Forecasting municipal solid waste generation in a fast-growing urban region with system dynamics modeling

Both planning and design of municipal solid waste management systems require accurate prediction of solid waste generation. Yet achieving the anticipated prediction accuracy with regard to the generation trends facing many fast-growing regions is quite challenging. The lack of complete historical records of solid waste quantity and quality due to insufficient budget and unavailable management capacity has resulted in a situation that makes the long-term system planning and/or short-term expansion programs intangible. To effectively handle these problems based on limited data samples, a new analytical approach capable of addressing socioeconomic and environmental situations must be developed and applied for fulfilling the prediction analysis of solid waste generation with reasonable accuracy. This study presents a new approach--system dynamics modeling--for the prediction of solid waste generation in a fast-growing urban area based on a set of limited samples. To address the impact on sustainable development city wide, the practical implementation was assessed by a case study in the city of San Antonio, Texas (USA). This area is becoming one of the fastest-growing regions in North America due to the economic impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The analysis presents various trends of solid waste generation associated with five different solid waste generation models using a system dynamics simulation tool--Stella. Research findings clearly indicate that such a new forecasting approach may cover a variety of possible causative models and track inevitable uncertainties down when traditional statistical least-squares regression methods are unable to handle such issues.     

晋陕蒙接壤地区的水土流失灾害及其防治

本文对晋陕蒙接壤地区的水土流失情况进行了简要论述,对水土流失的根源进行了探讨,并在此基础上提出了防治水土流失的基本措施。     

Emission of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs from metallurgy industries in S. Korea

The metallurgy industry and municipal waste incinerators are considered the main sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in many countries. This study investigated the emission factors and total emissions of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) emitted from metallurgy industries (including ferrous and nonferrous foundries) in Korea. The toxic equivalency (TEQ) emission factor of PCDD/Fs was the highest for secondary copper production, at 24451 ng I-TEQ/ton. The total estimated emissions of PCDD/Fs from these sources were 35.259 g I-TEQ/yr, comprising 0.088 g I-TEQ/yr from ferrous foundries, 31.713 g I-TEQ/yr from copper production, 1.716 g I-TEQ/yr from lead production, 0.111 g I-TEQ/yr from zinc production, and 1.631 g I-TEQ/yr from aluminum production. The total estimated annual amounts of dioxin-like PCBs emitted from these sources were 13.260 g WHO-TEQ/yr, comprising 0.014 g WHO-TEQ/yr from ferrous foundries, 12.675 g WHO-TEQ/yr from copper production, 0.170 g WHO-TEQ/yr from lead production, 0.017 g WHO-TEQ/yr from zinc production, and 0.384 g WHO-TEQ/yr from aluminum production. The highest emission factor was found for secondary copper smelting, at 9770 ng WHO-TEQ/ton.     

Evaluation of the emission characteristics of PCDD/Fs from electric arc furnaces

Distribution of PCDD/F (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorinated dibenzofuran) congeners at two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) in Taiwan is evaluated via intensive stack sampling and analysis. Two kinds of exhaust system in EAFs including stack system and shutter system are selected for measuring dioxin emissions. In addition, dioxin emissions during oxidation and reduction stages at EAF-A were characterized. Results indicate that the PCDD/F concentration of stack gas in EAF-A was 4.39 ng/N m³ while total Toxic Equivalent Quantity (TEQ) concentration was 0.35 ng I-TEQ/N m³. The PCDD/F concentration of stack gas in EAF-B was 2.20 ng/N m³ and the TEQ concentration was 0.14 ng I-TEQ/N m³. 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-H_pCDF, OCDD and OCDF are the major contributors of the dioxin concentrations for two EAFs investigated and the percentage of PCDD/F in particulate phase increases as the chlorination level of the PCDD/F congener increases. The results obtained on gas/particulate partitioning of PCDD/Fs in flue gases prior to the APCD in EAFs indicate that more than 90% exists in particulate phase. In EAF-A, the PCDD/F concentration during oxidation stage is slightly higher than that measured during reduction stage, including the sampling points of CO converter outlet, prior to bag filter and stack. Majority of PCDD/Fs emitted from steel-making processes exists in particulate-phase (about 60–70%) at both EAFs investigated.     

