Graduation date: 1998

Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-87). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Arsenic and selenium distributions in coal-fired plant samples are studied. This research includes arsenic and selenium concentrations in samples of coal, fly ash, bottom ash, economizer ash, Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) slurry and flue gas taken from four power plants with the goal being to examine the distribution of these metals in these materials and calculate a materials balance for the system. All samples were analyzed using ICP-ES. This research shows that 60-80% of the arsenic in coal-fired plant samples will be associated with the fly ash. Approximately 35-55% of the selenium will be associated with the fly ash and approximately 30-40% will be associated with the FGD slurry materials. The amount of arsenic and selenium present in the flue gases escaping the stack is very little, 6-7% or less. Hopefully, research in this area will be helpful when setting emissions limits, identifying and disposing of hazardous wastes and improving air pollution control devices for maximum metal removal.

Hazardous waste management demands detailed planning due to the risks posed by hazardous wastes on public and environment and high investments required. This study aims to provide a framework that leads Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) in planning of hazardous waste facilities to be built. This framework considers the facility and transport cost along with impacts of hazardous waste management. The linear optimization models for several scenarios are developed in order to evaluate possible approaches in management of hazardous wastes. During cost calculations economy of scale principle is considered. Estimation of impact includes not only population impact but also environmental impact for which a methodology is developed in the scope of this study. This methodology considers the effect of hazardous waste transportation on lakes, rivers, dams, seashores, forests and agricultural areas, which are defined as vulnerable environmental elements. Evaluation of the results suggests that establishment of designated hazardous waste facilities with co-incineration practices and use of transfer stations give most satisfactory outcome. Co-incineration practices decrease incineration costs, which has the highest contribution to overall cost while transfer stations provide great improvement in total impact. Locations for recovery, treatment, incineration facilities and landfills are selected. These selections both confirm decisions made in the past regarding existing locations and become suggestions for locations for new facilities. It is observed that integrated facilities are favored. The importance of countrywide planning should also be underlined. It is believed that results of this study provides a basis to evaluate possible alternatives for further improvement of hazardous waste management system in Turkey that would be most useful to MoEF.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Trademark symbol follows Chemchar in title. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 130). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Trademark symbol follows Chemchar in title. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 130). Also available on the Internet.

In this thesis I estimate a monetary value of the risk attached to living near a hazardous waste site in the town of Teckomatorp. This site is the result of hundreds of rusty leaking barrels of toxins being buried in the ground by the company BT Kemi in the 1970’s. Ever since then the site has been remediated in several steps and is still contaminated today. For estimating the perceived risk of living near this site I use a hedonic price model (HP) which is a form of a revealed preference approach. In a HP model the price of a market good is a function of different utility-bearing characteristics and the estimated parameters can be used to calculate the implicit prices of these characteristics. In this case I use a data set from the National Swedish Institute for Building Research (IBF) and regress property price on a number of housing characteristics. I compare an estimated town-effect for Teckomatorp with the estimates for two control towns: Billeberga and Anderslöv. I can confirm my hypothesis that, after controlling for housing characteristics, there is a negative effect on prices of property in Teckomatorp. I find that property prices are on average 46878 SEK lower in Teckomatorp than in the two control towns.

Tiriamasis darbas „Atliekų kiekio susidarymo skirtumai Lietuvos regionuose ir tai nulėmusios priežastys“ iškėlė uždavinius dėl komunalinių, gamybinių bei pavojingų atliekų susidarymo skirtinguose regionuose, taip pat nagrinėja priežastis lėmusias skirtingą atliekų susidarymą ir tvarkymą Lietuvos teritorijoje. Siekiant įgyvendinti minėtus uždavinius, buvo ieškoma socialinių, ekonominių ar kitokių priežasčių lėmusių atliekų susidarymo bei tvarkymo skirtumus regionuose. Nustatyta, kad komunalinių atliekų susidaryme bei antrinių žaliavų surinkime, didžiausią įtaką turi viešosios komunalinės paslaugos rodikliai. Esant dideliam minėtos paslaugos procentui, žymiai keičiasi ir surenkamų atliekų kiekiai. Remiantis Komunalinių atliekų susidarymo prognozavimo ir atliekų tvarkymo sistemų tvarumo vertinimo vadovu, komunalinių atliekų susidarymas turi būti prognozuojamas atsižvelgiant į bendrojo vidaus produkto dydžius regione, socialinius rodiklius: kūdikių mirtingą, vidutinę gyvenimo trukmę, gyventojų užimtumo dalį žemės ūkyje, žmonių amžių, namų ūkio dydį. Gamybinių bei pavojingų atliekų susidaryme lemiantys faktoriai yra bazinių įmonių išsidėstymas Regionuose. Didžiausius atliekų kiekinius rodiklius turi regionai, kuriuose dominuoja įmonės su panašia veklos sritimi ar ženkliai turinčios didesnes apimtis Lietuvos mastu. Kaip parodė tyrimas, verslumo rodikliai dažnai gali būti „indikatorius”, prognozuojant susidarančius atliekų kiekius. / Investigative work „ The differences of waste quantity formation in Lithuanian Regions and the reasons for those differences “ analyze problems with formation of municipal, industrial and hazardous waste in different regions and also searches for reasons, which determined different waste formation and management in Lithuania. To implement above mentioned tasks, we searched for social, economic and other reasons, which determined different waste formation and management in different regions. Was founded, that municipal waste formation and recycled materials collection mostly influenced by rates of public municipal service. With a high percentage of mentioned service, collected waste quantity is changing significantly. Following the guide of municipal waste formation prognosis and waste management systems stability rate, formation of municipal waste must be forecasted according to gross domestic product value in region and social rates: infant mortality, average lifetime, amount of people working in agriculture, people age, household size. Main factors, of industrial and hazardous waste formation, is lay out of basic companies in regions. Highest waste quantity rates is in regions, where dominating companies with similar preserve or companies, which has significantly bigger spread out in Lithuania. The research showed, that enterprise rates often can be „indicator“, which helps to forecast waste formation amounts. Analysis of literature sources showed, that there is not much... [to full text]

The quest for sustainable development has always involved the complex task of reconciling the need for socio-economic development with public health and environmental protection. This challenge has often emerged in the trade and environment debate but has most recently been evident in international trade in used electrical and electronic equipment (UEEE). While international trade in UEEE provides means for socio-economic development in the developing world, it also serves as a conduit for transboundary dumping of e-waste in the developing world giving rise to serious health and environmental concerns. This research investigates the socio-economic as well as health and environmental impacts of international trade in UEEE in two developing countries – Nigeria and Ghana. The research identifies a major loophole in the existing international legal framework as the primary factor responsible for e-waste dumping in the developing world. This loophole relates to the absence of a legal framework for differentiating between functional UEEE and junk e-waste. This has resulted in both functional UEEE and junk e-waste being concurrently shipped to the developing world as “used electrical and electronic equipment”. The research proposes two policy frameworks for addressing this problem. On the part of developing countries, the research proposes a trade policy framework crafted in line with WTO rules. This framework will entail the development of an international certification system which will serve to differentiate functional used electronics from junk e-waste. While the former may be eligible for import, the research proposes an import ban on the latter. On the part of developed countries, the research proposes the development of a policy framework which regulates the toxic and hazardous substances that go into the production of electrical and electronic equipment as well as enhance their reusability and recyclability at end-of-life. The framework should take into consideration the entire life cycle of the products from the design stage to end-of-life. The research argues that the implementation of this design framework will go a long way in reducing the health and environmental impacts of such equipment when subsequently shipped to the developing world at end-of-life.