Search results for: harmonic pollution

Authors: Masoud Safarishaal

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Detecting the location of pole-to-earth faults is essential for the safe operation of the electrical system of the railroad. This paper aims to use a combination of evolutionary algorithms and neural networks to increase the accuracy of single pole-to-earth fault detection and location on the Tehran railroad power supply system. As a result, the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are used to train the neural network to improve the accuracy and convergence of the learning process. Due to the system's nonlinearity, fault detection is an ideal application for the proposed method, where the 600 Hz harmonic ripple method is used in this paper for fault detection. The substations were simulated by considering various situations in feeding the circuit, the transformer, and typical Tehran metro parameters that have developed the silicon rectifier. Required data for the network learning process has been gathered from simulation results. The 600Hz component value will change with the change of the location of a single pole to the earth's fault. Therefore, 600Hz components are used as inputs of the neural network when fault location is the output of the network system. The simulation results show that the proposed methods can accurately predict the fault location.

Keywords: single pole-to-pole fault, Tehran railway, ICA, PSO, artificial neural network

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Authors: Kate N. Okeke

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The ever-growing needs of man requiring satisfaction have pushed him strongly towards industrialization which has and is still leaving environmental degradation and its attendant negative impacts in its wake. It is, therefore, not surprising that the enjoyment of fundamental rights like food supply, security of lives and property, freedom of worship, health and education have been drastically affected by such degradation. In recognition of the imperative need to protect the environment and human rights, many global instruments and constitutions have recognized the right to a healthy and sustainable environment. Some environmental advocates and quite a number of literatures on the subject matter call for the recognition of environmental rights via rule of law as a vital means of achieving positive outcomes on the subject matter. However, although there are numerous countries with constitutional environmental provisions, most of them such as Nigeria, have shown poor environmental performance. A notable problem is the fact that the constitution which recognizes environmental rights appears in its other provisions to contradict its provisions by making enforceability of the environmental rights unattainable. While adopting a descriptive, analytical, comparative and explanatory study design in reviewing a successful positive environmental outcome via the rule of law, this article argues that rule of law on a balance of scale, weighs more than just environmental rights recognition and therefore should receive more attention by environmental lawyers and advocates. This is because with rule of law, members of a society are sure of getting the most out of the environmental rights existing in their legal system. Members of Niger-Delta communities of Nigeria will benefit from the environmental rights existing in Nigeria. They are exposed to environmental degradation and pollution with effects such as acidic rainfall, pollution of farmlands and clean water sources. These and many more are consequences of oil and gas exploration. It will also pave way for solving the violence between cattle herdsmen and farmers in the Middle Belt and other regions of Nigeria. Their clashes are over natural resource control. Having seen that environmental rule of law is vital to sustainable development, this paper aims to contribute to discussions on how best the vehicle of rule law can be driven towards achieving positive environmental outcomes. This will be in reliance on other enforceable provisions in the Nigerian Constitution. Other domesticated international instruments will also be considered to attain sustainable environment and development.

Keywords: environment, rule of law, constitution, sustainability

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Authors: Abderrahmane El Kachani, El Mahjoub Chakir, Anass Ait Laachir, Abdelhamid Niaaniaa, Jamal Zerouaoui, Tarik Jarou

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This paper presents a wind turbine based on the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) connected to the utility grid through a shunt active power filter (SAPF). The whole system is controlled by a double nonlinear predictive controller (DNPC). A Taylor series expansion is used to predict the outputs of the system. The control law is calculated by optimization of the cost function. The first nonlinear predictive controller (NPC) is designed to ensure the high performance tracking of the rotor speed and regulate the rotor current of the DFIG, while the second one is designed to control the SAPF in order to compensate the harmonic produces by the three-phase diode bridge supplied by a passive circuit (rd, Ld). As a result, we obtain sinusoidal waveforms of the stator voltage and stator current. The proposed nonlinear predictive controllers (NPCs) are validated via simulation on a 1.5 MW DFIG-based wind turbine connected to an SAPF. The results obtained appear to be satisfactory and promising.

Keywords: wind power, doubly fed induction generator, shunt active power filter, double nonlinear predictive controller

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Authors: Andres Gonzalez, Adam Boies, Jacob Swanson, David Kittelson

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The concern of the indoor air quality (IAQ) has been increasing due to its risk to human health. The smoking, sweeping, and stove and stovetop use are the activities that have a major contribution to the indoor air pollution. Outdoor air pollution also affects IAQ. The most important factors over IAQ from cooking activities are the materials, fuels, foods, and ventilation. The low-cost, mobile air quality monitoring (LCMAQM) sensors, is reachable technology to assess the IAQ. This is because of the lower cost of LCMAQM compared to conventional instruments. The IAQ was assessed, using LCMAQM, during cooking activities in a University of Minnesota graduate-housing evaluating different ventilation systems. The gases measured are carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). The particles measured are particle matter (PM) _2.5 micrometer (µm) and lung deposited surface area (LDSA). The measurements are being conducted during April 2019 in Como Student Community Cooperative (CSCC) that is a graduate housing at the University of Minnesota. The measurements are conducted using an electric stove for cooking. The amount and type of food and oil using for cooking are the same for each measurement. There are six measurements: two experiments measure air quality without any ventilation, two using an extractor as mechanical ventilation, and two using the extractor and windows open as mechanical and natural ventilation. 3The results of experiments show that natural ventilation is most efficient system to control particles and CO₂. The natural ventilation reduces the concentration in 79% for LDSA and 55% for PM_2.5, compared to the no ventilation. In the same way, CO₂ reduces its concentration in 35%. A well-mixed vessel model was implemented to assess particle the formation and decay rates. Removal rates by the extractor were significantly higher for LDSA, which is dominated by smaller particles, than for PM_2.5, but in both cases much lower compared to the natural ventilation. There was significant day to day variation in particle concentrations under nominally identical conditions. This may be related to the fat content of the food. Further research is needed to assess the impact of the fat in food on particle generations.

