Im Lausitzer Braunkohlerevier wurden eine Vielzahl von Braunkohletagebauen stillgelegt und rekultiviert. In den locker gelagerten und überwiegend aus sandigem Boden bestehenden Kippen kam es im Zuge des Grundwasseranstieges seit ca. 2006 zu einer erheblichen Anzahl von Bodenverflüssigungsereignissen. Diese stellen eine Gefährdung für Personen dar und führten daher zu Sperrungen der Kippenflächen. Das Ziel der Arbeit war es, das Risiko für Personenschäden durch Bodenverflüssigungsereignisse auf Innenkippen des Lausitzer Braunkohlereviers zu ermitteln. Die Ergebnisse bilden eine Möglichkeit, Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Sicherheit auf der Kippe angepasst zu planen und damit eine bessere gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz zu erreichen. An Beispielen wird in der Arbeit dargestellt, wie der Grad der Gefährdung von Personen durch unterschiedliche Prozesse ermittelt und dargestellt werden kann. Die einfachen physikalischen bzw. empirischen Zusammenhänge bilden die Grundlage zur Ermittlung des Risikos, das Eintrittswahrscheinlichkeit und Schadensausmaß eines Bodenverflüssigungsereignisses berücksichtigt. Der Prozess der spontanen Bodenverflüssigung auf Kippen wird beschrieben. Es wird herausgearbeitet, dass die Auswirkungen eines Bodenverflüssigungsereignisses wesentlich von der Gestalt der Geländeoberfläche und der Lage des Grundwasserspiegels relativ zur Geländeoberfläche abhängen. Für die Geländemorphologie wird die Maßgeblichkeitszahl als Kenngröße genutzt, um zusammen mit dem Grundwasserflurabstand eine empirische Abhängigkeit der Auswirkungen eines Bodenverflüssigungsereignisses zu begründen. Mit diesen Ergebnissen wird auf Basis eines digitalen Geländemodells und eines Grundwassermodells eine Gefährdungskarte abgeleitet. Durch die räumliche Auswertung der Gefährdungskarte und einer angenommenen Zahl von Personen, die auf der geplanten Nutzung der Kippen beruht, wird das kollektive Risiko für Personenschäden berechnet. In die Berechnung geht auch die Eintrittswahrscheinlichkeit von Bodenverflüssigungsereignissen ein, die tagebaubezogen auf Grundlage von Auswertungen von digitalen Geländemodellen im Zeitraum von 2006 bis 2018 ermittelt wurde. Das ermittelte Risiko durch Bodenverflüssigung wird mit Risiken des Alltags verglichen. Darauf aufbauend wird ein Grenzrisiko vorgeschlagen. Die Ergebnisse werden interpretiert und es wird eine Empfehlung abgegeben, wie mit dem ermittelten Risiko umgegangen werden kann. / In the Lusatian lignite mining area, a large number of opencast lignite mines were closed down and recultivated. In the loosely stored tips, which mainly consist of sandy soil, a considerable number of soil liquefaction events have occurred in the course of the groundwater rise since approx. 2006. These represent a hazard to persons and therefore led to the closure of the tipping areas. The aim of the work was to determine the risk of personal injury caused by soil liquefaction events on inner tips of the Lusatian brown coal mining area. The results provide an opportunity to plan actions to improve safety on the dump and thus achieve better social acceptance. The paper uses examples to illustrate how the degree of risk to people posed by different processes can be determined and represented. The simple physical and empirical correlations form the basis for determining the risk which takes into account the probability of occurrence and the extent of damage of a soil liquefaction event. The process of spontaneous soil liquefaction on tips is described. It is worked out that the effects of a soil liquefaction event depend essentially on the shape of the terrain surface and the position of the groundwater level relative to the terrain surface. For the terrain morphology, the significance number is used as a parameter in order to establish an empirical dependence of the effects of a soil liquefaction event together with the groundwater level. With these results, a hazard map is derived on the basis of a digital terrain model and a groundwater model. By spatial evaluation of the hazard map and an assumed number of persons based on the planned use of the tips, the collective risk of personal injury is calculated. The calculation also includes the probability of soil liquefaction events occurring, which was determined on the basis of evaluations of digital terrain models in the period from 2006 to 2018. The calculated risk from soil liquefaction is compared with everyday risks. Based on this, a limiting risk is proposed. The results are interpreted and a recommendation is given on how to deal with the identified risk.

