Natural Zeolite for The Purification of Saline Groundwater and Irrigation Potential Analysis

Groundwater is one of the main sources of water for irrigation used worldwide. However, the application of the resource is threatened by the possibility of high saline levels, especially in low-lying coastal regions. Furthermore, the lack of readily accessible materials for successful treatment procedures makes the purification of such water a constant challenge. Based on the fact that natural zeolite is one of the easily accessible and relatively cheap filter materials, this study examined the potential use of high-salinity groundwater filtered by natural zeolite for irrigation. Zeolite-filled filters at two different depths (0.5 m and 1 m) were studied. The samples were collected from the low-lying areas of Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania. The study observed that when the raw groundwater samples were exposed to the 0.5 m column depth, sodium (Na⁺) had the lowest removal efficiency at 40.2% and calcium (Ca²⁺) had the highest removal efficiency at 98.9%. On the other hand, magnesium (Mg²⁺) had the lowest removal efficiency, at about 61.2%, whereas potassium (K⁺) had up to about 99.7% removal efficiency from the 1 m column depth treatment system. Additionally, from the salinity hazard potential analysis, most of the samples fell within C4 (based on the electrical conductivity), which is a “very high salinity” class, and based on the quality it means the water cannot be directly applied for irrigation purposes. From the 0.5 m column depth, most of the samples fell within C3 (the “high salinity” class), and from the 1 m column depth most of the samples fell within C1 (“low salinity” class). The findings of this study offer some valuable insight into the prospective use of natural zeolite for the filtration of saline groundwater before its application for irrigation.     

Exogenous Application of Green Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) to Improve the Germination,Physiochemical, and Yield Parameters of Wheat Plants under Salinity Stress

Agriculture is the backbone of every developing country. Among various crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) belongs to the family Poaceae and is the most important staple food crop of various countries. Different biotic (viruses, bacteria and fungi) and abiotic stresses (water logging, drought and salinity) adversely affect the qualitative and quantitative attributes of wheat. Among these stresses, salinity stress is a very important limiting factor affecting the morphological, physiological, biochemical attributes and grain yield of wheat. This research work was carried out to evaluate the influence of phytosynthesized TiO₂ NPs on the germination, physiochemical, and yield attributes of wheat varieties in response to salinity. TiO₂ NPs were synthesized using TiO₂ salt and a Buddleja asiatica plant extract as a reducing and capping agent. Various concentrations of TiO₂ nanoparticles (20, 40, 60 and 80 mg/L) and salt solutions (NaCl) (100 and 150 mM) were used. A total of 20 mg/L and 40 mg/L improve germination attributes, osmotic and water potential, carotenoid, total phenolic, and flavonoid content, soluble sugar and proteins, proline and amino acid content, superoxide dismutase activity, and reduce malondialdhehyde (MDA) content at both levels of salinity. These two concentrations also improved the yield attributes of wheat varieties at both salinity levels. The best results were observed at 40 mg/L of TiO₂ NPs at both salinity levels. However, the highest concentrations (60 and 80 mg/L) of TiO₂ NPs showed negative effects on germination, physiochemical and yield characteristics and causes stress in both wheat varieties under control irrigation conditions and salinity stress. Therefore, in conclusion, the findings of this research are that the foliar application of TiO₂ NPs can help to improve tolerance against salinity stress in plants.     

Spatio-Temporal Variation of the Bacterial Communities along a Salinity Gradient within a Thalassohaline Environment (Saline di Tarquinia Salterns,Italy)

The “Saline di Tarquinia” salterns have been scarcely investigated regarding their microbiological aspects. This work studied the structure and composition of their bacterial communities along the salinity gradient (from the nearby sea through different ponds). The communities showed increasing simplification of pond bacterial diversity along the gradient (particularly if compared to those of the sea). Among the 38 assigned phyla, the most represented were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Differently to other marine salterns, where at the highest salinities Bacteroidetes dominated, preponderance of Proteobacteria was observed. At the genus level the most abundant taxa were Pontimonas, Marivita, Spiribacter, Bordetella, GpVII and Lentibacter. The α-diversity analysis showed that the communities were highly uneven, and the Canonical Correspondence Analysis indicated that they were structured by various factors (sampling site, sampling year, salinity, and sampling month). Moreover, the taxa abundance variation in relation to these significant parameters were investigated by Generalized Linear Models. This work represents the first investigation of a marine saltern, carried out by a metabarcoding approach, which permitted a broad vision of the bacterial diversity, covering both a wide temporal span (two years with monthly sampling) and the entire salinity gradient (from the nearby sea up to the crystallisation ponds).     

