) and Daphnia magna (48 h and 21d test) as test organisms. Grey water exhibited acute toxicity to both test organisms. The aerobic and combined anaerobic+aerobic treatment eliminated mortality in the acute tests, but growth of C. riparius was still affected by these two effluents. Post-treatment by ozone and activated carbon completely removed the acute toxicity from grey water. In the chronic toxicity test the combined anaerobic+aerobic treatment strongly affected D. magna population growth rate (47%), while the aerobic treatment had a small (9%) but significant effect. Hence, aerobic treatment is the best option for biological treatment of grey water, removing most of the toxic effects of grey water. If advanced treatment is required, the treatment with either ozone or GAC were shown to be very effective in complete removal of toxicity from grey water. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Problems arising in connection with the commissioning of experts in conflict-oriented implementation of nuclear law. The legal status of expert opinions in administrative procedures under the Atomic Energy Act

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiebig, T.H.

1995-01-01

Court decisions available so far do not primarily consider the problems linked to the commissioning of an expert and his mandate, as well as the legal status of the commissioning of an expert as an administrative act which might be legally contestable. Thus there are at present no court decisions that would create legal certainty in matters of the act of commissioning a nuclear expert opinion. The current legal situation is such that an independent order for commissioning of an expert opinion in compliance with section 19 III AtG (Atomic Energy Act), which in general is given in response to the refusal of the facility operator to do so, can be independently contested on the basis of section 44 a, sentence 2 VwGO (Rules of Administrative Courts). The current practice of conflict-oriented, or nuclear power phase-out-oriented, implementation of the nuclear law poses a threat to our constitutional state and to our democracy. The supply of energy as a common good is of essential importance and thus deserves fair and objective treatment free of emotions, including the matter of nuclear energy. In cases of nuclear licensing procedures meeting with impedimental treatment by a Land government favouring the nuclear power phase-out, this treatment however not fitting into the Land governments' overall political line, there is reason to call upon the Federal Government to take action for clarifying the situation. (orig./HP) [de

Water (electrolyte) balance after abdominal therapeutic treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cionini, L; Becciolini, A; Giannardi, G [Florence Univ. (Italy). Istituto di Radiologia

1976-07-01

Total body water, plasma volume and Na space have been studied in 34 patients receiving external radiotherapy on the pelvic region. Determinations were made on the same patients before, and half-way treatment; in a few cases, some determinations were also repeated after the end of treatment. The results failed to show any appreciable modification of the different parameters studied.

Application of expert systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basden, A

1983-11-01

This article seeks to bring together a number of issues relevant to the application of expert systems by discussing their advantages and limitations, their roles and benefits, and the influence that real-life applications might have on the design of expert systems software. Part of the expert systems strategy of one major chemical company is outlined. Because it was in constructing one particular expert system that many of these issues became important this system is described briefly at the start of the paper and used to illustrate much of the later discussion. It is of the plausible-inference type and has application in the field of materials engineering. 22 references.

Comparative study of household water treatment in a rural ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This research presents the household treatment of drinking water samples in a rural community in Nigeria by boiling and water guard. The physicochemical parameters of the raw water samples with exception of chloride, BOD and dissolved oxygen were within the permissible limits of the World Health Organization (WHO) ...

Anaerobia Treatments of the domestic residual waters. Limitations potentialities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giraldo Gomez, Eugenio

1993-01-01

The quick growth of the Latin American cities has prevented that an appropriate covering of public services is achieved for the whole population, One of the undesirable consequences of this situation is the indiscriminate discharge from the domestic and industrial residual waters to the nearest bodies of water with its consequent deterioration and with disastrous consequences about the ecology and the public health. The developed countries have controlled this situation using systems of purification of the residual waters previously to their discharge in the receptor source. The same as the technology of the evacuation of the served waters, they have become numerous efforts for the application of the purification systems used in the countries developed to the socioeconomic, climatic and cultural conditions of our means. One of the results obtained in these efforts is the economic inability of the municipalities to pay the high investment costs and of operation of the traditional systems for the treatment of the residual waters. Contrary to another type of public services, the treatment of the residual waters needs of appropriate technological solutions for the Climatic and socioeconomic means of the developing countries, One of the technological alternatives for the purification of the residual waters that has had a great development in the last decades has been that of the biological treatments in t anaerobia ambient. The objective of this contribution is to present, to author's trial, the limitations and potentialities of this technology type with special emphasis in the case of the domestic residual waters