Keywords: cooking, indoor air quality, low-cost sensor, ventilation

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Authors: Bruno Mazorra Roig

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In the realm of cost-sharing mechanisms, the vulnerability to Sybil strategies, where agents can create fake identities to manipulate outcomes, has not yet been studied. In this paper, we delve into the intricacies of different cost-sharing mechanisms proposed in the literature, highlighting its non-Sybil-resistance nature. Furthermore, we prove that under mild conditions, a Sybil-proof cost-sharing mechanism for public excludable goods is at least (n/2 + 1)−approximate. This finding reveals an exponential increase in the worst-case social cost in environments where agents are restricted from using Sybil strategies. We introduce the concept of Sybil Welfare Invariant mechanisms, where a mechanism maintains its worst-case welfare under Sybil strategies for every set of prior beliefs with full support even when the mechanism is not Sybil-proof. Finally, we prove that the Shapley value mechanism for public excludable goods holds this property and so deduce that the worst-case social cost of this mechanism is the nth harmonic number Hn under the equilibrium of the game with Sybil strategies, matching the worst-case social cost bound for cost-sharing mechanisms. This finding carries important implications for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), indicating that they are capable of funding public excludable goods efficiently, even when the total number of agents is unknown.

Keywords: game theory, mechanism design, cost sharing, false-name proofness

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Authors: Chun Chen Yea, Wen Huei Chou

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Many chemical changes in the atmosphere and the ocean are invisible to the naked eye, but they have profound impacts. These changes not only confirm the phenomenon of global carbon pollution, but also forewarn that more changes are coming. The carbon dioxide gases emitted from the burning of fossil fuels dissolve into the ocean and chemically react with seawater to form carbonic acid, which increases the acidity of the originally alkaline seawater. This gradual acidification is occurring at an unprecedented rate and will affect the effective formation of carapace of some marine organisms such as corals and crustaceans, which are almost entirely composed of calcium carbonate. The carapace of these organisms will become more dissoluble. Acidified seawater not only threatens the survival of marine life, but also negatively impacts the global ecosystem via the food chain. Faced with the threat of ocean acidification, all humans are duty-bound. The industrial sector outputs the highest level of carbon dioxide emissions in Taiwan, and the petrochemical industry is the major contributor. Ever since the construction of Formosa Plastics Group's No. 6 Naphtha Cracker Plant in Yunlin County, there have been many environmental concerns such as air pollution and carbon dioxide emission. The marine life along the coast of Yunlin is directly affected by ocean acidification arising from the carbon emissions. Societal change demands our willingness to act, which is what social advocacy promotes. This study uses digital storytelling for social advocacy and ocean acidification as the subject of a visual narrative in visualization to demonstrate the subsequent promotion of social advocacy. Storytelling can transform dull knowledge into an engaging narrative of the crisis faced by marine life. Digital dissemination is an effective social-work practice. The visualization promoting awareness on ocean acidification disseminated via social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. Social media enables users to compose their own messages and share information across different platforms, which helps disseminate the core message of social advocacy.

Keywords: digital storytelling, visualization, ocean acidification, social advocacy

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Authors: H. Bensouilah, H. Boucherit, M. Lahmar

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A theoretical investigation on the effects of both steady-state and dynamic deformations of the foils on the dynamic performance characteristics of a self-acting air foil journal bearing operating under small harmonic vibrations is proposed. To take into account the dynamic deformations of foils, the perturbation method is used for determining the gas-film stiffness and damping coefficients for given values of excitation frequency, compressibility number, and compliance factor of the bump foil. The nonlinear stationary Reynolds’ equation is solved by means of the Galerkins’ finite element formulation while the finite differences method are used to solve the first order complex dynamic equations resulting from the perturbation of the nonlinear transient compressible Reynolds’ equation. The stiffness of a bump is uniformly distributed throughout the bearing surface (generation I bearing). It was found that the dynamic properties of the compliant finite length journal bearing are significantly affected by the compliance of foils especially when the dynamic deformation of foils is considered in addition to the static one by applying the principle of superposition.

Keywords: elasto-aerodynamic lubrication, air foil bearing, steady-state deformation, dynamic deformation, stiffness and damping coefficients, perturbation method, fluid-structure interaction, Galerk infinite element method, finite difference method

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Authors: Hadjadj Abdechafik, Kious Mecheri, Ameur Aissa

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The objective of this study is to develop a process of treatment of the vibratory signals generated during a horizontal high speed milling process without applying any coolant in order to establish a monitoring system able to improve the machining performance. Thus, many tests were carried out on the horizontal high speed centre (PCI Météor 10), in given cutting conditions, by using a milling cutter with only one insert and measured its frontal wear from its new state that is considered as a reference state until a worn state that is considered as unsuitable for the tool to be used. The results obtained show that the first harmonic follow well the evolution of frontal wear, on another hand a wavelet transform is used for signal processing and is found to be useful for observing the evolution of the wavelet approximations through the cutting tool life. The power and the Root Mean Square (RMS) values of the wavelet transformed signal gave the best results and can be used for tool wear estimation. All this features can constitute the suitable indicators for an effective detection of tool wear and then used for the input parameters of an online monitoring system. Although we noted the remarkable influence of the machining cycle on the quality of measurements by the introduction of a bias on the signal, this phenomenon appears in particular in horizontal milling and in the majority of studies is ignored.

