Environmental Engineering / Çevre Mühendisliği
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Review Citation - WoS: 88Citation - Scopus: 102Comprehensive Review and Assessment of Carbon Capturing Methods and Technologies: an Environmental Research(Academic Press inc Elsevier Science, 2024) Goren, Aysegul Yagmur; Erdemir, Dogan; Dincer, IbrahimA majority of the primary contributors of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the environment have really been out of human-made activities. The levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have increased substantially since the time of the industrial revolution. This has been linked to the use of fossil fuels for energy production, as well as the widespread production of some industrial components like cement and the encroaching destruction of forests. An extreme approach is now necessary to develop the right policies and address the local and global environmental issues in the right way. In this regard, CO2 capturing, utilization, and storage are reliable options that industrial facilities can initiate to overcome this problem. Therefore, we have evaluated the two leading technologies that are used for carbon capture: direct (pre-combustion, post-combustion, and oxy-combustion) and indirect carbon (reforestation, enhanced weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture, and agricultural practices) capturing to provide their current status and progresses. Among the considered processes, the post-combustion techniques are widely utilized on a commercial scale, especially in industrial applications. Technology readiness level (TRL) results have showed that amine solvents, pressure-vacuum swing adsorption, and gas separation membranes have the highest TRL value of 9. In addition, the environmental impact assessment methods have been ranked to evaluate their sustainability levels. The highest global warming potential of 219.53 kgCO(2) eq./MWh has been obtained for the post-combustion process. Overall, through this comprehensive review, we have identified some critical research gaps in the open literature in the field of CO2-capturing methods where there are strong needs for future research and technology development studies, for instance, developing stable and cost-effective liquid solvents and improving the adsorption capacity of commercialized sorbents. Furthermore, some research areas, like novel process design, environmental and economic impact assessment of capturing methods with different chemicals and modeling and simulation studies, will require further effort to demonstrate the developed technologies for pilot and commercial-scale applications.Review Citation - WoS: 22Citation - Scopus: 30Comparative Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Biohydrogen Production Methods(Elsevier, 2023) Goren, A. Yagmur; Dincer, Ibrahim; Khalvati, Ali; Gören, Ayşegül Yağmur; Dinçer, İbrahimAs energy crisis is recognized as an increasingly serious concern, the topic on biohydrogen (bioH(2)) production, which is renewable and eco-friendly, appears to be a highly-demanding subject. Although bioH(2) production technologies are still at the developmental stage, there are many reported works available on lab- and pilot-scale systems with a promising future. This paper presents various potential methods of bioH(2) production using biomass resources and comparatively assesses them for environmental impacts with a special emphasis on the specific biological processes. The environmental impact factors are then normalized with the feature scaling and normalization methods to evaluate the environmental sustainability dimensions of each bioH(2) production method. The results reveals that the photofermentation (PF) process is more environmentally sustainable than the other investigated biological and thermochemical processes, in terms of emissions, water-fossil-mineral uses, and health issues. The global warming potential (GWP) and acidification potential (AP) for the PF process are then found to be 1.88 kg-CO2 eq. and 3.61 g-SO2 eq., which become the lowest among all processes, including renewable energy-based H-2 production processes. However, the dark fermentation-microbial electrolysis cell (DF-MEC) hybrid process is considered the most environmentally harmful technique, with the highest GWP value of 14.6 kg-CO2 eq. due to their superior electricity and heat requirements. The water conception potential (WCP) of 84.5 m(3) and water scarcity footprint (WSF) of 3632.9 m(3) for the DF-MEC process is also the highest compared to all other processes due to the huge amount of wastewater formation potential of the system. Finally, the overall rankings confirm that biological processes are primarily promising candidates to produce bioH(2) from an environmentally friendly