This study was undertaken to evaluate a novel aerobic wastewater treatment model for the remediation of refinery effluents and to assess the removal efficiency of Bulkholderia cepacia strain AJI and Corynebacterium kutscheri strain AJ2 to clean oil waste from petrochemical company. Wastewater quality parameters including pH, BOD5, COD, TDS, OIL & GREASE, PHENOL concentration, TPH and THC were monitored at 5, 10 and 15 days of treatment and the removal efficiencies were calculated. Results indicated that the raw oily wastewater effluents used during this study had extremely high levels of all the tested parameters. The mean values  of  all physicochemical parameters  of the wastewater from primary tank at different treatment period were statistically different (P˂0.001) After 15 days of biological treatment, BOD5 ,COD, TDS, Phenol, TPH, Oil & grease level of the refinery wastewater were reduced by 95.60 %, 98.40 % , 66.34 % , 100 %, 97.60 %  and 96.20 % respectively. The detection of the catabolic genes in the bacterial isolates recovered from primary tank using polymerase chain reaction revealed that both Bulkholderia cepacia strain AJ1 and Corynebacterium kutsheri strain AJ2 carried alk B and C23O but C12O was not detected in both isolates. Naphthalene dioxygenase was detected in Bulkholderia cepacia strain AJ1 but not found in Corynebacterium kutscheri strain AJ2. After treatment the waste water was filtered in the secondary tank. The results of physicochemical parameters in the outlet vessel essentially confirmed that the mixed culture in the two column model successfully carry out bioremediation of refinery wastewater. Therefore, aerobic treatment model for the bioremediation of refinery Petroleum refineries generate great amounts of wastewaters that may become seriously dangerous, leading to the accumulation of toxic products in the receiving water bodies with potentially serious long term effects to aquatic biota. Due to extreme toxicity of contaminants in refinery wastewater, there is a need to develop an economical technique to remove the pollutants from the wastewater is highly recommended owing its environmental friendliness.

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) have been employed to degrade biorefractory organic matters. This study investigates the combination of classical Fenton reaction with electrochemical oxidation, the electro-Fenton process, for the treatment of semi aerobic landfill leachate, collected from Pulau Burung Landfill Site (PBLS), Penang, Malaysia. The investigation has been carried out in batch reactors with aluminum electrodes to establish the optimal treatment conditions. The effects of applied current, pH, reaction time, electrodes separation distance, H2O2/Fe2+ molar ratio, and H2O2 and Fe2+ concentrations, significant process parameters by themselves, have also been investigated. According to the obtained results, electro-Fenton process is very efficient for the treatment of landfill leachate. Optimum oxidation efficiency has been achieved when neither H2O2 nor Fe2+ are overdosed, so that the maximum amount of OH radicals is available for the oxidation of organic compounds. The highest COD and color removals have been 92% and 93%, respectively; obtained at initial pH=3, H2O2/Fe2+ molar ratio=1, applied current= 2A, treatment duration= 30 min, and electrodes separation distance= 3 cm. The current efficiency declines from 94% to 38% when the current rises from 0.5A to 2A.

For the first time, sulfur dioxide concentration was monitored between 2005 and 2016 over Iran which is among the countries with a high SO2 emission rate in the world. To that end, SO2 column concentration at Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) was analyzed. OMI is a sensor onboard the Aura satellite which can measure daily SO2 concentration on the global scale. From OMI maps, 19 notable SO2 hotspots were detected over Iran. The results indicate that the most elevated level of SO2 among these 19 hotspots belong to Khark Island and Asaluye in Bushehr province, southwest of Iran. Annual trend analysis shows that SO2 concentration has been slightly augmented during 2005-2016 over this country. Distribution analysis of SO2 concentration over Iran showed that the most polluted provinces are Bushehr, Khuzestan and Ilam lied in the southwest of Iran. On the contrary, the lowest level of SO2 has observed over northwest of Iran at West and East Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces. The correlation coefficient between total energy production in Iran and SO2 concentration from 2005 to 2016 is as high as ~0.7. Hence, it can be derived that energy production, most notably production of crude oil, plays a pivotal role in SO2 concentration over Iran.