Keywords: flank wear, vibration, milling, signal processing, monitoring

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Authors: Mina Shokry Hanna Saleh Tadros

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The centrality of the Petroleum Industry in the world energy is undoubted. The world economy almost runs and depends on petroleum. Petroleum industry is a multi-trillion industry; it turns otherwise poor and underdeveloped countries into wealthy nations and thrusts them at the center of international diplomacy. Although these developing nations lack the necessary technology to explore and exploit petroleum resources they are not without help as developed nations, represented by their multinational corporations are ready and willing to provide both the technical and managerial expertise necessary for the development of this natural resource. However, the exploration of these petroleum resources comes with, sometimes, grave, concomitant consequences. These consequences are especially pronounced with respect to the environment. From the British Petroleum Oil rig explosion and the resultant oil spillage and pollution in New Mexico, United States to the Mobil Oil spillage along Egyptian coast, the story and consequence is virtually the same. Egypt’s delta Region produces Nigeria’s petroleum which accounts for more than ninety-five percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Between 1999 and 2007, Egypt earned more than $400 billion from petroleum exports. Nevertheless, petroleum exploration and exploitation has devastated the Delta environment. From oil spillage which pollutes the rivers, farms and wetlands to gas flaring by the multi-national corporations; the consequences is similar-a region that has been devastated by petroleum exploitation. This paper thus seeks to examine the consequences and impact of petroleum pollution in the Egypt Delta with particular reference on the right of the people of Niger Delta to a healthy environment. The paper further seeks to examine the relevant international, regional instrument and Nigeria’s municipal laws that are meant to protect the result of the people of the Egypt Delta and their enforcement by the Nigerian State. It is quite worrisome that the Egypt Delta Region and its people have suffered and are still suffering grave violations of their right to a healthy environment as a result of petroleum exploitation in their region. The Egypt effort at best is half-hearted in its protection of the people’s right.

Keywords: crude oil, fire, floating roof tank, lightning protection systemenvironment, exploration, petroleum, pollutionDuvernay petroleum system, oil generation, oil-source correlation, Re-Os

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Authors: Ime R. Udotong, Ofonime U. M. John, Justina I. R. Udotong

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Ibeno, Nigeria hosts the operational base of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the current highest oil and condensate producer in Nigeria. Besides MPNU, other multinational oil companies like Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Agip Energy, a subsidiary of ENI E&P operate onshore, on the continental shelf and deep offshore of the Atlantic Ocean in Ibeno, Nigeria, respectively. This study was designed to carry out the survey of the oil impacted sites in Ibeno, Nigeria. A combinations of electrical resistivity (ER), ground penetrating radar (GPR) and physico-chemical as well as microbiological characterization of soils and water samples from the area were carried out. Results obtained revealed that there have been hydrocarbon contaminations of this environment by past crude oil spills as observed from significant concentrations of THC, BTEX and heavy metal contents in the environment. Also, high resistivity values and GPR profiles clearly showing the distribution, thickness and lateral extent of hydrocarbon contamination as represented on the radargram reflector tones corroborates previous significant oil input. Contaminations were of varying degrees, ranging from slight to high, indicating levels of substantial attenuation of crude oil contamination over time. Hydrocarbon pollution of the study area was confirmed by the results of soil and water physico-chemical and microbiological analysis. The levels of THC contamination observed in this study are indicative of high levels of crude oil contamination. Moreover, the display of relatively lower resistivities of locations outside the impacted areas compared to resistivity values within the impacted areas, the 3-D Cartesian images of oil contaminant plume depicted by red, light brown and magenta for high, low and very low oil impacted areas, respectively as well as the high counts of hydrocarbonoclastic microorganisms in excess of 1% confirmed significant recent pollution of the study area.

Keywords: oil-polluted sites, physico-chemical analyses, microbiological characterization, geotechnical investigations, total hydrocarbon content

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Authors: Tatsanawalai Utarasakul

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Environmental impact has occurred at Khao Yai National Park, especially the water pollution by tourist activities as a result of 800,000 tourists visiting annually. To develop an eco-campsite, eco-friendly cleansers were implemented in Lam Ta Khlong and Pha Kluay Mai Campsites for tourists and restaurants. The results indicated the positive effects of environmentally friendly cleansers on water quality in Lam Ta Khlong River and can be implemented in other protected areas to decrease chemical contamination in ecosystems.

Keywords: sustainable tourism management, eco-campsite, Khao Yai National Park, ecology

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Authors: Melissa R. Quispe-Zuniga, Daniel Callo-Concha, Christian Borgemeister, Klaus Greve

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The Peruvian Andes have a high potential for mining, but many of the mining areas overlay with campesino community lands, being these key actors for agriculture and livestock production. Lead by economic incentives, some communities are renting their lands to mining companies for exploration or exploitation. However, a growing number of campesino communities, usually social and economically marginalized, have developed resistance, alluding consequences, such as water pollution, land-use change, insufficient economic compensation, etc. what eventually end up in Socio-Environmental Conflicts (SEC). It is hypothesized that disclosing the information on environmental pollution and enhance the involvement of communities in the decision-making process may contribute to prevent SEC. To assess whether such complains are grounded on the environmental impact of mining activities, we measured the heavy metals concentration in 24 indicative samples from rivers that run across mining exploitations and farming community lands. Samples were taken during the 2016 dry season and analyzed by inductively-coupled-plasma-atomic-emission-spectroscopy. The results were contrasted against the standards of monitoring government institutions (i.e., OEFA). Furthermore, we investigated the water/environmental complains related to mining in the neighboring 14 communities. We explored the relationship between communities and mining companies, via open-ended interviews with community authorities and non-participatory observations of community assemblies. We found that the concentrations of cadmium (0.023 mg/L), arsenic (0.562 mg/L) and copper (0.07 mg/L), surpass the national water quality standards for Andean rivers (0.00025 mg/L of cadmium, 0.15 mg/L of arsenic and 0.01 mg/L of copper). 57% of communities have posed environmental complains, but 21% of the total number of communities were receiving an annual economic benefit from mining projects. However, 87.5% of the communities who had posed complains have high concentration of heavy metals in their water streams. The evidence shows that mining activities tend to relate to the affectation and vulnerability of campesino community water streams, what justify the environmental complains and eventually the occurrence of a SEC.

