Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The Earth’s atmosphere consists of both gaseous and condensed-phase components, the condensed-phase material is called particulate matter (PM). The effects of atmospheric PM include adverse health impacts, as well as climate forcing. Both qualitative and quantitative knowledge about PM is necessary to assess these effects, and to devise best mitigation strategies. Understanding the distribution of atmospheric particulate matter is complex because much of it is of secondary origin rather than from primary emissions. Furthermore, there are multiple anthropogenic and natural sources of the contributing precursors, and all these processes are influenced by atmospheric conditions and transport. In this work, one of the major constituents of atmospheric PM - carbonaceous aerosol - is studied. A regional application of the EMEP MSC-W atmospheric chemical transport model - EMEP4UK - was used to model air pollution over the British Isles with a horizontal resolution of 5 km x 5 km. One-way nesting was used from the European computational domain of 50 km x 50 km to the finer spatial grid of EMEP4UK. Several model experiments were devised in order to investigate the well-known deficiency that models currently underestimate organic aerosol (OA) concentrations compared with observations. The model experiments were evaluated with comprehensive year-long novel measurements from the Clear Air for London (ClearfLo) campaign in 2012. Several sources of organic aerosol that are either missing, greatly underestimated, or may be spatially misplaced in official emissions inventories were re-evaluated. Firstly, missing diesel-related intermediate volatility organic compound (IVOC) emissions from diesel vehicles derived directly from field measurements at the urban background site during the 2012 ClearfLo campaign were added into the model. According to the model simulations, these diesel-IVOCs can explain on average ~30% of the annual secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in and around London. Furthermore, the 90- th percentile of modelled daily SOA concentrations for the whole year was 3.8 μgm-3, constituting a notable addition to total particulate matter. More measurements of these precursors (currently not included in official emissions inventories) is recommended. Secondly, spatially and temporally resolved emissions of cooking OA (COA; emissions from meat charbroiling, or frying and deep-frying) were developed. These emissions are currently neglected in European emissions inventories, yet measurements point to significant COA contribution to ambient PM concentrations (up to 2.0 μgm-3 on annual average for central London). The final COA emission source strength derived here (320 mg person-1 day-1) was spatially distributed to workday population density (as opposed to residential population density). The impact of COA on surface concentrations is spatially very limited, however, as the modelled concentrations dropped markedly outside of urban areas. For example, annual average modelled concentration for the Harwell location was just 0.1 μgm-3. Thirdly, redistributing 50% of non-industrial wood and coal burning emissions to residential population density (thus over-writing, in part, the assumption made by the national emissions inventory that only smokeless fuels are burned in smoke control areas) increased the modelled solid fuel OA (SFOA) concentration at the London North Kensington site to 0.8 μgm-3, from the Base run value (using the emissions’ spatial distribution and total as officially reported) of just 0.3 μgm-3. For comparison, the measured annual mean concentration of SFOA at this site was 1.0 μgm-3. Based on the model evaluation presented, redistribution of SFOA emissions into smoke control areas is justified, but further refinement of the amount, as well as the temporal emission profile of this component is necessary. The total effect of the three refinements undertaken in this work increased the model estimate of the annual mean OA concentration at the London North Kensington site from 1.8 μgm-3 to 3.8 μgm-3, which is much closer to the observed value of 4.2 μgm-3. Thus, this work has provided relevant insight into the nature and magnitude of missing, under-represented, and spatially inappropriately-distributed emissions of primary OA and OA precursors. Although the study area was focused on pollutant concentrations over the British Isles, all of the components examined here are of great relevance to the air quality in other countries as well — in Europe and globally. Therefore, the inclusion of these improvements into other air quality models and official emissions’ inventories is advised.

