Context: Solar panels are exposed to different weather conditions and get damaged. Sand storms and hail storms could cause serious damage. However, they need to be used for human survival in almost every harsh condition possible. Objectives: Our goal is to design and create a working prototype of an automated solar panel shield. The meteorological conditions around the solar panels should be monitored, including wind speed, air quality, rain, and humidity. The shield automatically protects the solar panel based on the sensor data. The solar shield should even protect panels from harm from small animals. Methods: A microcontroller Arduino Uno is used. Various sensors are used to monitor multiple weather conditions, including an ultrasonic sensor, a rain sensor, a smoke sensor, and a custom-built anemometer. Based on daylight status, the stepper motor is activated to roll up the protective cover over the solar panel. Results: The output from all the sensors and actuators is verified. The values of the sensors are updated in the web application, the user can use that. The web application is used to monitor the weather conditions around solar panels. Conclusions: An working model of the shield is made, in addition, a cleaning system is made. A bird deterring system is also included. All the additional sensors for monitoring can be used for performance automation.

In a time when urban areas continue to expand, environmental noise pollution especially from road traffic remains a big challenge. This study was aimed at using open-source GIS tools to predict road traffic noise pollution using the mid-sized city of Gävle as a case study. The noise indicators measured were the equivalent day (Lday), evening (Levening), nighttime (Lnight), and the equivalent daily average (Lden). Traffic data (composition and flow of vehicles on selected roads), traffic source characteristics (road gradient, road surface type), and buildings (geometry) were integrated into Quantum GIS (QGIS) using the CNOSSOS-EU prediction method packaged in OpeNoise, a QGIS plug-in. The resultant noise levels at receiver points were interpolated using the Inverse Distance Weighting method to create noise maps for the city.  The results showed the maximum equivalent day, evening, nighttime predicted noise levels at 85 dB (A), 80 dB (A), 75 dB (A) respectively while the maximum for overall daily average noise level predicted was 85 dB (A). These limits far exceed population exposure threshold limits for the onset of annoyance (55 dB (A)) and sleep disturbance (40 dB (A)). This result is indicative of a poor sound acoustic environment. The pattern of noise level across the city was found to follow street connectivity and traffic intensity. The maximum noise levels were clustered around the highway. Within the city, areas with the highest noise levels were found close to main roads. Residential areas served by service roads were areas with the lowest noise levels. Predicted daytime noise levels (Lday) were compared with 60-second measurements of equivalent noise levels measured at 85 locations during the day in residential and mixed land use areas in the city. The mean of differences between predicted and observed noise levels was found at +1 dB for both residential and areas of mixed land use respectively. Correlation and regression analyses performed for observed and predicted values showed an initial weak positive association with a correlation coefficient of 0.21. However, when outliers were excluded, a correlation coefficient of 0.69 was observed indicating a strong association and linear relationship between the observed and predicted noise levels. Most outliers were underestimations recorded in residential areas at hidden facades. These were attributed to local effects at the measuring locations and assumptions made for building diffraction. The application of the CNOSSOS-EU method in this study did not consider attenuation from ground reflection and terrain effects. Despite these limitations, the results show that the CNOSSOS-EU has good predictive power. However, this study has only been exploratory in nature. It is recommended that further studies be performed with this model as well as in comparison with other models to find the one that best reflects the acoustic environment of the city. A wide application of the CNOSSOS-EU method across several cities will be integral in increasing our understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.

