A Novel Stochastic Optimization Model for Reverse Logistics Network Design of End-of-Life Vehicles: A Case Study of Istanbul

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - Waste management is gaining crucial importance as recycling aims at transforming produced waste into value for the economy. As the automotive industry is...     

Aerosol Filtration by Sorbent Beds

Fixed beds of sorbent media are used for the evaluation of poiynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) present in air. Twostage sampling and separate extraction and analyses of PAH associated with aerosol particles and those present in the vapor state are usually performed. The ability of commonly used sorbents to retain particulate matter introduces a potential for reducing the time and cost of PAH evaluation procedures.

The filtration efficiency of three sorbent media, Florisil, XAD-2, and polyurethanefoam (PUF), for particles in 0.1 to 1 µm size range was studied using airflow rates from 4 to 2501 /mm through a PS 1 sorbent cartridge. Theoretical considerations were used to identify the principal filtration mechanisms and to assess the predictability of the aerosol filtration performance of sorbent filters. The results of this study indicate XAD-2 to be an efficient filtration medium owing to the electrostatic enhancement of capturing and retaining aerosol particles.

As a result of theoretical considerations, Brownian diffusion and inertial deposition were found to be major filtration mechanisms accompanied by electrostatic effects. While the efficiency of the diffusional deposition mechanism was reasonably well predicted with available theories, modeling of submicron particle impaction at higher fluid velocities appeared to be inadequate. Further developments are suggested to improve our understanding of filtration phenomena in sorbent beds under high flow rate conditions.     

A new synergetic paradigm in environmental numerical modeling: Hybrid models combining deterministic and machine learning components

A new type of environmental numerical models, hybrid environmental numerical models (HEMs) based on combining deterministic modeling and machine learning components, is introduced and formulated. Conceptual and practical possibilities of developing HEM, as an optimal synergetic combination of the traditional deterministic/first principles modeling (like that used for solving PDEs on the sphere representing model dynamics of global climate models) and machine learning components (like accurate and fast neural network emulations of model physics or chemistry processes), are discussed. Examples of developed HEMs (hybrid climate models and a hybrid wind–wave ocean model) illustrate the feasibility and efficiency of the new approach for modeling extremely complex multidimensional systems.     

Population as an oscillating system

In this paper we present a new approach describing population dynamics based on the view of a population as an oscillating system. To develop a mathematical model of an oscillating population, we applied a third-order differential equation. Our model describes population dynamics within a parametric-temporal continuum, formed by the relative values of population growth and decrease over time. In this paper we also illustrate how our oscillative model effectively compliments the existing suite of models in population dynamics.     

Oil spreading in instantaneous and continuous spills on rotating earth

The effect of the Coriolis force on the oil spill spreading in the gravity-viscous regime is examined. A new shallow water model for the transport and spreading of oil slick of arbitrary shape is described in which the Coriolis force is included in the momentum equations and the oil–water friction is parameterized in a frame of the boundary layer theory including the Ekman friction. The numerical Lagrangian method based on smoothed particle dynamics is described. New similarity solutions of the model equations are obtained for unidirectional and axisymmetric spreading in gravity-viscous, gravity-turbulent and gravity-viscous-rotational regimes for instantaneous as well as continuous releases. The numerical simulation extends these results for the case of continuous release in the presence of currents. It was shown that Coriolis term in the momentum equation can be omitted if slick thickness is much less of the laminar Ekman layer thickness. However, the Ekman friction should be retained for slicks of any thickness for larger times. The Ekman friction results in the essential slowdown of the spreading as well as in the deflection of the oil spreading velocity at 45° from the direction of velocity in the non-rotation case. Numerical simulations of large-scale spills showed that after the 2?days the slick area with the Coriolis effect was approximately less than half of that without rotation. Therefore, the earth rotation can be also important in the oil weathering.     

