Sociological survey in a municipality with a high level separate collection programme in an area of historic unpopularity

Behaviours, opinions and knowledge of citizens on MSW and separate collection were investigated in the city of Mercato San Severino (about 22,000 people), in the Campania region of Southern Italy that is an area suffering from a serious solid waste emergency that has lasted over 17 years due to the absence of treatment facilities. The image of heaps of rubbish in the streets of Naples and other nearby cities is only one side of the coin. Mercato San Severino has adopted an effective kerbside collection system since 2001 and a pay-as-you-throw program during 2005, guaranteeing more than the minimum level of recycling required by the Italian legislation. Structured questionnaires were administered to a sample of 500 people in 2010. Chi-square tests of independence were applied to state whether the differences were statistically significant (5%). About 90% of the sample stated that the success of the separate collection program was due to either the citizens and local authority or only the local authority, highlighting the leading role of the local authority and confirming that trust is the key to any social program success. The registered level of knowledge was better than that of nearby university students and citizens. The higher the education level, the greater the level of knowledge was.     

An assessment on the recycling opportunities of wastes emanating from scrap metal processing in Mauritius

This paper presents an assessment on the wastes namely slag, dust, mill scale and sludge resulting from scrap metal processing. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that there are various ways via which scrap metal processing wastes can be reused or recycled in other applications instead of simply diverting them to the landfill. These wastes are briefly described and an overview on the different areas of applications is presented. Based on the results obtained, the waste generation factor developed was 349.3 kg per ton of steel produced and it was reported that slag represents 72% of the total wastes emanating from the iron and steel industry in Mauritius. Finally the suitability of the different treatment and valorisation options in the context of Mauritius is examined.     

Economies of size and density in municipal solid waste recycling in Portugal

The recycling of municipal solid waste has a remarkable importance in the preservation of the environment and the welfare of the society. However, it is also important that this service can be provided with efficient costs. This paper aims to search for economies of output density and economies of size in the selective collection and recycling activities in Portugal and to identify the size the utilities should have to become more cost efficient. The sample comprises all Portuguese recycling utilities operating in the wholesale segment in the period 2006–2010. The results show that the Portuguese recycling utilities should increase the quantities of municipal solid waste for recycling (especially glass and paper) and also become larger to dimensions corresponding to a supply of 400–550 thousand inhabitants. With the increasing amount of glass collected, utilities are simultaneously struggling to fulfill the targets established by the European legislation and explore the existing economies of output density. The results also show that the management of these services carried out by private companies and the use of incineration (by utilities) seem to reduce the costs of utilities while the regulation of these services and the composting of waste held by utilities tend to increase costs.     

Kinetic analysis of transesterification of waste pig fat in supercritical alcohols

The kinetic analysis method using non-isothermal technique was proposed to determine the kinetic parameters for the transesterification reaction of waste pig fat in supercritical alcohols. To investigate the transesterification of waste pig fat, the waste pig fat to alcohol ratio (w/w) was varied from 1:1.5 to 1:2.5 between the temperatures 220 and 290 °C at an interval of 10 °C in a 25 mL batch reactor. The products were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed kinetic analysis method, the experimental values were compared with the values calculated using the kinetic parameters obtained from this work. It was found that the proposed kinetic analysis method gave reliable kinetic parameters for the transesterification of waste pig fat in supercritical alcohols. Further, it was found that the apparent activation energy for supercritical ethanol was lower than the value for supercritical methanol.     

A new strain for recovering precious metals from waste printed circuit boards

A new strain, Pseudomonas Chlororaphis (PC), was found for dissolving gold, silver, and copper from the metallic particles of crushed waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). The optimized conditions that greatly improved the ability of producing CN^? (for dissolving metals) were obtained. Dissolving experiments of pure gold, silver, and copper showed that the metals could be changed into Au⁺, Ag⁺, and Cu²⁺. PC cells and their secreta would adsorb metallic ions. Meanwhile, metallic ions destroyed the growth of PC. Dissolving experiments of metallic particles from crushed waste PCBs were performed by PC. The results indicated that 8.2% of the gold, 12.1% silver, and 52.3% copper were dissolved into solution. This paper contributed significance information to recovering precious metals from waste PCBs by bioleaching.     

