An investigation on the fuel savings potential of hybrid hydraulic refuse collection vehicles

Refuse trucks play an important role in the waste collection process. Due to their typical driving cycle, these vehicles are characterized by large fuel consumption, which strongly affects the overall waste disposal costs. Hybrid hydraulic refuse vehicles offer an interesting alternative to conventional diesel trucks, because they are able to recuperate, store and reuse braking energy. However, the expected fuel savings can vary strongly depending on the driving cycle and the operational mode. Therefore, in order to assess the possible fuel savings, a typical driving cycle was measured in a conventional vehicle run by the waste authority of the City of Stuttgart, and a dynamical model of the considered vehicle was built up. Based on the measured driving cycle and the vehicle model including the hybrid powertrain components, simulations for both the conventional and the hybrid vehicle were performed. Fuel consumption results that indicate savings of about 20% are presented and analyzed in order to evaluate the benefit of hybrid hydraulic vehicles used for refuse collection.     

Vivianite precipitation and phosphate sorption following iron reduction in anoxic soils

Phosphorus retention in lowland soils depends on redox conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the Fe(III) reduction degree affects phosphate adsorption and precipitation. Two similarly P-saturated, ferric Fe-rich lowland soils, a sandy and a peat soil, were incubated under anaerobic conditions. M?ssbauer spectroscopy demonstrated that Fe(III) in the sandy soil was present as goethite and phyllosilicates, whereas Fe(III) in the peat soil was mainly present as polynuclear, Fe-humic complexes. Following anoxic incubation, extensive formation of Fe(II) in the solids occurred. After 100 d, the Fe(II) production reached its maximum and 34% of the citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite extractable Fe (Fe(CBD)) was reduced to Fe(II) in the sandy soil. The peat soil showed a much faster reduction of Fe(III) and the maximum reduction of 89% of Fe(CBD) was reached after 200 d. Neoformation of a metavivianite/vivianite phase under anoxic conditions was identified by X-ray diffraction in the peat. The sandy soil exhibited small changes in the point of zero net sorption (EPC?) and P(i) desorption with increasing Fe(III) reduction, whereas in the peat soil P desorption increased from 80 to 3100 μmol kg?1 and EPC? increased from 1.7 to 83 μM, after 322 d of anoxic incubation. The fast Fe(III) reduction made the peat soils particularly vulnerable to changes in redox conditions. However, the precipitation of vivianite/metavivianite minerals may control soluble P(i) concentrations to between 2 and 3 μM in the long term if the soil is not disturbed.     

A geophysical perspective of value of information: examples of spatial decisions for groundwater sustainability

The value of information (VOI) can be used to determine what kind of spatial information maybe relevant and useful for groundwater sustainability decisions. In this paper, the unique challenges for applying VoI to spatial information from geophysical data are described. The uncertainty regarding the spatial structure or continuity of the subsurface properties can be described with geostatistical sample models. Using these models, one can quantify the prior value given our present state of uncertainty and a set of decision alternatives and outcomes. Because geophysical techniques are a type of remote-sensing data, assuming “perfect” information is not realistic since the techniques usually are indirectly sampling the aquifer properties. Therefore, the focus of this paper is describing how the data reliability (the measure of imperfectness) can be quantified. One of the foremost considerations is the non-unique relationship between geological parameters (which determine groundwater flow) and geophysical observables (what determines the response of the technique). Another is to have the information in a form such that it is useful for spatial decisions. This will often require inversion and interpretation of the geophysical data. Inversion reconstructs an image of the subsurface from the raw geophysical data. How closely the image reproduces the true subsurface structure or property of interest depends on the particular technique’s resolution, depth of investigation and sensor locations. Lastly, in some cases, interpretation of the geophysical data or inversion will be necessary to link the data to the variables that determine the outcome of the decision. Three examples are provided that illustrate different approaches and methods for addressing these challenges. In the examples, time-domain electromagnetic and electrical resistivity techniques are evaluated for their ability to assist in spatial decisions for aquifer management. The examples considered address these three situations: aquifer vulnerability to surface–borne contaminants, managed aquifer recharge and CO₂/brine leakage (related to CO₂ geologic sequestration activities). The methods presented here are transferable to other subsurface sciences and decisions that involve risk. Recent work has been applied to geothermal well-siting using electromagnetic techniques. These approaches can also be applied for oil and mining spatial decisions, and they offer advantages over previous VOI work done for oil applications: they explicitly include the geologic uncertainty modeling and simulate the physics of the considered geophysical technique.     

The effects of corona electrode geometry on the operational characteristics of an ESP

Experiments were run in a pilot scale electrostatic precipitator (ESP) to determine the effects of corona wire-to-wire spacing on the operating conditions. Tests were run, using a reentrained low sulfur fly ash at both hot- and cold-side conditions. The effects of varying wire-to-wire spacing were determined. Results are given which show that varying wire spacing at cold-side conditions has little operational effect on the ESP while improved efficiency can be obtained at hot-side (low resistivity) conditions by reducing wire spacing. The increased efficiency results from a higher average operating voltage. The effects of back ionization are clearly demonstrated by a set of experiments in which dust was selectively removed from the wires or plate. These tests show that the lower operating voltage caused by back ionization is a combined effect of high resistivity dust on both the wires and plate.     

Growth and nutritive quality of Poa pratensis as influenced by ozone and competition

Interspecific plant competition has been hypothesized to alter effects of early-season ozone (O3) stress. A phytometer-based approach was utilized to investigate O3 effects on growth and nutritive quality of Poa pratensis grown in monoculture and in mixed cultures with four competitor-plant species (Anthoxanthum odoratum, Achillea millefolium, Rumex acetosa and Veronica chamaedrys). Mesocosms were exposed during April/May 2000-2002 to charcoal-filtered air+25 ppb O3 (control) or non-filtered air+50 ppb O3 (elevated O3). Biomass production was not affected by O3, but foliar injury symptoms were observed in May 2002. Early-season O3 exposure decreased relative food value of P. pratensis by an average of 8%, which is sufficient to have nutritional implications for its utilization by herbivores. However, forage quality response to O3 was not changed by interspecific competition. Lack of injury and nutritive quality response in P. pratensis harvested in September may reflect recovery from early-season O3 exposure.     

Fungi of the Bay of Fundy

During the spring and summer of 1979, 48 species of geofungi and several sterile, unidentified fungi were isolated from two off-shore stations on the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Isolations were made from subsurface water and surface slicks on 6 agar media including one containing hexadecane, and from subsurface water baited with hemp seeds. Numbers of fungi were 10 to 100 times higher than those reported for other offshore stations and similar to those reported for a saltmarsh outflow. Species isolated during a high freshwater flow largely corresponded to a typical soil flora. Species isolated during a reduced freshwater flow were either marine in character or noted for association with area littoral seaweeds. Three fungi (Cladosporium cladosporioides, Trichoderma viride, and Gliocladium rosium) were tested for growth on media of increasing salinity. Growth was measured by dry weight production, pH drop and glucose used in liquid culture. C. cladosporioides showed responses typical of a marine fungus, T. viride of a terrestrial fungus and G. roseum was intermediate. The results are discussed in relation to the role of geofungi in the sea.