Evaluation of the efficiency of a Venturi scrubber in particulate matter collection smaller than 2.5 µm emitted by biomass burning

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Energy demand has increased worldwide, and biomass burning is one of the solutions most used by industries, especially in countries that have a great...     

Modelling Wetland Bird Response to Water Level Changes in the Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Hydrosystem

Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River (LOSL) wetland bird abundance and diversity are greatly influenced by lake and river hydrology. Our study used an interdisciplinary ecosystem approach, blending avian and plant ecology, ecohydraulic, statistical ecology and modelling to evaluate potential impacts of water level fluctuations on indicator species representative of the wetland breeding bird assemblages in the entire LOSL freshwater system. Multi-year (2000–2003) bird surveys captured bird distribution and density in wetland habitats under varying degrees of water inandation, depth and fluctuation. Analyses revealed strong associations between estimated breeding pair densities and plant communities, water depth, and degree of water level fluctuation during the breeding season for a suite of wetland bird species using marsh, wet meadow, shrub swamp and treed swamp habitats. These quantitative associations were used to develop wetland bird performance indicators for use in a LOSL water regulation review study. Several bird species also nest at or near the water surface and are thus vulnerable to nest flooding or stranding. Changes to the seasonal hydrology of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River that result in an increased frequency or magnitude of these nest failure events may have a significant impact on regional population sustainability. Long term nest record databases were analyzed to create nesting flooding and stranding probability equations based on water level increases and decreases during the breeding season. These species-specific nesting relationships were incorporated into a reproduction index.Many breeding bird species were strongly associated with specific wetland plant communities. Predicted habitat suitability, as measured by estimated breeding pair density, can also change significantly within a specific wetland plant community based solely on changes in water depth during the breeding season. Three indicator species, Black Tern, Least Bittern and Virginia Rail were selected as key environmental performance indicators for alternate regulation plan comparisons.Water regulation criteria should be such that the long term diversity and abundance of wetland plant communities and frequency of spring flooding in marsh habitats during breeding are not reduced. Magnitude and frequency of water level change during the nesting season (May–July) can also adversely impact reproductive success of many wetland bird species. As such, regulation criteria that increase the seasonal magnitude and frequency of water level change may be detrimental to the long term viability of certain regional breeding bird populations.     

Phenol degradation using combined effects of hydrodynamic cavitation and oxidant: Doehlert matrix

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC)-based treatments have been proposed for the degradation of phenol as a toxic pollutant. The present work aimed to optimize the degradation of phenol using HC by means of Doehlert experimental design, which has not been previously addressed. Initially, operational parameters of hydraulic characteristics of the pump, inlet pressure, solution pH, and initial concentration were optimized; later, the effects of pH solution and H₂O₂ loading or initial pollutant concentration on phenol degradation were explored using the Doehlert experimental design. It was observed that phenol degradation is strongly dependent on the pH of the solution. Also, the acidic condition favors the formation of hydroxyl radicals and thus, the degradation of phenol. Based on the Doehlert matrix, the 94.1% phenol degradation and 68.60% total organic carbon (TOC) were obtained in 180 min at 304.5 mg/L of hydrogen peroxide at an initial concentration of 20 mg/L, 2.0 pH, and 90 psi inlet pressure, providing a cavitational yield of 6.33 × 10⁻⁶ mg/J and minimum treatment cost of US$/L 0.13. Overall, it has been observed that HC can be a promising route for the removal of pollutants (phenol) effectively using hydrogen peroxide as an additive.     

Comparison of constant volume balloons, model trajectories and tracer transport during ETEX

In the field phases of the European Tracer EXperiment (ETEX), an inert tracer was released for 12 h into the atmosphere and samples taken at several locations downwind. During the same time, several Constant Volume Balloons (CVB) (10 and 6 for ETEX first and second release, respectively) were launched into different altitudes and followed as far as 21–188 km, to indicate the initial dispersion directions of the tracer puff. A model simulating the CVB behaviour in hydrostatic meso-scale model forecasts is applied to ETEX data to demonstrate its capability to predict the tracer puff mean axis over long distances (−2000 km). CVB model results are first compared to air parcels trajectories and 2D (i.e. isentropic, isobaric and isodensity) trajectories. Then they are compared to the measured CVB trajectories and finally to the tracer puff trajectories. As expected, the CVB model and isodensity model trajectories are found to be identical. The 16 CVBs calculated trajectories nearly overlap the real ones over 21–188 km with mean absolute horizontal transport deviations less than 20 km (average value of 8.2 km). The corresponding relative transport deviations are less than 45% with an average value of 20.6%. Better predictions are obtained for the ETEX second release. During the 60 h following ETEX’s first release start, the simulated CVBs are mainly found in the area of the maximum surface concentrations of the released tracer, up to 2000 km. Up to 36 h after ETEX second tracer release start, the simulated CVB trajectories predict well the mean axis of the tracer puff, but failed later.     

