Cellulose Acetate Textile Fiber Filtration System Applied for Pre-Treatment of Surface Water

This study aimed to evaluate a nonwoven (NW) production and performance from cellulose acetate fiber from cigarette butts andapplied to a filtration system for surface water pre-treatment. The system had a surface area of 692 cm³, cellulose acetate from cigarette butt as filter media, was used and was fed with surface water from a pond. In order to evaluate the treatment performance of the filtration system were evaluated in the raw water (RW) and the filtered water (FW) the classical parameter of water quality as turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), apparent color, true color, and total organic carbon (TOC) and heavy metals (iron, copper, and cadmium). Moreover, the presence of nicotine was investigated in the FW. The results showed a mean removal efficiency in order to 62.01%, 54.42%, 50.36 %, 6.73%, and 5.20% for turbidity, TSS, apparent color, true color, and TOC, respectively. The removal of metals varied in the order of 72.26%, 9.61%, and 2.12% for cadmium, iron, and copper, respectively. The presence of nicotine in RW and FW was not identified. In this way, besides reducing the negative environmental impacts caused by cigarette butts present in the environment, the developed technology showed potential for removing pollutants present in surface waters.

Performance Assessment of Green Filtration System with Evaporative Cooling to Improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

This paper focuses on the performance assessment of the green filtration system that incorporated with evaporative cooling that used to enhance indoor air quality. This system was invented in an attempt to thrive in a clean environment that becomes a solution for certain places. Indoor air quality (IAQ) and public health risk related to each other, it is due to the percentage of the city population that stays indoors rather than go outdoors. Indoor air contamination is originated from mixed origins such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and indoor airborne particulate matter (PM). The results show that the green filtration system manages to filter PM and VOCs in the air but not as efficient as modern air filters in the market. Furthermore, the evaporative cooling system possesses a huge deal in energy-saving within hot and arid climatic regions.

Analytical Modeling for Water Chemistry Changes in River Bank Filtration Systems

Riverbank filtration system is considered one of the economic and sustainable solutions to river water pollution especially in tropical countries such as Malaysia. In this work, an analytical model is developed to simulate the contaminant attenuation in riverbank filtration systems by using the separation of variables method. The basic aim of the model is to understand the role of microbial activity that occurs in riverbed sediments on reducing the concentration of the contaminant in the aquifer and changing the water characteristics. Graphically, it is found that the model can simulate the infiltration process of polluted river water effectively. Also, the analytical model results, as well as experimental data, show that nitrate (18.6 and 34.1 mg-NO3/L) and sulphate (20.9 – 22.1 mg-SO4/L) can be consumed by bacteria in the first 0.5 m of the aquifer, and reduced by more than 95% for both compounds. The model is applied for the first riverbank filtration system in Malaysia. Sensitivity analysis results highlight the importance of dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentration (ranged from 1.0 to 12.4 mg/L) for RBF efficacy in which a higher concentration of DOM leads to faster consumption of pollutants.

Nature Based Solution for indoor air quality treatment

Plants have the ability to absorb and degrade VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Foliage can intercept particulate matter (PM) and thus, help to reduce its concentration in the air. Plants can be used as filters in indoor conditions adding an ecosystem service to the decorative purpose. A plant-based air filtration system that actively improves indoor air quality has been developed and installed at a students’ residence at Brunel University, London. This unit replaces an existing window with a mini-greenhouse containing upwards of 30 plants and is connected to an air circuit to treat the indoor air. A monitoring plan is collecting data on the performance of the solution until at least the end of 2021. Preliminary results are presented, which indicate good effectiveness at reducing tVOCs and lower efficiency at reducing PM.

Effects of Influent Concentration and Flow Rate on the Sorption of Diesel Molecules on Kapok Fibers at Dynamic Conditions

Kapok fibers were used as a filtering medium in a column-type filtration set-up to separate diesel from water molecules in dynamic conditions. The amount of diesel flowing out the filtration system with respect to time was monitored. The times wherein the diesel first came out the filtering system (breakthrough time) were shorter at higher influent concentration and faster flow rate. Meanwhile, the total sorbed diesel molecules in the filtering system were increasing with the influent concentration while invariant with flow rate. The shorter breakthrough time was associated with the higher amount of diesel molecules that could be sorbed at a shorter time and the rate at which the overall processes of sorption-desorption-resorption proceeded. On the other hand, the sorption capacity of the system was viewed to be affected by the amount of moving diesel molecules that would interact with the kapok fibers and/or surface-sorbed diesel molecules but not by the contact time.