Keywords: mining companies, campesino community, water, socio-environmental conflict

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Authors: Arish Iqbal, Santosh Kumar Singh

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Energy from coal is one of the major source of energy throughout the world but taking into consideration its effect on environment 'Clean Coal Technologies' (CCT) came into existence. In this paper we have we studied why CCT’s are essential and what are the different types of CCT’s. Also, the coal and CCT scenario in India is introduced. Coal Bed Methane one of major CCT area is studied in detail. Different types of coal bed methane and its methods of extraction are discussed. The different problem areas during the extraction of CBM are identified and discussed. How CBM can be used as a fuel for future is also discussed.

Keywords: CBM (coal bed methane), CCS (carbon capture and storage), CCT (clean coal technology), CMM (coal mining methane)

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Authors: Okay Gunes

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In this article, for the first time in the literature for this subject we propose a new method for the measuring of well-being inequality through a model composed of superimposing satisfaction waves. The displacement of households’ satisfactory state (i.e. satisfaction) is defined in a satisfaction string. The duration of the satisfactory state for a given period of time is measured in order to determine the relationship between utility and total satisfactory time, itself dependent on the density and tension of each satisfaction string. Thus, individual cardinal total satisfaction values are computed by way of a one-dimensional form for scalar sinusoidal (harmonic) moving wave function, using satisfaction waves with varying amplitudes and frequencies which allow us to measure well-being inequality. One advantage to using satisfaction waves is the ability to show that individual utility and consumption amounts would probably not commute; hence it is impossible to measure or to know simultaneously the values of these observables from the dataset. Thus, we crystallize the problem by using a Heisenberg-type uncertainty resolution for self-adjoint economic operators. We propose to eliminate any estimation bias by correlating the standard deviations of selected economic operators; this is achieved by replacing the aforementioned observed uncertainties with households’ perceived uncertainties (i.e. corrected standard deviations) obtained through the logarithmic psychophysical law proposed by Weber and Fechner.

Keywords: Heisenberg uncertainty principle, superimposing satisfaction waves, Weber–Fechner law, well-being inequality

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Authors: Mokhlisur Rahman

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Ocean inhibits one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet that regulates the earth's climate and weather by providing us with compatible weather to live. Ocean provides food by extending various ways of lifestyles that are dependent on it, transportation by accommodating the world's biggest carriers, recreation by offering its beauty in many moods, and home to countless species. At the essence of receiving various forms of entertainment, consumers choose to be close to the ocean while performing many fun activities. Which, at some point, upsets the stomach of the ocean by threatening marine life and the environment. Consumers throw the waste into the ocean after using it. Most of them are plastics that float over the ocean and turn into thousands of micro pieces that are hard to observe with the naked eye but easily eaten by the sea species. Eventually, that conflicts with the natural consumption process of any living species, making them sick. This information is not known by most consumers who go to the sea or seashores occasionally to spend time, nor is it widely discussed, which creates an information gap among consumers. However, advertising is a powerful tool to educate people about ocean pollution. This abstract analyzes three major ocean-saving advertisement campaigns that use innovative and advanced technology to get maximum exposure. The study collects data from the selected campaigns' websites and retrieves all available content related to messages, videos, and images. First, the SeaLegacy campaign uses stunning images to create awareness among the people; they use social media content, videos, and other educational content. They create content and strategies to build an emotional connection among the consumers that encourage them to move on an action. All the messages in their campaign empower consumers by using powerful words. Second, Ocean Conservancy Campaign uses social media marketing, events, and educational content to protect the ocean from various pollutants, including plastics, climate change, and overfishing. They use powerful images and videos of marine life. Their mission is to create evidence-based solutions toward a healthy ocean. Their message includes the message regarding the local communities along with the sea species. Third, ocean clean-up is a campaign that applies strategies using innovative technologies to remove plastic waste from the ocean. They use social media, digital, and email marketing to reach people and raise awareness. They also use images and videos to evoke an emotional response to take action. These tree advertisements use realistic images, powerful words, and the presence of living species in the imagery presentation, which are eye-catching and can grow emotional connection among the consumers. Identifying the effectiveness of the messages these advertisements carry and their strategies highlights the knowledge gap of mass people between real pollution and its consequences, making the message more accessible to the mass of people. This study aims to provide insights into the effectiveness of ocean-saving advertisement campaigns and their impact on the public's awareness of ocean conservation. The findings from this study help shape future campaigns.

Keywords: advertising-campaign, content-creation, images ocean-saving technology, videos

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Authors: Lenka Jesonkova, Frantisek Bozek

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Trihalogenmethanes (THMs) are disinfection byproducts with non-carcinogenic and genotoxic effects. The contamination of 6 sites close to the water treatment plant has been monitored in second largest city of the Czech Republic. Health risk assessment including both non-carcinogenic and genotoxic risk for long term exposition was realized using the critical concentrations. Concentrations of trihalogenmethanes met national standards in all samples. Risk assessment proved that health risks from trihalogenmethanes are acceptable on each site.