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

More deaths are caused every year by indoor air pollution than malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis combined. Cooking with traditional fuels such as charcoal and fuelwood with poor ventilation causes the single most important environmental health risk factor worldwide. It also contributes to environmental issues such as deforestation as traditional biomass fuels and cooking stoves are inefficient and requires large quantities of wood. This is especially critical in Africa where the largest regional population growth in the world is expected to occur. A solution to these issues was realized through fuel pellets and modern cooking stoves by Emerging Cooking Solutions, a company started by two Swedes and based in Zambia. The production of fuel pellets in Zambia is dependent on pine sawdust from small sawmills and is a declining source of raw material. However, other sources of biomass are available in Zambia such as pigeon pea stalk, an agricultural waste product, and sicklebush, an invasive tree species. If these species are viable for pelletization, the production of pellets can increase while reducing issues with sicklebush and promoting cultivation of pigeon pea. The aim of this work is to evaluate if pigeon pea stalk and sicklebush are viable to pelletize in Zambia and how the press is affected by the different raw materials. A pilot study is done at Karlstad University with a single unit press, hardness tester and soxhlet extractor to evaluate how the material constituents correlate to friction in the press channel and hardness of the pellets. The results of the pilot study provide support for full scale tests done in a pellet plant in Zambia. The normal production of pellets from pine sawdust is used as quality and production reference for the tests with pigeon pea stalk, sicklebush, and different mixes of the raw materials. The properties used to evaluate the quality of the pellets are hardness, durability, moisture content, bulk density, and fines. The press configuration is evaluated by logging the electricity consumption by the press motor, calculating the power and specific energy consumption from the logs, and observations during the tests. The results show that sicklebush, and mixes of sicklebush with pigeon pea stalk can produce pellets with better quality than the reference pine pellets. An interesting composition is a mix of 80% pigeon pea and 20% sicklebush that produces pellets with the best quality of all the tests. However, pellets produced from sicklebush and pigeon pea show a larger variation in hardness as compared to the reference pellets from pine sawdust. Mixing pigeon pea with pine reduces these variations but reduces the hardness of the pellets below the reference. The press struggles to process sicklebush and pigeon pea stalk with fluctuating power consumption that causes the motor to trip. The inhomogeneity of the materials in sicklebush and pigeon pea are identified to cause the issues in the press. Production improvements are discussed to facilitate the production of pigeon pea stalk and sicklebush pellets.

At present, the main cooking fuels inChinaare natural gas, coal gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), coal, biogas, wood and straw. This paper reviews the characteristics, advantages, disadvantages and the current application status of these different cooking fuels. Moreover, a questionnaire survey is presented, dealing with different cooking fuels in Chinese households and the occupants’ perceived health, ventilation behaviors and general knowledge in potential health hazards. About 56% of the respondents of the questionnaire survey stated that symptoms like itching eyes, dry or irritated throat, irritated nose, running or blocked nose and headache were worse when they were cooking in their kitchens. This suggests that cooking fuel combustion has a significant influence on human health. The most evident health effect was that wood and straw as cooking fuel caused eye irritation. The present common house planning in Chinese countryside, where the kitchens are separated from the rest of the house via a courtyard, is very likely to reduce the stove contaminant exposure of all occupants.   In general, the main cooking fuels of the cities tend to be better than the cooking fuels of the countryside. Natural gas appears to be the cleanest cooking fuel among all urban cooking fuels except electricity. For the rural residents, biogas or LPG is a better choice than wood, straw and coal as cooking fuel.