The Alta-Kvænangen Tectonic Window is part of a regional greenstone belt that formed around 2.3 Ga – 2.0 Ga. The Bergmark anticline in the area has gone through greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism and hosts Cu, Co and Au mineralizations in hydrothermal veins, albite felsite and chemical traps. The area was mined during the late 19th century mostly in trenches but it has still got exploration potential. This project will classify carbonate veins that are hosted within two gabbro units, compare orientations between the barren and mineralized veins as well as discuss the origin of the veins.  The study area has been affected by multiple extensional and compressional events during the Svecokarelian orogeny (1.9 – 1.8 Ga) and regional hydrothermal alterations including an influx of Na + Ca ± K ± Fe. Major shear zones were activated and used for transporting fluids which are thought to have controlled the formation of mineralization in second- or even third-order structures. The veins were studied using field work, detailed mapping, optical microscopy as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and structural analysis. Results gave three different types of hydrothermal veins: 1) Fe oxide veins, 2) calcite veins and 3) dolomite-plagioclase-quartz veins. All of them show strong signs of deformation and recrystallization all while the chalcopyrite mineralization is heterogeneously distributed and commonly more or less bornite-altered. The veins pinch and swell over short distances and are sinuous but with a general orientation. Albite haloes are common for the veins but far from all veins have haloes. There are at least two generations of veins as some were found to have offset others. Brecciation, tension gashes and faults are also found in the area apart from veins. From the field measurements, two groups of orientations could be determined: one with a SW-NE direction and the other in NW-SE direction, both with relatively steep dips. Considering all downhole measurements, no conclusive results could be revealed, however, the optical televiewer results showed that the area has gone through a N-S compression giving a fold axis towards the west. In the end the orientations of the larger veins were found to either run parallel to the gabbro units or are connected to the NW-SE directed main brittle faulting in the Fennoscandian Shield. Smaller, surrounding veins having more diverse orientations. There are multiple signs of deformation and recrystallization in the mafic host rock but no fabric development can be seen. Its appearance varies locally depending on which alterations are dominating. It exhibits sodic-calcic, potassic and leucoxene alteration as well as albitization and carbonatization. The grain size varies from fine-grained to medium-grained which is more typical with a dolerite or basalt, even though it has been previously mapped as a gabbro. No pyroxene was found in the host rock and the plagioclase was Na-rich instead of the expected Ca-rich.  The Bergmark anticline has multiple similarities with the Gällivare-Kiruna area in Sweden which include 1) high-temperature, low-pressure metamorphism resulting in regional alterations such as albitization, carbonatization, amphibole and magnetite alteration. 2) The mineralization consists of Cu, Co, Au, Fe and minor P. 3) The mineralization can be found disseminated in albite felsite, in chemical traps and in first to third order structures (e.g., faults or hydrothermal veins) in brittle, deformed rocks. 4) The mineralization is structurally controlled to the vicinity of major fault zones. 5) In both places, greenstone belts are important for the formation of mineralization. 6) Reactivation of brittle structures, similar to those in the Kiruna area during the second phase of subduction during the Svecokarelian orogeny (D2), is likely the cause for the veining in the Bergmark anticline. 7) A younger N-S compression is recorded in the area. Differences between the Bergmark anticline and the Gällivare-Kiruna area include the lack of intrusions in the vicinity to the Bergmark anticline.

Concerns about potential risks posed by discharge from small-scale wastewater treatment (SWT) systems to receiving water bodies have prompted robust enforcement of national discharge quality standards in rural areas of most developed countries. Consequently, communities in such places are in need of effective technologies with which to achieve compliance. Currently, reactive filter (RF) media are increasingly preferred over advanced alternatives, due mainly to their simplicity, affordability and proven potential. However, many of the field-tested filters are commercial products which are costly and scarce but also only capable of removing few contaminants they are engineered to target hence often requiring to be coupled with other treatment units to achieve full treatment. In the preliminary findings of this study, biochar (BC) was identified and thus suggested basing on existing literature, as a versatile ubiquitous low-cost material for treating wastewater. Its effectiveness in fortifying sand (Sa) and gas concrete (GC)-based SWT facilities was later demonstrated in long-term experiments using laboratory packed bed reactors and field constructed filter beds. The efficacy of SaBC and GCBC systems in reducing turbidity (&gt;95%), DOC (60%; p&lt;0.05) and PO43- (40-90%; p&lt;0.05) was significantly higher than for their reference counterparts. Further, sorbed P was more leachable from Sa (11.2 mgkg-1) and SaBC (20.5 mgkg-1) filters but more extractable and hence plant-available in GC (65-91 mgkg-1). Therefore, the study concluded that fortification of soil-based systems with biochar filters may be a promising solution in enhancing performances of soil-based wastewater treatment systems, while P-rich RF media can act as a nutrient source for plants if recycled to agriculture. / <p>NB: Research Funder was: Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Botswana. QC 20170524</p>