Keywords: drinking water, health risk assessment, trihalogenmethanes, water pollution

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Authors: Ehsan Kadkhodaie, Shahin Parvar, Soroush Senemar, Mostafa Shriat, Abdolrasoul Malekpour

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The role of oil in supra distribution transformers is so critical and, several standards in determining the quality of oil have been offered. So far, moisture, viscosity and insulation protection of the oil have been measured based on mechanical and chemical methods and systems such as kart fisher, falling ball and TDM 4000 that most of these techniques are destructive and have many problems such as pollution. In this study, due to the properties of oil and also physical behavior of ultrasound wave new method was designed to in the determination of oil indicators including viscosity and moisture. The results show the oil viscosity can be found from the relationship μ = 42.086/√EE and moisture from (PLUS+) = −15.65 (PPM) + 26040 relationship.

Keywords: oil, viscosity, moisture, ultrasonic waves

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Authors: Xu Fei (Philip) WU

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As waste recycling concept been accepted more and more in modern societies, the organic portion of the municipal waste become a sires issue in today’s life. Depend on location and season, the organic waste can bee anywhere between 40-65% of total municipal solid waste. Also composting and anaerobic digestion technologies been applied in this field for years, however both process have difficulties been selected by economical and environmental factors. Beside environmental pollution and risk of virus spread, the compost is not a product been welcomed by people even the waste management has to give up them at no cost. The anaerobic digester has to have 70% of water and keep at 35 degree C or above; base on above conditions, the retention time only can be up to two weeks and remain solid has to be dewater and composting again. The enhancive waste water treatment has to be added after. Because these reasons, the voice of suggesting cancelling recycling program and turning all waste to mass burn incinerations have been raised-A process has already been proved has least energy efficiency and most air pollution problem associated process. A newly developed WXF Bio-energy process employs recently developed and patented pre-designed separation, multi-layer and multi-cavity successive bioreactor landfill technology. It features an improved leachate recycling technology, technologies to maximize the biogas generation rate and a reduced overall turnaround period on the land. A single properly designed and operated site can be used indefinitely. In this process, all collected biogas will be processed to eliminate H2S and other hazardous gases. The methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen will be utilized in a proprietary process to manufacture methanol which can be sold to mitigate operating costs of the landfill. This integration of new processes offers a more advanced alternative to current sanitary landfill, incineration and compost technology. Xu Fei (Philip) Wu Xu Fei Wu is founder and Chief Scientist of W&Y Environmental International Inc. (W & Y), a Canadian environmental and sustainable energy technology company with patented landfill processes and proprietary waste to energy technologies. He has worked in environmental and sustainable energy fields over the last 25 years. Before W&Y, he worked for Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Limited, Microbe Environmental Science and Technology Inc. of Canada and The Ministry of Nuclear Industry and Ministry of Space Flight Industry of China. Xu Fei Wu holds a Master of Engineering Science degree from The University of Western Ontario. I wish present this paper as an oral presentation only Selected Conference Presentations: • “Removal of Phenolic Compounds with Algae” Presented at 25th Canadian Symposium on Water Pollution Research (CAWPRC Conference), Burlington, Ontario Canada. February, 1990 • “Removal of Phenolic Compounds with Algae” Presented at Annual Conference of Pollution Control Association of Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. April, 1990 • “Removal of Organochlorine Compounds in a Flocculated Algae Photo-Bioreactor” Presented at International Symposium on Low Cost and Energy Saving Wastewater Treatment Technologies (IAWPRC Conference), Kiyoto, Japan, August, 1990 • “Maximizing Production and Utilization of Landfill Gas” 2009 Wuhan International Conference on Environment(CAWPRC Conference, sponsored by US EPA) Wuhan, China. October, 2009. • “WXF Bio-Energy-A Green, Sustainable Waste to Energy Process” Presented at 9Th International Conference Cooperation for Waste Issues, Kharkiv, Ukraine March, 2012 • “A Lannfill Site Can Be Recycled Indefinitely” Presented at 28th International Conference on solid Waste Technology and Management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. March, 2013. Hosted by The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management.

Keywords: green fuel, waste management, bio-energy, sustainable development, methanol

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Authors: Sajjad H. Kasanagh, Perviz Ahmedzade, Alexander Fainleib, Taylan Gunay

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Modification of asphalt is a fundamental method around the world mainly on the purpose of providing more durable pavements which lead to diminish repairing cost during the lifetime of highways. Various polymers such as styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) make up the greater parts of the all-over asphalt modifiers generally providing better physical properties of asphalt by decreasing temperature dependency which eventually diminishes permanent deformation on highways such as rutting. However, some waste and low-cost materials such as recycled plastics and ground rubber tire have been attempted to utilize in asphalt as modifier instead of manufactured polymer modifiers due to decreasing the eventual highway cost. On the other hand, the usage of recycled plastics has become a worldwide requirement and awareness in order to decrease the pollution made by waste plastics. Hence, finding an area in which recycling plastics could be utilized has been targeted by many research teams so as to reduce polymer manufacturing and plastic pollution. To this end, in this paper, thermoplastic dynamic vulcanizate (TDV) obtained from recycled post-consumer polyethylene and ground tire rubber (GTR) were used to provide an efficient modifier for asphalt which decreases the production cost as well and finally might provide an ecological solution by decreasing polymer disposal problems. TDV was synthesized by the chemists in the research group by means of the abovementioned components that are considered as compatible physical characteristic of asphalt materials. TDV modified asphalt samples having different rate of proportions of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 wt.% TDV modifier were prepared. Conventional tests, such as penetration, softening point and roll thin film oven (RTFO) tests were performed to obtain fundamental physical and aging properties of the base and modified binders. The high temperature performance grade (PG) of binders was determined by Superpave tests conducted on original and aged binders. The multiple stress creep and recovery (MSCR) test which is relatively up-to-date method for classifying asphalts taking account of their elasticity abilities was carried out to evaluate PG plus grades of binders. The results obtained from performance grading, and MSCR tests were also evaluated together so as to make a comparison between the methods both aiming to determine rheological parameters of asphalt. The test results revealed that TDV modification leads to a decrease in penetration, an increase in softening point, which proves an increasing stiffness of asphalt. DSR results indicate an improvement in PG for modified binders compared to base asphalt. On the other hand, MSCR results that are compatible with DSR results also indicate an enhancement on rheological properties of asphalt. However, according to the results, the improvement is not as distinct as observed in DSR results since elastic properties are fundamental in MSCR. At the end of the testing program, it can be concluded that TDV can be used as modifier which provides better rheological properties for asphalt and might diminish plastic waste pollution since the material is 100% recycled.

