Adaptive Management of Stream Channel Maintenance at Bridge Crossings in the Northern Tier Region,Pennsylvania1

Abstract: An adaptive management framework is applied to the problem of identifying mitigation measures for sediment deposition near bridge crossings in small streams in the Northern Tier region of northern Pennsylvania. The presence of the rigid bridge infrastructure introduces a challenge for applying adaptive management practices, because the integrity of the bridge structure itself has to be maintained regardless of the mitigation practices used in the stream channel near the bridge. In an effort to overcome the unacceptable risk that field‐scale adaptive management experiments present to rigid bridge infrastructure, an adaptive management approach for laboratory‐scale experimentation of mitigation methods at bridge crossings in the Northern Tier region is presented as a way to decrease the level of uncertainty about channel response to mitigation measures and increase the rate of learning about the effectiveness of these measures. Four cycles of adaptive management experiments are discussed to demonstrate that this approach results in fast and efficient learning about channel response to mitigation methods for the given conditions. The value of monitoring and of assessment of monitored data in the overall efficiency of the adaptive management approach is highlighted. Assessment of what was learned in the adaptive management experiment cycles presented here leads to new directions to continually improve management policies and practices in stream channels at bridge crossings in the Northern Tier region. The adaptive management process, rather than continuing with a normally risk‐averse management approach, results in opportunities for learning new information about a system’s response.     

Fast firing of tiles containing paper mill sludge, glass cullet and clay

The paper describes results obtained in the development of a previous research. We study here, in fast firing, the sintering behaviour and measure some properties of tiles containing a mixture of 60 wt% of paper mill sludge and 40 wt% of glass cullet. The behaviour of this material is compared to those displayed by materials obtained by the same mixture added with 10, 20 and 30 wt% of a natural red clay. In parallel, the same properties are measured also on a reference blend, which is presently used to produce commercial tiles. We show that powders containing 60 wt% of paper sludge and 40 wt% of glass cullet to which 30 wt% of clay is added give rise to materials that display a stable sintering process and have good hardness and strength and therefore could be used for the industrial production of tiles.     

Investigations on CO2 storage capacity in saline aquifers—Part 2: Estimation of storage capacity coefficients

Many studies on geological carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage capacity neglect the influence of complex coupled processes which occur during and after the injection of CO₂. Storage capacity is often overestimated since parts of the reservoirs cannot be reached by the CO₂ plume due to gravity segregation and are thus not accessible for storage. This work investigates the effect of reservoir parameters like depth, temperature, absolute and relative permeability, and capillary pressure on the processes during CO₂ injection and thus on estimates of effective storage capacity. The applied statistical characteristics of parameters are based on a large reservoir parameter database. Different measured relative permeability relations are considered. The methodology of estimating storage capacity is discussed. Using numerical 1D and 3D experiments, detailed time-dependent storage capacity estimates are derived. With respect to the concept developed in this work, it is possible to estimate effective CO₂ storage capacity in saline aquifers. It is shown that effective CO₂ mass stored in the reservoir varies by a factor of 20 for the reservoir setups considered. A high influence of the relative permeability relation on storage capacity is shown.     

Comparative environmental analysis of waste brominated plastic thermal treatments

The aim of this research activity is to investigate the environmental impact of different thermal treatments of waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE), applying a life cycle assessment methodology. Two scenarios were assessed, which both allow the recovery of bromine: (A) the co-combustion of WEEE and green waste in a municipal solid waste combustion plant, and (B) the staged-gasification of WEEE and combustion of produced syngas in gas turbines. Mass and energy balances on the two scenarios were set and the analysis of the life cycle inventory and the life cycle impact assessment were conducted. Two impact assessment methods (Ecoindicator 99 and Impact 2002+) were slightly modified and then used with both scenarios. The results showed that scenario B (staged-gasification) had a potentially smaller environmental impact than scenario A (co-combustion). In particular, the thermal treatment of staged-gasification was more energy efficient than co-combustion, and therefore scenario B performed better than scenario A, mainly in the impact categories of "fossil fuels" and "climate change". Moreover, the results showed that scenario B allows a higher recovery of bromine than scenario A; however, Br recovery leads to environmental benefits for both the scenarios. Finally the study demonstrates that WEEE thermal treatment for energy and matter recovery is an eco-efficient way to dispose of this kind of waste.     

The modelling of a hybrid combined cycle with pressurised fluidised bed combustion and CO2 capture

This study investigates the possibility of capturing CO₂ from flue gas under pressurised conditions, which could prove to be beneficial in comparison to working under atmospheric conditions. Simulations of two hybrid combined cycles with pressurised fluidised bed combustion and CO₂ capture are presented. CO₂ is captured from pressurised flue gas by means of chemical absorption after the boiler but before expansion. The results show a CO₂ capture penalty of approximately 8 percentage points (including 90% CO₂ capture rate and compression to 110 bar), which makes the efficiency for the best performing cycle 43.9%. It is 5.2 percentage points higher than the most probable alternative, i.e. using a natural gas fired combined cycle and a pulverised coal fired condensing plant separately with the same fuel split ratio. The largest part of the penalty is associated with the lower mass flow of flue gas after CO₂ capture, which leads to a decrease in work output in the expander and potential for feed water heating. The penalty caused by the regeneration of absorbent is quite low, since the high pressure permits the use of potassium carbonate, which requires less regeneration heat than for example the more commonly proposed monoethanolamine. Although the efficiencies of the cycles look promising it will be important to perform a cost estimate to be able to make a fair comparison with other systems. Such a cost estimate has not been done in this study. A significant drawback of these hybrid cycles in that respect is the complex nature of the systems that will have a negative effect on the economy.     