Miniaturized Salinity Gradient Energy Harvesting Devices

Harvesting salinity gradient energy, also known as “osmotic energy” or “blue energy”, generated from the free energy mixing of seawater and fresh river water provides a renewable and sustainable alternative for circumventing the recent upsurge in global energy consumption. The osmotic pressure resulting from mixing water streams with different salinities can be converted into electrical energy driven by a potential difference or ionic gradients. Reversed-electrodialysis (RED) has become more prominent among the conventional membrane-based separation methodologies due to its higher energy efficiency and lesser susceptibility to membrane fouling than pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO). However, the ion-exchange membranes used for RED systems often encounter limitations while adapting to a real-world system due to their limited pore sizes and internal resistance. The worldwide demand for clean energy production has reinvigorated the interest in salinity gradient energy conversion. In addition to the large energy conversion devices, the miniaturized devices used for powering a portable or wearable micro-device have attracted much attention. This review provides insights into developing miniaturized salinity gradient energy harvesting devices and recent advances in the membranes designed for optimized osmotic power extraction. Furthermore, we present various applications utilizing the salinity gradient energy conversion.     

Salinity Selection for a Low Salinity Water-Low Salinity Surfactant Process

A laboratory selection of salinity for a low salinity water-low salinity surfactant (LS-LSS) process is presented in this paper with systematical investigation on surfactant phase behavior, interfacial tension (IFT), and dynamic retention in porous media with IOS2024 and isoamyl alcohol (IAA) as surfactant system. The results show that 0.4 wt% IOS2024 with 1 wt% IAA can provide ultra-low IFT of 10^?3 mN/m at around 3000–4000 mg/L total dissolved solids, but at that salinity range the surfactant retention is very high. The search for an optimum surfactant formulation has to consider solution properties and retention in addition to the low IFT. The salinity for a LS-LSS process should thus not be focused on either optimal salinity or ultra-low IFT, but instead the best choice could be a compromise between the properties in question. The three-phase region, where ultra-low IFT are found, is also associated with high retention values. However, we show that as salinity is increased from a two-phase region with oil solubilized in a water continuous microemulsion, there is a region close to the three-phase boundary which has potential. This region does not give ultra-low, but fairly low (10^?2 mN/m in this case) interfacial tensions, and also significantly lower retention.      

Similarities and Differences of Low Salinity Polymer and Low Salinity LPS (Linked Polymer Solutions) for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Linked polymer solution (LPS) is nano-size particles made of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) cross-linked with aluminum citrate. The propagation of LPS has been compared to non-cross-linked polymers at low brine salinity condition. The possible differences in properties and potentials for oil recovery have been investigated using water-wet and intermediate-wet cores. The target oil for polymer flooding (PF) is assumed to be the portion of the reservoir that has been bypassed by water during waterflooding and not the residual oil saturation in flooded zones. Our recent studies have shown that a positive synergy can be obtained by combining low salinity and PF. It has been claimed in the literature that cross-linking polymer such as colloidal dispersion gels (colloidal dispersion gels (CDG), micron-size aggregates) or LPS (nano-size particles) would extend the application of polymers to also include change in residual oil saturation. The results of this study indicated higher pressure buildup when low salinity LPS was propagated through brine saturated cores compared to low salinity polymer solution. The pressure buildup was even stronger for high salinity LPS injection. In two phase flow experiments, both polymer and LPS under low salinity condition, showed approximately similar propagation and oil recovery potential when injected into water-wet and intermediate-wet cores.     

Experimental Validation of the Temperature-Resistant and Salt-Tolerant Xanthan Enhanced Foam for Enhancing Oil Recovery

Xanthan enhanced foam (XGF) is a newly developed chemical agent for enhanced oil recovery in high-temperature and high-salinity reservoirs. In this paper, laboratory experiments were performed to characterize the morphology and foam properties of XGF, to study its performance under different temperature and different salinity conditions, respectively. Based on simulate reservoir formation conditions of Xidaliya field, a series of research on XGF were conducted. The experimental results showed that the scanning electron microscopy of XGF reflected a more viscoelastic and stable nature of the foam system. High temperature had a great adverse impact upon the stability of XGF, and the increase of salinity in the solution helped to improve the stability of foam. The foam stability increased remarkably when XG4 is added, and an increase in ambient pressure made enhancement of foam stability became more noticeable. In the presence of crude oil, Xanthan could enhance the stability of emulsions and was more favorable to stabilize foam. XG4 enhanced foam had dramatic properties for mobility controlling and oil displacement in the porous media.     