Domestic and industrial water demands are growing globally due to population growth and rapid economic development, placing increasing strains on water resources. Wastewater effluents generated from these and other activities impact the environment and are thus subject to tightening regulation. The focus of research and development in water treatment processes aims at both pollutant removal efficiency and cost of purification. Membrane distillation (MD) is a developing thermally driven technology capable of achieving extremely high environmental performance utilizing renewable energy sources to a high degree. District heating networks, and in particular those driven by biomass, represent an ideal heat supply for MD systems. This thesis presents a technoeconomic assessment of district heating driven MD for water purification in selected industrial applications. The study covers analysis of MD separation performance and the related costs from different district heating integration scenarios. The analyses are based on three types of semi-commercial MD modules, with experiments conducted at laboratory and pilot scales. The case studies include pharmaceutical residue removal from effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plant, wastewater purification in pharmaceutical industry, and ethanol concentration in bioethanol production plant. Full-scale simulation studies were carried out for the identified case studies based on the experimental data obtained from MD module along with process information gathered from the industries. Results from the pharmaceutical residue removal pilot trials showed very good to excellent separation efficiency for 37 compounds at feed concentrations ranging from ng/L to mg/L. From alcohol-water feeds, ethanol concentrations were increased from 5% to nearly 90%. Simulation studies revealed that district heating integration of MD systems is feasible. Costs per unit volume of purified water are higher than competing technologies, however the configurations enable enhanced environmental performance that would be difficult to achieve otherwise. / Kommunala och industriella vattenkrav växer globalt på grund av befolkningstillväxt och snabb ekonomisk utveckling, vilket ökar belastningen på vattenresurserna. Avloppsvatten från alla verk-samheter påverkar miljön och är därmed föremål för tilltagande reglering. Fokus i forskning och utveckling av vattenreningsprocesser syftar till att både öka effektiviteten i avlägsnandet av föroreningarna och att minska kostnaderna för detta. Membrandestillation (MD) är en ny termiskt driven teknik som kan uppnå extremt hög miljö-prestanda genom att den är effektiv och i hög grad kan drivas av förnybara energikällor. Fjärrvärmesystem, särskilt de som drivs av biomassa, utgör en idealisk värmeförsörjning för ett MD-system. Avhandlingen presenterar en teknoekonomisk bedömning av fjärrvärmedriven MD för vattenrening i utvalda industriella applikationer. Studien analyserar MD-systemets separations-prestanda och kostnader i olika fjärrvärmeintegrationsscenarier. Analyserna baseras på tre typer av semi-kommersiella MD-moduler, med experiment utförda på laboratorie- och pilotskala. Fallstudierna innefattar: borttagning av läkemedelsrester från avloppsvatten från kommunalt avloppsreningsverk; avloppsvattenrening i läkemedels-industrin; och uppkoncentrering i bioetanolproduktionsanläggning. Fullskaliga simuleringsstudier har utförts för fallstudierna baserat på experimentella data erhållna från MD-modulen och med processinformation som samlats in från industrin. Resultaten från försöken med läkemedelsrester visade mycket god till utmärkt separationseffektivitet för 37 föreningar vid förorenings-koncentrationer som sträckte sig från ng/liter till mg/liter. Vid uppkoncentrering av alkohol ökades etanolhalten från 5 % till nära 90 %. Simuleringsstudier visade att fjärrvärmeintegration av MD-system är möjlig. Kostnader per volym renat vatten är högre än konkurrerande teknik, men konfigurationerna möjliggör förbättrad miljöprestanda som skulle vara svår att uppnå på annat sätt. / <p>This doctoral research has been carried out in the context of an agreement on joint doctoral research supervision between KTH Royal Institute of Technology, (Stockholm, Sweden), and Politecnico di Torino − PoliTo, (Turin, Italy). Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate, SELECT+ (Environomical pathways for sustainable energy services) program. QC 20170523</p> / SLECT+ Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctoral Program

As urbanization and industrialization progressed during the last decades, Urban Heat Island (UHI) has become a major environmental issue to many cities around the world. The effect of UHI differs from area to area due to varying urban scale, population density, construction of urban surface layer, the level of industrialization and type of climate. Researchers have made great efforts in investigating various approaches to Urban Heat Island studies. Monitoring technologies have been widely used in this field, especially Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing technology. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are also actively applied in wind engineering, which can provide details of air flow over urban areas. The combined application of these technologies can provide the monitoring and simulation of urban wind corridor and thermal environment that can produce relevant information at a lesser time.A research using GIS, remote sensing technology and CFD simulation was done in this project to obtain a holistic view of the urban thermal environment and wind flow for Gävle City. With GIS and remote sensing the thermal image of the city was presented. The temperature data, which were collected from MODIS satellite were transferred and processed by ArcGIS and Global Mapper. The wind flow above the city was simulated through constructing geometric and mathematical model with OpenFOAM. The outcomes of the modeling and simulation identified that the temperature in the city center could possibly reach 35℃ during summers, which can cause the Urban Heat Island to form. Ventilation was also poorer in the city centre, and neither the river nor the green area in the southwest could help ventilate the city. The study result also suggested that certain sites in the city had relatively high wind flow for urban wind turbines to work.This study had used method of Urban Heat Island study with remote sensing and CFD technologies. The model produced from simulation could also be used to further study Gävle city's thermal and wind environment to produce more accurate results.