Das Bodenverhalten unter dynamischer Beanspruchung ist sehr komplex, wird jedoch in der Praxis häufig mit Hilfe von vereinfachten Modellen abgebildet. Die Gültigkeit solcher Modelle ist jedoch aufgrund des spannungs- und dehnungsabhängigen Bodenverhaltens sehr begrenzt. Alternativ dazu bieten sich dynamische numerische Berechnungen mit fortgeschrittenen Stofmodellen, die das Bodenverhalten in einem großen Dehnungs- und Spannungsbereich realitätsnah repräsentieren können. In dieser Arbeit wurde untersucht, inwieweit sich das komplexe Bodenverhalten unter dynamischen Einwirkungen mit Hilfe der Hypoplastizität abbilden lässt. Dabei wurde die entscheidende Rolle der Parameterermittlung veranschaulicht und zusätzlich ein angemessener Vorgang zur Bodenparameterbestimmung beschrieben. Zunächst wurde das Verhalten einer trockenen Sandschicht infolge von Erdbebenbeanspruchungen numerisch untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der Berechnungen zeigen, dass die Beschleunigungsamplifikation in der Nähe zur Bodenoberfläche von der Frequenz und der Amplitude der Grundbeschleunigung abhängt. Weiterhin nimmt die berechnete Eigenfrequenz und die entsprechende Amplifikation mit zunehmender Beschleunigungsamplitude ab. Des Weiteren wurde ein Zentrifugenversuch an einem im Sand eingebeteten Tunnel unter Erdbebeneinwirkungen nachgerechnet. Die berechneten Ergebnisse zeigen eine ausreichende Übereinstimmung mit dem Experiment. Mit der numerischen Nachrechnung wurde auch eine Abhängigkeit zwischen den Änderungen der Biegemomente in der Tunnelschale und der Oberflächensetzung im umliegenden Boden festgestellt. Die Standsicherheit von Böschungen unter Erdbebenbeanspruchungen stellt wegen des komplexen Bodenverhaltens eine weitere Herausforderung für die Berechnungen dar. Zunächst wurde überprüft, inwieweit sich das Böschungsverhalten mit der in der Praxis häufig eingesetzten pseudo-statischen Methode abbilden lässt. Hierfür wurde für eine in der Zentrifuge untersuchte Modellböschung die pseudostatische Analyse durchgeführt. Die im Zentrifugenversuch aufgetretenen oberflächennahen Gleitfläche lässt sich durch die pseudo-statische Methode nicht prognostizieren. Für eine oberflächennahe Gleitfläche wurde hingegen ein sehr hoher Standsicherheitsfaktor ermittelt. Mit einer numerischen Nachrechnung mit einem hypoplastischen Stoffmodell mit Betrachtung der intergranularen Dehnungen konnte das Verhalten der Modellböschung qualitativ und quantitativ sehr gut abgebildet werden. Somit wurden sowohl die oberflächennahe Gleitfläche als auch die Vertikal- und Horizontalverschiebungen realitätsnah wiedergegeben. In dieser Arbeit wurde des Weiteren ein Vorgang als Kombination zwischen den dynamischen numerischen Berechnungen und der pseudo-statischen Methode zur Bewertung der Standsicherheit von Böschungen unter dynamischer Einwirkung vorgeschlagen. Damit ließ sich ebenso ein realitätsnäher Stansicherheitsfaktor ermitteln. Da die Anwendung der pseudo-statischen Methode bei den Böschungen aus wassergesättigten kohäsionslosen Böden problematisch ist, lassen sich solche Böschungen entweder mit Zentrifugenmodellen oder numerisch mit fortgeschrittenen Stoffmodellen untersuchen. In dieser Arbeit wurden Nachrechnungen von Zentrifugenversuchen durchgeführt. Es handelt sich um einen Erddamm aus einem wassergesättigten, dicht gelagerten Nevada Sand unter Erdbebeneinwirkung. Mit der numerischen Berechnung wurde das Dammverhalten qualitativ und quantitativ sehr gut abgebildet. Sowohl die Dammverschiebungen als auch der Aufbau