Field-analysis of potable water quality and ozone efficiency in ozone-assisted biological filtration systems for surface water treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Zanacic, Enisa; Stavrinides, John; McMartin, Dena W

2016-11-01

Potable water treatment in small communities is challenging due to a complexity of factors starting with generally poor raw water sources, a smaller tax and consumption base that limit capital and operating funds, and culminating in what is typically a less sophisticated and robust water treatment plant for production and delivery of safe, high quality potable water. The design and optimization of modular ozone-assisted biological filtration systems can address some of these challenges. In surface water treatment, the removal of organic matter (e.g., dissolved organic carbon - DOC), inorganic nutrients and other exposure-related contaminants (e.g., turbidity and dissolved solids) from the raw water source is essential. Thus, a combination of chemical and biological oxidation processes can produce an effective and efficient water treatment plant design that is also affordable and robust. To that end, the ozone-assisted biological filtration water treatment plants in two communities were evaluated to determine the efficacy of oxidation and contaminant removal processes. The results of testing for in-field system performance indicate that plant performance is particularly negatively impacted by high alkalinity, high organics loading, and turbidity. Both bicarbonate and carbonate alkalinity were observed to impede ozone contact and interaction with DOC, resulting in lower than anticipated DOC oxidation efficiency and bioavailability. The ozone dosage at both water treatment plants must be calculated on a more routine basis to better reflect both the raw water DOC concentration and presence of alkalinities to ensure maximized organics oxidation and minimization of trihalomethanes production. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Toxicity assessment of water at different stages of treatment using Microtox assay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pogorzelec Marta

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Number of potentially toxic hydrophobic organic contaminants e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins having entered aquatic environment, including potential sources of drinking water. Unfortunately, not all micropollutants can be removed during water treatment processes. What is more, disinfectants can react with some organic compounds already present in the water, and form disinfection by-products which also can be toxic. The aim of this study was to assess toxicity of water at different stages of water treatment and to verify usefulness semipermeable membrane devices in monitoring of drinking water. For this purpose, semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs were deployed in a surface water treatment plant. To determine the effect of water treatment on the presence of toxic micropollutants, study was conducted for a period of 5 months. Three sampling places were chosen: raw water input, stream of water just before disinfection and treated water output. After sampling dialysis in organic solvent was carried out and extracts were then analyzed with the Microtox acute toxicity test. The study has indicated the utility as well as some limitations of combining SPMDs with bioluminescence assay in the monitoring of biological effects of bioavailable hydrophobic pollutants in drinking water.

REVIEW OF EXISTING LCA STUDIES ON WASTE WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Henrik Fred; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

The EU research project “NEPTUNE” is related to the EU Water Framework Directive and focused on the development of new waste water treatment technologies (WWTT) for municipal waste water. The sustainability of these WWTTs is going to be assessed by the use of life cycle assessment (LCA). New life...... importance of the different life cycle stages and the individual impact categories in the total impact from the waste water treatment, and the degree to which micropollutants, pathogens and whole effluent toxicity have been included in earlier studies. The results show that more than 30 different WWTT (and...

Counselor Expert System | Debretsion | Zede Journal

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An expert system plays an important role on alleviating primarily shortage of experts in a specific area of interest. With the help of an expert system, personnel with little expertise can solve problems that require expert knowledge. In this paper all major aspects of an expert system development have been presented.

MSWT-01, flood disaster water treatment solution from common ideas

Science.gov (United States)

Ananto, Gamawan; Setiawan, Albertus B.; Z, Darman M.

2013-06-01

Indonesia has a lot of potential flood disaster places with clean water problems faced. Various solution programs always initiated by Government, companies CSR, and people sporadical actions to provide clean water; with their advantages and disadvantages respectively. One solution is easy to operate for instance, but didn't provide adequate capacity, whereas the other had ideal performance but more costly. This situation inspired to develop a water treatment machine that could be an alternative favor. There are many methods could be choosed; whether in simple, middle or high technology, depends on water source input and output result quality. MSWT, Mobile Surface Water Treatment, is an idea for raw water in flood area, basically made for 1m3 per hour. This water treatment design adopted from combined existing technologies and related literatures. Using common ideas, the highlight is how to make such modular process put in compact design elegantly, and would be equipped with mobile feature due to make easier in operational. Through prototype level experiment trials, the machine is capable for producing clean water that suitable for sanitation and cooking/drinking purposes although using contaminated water input source. From the investment point of view, such machine could be also treated as an asset that will be used from time to time when needed, instead of made for project approach only.

