Air Emissions (air + emission)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Characterization and uncertainty analysis of VOCs emissions from industrial wastewater treatment plants

ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Issue 3 2010
Kaishan Zhang
Abstract Air toxics from the industrial wastewater treatment plants (IWTPs) impose serious health concerns on its surrounding residential neighborhoods. To address such health concerns, one of the key challenges is to quantify the air emissions from the IWTPs. The objective here is to characterize the air emissions from the IWTPs and quantify its associated uncertainty. An IWTP receiving the wastewaters from an airplane maintenance facility is used for illustration with focus on the quantification of air emissions for benzyl alcohol, phenol, methylene chloride, 2-butanone, and acetone. Two general fate models, i.e., WATER9 and TOXCHEM+V3.0 were used to model the IWTP and quantify the air emissions. Monte Carlo and Bootstrap simulation were used for uncertainty analysis. On average, air emissions from the IWTP were estimated to range from 0.003 lb/d to approximately 16 lb/d with phenol being the highest and benzyl alcohol being the least. However, emissions are associated with large uncertainty. The ratio of the 97.5th percentile to the 2.5th percentile air emissions ranged from 5 to 50 depending on pollutants. This indicates point estimates of air emissions might fail to capture the worst scenarios, leading to inaccurate conclusion when used for health risk assessment. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2010 [source]


A pilot-scale demonstration of a membrane-based absorption- stripping process for removal and recovery of volatile organic compounds

ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Issue 1 2001
S. Majumdar
A new membrane-based continuous absorption-stripping process has been developed to separate gas/vapor mixtures, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), from a nitrogen/air stream. Two different hollow fiber membrane modules are needed in this process to remove the VOCs. In the first module, VOC-laden nitrogen/air stream flows through the bore of the hollow fibers. A suitable absorbent liquid with a high solubility for the VOC and essentially no solubility for nitrogen/air is pumped countercurrently over the outside of the fibers. This liquid is an inert, nontoxic, and essentially nonvolatile, organic solvent. The VOCs are effectively removed from nitrogen/air to a very low level and are concentrated in the absorbent for recovery, while the absorbent is regenerated by heating and subjecting it to vacuum in a separate hollow fiber membrane module called the stripping module. A pilot-scale membrane-based absorption-stripping unit was located next to a paint spray booth at Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, GA. Tests were performed on slip-streams of real-time air emissions from scheduled intermittent painting operations, so the concentration of VOC in the exhaust air fluctuated with time. The VOC removal efficiency was determined as a function of the feed air flow rate and the absorbent (silicone oil) flow rate. Depending on the gas/liquid flow rates and the inlet VOC concentration, the process successfully removed as much as 95+% of the VOC present. The experimental results have been compared with theoretical predictions. [source]


Increasing business value with landfill gas-to-energy projects: Overview of air emissions and permitting regulations

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2009
Mario G. Cora
First page of article [source]


Development and simulation studies of an unsteady state biofilter model for the treatment of cyclic air emissions of an ,-pinene gas stream

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 7 2005
Christina Dirk-Faitakis
Abstract This paper describes the development and simulation of an unsteady state biofilter model used to predict dynamic behaviour of cyclically-operated biofilters and compares it with experimental results obtained from three, parallel, bench-scale biofilters treating both periodically fluctuating concentrations and constant concentrations of an ,-pinene-laden gas stream. The dynamic model, using kinetic parameters estimated from the constant concentration biofilter, was able to predict the performance of cyclic biofilters operating at short cycle periods (ie, in the order of minutes and hours). Steady state kinetic data from a constant concentration biofilter can be used to predict unsteady state biofilter operation. At a 24 h cycle period, the dynamic model compared well with experimental results. For long cycle periods (ie, hours and days), removal efficiency decreased after periods of non-loading: the longer the period of non-loading, the poorer the biofilter's performance at the re-commencement of pollutant loading. At longer time scales the model did not effectively predict transient behaviour, as adsorption and changes in kinetic parameters were not accounted for. Modelling results showed that similar biofiltration performance for the cyclic and constant concentration biofiltration of ,-pinene is expected for biofilters operating solely in the first order kinetics regime. Poorer performance for cyclic biofilters following Monod kinetics spanning the entire kinetics range is expected as the cycle amplitude increases. The most important parameters affecting the performance of a cyclically-operated biofilter with short cycle periods are: amplitude of cyclic fluctuations, Cg, max/Cg, relative value of the half-saturation constant in the Monod expression, Ks, and effective diffusivity of ,-pinene in the biofilm, De. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


