Assessment of groundwater quality based on principal component analysis and pollution source-based examination: a case study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The current study aimed to assess the quality of apportion pollution sources and examine the impacts of anthropogenic activities on groundwater. The study was implemented in two sequential steps of (1) bulk examination of groundwater quality followed by principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA) to apportion pollution sources and (2) pollution source-based examination to assess the effects of anthropogenic activities. Well-water samples were taken in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2015 (233 samples) and 2019 (20 samples) and analyzed for 8 and 15 water quality parameters, respectively. The results showed that 99% of studied wells had pH value lower than the permissible limit, and 29, 20, 15, and 14% of studied wells had concentrations of Fe, NH4+, COD (chemical oxygen demand), and coliform, respectively, higher than the maximum permissible limit. PCA/FA revealed that three pollution sources, ranked in the order of importance: agricultural, urban, and industrial activities, could mainly contribute to enriching the pollutant concentrations of groundwater. While agricultural activities may contaminate groundwater with organic substances, the urban area may enrich bacterial-pathogen density such as E. coli and coliform, and the industrial area may contribute to contaminating groundwater with some inorganic parameters. Groundwater quality index and ANOVA showed that groundwater of the studied area was poor to very poor in quality and that in the agricultural area was the worst of the three land-use types. In brief, the groundwater quality in the studied area was degraded and agricultural activities were the most important factor causing the degradation followed by urban and industrial activities.

Hazardous heavy metals contamination of vegetables and food chain: Role of sustainable remediation approaches - A review.

This review emphasizes the role of toxic metal remediation approaches due to their broad sustainability and applicability. The rapid developmental processes can incorporate a large quantity of hazardous and unseen heavy metals in all the segments of the environment, including soil, water, air and plants. The released hazardous heavy metals (HHMs) entered into the food chain and biomagnified into living beings via food and vegetable consumption and originate potentially health-threatening effects. The physical and chemical remediation approaches are restricted and localized and, mainly applied to wastewater and soils and not the plant. The nanotechnological, biotechnological and genetical approaches required to more rectification and sustainability. A cellular, molecular and nano-level understanding of the pathways and reactions are responsible for potentially toxic metals (TMs) accumulation. These approaches can enable the development of crop varieties with highly reduced concentrations of TMs in their consumable foods and vegetables. As a critical analysis by authors observed that nanoparticles could provide very high adaptability for both in-situ and ex-situ remediation of hazardous heavy metals (HHMs) in the environment. These methods could be used for the improvement of the inbuilt genetic potential and phytoremediation ability of plants by developing transgenic. These biological processes involve the transfer of gene of interest, which plays a role in hazardous metal uptake, transport, stabilization, inactivation and accumulation to increased host tolerance. This review identified that use of nanoremediation and combined biotechnological and, transgenic could help to enhance phytoremediation efficiency in a sustainable way.

Seasonal, Spatial Variation, and Potential Sources of Organochlorine Pesticides in Water and Sediment in the Lower Reaches of the Dong Nai River System in Vietnam.

The goals of the current study were (1) to examine seasonal and spatial variation of selected OCPs concentrations and (2) to identify potential sources of the pollutants in the lower reaches of the Dong Nai River system. Forty-eight water and sediment samples were taken from 12 stations in the dry and rainy seasons to determine the concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (total DDTs), hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (total HCHs), heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, and endrin. The concentrations of total DDTs (0.30), total HCHs (0.29), Aldrin (0.068), heptachlor (0.04, µg L-1) in water, and total DDTs (8.04), total HCHs (4.51), and Aldrin (1.52, µg kg-1) in sediment were significantly higher in the rainy season than in the dry season (0.14, 0.12, 0.008, 0.009 in water and 3.49, 2.29, and 0.4 in sediment, respectively). Cluster analysis grouped 12 sampling stations into 2 groups, of which group 1 (3 stations) had higher concentrations of total DDTs, total HCHs, Aldrin, heptachlor, and dieldrin in both water and sediment than in group 2. Compositional analysis of total DDTs revealed that DDT residue could be decomposed significantly for the past years and that anaerobic decomposition could be predominant. Principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA) indicated that the potential sources of OCPs in the study stations could come from residential and agricultural areas located in the upper catchment or areas surrounding the studied stations. In short, OCPs concentration in the studies area could depend on seasonal, spatial variation, and transport of OCPs from upper parts or surrounding areas.

Thermal and hydrodynamic properties of coronavirus at various temperature and pressure via molecular dynamics approach.