MSWT-01, flood disaster water treatment solution from common ideas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ananto, Gamawan; Setiawan, Albertus B; Darman M Z

2013-01-01

Indonesia has a lot of potential flood disaster places with clean water problems faced. Various solution programs always initiated by Government, companies CSR, and people sporadical actions to provide clean water; with their advantages and disadvantages respectively. One solution is easy to operate for instance, but didn't provide adequate capacity, whereas the other had ideal performance but more costly. This situation inspired to develop a water treatment machine that could be an alternative favor. There are many methods could be choosed; whether in simple, middle or high technology, depends on water source input and output result quality. MSWT, Mobile Surface Water Treatment, is an idea for raw water in flood area, basically made for 1m 3 per hour. This water treatment design adopted from combined existing technologies and related literatures. Using common ideas, the highlight is how to make such modular process put in compact design elegantly, and would be equipped with mobile feature due to make easier in operational. Through prototype level experiment trials, the machine is capable for producing clean water that suitable for sanitation and cooking/drinking purposes although using contaminated water input source. From the investment point of view, such machine could be also treated as an asset that will be used from time to time when needed, instead of made for project approach only.

Development of sustainable water treatment technology using scientifically based calculated indexes of source water quality indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А. С. Трякина

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article describes selection process of sustainable technological process flow chart for water treatment procedure developed on scientifically based calculated indexes of quality indicators for water supplied to water treatment facilities. In accordance with the previously calculated values of the indicators of the source water quality, the main purification facilities are selected. A more sustainable flow chart for the modern water quality of the Seversky Donets-Donbass channel is a two-stage filtering with contact prefilters and high-rate filters. The article proposes a set of measures to reduce such an indicator of water quality as permanganate oxidation. The most suitable for these purposes is sorption purification using granular activated carbon for water filtering. The increased water hardness is also quite topical. The method of ion exchange on sodium cation filters was chosen to reduce the water hardness. We also evaluated the reagents for decontamination of water. As a result, sodium hypochlorite is selected for treatment of water, which has several advantages over chlorine and retains the necessary aftereffect, unlike ozone. A technological flow chart with two-stage purification on contact prefilters and two-layer high-rate filters (granular activated carbon - quartz sand with disinfection of sodium hypochlorite and softening of a part of water on sodium-cation exchangers filters is proposed. This technological flow chart of purification with any fluctuations in the quality of the source water is able to provide purified water that meets the requirements of the current sanitary-hygienic standards. In accordance with the developed flow chart, guidelines and activities for the reconstruction of the existing Makeevka Filtering Station were identified. The recommended flow chart uses more compact and less costly facilities, as well as additional measures to reduce those water quality indicators, the values of which previously were in

Controlling Bacterial Pathogens in Water for Reuse: Treatment Technologies for Water Recirculation in the Blue Diversion Autarky Toilet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mi T. Nguyen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available HighlightBacterial growth in fecally-contaminated water is highly variable and dependent on several factors.Regrowth occurs after chlorination (low doses, no residual.Indigenous microbial communities variably impact bacterial growth.A combination of treatments can both inactivate and inhibit growth.The Blue Diversion AUTARKY Toilet is a urine-diverting toilet with on-site treatment. The toilet is being developed to provide a safe and affordable sanitation technology for people who lack access to sewer-based sanitation. Water used for personal hygiene, hand washing, and flushing to rinse urine- and feces-collection bowls is treated, stored, and recycled for reuse to reduce reliance on external water supplies. The system provides an opportunity to investigate hygiene of water for reuse following treatment. Treatment in the toilet includes a Biologically Activated Membrane Bioreactor (BAMBi followed by a secondary treatment technology. To identify effective secondary treatment, three options, including granular activated carbon (GAC only, GAC+chlorine (sodium hypochlorite, and GAC+electrolysis are considered based on the bacterial inactivation and growth inhibition efficiency. Four different hygiene-relevant bacteria are tested: Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhimurium. Our evaluation demonstrates that—despite treatment of water with the BAMBi—E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. typhimurium have the potential to grow during storage in the absence of microbial competition. Including the indigenous microbial community influences bacterial growth in different ways: E. coli growth decreases but P. aeruginosa growth increases relative to no competition. The addition of the secondary treatment options considerably improves water quality. A column of GAC after the BAMBi reduces E. coli growth potential by 2 log10, likely due to the reduction of carbon sources. Additional treatments including chlorination

Mine water treatment with yellowcake by-production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Csicsak, J.; Csoevari, M.; Eberfalvy, J.; Lendvai, Zs.