Keywords: asphalt, ground tire rubber, recycled polymer, thermoplastic dynamic vulcanizate

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Authors: Abubakar Maitama Yusuf Hotoro, Olokpo Israel Olofu, Yusuf U. Tarauni, Mudassir A. Umar, Aliyu A, Dahiru Garba Diso, Usman H. Jamoh, M. Sale

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The study assessed the impact of environmental pollution on groundwater potential at Tudun Murtala waste land fill using electrical resistivity, induced polarization and Physiochemical methods. The study area is located between latitude 12.023678N and longitude 8.573676 E. Geophysical data were collected at maximum length of 140m along twelve profiles using ABEM Terrameter SAS 1000. Results from the Geophysical analysis showed that the profiles were underlain by three lithological layers; the top layer consisting of Loamy and Sand soils, alluvium, granite, shale and sandstone. The second and third layers were predominantly made of weathered and fractured basements respectively. The potential groundwater water bearing zones of the study area occurred at VES2, VES4, VES5, VES6 and VES7. The thicknesses of the sounding points were found to be 20.8m at VES2; 25.2m at VES4; 13.2m at VES5; 50.8m at VES6 and 13.3m at VES7. The corresponding depths for the sounding points were 20.8m at VES2; 27.9m at VES4; 26.7m at VES5; 51.6m at VES6 and 24.9m at VES7 respectively. The Physiochemical study of selected groundwater samples assessed parameters such as the Electrical Conductivity, EC (288dS/m to 1365dS/m), TDS (170.8mg/L to 820mg/L) Pb (0.546mg/l to 0.629mg/l), Cu (-0.001mg/l to 0.004mg/l), and Cd (0.031mg/l to 0.092mg/l). The physiochemical results showed that the groundwater around the dumpsite may have been contaminated, especially in Dumpsite Hole 1 and Hole 2 at VES4 and VES6 respectively. There are indications for suspected leachate mitigation around the two VES points. Even though, the pH values of 6.4 and 6.2 at the two sounding points were considered to be within the permissible pH range (6.5 to 6.8). The values of other elements present in the groundwater for the samples at other VES points were found to be above permissible WHO and Nigerian Standards for Drinking Water.

Keywords: resistivity induced polarization, chargeability, landfill, leachate, contamination

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Authors: Remus Titiriga

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The paper focuses on Pascal's indivisibles evolving to Leibniz's infinitesimals. It starts with parallel developments by the two savants in Combinatorics (triangular numbers for Pascal and harmonic triangles for Leibniz) and their implication in determining the sum of mathematical series. It follows with a focus on the geometrical contributions of Pascal. He considered the cycloid and other mechanical curves the epitome of geometric comprehensibility in a series of challenging problems he posed to the mathematical world. Pascal provided the solutions in 1658, in a volume published under the pseudonym of Dettonville, using indivisibles and ratios between curved and straight lines. In the third part, the research follows the impact of this volume on Leibniz as the initial impetus for the elaboration of modern calculus as an algorithmic method disjoint of geometrical intuition. Then paper analyses the further steps and proves that Leibniz's developments relate to his philosophical frame (the search for a characteristic Universalis, the consideration of principle of continuity or the rule of sufficient reason) different from Pascal's and impacting mathematical problems and their solutions. At this stage in Leibniz's evolution, the infinitesimals replaced the indivisibles proper. The last part of the paper starts with speculation around "What if?". Could Pascal, if he lived more, accomplish the same feat? The document uses Pascal's reconstructed philosophical frame to formulate a positive answer. It also proposes to teach calculus with indivisibles and infinitesimals mimicking Pascal and Leibniz's achievements.

Keywords: indivisibles, infinitesimals, characteristic triangle, the principle of continuity

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Authors: Zerzouri Nora, Benalia Nadia, Bensiali Nadia

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This paper presents a grid-connected wind power generation scheme using Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG). This can supply power at constant voltage and constant frequency with the rotor speed varying. This makes it suitable for variable speed wind energy application. The DFIG system consists of wind turbine, asynchronous wound rotor induction generator, and inverter with Space Vector Modulation (SVM) controller. In which the stator is connected directly to the grid and the rotor winding is in interface with rotor converter and grid converter. The use of back-to-back SVM converter in the rotor circuit results in low distortion current, reactive power control and operate at variable speed. Mathematical modeling of the DFIG is done in order to analyze the performance of the systems and they are simulated using MATLAB. The simulation results for the system are obtained and hence it shows that the system can operate at variable speed with low harmonic current distortion. The objective is to track and extract maximum power from the wind energy system and transfer it to the grid for useful work.

