Disposal of hazardous industrial waste in cement kiln – A pilot study of acid tar sludge

Acid tar sludge (ATS) is a hazardous waste generated in steel plants as a process by-product. ATS disposal is a major challenge for the steel industry around the world and specifically for developing nations. Hazardous wastes are usually disposed of in a dedicated expensive thermal treatment plant as per existing rules. Due to inadequate capacity of treating the total amount of hazardous waste, study of other economical options are required. India generates over 7.2 million metric tonnes of hazardous waste annually as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Government of India. Thus, co-processing of ATS in cement plant as an alternative means of disposal was studied based on a number of trials. During the five trials of 5 day each, feed rate of ATS was maintained at 0.4 tonne per hour (TPH) with an average coal feed rate of 10 TPH. No incremental variations in emissions were observed during the trials. The analysis further revealed insignificant impact on clinker quality, leach behaviour and cement property. The study also showed negligible impact on ambient air quality based on NO x, SO2, RSPM, SPM measurement at varying location around the cement plant. Thus, co-processing of hazardous waste such as ATS in cement plant can be an effective way to address the hazardous waste disposal problem in developing countries such as India.

A Comparative Study to assess the Air quality of Ludhiana, India amid COVID-19

Air quality Index (AQI) is a tool which is implemented to assess the qualitative and quantitative status of air pollutants. Four distinctive pollutants; PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 were used to compare the prevailing ambient air quality in the study region-Ludhiana, the industrial city in the north Indian state of Punjab. The AQI for Ludhiana has been compared and, the ambient air quality data for the same has been obtained for Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The data has been compared for fifteen days before and after the lockdown amid COVID-19. Air quality information uncovers that during lockdown period PM10 and PM2.5 levels were decreased by around 35 to 40%, which might be clarified as conceivable decrease from production sector, transportation, and residue. AQI of Ludhiana revealed that the primary reason for the poor air quality is P.M 10 and P.M 2.5 which significantly reduced to around 10 to 35 percent during pandemic lockdown.

Pre-monsoon and post-monsoon groundwater chemical analysis For Burdwan (West Bengal), India

This study has been carried out to find the groundwater quality of Burdwan district of West Bengal during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon. For this, the data of physicochemical parameters have been collected from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) website for the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season for the year 2017. It is found that during the post-monsoon season, the water quality of all the stations falls in the category of excellent, and during the pre-monsoon season, the water quality of most of the stations is good.

Trend Analysis of Sulphur Dioxide in Bangalore & Effectiveness of Control Measures

Bangalore is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. Many public sector businesses and R&D organisations, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Indian Space Research Organisation, Airbus, Boeing, General Electric (GE), Nokia, Toyota, and others, are housed here. Bangalore is known as India’s ‘Silicon Valley’, as it is home to many information technology (IT) enterprises. It is classified as a ‘non-attainment city’, meaning that pollution levels do not match the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) criteria. A high-level computer language called PYTHON was used to draw the trends of the air quality data collected over a 15-year period (2004-2019). PYTHON was used to clean, group, sort and aggregate the collected data to obtain the exceedance factor and draw the trend graphs. The policies of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) were examined to better understand the pattern. Over the years, the CPCB and the KSPCB have established a number of policies and guidelines, and the success or failure of these policies was examined in order to gain a better knowledge of the control measures. This report lays the groundwork for future policy implementation in other cities.

EFFECT OF LOCKDOWN DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON AIR QUALITY IN THE INDUSTRIAL CITY OF EASTERN INDIA

The lockdown due to coronavirus (COVID-19) was forced in India from March, 25 to May 3 2020 as precautionary actions in contradiction of the diffusion of infectious virus. The objective of this study is to analyse the changes in air quality between pre and during the lockdown in Asansol, the “coal mining city” of Eastern India is characterized by high pollution levels due to several industries leading to human discomfort and even health problems. Secondary data of seven parameters like CO, SO2, NO2, PM2.5, PM10, NH3, and O3 have been collected from the website of the Central Pollution Control Board, India and AQI were calculated as per the calculator provided by CPCB. The result displays a significant reduction of seven parameters from 33.31 % (SO2) to 60.44 % (PM2.5) due to the shut down of all manufacturing units and transportation throughout the lockdown period. The air quality index (AQI) was also upgraded from a very poor to a satisfactory state during this period. Plants are the main carbon sink, so, a green belt project proposal for this polluted city has been recommended to improve air quality management. This lockdown (temporarily) showed some vaccine effect on the air quality, but this is totally against economic growth.

Review: Estimation of Pesticide in Water by Various Analytical Methods

Pesticides have played a serious role in achieving the utmost crop production but maximum usage and accumulation of pesticide residues is very detrimental to aquatic and other ecosystem. Pesticide residues in water have become a major challenge over the last few decades and has been monitored in public water supply resources in national capital territory. Results shows that continuous consumption of contaminated water can pose severe health threats to local parts of this area. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi, shows that ? and ? isomers of endosulphan residues within the Yamuna river. High concentration levels of ?-HCH (0.259 ?g/l) and malathion (2.618 ?g/l) were detected within the surface water samples collected from the river Ganga in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP). High concentration levels of methyl parathion, endosulfan, and DDT were observed in water samples collected from the river at Bhagalpur, Bihar. The Industrial Toxicology Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow (UP) study shows the result 0.5671 ppb concentrations of endosulfan in the river at Allahabad, UP. Same results were found in other water samples in India.

