This thesis concerns research into the environmental aspects of the photochemical machining (PCM) industry, involving measurement, analysis, benchmarking, and reducing adverse environmental impacts. The environmental audit of a PCM company found that the likely significant environmental impacts are the use of ferric chloride etchant, solvents and water. A comparison of the environmental performance of two UK PCM companies showed that there were big contrasts in etchant utilisation and solvent and water consumption, indicating that steps could be taken to reduce these impacts. A study to assess the feasibility of using laser direct imaging (LDI), a cleaner technology in photoresist imaging, found that LDI could meet the technical requirements of the PCM industry. For LDI to be economically feasible, the reliability has to be high and maintenance cost has to be low. Audit surveys of PCM companies world-wide regarding etchant utilisation and solvent consumption indicated that: (1) There is a vast difference between the performance of companies and companies that regenerate etchants were more efficient in their FeCl3 utilisation. The industrial best practice for FeCl3 utilisation is 837%. (2) Chlorination was the most popular regeneration method but most companies would use a more environment-friendly system at a higher overall cost. Regarding waste disposal, most companies sent liquid waste etchant for reclaim or recycle. (3) Half of the PCM companies no longer use solvents, and with the development of liquid aqueous-based resists, it is envisaged that PCM practitioners could eliminate the use of solvents in the near future. Lastly, an investigation into the feasibility of using oxygen gas in regenerating FeCI3 showed that the regenerated etchant could produce good quality etchings. This system is also the second cheapest. Therefore, it is a good option for the PCM companies as the cost of regeneration is not too expensive and it is environment-friendly.

The activated sludge process is widely used throughout the world for the treatment of wastewater from domestic and industrial users. This process is not normally efficiently controlled and hence increasingly important financial incentives and environmental considerations exist for improving the efficiency and quality of the treatment before releasing the treated water into the environment. This thesis presents the development of MATLAB computer simulation models for activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. A comparison of control systems has been made using these models for typical operating conditions of wastewater treatment processes, such as influent flow pattern and temperature. The investigation identified the control of dissolved oxygen as an important area to study because insufficient levels of dissolved oxygen in the wastewater prevent the successful degradation of organic matter present, whereas too high a level causes settling problems and inefficiencies. Three dissolved oxygen control methods, namely PID, Fuzzy logic and self-tuning control have been investigated, applied and their performances compared. As in most other processes, the number and location of sensors and actuators within a water treatment plant can have large implications for successful process control. Therefore, the model developed was used with real plant data to test different designs and investigate the best location of sensors and actuators for a specific North West Water plant to improve control of the process. Optimisation of process operation has also been investigated with the objective of improving effluent quality and reducing operation costs. Simulations suggest that all three dissolved oxygen control methods investigated are able to control the process satisfactorily with relatively little deviation from the setpoint. The PID and fuzzy logic controllers needed retuning for changing process conditions, but the adaptive nature of the self-tuner makes it more robust. Optimal sensor and actuator placements have been identified and a cost/quality benefit analysis performed. Significant cost reductions and effluent quality improvements may be achieved by applying optimisation techniques to regulating the concentration of the solids within the aeration stage. These objectives are conflicting and therefore simultaneous improvement is not always achievable. The project has demonstrated the potential benefits of employing models to simulate the process, subject to availability of data to parameterise them. Process operation can be significantly improved with the application of well-tuned controllers and optimisation techniques.

Eighty percent of all biologically treated waste waters in Europe are oxidised by the activated sludge process. Bulking sludge caused by the proliferation of filamentous organisms is the primary cause of failure of this system. The effect of various substrates in both laboratory scale, fully mixed and sequencing batch (SBR) reactor configurations were used to assess their combined effect on activated sludge microbial ecology and hence sludge settlement. Five different substrate types were used ; synthetic sewage, a basic monosaccharide, disaccharides, polysaccharides and amino acids. In all cases using the fully mixed reactor, bulking occurred while, good settling sludge was produced in the sequencing batch reactor. The cause of this bulking was deemed to be due to the lack of so called "selector effect" within the fully mixed reactor characterised by :- i) high rates of substrate consumption ii) high oxygen (or generally: electron acceptor) up take rate iii) enhanced growth of zoogleal bacteria iv) increased metabolic diversity This laboratory work was compared and contrasted with a pure oxygen activated sludge (VITOX) system treating a high strength pea processing waste water. This fully mixed system had proved difficult to operate since its installation and in the first two years of this study suffered bulking caused by low dissolved oxygen levels. In the third year a combination of a hydraulic problem and subsequent lack of control led to filamentous bulking. This particular bulking incident was controlled by the addition of chlorine to the aeration tank which was selectively toxic to the filamentous organisms present. Due to the studies carried out at both laboratory and full scale an initial contact zone was installed within the main aeration tank prior to the 4th year of this study so as to create an area of high floc loading and high substrate uptake. This initial anoxic contact zone proved successful in preventing the development of a poorly settling sludge and is in line with common practice for the elimination of filamentous bulking reported in the literature. Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) proved a reliable and appropriate monitor of conditions of low to zero D.O. experienced in the laboratory scale reactors and at full scale in the anoxic contact zone. It was also found that ORP could be used to detect when D.O. levels became completely depleted and monitor reductions in nitrate levels.