Keywords: Doubly Fed Induction Generator, Wind Energy Conversion Systems, Space Vector Modulation, distortion harmonics

Procedia PDF Downloads 465

Authors: Akinwale Adeyinka

Abstract:

Critical natural resources such as clean ground water, fertile topsoil, and biodiversity are diminishing at an exponential rate, orders of magnitude above that at which they can be regenerated. Based on news on world population record, over 6 billion people on earth, and almost a quarter million added each day, the scale of human activity and environmental impact is unprecedented. Soaring human population growth over the past century has created a visible challenge to earth’s life support systems. In addition, the world faces an onslaught of other environmental threats including degenerated global climate change, global warming, intensified acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion and health threatening pollution. Overpopulation and the use of deleterious technologies combine to increase the scale of human activities to a level that underlies these entire problems. These intensifying trends cannot continue indefinitely, hopefully, through increased understanding and valuation of ecosystems and their services, earth’s basic life-support system will be protected for the future.To say the fact, human civilization is now the dominant cause of change in the global environment. Now that our relationship to the earth has change so utterly, we have to see that change and understand its implication. These are actually 2 aspects to the challenges which we should believe. The first is to realize that our power to harm the earth can indeed have global and even permanent effects. Second is to realize that the only way to understand our new role as a co-architect of nature is to see ourselves as part of a complex system that does operate according to the same simple rules of cause and effect we are used to. So understanding the physical/biological dimension of earth system is an important precondition for making sensible policy to protect our environment. Because we believe Sustainable Development Is a matter of reconciling respect for the environment, social equity and economic profitability. Also, we strongly believe that environmental protection is naturally about reducing air and water pollution, but it also includes the improvement of the environmental performance of existing process. That is why we should always have it at the heart of our business that the environmental problem is not our effect on the environment so much as our relationship with the environment. We should always think of being environmental friendly in our operation.

Keywords: Stratospheric ozone depletion ion , Climate Change, global warming, social equity and economic profitability

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Nivon P. Alejandra, Valencia P. L. Rodrigo, Vivanco V. Martin, Morita A. Adelina

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Technological innovation is fundamental to reach and maintain the levels of competitiveness of agricultural producers, the detection of actors, their activities, resources and capacities of an innovation system is needed for the development of technological packages that adapt to each type of crops, local circumstances and characteristics of the producer. The growing development of the viticulture and wine sector in Mexico prospects an increase in its national market participation for 2020, this is the reason to consider it a fertile field for the technological packages adoption that promote Precision Agriculture (PA) in a harmonic and sustainable development. A viability inspection of technological packages adoption by viticulture and wine sector is made following the methodology proposed by SAGARPA in 2015 and the World Bank in 2008: the history, actors, strengths and opportunities are analyzed in this particular agroindustrial sector, also its technological innovation system is inspected in order to improve technological capacities and innovation networks taking into account local and regional resources. PA and technological packages adoption can help improving the conditions and quality of the grape for winemaking: increasing the wine's storage potential and its nutraceutical nature. The assertive diagnosis in vineyard opportunity areas will help the management of the crop by applying natural treatments at the right time in the right place.

Keywords: technological packages, precision farming, sustainable development, innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Kara J. Coffman-Rea, Karen E. Samonds

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Microplastic pollution is an urgent global threat to our planet and human health. Microplastic particles have been detected within our food, water, and atmosphere, and found within the human stool, placenta, and lung tissue. However, most spectrometric microplastic detection methods require chemical digestion which can alter or destroy microplastic particles and makes it impossible to acquire information about their in-situ distribution. MALDI TOF MS (Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry) is an analytical method using a soft ionization technique that can be used for polymer analysis. This method provides a valuable opportunity to both acquire information regarding the in-situ distribution of microplastics and also minimizes the destructive element of chemical digestion. In addition, MALDI TOF MS allows for expanded analysis of the microplastics including detection of specific additives that may be present within them. MALDI TOF MS is particularly sensitive to sample preparation and has not yet been used to analyze environmental microplastics within their specific location (e.g., biological tissues, sediment, water). In this study, microplastics were created using polyethylene gloves, polystyrene micro-foam, and polyethylene terephthalate cable sleeving. Plastics were frozen using liquid nitrogen and ground to obtain small fragments. An artificial tissue was created using a cellulose sponge as scaffolding coated with a MaxGel Extracellular Matrix to simulate human lung tissue. Optimal preparation techniques (e.g., matrix, cationization reagent, solvent, mixing ratio, laser intensity) were first established for each specific polymer type. The artificial tissue sample was subsequently spiked with microplastics, and specific polymers were detected using MALDI-TOF-MS. This study presents a novel method for the detection of environmental polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polystyrene microplastics within a complex sample. Results of this study provide an effective method that can be used in future microplastics research and can aid in determining the potential threats to environmental and human health that they pose.

Keywords: environmental plastic pollution, MALDI-TOF MS, microplastics, polymer identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 231

Authors: Ayesha Asma, Aqsa Arooj

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It is an essential need in this era of Science and Technology to investigate some unique and appropriate materials for optoelectronic applications. Here, we deliberated, for the first time, the structural, optoelectronic, mechanical, vibrational, and thermo dynamical properties of hexagonal structure selenium-based ternary chalcogenides AScSe₂ (A= K, Cs) by using Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof Generalized-Gradient-Approximation (PBE-GGA). The lattice angles for these materials are found as α=β=90o and γ=120o. KScSe₂ optimized with lattice parameters a=b=4.3 (Å), c=7.81 (Å) whereas CsScSe₂ got relaxed at a=b=4.43 (Å) and c=8.51 (Å). However, HSE06 functional has overestimated the lattice parameters to the extent that for KScSe₂ a=b=4.92 (Å), c=7.10 (Å), and CsScSe₂ a=b=5.15 (Å), c=7.09 (Å). The energy band gap of these materials calculated via PBE-GGA and HSE06 functionals confirms their semiconducting nature. Concerning Born’s criteria, these materials are mechanically stable ones. Moreover, the temperature dependence of thermodynamic potentials and specific heat at constant volume are also determined while using the harmonic approximation. The negative values of free energy ensure their thermodynamic stability. The vibrational modes are calculated by plotting the phonon dispersion and the vibrational density of states (VDOS), where infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy are used to characterize the vibrational modes. The various optical parameters are examined at a smearing value of 0.5eV. These parameters unveil that these materials are good absorbers of incident light in ultra-violet (UV) regions and may be utilized in photovoltaic applications.