COLLABORATIVE AIR QUALITY MAPPING OF DIFFERENT METROPOLITAN CITIES OF INDIA

Environmental pollution has become extremely serious as a result of today's technological advancements all over the world. One of the most important environmental and public health risks is air pollution. The exponential growth of population, vehicular density on highways, urbanization, and other factors are rising air pollution in cities, necessitating techniques for monitoring and forecasting air quality or determining its health consequences. Various experiments are being conducted on city air quality and its distribution through the built climate. The amount of emissions in the air varies according to the time of day as depicted it is merely high in morning time between 9 to 10 am and between 5 to 6 pm in all cities. These collected data are also characterized as peak hour, average hour, and off-peak hour. It also varies geographically and during special occasions. Since computing and showcasing of air pollution levels require terrain data, air quality data from the open sources i.e. CPCB (central pollution control board, India), and air pollution prediction models. Acculumating the data of the air pollution parameter from the open sources of cities based on typically very crowded, averagely crowded, and thinly crowded areas across the city and then mapping it on ArcGIS. The data monitoring has been done for the whole year merely main emphasizes has been done on the three seasons autumn, winter, and summer (January, May, and August). Also, in winter the value of having pollutants is high due to winter inversion and in the morning also the value is higher, and in monsoon, due to precipitation, it decreases. The dispersion model help in considering the wind speed and direction, the computed data from each source location reaching out to the monitoring sensing station from the comparatively adding to the value of pollutant. With the help of questionnaires, computed out to the result that people residing or having the workplace near to the busy crossing are more promising to have the health-related issue like chocking, respiratory diseases. Men are merely more affected by this between the age of 37 to 63 years.

Assessment of Potential Damage Factor: A Case Study of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Kolkata

Damaging factors such as airborne microorganisms, relative humidity, ventilation, temperature and air pollutants are the major concerns of the tropical climate of Kolkata, India where our study site, 172-year-old St. Paul’s Cathedral is located. In this context, the aim was to develop an equation to assess the management priority and which factors would be more responsible for potentially damaging the heritage building. The temperature varied from 28°C to 31°C, relative humidity was recorded 72% over a period of 14 days in the prayer hall whereas almost constant temperature (27°C) and relative humidity (55%) were recorded in crypt. Air movement was recorded 0.5–3 m s−1 in both crypt and prayer hall. Sulphur dioxide and oxide of nitrogen concentration were lower than the standard mentioned by the Central Pollution Control Board, India. The fungal load was lower inside the crypt (237 CFU m−3) than in the prayer hall (793 CFU m−3). Calculated potential damage for prayer hall and crypt was found to be 48.75% and 37.08%, respectively. Results revealed that microbial load and relative humidity were the potent factors for damage to the building. Continuous air movement, that is, ventilation and building design here played significant roles. The Heritage Conservation Committee can use the data for better management.

Assessment of bio-medical waste before and during the emergency of novel Coronavirus disease pandemic in India: A gap analysis

Considering the widespread transmission of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) globally, India is also facing the same crisis. As India already has inadequate waste treatment facilities, and the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has led to significant growth of Bio-medical waste (BMW), consequently safe disposal of a large quantity of waste has become a more serious concern. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of BMW of India before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this article highlights the gaps in the implementation of BMW rules in India. This study uses various government and non-government organizations, reports and data specifically from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The finding of the study demonstrated that most of the States/Union Territories (UTs) of India are lacking in terms of COVID-19 waste management. India has generated over 32,996 mt of COVID-19 waste between June and December 2020. During this period, Maharashtra (789.99 mt/month) is highest average generator of COVID-19 waste, followed by Kerala (459.86 mt/month), Gujarat (434.87 mt/month), Tamil Nadu (427.23 mt/month), Uttar Pradesh (371.39 mt/month), Delhi (358.83 mt/month) and West Bengal (303.15 mt/month), and others respectively. We draw attention to the fact that many gaps were identified with compliance of BMW management rules. For example, out of all 35 States/UTs, health care facilitates (HCFs), only eight states received authorization as per BMW management rules. Moreover, the government strictly restricted the practice of deep burials; however, 23 States/UTs are still using the deep burial methods for BMW disposal. The present research suggests that those States/UTs generated on an average of 100 mt/month COVID-19 waste in the last 7 months (June–December 2020) should be considered as a high priority state. These states need special attention to implement BMW rules and should upgrade their BMW treatment capacity.

Performance Evaluation of Extended Aeration-Based Sewage Treatment Plants at NCT of Delhi, India

Due to urbanization and industrialization huge amount of wastewater is being generated, which is causing water pollution. Nowadays water pollution is a serious problem. The present study has been carried out to evaluate the efficiency of a waste water treatment plants with Extended Aeration Sludge Process (EASP). This has been done by examining the various physiochemical characteristics of wastewater (BOD, COD, TSS & PO4), including a comparison of these characteristics at inlet and outlets of wastewater treatment plants and their variance over time. The examination of the competency of a technology is necessary for further optimization of the treatment units whilst complying with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) requirements. In New Delhi’s Extended Aeration Plants are not working to their peak potential, but have still been able to treat the significant wastewater effectively. The study implies that the effluent released into the Yamuna River would not contribute to the river’s level of pollution.