http://www.hindawi.com The latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation © 2013 , Hindawi Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved. Sun, 12 May 2013 15:06:49 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/environ.chem/2013/514751/ This paper reports the measurements of SO3 emissions with and without limestone under unstaged and staged fluidized-bed combustion, carried out on a  m2 and 2 m high stainless-steel combustor at atmospheric pressure. The secondary air was injected 100 cm above the distributor. SO3 emissions were monitored for staging levels of 85 : 15, 70 : 30, and 60 : 40, equivalent to a primary air/coal ratio (PACR) of ~0.86, 0.75, and 0.67. Experiments were carried out at 0%–60% excess air level, 1-2 m/s fluidizing velocity, 800–850°C bed temperature, and 20–30 cm bed height. During unstaged combustion runs, SO3 emissions were monitored for a wide range of Ca/S ratios from 0.5 to 13. However, for the staged combustion runs, the Ca/S ratio was fixed at 3. SO3 was retained to a lesser extent than SO2, suggesting that SO2 reacts preferentially with CaO and that SO3 is involved in the sulphation process to a lesser degree. The SO3 emissions were found to be affected by excess air, whereas the fluidizing velocity and bed temperature had little effect. SO3 was depressed on the addition of limestone during both the staged and unstaged operations, and the extent of the reduction was higher under staged combustion. Wasi Z. Khan, Bernard M. Gibbs, and Assem Ayaganova Copyright © 2013 Wasi Z. Khan et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 02 May 2013 16:03:00 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/environ.chem/2013/319178/ The photocatalytic degradation of the organophosphorus fenamiphos (FN) was studied using titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst and 365 nm as an excitation wavelength. Under our experimental conditions and in aerated solutions, the irradiation in the presence of TiO2 P25 (1.0 g L−1) permitted the evaluation of the half lifetime to 9.5 minutes. Laser flash photolysis experiments showed the formation of an initial species owing to the attack of the hydroxyl radical on FN. It was identified as the adduct -FN. The second order rate constant for its formation was evaluated to  moL−1 L s−1. All the products are formed via the formation of such transient intermediate. They were identified by means of HPLC/MS using electrospray in positive mode (). Two main processes are responsible for FN photocatalytic transformation: (i) hydroxylation on the aromatic structure and (ii) the scission of the C–O bond. A mechanistic scheme was proposed for the photocatalytic process of FN using titanium dioxide. An efficient mineralization was observed within 24 hours by using a suntest setup. H. Mountacer, S. M. Nemmaoui, S. Rafqah, G. Voyard, and M. Sarakha Copyright © 2013 H. Mountacer et al. All rights reserved. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:05:18 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/environ.chem/2013/694681/ The sorption interaction of three widely used tetracycline antibiotics, namely, tetracycline, chlortetracycline, and oxytetracycline, under various conditions of time, pH, temperature, ionic strength, and exchangeable cations on illites and kaolinites was examined. First-order reaction indicated diffusion-controlled adsorption, maximum adsorption occurring at pH values of 3.5, 3, and 4 for tetracycline, oxytetracycline, and chlortetracycline, respectively. Adsorption isotherms of “L” type showed that the adsorption of antibiotics was in the order of chlortetracycline > oxytetracycline > tetracycline. Adsorption was maximum for Al-saturated complexes and followed the order of Al- > Na- > K- Ca. The adsorption varied inversely with changes in temperature and ionic strength up to 0.6 after which it became constant. Free energy changes (ΔG) were negative signifying a spontaneous reaction; the values of ΔG suggest a partial physical adsorption. Enthalpy changes showed that the process is exothermic. The positive values of entropy change suggest that adsorption of tetracyclines molecules is in disordered arrangement on clay surfaces. The data of these parameters with IR and X-ray studies revealed the existence of protonation and/or coordination between exchangeable cation and oxygen of >C=O group of antibiotics. The amount of cations desorbed indicated that cation exchange phenomena played an important role during adsorption. O. P. Bansal Copyright © 2013 O. P. Bansal. All rights reserved.