2002-01-01

Mining and milling of uranium ore in Hungary was terminated at the end of 1997. From that time rehabilitation works have been carrying out, which include manly the relocation of different solid wastes, such as waste rocks, heap leached residues, demolishing of former industrial buildings, clean up contaminated sites. Overall rehabilitation of the tailings ponds has also started. At first step the ground water restoration system is under construction, aiming at protecting the drinking water aquifer situated in the immediate vicinity of the tailings ponds. Former mining activity has been carried out also in the vicinity of the drinking water catchment area, for protection of that is compulsory to maintain appropriate depression in the mine in question. This means that mine water has to be pumped out continuously and because of the elevated uranium concentration in mine water, the water has to be treated. Thus the water quality protection is connected with uranium removal from the mine water. Mine water treatment process developed is based on anion-exchange process and removal of the uranium from the eluates with hydrogen peroxide. (author)

Water treatment system for utilities: Phase 1 -- Technology assessment. Interim report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janss, T.M.; Tucker, R.E.

1997-12-01

A conceptual design for a water treatment system to reduce pollutants in manhole and vault water is presented as an alternative to current water disposal practices. Runoff and groundwater seepage that collects in vaults and manholes contains, or is likely to contain, concentrations of pollutants in excess of regulatory guidelines. Pollutants commonly present in storm water runoff consist of lead, cadmium, oil, grease and asbestos. The conceptual design presents the basis for a water treatment system that will reduce pollutant concentrations to levels below regulatory thresholds. The water treatment system is relatively inexpensive, small and simple to operate. A strainer is used to remove gross particulates, which are then stored for disposal. Utilizing centrifugal force, vault and manhole water is separated into constituent fractions including fine particulates, inorganics and oils. Fine particulates are stored with gross particulates for disposal. Chemical fixation is used to stabilize inorganics. Organic substances are stored for disposal. The water treatment system uses a granular activated carbon filter as an effluent polish to adsorb the remaining pollutants from the effluent water stream. The water can be discharged to the street or storm drain and the pollutants are stored for disposal as non-hazardous waste. This system represents a method to reduce pollutant volumes, reduced disposal costs and reduce corporate environmental liability. It should be noted that the initial phase of the development process is still in progress. This report is presented to reflect work in progress and as such should be considered preliminary

First Derivative UV Spectra of Surface Water as a Monitor of Chlorination in Drinking Water Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Zitko

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Many countries require the presence of free chlorine at about 0.1 mg/l in their drinking water supplies. For various reasons, such as cast-iron pipes or long residence times in the distribution system, free chlorine may decrease below detection limits. In such cases it is important to know whether or not the water was chlorinated or if nonchlorinated water entered the system by accident. Changes in UV spectra of natural organic matter in lakewater were used to assess qualitatively the degree of chlorination in the treatment to produce drinking water. The changes were more obvious in the first derivative spectra. In lakewater, the derivative spectra have a maximum at about 280 nm. This maximum shifts to longer wavelengths by up to 10 nm, decreases, and eventually disappears with an increasing dose of chlorine. The water treatment system was monitored by this technique for over 1 year and changes in the UV spectra of water samples were compared with experimental samples treated with known amounts of chlorine. The changes of the UV spectra with the concentration of added chlorine are presented. On several occasions, water, which received very little or no chlorination, may have entered the drinking water system. The results show that first derivative spectra are potentially a tool to determine, in the absence of residual chlorine, whether or not surface water was chlorinated during the treatment to produce potable water.

Expert Panel Elicitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, M. [Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Waste Management and Environmental Protection; Hora, S.C. [Univ. of Hawaii, Hilo, HI (United States)

2005-09-15

Scientists are now frequently in a situation where data cannot be easily assessed, since they may have conflicting or uncertain sources. While expert judgment reflects private choices, it is possible both reduce the personal aspect as well as in crease confidence in the judgments by using formal protocols for choice and elicitation of experts. A full-scale elicitation made on seismicity following glaciation, now in its late phase and presented here in a preliminary form, illustrates the value of the technique and some essential issues in connection with the decision to launch such a project. The results show an unusual low variation between the experts.