des Porenwasserdrucks zeigen eine sehr gute Übereinstimmung mit den Messungen. Weiterhin wurden mit den gleichen Bodenparametern zwei weitere Zentrifugenversuche unter Erdbebeneinwirkung nachgerechnet. Beide Modellversuche wurden mit einem locker gelagerten, wassergesättigten Nevada Sand durchgeführt. Bei einem Versuch wurde ein Erddamm und bei dem anderen eine Sandschicht untersucht. In den numerischen Nachrechnungen ließen sich sowohl die Verschiebungen als auch die Porenwasserdrücke in beiden Randwertproblemen realistisch abbilden. Weiterhin wurde die Wirkung von Schottersäulen zur Verhinderung der Bodenverflüssigung numerisch untersucht. Zunächst wurden die Dränage- und die Aussteifungswirkung der Schottersäulen unabhängig voneinander betrachtet. Die Dränagewirkung ist vernachlässigbar, da sich während eines Erdbebens der Porenwasserdruck sehr schnell aufbaut. Wegen der hohen Steifigkeit der Schottersäulen wird zwar weniger Porenwasserdruck in den Boden aufgebaut. Die effektive Spannung nimmt jedoch trotzdem unverhindert ab. Dies lässt sich damit begründen, dass die hohe Säulensteifigkeit zu einer Spannungsumlagerung in Richtung Säulen führt und ein Siloeffekt entsteht. Somit wird der Boden zum Teil von den Säulen getragen und die totale Spannung im Boden nimmt ab. In der 3D-Berechnungen ist dieser Siloeffekt deutlich geringer als in den 2D-Berechnungen. Nichtsdestotrotz zeigen sowohl die 2D- als auch die 3D-Berechnungen, dass die Säulensteifigkeit eine nur mäßige Wirkung zur Verhinderung der Bodenverflüssigung aufweist. In weiteren 3D-Berechnungen wurde der Einfluss der Säulenherstellung untersucht. Hierfür wurden Berechnungen mit erhöhter Bodendichte und Seitenspannung durchgeführt. Sowohl die Verdichtung als auch die Erhöhung der Seitenspannung verlangsamen den Porenwasserdruckaufbau bzw. die Abnahme der effektiven Spannung. Der Einfluss der Bodenverdichtung ist jedoch wesentlich höher. Weiterhin weist die Wirkung der Schottersäulen eine Abhängigkeit von der dynamischen Belastung auf. Die Bodenverflüssigung infolge eines kleinen Erdbebens wird verhindert, während sich die Verflüssigung infolge eines stärkeren Erdbebens nur um wenige Sekunden verzögert. / The soil behavior under dynamic loading is very complex. However, in daily use it is often illustrated by means of simplified models. The validity of these models is very limited due to the stress and strain-dependent soil behavior. Alternatively, dynamic numerical calculations can be performed with advanced constitutive models which can represent soil behavior in a wide range of strain and stress. In this work it was investigated, to which extent the complex soil behavior can be reproduced using hypoplasticity.Furthermore,the important role of parameter determination was illustrated. In addition, an appropriate procedure for determining soil parameters was described. First, the behavior of a dry sand layer under earthquake load was investigated numerically. The results of the calculations show that the acceleration amplification near the ground surface depends on the frequency and the amplitude of the basic acceleration. Furthermore, the calculated natural frequency and the corresponding amplification decrease with increasing acceleration amplitude. In addition, a centrifuge test on a tunnel embedded in sand under earthquake effects was numerically calculated. The calculated results show a satisfactory agreement with the experiment. The numerical calculation also revealed a dependency between the changes in the bending moments in the