No description available.

La Zone Côtière Libanaise (ZCL), s'étend sur plus de 220 km le long de la mer Méditerranée orientale, est un cas typique de la plupart des zones côtières des pays en voie de développement où la combinaison d’un large éventail d'activités humaines contribue à la pollution de l'eau et à la dégradation de l'environnement. Cette pollution est due aux rejets industriels et domestiques, directs et indirects, d’un grand nombre de contaminants dans le milieu marin. En raison de son importance écologique, l'évaluation de la qualité des sédiments côtiers constitue un domaine de recherche important afin de statuer sur le niveau de la contamination des eaux. Dans ce travail, nous avons mis l’accent sur certains contaminants prioritaires tels que les Polluants Organiques Persistants (POP) et les métaux lourds qui sont connus pour leurs toxicités, leurs bioaccumulations et les effets cancérigènes et mutagènes. En raison d’un manque d'informations sur ces polluants dans le bassin méditerranée orientale en général et sur la zone côtière libanaise en particulier, nous avons focalisé l'étude sur les sédiments dans les sites côtiers les plus sensibles comme les bassins semi-fermés tels que les ports et les baies qui sont des écosystèmes très vulnérables où une grande quantité de polluants s’accumulent dans les sédiments où la remise en suspension et l'oxydation des sédiments anoxiques se produisent fréquemment.. L’évaluation de la qualité des sédiments portuaires est indispensable pour connaitre le devenir en cas d’aménagement. Une attention particulière a été portée sur le site du port de Tripoli, qui est considéré comme le deuxième port du Liban et en raison de son emplacement à proximité d’une réserve naturelle classée, les îles palmiers. En général, le niveau de pollution de la ZCL varie entre moyen et élevé selon le site. Pour le port de Tripoli, une proposition de plan d'urgence a été préparée pour l’aide à la décision des autorités du Port pour apporter des réponses aux incidents possibles comme les incendies ou le déversement pétrolier accidentel. Ce plan d’urgence peut être considéré comme une première étape de la gestion des zones côtières afin d’assurer un développement durable. / Lebanon coastal zone (LCZ) which extends over 220 km along the Eastern Mediterranean Sea is a typical case of most coastal areas of the developing countries in the Mediterranean region, where the combination of a wide range of anthropogenic activities are contributing to water pollution and environmental degradation, by the direct and indirect release of a large number of pollutants into the sea via atmospheric and river inputs. Amongst the numerous environmental concerns we are facing, the marine environment is one of the top priorities that must be addressed. Due to its ecological importance, the evaluation of coastal sediment quality constitutes an important area of research to give a clear picture of water pollution status. Much attention was paid of some priority pollutants such as persistent organic pollutant (POPs) and heavy metals as known to be toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative, carcinogenic and mutagenic. There is an urgent need to survey the levels of these pollutants in sediments due to the great lack of information in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea in general and particularly in Lebanese coastal zone which render our study very important and useful regionally and locally by local authority and policy makers during coastal zone management. The semi-enclosed basins such as ports and bays are very vulnerable ecosystem where build-up greatly amount of these pollutants in sediments. This why we focus on our studies of the assessment of ports sediment quality of some possible hotspots where the re-suspension and oxidation of anoxic sediment occur frequently. A special attention was taken to Tripoli harbour which is the second Port of Lebanon due to its location near some reserved island. The pollution levels of LCZ by these pollutants are assigned as moderate to high. An emergency proposal plan was prepared for Tripoli Harbour, this will assists harbour authority to response for all fire and oil spill accidents as a first step for a durable development inside this promising harbor.

The identification and subsequent treatment of contaminated land and groundwater is currently being regulated by the Environment Agency. The closure of gasworks sites during the late 1960s left areas of land contaminated with undesirable residues of the manufactured gas process, which were left to cause further pollution by leaching into surface and groundwater. The techniques available to remediate these contaminated media are numerous, but most tend to suffer from at least one major disadvantage, usually time or cost.

