Age and contributing factors to unlicensed teen motorcycling

This study aims to examine the initial age when teenagers engage in unlicensed motorcycling in Taiwan and the factors contributing to their unlicensed behavior. Data were collected from the retrospective experience of a cohort of senior high school students and a Cox regression model was applied. The results indicated that an estimated 63.4% of the students had experienced riding before the legal age of 18 years. Contributing factors such as whether the students were in a vocational senior high school, male, and in households with higher motorcycle ownership rates led to an earlier riding age; in contrast, a higher degree of parental monitoring, fewer motorcycles in the household, living in Greater Taipei, and an increase in the bus density in the district delayed the ages of beginning motorcycling. The higher minimum licensing age of 18 in Taiwan has caused a debate about its effectiveness because of the high prevalence of unlicensed teenage riding. Measures such as parental monitoring, power- or speed-limited mopeds, training programs, and no duo-passengers should be carefully examined if a policy is to be made on lowering the age limit of motorcycling.     

Cell phone recycling experiences in the United States and potential recycling options in Brazil

This paper presents an overview of cell phone recycling programs currently available in the United States. At the same time, it also provides analyses of the current recycling situation and possible recycling alternatives for Brazil. Although there are several recycling options in the United States, collection rates are still only 10% of all potential devices because customers are not aware of these possibilities. The whole system is financially based on reselling refurbished cell phones and recycled materials to developing countries which represent an effective and strong market. Several recyclers offer funds to collection partners who are either charities or who work with charities while obtaining the materials that they need in order to run their operations. A mobile phone recycling system for Brazil considering the United States experience and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle is suggested. A deposit/refund/advance-recycling fee is proposed which might be implemented as a voluntary industrial initiative managed by PRO Brazil, a producer responsibility organization. One widespread public–private agreement will integrate all mobile phone stakeholders, and environmental education actions and promotional events will promote citizen’s participation.     

西洋河流域污染的特征研究

随着卢龙县工业及畜牧业的发展及人口的增加，西洋河水域污染日益严重，水质功能已达到Ⅳ类，生态环境遭到严重的破坏。西洋河流域地表污染源主要有工业企业废水、畜禽养殖污水、甘薯淀粉加工废水和农业生产废水等。本文分析了西洋河流域地表水质污染的现状，在严格排查污染源的基础上对其水质特征进行了科学分析。     

Multi-criteria analysis via the VIKOR method for prioritizing land-use restraint strategies in the Tseng-Wen reservoir watershed

It is important to adopt proper water and soil conservation and land-use planning in a watershed for lowering adverse impacts on reservoir water quality. Although reservoir watersheds occupy a large amount of land in Taiwan, high population density has exerted development pressures on such land. Therefore, the priority ranking of land-use restrictions for the subdivisions with different degrees of environmental vulnerability is necessary in watershed management. Since there are several criteria for evaluating the potential environmental impact from the subdivisions, multi-criteria analysis was applied as a technique for solving these problems in this study. The VIKOR method was applied to determine the best feasible solution according to the selected criteria, including geographical and meteorological factors. The objective of this study was to establish the priority ranking of land-use restrictions in the Tseng-Wen reservoir wastershed in southern Taiwan. The results show that subdivisions close to the outlet or reservoir area should have the priority of land-use restrictions.     

Uptake of metals by food plants grown on soils 10 years after biosolids application

Potentially hazardous trace elements such as Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni and Zn are expected to accumulate in biosolids–amended soil and remain in the soil for a long period of time. In this research, uptake of metals by food plants including cabbage, carrot, lettuce and tomato grown on soils 10 years after biosolids application was studied. All the five metals were significantly accumulated in the biosolids-amended soils. The accumulation of metal in soil did not result in significant increase in concentrations of Cu, Cr and Ni in the edible plant tissues. However, the Cd and Zn concentrations of the edible tissues of plants harvested from the biosolids receiving soils were significantly enhanced in comparison with those of the unaffected soils. The plant uptake under Greenfield sandy loam soil was generally higher than those under the Domino clayey loam soil. The metal concentration of edible plant tissue exhibited increasing trends with respect to the concentrations of the ambulated metals. The extents of the increases were plant species dependent. The indigenous soil metals were absorbed by the plants in much higher rates than those of the biosolids–receiving soils. It appeared that the plant uptake of the indigenous soil-borne metal and the added biosolids-borne metals are independent of one another and mathematically are additive.     

Microwave Process for Volatile Organic Compound Abatement

ABSTRACT

The CHA Corporation has completed the U.S. Air Force Phase II Small Business Innovation Research program to investigate the feasibility of using a novel microwave-based process for the removal and destruction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in effluents from noncombustion sources, such as paint booth ventilation streams. Removal of solvents by adsorption, followed by the regeneration of saturated granular activated carbon (GAC) by microwave energy, was achieved in a single fixed-bed reactor. Microwave regeneration of the fixed-bed-saturated carbon restored the original GAC adsorption capacity. After 20 adsorption/regeneration cycles, the adsorption capacity dropped from 13.5 g methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)/100 g GAC to 12.5 g MEK/100 g GAC. During microwave regeneration of the GAC fixed bed, the concentrated desorbed paint solvent was oxidized by passing the solvent mixture through a fixed bed of an oxidation catalyst mixed with silicon carbide in a microwave reactor. A 98% oxidation efficiency was consistently achieved from the oxidation of VOCs in the microwave catalytic reactor.     