The future for electrocoagulation as a localised water treatment technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, Peter K; Barton, Geoffrey W; Mitchell, Cynthia A

2005-04-01

Electrocoagulation is an electrochemical method of treating polluted water whereby sacrificial anodes corrode to release active coagulant precursors (usually aluminium or iron cations) into solution. Accompanying electrolytic reactions evolve gas (usually as hydrogen bubbles) at the cathode. Electrocoagulation has a long history as a water treatment technology having been employed to remove a wide range of pollutants. However electrocoagulation has never become accepted as a 'mainstream' water treatment technology. The lack of a systematic approach to electrocoagulation reactor design/operation and the issue of electrode reliability (particularly passivation of the electrodes over time) have limited its implementation. However recent technical improvements combined with a growing need for small-scale decentralised water treatment facilities have led to a re-evaluation of electrocoagulation. Starting with a review of electrocoagulation reactor design/operation, this article examines and identifies a conceptual framework for electrocoagulation that focuses on the interactions between electrochemistry, coagulation and flotation. In addition detailed experimental data are provided from a batch reactor system removing suspended solids together with a mathematical analysis based on the 'white water' model for the dissolved air flotation process. Current density is identified as the key operational parameter influencing which pollutant removal mechanism dominates. The conclusion is drawn that electrocoagulation has a future as a decentralised water treatment technology. A conceptual framework is presented for future research directed towards a more mechanistic understanding of the process.

Conservation-reuse of water in fossil-fuel power plants including water treatment plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rao, T.S.R.

1984-02-01

The various areas where the conservation-reuse of water is possible are discussed. However, water conservation, especially effluent volume reduction-treatment reuse, should be seen in the light of pollution control measures. Some of the areas indicated recover a small quantity of water but they should be viewed in the light of well yield being not adequate, or having high salinity or having an increase of well water salinity after some use. Some of the methods can only be adopted at the design stage whereas others could be incorporated at the site.

Fabrication of amine-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles for water treatment processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, Candace C. P.; Gallard, Hervé; Majewski, Peter

2012-01-01

Amine-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles are synthesized by a one pot water based process using N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]diethylenetriamine (TRIS) as surfactant. The prepared functionalised nanoparticles are characterised by BET surface area measurements, X-ray diffraction, zeta potential measurement, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS). The results clearly show the presence of TRIS on the surface of the nanoparticles. XPS analysis indicates the presence of very small amounts of maghemite on the surface of the magnetite nanoparticles. Water treatment test shows that the prepared nanoparticles are capable to remove natural organic matter (NOM) from natural water samples. The removal of NOM by the prepared particles is characterized by analysing the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content and UV absorbance at 254 nm (UV 254 ) after the treatment of the water samples at various doses and treatment times.

Fabrication of amine-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles for water treatment processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Candace C. P. [University of South Australia, Ian Wark Research Institute (Australia); Gallard, Herve [Universite de Poitiers, Laboratoire de Chimie et Microbiologie de l' Eau (LCME)-UMR CNRS 6008 (France); Majewski, Peter, E-mail: peter.majewski@unisa.edu.au [Mawson Institute, University of South Australia, School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering (Australia)

2012-03-15

Amine-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles are synthesized by a one pot water based process using N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]diethylenetriamine (TRIS) as surfactant. The prepared functionalised nanoparticles are characterised by BET surface area measurements, X-ray diffraction, zeta potential measurement, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS). The results clearly show the presence of TRIS on the surface of the nanoparticles. XPS analysis indicates the presence of very small amounts of maghemite on the surface of the magnetite nanoparticles. Water treatment test shows that the prepared nanoparticles are capable to remove natural organic matter (NOM) from natural water samples. The removal of NOM by the prepared particles is characterized by analysing the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content and UV absorbance at 254 nm (UV{sub 254}) after the treatment of the water samples at various doses and treatment times.

The need for the use of high-level radiation in water treatment and in waste-water (sewage) treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielson, N.E.

1975-01-01

After excellent conventional primary, followed by the best possible conventional aerobic secondary and then chemical disinfection, significant quantities of contaminants are still present in sewage, especially pathogenic organisms and toxic or toxicity-causing long-chain-molecular forms. These contaminants are generally encountered in waste-waters with a seldom predictable, almost totally random frequency. Many of these chemical forms enter re-use situations where they can become toxic to man, or to wildlife, even in concentrations of a few parts per thousand million. It has been amply demonstrated that the long-held contention is no longer valid that dilution of these contaminants to an innocuous level is easily attained by their release into large bodies of water such as lakes, oceans and rivers. At the same time, a great deal of energy is required when using known techniques in highly reliable systems for removing or rendering innocuous a large portion of these contaminants. In the light of this new (to some people) information describing a much larger, more complex set of conditions which must be considered in effective water pollution elimination, high-level radiation becomes very attractive. There is a great need for high-level radiation in water treatment or waste-water treatment where the ultimate goal is a safe, clean, non-environmentally degrading, safely re-usable quality of water. Gamma radiation, used under the right circumstances, is the most reliable, most cost-effective, most generally efficient technique in the tertiary stages. With the addition of select chemicals to increase the number of ionizations realized and/or to capitalize upon surface charge phenomena, its effectiveness can be even further expanded. (author)

A review of water treatment membrane nanotechnologies

KAUST Repository

Pendergast, MaryTheresa M.; Hoek, Eric M.V.