Two open wet oxidation methods are described for the digestion of selected seafoods prior to total mercury determination using a cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique. The first employs two acids (i.e. HNO3 and H2SO4) and two oxidants (i.e. KMnO4 and K2S2O8), and is suitable for use with a Perkin-Elmer Mercury Analysis System (MAS) and a Perkin-Elmer Mercury Analyzer 50A (MA). Excellent recoveries were obtained for mussel samples spiked with various quantities of inorganic mercury [Hg(N03)2]. For the optimum part of the calibration curve of the MAS (0.1–0.7 μg/ml Hg), the percentage recovery (%R) fluctuated between 98.26 and 101.98. The limit of detection (LOD) was calculated to be 18.7 ng of mercury per sample analysed and sensitivity of 0.011 μg of mercury was obtained. Results for fish samples determined with both units showed excellent agreement and precision (RSD = 3.23 -4.25). However, the MA was found inadequate for the determination of the low mercury levels encountered with the mussel samples. It was shown that a desiccant assembly must be installed whenever samples with low mercury content are analysed, i.e. less than 0.5 μg per sample digested.

En raison de leur utilisation répandue dans les soins de santé humaine et animale, les antibiotiques et autres résidus de médicaments sont omniprésents dans l’environnement en général et le milieu aquatique particulièrement. Compte tenu de leurs impacts potentiels sur le fonctionnement de l'écosystème et la santé publique, la quantification des résidus de médicaments sur l'environnement est devenue une nécessité. Diverses techniques d'analyse se sont avérées être appropriées pour la détection fiable de tels composés. Cependant, la quantification peut être difficile car ces contaminants émergents sont présents à l’état de traces ou d'ultra-traces. Par conséquent, l'exactitude des analyses environnementales dépend à la fois de l'efficacité et de la robustesse de la méthode d'extraction et de quantification. Des procédures d’analyse de traces de ces contaminants émergents, ont été donc mise au point et des méthodes basées sur des analyses LC-MS/MS ont été développées. Pour les échantillons aqueux, l’extraction est menée sur phase solide (SPE, OASIS HLB). Les MLOQ sont comprises entre 0.2 et 3 ng/L. Pour la matrice solide, la procédure d’extraction à haute température et pression a été utilisée suivie d’une purification SPE. Afin d’évaluer le contexte de la pollution totale, la méthodologique analytique validée a été appliquée à des échantillons d’eaux potables et usées provenant de la France et de la Tunisie. Les résidus de médicament associés à la matière solide en suspension (MES) ont également été quantifiés pour compléter l’évaluation du degré de pollution environnementale. / Due to their widespread use in human and animal health care, antibiotics and other drug residues are ubiquitous in the environment in general and the aquatic environment in particular. Given their potential impacts on the functioning of the ecosystem and public health, the quantification of drug residues on the environment has become a necessity. Various assay techniques have been found to be suitable for the reliable detection of such compounds. However, quantification can be difficult because these emerging contaminants are present in the trace or ultra-trace state. Therefore, the accuracy of environmental analyzes depends on both the effectiveness and the robustness of the extraction and quantification method. Trace analysis procedures for these emerging contaminants were therefore developed and methods based on LC-MS / MS analyzes were also developed. For aqueous samples, extraction is carried out on solid phase (SPE, OASIS HLB). MLOQs range from 0.2 to 3 ng / L. For the solid matrix, the extraction procedure at high temperature and pressure was used followed by SPE purification. To assess the context of total pollution, the validated analytical methodology was applied to drinking and wastewater samples from France and Tunisia. Drug residues associated with suspended solid matter (SSM) were also quantified to complete the assessment of the degree of environmental pollution.

