Water is vital to the survival of humans and all other life forms, yet many sources of freshwater are being contaminated due to pollution, significantly limiting freshwater availability, and threatening human existence. Nitrates and ammonium are common water contaminants whose concentrations in water have increased significantly due to the excessive use of fertilisers. High concentrations of such contaminants in water can lead to multiple health issues, and thus controlling the concentration levels of these pollutants in water grows into the main task for environmental scientists. A natural zeolite filter was employed in this study to minimise traces of contaminants in water. Samples of synthetic polluted water were prepared that contained 50 mg/L of each contaminant for the laboratory tests. Testing natural zeolite doses ranging from 1 to 5 g/L at various pH levels (between 3 and 10) showed that a zeolite filter significantly improved the water quality from the initial concentrations of each pollutant by between 10 and 50 mg/l. In particular, more than 93% of both contaminants (nitrate and ammonium) were removed by using a 5 g/L dose of zeolite in a neutral pH level range for 120 minutes.

One of the most important elements in the development of compressive strength is concrete curing, and a large temperature differential during curing may decrease strength. This exudation is caused by microcracks in the concrete caused by the continuous temperature fluctuation. By minimizing autogenous shrinkage, internal curing has become popular for reducing the danger of early-age cracking in high-performance concrete (HPC). The efficacy of internal wet curing provided by fine Attapulgite aggregate is investigated in this research. On three different HPCs, both with and without internal curing materials, the development of observed mechanical properties is investigated. Two different amounts of normal weight fine aggregate were replaced with attapulgite fine aggregates. Internal cure has been found to benefit from attapulgite fine aggregates. It has been found that adding 20% Attapulgite fine aggregates to HPC enhances the material’s characteristics, resulting in low internal stress and a significant increase in compressive strength. It should be noted that, unlike certain conventional lightweight aggregates, the different amounts of Attapulgite fine aggregates added at various ages have shown no decrease in compressive strength.

The amount of concrete utilized worldwide has lately grown due to rising populations and urbanization. The gas emissions during cement manufacturing and the usage of common resources result in a significant environmental threat. As a result, researchers are attempting to minimize the amount of cement consumed by using waste materials while lowering building costs. This research aims to minimize the amount of cement used in concrete by partially replacing it with ceramic powder waste while also increasing the mechanical qualities of concrete mortar by substituting cement with nanoclay hydrophilic bentonite. Mortar samples were prepared using five different replacement percentages of cement by nanoclay, including 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8%, and two replacement percentages of cement by ceramic powder, including 0% and 20%. Compressive and flexural strength tests were performed on mortar samples for 7, 14, and 28 days of moist curing. The toughness was also measured for all mixes by measuring the area under the load-deflection curve. Also, water absorption and relative densities for all mortar mixes were measured. The results show that replacing cement with 2% nanoclay and 20% ceramic powder increases the flexural strength by 11%. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-07-08 Full Text: PDF

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Water is a vital element to the survival of humans and other life forms. Yet, this source is being contaminated due to pollution leading to significantly limited freshwater, which threatens humans’ existence. Nitrates and ammonium are water contaminants and their concentration has vividly increased owing to their applications as farm nourishments. High concentrations of such contaminants in water can lead to health issues. Thus, controlling the concentration levels of these pollutants in water grows into the main task for environmentalist. Thus, a natural zeolite filter was employed in this study to minimize the traces of contaminants from water. Samples of synthetic water have been prepared and used in the laboratory tests that contain 50 mg/l of each contaminant. Using natural zeolite dose ranged from 1-5 g/l at various pH level (between 3-10) showed that the zeolite filter significantly improved the water quality for initial concentrations of each pollutant ranged from 10 to 50 mg/l. The outcomes showed that more than 93 % of both contaminates (nitrate and ammonium) were separated after using 5 g/l dose of zeolite in neutral pH level range for 120 minutes.