point of view.Article Citation - WoS: 6Citation - Scopus: 6Microbial Desalination Cell Treated Spent Geothermal Brine as a Nutrient Medium in Hydroponic Lettuce Cultivation: Health Risk Assessment(Elsevier, 2024) Goren, A. Y.; Eskisoy, D. N.; Genisoglu, S.; Okten, H. E.The scarcity and contamination of freshwater resources are extremely critical issues today, and the expansion of water reuse has been considered as an option to decrease its impact. Therefore, the reuse of microbial desalination (MDC)-treated spent geothermal brine for agricultural purposes arises as a good solution to prevent water contamination and provide sustainable water usage. In this study, the potential of treated spent geothermal water from MDC system as a nutrient solution for the hydroponic cultivation of lettuce was evaluated. The effects of different water samples (Hoagland solution (R1) as a control, MDC-treated water (R2), 1:1, v/v mixture of MDCtreated water and Hoagland solution (R3), 4:1, v/v mixture of MDC-treated water and Hoagland solution (R4), and tap water (R5)) on lettuce growth were considered. The application of R3 and R4 samples for hydroponic lettuce cultivation was promising since the lettuce plants uptake sufficient nutrients for their growth and productivity with low toxic metal concentrations. In addition, the chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, and carotene contents of lettuce were in the range of 1.045-2.391 mg/g, 0.761-1.986 mg/g, and 0.296-0.423 mg/g in different water samples, respectively. The content of chlorophyll-a was highest in R1 (2.391 mg/g), followed by R3 (2.371 mg/g). Furthermore, the health risk assessment of heavy metal accumulations in the lettuce plants cultivated in the various water samples was determined. Results showed that heavy metal exposure via lettuce consumption is unlikely to suffer noticeable adverse health problems with values below the permissible limit value.Article Citation - WoS: 1Citation - Scopus: 1Exposure To Fumes of a Vegetable Margarine for Frying: Respiratory Effects in an Experimental Model(American Chemical Society, 2023) Cimrin, Arif H.; Alpaydin, Aylin Ozgen; Ozbal, Seda; Toprak, Melis; Yılmaz, Osman; Uluorman, Funda; Ergur, Bekir Uğur; Gürel, Duygu; Sofuoğlu, Sait CemilDeep frying is one of the strongest emission sources into indoor air. A vegetable margarine has recently been used in commercial kitchens. This study investigated the respiratory effects of exposure to its fumes in an experimental model. A setup with glass chambers was constructed. A chamber housed a fryer. The fumes were transported to the other chamber where 24 Wistar albino rats were placed in four randomized groups: acute, subacute, chronic, and control for the exposure durations. PM10 concentration in the exposure chamber was monitored to ensure occupational levels were obtained. Sacrification was performed 24 h after exposure. Lung, trachea, and nasal concha specimens were evaluated by two blinded histologists under a light microscope with hematoxylin–eosin. Mild mononuclear cell infiltration, alveolar capillary membrane thickening, alveolar edema, and diffuse alveolar damage, along with diffuse hemorrhage, edema, and vascular congestion in the interstitium were observed in the acute and subacute groups, and were overexpressed in the chronic group, whereas normal lung histology was observed in the control group. The results indicate that exposure to fumes of vegetable margarine for frying in commercial kitchens may cause pulmonary inflammation that becomes severe as the duration of the exposure increases.Article Citation - WoS: 21Citation - Scopus: 21Remote Sensing-Based Monitoring and Evaluation of the Basin-Wise Dynamics of Terrestrial Water and Groundwater Storage Fluctuations(Springer, 2023) Khorrami, Behnam; Gündüz, OrhanThe recent dynamics of terrestrial water storage (TWS) and groundwater storage (GWS) fluctuations were investigated based on the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) observations over 25 basins of Türkiye. Coarse-resolution GRACE estimates were downscaled based on the Random Forest algorithm. The impacts of precipitation (P) and evapotranspiration (ET) on the variations of water storage were also assessed. The findings demonstrated good performance for the RF model in simulating finer resolution estimates of TWS. The results indicated a diminishing trend of TWS and its hydrologic components over all the basins from 2003 to 2020. The Doğu Akdeniz Basin with the annually decreasing TWS and GWS of 1.15cm/yr and 1.10cm/yr was the most critical basin of Türkiye. The least storage loss was observed in the Batı Karadeniz Basin with the annual TWS and GWS loss of 0.38cm/yr and 0.45cm/yr , respectively. Based on the results, Türkiye has lost, on average, an estimated 5.16km3/yr and 4.09km3/yr of its TWS and GWS, respectively, which are equivalent to the total storage loss of 92.88km3 and 73.62km3 of TWS and GWS during the last 18 years. The results also indicated that P and ET interact differently with the variations of TWS and GWS. The net water flux was revealed to be partially correlated with the total water storage fluctuations, suggesting the governing role of other deriving forces particularly the anthropogenic factors in the spatiotemporal variations of Türkiye’s water storage; therefore, a sector-specific analysis of the water storage variations is crucial for the country, particularly by concentrating more on the dynamics of GWS. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Review Citation - WoS: 41Citation - Scopus: 42Review on the Parameters of Recycling Ndfeb Magnets Via a Hydrogenation Process(American Chemical Society, 2023) Habibzadeh, Alireza; Küçüker, Mehmet Ali; Gökelma, MertolRegarding the restrictions recently imposed by China on the export of rare-earth elements (REEs), the world may face a serious challenge in supplying some REEs such as neodymium and dysprosium soon. Recycling secondary sources is strongly recommended to mitigate the supply risk of REEs. Hydrogen processing of magnetic scrap (HPMS) as one of the best approaches for magnet-to-magnet recycling is thoroughly reviewed in this study in terms of parameters and properties. The processes of hydrogen decrepitation (HD) and hydrogenation-disproportio-nation-desorption-recombination (HDDR) are two common methods for HPMS. Employing a hydrogenation process can shorten the production route of new magnets from the discarded magnets compared to other recycling routes such as the hydrometallurgical route. However, determining the optimal pressure and temperature for the process is challenging due to the sensitivity to the initial chemical composition and the interaction of temperature and pressure. Pressure, temperature, initial chemical composition, gas flow rate, particle size distribution, grain size, and oxygen content are the effective parameters for the final magnetic properties. All these influencing parameters are discussed in detail in this review. The recovery rate of magnetic properties has been the concern of most research in this field and can be achieved up to 90% by employing a low hydrogenation temperature and pressure and using additives such as REE hydrides after hydrogenation and before sintering.Article Citation - WoS: 6Citation - Scopus: 9The Effect of Military Conflict Zone in the Middle East on Atmospheric Persistent Organic Pollutant Contamination in Its North(Elsevier, 2023) Ayrı, İlknur; Genişoğlu, Mesut; Sofuoğlu, Aysun; Kurt Karakuş, Perihan B.; Birgül, Askın; Sofuoğlu, Sait CemilThis study aimed to investigate long-range atmospheric transport of selected POPs released due to the effects of mili-tary conflicts in regions to the south of Turkey's borders. Ten locations were selected to deploy passive air samplers at varying distances to the border on a southeast-west transect of the country, proximity-grouped as close, middle, and far. Sampling campaign included winter and transition months when desert dust transport events occur. Hypothesis of the study was that a decreasing trend would be observed with increasing distance to the border. Group comparisons based on statistical testing showed that PBDE-183, E45PCB, and dieldrin in winter; PBDE-28, PBDE-99, PBDE-154, p,p '-DDE, E14PBDE, and E25OCP in the transition period; and PBDE-28, PBDE-85, PBDE-99, PBDE-154, PBDE-190, PCB-52, E45PCB, p,p '-DDE, and E25OCP over the whole campaign had a decreasing trend on the transect. An analysis of concen-tration ratio to the background showed that long-range atmospheric transport impacted the study sites, especially those of close group in comparison to the local sources. Back-trajectory analyses indicated that there was transport from the conflict areas to sites in the close-proximity group, while farther sampling locations mostly received air masses from Europe, Russia, and former Soviet Union countries, followed by North Africa, rather than the military con-flict areas. In consequence, decrease in concentrations with distance and its relation to molecular weight through pro-portions, diagnostic ratios, analysis of concentration ratio to the background, and back-trajectory analyses support the effect of transport from the military-conflict area to its north.Article Citation - WoS: 3Citation - Scopus: 6Halogenated By-Products in Chlorinated Indoor Swimming Pools: a Long-Term Monitoring and Empirical Modeling Study(Amer Chemical Soc, 2023) Genişoğlu, Mesut; Minaz, Mert; Tanacan, Ertaç; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Kaplan-Bekaroğlu, Şehnaz Şule; Kanan, Amer; Ateş, NurayMonitoring the