COVID-19 is an epidemic virus arising from a freshly discovered coronavirus. Most people involved with the coronavirus will experience slight to moderate respiratory disease and recover without needing particular therapy. In this work, the atomic stability of the coronavirus at different thermodynamic properties such as temperature and pressure, was studied. For this purpose, the manner of this virus by atomic precession was described with a molecular dynamics approach. For the atomic stability of coronavirus description, physical properties such as temperature, total energy, volume variation, and atomic force of this structure were reported. In molecular dynamics approach, coronavirus is precisely simulated via S, O, N, and C atoms and performed Dreiding force field to describe these atoms interaction in the virus. Simulation results show that coronavirus stability has reciprocal relation with atomic temperature and pressure. Numerically, after 2.5 ns simulation, the potential energy varies from - 31,163 to - 26,041 eV by temperature changes from 300 to 400 K. Furthermore, this physical parameter decreases to - 28,045 eV rate at 300 K and 2 bar pressure. The volume of coronavirus is another crucial parameter to the stability description of this structure. The simulation shows that coronavirus volume 92% and 14% increases by 100 K and 2 bar variation of simulation temperature and pressure, respectively.

Molecular dynamics performance for coronavirus simulation by C, N, O, and S atoms implementation dreiding force field: drug delivery atomic interaction in contact with metallic Fe, Al, and steel.

Coronavirus causes some illnesses to include cold, COVID-19, MERS, and SARS. This virus can be transmitted through contact with different atomic matrix between humans. So, this atomic is essential in medical cases. In this work, we describe the atomic manner of this virus in contact with various metallic matrix such as Fe, Al, and steel with equilibrium molecular dynamic method. For this purpose, we reported physical properties such as temperature, total energy, distance and angle of structures, mutual energy, and volume variation of coronavirus. In this approach, coronavirus is precisely simulated by O, C, S, and N atoms and they are implemented dreiding force field. Our simulation shows that virus interaction with steel matrix causes the maximum removing of the virus from the surfaces. After 1 ns, the atomic distance between these two structures increases from 45 to 75 Å. Furthermore, the volume of coronavirus 14.62% increases after interaction with steel matrix. This atomic manner shows that coronavirus removes and destroyed with steel surface, and this metallic structure can be a promising material for use in medical applications.

Implementation of data intelligence models coupled with ensemble machine learning for prediction of water quality index.

In recent decades, various conventional techniques have been formulated around the world to evaluate the overall water quality (WQ) at particular locations. In the present study, back propagation neural network (BPNN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), support vector regression (SVR), and one multilinear regression (MLR) are considered for the prediction of water quality index (WQI) at three stations, namely Nizamuddin, Palla, and Udi (Chambal), across the Yamuna River, India. The nonlinear ensemble technique was proposed using the neural network ensemble (NNE) approach to improve the performance accuracy of the single models. The observed WQ parameters were provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) including dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD), ammonia (NH3), temperature (T), and WQI. The performance of the models was evaluated by various statistical indices. The obtained results indicated the feasibility of the developed data intelligence models for predicting the WQI at the three stations with the superior modelling results of the NNE. The results also showed that the minimum values for root mean square (RMS) varied between 0.1213 and 0.4107, 0.003 and 0.0367, and 0.002 and 0.0272 for Nizamuddin, Palla, and Udi (Chambal), respectively. ANFIS-M3, BPNN-M4, and BPNN-M3 improved the performance with regard to an absolute error by 41%, 4%, and 3%, over other models for Nizamuddin, Palla, and Udi (Chambal) stations, respectively. The predictive comparison demonstrated that NNE proved to be effective and can therefore serve as a reliable prediction approach. The inferences of this paper would be of interest to policymakers in terms of WQ for establishing sustainable management strategies of water resources.

Assessment and source quantification of heavy metal(loid)s in surface water using multivariate analyses from the Saigon River, Vietnam.