The Value of Remanufactured Engines: Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Perspectives

JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1-2 2004
Vanessa M. Smith
Remanufacturing restores used automotive engines to like-new condition, providing engines that are functionally equivalent to a new engine at much lower environmental and economic costs than the manufacture of a new engine. A life-cycle assessment (LCA) model was developed to investigate the energy savings and pollution prevention that are achieved in the United States through remanufacturing a midsized automotive gasoline engine compared to an original equipment manufacturer manufacturing a new one. A typical full-service machine shop, which is representative of 55% of the engine remanufacturers in the United States, was inventoried, and three scenarios for part replacement were analyzed. The life-cycle model showed that the remanufactured engine could be produced with 68% to 83% less energy and 73% to 87% fewer carbon dioxide emissions. The life-cycle model showed significant savings for other air emissions as well, with 48% to 88% carbon monoxide (CO) reductions, 72% to 85% nitrogen oxide (NOx) reductions, 71% to 84% sulfur oxide (SOx) reductions, and 50% to 61% nonmethane hydrocarbon reductions. Raw material consumption was reduced by 26% to 90%, and solid waste generation was reduced by 65% to 88%. The comparison of environmental burdens is accompanied by an economic survey of suppliers of new and remanufactured automotive engines showing a price difference for the consumer of between 30% and 53% for the remanufactured engine, with the greatest savings realized when the remanufactured engine is purchased directly from the remanufacturer. [source]


Community environmental policing: Assessing new strategies of public participation in environmental regulation

JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2003
Dara O'Rourke
This paper evaluates a new form of public participation in environmental monitoring and regulation advanced through local "bucket brigades," which allow community members to sample air emissions near industrial facilities. These brigades represent a new form of community environmental policing, in which residents participate in collecting, analyzing, and deploying environmental information, and more importantly, in an array of public policy dialogues. Use of this sampling technology has had marked effects on local residents' perceptions and participation in emergency response and citizens' right-to-know. However, when viewed through the lens of the more developed literature on community policing, the bucket brigades are currently limited in their ability to encourage "co-production" of environmental protection between citizens and the state. Means are examined to strengthen the bucket brigades and to more broadly support community participation in environmental regulation. © 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source]


LEAN, GREEN, AND THE QUEST FOR SUPERIOR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2001
SANDRA ROTHENBERG
We examine the relationship between lean manufacturing practices and environmental performance as measured in terms of air emissions and resource use. We draw on two unique surveys of 31 automobile assembly plants in North America and Japan, which contain information on manufacturing practice and environmental performance, as well as in-depth interviews with 156 plant level employees at 17 assembly plants. Our survey results and interviews suggest that lean management and reduction of air emissions of volatile organic compounds (vocs) are associated negatively. Lean manufacturing practices contribute to more efficient use of paints and cleaning solvents, but these in-process changes are not sufficient to meet the most stringent air regulations. We found some evidence to support the link between lean practices and resource efficiency. While our survey results were in hypothesized direction, they were not statistically significant. In-depth semi-structured interviews, however, suggest a more robust relationship, and we use them to describe some mechanisms by which all three aspects of lean management (buffer minimization, work systems, and human resource management) may be related to environmental management practices and performance. [source]


Using wind to power a groundwater circulation well,preliminary results

REMEDIATION, Issue 4 2004
Andrew Curtis Elmore
In areas of the country where the U.S. Department of Energy has classified the available wind resources as Class 3 or greater, the use of wind turbines to provide power to relatively small remediation systems such as groundwater circulation wells may be technically and economically feasible. Groundwater circulation wells are a good candidate technology to couple with renewable energy, because the remediation system removes contamination from the subject aquifer with no net loss of the groundwater resource, while the wind turbine does not create potentially harmful air emissions. Wind data collected in the vicinity of the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant Superfund site were used to select a wind turbine system to provide a portion of the energy necessary to power a groundwater circulation well located in an area of high trichloroethylene groundwater contamination. Because utility power was already installed at the remediation system, a 10 kW grid inter-tie wind turbine system supplements the utility system without requiring batteries for energy storage. The historical data from the site indicate that the quantity of energy purchased correlates poorly with the quantity of groundwater treated. Preliminary data from the wind turbine system indicate that the wind turbine provides more energy than the remediation system treatment components and the well submersible pump require on a monthly average. The preliminary results indicate that the coupling of wind turbines and groundwater circulation wells may be an attractive alternative in terms of the system operation time, cost savings, and contaminant mass removal. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]