Use of co-combustion bottom ash to design an acoustic absorbing material for highway noise barriers

The present study aims to determine and evaluate the applicability of a new product consisting of coal bottom ash mixed with Portland cement in the application of highway noise barriers. In order to effectively recycle the bottom ash, the influence of the grain particle size of bottom ash, the thickness of the panel and the combination of different layers with various particle sizes have been studied, as well as some environmental properties including leachability (EN-12457-4, NEN-7345) and radioactivity tests. Based on the obtained results, the acoustic properties of the final composite material were similar or even better than those found in porous concrete used for the same application. According to this study, the material produced presented no environmental risk.     

Energy recovery from waste incineration: Assessing the importance of district heating networks

Municipal solid waste incineration contributes with 20% of the heat supplied to the more than 400 district heating networks in Denmark. In evaluation of the environmental consequences of this heat production, the typical approach has been to assume that other (fossil) fuels could be saved on a 1:1 basis (e.g. 1 GJ of waste heat delivered substitutes for 1 GJ of coal-based heat). This paper investigates consequences of waste-based heat substitution in two specific Danish district heating networks and the energy-associated interactions between the plants connected to these networks. Despite almost equal electricity and heat efficiencies at the waste incinerators connected to the two district heating networks, the energy and CO₂ accounts showed significantly different results: waste incineration in one network caused a CO₂ saving of 48 kg CO₂/GJ energy input while in the other network a load of 43 kg CO₂/GJ. This was caused mainly by differences in operation mode and fuel types of the other heat producing plants attached to the networks. The paper clearly indicates that simple evaluations of waste-to-energy efficiencies at the incinerator are insufficient for assessing the consequences of heat substitution in district heating network systems. The paper also shows that using national averages for heat substitution will not provide a correct answer: local conditions need to be addressed thoroughly otherwise we may fail to assess correctly the heat recovery from waste incineration.     

Rainfall trends in twentieth century over Kerala,India

Attempts were made to study temporal variation in monthly, seasonal and annual rainfall over Kerala, India, during the period from 1871 to 2005. Longterm changes in rainfall determined by Man-Kendall rank statistics and linear trend. The analysis revealed significant decrease in southwest monsoon rainfall while increase in post-monsoon season over the State of Kerala which is popularly known as the “Gateway of summer monsoon”. Rainfall during winter and summer seasons showed insignificant increasing trend. Rainfall during June and July showed significant decreasing trend while increasing trend in January, February and April. Hydel power generation and water availability during summer months are the concern in the State due to rainfall decline in June and July, which are the rainiest months. At the same time, majority of plantation crops are likely to benefit due to increase in rainfall during the post-monsoon season if they are stable and prolonged.     

Inexact fuzzy-stochastic constraint-softened programming – A case study for waste management

In this study, an inexact fuzzy-stochastic constraint-softened programming method is developed for municipal solid waste (MSW) management under uncertainty. The developed method can deal with multiple uncertainties presented in terms of fuzzy sets, interval values and random variables. Moreover, a number of violation levels for the system constraints are allowed. This is realized through introduction of violation variables to soften system constraints, such that the model’s decision space can be expanded under demanding conditions. This can help generate a range of decision alternatives under various conditions, allowing in-depth analyses of tradeoffs among economic objective, satisfaction degree, and constraint-violation risk. The developed method is applied to a case study of planning a MSW management system. The uncertain and dynamic information can be incorporated within a multi-layer scenario tree; revised decisions are permitted in each time period based on the realized values of uncertain events. Solutions associated with different satisfaction degree levels have been generated, corresponding to different constraint-violation risks. They are useful for supporting decisions of waste flow allocation and system-capacity expansion within a multistage context.     