tunnel lining and the surface settlement of the surrounding soil. Due to the complex soil behavior, the stability of slopes under earthquake loads poses a further challenge for the calculations. Firstly, it was examined, to which extent slope behavior can be represented with the frequently used pseudo-static method. For this purpose the pseudo-static analysis was carried out for a model earth dam examined in the centrifuge. The pseudo-static method predicts a deep seated sliding surface in contrast to the shallow sliding surface in the centrifuge test. However, for a shallow sliding surface, a very high stability safety factor was determined. With a numerical calculation using a hypoplastic material model considering the intergranular strains, the behavior of the earth dam could be reproduced qualitatively and quantitatively very well. Thus, the shallow sliding surface as well as the vertical and horizontal displacements were reproduced realistically. In this thesis, a combination of the dynamic numerical calculation and the pseudo-static method for assessing the stability of slopes under dynamic influence was proposed. So, a realistic stability safety factor can be determined. The application of the pseudo-static method is problematic in case of slopes in saturated non-cohesive soil. These slopes can either be investigated with centrifuge models or numerically with advanced material models. In this work, numerical recalculations of centrifuge tests were carried out. It is an earth dam from a saturated Nevada sand under an earthquake effect. With the numerical calculation the dam behavior was reproduced qualitatively and quantitatively in a satisfactory manner. Both the dam displacements as well as the build-up of pore water pressure show a very good agreement with the measurements. Two further centrifuge tests were also carried out using the same soil parameters. Both model tests were conducted with a loose saturated Nevada sand. One test was carried out on an earth dam and the other on a sand layer. With the numerical calculations, both displacements and pore water pressures were reproduced realistically in both boundary value problems. In addition the effect of stone columns to prevent soil liquefaction was studied numerically. First, the drainage and stiffening effects of stone columns were examined separately. The drainage effect has no significant influence because of the very rapid build-up of pore water pressure during the earthquake. Due to the high stiffness of the stone columns, less pore water pressure builds up in the soil. However, the effective stress continues to decrease unhindered. The high stiffness of the columns leads to a stress redistribution in the direction of the columns and a silo effect arises. In 3D calculations, the silo effect is significantly lower than in 2D calculations. The 2D and 3D calculations show that the column stiffness has a moderate effect to prevent soil liquefaction. In further 3D calculations, the influence of column installation was investigated. Calculations with increased soil density and lateral stress were carried out for this purpose. Both the compaction and the increase of the lateral stress slow down the build-up of pore water pressure and the decrease in effective stress. However, the impact of soil compaction is much higher. Furthermore, the effect of stone columns depends on the dynamic load. The soil liquefaction due to a small earthquake is prevented, while liquefaction due to a stronger earthquake is delayed only by a few seconds.