The primary goal of this study was to isolate hydrocarbon-degrading organisms and assess their ability to bioremediate petroleum-contaminated soil and water. Nigeria is one of the major oil producing countries and petroleum contamination is widespread in agricultural soil. Alcaligenes sp. strain 3k was isolated from a kerosene-polluted soil in Ilorin, Nigeria. We also assessed its ability to degrade plant lignin, as lignin is a complex aromatic heteropolymer commonly found in soil and aquifer environment.  Strain 3k was originally grown on mineral salts medium with kerosene as a sole energy and carbon source. The capacity of the isolate to degrade both aromatic, aliphatic hydrocarbons and lignin-like compounds was tested. Among the tested compounds, the organism utilized kerosene, hexadecane, cyclohexane, phenol and benzoate as the sole sources of carbon. In addition, strain 3k also degraded various lignocellulose compounds as the sole source of carbon.  However, hexane, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene were not metabolized. Our study demonstrates that soil organisms like Alcaligenes could play important role in the reclamation of petroleum-contaminated soil and water.  Utilization capacity of lignin as the sole carbon source suggest that these organisms can survive on plant detritus and also have the ability to degrade hydrocarbons upon accidental or deliberate contamination of agricultural soil and water.

With increased population, rapid industrialization and life style changes, the characteristics and the rates of solid waste generation have gone under drastic change in India. Generally, in India, management of solid waste landfill is of major concern with respect to the existing circumstances. The illegal dumping of municipal solid waste on the outskirts of cities is creating major environmental and public health problems. Improper and unscientific waste management results in potential threats from leachate leakage with subsequent impact on environment (i.e. soil, air and waterbodies) and human being. It is therefore, important to evaluate the contamination potential threat of landfill leachate. This study assesses the potential contamination from the landfill leachate by an index called leachate pollution index (LPI) and suggestions are given the landfill sites of five major cities i.e. Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Navi Mumbai & Kolkata in India. The landfill leachate samples from these sites have been assessed using leachate pollution index for the implementation of appropriate leachate treatment techniques for reducing the adverse effects on the environment. The results show that the Pallikkaranai landfill site for Chennai city and Mavallipura landfill site for Bangalore city are highly deteriorating and may lead to increase in human health risk for nearby dwellings.

A total of 58 Cadmium tolerant bacterial isolates were isolated from 26 samples collected from 20 villages/city of different contaminated water samples from industrial and mining affected areas of Chhattisgarh (India). Out of 58 bacterial isolates, 15 bacterial isolates were able to grow in presence of 40 mM cadmium chloride. These fifteen were further screened by biochemical characterization, antibiotic susceptibility and presence of czcA gene. However, finally five selected isolates (BSWC3, RgCWC2, RgUWC1, RpSWC3, KDWC1) were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing belonged to the genus Serratia liquefaciens, Klebsiella quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pantoea dispersa and Enterobacter tabaci, respectively. Among these two best culture Serratia liquefaciens BSWC3 and Klebsiella pneumoniae RpSWC3 were testes for their bioremediation efficiency individually as well as in mixed culture. Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer analysis of samples revealed that cadmium (Cd) tolerant bacterial isolates BSWC3, RpSWC3 and Combination of BSWC3 and RpSWC3 were significantly reduce of cadmium concentration i.e. 44.46%, 40% and 50.92%, respectively as compared to control. Therefore, the finding of the present study revealed the use of mixed culture or consortium of indigenous isolates is the better option for bioremediation of heavy metals.