2011-01-01

readiness was based on known or anticipated material costs, scalability (for large scale water treatment applications), and compatibility with existing manufacturing infrastructure. Overall, bio-inspired membranes are farthest from commercial reality

A Review on overboard CEOR discharged produced water treatment and remediation

Science.gov (United States)

Rawindran, H.; Krishnan, S.; Sinnathambi, C. M.

2017-06-01

Produced water is a waste by-product generated during oil and gas recovery operations. It contains the mixture of organic and inorganic compounds. Produced water management is a challenge faced by the petroleum practitioners worldwide. Build-up of chemical wastes from produced water causes huge footprint, which results in high CapEx and OpEx. Different technologies are practiced by various practitioners to treat the produced waste water. However, the constituents removed by each technology and the degree of organic compound removal has to be considered to identify the potential and effective treatment technologies for offshore industrial applications. Current produced water technologies and their successful applications have advantages and disadvantages and can be ranked on the basis of several factors, such as their discharge limit into water bodies, reinjection in producing well, or for any miscellaneous beneficial use. This paper attempts to provide a review of existing physical and chemical treatment technologies used for management of produced water. Based on our analysis, suitable methods will be recommended for offshore waste water treatment technologies.

NOM characterization and removal at six Southern African water treatment plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Haarhoff

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Organic pollution is a major concern during drinking water treatment. Major challenges attributed to organic pollution include the proliferation of pathogenic micro-organisms, prevalence of toxic and physiologically disruptive organic micro-pollutants, and quality deterioration in water distribution systems. A major component of organic pollution is natural organic matter (NOM. The operational mechanisms of most unit processes are well understood. However, their interaction with NOM is still the subject of scientific research. This paper takes the form of a meta-study to capture some of the experiences with NOM monitoring and analysis at a number of Southern African Water Treatment Plants. It is written from the perspective of practical process selection, to try and coax some pointers from the available data for the design of more detailed pilot work. NOM was tracked at six water treatment plants using dissolved organic carbon (DOC measurements. Fractionation of the DOC based on biodegradability and molecular weight distribution was done at a water treatment plant in Namibia. A third fractionation technique using ion exchange resins was used to assess the impact of ozonation on DOC. DOC measurements alone did not give much insight into NOM evolution through the treatment train. The more detailed characterization techniques showed that different unit processes preferentially remove different NOM fractions. Therefore these techniques provide better information for process design and optimisation than the DOC measurement which is routinely done during full scale operation at these water treatment plants.

Hygiena 3, a Forgotten Project for Electrolytic Water Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kryštof Drnek

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In the interwar period, the city of Prague had to resolve the problem of treating the polluted water produced by its citizens. From 1933 - 1936 an ambitious competition was held. The idea behind the competition was to bring in new ideas and projects for a new water treatment station.Hygiena 3 was one of the projects that was submitted. It proposed a treatment procedure based on electrolytic consolidation of contaminants in water into flocks. The project was found to be inventive and interesting but too expensive and not effective. Nevertheless it was evaluated as a well developed proposal and received an award from the city.

Modeling the Construct of an Expert Evidence-Adaptive Knowledge Base for a Pressure Injury Clinical Decision Support System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peck Chui Betty Khong

