Search results for "WASTE"
showing 10 items of 2580 documents
Promoting Food Waste Reduction at Primary Schools. A Case Study
2021
Food waste (FW) has recently attracted the interest of different institutions and has been the focus of many studies due to its important environmental, social and economic impact. This paper aims to analyze whether a didactic intervention, consisting of informing teachers and pupils and involving pupils in reducing FW, could bring about changes in the level of knowledge and attitude towards FW and in the amount of FW generated during the mid-morning break and lunch at schools. This study was conducted at a public Primary School in Valencia (Spain). Subtle changes in the level of knowledge and attitude towards FW were detected in teachers and pupils after the intervention. Around 30% of FW …
Concentration of retene and resin acids in sedimenting particles collected from a bleached kraft mill effluent receiving lake
2000
Abstract The concentration of retene, a di-alkyl substituted PAH derived microbially and thermally from dehydroabietic acid, eight resin acids and their derivatives were analysed from sedimenting particles collected from five lake sites receiving pulp and paper mill effluents and from two reference sites. At five of the sites, samples were collected prior and after a conventional aerated lagoon wastewater treatment system of the mill was modernized with an activated sludge plant, and elemental chlorine free bleaching (ECF) had replaced chlorine bleaching. The highest level of retene was 30.0–53.8 μ g/g dry weight (d.w.), observed 3 km downstream from the mill. Nine kilometers downstream fr…
Thermal regeneration of ammonium bi-carbonate solutions for closed-loop reverse electrodialysis
2016
Reverse electrodialysis is a novel technology that exploits a salinity gradient to generate electrical energy. The salinity gradient can be available from natural waters such as seawater and river water or they can be artificially generated and used within closed-loop applications. This last option has been recently investigated leading to the development of the RED heat engine concept. In this case, the deployed salinity gradient exiting the RED unit is regenerated in a thermally-driven unit using low-temperature heat, thus being able to convert heat to power within an integrated system. Among the different regeneration alternatives, the use of thermolytic salts has been presented as a pro…
Risk analysis using fuzzy set theory of accidental exposure of medical staff during brachytherapy procedures
2010
Using fuzzy set theory, this paper presents results from risk analyses that explore potential exposure of medical operators working in a high dose rate brachytherapy irradiation plant. In these analyses, the HEART methodology, a first generation method for human reliability analysis, has been employed to evaluate the probability of human error. This technique has been modified on the basis of fuzzy set concepts to take into account, more directly, the uncertainties of the so-called error-promoting factors on which the method is based. Moreover, with regard to some identified accident scenarios, fuzzy potential dose was also evaluated to estimate the relevant risk. The results also provide s…
Waste is more. Waste reuse in Architecture
2016
Gli studi sul riuso degli scarti per l’architettura hanno prodotto negli ultimi anni risultati inediti e molto originali. Questo, tuttavia, resta ancora un ambito poco esplorato, più florido in determinati contesti geografici e particolari condizioni economiche; limitato a poche esperienze di sperimentazione in altri. In questi contesti, i limiti per la diffusione di sistemi costruttivi che riusano prodotti di scarto sono essenzialmente due: innanzitutto il fattore culturale, la tradizione consolidata e la difficoltà di accettare modi di costruire e vivere radicalmente alternativi a quelli conosciuti (se non limitati ad esperienze di studio, o temporanee, o comunque che non interferiscano c…
Zr, Hf and REE distribution in river water under different ionic strength conditions
2018
International audience; The Platani River flowing in south-central Sicily, interacting with evaporite rocks, generates a wide range of ionic strength in the water catchment from 0.1 to 5.0 mol kg−1. We sampled 38 river sites and analysed the composition for the dissolved fraction filtered through 0.45 μm, the truly dissolved fraction obtained through ultrafiltration (10 kDa) and the relative included colloidal fraction.This study was focused on the recognition of Zr, Hf and REE behaviour under changing ionic strength conditions, since this is one of parameters responsible for colloid stability in natural waters. In turn, this phenomenon leads to REE release from the colloidal fraction and t…
Lead isotopic fingerprint in human scalp hair: The case study of Iglesias mining district (Sardinia, Italy)
2017
The Sulcis-Iglesiente district (SW Sardinia, Italy) has been, until recently, one of the most important Italian polymetallic mining areas for the extraction of lead. Epidemiological studies conducted over several decades have indicated this site at high risk of environmental crisis with possible adverse effects on the public health. In the present paper we discuss Pb isotope signatures in human scalp hair and road dust collected from the Sulcis-Iglesiente area in order to trace the exposure of populations to potential Pb sources. A total of 23 determinations (20 on hair samples and 3 on road dust samples) of lead isotope ratios (206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/206Pb) were carried out. The obtained re…
Supercritical water gasification of waste oils as a source of syngas
2021
A huge amount of waste oil is produced worldwide. Also substantial amount of virgin oils is available that are interesting candidates for upgrading into syngas. Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) can be considered as an aqueous phase reforming process to produce syngas from oils. In this work, a variety of waste and virgin oils were gasified in a continuous down-flow autoclave reactor at supercritical conditions. Experiments were carried out at 430 °C and 660 °C, 25 MPa, with a residence time in the range 103-170 s, in order to investigate gasification and carbon efficiency, hydrogen yield and composition of the produced gas. All the analysed feedstocks were suspended in water at vario…
Effects of different levels of nitrogen on production and quality of strawberries from fresh "plug plants"
2012
Nitrogen is an essential element, not only for its influence on the vegetativeproductive activity of the plants but also on fruit quality (color, shelf life, etc.). To achieve high production and quality standards, reducing environment impact, the S.Ag.A Department of Palermo carried out some researches to identify the most suitable fertilization to maximize the productive potential of fresh plug plants of two cultivars of strawberry widespread in the Sicilian area, 'Sabrosa®Candonga' and 'Nora', reducing Nitrogen inputs. The experimental design adopted was a splitplot, in which the main plot was the different doses of nitrogen, 120, 170, 220, 270, 320 kg/ha and the secondary one the cultiv…
High salinity wastewater treatment by membrane bioreactors
2020
Abstract This chapter reviews the state of the art regarding the use of membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems for saline wastewater treatment. In particular, a comprehensive review is presented discussing the most adopted MBR configurations for the treatment of saline wastewater. Further, the chapter discusses the main effects of salinity on the biological performance, kinetic parameters, fouling development, sludge rheological features, and greenhouse gas (GHG) production. Literature results show that there is a significant effect of the salinity (and/or salinity variations) on the biological performance and membrane filtration. Specifically, it was found that a gradual salinity increase, carr…