Anoxic-aerobic treatment of the liquid fraction of cattle manure

Cattle manure from a dairy farm was treated in order to reduce its pollution potential. The manure came from a farm with 120 cows kept in stables in a free stall barn. As pretreatment, the manure is usually filtered on the farm using a screw press separator with a 0.5 mm mesh. Approximately 70% of the total filtered volume passes through the screen, thus constituting the liquid fraction. This fraction, with a composition of around 64,500 mg COD/l, 5770 mg total-N/l and 800 mg total-P/l, was subjected to centrifugation followed by a two-step biological treatment (anoxic-aerobic) to reduce organic matter (COD), nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. Centrifugation led to the following removal efficiencies: 35% total solids, 60% COD, 75% total phosphorus and 20% total nitrogen (mainly organic nitrogen). With the subsequent anoxic-aerobic treatment, average removal efficiencies of 85% for COD, 90% for total phosphorus and 75% for total nitrogen were achieved.     

Aging and compressibility of municipal solid wastes

The expansion of a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill requires the ability to predict settlement behavior of the existing landfill. The practice of using a single compressibility value when performing a settlement analysis may lead to inaccurate predictions. This paper gives consideration to changes in the mechanical compressibility of MSW as a function of the fill age of MSW as well as the embedding depth of MSW. Borehole samples representative of various fill ages were obtained from five boreholes drilled to the bottom of the Qizhishan landfill in Suzhou, China. Thirty-one borehole samples were used to perform confined compression tests. Waste composition and volume-mass properties (i.e., unit weight, void ratio, and water content) were measured on all the samples. The test results showed that the compressible components of the MSW (i.e., organics, plastics, paper, wood and textiles) decreased with an increase in the fill age. The in situ void ratio of the MSW was shown to decrease with depth into the landfill. The compression index, Cc, was observed to decrease from 1.0 to 0.3 with depth into the landfill. Settlement analyses were performed on the existing landfill, demonstrating that the variation of MSW compressibility with fill age or depth should be taken into account in the settlement prediction.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in leachates from selected landfill sites in South Africa

The last few decades have seen dramatic growth in the scale of production and the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) as flame retardants. Consequently, PBDEs such as BDE -28, -47, -66, -71, -75, -77, -85, -99, -100, -119, -138, -153, -154, and -183 have been detected in various environmental matrices. Generally, in South Africa, once the products containing these chemicals have outlived their usefulness, they are discarded into landfill sites. Consequently, the levels of PBDEs in leachates from landfill sites may give an indication of the general exposure and use of these compounds. The present study was aimed at determining the occurrence and concentrations of most common PBDEs in leachates from selected landfill sites. The extraction capacities of the solvents were also tested. Spiked landfill leachate samples were used for the recovery tests. Separation and determination of the PBDE congeners were carried out with a gas chromatograph equipped with Ni63 electron capture detector. The mean percentage recoveries ranged from 63% to 108% (n=3) for landfill leachate samples with petroleum ether giving the highest percentage extraction. The mean concentrations of PBDEs obtained ranged from ND to 2670pgl(-1), ND to 6638pgl(-1), ND to 7230pgl(-1), 41 to 4009pgl(-1), 90 to 9793pgl(-1) for the Garankuwa, Hatherly, Kwaggarsrand, Soshanguve and Temba landfill sites, respectively. Also BDE -28, -47, -71 and BDE-77 were detected in the leachate samples from all the landfill sites; and all the congeners were detected in two of the oldest landfill sites. The peak concentrations were recorded for BDE-47 at three sites and BDE-71 and BDE-75 at two sites. The highest concentration, 9793+/-1.5pgl(-1), was obtained for the Temba landfill site with the highest BOD value. This may suggest some influence of organics on the level of PBDEs. Considering the leaching characteristics of brominated flame retardants, there is a high possibility that with time these compounds may infiltrate into the groundwater around the sites since most of the sites are not adequately lined.     

麦草化学制浆造纸的清洁生产工艺

提出了有机麦草加无机化肥的麦草化肥制浆造纸清洁生产工艺,以亚硫酸无机复盐替代钠碱蒸煮麦草制浆造纸,提取黑液中木质类、腐殖酸、无机氮磷等有效成分,将其制备成可固沙保土的新型环保肥料.解决了麦草化学制浆造纸黑液的污染问题,技术经济效益和环保效益俱佳.     

层次分析法在精细化工园区生态环境效益评价中的应用

介绍了杭州湾精细化工园区的概况;设计指标重要性专家打分表,依据指标得分构造了层次分析法的判断矩阵;运用层次分析法确定了精细化工园区生态环境效益评价指标体系中准则层和指标层的权重,进而依据指标权重分析r影响园区生态化改造的关键指标.结果表明,工业废水达标排放率、工业用水重复利用率、创新投入能力、染料行业单位产品新鲜水消耗量等指标是影响总目标的关键指标.