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The selection of appropriate wound products for the treatment of pressure injuries is paramount in promoting wound healing. However, nurses find it difficult to decide on the most optimal wound product(s due to limited live experiences in managing pressure injuries resulting from successfully implemented pressure injury prevention programs. The challenges of effective decision-making in wound treatments by nurses at the point of care are compounded by the yearly release of wide arrays of newly researched wound products into the consumer market. A clinical decision support system for pressure injury (PI-CDSS was built to facilitate effective decision-making and selection of optimal wound treatments. This paper describes the development of PI-CDSS with an expert knowledge base using an interactive development environment, Blaze Advisor. A conceptual framework using decision-making and decision theory, knowledge representation, and process modelling guided the construct of the PI-CDSS. This expert system has incorporated the practical and relevant decision knowledge of wound experts in assessment and wound treatments in its algorithm. The construct of the PI-CDSS is adaptive, with scalable capabilities for expansion to include other CDSSs and interoperability to interface with other existing clinical and administrative systems. The algorithm was formatively evaluated and tested for usability. The treatment modalities generated after using patient-specific assessment data were found to be consistent with the treatment plan(s proposed by the wound experts. The overall agreement exceeded 90% between the wound experts and the generated treatment modalities for the choice of wound products, instructions, and alerts. The PI-CDSS serves as a just-in-time wound treatment protocol with suggested clinical actions for nurses, based on the best evidence available.

Validation Aspects of Water Treatment Systems for Pharmaceutical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The goal of conducting validation is to demonstrate that a process, when operated within established limits, produces a product of consistent and specified quality with a high degree of assurance. Validation of water treatment systems is necessary to obtain water with all desired quality attributes. This also provides a ...

Sleep-spindle detection: crowdsourcing and evaluating performance of experts, non-experts and automated methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warby, Simon C.; Wendt, Sabrina Lyngbye; Welinder, Peter

2014-01-01

to crowdsource spindle identification by human experts and non-experts, and we compared their performance with that of automated detection algorithms in data from middle- to older-aged subjects from the general population. We also refined methods for forming group consensus and evaluating the performance...... of event detectors in physiological data such as electroencephalographic recordings from polysomnography. Compared to the expert group consensus gold standard, the highest performance was by individual experts and the non-expert group consensus, followed by automated spindle detectors. This analysis showed...... that crowdsourcing the scoring of sleep data is an efficient method to collect large data sets, even for difficult tasks such as spindle identification. Further refinements to spindle detection algorithms are needed for middle- to older-aged subjects....

Aquatic landscapes - 9. Magdeburg seminar on surface water protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

The conference was attended by scientists and practical experts in ecology and water management. Results of BMBF research projects on ecology and pollutant freight of the Elbe and other big European rivers were presented. IKSE experts and Elbe water management experts presented their findings. Trends are presented since 1990. Subjects: Catchment area management; Monitoring concepts and modelling; Land use and water quality; High-water protection; Pollution and biodiversity in polder areas; Immigration of exotic species; Pollution from industry, mining and landfills [de

Waste Water Management and Infectious Disease. Part II: Impact of Waste Water Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Robert C.

1975-01-01

The ability of various treatment processes, such as oxidation ponds, chemical coagulation and filtration, and the soil mantle, to remove the agents of infectious disease found in waste water is discussed. The literature concerning the efficiency of removal of these organisms by various treatment processes is reviewed. (BT)

ICEMENERG technologies of water treatment applied at Cernavoda NPP Unit 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanca, Angela; Bolma, Aurelia; Serbanescu, Agnes; Raducanu, Alice

2002-01-01

The paper presents the ICEMENERG technologies for water treatment applied at Cernavoda Unit 1, the treatment of the additional water for power steam generators and the chemical treatment of cooling system water. The requirements for quality of water totally demineralized as imposed by the AECL-ANSALDO consortium are as following: electrical conductivity, < 0.2 mS/cm; total silicon, <0.02 mg/L; ionic silicon, <0.01 mg/L; sodium, < 0.05 mg/L; TOC, <0.300 mg/L. These requirements raise rather difficult problems to be solved because the raw water source in case of Cernavoda NPP is Danube River which presents a raising trend of organic and inorganic contamination. Accordingly, experiments at laboratory scale reproducing the entire technological flow were conducted. The following operations were studied: pretreatment with limewash, ferric chloride (with and without coagulation additives); demineralization with ion exchangers of Purolite and Amberlite types. The system consisted of a cationic stage, formed of an strongly acid step with countercurrent recovery and an anionic stage formed of two steps, namely, a weakly basic step and a strongly basic step with recovery inserted; finishing on mixed bed. The paper presents also the chemical treatment/conditioning of the cooling loop of turbine condenser. The Cernavoda NPP cooling system is an open system with a single flow of cooling water comprising two systems, namely, the circulation water system ensuring the steam condenser cooling and the servicing water system ensuring the cooling of heat exchangers in the recirculated water circuit (RCWS), the turbine oil coolants, the coolants of auxiliary steam as well as the emergency core cooling system. Studies were conducted to ensure the chemical conditioning of the raw water from Danube River, particularly, to destroy and remove the shells, the algae and other components. Finally, the following four steps of conditioning the water of the cooling system are summarized: 1

Surgical experts: born or made?