disinfection process and swimming pool water quality is essential for the prevention of microbial infections and associated diseases. However, carcinogenic and chronic-toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed with reactions between disinfectants and organic/inorganic matters. DBP precursors in swimming pools originate from anthropogenic sources (body secretions, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, etc.) or chemicals used in pools. Temporal (48 weeks) water quality trends of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), haloacetonitriles (HANs), and halonitromethanes (HNMs) in two swimming pools (SP-A and SP-B) and precursor-DBP relationships were investigated in this study. Weekly samples were taken from swimming pools, and several physical/chemical water quality parameters, absorbable organic halides (AOX), and DBPs were determined. THMs and HAAs were the most detected DBP groups in pool water. While chloroform was determined to be the dominant THM compound, dichloroacetic acid and trichloroacetic acid were the dominant HAA compounds. The average AOX concentrations were measured to be 304 and 746 mu g/L as Cl- in SP-A and SP-B, respectively. Although the amount of AOX from unknown chlorinated by-products in SP-A did not vary temporally, a significant increase in unknown DBP concentrations in SP-B was observed over time. AOX concentrations of chlorinated pool waters were determined to be an important parameter that can be used to estimate DBP concentrations.Article Citation - WoS: 12Citation - Scopus: 14Identifying Geogenic and Anthropogenic Aluminum Pollution on Different Spatial Distributions and Removal of Natural Waters and Soil in Çanakkale, Turkey(Amer Chemical Soc, 2023) Hızlı, Sezin; Koraoğlu, Aybike Gül; Gören, Ayşegül Yağmur; Kobya, MehmetThe Canakkale-Kirazli region (Turkey) is enriched with minerals, especially aluminum (Al), which dangerously get transported into aquatic media due to several mining and geological activities in recent years. In this study, Al and other potentially toxic metals (PTMs) including B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Si, and Zn, in both water and soil samples, were measured for quality determination. Selected metals were also analyzed by the enrichment factor (EF), the geoaccumulation index (I-geo), the contamination factor (CF), and the pollution load index (PLI) to evaluate both water and soil pollution geogenically or anthropogenically. Also, the metals were clustered to support the pollution source with Pearson's correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Forty-five natural water samples and 12 soil samples were collected spatially. To perform pollution assessment, two fundamental treatment processes to remove Al pollution from the sample including the highest Al concentration (38.38 mg/L) in water were applied: (1) precipitation with pH adjustment and (2) removal with ion exchange. The pH values of water samples were changed in the range of 3-9 to test the dissolution of Al. The results demonstrated that the study area was mostly under the influence of geogenic aluminum pollution.Article Citation - WoS: 5Citation - Scopus: 10Removal of Pesticide Residues From Apple and Tomato Cuticle(Springer, 2023) Tari, Vinaya; Yalçın, Melis; Turgut, Nalan; Gökbulut, Cengiz; Mermer, Serhan; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Turgut, CaferPesticide residues are always an unsolved problem in the world despite all kinds of prevention measures. The present research work is based on a scientific hypothesis, i.e., The removal of average pesticide residue is inversely proportional to the thickness of cuticle. The effects of boron-containing products and plant-based surfactants were tested for the removal of five pesticides (lambda-cyhalothrin, chlorpyrifos, diflubenzuron, metaflumizone, acetamiprid) on tomatoes and apples. Boron-containing products were able to remove the pesticide residues on average between 58.0 and 72.6% in tomatoes and 33.2-58.8% in an apple. While plant-based surfactants removed residues on average between 58.5 and 66.6% in tomatoes and 41.0-53.2% in an apple. The highest removal rate was 72% with etidot at 1%. The solution of 1% C8-C10 provided 66.6% average removal for tomatoes. Less removal was achieved in apples. For an apple, Log K-ow and molecular mass (independent variables) were significant with p < 0.01, and the coefficient of determination (R-2) was > 0.87. However, the multiple linear regression analysis for ground colemanite was significant with R-2 of 0.96. In tomatoes, neither Log K-ow nor molecular mass as significant. The correlation was found between the physical and chemical properties of pesticides, but it is estimated that the thickness of the cuticle is effective in removing pesticides.