Optimization of hydrogen distribution systems with pressure constraints

Hydrogenation units are often operated at high pressure, requiring the use of compressors which are one of the most expensive chemical processing equipment. Optimizing a hydrogen network should therefore take into consideration not only purity and flowrate constraints but also pressure requirements. In this paper, based on the hydrogen surplus diagram approach, the average pressure profiles of hydrogen sources and sinks are proposed through the introduction of a system’s minimum pressure drop Δp. Combined with the traditional purity profiles, whether a source can meet a sink either for hydrogen concentration or for pressure requirements can be determined intuitively. In cases where the pressure of a source is not sufficient for a sink, installing a hydrogen compressor or using another source with higher purity and pressure could be potential solutions. A cost equation is established to determine which of the two solutions is economically more viable. For different matching situations between sources and sinks, strategies for optimum placement of compression equipment within a given hydrogen network are proposed. A case study is used to illustrate the application and effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Integration of long-term fish kill data with ambient water quality monitoring data and application to water quality management

Almost half (354) of all fish kills (805) in South Carolina, USA, between 1978 and 1988 occurred in the coastal zone. These kills were analyzed for causative, spatial, and temporal associations as a distinct data set and as one integrated with ambient water quality monitoring data. Estuarine kills as a result of natural causes accounted for 42.8% followed by man-induced (35.1%) and undetermined causes (22.1%). Although general pesticide usage was responsible for 53.9% of man-induced kills, weed control activities around resorts and municipal areas accounted for slightly more kills (20.9%) than did agricultural (19.8%) or vector control (13.2%) uses. A dramatic decline in agricultural-related kills has been observed since 1986 as the integrated pest management approach was adopted by many farmers. When taken with the few kills (12.0%) resulting from wastewaters, this suggests that these two land-use activities have been successfully managed via existing programs (IPM and NPDES, respectively) to minimize their contributions to estuarine fish kills. Ambient trend monitoring data demonstrated no coastal-wide dispersion of pesticide pollution. These data confirmed the nature of fish kills to be site-specific, near-field events most closely associated with the contiguous land-use practices and intensities. Typically, fish kill data are considered as event-specific data limited to the bounds of that event only. Our analysis has shown, however, that a long-term data set, when integrated with ambient water quality data, can assist in regulatory and resource management decisions for both short- and long-term planning and protection applications.     

Assessing ecological risk on a regional scale

Society needs a quantitative and systematic way to estimate and compare the impacts of environmental problems that affect large geographic areas. This paper presents an approach for regional risk assessment that combines regional assessment methods and landscape ecology theory with an existing framework for ecological risk assessment. Risk assessment evaluates the effects of an environmental change on a valued natural resource and interprets the significance of those effects in light of the uncertainties identified in each component of the assessment process. Unique and important issues for regional risk assessment are emphasized; these include the definition of the disturbance scenario, the assessment boundary definition, and the spatial heterogeneity of the landscape. Although the research described in this article has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through Interagency Agreement Number DW89932112-01-2 to the U.S. Department of Energy, it has not been subjected to EPA review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of EPA and no official endorsement should be inferred.     

ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF RIVER RECREATION ON LOCAL ECONOMIES1

ABSTRACT: Outdoor recreation is a major, growing use of water resources in the United States. The economic effects of expenditures by visitors to three recreational river sites on local economies surrounding the sites were estimated using an input-output model (IMPL.AN). Expenditure data were from the Public Area Recreation Visitors Study (PARVS). Results indicate that visitor spending stimulates a considerable amount of economic activity and growth in local economies. Economic effects include increases in total gross output ranging from $2.6 million to $13.4 million, increases in total income ranging from $1.2 million to $5.6 million, and increases in employment ranging from 60 to 292 jobs.     

DECISION-MAKING PROCESS ON THE DANUBE AND THE PLATTE1

ABSTRACT: Two case studies highlighting the institutional arrangements and decision-making processes used to attempt to allocate water on large scale river systems in two countries are presented. In both cases the implementation of river plans has been blocked by conflicts between those who wish to use water for irrigation, hydropower, or municipal purposes and those who wish to maintain instream flows for fish and wildlife. To date conflict has blocked the implementation of a large hydropower scheme on the Danube River, downstream from Vienna, Austria, and the construction of municipal and agricultural projects, as well as the relicensing of an existing hydropower facility on the Platte River in Nebraska. Analysis of the decision-making processes and institutional settings of both cases led to the identification of problem areas and development of recommendations that would support the achievement of compromise solutions for management.