The Potential of Pulse-Jet Baghouses for Utility Boilers. Part 2: Performance of Pulse-Jet Fabric Filter Pilot Plants

Pulse-jet fabric filters (PJFFs) are widely used in U.S. industrial boiler applications and in utility and industrial boilers abroad. Their small size and reduced cost relative to more conventional reverse-gas baghouses makes the use of PJFFs appear to be an attractive particulate control option for utility boilers. This paper (Part 2 of a three-part series) summarizes the results of pilot PJFF studies sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute at different utility sites in the United States. The purpose of these tests is to evaluate PJFF performance for U.S. fossil-fuel-fired applications. These data are also used to corroborate the results of a recent worldwide survey of PJFF user experience, as described in Part 1 of this series. Part 3 will provide a cost comparison of PJFFs to other particulate control options such as electrostatic precipitators and reverse-gas baghouses.     

西北干旱地区农宅雨水转化为可饮水技术

雨水集流工程对于解决干旱地区人民生活用水问题起着重要作用,甘肃省兰州市榆中县北山地区处于严重缺水的地区,人畜的饮用水为雨水、雪水直接沉淀后的水窖水。经过对北山饮用水进行水质检测,发现水中浊度、锰含量、微生物数量均超过《生活饮用水卫生标准》(GB5749-2006)的规定值。通过对传统滤池进行改造并结合阳光消毒研制出了一种新型水处理器——阳光消毒-生物砂滤池(SBF)家庭水处理设备,通过生物砂滤池中微生物对雨水中污染物的氧化分解及河砂的过滤使水浊度及锰得到有效地去除,日光高温灭活和光氧化降解综合作用杀灭水中致病微生物。用SBF家庭水处理设备对雨水进行处理,水中浊度、锰含量、微生物数量均达到标准的规定值。     

Effects of leachate accumulation on landfill stability in humid regions of China

Leachate levels are important to landfill stability and safety. High leachate or water levels often lead to landfill instability, which can cause accidents. Here a case study of a landfill located in a humid region of southern China is presented. Leachate distribution and quality were systematically analyzed, and the effect of leachate level on waste-mass stability was assessed. Boreholes were drilled in the field, samples were analyzed in the laboratory, and a simulation was performed. In addition, the safety and stability of the landfill was evaluated. The leachate level in the landfill was 9–19 m, which was higher than the top of the dam crest (8–20 m). Leachate accounted for more than 1/4 of the total landfill storage capacity. The contaminant concentration of the leachate samples collected directly from the waste body was very high, with large variation among the samples. The mean concentrations of NH₃–N, BOD, and COD from the waste body were 5404, 14,136, and 22,691 mg/L, nearly 2.7, 2.4, and 1.8 times the mean concentrations in the leachate pond, respectively. Three series of shear strength parameters were used in a slope stability analysis, and a limit equilibrium method was used to calculate the factor of safety (Fs). The analysis showed that Fs could be affected by potential anisotropy in the shear strength of the waste. The minimum values of Fs corresponding to series I were 1.84 and 1.17 for units ? and II, respectively. The Fs value of unit II was significantly lower than the safe design value (1.25). In addition, Fs decreased with increase in the normalized height of the leachate level, h/H, where h is the height of the leachate mound and H is the maximum thickness of the landfill. If the h/H values of units I and II are kept below 50% and 40%, respectively, a safe design value of 1.25 for Fs can be guaranteed. Therefore, some measures to prevent risk should be considered.     

Textural and chemical properties of swine-manure-derived biochar pertinent to its potential use as a soil amendment

Biochars have received increasing attention in recent years because of their properties pertaining to soil fertility and contaminant immobilization as well as serving as carbon sinks. In this work, a series of biochars were produced from dried swine manure waste by slow pyrolysis at different temperatures (i.e., 673-1073 K). The characterization of the resulting biochars was examined for its relevance to its potential use as soil amendment. It was found that the pore properties, ash contents and pH values of all swine-manure-derived biochars basically increased as temperature increased, while the yield and nitrogen/oxygen contents decreased with increasing temperature as a result of pyrolytic volatilization during pyrolysis. From the organic and inorganic elements analyses, the manure-derived biochar was rich in soil nutrients such as N, P, Ca, Mg, and K. Furthermore, the pore, surface and chemical properties were also consistent with the observations of the SEM-EDS, XRD and FTIR. This result suggested that the mesoporous manure-derived biochar could be used as an excellent medium to soil environment.