Improvement of Air Quality in a Small Indoor Ice Arena by Effective Emission Control in Ice Resurfacers

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of a new emission control system in the ice resurfacer was tested in an exhaust gas emission laboratory, and the improvement of the air quality in a small, enclosed ice arena was demonstrated in a 4.5-month follow-up study. The emission control system consisted of a lambda sensor-controlled fuel supply and a three-way metallic catalyst that were applied to a propane-fueled resurfacer. In the laboratory tests, the engine emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NO ) reduced simultaneously by 91, 90, and 96%, respectively. During the air quality follow-up the median 1-hour average nitrogen dioxide (N0₂) concentration inside the ice arena decreased from 430 ug/m³ (230ppb) to 58 ug/m³ (31 ppb), and that of CO decreased from 4.4 mg/m³ (3.8 ppm) to 1.5 mg/m³ (1.3 ppm). The new emission control system proved to be a feasible, reliable, and effective means to improve the indoor air quality in the ice arena. However, continuous mechanical ventilation was necessary during all business hours in order to achieve and maintain a fully acceptable air quality with this technology.     

“My Husband Usually Makes Those Decisions”: Gender,Behavior, and Attitudes Toward the Marine Environment

Human behavior impacts the environment we live in. In order to better understand how one group, boat owners, in three Nordic countries adjacent to the Baltic Sea; Sweden, Finland and Denmark, viewed the relationship between the marine environment, leisure boats and issues of responsibility, a survey study was conducted (n = 1701). The results show that there are differences between gender in many areas and those women in general are more environmentally friendly than men in their views and behavior. Men and women seek information about boating by different channels and this knowledge may be used in future information campaigns. Both men and women ranked boat owners as having the lowest impact on the marine environment and perceived these to be responsible for addressing environmental issues caused by leisure boat activities. The results also show that it is important to prove the effectiveness of an environmentally safe product since this factor is ranked higher than price when considering buying a product. The results suggest that once environmentally friendly behavior is established, such as recycling, this behavior continues. One implication of this study is that small changes in human behavior are seen as acceptable but larger commitments are more difficult to achieve. If individuals do not feel responsible for causing environmental damage, this aspect needs to be addressed in information aimed at this group. Novel approaches on framing the information and new ways of disseminating information are needed.     

Evaluation of VOC Emission Measurement Methods for Paint Spray Booths

Abstract

Interest in regulations to control solvent emissions from automotive painting systems is increasing, especially in ozone nonattainment areas. Therefore, an accurate measurement method for VOC emissions from paint spray booths used in the automotive industry is needed to ascertain the efficiency of the spray booth capture and the total emissions. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study evaluating potential VOC sampling and analytical methods used in estimating paint spray booth emissions, and discusses these results relative to other published data. Eight test methods were selected for evaluation. The accuracy of each sampling and analytical method was determined using test atmospheres of known concentration and composition that closely matched the actual exhaust air from paint spray booths. The solvent mixture to generate the test atmospheres contained a large proportion of polar, oxygenated hydrocarbons such as ketones and alcohols. A series of identical tests was performed for each sampling/analytical method with each test atmosphere to assess the precision of the methods. The study identified significant differences among the test methods in terms of accuracy, precision, cost, and complexity.     

Environmental evaluation of reuse of by-products as road construction materials in Sweden

Reuse of by-products in road construction is most often environmentally evaluated from the narrow perspective of the material itself, i.e. the material level. In this article, we argue that the current mainstream environmental evaluation of reuse of by-products in road construction should use wider system boundaries. In order to illustrate the importance of system boundaries to the final result, three additional levels that complement the material level, are applied to the environmental evaluation of reuse of by-products. In total these four levels of evaluation are, firstly, the material itself, mainly studied by leaching tests, secondly, the road environment studied by substance flow analysis, furthermore, a narrow life-cycle perspective and, finally, the industrial system level that addresses the reuse of by-products in a broader sense. Methods and tools applied to different levels emphasise different environmental aspects and consequently they are appropriate for addressing different questions. However, especially for the evaluation of environmental aspects on the industrial system level, there is a need to develop the methods. To apply these four levels to the evaluation would broaden the knowledge about the environmental impacts of the reuse of by-products. We argue that current leaching tests have to be complemented by the broader system boundaries used in substance flow studies and in life-cycle assessments in order to discuss the use of resources and environmental impacts from a wider perspective.     

Screening of environmental pressure from products in the Swedish railway infrastructure: Implications for strategic environmental management

This paper proposes a method to be used in environmental reviews as an initial tool for estimating upstream environmental pressures from material use in organisations dealing mostly with construction materials. Upstream environmental pressures are often omitted in environmental reviews from organisations and instead tend to be site specific, with a limited life-cycle perspective. This paper uses the Swedish National Rail Authority as a case to present the approach. An energy indicator is used to estimate the environmental pressure of material use.In the studied building project, a small set of products contribute to a major part of the material use and the material-related energy use. The energy use is almost exclusively of nonrenewable energy carriers. The three most important products are all homogenous and non-complex, which makes the energy indicator well suited for the analysis. The organisation can use the results to focus on the most important products and also to see which parts of the organisation contribute to the material-related energy use. Rail traffic in Sweden is almost exclusively from non-fossil-based energy carriers. This highlights the importance of the infrastructure to the overall environmental pressure of the railway. Consequently, if road transport were to shift away from fossil fuels, railways earlier environmental advantages would diminish, since research suggests that railway infrastructure is more energy intensive than road infrastructure.     