Since 2009, Swedish municipalities have the possibility of limiting the coastal protection in rural areas with the LIS-tool in order to promote countryside development there. In 2013, Ronneby Kommun pointed out 28 such areas. The goal of this thesis is to describe the development in the coastal areas in Ronneby Kommun between 1960 and 2018, with a special focus on the recent development in the designated LIS areas since 2013. A proposal for the future application of the LIS-tool in the municipality is an additional goal. For the analysis of the LIS-tool as such, the author conducted two expert interviews and compared the results with the quantitative GIS-based analysis, using orthophotos, of the building activity along the shores in Ronneby Kommun. The data shows very low building activity within the LIS areas and a generally low building activity in the municipality recently. For the further application of the LIS-tool in its present form in Ronneby Kommun, the author proposes to either combine it with other measures to increase the attractivity of the existing LIS areas such as infrastructure improvements, or to wait some more time until the pressure on the housing market increases and thereby the general building activity. The municipality can then evaluate the individual areas independently of each other and adjust them to meet the demand on the housing market. In addition, the author and the experts suggest changing the LIS-tool in order to make it more forceful, independent and regional specific. In general, the results of this thesis are regional specific on Ronneby Kommun and, therefore, this thesis can be a comparison base for other research but does not generalize.

Utsläpp av läkemedelsrester till miljön är ett växande problem och negativa effekter på fiskar och vattenlevande djur har observerats vid mycket låga halter. I detta examensarbete studerades fem svenska spillvattenvåtmarkers förmåga att avskilja aktiva läkemedelssubstanser som passerat genom avloppsreningsverket. Halter av 24 läkemedelssubstanser bestämdes i inkommande och utgående vatten till och från spillvattenvåtmarkerna i Eskilstuna, Hässleholm, Nynäshamn, Trosa och Oxelösund. De substanser som generellt sett återfanns i de högsta halterna i inkommande avloppsvatten till våtmarkerna var några vanliga antiinflammatoriska ämnen: naproxen, ibuprofen och diklofenak; några blodtryckssänkande ämnen: atenolol, hydroklortiazid, furosemid och metoprolol; och det lugnande ämnet oxazepam. Dessa ämnen förekom i koncentrationer mellan 0,7 μg/l och 10 μg/l. Resultaten visade att 47 % av de påträffade substanserna reducerades mellan 20 och 80 % och 47 % reducerades 80 % eller mer. Alla våtmarker visade en hög avskiljning av diklofenak, furosemid, hydroklortiazid och naproxen. Avskiljningsgraden för dessa ämnen var 74–100 %. Generellt sett uppvisade alla fem våtmarker en hög reningseffekt på aktiva läkemedelssubstanser men en något högre reningsgrad observerades i Oxelösund, Nynäshamn och Trosa våtmark. En möjlig förklaring till den höga reningseffekten kan vara våtmarkernas karakteristiska hydraulik, där spillvattendammar växelvis fylls och töms, i jämförelse med våtmarkerna i Eskilstuna och Hässleholm som har ett kontinuerligt flöde av spillvatten. En jämförelse gjordes också med tidigare reningsresultat under vinterförhållanden. Resultaten visade att avskiljningen av samtliga substanser var betydligt högre under de nu studerade sommarförhållandena. / The release of pharmaceutical residues to the environment is a growing problem of global concern. Many studies have reported the negative effects of pharmaceutical residues on fish and other aquatic organisms. This master thesis has assessed five constructed wetlands on their removal efficiency of active pharmaceutical substances. Influent and effluent wastewaters were analyzed for 24 common pharmaceutical substances in constructed wetlands in Eskilstuna, Hässleholm, Nynäshamn, Trosa and Oxelösund. The pharmaceuticals found in highest concentration in the influent were some common anti-inflammatory substances: naproxen, ibuprofen and diclofenac; a few antihypertensive substances: atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide and metoprolol and the sedative