Jajarm Alumina Plant, the only Alumina powder producer in Iran, generates 500,000 tons of red mud annually. The commonest method for final disposal of red mud in Iran is Tailing dam which is neither cost-effective nor environmentally-friendly. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the possibility of red mud recovery to be used for stabilization of loose soils. Red mud samples have been collected from tailing dam of Jajarm Alumina Plant to be characterized, using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). The soil stabilizer has been made by mixing red mud, steel slag, sodium metasilicate, and sodium hydroxide. In order to study the effect of soil stabilizer, five soil samples have been prepared which contain clay, sand, and wind-blown sand ranging from zero to 4 millimeters. Findings show that adding soil stabilizer with red mud significantly enhances compressive strength of soil samples (4.2, 18.2, 5.4, 4, and 4.1 in S1 to S5 samples, respectively). Also the results demonstrate that the red mud, produced from Aluminum industry in Iran, might be successfully used to stabilize loose soils, thereby enhancing their compressive characteristics, reducing environmental issues associated with uncontrolled disposal of such wastes as well as promoting integrated solid waste management strategies.

The purpose of this study is to use both agent-based modeling as a new method in modeling dynamic phenomena and GIS to show the effects of carbon monoxide (CO) on individuals in the city of Tehran. After collecting the latest information about the severity of carbon monoxide pollutants on different days, one of the days with a very high severity of this pollutant has been selected for investigation and the interpolation map of its data has been developed via IDW method in ArcGIS software environment, which is then re-classified with the NetLogo software environment used to run the agent-based model. At this stage, the agents are randomly produced in four different age groups in the environment and begin moving with the onset of the running process in the environment. Also, the symptoms, caused by the pollution effects on the agents, appear in form of changes in color and are based on carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels (percentage) of each. The results indicate that among the considered older age groups, the members of the age group above 65, have had been mostly affected by pollution and the effect of pollution on the agents of the age group of 13 to 30 years old has been less than the other groups.

The current study both synthesizes and uses four compounds of graphene oxide (GO), nitrogen doped graphene oxide (ND-GO), high nitrogen doped graphene oxide (HND-GO), and three dimensional high nitrogen doped graphene oxide (3D-HND-GO) in order to remove a model anionic dye, Congo red (CR) from wastewaters. It also compares their carbon nano-structure, with regard to removal efficiency and finds out that 3D-HND-G yields higher efficiency in removal of CR, especially at lower pHs. This is due to its better dispersibility and greater surface area. Also, batch adsorption technique has been utilized and all involved parameters that affect the removal efficiency, e.g. initial pH, adsorbent dosage, initial CR concentration, and contact time are examined. The study applies Central Composite Design (CCD) to figure out their efficacies, with the results showing the following optimum conditions for removal of 100 ppm of CR: 4 mg/mL of the adsorbent, pH = 3, and 25 min of contact time. Furthermore, it studies the adsorption activity of the synthesized adsorbent, including kinetics, isotherm, and desorption comprehensibly. The adsorption isotherm is well-fitted through the Langmuir model, exhibiting high CR adsorption capacity. Also, CR adsorption kinetics shows that it has obeyed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that adsorption has made the rate-limiting step. In addition, the proposed adsorbent has successfully been applied to reduce the concentration of CR as hazardous dye materials in the water and wastewater samples.

Unbalanced distribution of population in a country like Iran as well as accelerating urbanization and environmental degradation, both arising from incorrect location of industrial areas, are two problems that require appropriate industrial development policies to get resolved. Considering the expansion of industrial areas along with their role in contamination of the environment, it is necessary to develop strategies to improve environmental performance. The purpose of this study is to provide strategies for establishment of industrial areas, based on environmental spatial assessment, using SWOT technique and GIS. In this method, once the spatial data are mapped and analyzed with GIS software, leading to determination of effective factors for location of industrial areas and their, the maps of such effective factors can be prepared. After weighing effective layers on location, based on the AHP model, the GIS software capabilities have been used to merge and overlap the maps and the industrial areas location map are prepared. The map has been classified in five classes (very poor, poor, moderate, good, and very good) and finally, based on the final map and SWOT analysis, optimal strategies have been developed to reduce environmental degradations. The location analysis with integrated GIS and SWOT method is effective for providing optimal strategies. More accurate results of this study show that the study area is located in "defensive" position and the authorized areas to locate the industrial areas in the "very good" class are over 240,191.9 hectares large, being mostly in the south and southwest of Tehran.