Process analysis of an industrial waste-to-energy plant: Theory and experiments

Thermal conversion is fundamental in an integrated waste management system due to the capability of reducing mass and volume of waste and recovering energy content from unrecyclable materials. Indeed, power generation from industrial solid wastes (ISW) is a topic of great interest for its appeal in the field of renewable energy production as well as for an increasing public concern related to its emissions. This paper is based on the process engineering and optimization analysis, commissioned to the University Campus-Biomedico of Rome by the MIDA Tecnologie Ambientali S.r.l. enterprise, ended up in the construction of an ISW thermo-conversion plant in Crotone (Southern Italy), where it is nowadays operating. The scientific approach to the process analysis is founded on a novel cascade numerical simulation of each plant section and it has been used initially in the process design step and after to simulate the performances of the industrial plant. In this paper, the plant process scheme is described together with the values of main operating parameters monitored during the experimental test runs. The thermodynamic and kinetic basics of the mathematical model for the simulation of the energy recovery and flue gas treatment sections are presented. Moreover, the simulation results, together with the implemented parameters, are given and compared to the experimental data for 10 specific plant test runs. It was found that the model is capable to predict the process performances in the energy production as well as in the gas treatment sections with high accuracy by knowing a set of measurable input variables. In the paper fundamental plant variables have been considered such as steam temperature, steam flow rate, power generated as well as temperature, flow rate and composition of the resulting flue gas; therefore, the mathematical model can be simply implemented as a reliable and efficient tool for management optimization of this kind of plants.     

物联网技术在城市生活垃圾收运系统中的应用

我国的城市生活垃圾收运系统因其回收率低,监管难等问题,一直受到社会的广泛关注,而物联网技术因其可追溯性、动态性等特点,在解决该问题上表现出其显著优势。简要介绍了物联网技术的作用及其应用领域,总结了国内外基于物联网技术的城市生活垃圾收运情况,以我国上海市餐厨垃圾收运情况为案例,对其现状和目前存在的问题进行了总结,并结合物联网技术对餐厨垃圾信息化收运的管理方法进行了展望。     

煤化工有机废水处理技术探讨—以煤制气项目为例

文章以煤制气项目为例,介绍了煤化工项目生产中有机废水的来源及特性,探讨了三种常用的煤化工废水处理方法。总结出多级生物处理法在煤制气有机废水处理的实用性,对今后煤制气有机废水处理的工作起到一定的指导意义。     

含镉的铬废水处理方法

对电镀镉工艺流程中出光、钝化及退镉进行了原理分析,得出上述工序必然会导致含镉的铬废水的产生。并提出了采用按铬废水处理后再通过添加重金属捕捉剂的方式,有效控制了电镀废水的处理质量,达到了标准的排放要求。     

高性能聚醚醚酮紫外光加速老化行为研究

目的 研究特种工程塑料聚醚醚酮(PEEK)在紫外光照射实验室加速条件下的老化行为。方法 对PEEK塑料采取紫外线光老化方式进行试验,对老化前后的样品进行外观变化、力学性能、热性能、微观结构表征与分析,明确紫外环境因素对材料的性能影响,进而确定PEEK塑料在紫外光条件下的老化行为。结果 随着紫外光老化时间的增加,PEEK样品表面变黄,颜色加深,出现鼓包与裂纹等宏观与微观损伤。样品内部力学性能、热性能、红外特征吸收峰、元素含量与价态没有明显变化,样品表面热性能下降,傅里叶变换衰减全反射红外光谱(ATR-FTIR)特征吸收峰变化明显。结论 PEEK塑料表面对紫外光比较敏感,在紫外光的照射下容易发生表层的分解,短时间内不会引起材料整体热性能及力学性能的明显变化。