Degradation of methyl-phenanthrene isomers during bioremediation of soil contaminated by residual fuel oil

Phenanthrene and methyl-phenanthrenes are major aromatic pollutants originating in particular from fuel oil. Phenanthrene is usually degraded faster than methyl-phenanthrenes under geological and environmental conditions. Here, we report a preferential and accelerated biodegradation of methyl-phenanthrenes versus phenanthrene in soil contaminated by fuel oil. The polluted soil was mixed with sawdust and sand to form a homogenized biopile. The biopile was continuously sprayed with microbial consortia isolated from crude oil?Ccontaminated soil and treated by biosurfactants and nutritive substances for biostimulation. During a 6-month bioremediation experiment, a steady increase in the relative abundance of phenanthrene compared to methyl-phenathrenes was observed by gas chromatography?Cmass spectrometry. The increase was the highest for trimethyl-phenanthrenes, with a phenanthrene/trimethyl-phenanthrenes ratio increasing from 0.42 to 2.45. By contrast, the control, non-stimulated samples showed a ratio decrease from 0.85 to 0.11. Moreover, the results showed that the level of degradability depends on the number of methyl groups.     

Exposure Programme on Atmospheric Corrosion Effects of Acidifying Pollutants in Tropical and Subtropical Climates

Many national exposure programmes have been performed in tropical and subtropical climates during the last 50 years. However, ambitious programmes involving more than a few countries are scarce. In this paper a recently formed network of test sites is described involving 12 test sites in Asia (India, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and China including Hong Kong) and four test sites in Africa (South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe). This effort is part of the 2001–2004 Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) funded Programme on Regional Air Pollution in Developing Countries (RAPIDC). Corrosion attack after one (2002–2003) year of exposure (carbon steel, zinc, copper, limestone and paint coated steel) are presented together with environmental data (SO₂, NO₂, HNO₃, O₃, particles, amount and pH of precipitation, temperature and relative humidity) for all the test sites. The obtained corrosion values are substantially higher than expected for limestone, higher than expected for carbon steel and lower than expected for zinc compared to values calculated using the best available dose–response functions.     

A novel gas purification system for biologically produced gases

A novel gas purification system employing membrane contactors with dense membranes in the absorption as well as the desorption unit has been tested concerning the separation efficiency of CO₂. The separation efficiency of potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) promoted by piperazine (PZ) as absorption medium has been tested in the absorption unit. Since the absorbent will be regenerated in the desorption unit, the influence of temperature, sweep flow rate and absorbent type (0.5 M K₂CO₃ and 0.5 M K₂CO₃/0.5 M PZ) on the separation efficiency of CO₂ in the desorption unit has been investigated. Desorption by vacuum has been considered as well.In addition experimental results of the coupling of a bioreactor producing hydrogen by anoxygenic photosynthesis (low and fluctuating product gas flow rates and fluctuating compositions) with a membrane contactor for gas purification are reported. This was done in order to show the applicability of this system to processes producing biogases.     

Characterization of biological responses under different environmental conditions: A hierarchical modeling approach

A natural river system is organized as a nested hierarchy of interconnected habitats with specific environmental conditions to which the biological community has adapted. Due to this hierarchical structure, identifying the role of different stressors on the biological community is a formidable task. Efforts trying to link stressors to biological integrity have always been bound to the geographic scale of the selected study area, leading to scale-specific results. In this research, an attempt is made to lift this limitation and develop a hierarchical, scale-sensitive methodology that can identify the significant environmental stressors to the biological community at different scales. Sites with similar background environmental conditions are clustered using self-organizing maps (SOM). This is used to identify stressors which affect the biological community throughout the area of study - called environmental gradients or large-scale stressors. Subsequently, these clusters of similar observations (sampling sites) are progressively sub-divided using environmental variables with a significant but localized effect on the biological community - called small-scale stressors. A parent group of sites is split only when the resulting sub-groups have significantly different biological responses. At the end of this recursive sites decomposition procedure, the original set of observations is organized as a tree of environmentally homogeneous groups of observations characterized by unique biological responses to multiple stressors with different geographic extents. The developed hierarchical analysis methodology has been validated using a large-size dataset of environmental observations from the State of Ohio. Our results show that habitat degradation and increased nutrient loading are the large-scale stressors with a widespread impact in Ohio. Other stressors, such as heavy metals, pH or nitrate concentrations have significant albeit localized effects on biological integrity.