Evaluation of bisphenol A levels in Nigerian thermal receipts and estimation of daily dermal exposure

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production volume chemical that has wide industrial applications, especially as a color developer in thermal papers. The...     

From laboratory simulation to scale-up and design of spray barriers mitigating toxic gaseous releases

Simulation of a process by means of physical models at a reduced scale is an essential tool in many application, allowing to perform a large number of experimental runs, so as to obtain a quantitative representation of the involved phenomena, at relatively low cost. Some difficulties can arise when the mathematical model derived from the simulation is applied to a real scale problem, in that the scaling of some empirical coefficients with the system size is not obvious at all. As fluid barrier scaling is a difficult task, still not deeply investigated in the scientific literature, the focus of this study is to translate knowledge from research on this topic into practice for industrial application. Following an extensive and accurate experimental work in wind tunnel, the main parameters determining the effectiveness of containment, absorption and dilution of chlorine releases were determined and a mathematical model is developed. In order to frame proper scale-up strategies, the most important result of this study rests on the explicit formulae giving, as a function of the aforesaid parameters, the single pass efficiency, the global absorption efficiency, and the toxic gas concentration downwind the barrier. In the far field, the gas concentration is practically determined only by the rate of atmospheric dispersion of the mass flow-rate of gas escaping the abatement. The absorption efficiencies are related to the drop size and to the mass transfer coefficients in the gas and liquid phases. The mean drop diameter plays an essential role in the absorption efficiency, since it simultaneously acts on air entrainment, interfacial surface and mass transfer coefficient in the gas phase. The evaluation of the mitigation effect for an industrial installation requires the scaling of the entrainment coefficient experimentally determined from wind tunnel testing. All the scaling criteria needed for adapting the proposed model to the design of a spray curtain suitable for the protection from a chlorine release, are amply discussed presenting some carefully designed simulations. Owing to its rather general structure, the model can be applied to different gaseous releases and/or absorbing solutions, provided that proper values of the parameters related with the chemical and physical absorption of the involved substances be theoretically or experimentally obtained in advance.     

Monitoring of pathogenic microorganisms contamination during heat drying process of sewage sludge

The sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plant is a potential source of infectious organism. The number and type of pathogens in sludge depends on various factors namely, the wastewater source, the type of treatment plant, and other environmental factors such as the biological medium offered by the sewage sludge. The principal sludge-borne diseases are presented followed by discussion on biological aspect of growth and occurrence. The overall objective of this work is to estimate kinetic reduction of pathogen population in sludge during different thermal-drying process including: the agitated conductive drying, drum drying, solar drying, and fry-drying. The temperature curves were reported from literature except frying data which were determined in experiment. In order to apply the temperature influence on pathogens population, kinetic parameters for the thermal inactivation (D, z-values) were chosen from literature. Values of concentrations of each pathogen were also extracted from scientific review of pathogens in bio-solids. This study conducted to resolve the survival kinetic of Hepatitis A viruses. The result showed that a concentration of 7 × 10⁴ cfu/100 ml initially present in the sewage sludge is significantly reduced during the heat drying processes except the solar plant. The sewage sludge is completely disinfected when heated for 20 min, 10 min, and 10 s, respectively, during the agitated conductive process, vacuum fry-drying, and drum drying process.     

Ozone and forests in South-Western Europe--What have we learned?

Monitoring of forest condition and ozone (O3) at 83 sites in France, Italy, Luxenbourg, Spain and Switzerland resulted in a number of findings in relation to the knowledge of O3 exposure (concentration and cumulative AOT40), feasibility of the assessment of stomatal O3 flux and relationships between O3 and crown defoliation of beech and visible symptoms on native vegetation. However, the project provides evidence of issues to be addressed within the current monitoring system (data quality, validation sites and response indicators) and indications as to how the monitoring of O3 risk in the context of an effect-oriented monitoring program can be improved.     

Ozone and forests in South-Western Europe

The paper provides basic information about background, objectives and structure of O3SWE (Ozone at the permanent monitoring plots in South-Western Europe), an international co-operative project aimed at evaluating O3 concentrations, cumulative exposure, uptake and effects on forest vegetation in four countries of South-Western Europe (France, Italy, Luxenbourg, Spain and Switzerland). The project covers a total of 83 permanent plots of the EU and UN/ECE intensive forest monitoring programme and span over three years of investigation (2000-2002). The O3SWE project aims to demonstrate how, using data collected routinely in an intensive forest monitoring network, O3 exposure, flux and effects can be assessed and exceedances critically evaluated.