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Thiocyanate is present in gold mine tailings waters in concentrations up to 1000mgL-1 and this has a serious environmental impact by not allowing water reuse in the flotation of gold ore. This significantly increases the consumption of fresh water and the amount of wastewater discharged in tailings dams. At the same time thiocyanate in tailings waters often leads to groundwater contamination. A novel continuous membrane-based method for the complete clean-up of thiocyanate in concentrations as high as 1000mgL-1 from its aqueous solutions has been developed. It employs a flat sheet polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) of composition 70wt% PVC, 20wt% Aliquat 336 and 10wt% 1-tetradecanol which separates counter-current streams of a feed thiocyanate solution and a 1M NaNO3 receiving solution. The PIM-based system has been operated continuously for 45days with 99% separation efficiency. The volume of the receiving solution has been drastically reduced by recirculating it and continuously removing thiocyanate by precipitating it with in-situ generated Cu(I). The newly developed PIM-based thiocyanate clean-up method is environmentally friendly in terms of reagent use and inexpensive with respect to both equipment and running costs.

We investigated the effects of H2 on the number concentration of particulate matter (PM) emissions from a diesel engine fitted with a low-pressure loop exhaust gas recirculation system. We used a 2.2-L four-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine satisfying EURO V regulations, and converted this engine to include an H2 feed. The air/fuel (A/F) ratio was varied in the range of 21.9–45.5 and the brake mean effective pressure was varied in the range of 2–6 bars to control the O2 concentration and in-cylinder temperature, both of which are significant for PM emissions. The number concentration of the emitted PM was measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer. We found that the emitted PM decreased by the addition of H2 which caused the unburned gas temperature increased. Furthermore, the degree of reduction was larger as the A/F ratio, load, and H2 energy fraction increased. However, with A/F ratios of less than 21.9, the addition of H2 increased the number concentration of emitted PM which was attributed to the small O2 concentration at these A/F ratios.

In this study, we examined H 2 effects on the combustion and emissions of a diesel engine with low-pressure loop (LPL) exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). We converted a 2.2-L four-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine satisfying Euro5 for H 2 supply. An LPL-EGR system replaced the high-pressure loop (HPL) EGR system. For all tests, the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) was kept at 4 bar and the EGR ratio was varied from 9 to 42%. The H 2 energy percentage was varied from 0 to 7.4% independently to evaluate the H 2 effects and EGR effects separately. The heat release rate was calculated from the measured cylinder pressure. We found that substitution of H 2 for diesel fuel made the premixed burn fraction larger, and reduced the nitrous oxide (NO x ) and particulate matter (PM) emissions simultaneously. For example, the NO x emissions were reduced by 36% for an EGR of 42% and an H 2 percentage of 7.4%. PM emissions were reduced by 18% for an EGR of 35% and an H 2 percentage of 7.4% compared with diesel fuel only cases.

The distinctive properties of hydrogen have initiated considerable applied research related to the internal combustion engine. Recently, it has been reported that NOx emissions were reduced by using hydrogen in a diesel engine at low temperature and heavy EGR conditions. As the continuing study, cylinder pressure was also investigated to determine the combustion characteristics and their relationship to NOx emissions. The test engine was operated at constant speed and fixed diesel fuel injection rate (1500 rpm, 2.5 kg/h). Diesel fuel was injected in a split pattern into a 2-L diesel engine. The cylinder pressure was measured for different hydrogen flow rates and EGR ratios. The intake manifold temperature was controlled to be the same to avoid the gas intake temperature variations under the widely differing levels (2%–31%) of EGR. The measured cylinder pressure was analyzed for characteristic combustion values, such as mass burn fraction and combustion duration. The rising crank angle of the heat release rate was unaffected by the presence of hydrogen. However, supplying hydrogen extended the main combustion duration. This longer main combustion duration was particularly noticeable at the heavy EGR condition. It correlated well with the reduced NOx emissions.

Cooled and heavy exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has been used to control NOx emissions from diesel engines, but its application has been limited by low thermal efficiency or high unburned hydrocarbon emissions. In this study, hydrogen was added into the intake manifold of a diesel engine to investigate its effect on NOx emissions and thermal efficiency under low-temperature and heavy-EGR conditions. The energy content of the introduced hydrogen was varied from an equivalent of 2–10% of the total fuel’s lower heating value. A test engine was operated at a constant diesel fuel injection rate and engine speed to maintain the same engine control unit (ECU) parameters, such as injection time, while observing changes in the carbon dioxide produced due to variations in the hydrogen supply. Additionally, the EGR system was modified to control the EGR ratio. The temperature of the intake gas manifold was controlled by both the EGR cooler and the inter-cooling devices to maintain a temperature of 25 °C. Exhaust NOx emissions were measured for different hydrogen flow rates at a constant EGR ratio. The test results demonstrated that the supplied hydrogen reduced the specific NOx emissions at a given EGR ratio while increasing the brake thermal efficiency. This behavior was observed over constant EGR ratios of 2, 16, and 31%. The rate of NOx reduction due to hydrogen addition increased at higher EGR ratios compared with pure diesel combustion at the same EGR ratio. At an EGR ratio of 31%, when the hydrogen equivalent to 10% of the total fuel’s lower heating value was supplied, the specific NOx was lowered by 25%, and there was a slight increase in the brake thermal efficiency. This behavior was investigated by measuring and analyzing changes in the exhaust gas composition, including oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor.

A new polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) has been developed for the extraction of thiocyanate from weakly alkaline aqueous solutions. The composition of this membrane in mass percent (m/m) is 20% (m/m) Aliquat 336 as carrier, 10% (m/m) 1-tetradecanol as modifier and 70% (m/m) PVC as the base-polymer. This composition has been arrived at after extensive screening of a large number of CTA and PVC-based membranes using various plasticizers and modifiers. This membrane is homogeneous, flexible and transparent and extracts thiocyanate from weakly alkaline solutions with considerable speed for a PIM with an initial flux value of 7.86 × 10−6 mol m−2 s−1. Quantitative back extraction is achieved using 1 M NaNO3. The membrane has been cycled 10 times through extraction and back extraction without loss of performance. Its use in the extraction of thiocyanate from wastewater from the cyanide leaching of low grade gold ores has been successfully tested.

Phytoremediation has been investigated as an alternative to excavation to remediate contamination in soil. In this work, Allium fistulosum (green onions) and Pteris cretica cv Mayii (moonlight ferns) were investigated for phytoremediation. Green onions were planted in lead-spiked soil, and chelating agents were introduced to enhance the uptake of lead by the plants. Lead uptake was low in the absence of chelating reagents. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) significantly enhanced the concentration of lead in the stems of green onions, while propylenediaminetetraacetic acid (PDTA) did not induce lead absorption. Moonlight ferns (P. cretica cv Mayii) were planted in a hydroponic system to which arsenic (III), arsenic (V), and monomethylarsenate (MMA) were added with hydroponic solution. Ferns exposed to arsenic (III) showed the highest extraction of arsenic followed by ferns exposed to arsenic (V). The extraction of arsenic by the ferns was higher when arsenic (III) was mixed with arsenic (V) than the combination of arsenic (III) and MMA. These results suggest that inorganic arsenic is phytoextracted preferentially to MMA.