Two new growth inhibition tests with the filamentous algae Ceramium strictum and C. tenuicorne (Rhodophyta)

Two growth inhibition tests using the red marine macroalgae Ceramium strictum and the brackish water relative C. tenuicorne have been developed. Besides using phenol as a reference substance, the toxicity of a metal, a flame retardant and a complex effluent water were assayed. The two methods are reliable and repeatable bioassays for salinities between 4 and 30 per thousandth. The coefficients of variation (CV) for toxicity of the reference substance phenol were 15% for the Stereo Microscope Analysis test and between 24 and 51% for the Computer Image Analysis test (n=5). Ceramium spp. are common and important primary producers in temperate coastal waters and are thus relevant as test organisms. Both algae grow well in laboratorial conditions and tests can be performed all year around.     

Evaluation of VOC emission measurement methods for paint spray booths

Interest in regulations to control solvent emissions from automotive painting systems is increasing, especially in ozone nonattainment areas. Therefore, an accurate measurement method for VOC emissions from paint spray booths used in the automotive industry is needed to ascertain the efficiency of the spray booth capture and the total emissions. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study evaluating potential VOC sampling and analytical methods used in estimating paint spray booth emissions, and discusses these results relative to other published data. Eight test methods were selected for evaluation. The accuracy of each sampling and analytical method was determined using test atmospheres of known concentration and composition that closely matched the actual exhaust air from paint spray booths. The solvent mixture to generate the test atmospheres contained a large proportion of polar, oxygenated hydrocarbons such as ketones and alcohols. A series of identical tests was performed for each sampling/analytical method with each test atmosphere to assess the precision of the methods. The study identified significant differences among the test methods in terms of accuracy, precision, cost, and complexity.     

Landfill mining: a critical review of two decades of research

Landfills have historically been seen as the ultimate solution for storing waste at minimum cost. It is now a well-known fact that such deposits have related implications such as long-term methane emissions, local pollution concerns, settling issues and limitations on urban development. Landfill mining has been suggested as a strategy to address such problems, and in principle means the excavation, processing, treatment and/or recycling of deposited materials. This study involves a literature review on landfill mining covering a meta-analysis of the main trends, objectives, topics and findings in 39 research papers published during the period 1988-2008. The results show that, so far, landfill mining has primarily been seen as a way to solve traditional management issues related to landfills such as lack of landfill space and local pollution concerns. Although most initiatives have involved some recovery of deposited resources, mainly cover soil and in some cases waste fuel, recycling efforts have often been largely secondary. Typically, simple soil excavation and screening equipment have therefore been applied, often demonstrating moderate performance in obtaining marketable recyclables. Several worldwide changes and recent research findings indicate the emergence of a new perspective on landfills as reservoirs for resource extraction. Although the potential of this approach appears significant, it is argued that facilitating implementation involves a number of research challenges in terms of technology innovation, clarifying the conditions for realization and developing standardized frameworks for evaluating economic and environmental performance from a systems perspective. In order to address these challenges, a combination of applied and theoretical research is required.     

Toxicity mitigation and solidification of municipal solid waste incinerator fly ash using alkaline activated coal ash

Municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration is a common and effective practice to reduce the volume of solid waste in urban areas. However, the byproduct of this process is a fly ash (IFA), which contains large quantities of toxic contaminants. The purpose of this research study was to analyze the chemical, physical and mechanical behaviors resulting from the gradual introduction of IFA to an alkaline activated coal fly ash (CFA) matrix, as a mean of stabilizing the incinerator ash for use in industrial construction applications, where human exposure potential is limited. IFA and CFA were analyzed via X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Inductive coupled plasma (ICP) to obtain a full chemical analysis of the samples, its crystallographic characteristics and a detailed count of the eight heavy metals contemplated in US Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR). The particle size distribution of IFA and CFA was also recorded. EPA's Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) was followed to monitor the leachability of the contaminants before and after the activation. Also images obtained via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), before and after the activation, are presented. Concrete made from IFA, CFA and IFA-CFA mixes was subjected to a full mechanical characterization; tests include compressive strength, flexural strength, elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio and setting time. The leachable heavy metal contents (except for Se) were below the maximum allowable limits and in many cases even below the reporting limit. The leachable Chromium was reduced from 0.153 down to 0.0045 mg/L, Arsenic from 0.256 down to 0.132 mg/L, Selenium from 1.05 down to 0.29 mg/L, Silver from 0.011 down to .001 mg/L, Barium from 2.06 down to 0.314 mg/L and Mercury from 0.007 down to 0.001 mg/L. Although the leachable Cd exhibited an increase from 0.49 up to 0.805 mg/L and Pd from 0.002 up to 0.029 mg/L, these were well below the maximum limits of 1.00 and 5.00 mg/L, respectively.     

A guide to qualitative attribution methods for evaluation in conservation

Knowledge of what conservation interventions improve biodiversity outcomes, and in which circumstances, is imperative. Experimental and quasi-experimental methods are increasingly used to establish causal inference and build the evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions, but their ability to provide insight into how and under what conditions an intervention should be implemented to improve biodiversity outcomes faces limitations. A suite of attribution methods that leverage qualitative methods for causal inference is available but underutilized in conversation impact evaluation. This article provides a guide to 5 such qualitative attribution methods: contribution analysis, process tracing, realist evaluation, qualitative comparative analysis, and most significant change. It defines and introduces each method and then illustrates how they could be applied through a case study of community conservancies in Namibia. This guide provides examples of how qualitative attribution methods can advance knowledge of what works, in which contexts, and why in biodiversity conservation.