La révolution industrielle, l’évolution technologique, la croissance démographique et l’urbanisation ont affecté non seulement l’économie ou la politique dans le monde mais également la santé environnementale. Divers types de polluants sont générés et introduits, de manière permanente, dans l’environnement via les effluents industriels, agricoles et/ou municipaux. Parmi ces polluants figurent les polluants organiques persistants ou POP qui sont susceptibles de développer une toxicité non négligeable pour la santé humaine et le bon fonctionnement de l’écosystème. En plus, ils sont détectés dans tous les composants de l’écosystème global, y compris l’atmosphère, les ressources en eaux, le sol, les sédiments et les biotes. Depuis la découverte des insecticides DDT dans les tissus humains, le sort et le comportement de ces polluants dangereux ont retenu l’attention de la recherche scientifique. Dans le présent travail, on s’intéresse essentiellement aux POP du type hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAP) et ses dérivés méthylés (Me-HAP) ainsi que les polychlorobiphényles (PCB). La première partie de l’étude est consacré à l’évaluation de leur niveau de contamination dans différents compartiments de l’environnement. Leur occurrence et distribution ont été évaluées dans les phases dissoutes, particulaires et sédimentaires du système d’eaux douces du bassin versant de l'Escaut dans la zone transfrontalière France-Belgique dans le cadre du projet FRB-RégionNPC "BIOFOZI" suivi d’une étude écotoxicologique. La même investigation est réalisée sur des sols originaires du Nord-Pas-de Calais (France) et de Madagascar. La seconde partie contribue à une étude de faisabilité de traitement biologique de sols contaminés par les HAP. / The industrial revolution, technological change, population growth and urbanization have affected not only the economy and politics all around the world but also the environment. Various types of pollutants are generated and introduced permanently into the environment through industrial, agricultural and/or municipal discharges. These pollutants include the persistent organic pollutants or POPs which can develop dangerous effects to human health and the ecosystem. In addition, they are reported detected in all the environmental components including the atmosphere, water resources, soils, sediments and biota. Since the discovery of the insecticides DDT in human tissue, the fate and behavior of these type of hazardous pollutants have caught the interest of researchers. In this work, our target contaminants are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their methylated derivatives (Me-PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The first part of our study investigated the contamination level of theses POPs in the different compartments of the environment (water, suspended solid matters, sediment, soil). Their occurrence and distribution were evaluated in the dissolved, particulate and sedimentary phases of the freshwater system of the Scheldt basin in the border area between France and Belgium in FRB-RegionNPC "BIOFOZI" program. An ecotoxicological risk assessment was also carried out. The same investigations were also conducted in soil samples originating from northern France and from Madagascar. The second part of the present work concern a feasibility study of PAHs-contaminated soil bio-treatment (bioremediation).

Les charbons actifs sont largement utilisés comme adsorbants pour l’élimination des composés indésirables de l’eau. Ce travail a pour objectif d’évaluer et d’optimiser l’utilisation d’un charbon activé issu de noyaux de dattes comme un matériau adsorbant, pour éliminer de l’eau et des les sols contaminés les cations métalliques comme : Cd2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Ni2+ et Arsenic. Ce charbon actif a été également imprégné de ferrihydrite pour améliorer l’adsorption des éléments métalliques. La première étape consistait à préparer et à déterminer les caractéristiques physicochimiques en utilisant plusieurs techniques notamment la diffraction aux rayons X, l’analyse chimique par ICP-AES, la spectroscopie IRTF, la microscopie électronique à balayage et la surface spécifique. Les études cinétiques montrent que l’équilibre d’adsorption des polluants métalliques est atteint au bout deux heures pour les supports testés. Les modèles d'adsorption de Langmuir et de Freundlich ont permis de faire une description des isothermes d'adsorption, l’ordre d’affinité pour les deux supports est le suivant : Pb2+ > Cd2+ > Cu2+ > Ni2+ > Zn2+. Le procédé a été utilisé pour traiter les effluents chargés en métaux lourds d’une usine de traitement de surface de la région de Sfax. L’immobilisation chimique est une technique de traitement des sols contaminés, qui consiste à utiliser des amendements minéraux pour réduire la mobilité des métaux dans des matrices solides contaminées. Cette méthode a été testée avec nos charbons actifs sur des sols contaminés. La biodisponibilité des métaux pour des plantes cultivées, au niveau des sols amendés ou non par les différents charbons actifs, a été étudiée. / This work aims to evaluate and optimize the use of an activated carbon derived from date stones as an adsorbent material to remove Cd2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+. This material was also used for retention of arsenic (III). The same activated carbon was impregnated with ferrihydrite and also used for the adsorption of these metallic elements. The first stage consisted in preparing and determining the physic-chemical characteristics of materials using several methods including X-ray diffraction, chemical analysis, infrared spectroscopy, electron microscopy and specific surface area. The batch adsorption studies were carried out for several metal ions, namely Cd2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+. The adsorption equilibrium was reached at the end 120 minutes for the two prepared adsorbent. The metal experimental data fitted well with the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption model. The based maximum adsorption capacities (qm) affinity order corresponds to Pb2+ > Cd2+ > Cu2+ > Ni2+ > Zn2+ for both activated carbon and impregnated activated carbon. One of the possible implementation of this process consists in metals laden plating factory effluents treatment. Understanding how the metals are immobilized at the molecular level is critical for formulating effective metal containment strategies, such as chemical immobilization. In this work, exchangeable metal contents and metal accumulation by plants in a contaminated soil, untreated or amended with activated carbon, were investigated.