High-level techno-economic assessment of negative emissions technologies

This paper presents results from research conducted to provide a high level techno-economic and performance assessments of various emerging technologies for capturing CO₂ from the air, directly and indirectly, on a life-cycle basis. The technologies assessed include ‘artificial trees’, the soda lime process, augmented ocean disposal, biochar and bio-energy with carbon capture and storage.These technologies are subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses, based on the most recent peer reviewed data in the literature, to identify their potential performance as well as the technical and non-technical barriers to their adoption and scale up. Key findings for each technology are presented which seek to highlight the state of technological development and research needs, the anticipated life cycle capture cost in $/tCO₂ based on their potential to deliver a 0.1 ppm CO₂ reduction per annum, policy requirements for scale up and, in light of these findings, the likely role that they will play in addressing climate change and broader environmental issues in the medium to long term.The key finding from the work is that the degree of scale-up required for negative emissions technologies to have a material impact on atmospheric emissions (i.e. at a ppm level) is probably unrealistic in less than 20 years. Therefore, emissions prevention efforts should remain the main focus in addressing climate change and the likely role for negative emissions technologies will be in augmenting a suite of mitigation measures targeting economically or practically difficult emissions.     

Synthesis of Succinylated Starches and Their Application as Adsorbents for the Removal of Phenol

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Succinylated starches (SS) were prepared by the reaction of normal starch (NS) and porous starch (PS) with succinic anhydride (SA) in the presence of DMF...     

Circuit-theory applications to connectivity science and conservation

Conservation practitioners have long recognized ecological connectivity as a global priority for preserving biodiversity and ecosystem function. In the early years of conservation science, ecologists extended principles of island biogeography to assess connectivity based on source patch proximity and other metrics derived from binary maps of habitat. From 2006 to 2008, the late Brad McRae introduced circuit theory as an alternative approach to model gene flow and the dispersal or movement routes of organisms. He posited concepts and metrics from electrical circuit theory as a robust way to quantify movement across multiple possible paths in a landscape, not just a single least-cost path or corridor. Circuit theory offers many theoretical, conceptual, and practical linkages to conservation science. We reviewed 459 recent studies citing circuit theory or the open-source software Circuitscape. We focused on applications of circuit theory to the science and practice of connectivity conservation, including topics in landscape and population genetics, movement and dispersal paths of organisms, anthropogenic barriers to connectivity, fire behavior, water flow, and ecosystem services. Circuit theory is likely to have an effect on conservation science and practitioners through improved insights into landscape dynamics, animal movement, and habitat-use studies and through the development of new software tools for data analysis and visualization. The influence of circuit theory on conservation comes from the theoretical basis and elegance of the approach and the powerful collaborations and active user community that have emerged. Circuit theory provides a springboard for ecological understanding and will remain an important conservation tool for researchers and practitioners around the globe.     

Characterization of fine particulate matter produced by combustion of residual fuel oil

Combustion experiments were carried out on four different residual fuel oils in a 732-kW boiler. PM emission samples were separated aerodynamically by a cyclone into fractions that were nominally less than and greater than 2.5 microns in diameter. However, examination of several of the samples by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM) revealed that part of the PM2.5 fraction consists of carbonaceous cenospheres and vesicular particles that range up to 10 microns in diameter. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy data were obtained at the S, V, Ni, Fe, Cu, Zn, and As K-edges and at the Pb L-edge. Deconvolution of the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) region of the S spectra established that the dominant molecular forms of S present were sulfate (26-84% of total S) and thiophene (13-39% of total S). Sulfate was greater in the PM2.5 samples than in the PM2.5+ samples. Inorganic sulfides and elemental sulfur were present in lower percentages. The Ni XANES spectra from all of the samples agreed fairly well with that of NiSO4, while most of the V spectra closely resembled that of vanadyl sulfate (VO.SO4.xH2O). The other metals investigated (i.e., Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb) also were present predominantly as sulfates. Arsenic was present as an arsenate (As+5). X-ray diffraction patterns of the PM2.5 fraction exhibit sharp lines due to sulfate compounds (Zn, V, Ni, Ca, etc.) superimposed on broad peaks due to amorphous carbons. All of the samples contain a significant organic component, with the loss on ignition (LOI) ranging from 64 to 87% for the PM2.5 fraction and from 88 to 97% for the PM2.5+ fraction. Based on 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, the carbon is predominantly condensed in graphitic structures. Aliphatic structure was detected in only one of seven samples examined.     

Unregulated emissions from a diesel engine equipped with vanadium-based urea-SCR catalyst

The present work is aimed at the study of number-size distribution of particles,volatile organic compounds(VOCs),and carbonyl compounds(CC) or carbonyls emitted from a 4-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine equipped with a vanadium-based urea selective catalytic reduction catalyst.The engine was run on an electric dynamometer in accordance with the European steady-state cycle.Pollutants were analyzed using an electric low pressure impactor,a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer,and a high performance liquid chromatography system for the number-size distribution of particles,VOCs,and CC emissions,respectively.Experimental results revealed that total number of particles were decreased,and their number-size distributions were moved from smaller sizes to larger sizes in the presence of the catalyst.The VOCs were greatly reduced downstream of the catalyst.There was a strong correlation between the conversion of styrene and ethyl benzene.The conversion rate of benzene increased with increase of catalyst temperature.Formaldehyde,acetaldehyde,acrolein and acetone were significantly reduced,resulting in a remarkable abatement in carbonyls with the use of the vanadium-based urea-SCR system.     

Application of chemical transformation induced fracture for cutting of superhard materials

A hybrid CO₂ laser/waterjet machining system is used to cut superhard materials – polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (pCBN) through a “score and snap” mechanism – laser heating leads to localized damage and chemical transformation of surface layers, and subsequently, stress fields developed due to constrained expansion of transformed material and waterjet quenching act on the laser-made “score” to propagate crack through the thickness. During the localized laser heating and subsequent waterjet quenching, PCD and pCBN materials near the top surface underwent chemical transitions. Build up of tensile stresses in the surrounding material resulted due to (i) volumetric expansion of transformed material creating an asperity/wedge effect and (ii) thermal gradients associated with rapid quenching. These tensile stresses in the surface layers lead to crack formation and caused separation of PCD and pCBN wafers along the laser path.     

Production and growth of microalgae in urine and wastewater: A review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Issues of climate change, energy demand, and natural resources depletion are calling for circular methods to produce value-added products such as biomass, biofuel,...     

Research trends in biodiversity loss: a bibliometric analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Although increased attempts to preserve biodiversity ecosystems have been widely publicized, bibliometric research of biodiversity loss remains...     

Synthesis of magnetite-based nanocomposites for effective removal of brilliant green dye from wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study aims at evaluating the batch scale potential of cotton shell powder (CSP), Moringa oleifera leaves (ML), and magnetite-assisted...     

A density functional theory/time-dependent density functional theory study of the structure-related photochemical properties of hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers and metal ion effects

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - As the derivatives and structural analogs of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (OH-PBDEs)...