The metal concentration in surface water of a river could be affected by season, position, and oceanic process such as tide. The current study aimed to (1) examine the heavy metal(loid) concentration in surface water from the Saigon River as affected by the combination of season, tide, and position and (2) apportion and quantify pollution sources. Ninety-six surface water samples were collected from 13 sites on the River in four campaigns (rainy season + ebb tide, rainy season + flood tide, dry season + ebb tide, and dry season + flood tide). Eight heavy metal(loid)s (Al, B, Bi, Fe, Mn, Pb, Sr, and Zn) were measured and subjected to multivariate analyses. Three-way ANOVA showed that in the rainy season, the total concentration of the metal(loid)s (TCM) in two tides was not clearly different from each other while in the dry season the TCM was significantly higher during the ebb tide than during the flood tide. Principal component analysis/factor analysis and Pearson correlation matrix showed that the TCM could be derived from three main sources, grouped into anthropogenic activities such as industrial, agricultural, and domestic wastes from inside Ho Chi Minh city, and natural origins from lowland area and acid sulfate soil. Three pollution sources explained 70% and 68% of the total variance of TCM in the rainy and dry seasons, respectively. In brief, the metal(loid) concentration was significantly affected by the season and tide and the pollution sources could be derived from inside Ho Chi Minh City and from lowland areas beyond the river estuary.

Seasonal, spatial variation, and pollution sources of heavy metals in the sediment of the Saigon River, Vietnam.

The current study was conducted to (1) examine seasonal and spatial distribution of heavy metals and metalloid in sediment from the Saigon River and (2) apportion and quantify their pollution sources. Ninety-six sediment samples were taken in the rainy and dry season on 13 sampling sites, distributed over the lower reaches of the River, to analyze for exchangeable concentration of 11 heavy metals and metalloid (Al, B, Cd, Co, Fe, In, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn), pH, EC, organic carbon content, and particle-size distribution. Generally, the concentration of 11 elements was ranked in the order Mn > Al > Fe > Zn > Sr > In > B > Ni > Co > Pb > Cd. Hierarchical cluster analysis grouped 13 sampling sites into two parts based on the similar concentration of the 11 elements. Three-way analysis of variance showed that the total exchangeable concentration of 11 elements was significantly higher in the rainy season than in the dry season and in the upper part than in the lower part of the river. Principal component analysis/factor analysis and correlation analysis revealed that three pollution sources (PS) may contribute to enriching the 11 examined elements in the sediment. These sources included (PS1) from catchment through water erosion over natural areas, explaining 83%, (PS2) mixed sources from catchment through water erosion over agricultural fields and inside Ho Chi Minh City, accounting for 6%, and (PS3) mixed sources from lowland areas, explaining 7.8% of the total variance of the elements. In brief, the sediment concentration of 11 metals and metalloid varied with season and space and three major pollution sources from river catchment, inside Ho Chi Minh City, and lowland contributively enriched the elements in the sediment of the River.

Combined biochar vertical flow and free-water surface constructed wetland system for dormitory sewage treatment and reuse.

A two-stage treatment system that included vertical flow (VF) and free-water surface (FWS) constructed wetlands was investigated for the dual purposes of sewage treatment and reuse. The VF included four layers (biochar, sand, gravel, and sandy soil), and the FWS was installed after the VF and used as a polishing tank. Two types of local plants, namely Colocasia esculenta and Canna indica, were planted in the VF and FWS, respectively. The system operated for approximately six months, and the experimental period was categorized into four stages that corresponded to changes in the hydraulic loading rate (HLR) (0.02-0.12 m/d). The removal efficiencies for total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5), ammonia (NH4-N), and total coliform (Tcol) were 71 ± 11%, 73 ± 13%, 79 ± 11%, 91 ± 3%, and 70 ± 20%, respectively. At HLRs of 0.04-0.06 m/d, the COD and BOD5 levels satisfied Vietnam's irrigation standards, with removable rates of 64% and 88%, respectively, and the TSS and Tcol levels satisfied Vietnam's standards for potable water. Furthermore, the NO3-N levels satisfied the reuse limits, whereas the NH4-N levels exceeded the reuse standards. At high HLRs (e.g., 0.12 m/d), all the effluent parameters, except Tcol and NO3-N, exceeded the standards.

Synthesis and Irreversible Thermochromic Sensor Applications of Manganese Violet.

