Faculty Publications
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Item An approach to quantify the contamination potential of hazardous waste landfill leachate using the leachate pollution index(Institute for Ionics, 2024) Ambujan, A.; Thalla, A.K.A significant portion of the hazardous wastes generated by rapid industrialisation and urbanisation end up in landfills. The wastes disposed of in hazardous waste landfills are less biodegradable; thus, the leachate generated due to the physical and chemical changes in the landfill renders high toxicity. If not monitored and handled appropriately, this leachate could lead to contamination affecting human and livestock health and adversely affect the soil and agriculture in the vicinity of the landfill site. A tool to quantify the contamination caused by improper handling of hazardous waste landfill leachate is essential to understand which landfill site would need immediate attention. In the present study, the leachate pollution index is developed based on the predominantly available pollutants in hazardous waste landfill leachate and their toxicity limits. Fuzzy Delphi-Analytic Hierarchy Process has been used to develop the index. These techniques have been used for screening and assigning weights to the pollutants. Further, sub-index curves have been developed considering the available concentration, the toxicity, and the standard concentration limits for each pollutant. The weighted linear sum function has been used to aggregate the weights and sub-index scores. The hazardous waste landfill leachate pollution index developed in this study can serve as a potential tool for quantifying the leachate contamination potential. Furthermore, it can be used as a comparison tool for ranking landfill sites based on the contamination potential. © 2023, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Iranian Society of Environmentalists (IRSEN) and Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University.Item Investigation of Ti contamination and transport mechanisms in ferruginous soils: Impacts of ilmenite and rutile processing and immobilization using clay amendments(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Bincy, B.; Devatha, C.P.; Thalla, A.K.Titanium (Ti) contamination from coastal mining activities poses significant threats to groundwater and soil quality, especially in regions with ferruginous soils (FS). This study investigates Ti transport and immobilization in FS, assessing its natural retention capacity and the enhancement achieved using bentonite, zeolite, and kaolinite amendments. Environmental assessment identified industrial discharge as the primary source, with elevated Ti in soil (271.67 ppm), surface water (0.56 ppm), and groundwater (0.45 ppm), forcing 86 % of households to rely on alternative sources. The 3D flow model demonstrated that FS reduces Ti mobility; however, rising inlet to outlet head differences (6-12 cm) led to increased flow rates (0.1–0.7 cm3/min), resulting in elevated Ti concentrations in wells 2 and 3(8.55 ppm and 7.23 ppm). Ti peaks observed in the wells were the result of desorption following initial adsorption, reflecting the breakthrough pattern. Batch adsorption tests (0–1000 ppm Ti, 25–27 °C, 1:20 ratio, pH-3.9-5.5) revealed chemisorption dominance at low concentrations (Kd = 28.5 L/kg, KL = 33.39 L/kg) and multilayer physisorption at higher loads (qm = 11.09 mg/g, Kf = 88.11 L/kg), modelled using Linear, Langmuir, and Freundlich isotherms. XRD and SEM-EDS confirmed Ti incorporation into stable mineral phases (Al8Ti32Cl48, Fe4Ti2Cl7, Ti3O5) with increased retention (4.1–7.8 %). Among amendments, bentonite-enhanced FS showed the highest Ti retention (97.5 %, Kf = 478.5 L/kg) at 10–20 % dosage. This integrated experimental framework is transferable to other heavy metal-affected coastal aquifers, where it supports predictive contaminant transport and groundwater protection strategies aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. © 2025