Partitioning and removal of dioxin-like congeners in flue gases treated with activated carbon adsorption

Activated carbon adsorption is commonly used to control dioxin-like congener (PCDD/Fs and PCBs) emissions. Partitioning of PCDD/Fs and PCBs between vapor and solid phases and their removal efficiencies achieved with existing air pollution control devices (APCDs) at a large-scale municipal waste incinerator (MWI) and an industrial waste incinerator (IWI) are evaluated via intensive stack sampling and analysis. Those two facilities investigated are equipped with activated carbon injection (ACI) with bag filter (BF) and fixed activated carbon bed (FACB) as major PCDD/F control devices, respectively. Average PCDD/F and PCB concentrations of stack gas with ACI+BF as APCDs are 0.031 and 0.006ng-TEQ/Nm(3), and that achieved with FACB are 1.74 and 0.19ng-TEQ/Nm(3) in MWI and IWI, respectively. The results show that FACB could reduce vapor-phase PCDD/Fs and PCBs concentrations in flue gas, while the ACI+BF can effectively adsorb the vapor-phase dioxin-like congener and collect the solid-phase PCDD/Fs and PCBs in the meantime. Additionally, the results of the pilot-scale adsorption system (PAS) experimentation indicate that each gram activated carbon adsorbs 105-115ng-PCDD/Fs and each surface area (m(2)) of activated carbon adsorbs 10-25ng-PCDD/Fs. Based on the results of PAS experimentation, this study confirms that the surface area of mesopore+macropore (20-200A) of the activated carbon is a critical factor affecting PCDD/F adsorption capacity.     

Prediction for energy content of Taiwan municipal solid waste using multilayer perceptron neural networks

In the past decade, the treatment amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) by incineration has increased significantly in Taiwan. By year 2008, approximately 70% of the total MSW generated will be incinerated. The energy content (usually expressed by lower heating value [LHV]) of MSW is an important parameter for the selection of incinerator capacity. In this work, wastes from 55 sampling sites, including villages, towns, cities, and remote islands in the Taiwan area, were sampled and analyzed once a season from April 2002 to March 2003 to determine the waste characteristics. The LHV of MSW in Taiwan was predicted by the multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks model using the input parameters of elemental analysis and dry- or wet-base physical compositions. Although all three of the models predicted LHV values rather accurately, the elemental analysis model provided the most accurate prediction of LHV values. Additionally, the wet-base physical composition model was the easiest and most economical. Therefore, the waste treatment operators can choose the more appropriate analysis method considering situations themselves, such as time, equipment, technology, and cost.     

Assessment of control strategies for reducing volatile organic compound emissions from the polyvinyl chloride wallpaper production industry in Taiwan

This study attempts to assess the effectiveness of control strategies for reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emission from the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wallpaper production industry. In Taiwan, methyl ethyl ketone, TOL, and cyclohexanone have comprised the major content of solvents, accounting for approximately 113,000 t/yr to avoid excessive viscosity of plasticizer dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and to increase facility in working. Emissions of these VOCs from solvents have caused serious odor and worse air quality problems. In this study, 80 stacks in five factories were tested to evaluate emission characteristics at each VOC source. After examining the VOC concentrations in the flue gases and contents, the VOC emission rate before treatment and from fugitive sources was 93,000 and 800 t/yr, respectively. In this study, the semiwet electrostatic precipitator is recommended for use as cost-effective control equipment.     

自然权利的批判与辩护

环境伦理的突出功能表现在对人与自然关系的调整上。从法学视角切入．以“权利”作为分析文本．论述了人类中心主义与非人类中心主义在“自然权利”上的理论分歧．人类中心主义者从权利的一人性、权利义务的不对等性、主张自然权利的非现实性以及自然权利的不可操作性四个方面对自然的权利提出了批判．而非人类中心主义者指出权利撅念的在不断地扩展．人类中心主义不可能完全解决好人与自然的关系,自然权利存在着转化为在法律上具有可操作性的可能．并且自然权利理论已在法律实践领域拓展．对自然的权利进行了辩护。由此提出了“非人类中心主义”、“自然的权利”的环境伦理定位。     

利用百合(Lilium davidii)根尖细胞的微核细胞率作为环境监测指标的探讨

首次报道了利用百合根尖细胞微核细胞率作为环境监测指标的可行性和优越性。实验证明,百合根尖比蚕豆根尖细胞的微核细胞率更敏感。     

管道截面对氢气/空气预混爆炸影响的实验研究

为研究管道截面对氢气/空气预混火焰形状与传播速度的影响,选用三个长度都为1m而截面尺寸不同的方形管道进行实验。实验结果表明,在截面为80mm×80mm的管道中,四种氢气浓度下预混火焰都发展形成了郁金香火焰。火焰传播速度呈现上升,下降,再上升的波动。在截面为100mm×100mm和150mm×150mm的管道中,只有在氢气浓度20%下形成郁金香火焰,并且传播速度也出现上述的波动。而在氢气浓度25%,30%,40%下,预混火焰都呈指尖形传至管口,未出现郁金香火焰,传播速度都是不断上升。三个管道对比中,截面为100mm×100mm的管道内火焰平均传播速度最快,且压力波第一峰值最大。