Science.gov (United States)

Sadideen, Hazim; Alvand, Abtin; Saadeddin, Munir; Kneebone, Roger

2013-01-01

The concept of surgical expertise and the processes involved in its development are topical, and there is a constant drive to identify reliable measures of expert performance in surgery. This review explores the notion of whether surgical experts are "born" or "made", with reference to educational theory and pertinent literature. Peer-reviewed publications, books, and online resources on surgical education, expertise and training were reviewed. Important themes and aspects of expertise acquisition were identified in order to better understand the concept of a surgical expert. The definition of surgical expertise and several important aspects of its development are highlighted. Innate talent plays an important role, but is insufficient on its own to produce a surgical expert. Multiple theories that explore motor skill acquisition and memory are relevant, and Ericsson's theory of the development of competence followed by deliberate self-practice has been especially influential. Psychomotor and non-technical skills are necessary for progression in the current climate in light of our training curricula; surgical experts are adaptive experts who excel in these. The literature suggests that surgical expertise is reached through practice; surgical experts are made, not born. A deeper understanding of the nature of expert performance and its development will ensure that surgical education training programmes are of the highest possible quality. Surgical educators should aim to develop an expertise-based approach, with expert performance as the benchmark. Copyright © 2013 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Law for nuclear experts only

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wagner, H [Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe G.m.b.H. (Germany, F.R.)

1980-02-01

The Federal Ministry of the Interior is preparing an ordinance on expert consultants under the Atomic Energy Act which, among other topics, is to include legal norms for the criteria to be met by experts in terms of non-partisanship, training, capabilities, technical equipment and cooperation in expert organizations of members of various scientific and technical disciplines. A summary of general criteria relating to the qualification, selection and status of experts called in by the legislative and executive branches and by courts of law, which could be organized as a series of guidelines without any original qualities of legal norms, could be recommended in view of the increasing quantitative and qualitative importance of experts. However, passing an ordinance merely fixing and putting into concrete terms the image of an 'expert under the Atomic Energy Act' is intolerable, because the status of scientific and technical experts by far extends beyond the field of nuclear law in our industrial society characterized by a far reaching division of labor. Weak points in the organization of expert services are not confined to technology or nuclear power. Separate rules establishing legal norms are not convincing also for reasons of technology policy and legal policy as well as for those of social psychology and practice.

Expert Systems for the Analytical Laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

de Monchy, Allan R.; And Others

1988-01-01

Discusses two computer problem solving programs: rule-based expert systems and decision analysis expert systems. Explores the application of expert systems to automated chemical analyses. Presents six factors to consider before using expert systems. (MVL)

Investigation of Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water of Abbas Abad Water Treatment Plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kiani R

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Chlorination is the most common and successful method for disinfection of drinking water, especially in developing countries. However, due to the probability of formation of disinfection by-products especially Trihalomethanes (THMs that are known as hazardous and usually carcinogenic compounds, this study was conducted to assess the investigation of THMs in drinking water of Abbas Abad water treatment plant in 2015. Methods: In this study, 81 water samples were gathered during autumn season of 2015. Temperature, pH, Ec, turbidity, and residual chlorine were measured on site. After samples preparation in the laboratory, THMs concentrations were determined using gas chromatography. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS statistical package. Results: The results showed that the minimum and maximum mean concentrations (µg/l for bromodichloromethane were 1.47 ± 0.57 and 1.90 ± 0.26, for bromoform were 1.47 ± 0.35 and 2.36 ± 1.10, for dibromochloromethane were 1.47 ± 0.42 and 1.53 ± 0.55, and for chloroform were 3.40 ± 0.70 and 7.53 ± 1.00, and all compounds were determined for stations 1 and 3, respectively. Also comparing the mean concentrations of assessed THMs with ISIRI and World Health Organization (WHO Maximum Permissible Limits (MPL showed significant differences (P < 0.05. Thus, the mean concentrations of all Trihalomethanes compounds were significantly lower than the maximum permissible limits. Conclusions: Although the mean concentrations of THMs were lower than MPL, yet due to discharge of restaurants and gardens’ wastewater into the Abbas Abad River, pre-chlorination process of water in Abbas Abad water treatment plant, high retention time and increasing loss of foliage into the water, especially in autumn season, the formation of Trihalomethanes compounds could increase. Therefore, periodic monitoring of THMs in drinking water distribution network is recommended.