Capillary electrophoresis method for analysis of inorganic and organic anions related to habitability and the search for life

In situ missions of exploration require analytical methods that are capable of detecting a wide range of molecular targets in complex matrices without a priori assumptions of sample composition. Furthermore, these methods should minimize the number of reagents needed and any sample preparation steps. We have developed a method for the detection of metabolically relevant inorganic and organic anions that is suitable for implementation on in situ spaceflight missions. Using 55 mM acetic acid, 50 mM triethylamine, and 5% glycerol, more than 21 relevant anions are separated in less than 20 min. The method is robust to sample ionic strength, tolerating high concentrations of background salts (up to 900 mM NaCl and 300 mM MgSO₄). This is an important feature for future missions to ocean worlds. The method was validated using a culture of Escherichia coli and with high salinity natural samples collected from Mono Lake, California.     

高盐样品中锂的电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法(ICP-OES)测定研究

锂是重要的战略金属和新能源材料,其开发利用受到全球的高度关注。在高盐卤水特别是盐湖卤水和地下卤水中富含巨量的锂资源,在对这些资源进行锂的开发利用过程中,需对锂的含量进行准确测定,然而卤水中共存的高浓度Na+, K+, Ca2+和Mg2+会对微量锂的准确测定产生严重的干扰。电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法(ICP-OES)具有线性范围宽和多元素同步分析能力,针对卤水中锂的快速准确测定,详细开展了高盐样品中锂的ICP-OES分析方法研究。结果表明,锂在610.364 nm处具有较高的信噪比,且Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+和Ar不会对锂的测定产生显著的谱线干扰。然而,样品中大量共存的Na+, K+和Mg2+会对锂的测定产生严重的基体正干扰,而Ca2+产生负干扰。尽管内标法在消除基体干扰方面具有广泛的应用,但传统的以钇和钪为内标元素的内标法不能有效解决该问题。此外,针对标准加入法操作繁琐、不适合批量样品分析问题,以及基体匹配法需多离子匹配,且不适合样品基体组成变化的批量样品分析等问题,考察了采用单一组分进行复杂基体匹配的可行性。由于NaCl广泛存在于卤水中,且对锂的测定具有显著的增敏效应,通过系列研究发现,通过同时向样品和标准溶液中加入10 g·L-1的NaCl,成功解决了总量不超过40 g·L-1的NaCl, KCl和MgCl2所产生的干扰。尽管采用该法或沉淀预分离方式均不能消除Ca2+产生的负干扰,但当样品中Ca2+含量不高于1.8 g·L-1时,对测定不产生显著的影响。通过采用该方法对三种不同基体组成的卤水样品进行加标回收测定,其回收率在96.60%~104.20%范围内。此外,通过与电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)测定结果进行对比,充分论证了该法的准确性和可靠性(相对误差±3.66%)。该法仅以单一的NaCl进行复杂基体匹配,不仅简化了操作,还实现了基体组成变化的批量样品分析,因而在卤水中锂的快速准确测定及锂资源开发利用方面具有重要意义。     

盐度对蛋白核小球藻生长、叶绿素荧光参数及代谢酶的影响

以蛋白核小球藻820为实验材料,研究了3种盐度(15、30、45)对其生长、叶绿素荧光参数和两种代谢酶活性的影响,以了解该小球藻对盐度的适应能力.结果表明,蛋白核小球藻820的生长随盐度增加而变慢;而油脂含量随盐度增加而升高.叶绿素荧光参数中的PSII最大光能转化效率(Fv/Fm)、PSII实际光能转化效率(ΦPSII)、光化学淬灭系数(qP)随盐度升高下降,而非光化学淬灭系数(NPQ)随盐度升高而上升.超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性变化大致趋势是低盐和高盐下活性较高,碳酸酐酶(CA)活性则随盐度升高而降低,第5 d时45盐度是30盐度培养的0.43倍.因此,认为高盐一定程度地抑制了蛋白核小球藻的生长、叶绿素荧光参数和CA活性,但是促进了总脂含量和抗氧化酶SOD活性的提高.