Keywords: structural, optimized, vibrational, ultraviolet

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Authors: Clinton Adas

Abstract:

Antibiotic resistance has been identified by the World Health Organisation as a real possibility for the 21st Century. While many factors contribute to this, one of the more significant is industrial animal farming and its effect on the food chain and environment. Livestock consumes a significant portion of antibiotics sold globally, and these are used to make animals grow faster for profit purposes, to prevent illness caused by inhumane living conditions, and to treat disease when it breaks out. Many of these antibiotics provide little benefit to animals, and most are the same as those used by humans - including those deemed critical to human health that should therefore be used sparingly. Antibiotic resistance contributes to growing numbers of illnesses and death in humans, and the excess usage of these medications results in waste that enters the environment and is harmful to many ecological processes. This combination of antimicrobial resistance and environmental degradation furthermore harms the economic well-being and prospects of many. Using an interdisciplinary approach including medical, environmental, economic, and legal studies, the paper evaluates the dynamic between animal welfare and commerce and argues that while animal welfare is not of great concern to many, this approach is ultimately harming human welfare too. It is, however, proposed that both could be addressed under a One Health and Welfare approach, as we cannot continue to ignore the linkages between animals, the environment, and people. The evaluation of industrial animal farming is therefore considered through three aspects – the environmental impact, which is measured by pollution that causes environmental degradation; the human impact, which is measured by the rise of illnesses from pollution and antibiotics resistance; and the economic impact, which is measured through costs to the health care system and the financial implications of industrial farming on the economic well-being of many. These three aspects are considered in light of the Sustainable Development Goals that provide additional tangible metrics to evidence the negative impacts. While the research addresses the welfare of farmed animals, there is potential for these principles to be extrapolated into other contexts, including wildlife and habitat protection. It must be noted that while the question of animal rights in industrial animal farming is acknowledged and of importance, this is a separate matter that is not addressed here.

Keywords: animal and human welfare, industrial animal farming, one health and welfare, sustainable development goals

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: M. Saba, A. Iaaly, E. Carlier, N. Georges

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This research focuses on assessing the ground water quality of Northern Lebanon affected by saline water intrusion. The chemical, physical and microbiological parameters were collected in various seasons spanning over the period of two years. Results were assessed using Geographic Information System (GIS) due to its visual capabilities in presenting the pollution extent in the studied region. Future projections of the excessive pumping were also simulated using GIS in order to assess the extent of the problem of saline intrusion in the near future.

Keywords: GIS, saline water, quality control, drinkable water quality standards, pumping

Procedia PDF Downloads 344

Authors: Chhaya Sharma, Dushyant Kumar

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The present work deals with the treatment of wastewater generated by paper industry by using aluminium as anode material. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of chloropenolics have been carried out by using primary clarifier effluent with the help of gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Sixteen chlorophenolics compounds have been identified and estimated. Results indicated that among 16 identified compounds, 7 are 100% removed and overall 66% reduction in chorophenolics compounds have been detected. Moreover, during the treatment, the biodegradability index of wastewater significantly increases, along with 70 % reduction in chemical oxygen demand and 99 % in color.

Keywords: aluminium anode, chlorophenolics, electrocoagulation, pollution load, wastewater

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Yuanxiaoyue Yang

Abstract:

Emissions trading, or ‘cap-and-trade', has been long promoted by economists as a more cost-effective pollution control approach than traditional performance standard approaches. While there is a large body of empirical evidence for the overall effectiveness of emissions trading, relatively little attention has been paid to other unintended consequences brought by emissions trading. One important consequence is that cap-and-trade could introduce the risk of creating high-level emission concentrations in areas where emitting facilities purchase a large number of emission allowances, which may cause an unequal distribution of environmental benefits. This study will contribute to the current environmental policy literature by linking trading activity with environmental injustice concerns and empirically analyzing the causal relationship between trading activity and emissions reduction under a cap-and-trade program for the first time. To investigate the potential environmental injustice concern in cap-and-trade, this paper uses a differences-in-differences (DID) with instrumental variable method to identify the causal effect of allowance trading behaviors on emission reduction levels under the clean air interstate rule (CAIR), a cap-and-trade program targeting on the power sector in the eastern US. The major data source is the facility-year level emissions and allowance transaction data collected from US EPA air market databases. While polluting facilities from CAIR are the treatment group under our DID identification, we use non-CAIR facilities from the Acid Rain Program - another NOx control program without a trading scheme – as the control group. To isolate the causal effects of trading behaviors on emissions reduction, we also use eligibility for CAIR participation as the instrumental variable. The DID results indicate that the CAIR program was able to reduce NOx emissions from affected facilities by about 10% more than facilities who did not participate in the CAIR program. Therefore, CAIR achieves excellent overall performance in emissions reduction. The IV regression results also indicate that compared with non-CAIR facilities, purchasing emission permits still decreases a CAIR participating facility’s emissions level significantly. This result implies that even buyers under the cap-and-trade program have achieved a great amount of emissions reduction. Therefore, we conclude little evidence of environmental injustice from the CAIR program.

Keywords: air pollution, cap-and-trade, emissions trading, environmental justice

Procedia PDF Downloads 127