Evaluation of environmental impacts of food waste management by material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA)

This paper focuses on the evaluation of potential environmental impacts of food waste management practices by material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) during different life cycle stages toward the environmentally sustainable options for Daejeon Metropolitan City (DMC) in Korea. The MFA and LCA studies were conducted to examine different recycling facilities of food waste. The results of the LCA study indicate that, among the different recycling methodologies currently in practice in DMC, Scenario 4 (wet and dry feed site) conduced to higher global warming potential (GWP) and higher acidification potential (AP), whereas Scenarios 2 (wet feed site 1) and 3 (wet feed site 2) resulted in the lowest impact. This is mainly due to the emission caused during the treatment stage. For eutrophication potential (EP), Scenario 1 (composting site) contributed to higher environmental impacts due to the emission of ammonia generated during the treatment process, while in case of photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), the collection stage for all recycling facilities led to higher impacts to the environment due to the combustion of fossil fuels. This study indicates that the proper disposal of the final residues, such as solid sludge and screened materials, could aid in reducing environmental burdens.     

Male-Specific and Somatic Coliphage Profiles from Major Aquaculture Areas in Republic of Korea

Human and animal feces are important sources of various types of microbial contamination in water. Especially, enteric viruses, the major agents of waterbo     

压力对填埋垃圾产甲烷的影响研究

压实作用被认为是影响填埋垃圾降解过程的一个重要因素,实验通过自制的压缩降解模拟填埋反应器装置,研究了阶梯增加式压力21k Pa→42 k Pa→84 k Pa(分别在垃圾填埋后的第75、103和131 d时施加)对填埋垃圾产甲烷这一资源化重要阶段的影响,包括产气特性、渗滤液性质及固体沉降等的变化.21 k Pa和42 k Pa分别恒定了4周,垃圾最后在84 k Pa恒定压力下降解,实验总共持续了170 d.结果表明,在初始21k Pa的压力作用下,由于接种物跟垃圾接触面积的增大,甲烷日产量从第75 d的1.85 L·d-1增加到了第76 d的2.95 L·d-1,产甲烷速率提高了59.82%,42 k Pa和84 k Pa时均有所增加,但增加程度均不明显.压力还使砾石层上部积留了一定水位高度的渗滤液,渗滤液的COD和含氮量在压力作用下都有了暂时的升高.压实作用还令垃圾体产生了较大的沉降,但压力进一步增大并没有使垃圾继续发生较多的沉降.实验结果有助于更好地了解压力对填埋垃圾降解过程的影响.     

Monitoring changes in forest and other land use forms in Istanbul

This study introduces the monitoring system to be established within this project, it aims to determine changes occurring within forested areas, settlement areas and other land use forms located at the peripheral area of Istanbul during consecutive decades. The first phase of the study was completed in 1998 and published, covering the period from 1984 to 1994. This study is the second phase of the first one and implemented to determine land use changes which have occurred on the same site from 1994 to 2000. Standard topographic maps with 1/25 000 scale, forest management maps with the same scale, results of the previous study, orthophoto maps of the year 2000 that were produced from aerial color photographs of the site with 1/5 000 scale, and 4-band IRS_LISS III multispectral satellite data for July 2000 were used as data. The changes in land use within the study area occurring during a six year period were studied.     

Emission characteristics of PCDD/Fs in diesel engine with variable load rate

Emission characteristics of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in diesel engine were studied with variable load rate of the diesel engine with the emission test cycles, US D-13 mode. The load rate is changed from 25% to 50% and 75% at constant speed of 2400 rpm. PCDD/Fs concentration and phase distribution of PCDD/Fs with the isokinetic sampling of exhaust gas is obtained in this study. The average PCDD/Fs concentrations per unit of exhaust gas with 25%, 50% and 75% load rate are 14.5, 6.9 and 6.4 pg-TEQ/N m3, respectively. In all diesel engine runs, PCDFs are more prevalent than PCDDs. As a load rate is increased, the ratio of PCDDs is gradually decreased. The amount of high-chlorinated PCDDs emitted in diesel engine is larger than that of low-chlorinated PCDDs. The significant emission form of PCDD/Fs produced from diesel engines exhaust is a gas phase.     

