Search results for "Environmental engineering"
showing 10 items of 2674 documents
Mass transfer and hydrodynamic characteristics of unbaffled stirred bio-reactors: Influence of impeller design
2014
Abstract Unbaffled stirred tanks are increasingly recognized as a viable alternative to common baffled tanks for a range of processes where the presence of baffles is undesirable for some reason. For instance, in the case of shear sensitive cell cultivation (e.g. human cells), unbaffled tanks have been recently found to be able to provide sufficient mass transfer through the free surface vortex. As a consequence the need for bubble formation and subsequent bursting, along with relevant cells damage, is conveniently avoided. In this work the influence of impeller geometry on mass transfer performance and power demand of an unbaffled stirred vessel operating both in sub-critical conditions (t…
Simplified dynamic pressure method for kLa measurement in aerated bioreactors
2010
Abstract A simplified version of the dynamic pressure method for measuring mass-transfer coefficients in gas–liquid systems is proposed. With this method oxygen concentration in the liquid phase is monitored after a sudden change of total pressure is applied to the system. With respect to the original technique introduced by Linek [14] the simplified version here proposed greatly simplifies the data treatment, yet resulting in good accuracy for most practical purposes. In practice, with the help of a simple mathematical model, it is found that the dynamic oxygen concentration response, when plotted as residual driving force versus time in a semi-log diagram, should be expected to finally se…
Effect of the height-to-diameter ratio on the mass transfer and mixing performance of a biotrickling filter
2017
BACKGROUND Biotrickling filters (BTFs) are among the most widely used biological technologies for air pollution control. The pollutant removal rate in BTFs relies to a large extent on its gas–liquid mass transfer performance. Therefore, knowledge of the design parameters affecting the mass transfer and mixing performance of full-scale BTFs is of paramount importance. RESULTS This work showed that the height-to-diameter (H/D) ratio is an important parameter in the design of BTFs devoted to air pollution control. The H/D ratio significantly affected the mass transfer and mixing performance of the BTF with and without additional stirring in the holding tank. It was observed that under the same…
An integrated environmental indicator for urban transportation systems: description and application
2015
A simplified version of the ecological footprint method is proposed for assessing the environmental performances of urban transportation systems. The method, starting from the knowledge of the composition of the running vehicular fleet, is here applied to a southern Italian province. It represents a synthetic indicator of the environmental pressure exerted by the system also matching the pollutant emissions with the carrying capacity of the site. Particularly, the forested area needed to absorb the CO2 emissions of the system is compared with the total forested area of the province. The results of the case-study indicates the yearly maximum distance that each vehicle of the fleet can cover …
Characterization of the Altered Zone Around a Fracture in Palmottu Natural Analogue
1996
AbstractA drill core sample penetrating at a natural fracture has been analysed by helium gas techniques and by α-autoradiography. Porosity and diffusivity profiles away from the fracture have been determined and compared with structural profiles. Model calculations are used to determine the effects of sample size on the measured porosities and diffusivities.
Use of Vegetation as Biomaterial for Controlling Measures of Human Impact on the Environment
2019
In a context of a climate change, bioengineering techniques and biomaterials are needed to reduce the human impact on the environment. Thus, in recent years, living materials have been used in environmental engineering applications. In the present paper, attention is restricted to the vegetation, and a brief review on its use as biomaterial in engineering control techniques is presented. The core of this review is a comprehensive overview of two important techniques using vegetation as living material for measures limiting the human impact both in extra-urban and in urban sites. In particular, the use of vegetation both as living material for soil erosion protection and river’s bank stabili…
Flow resistance law under suspended sediment laden conditions
2020
Abstract The uniform flow resistance equation, in the form due to Manning or Darcy-Weisbach, is widely applied to establish the stage-discharge relationship of a river cross-section. The application of this equation, namely the slope-area method, allows to indirectly measure the corresponding river discharge by measurements of bed slope, water level, cross-section area, wetted perimeter and an estimate of channel roughness. In this paper, a recently deduced flow resistance equation for open channel flow was tested during conditions of suspended sediment-laden flow. First, the flow resistance equation was determined by dimensional analysis and by applying the condition of incomplete self-sim…
The CRATI project: New insights on the consolidation of saltweathered stone and the case study of San Domenico Church in Cosenza (South Calabria, Ita…
2019
This paper presents the results of a laboratory experimentation carried out on stone materials in the framework of the CRATI project (Knowledge and Restoration through Advanced Integrated Technologies) aimed at testing new products with consolidating properties by means of an integrated methodological approach. After the preliminary characterization of stone materials collected in the pilot site, the second stage of the activities within the project were focused on the formulation and testing of products for the conservation of the same materials against decay, especially salt crystallization, one of the most aggressive and common degrading processes. The San Domenico Church, located in the…
Abatement of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane in water by reduction at silver cathode and oxidation at boron doped diamond anode in micro reactors
2012
The treatment of aqueous solutions of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane was performed by anodic oxidation at boron doped diamond (BDD), cathodic reduction at silver and coupled processes. Experiments were performed in macro and micro reactors with an interelectrode distance lower than 100. μm. Drastically higher abatements of the chlorinated compound and current efficiencies were obtained in microdevices that, furthermore, allowed to perform the electrolyses with low cell voltages in the absence of supporting electrolyte. When reduction and oxidation processes were carried out simultaneously in the microreactor, a higher abatement of pollutants was obtained with the same amount of the passed charge…
Studies of the Solar Radiations' Influence About Geomembranes Used in Ecological Landfill
2017
Abstract The study shown in this paper presents the behavior of geomembranes used at the ecological landfills. The influences of the solar radiations has a great importance regarding the correct mounting of the geomembranes. The mathematical model developed for the determination anytime and anywhere in the world for the next values and parameters: apparent solar time, solar declination, solar altitude, solar azimuth and incidence angle, zone angle, angle of sun elevation, solar declination, solar constant, solar flux density, diffuse solar radiation, global radiation, soil albedo, total radiant flux density and relational links of these values. The results of this model was used for creatio…