Emerging Technologies Sustainability Assessment (ETSA) is a new technology assessment tool that was developed in order to compare emerging processes or technologies to existing alternatives. It utilizes infoIDlation modules, with the minimum use of resources such as time and money, in order to deteIDline if the process under development is comparatively favourable and should be developed beyond the early conceptual phase. The preliminary ETSA is vital in order to identify the gaps in the existing information and the specific methodologies to be used for data capture and analysis. The use of experimental design tools, such as Design-Expert, can facilitate rapid and efficient collection of necessary data and fits in well with the rationale for the ETSA. Wine distillery effluent (vinasse) is the residue left after alcohol has been distilled from fennented grape juice. It is an acidic, darkly coloured effluent, with a high COD and polyphenol content. The most popular method of disposal of this effluent, land application, is no longer viable due to stricter legislation and pressure on the industry to better manage its wastes. Although the ability of whiterot fungi to degrade a number of pollutants is well-known, fungal treatment of wine distillery effluent is still in the conceptual phase. The perfoIDlance of the fungal remediation system was assessed experimentally in terms of COD removal and laccase production using Design-Expert. Although Pycnoporus sanguine us was found to be most efficient at COD removal (85%) from 30% vinasse, laccase production was low (0.021 U/I). The optimum design for economically viable fungal treatment used Trametespubescens. This fungus was able to remove over 50% of the COD from undiluted vinasse while producing almost 800U/l of the valuable laccase enzyme within three days. Since the effluent from the fungal system did not meet the legal limits for wastewater disposal, a two-stage aerobicanaerobic system is suggested to improve the quality of the effluent prior to disposal. The ETSA was used to assess the fungal technology in relation to the two current methods of vinasse treatment and disposal, namely land application and anaerobic digestion. Based on the ETSA, which considered environmental, social and economic impacts, the fungal system proved to be potentially competitive and further development of the technology is suggested.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / This project strives to discover the most efficient way in which we can connect the edible food that would be sent to rot in a landfill with the people who lack access to adequate and healthful food. Existing charitable food distribution programs will be assessed so as to determine how to create a food distribution event that is far-reaching, well attended and effective. This research will be translated into a comprehensive plan outlining best practices for carrying out a distribution event on a college campus.

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Hog fuel is increasingly becoming an alternative to alleviate the energy problems associated with the use of fossil fuels. To make adequate use of hog fuel, its moisture content should be reduced prior to combustion either in an external dryer or in the initial stages of a hog fuel boiler. Therefore, this research project was undertaken to establish the factors which govern the drying rate of wet hog fuel particles. The convective drying of wood-waste on the slow moving bed of hog fuel boilers was simulated in a packed bed. The information which was obtained can also be applied to approximate the drying behaviour in external dryers. An apparatus was constructed to accommodate the use of hot air, flue gas, superheated steam and a mixture of them as drying media. Drying tests were carried out, over the temperature range of 125-245°C, on 1.1 to 4 kg batches of Western Hemlock hog fuel of thicknesses from 2 to 12 mm. The relative effects of velocity (V), temperature (T), nature of the drying gas, bed depth (L), and initial moisture content of the hog fuel samples (M₀) on the drying process were investigated using a mixture of several thickness fractions having an average (sauter mean) particle thickness (dp) of 6.3 mm. Drying rates were determined through measurement of the change either in humidity of the drying gas, or flow rate of the superheated steam across the bed of hog fuel. Gas humidity was measured using an optical dew point sensor and steam flow was monitored using an orifice plate connected to a massflow transmitter. Drying rates have been quantified as functions of hog fuel particle thickness, initial moisture content and bed depth. The effects of gas temperature, velocity and humidity have also been quantitatively established. The drying process was insensitive to CO₂ content of the drying gas. The existence of an inversion temperature above which drying rates increase with humidity of the drying medium was both experimentally and theoretically confirmed and the locus of inversion points was determined. Instantaneous normalized drying rates, ƒ, and characteristic moisture contents, Φ , have been determined and the existence of a unified characteristic drying rate curve was verified. Using a receding plane model, ƒ was formulated as a function of Φ, for dp = 6.3 mm and at L = 25 cm, for both superheated steam and relatively dry air. Pressure drop measurements were obtained for all the runs with the exception of the superheated steam ones. Application of an accepted pressure drop equation permitted the sphericity of the hog fuel particles to be approximated. A design equation for gas pressure drop in beds of hog fuel particles was investigated. The simultaneous heat and mass transfer processes in drying during the heat transfer controlled period was studied. Using the concept of volumetric evaporation, an empirical correlation for the overall heat transfer coefficient in a packed bed of hog fuel particles has been obtained. The effects of different parameters on both the particle residence time required for drying and the grate heat release rate in hog fuel boilers were determined. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

This thesis is focused on the analysis of the current system of municipal waste management in Jindřichův Hradec. The aim was to evaluate the development of waste in a further evaluate the development of revenue and expenditure of city waste management. Another objective was to determine whether residents of housing estate Hvězdárna and Vajgar in Jindřichův Hradec sort waste and whether the class also biological waste. Also investigated were the reasons why the inhabitants of settlements not sorted waste and organic waste. Furthermore, we were determined according to sorting waste and by age, gender and educational attainment of respondents. This survey was conducted by personal interview in the streets of housing estate Hvězdárna and Vajgar in Jindřichův Hradec. The results of this survey were fundamental for the subsequent third objective, which was to propose appropriate measures that will lead to more efficient collection of sorted waste, and thereby reduce the amount of waste deposited in landfills.

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After the environmental requirements were strengthened during the 1980s, the producers' costs of handling waste increased. With that change, a lucrative market opened up. Organized crime in the environmental industry has become very noticeable in recent years. Following the drug and arms trade, environmental crimes are approaching to be one of the largest. Illegal handling of waste can be seen as littering, dumping illegal waste in forests, ditches or dumping sites, landfills that do not meet environmental requirements, or illegal exports and imports. In the long and short-run illegal waste management can lead to negative consequences for the environment and human health. This study consists of interviews with relevant authorities and the purpose is to map how the authorities view illegal waste management. The purpose also includes mapping out what can be causing the problem and what is being done to reduce it. The choice of the qualitative method with interviews was made with the idea of giving space for individual experiences. The study shows that authorities find cooperation between them as very low, that knowledge and statistics are lacking. With this combination, the management of illegal waste is seen as complex according to the interviews. The authorities have been aware of the problem, but nothing seems to change. Increased cooperation, knowledge, and supervision may work to some extent, but it presumedly takes more than that. The society we live in today must develop to be more sustainable with less consumption.

The diploma thesis focuses on the ways of waste management in an industrial enterprise and the possibilities for its improvement in terms of the waste management hierarchy. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the sustainable development of the company, environmental management systems, as well as state environmental policy. The thesis also describes the legislative framework relating to waste management and defines the rights and obligations relating to the generation, management, manipulation and treatment, and disposal of waste. The own part of the thesis discusses the current situation in the field of waste management, which has been analysed for the purposes of work. Based on this information, a method of waste management is proposed in the last part.