Resource Use Rates and Efficiency as Indicators of Regional Sustainability: an Examination of Five Countries

We examine trends from 1970 to the mid 1990's of some variables related to development and sustainability for Costa Rica, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States: first, by calculating energy and agricultural efficiencies over time, second, by examining the environmental impacts of economic activities, and third, by estimating ecological footprints. We find that many "optimistic" arguments about sustainability have been misleading, and that there is little or no indication that we are becoming any more sustainable or even efficient. Total quality-corrected energy consumption has increased for all five countries and the renewable energy portion is decreasing. The efficiency of turning energy into both agricultural production and GDP has declined for all countries except for the US. In general, there is a remarkable linearity between resource use and economic and agricultural production over all countries and all years, suggesting severe biophysical constraints to sustainable objectives. On the other hand, per capita ecological footprints have decreased somewhat in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, while national ecological footprints have tended to remain constant except for Korea. While there has been a reduction of specific pollutants in the United States, some of this has been achieved by exporting heavy manufacturing industries. We conclude that continued population and economic growth in each country is likely to make the achievement of any kind of sustainability increasingly unlikely. Sustainability, if that is desirable, requires a very different approach than what we have undertaken to date.     

Root uptake of atenolol,sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine,and their transformation in three soils and four plants

Soils can be contaminated by pharmaceuticals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of soil conditions (influencing sorption and persistence of pharmaceuticals in soils) and plant type on the root uptake of selected pharmaceuticals and their transformation in plant-soil systems. Four plants (lamb’s lettuce, spinach, arugula, radish) planted in 3 soils were irrigated for 20 days (26) with water contaminated by one of 3 pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, atenolol, sulfamethoxazole) or their mixture. The concentrations of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites in soils and plant tissues were evaluated after the harvest. Sulfamethoxazole and atenolol dissipated rapidly from soils. The larger concentrations of both compounds and an atenolol metabolite were found in roots than in leaves. Sulfamethoxazole metabolites were below the limits of quantifications. Carbamazepine was stable in soils, easily uptaken, accumulated, and metabolized in plant leaves. The efficiency of radish and arugula (both family Brassicaceae) in metabolizing was very low contrary to the high and moderate efficiencies of lamb’s lettuce and spinach, respectively. Compounds’ transformations mostly masked the soil impact on their accumulation in plant tissues. The negative relationships were found between the carbamazepine sorption coefficients and its concentrations in roots of radish, lamb’s lettuce, and spinach.

     

Influence of HCl on oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury by dielectric barrier discharge process

The influence of HCl on the oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) has been investigated using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma process, where the temperature of the plasma reactor and the composition of gas mixtures of HCl, H2O, NO, and O2 in N2 balance have been varied. We observe that Cl atoms and Cl2 molecules, created by the DBD process, play important roles in the oxidation of Hg0 to HgCl2. The addition of H2O to the gas mixture of HCl in N2 accelerates the oxidation of Hg0, although no appreciable effect of H2O alone on the oxidation of Hg0 has been observed. The increase of the reaction temperature in the presence of HCl results in the reduction of Hg0 oxidation efficiency probably due to the deterioration of the heterogeneous chemical reaction of Hg0 with chlorinated species on the reactor wall. The presence of NO shows an inhibitory effect on the oxidation of Hg0 under DBD of 16% O2 in N2, indicating that NO acts as an O and O3 scavenger. At the composition of Hg0 (280 microg m(-3)), HCl (25 ppm), NO (204 ppm), O2 (16%) and N2 (balance) and temperature 90 degrees C, we obtain the nearly complete oxidation of Hg0 at a specific energy density of 8 J l(-1). These results lead us to suggest that the DBD process can be viable for the treatment of mercury released from coal-fired power plants.     

Monitoring of Aerial Pollutants Emitted from Swine Houses in Korea

This on-site survey study was performed to determine the concentrations and emissions of aerial contaminants in the different types of swine houses in Korea and then to present beneficial information available for Korean pig producers to manage optimal air quality in swine house. The swine houses investigated in this research were selected based on three criteria; manure removal system, ventilation mode and growth stage of swine. Mean concentrations of aerial pollutants in swine houses were 8 ppm for ammonia, 300 ppb for hydrogen sulfide, 2 mg m⁻³ for total dust, 0.6 mg m⁻³ for respirable dust, 4 log(cfu m⁻³) for total airborne bacteria and 3 log(cfu m⁻³) for total airborne fungi, respectively. Mean emissions based on pig (liveweight; 75 kg) and area (m²) were 250 and 340 mg h⁻¹ for ammonia, 40 and 50 mg h⁻¹ for hydrogen sulfide, 40 and 50 mg h⁻¹ for total dust, 10 and 15 mg h⁻¹ for respirable dust, 1.0 and 1.3 log(cfu) h⁻¹ for total airborne bacteria and 0.7 and 1.0 log(cfu) h⁻¹ for total airborne fungi, respectively. In general concentrations and emissions of gases were relatively higher in the swine houses managed with deep-pit manure system with slats and mechanical ventilation mode than the different swine housing types whereas those of particulates and bioaerosol were highest in the naturally ventilated swine houses with deep-litter bed system.