substance, oxazepam. The concentrations varied between 0.7 μg/l and 10 μg/l. For 47% of the substances there was an observed removal efficiency of greater than 80% and for 47% of the substances a removal efficiency of 20–80 % was observed. Diclofenac, furosemide, hydrochlorothiazide and naproxen showed the greatest removal efficiencies, 74–100 %. In general, all five constructed wetlands showed high removal efficiencies for most pharmaceutical compounds, with greater removal efficiencies observed in Oxelösund, Nynäshamn and Trosa. The higher removal efficiency in these wetlands is believed to be due to their characteristic hydraulics, where wastewater basins are filled and emptied, whereas the basins in Eskilstuna and Hässleholm have continuous flow of wastewater. A comparison of removal efficiencies was also assessed for summer and winter conditions in Eskilstuna, Nynäshamn, Trosa and Oxelösund wetlands. The observed removal efficiencies were significantly greater during summer conditions.

Wood pellets have become a solid biomass fuel of choice because they are a standardized product with known quality properties. However, the self-heating and off-gassing tendencies during storage of wood pellets threatens the consistency of the pellets’ quality properties. The aim of this thesis was to increase the body of knowledge towards understanding of the off-gassing of wood pellets. The effects of total wood extractive content and types of extractives in the raw material on off-gassing of wood pellets were investigated through two separate studies. In the first study, the pellets were produced from fresh and pre-treated Scots pine sawdust. The pre-treatments involved storing, extraction and adding additive oils. The second study used synthetic pure cellulose that was pre-treated by adding different additive oils. The pellets were subjected to off-gassing tests under controlled conditions. The results from the first study showed that the total amount of extractives in the raw material has little effect on off-gassing. While gas emissions were reduced for stored and acetone extracted pine pellets, the coefficients of determination (R2) from the linear correlation analysis between off-gassing and the total extractive content of the raw materials were below 0.5 for all the three off-gasses indicating no correlation. The results of cellulose pellets with added additive oils in the second study showed that the off-gassing is highly dependent on the type of extractives in the raw material. The highest mean concentrations of the carbon oxides and methane were recorded from cellulose pellets with added linseed oil. Pellets with added linseed oil had higher off-gas emissions due to the high content of unsaturated fatty acids of 73.9% linolenic and 7.6% linoleic. Based on these results, it was concluded that one of the main causes of off-gassing during storage of wood pellets is the α-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids. The other notable effect was that methane formation is dependent on anaerobic conditions, whereas formation of carbon oxides can occur both under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. / Wood pellets have over the years become a solid biomass fuel of choice for heat and power generation because they are a standardized product with known quality properties. However, the self-heating and off-gassing tendencies of wood pellets threatens the consistency of the quality properties. Self-heating and off-gassing can cause disintegration of the pellets resulting in dry matter losses and reduction in quality properties. Additionally, self-heating may lead to fires while off-gassing of toxic gasses such as carbon monoxide is a human health and environmental hazard. The aim of this thesis was to increase the body of knowledge towards the understanding of off-gassing of wood pellets. The results showed that total amount of extractives in the raw material has little effect on off-gassing. One of the main causes of off-gassing of carbon oxides by wood pellets is the α-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids and other triglyceride oils that are chemically unstable. The other notable effect was that methane formation is dependent on anaerobic conditions, whereas formation of carbon oxides can occur both under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. / <p>This study was part of the project on secure and well-characterised raw materials and products through innovative adaption of pellets manufacturing processes (SVINPELS, project no 47997–1). This was a collaborative research project between Karlstad University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU and was funded by the Swedish Energy Agency.</p>