An irreversible thermochromic material based on manganese violet (MnNH4P2O7) is synthesized. The crystal phase, chemical composition, and morphology of the synthesized material are analyzed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The absorption spectra of the synthesized material are obtained using a UV-Vis spectrometer, and the thermochromism exhibited by the powdered samples at high temperatures is also investigated. The as-synthesized manganese violet pigment consists of pure α-MnNH4P2O7 phase. In addition, the synthesized pigment largely consists of hexagonal crystals with a diameter of hundreds of nanometers. On heating, the pigment simultaneously loses H2O and NH3 in two successive steps at approximately 330⁻434.4 °C and 434.4⁻527 °C, which correspond to the formation of an intermediate phase and of Mn2P4O12, respectively. An overall mass loss of 14.22% is observed, which is consistent with the expected 13.79%. An irreversible color change from violet to white is observed after exposure of the synthesized manganese violet pigment at 400 °C for 30 min. This is attributed to the oxidation of ammonia to hydroxylamine, which then decomposes to nitrogen and water, or alternatively to the direct oxidation of ammonia to nitrogen. Furthermore, we demonstrate the potential application of synthesized manganese violet in the production of irreversible thermochromic paint by mixing with potassium silicate solution as a binder and deionized water as a solvent at a specific ratio. The thermochromic paint is then applied in fabrication of irreversible thermochromic sensors by coating it onto a steel plate surface. Finally, we show that manganese violet-based irreversible thermochromic sensors are able to detect temperatures around 400 °C by changing color from violet to white/milky.

Pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of microalgae via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA): A state-of-the-art review.

Pyrolysis is a promising route for biofuels production from microalgae at moderate temperatures (400-600°C) in an inert atmosphere. Depending on the operating conditions, pyrolysis can produce biochar and/or bio-oil. In practice, knowledge for thermal decomposition characteristics and kinetics of microalgae during pyrolysis is essential for pyrolyzer design and pyrolysis optimization. Recently, the pyrolysis kinetics of microalgae has become a crucial topic and received increasing interest from researchers. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) has been employed as a proven technique for studying microalgae pyrolysis in a kinetic control regime. In addition, a number of kinetic models have been applied to process the TGA data for kinetic evaluation and parameters estimation. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the art review on recent research activities in pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of various microalgae. Common kinetic models predicting the thermal degradation of microalgae are examined and their pros and cons are illustrated.

Gasification kinetics of raw and wet-torrefied microalgae Chlorella vulgaris ESP-31 in carbon dioxide.

This study aims at investigating the gasification behavior and kinetics of microalga Chlorella vulgaris ESP-31 before and after wet torrefaction. The raw and wet-torrefied microalgae were first gasified in a thermogravimetric analyzer under a continuous CO2 flow. Thereafter, the obtained thermogravimetric data were modeled for kinetic study, employing a seven-parallel-reaction mechanism. The decomposition of the microalgae in CO2 shows two reactive stages: devolatilization with two peaks and gasification with a peak accompanied by a shoulder, and the thermal decomposition of components in the samples can be clearly identified. Increasing wet torrefaction temperature lowers the height of the major devolatilization peak but enhances the height of the minor one. Moreover, the kinetic evaluation reveals that wet torrefaction affects most of the kinetic parameters of the microalgal components. Furthermore, wet torrefaction temperature influences the kinetic parameters of carbohydrate and lipid, but not on those of protein, "others", and chars.

Development of a biomass torrefaction process integrated with oxy-fuel combustion.

Torrefaction of forest residues was studied under conditions relevant to oxy-fuel combustion flue gases. The results showed that the torrefaction in CO2 had a lower solid mass yield (81.36%) than that (83.06%) in N2. Addition of steam into CO2 (CO2/H2O=1/0.7 mole/mole) resulted in a higher mass yield (83.30%) compared to 81.36% in CO2. The energy yield was consistently increased from 79.17% to 84.12% or 88.32% for the torrefaction in N2, CO2, or the CO2 and steam mixture, respectively. On the other hand, additions of O2 into the mixture of steam and CO2 led to reductions in both mass yield (from 83.30% to 82.57% or 76.44%) and energy yield (from 88.32% to 84.65% or 79.16%, for the torrefaction in steam and CO2 without O2, with 5% v/v, or 10% v/v of O2, respectively).

Predictions of biochar yield and elemental composition during torrefaction of forest residues.

In this work, a direct prediction method coupled with a consecutive reaction model is developed to estimate the biochar yield and elemental composition in a biomass torrefaction process. Norway forest residues were chosen as feedstock and torrefied at different temperatures under nitrogen atmosphere in a thermogravimetric analyzer. Obtained data were modeled to predict the mass loss during torrefaction. Distributions of initial, intermediate and final solid products as well as torrefaction kinetic parameters are reported. Thereafter, a direct method to predict the elemental composition of biochar is introduced. The results show that the decomposition of initial biomass to form an intermediate solid has higher conversion rate than the degradation of the intermediate. Moreover, the predictions reproduce well the experimental thermogravimetric curves and show composition trends similar to the literature data. This method is useful for the design and optimization of industrial torrefaction processes with predictable biochar yield and elemental composition.