Chickpea is a food legume crop grown in tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions. World chickpea production is roughly three times that of lentils. Among pulse crops marketed as human food, world chickpea consumption is second only to dry beans. Turkey, Australia, Syria, Mexico, Argentina and Canada are major chickpea exporters. There are two types of chickpea, namely, the kabuli and the desi. The kabuli type is grown in temperate regions while the desi type chickpea is grown in the semi-arid tropics. Chickpea is valued for its nutritive seeds with high protein and starch content. They are eaten fresh as green vegetables, parched, fried, roasted, and boiled, as snack food, dessert and condiments. The seeds are ground and the flour can be used in soup, dhal and bread. Cooked chickpea is mostly preferred by consumers, especially the kabuli type. In this thesis, the heat and moisture transfer behavior of kabuli chickpea when subjected to cooking at different temperatures was investigated. The thermo-physical properties of chickpea were studied to develop a model to simulate the temperature distribution and moisture absorption in a chickpea seed when cooked in water. The thermo-physical properties determined experimentally were thermal conductivity, specific heat, moisture diffusivity, particle density and moisture content. Thermal diffusivity was calculated using the experimental values of thermal conductivity, specific heat and density. The water absorption in chickpea was determined when the seeds were soaked at different temperatures. It was observed that as the temperature of the soaking medium was increased, the rate of moisture absorption also increased. Soaking was done to enhance the gelatinization process during cooking. Cooking experiments were conducted for boiling temperatures ranging from 70 to 98°C for both soaked and unsoaked seeds. It resulted in the soaked seeds being cooked within 40-50 min, whereas the unsoaked seeds took around 250-300 min to cook. The amount of soluble solids lost during the cooking process is also reported which enables to predict the optimum soaking and cooking temperature. Using linear regression simple models for dependency of thermal conductivity, specific heat, thermal diffusivity and density on temperature and moisture content were developed. The rate of moisture transfer and the center temperature in the seed during cooking was determined experimentally and also simulated with the constant thermal properties found experimentally. The closeness of the simulated and experimental results was proved by appropriate statistical analysis. Based on the results obtained, it can be understood that soaking the chickpea seeds at temperatures ranging from 25 to 40°C for 8 h and cooking it at higher temperatures ranging from 90 to 100°C will improve the quality of the cooked seed with minimum mass loss. This optimum condition saves both energy and time.

The professional fine dining kitchen has predominately been the domain of male chefs. The purpose of this study was to look at what factors affect chefs, especially female chefs, in the development of their professional careers. I interviewed 12 professional female chefs and five male chefs in New York City and Atlanta, in various stages of their careers, in order to gain a better understanding of the difficulties faced by chefs. Through my research I learned that although women face devaluation from their male coworkers, they also face stigmatization from their female coworkers. This research provides insight into changes that need to be made in order for women to more successfully navigate the culinary industry as well as women in other male-dominated professions.

Chickpea is a food legume crop grown in tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions. World chickpea production is roughly three times that of lentils. Among pulse crops marketed as human food, world chickpea consumption is second only to dry beans. Turkey, Australia, Syria, Mexico, Argentina and Canada are major chickpea exporters. There are two types of chickpea, namely, the kabuli and the desi. The kabuli type is grown in temperate regions while the desi type chickpea is grown in the semi-arid tropics. Chickpea is valued for its nutritive seeds with high protein and starch content. They are eaten fresh as green vegetables, parched, fried, roasted, and boiled, as snack food, dessert and condiments. The seeds are ground and the flour can be used in soup, dhal and bread. Cooked chickpea is mostly preferred by consumers, especially the kabuli type. In this thesis, the heat and moisture transfer behavior of kabuli chickpea when subjected to cooking at different temperatures was investigated. The thermo-physical properties of chickpea were studied to develop a model to simulate the temperature distribution and moisture absorption in a chickpea seed when cooked in water. The thermo-physical properties determined experimentally were thermal conductivity, specific heat, moisture diffusivity, particle density and moisture content. Thermal diffusivity was calculated using the experimental values of thermal conductivity, specific heat and density. The water absorption in chickpea was determined when the seeds were soaked at different temperatures. It was observed that as the temperature of the soaking medium was increased, the rate of moisture absorption also increased. Soaking was done to enhance the gelatinization process during cooking. Cooking experiments were conducted for boiling temperatures ranging from 70 to 98°C for both soaked and unsoaked seeds. It resulted in the soaked seeds being cooked within 40-50 min, whereas the unsoaked seeds took around 250-300 min to cook. The amount of soluble solids lost during the cooking process is also reported which enables to predict the optimum soaking and cooking temperature. Using linear regression simple models for dependency of thermal conductivity, specific heat, thermal diffusivity and density on temperature and moisture content were developed. The rate of moisture transfer and the center temperature in the seed during cooking was determined experimentally and also simulated with the constant thermal properties found experimentally. The closeness of the simulated and experimental results was proved by appropriate statistical analysis. Based on the results obtained, it can be understood that soaking the chickpea seeds at temperatures ranging from 25 to 40°C for 8 h and cooking it at higher temperatures ranging from 90 to 100°C will improve the quality of the cooked seed with minimum mass loss. This optimum condition saves both energy and time.