Idag eftersträvar institutioner på olika nivåer i samhället parallellt bättre kvalitet på den naturliga miljön. Internationella organisationer, riksdag, länsstyrelser och kommuner sätter upp miljö- och hållbarhetsmål, uppföljningsplaner baserade på mätbara indikatorer, samt redovisar sitt arbete på olika sätt. Från de högsta instanserna på internationell nivå ner till de lägsta på lokal nivå är kedjan lång och det kan vara svårt att nå sammanlänkade resultat. På kommunal nivå finns ett stort intresse att formulera lokala miljö- och hållbarhetsmål, men det saknas fasta riktlinjer för hur detta bör gå till. Följaktligen har kommuner förhållit sig olika till olika globala, nationella och regionala mål. Detta arbete syftade till att ta fram en modell för lokal målformulering och uppföljning med förankring till högre instanser. Denna modell avsågs i sin tur vara ett komplement till de verktyg som finns idag. Fokus i detta arbete låg på indikatorval. Vidare genomfördes en fallstudie genom att undersöka hur Bodens kommuns redan antagna lokala vattenrelaterade miljömål följde den framtagna modellen och assistera deras arbetet i uppföljningen genom att välja mätbara indikatorer. Metoden till arbetet utgjordes av en dokument- och litteraturstudie tillsammans med en fallstudie. Med information från vetenskapliga artiklar från databaser som Scopus, Science citation index, Social science citation index, Academic search premier och Business source premier tillsammans med besök på statliga myndigheters websidor med tillgång till offentliga dokument, kunde litteratur hittas som svarade mot syftet. Resultatet av studien blev en modell baserad på litteraturstudien som testades i fallstudien, med fokus på vattenrelaterade miljömål. Bodens kommuns målformuleringar länkade bra uppåt till högre målinstansers formuleringar, främst till de nationella miljökvalitetsmålen.   Indikatorer som valdes till fokusområde vatten var för Bodens första delmål ”Andel kommunala vattentäkter med vattenskyddsområde (%)”. För det andra delmålet om kartläggning av läckage för näringsämnen till Bodensjöarna föreslogs indikatorn ”Gjord kartläggning eller inte (Ja/Nej/Delvis)”. Det tredje delmålet avsåg en plan för att minska utsläppen från avlopp till Bodensjöarna och fick den föreslagna indikatorn ” Framtagen plan eller inte (Ja/Nej/Delvis)”. För det sista målet gällande synkronisering av Bottenvikens vattendistrikt förvaltningsarbete föreslogs de två indikatorerna ”Uppnådd God ekologisk status i Bodensjöarna” samt ”Halten totalfosfor ska inte överstiga den teoretiska målhalten”. I resultatet finns även ett exempel på visualisering av uppföljningen, med ett diagram för totalfosfor med tillhörande beräknad teoretisk målhalt för att bidra till att uppnå God ekologisk status i Svartbyträsket. Slutsatsen från studien var att de mål som Bodens kommun hade formulerat visades ha en bra förankring i målformuleringarna till det nationella steget i målhierarkin. Däremot hade uppföljningsarbetet underlättats om Bodens kommun hade fastställt indikatorer samtidigt som målen formulerades. Vidare har Bodens kommun uppmärksammat belastade lokala system i enlighet med teorin för de planetära gränserna då många mål behandlar belastningen av näringsämnen till Bodensjöarna. Om kommuner kan förankra sina miljö- och hållbarhetsmål mer till regionala, nationella och globala instansers mål går det att skapa ett mer enhetligt arbete då samma mål eftersträvas och samma indikatorer mäts, vilket kan leda till att fler mål uppnås. Samtidigt är det viktigt att arbetet alltid anpassas efter lokala förutsättningar och tillåter prioriteringar efter egna behov. Arbetet med fallstudien visade att den föreslagna modellen med fördel kan användas vid formulering av kommunala miljömål.