Liquefaction is a major challenge in geotechnical engineering in which soil strength and stiffness are compromised due to earthquake activity. Understanding and predicting the behaviour and liquefaction susceptibility of soils under cyclic loading is a critical issue in civil engineering, mining and protective engineering. Numerous earthquake-induced ground failure events (e.g., substantial ground deformation, reduced bearing capacity) or liquefaction in natural fine-grained soils or manmade fine-grained soils (i.e., fine tailings) produced by mining activities have been observed and reported in the literature. Tailings are manmade soils that remain following the extraction of metals and minerals from mined ore in a mine processing plant. Traditionally, such tailings are stored in surface tailings impoundments at the mine’s surface. However, geotechnical and environmental risks and consequences related to conventional tailings impoundments have attracted the attention of the engineering community to develop novel methods of tailings disposal and management to minimize geotechnical and environmental risks. Thus, engineers have introduced and implemented innovative tailings technologies—thickened tailings and paste tailings—as cost-effective means for tailings management in mining operations. As both thickened tailings and paste tailings have lower water content and higher solid content than tailings in conventional impoundments, these tailings may be more resistant to liquefaction. However, it should be noted that the seismic or cyclic behaviour of these thickened and paste tailings, with and without heavy rainfall effects, are not fully understood. There is little technical information or data about the behaviour and liquefaction of thickened and paste tailings under seismic or cyclic loading conditions. The objective of the present PhD research is to investigate the response of layered thickened and paste tailings deposits, with and without heavy rainfall effects, to cyclic loads by conducting shaking table tests. To simulate the field deposition of thickened and paste tailings, tailings were deposited in three thin layers in a flexible laminar shear box (FLSB) attached to the shaking table equipment. A sinusoidal seismic loading at a frequency of 1 Hz and peak horizontal acceleration of 0.13g was applied at the bottom of the layered tailings deposits. Acceleration, displacement and pore water pressure responses to the cyclic loading were monitored at the middle depth of each layer of the tailings deposits. Regarding the acceleration response of these thickened and paste tailings deposits (without the effect of heavy rainfall), there was no difference between the middle of the bottom and middle layers or at the base of the shaking table. However, the acceleration at the middle of the top layer differed from the acceleration at the base of the shaking table. Throughout shaking, the layered tailings deposits (with and without the effect of heavy rainfall) exhibited contraction and dilation responses. The excess pore water pressure ratios of the layered thickened tailings deposit that was not exposed to heavy rainfall prior to shaking were found to exceed 1.0 during shaking. However, for the layered paste tailings deposit that was not exposed to the effect of heavy rainfall prior to shaking, the excess pore water pressure ratios were found to be lower than 0.85 during shaking. This reveals that without the effect of heavy rainfall, the layered thickened tailings deposit was susceptible to liquefaction, whereas the layered paste tailings deposit was resistant to liquefaction during shaking. The excess pore water ratios of the layered thickened and the paste tailings deposits that were exposed to heavy rainfall prior to shaking were found to be lower than 0.8 during shaking. This reveals that with the effect of heavy rainfall, the layered thickened and paste tailings deposits were resistant to liquefaction during shaking. The results and findings of this PhD research thus provide valuable information for the implementation of tailings in earthquake-prone areas.

The Mississippi River Valley, is hardly known as an earthquake zone, but may in fact be a natural disaster just waiting to happen. Historical records and paleoseismic investigations have shown that large magnitude earthquakes have occurred in the area and there are constantly microquakes all along the New Madrid Fault System. The inhabitants of the Midwest are living in a death trap so long society doesn’t preoperly prepare for earthquakes. The study presented here aims to prove that, as predicting earthquakes is difficult to the point of impossible, the only serious alternative is to reinforce existing buildings and infrastructure and make sure all new developments are seismically safe. The conclusion reached is, that although expensive, building earthquake safe and retrofitting existing buildings, is for the high risk areas by far cheaper than doing nothing when, not if, a new large magnitude earthquake occurs. For a city in the high risk area, the cost of retrofitting the current structures was 13 billion dollar to be compared with the 100 billion dollars in lost lives and properties of a worst case scenario.

La presente tesis estudia como eliminar el potencial de licuefacción del suelo en el Puerto del Callao, específicamente en el Muelle 5E, mediante el uso de columnas de grava. Donde el análisis del potencial de licuefacción se hace mediante el método de SEED&IDRISS modificado, se realizaron los cálculos con un sismo de grado 8.5 en la escala de Richter. Los datos del terreno fueron hallados mediante los ensayos de penetración estándar (SPT). Para dar solución al problema de licuefacción del suelo, se aplicaron columnas de grava, el diseño de estas se calculó mediante el método de SEED&BOOKER, estas permiten densificar el terreno y drenar el agua existente, disminuir los asientos totales y diferencial, y aumenta la capacidad portante del suelo. Finalmente, la tesis tiene como fin poder demostrar mediante la comparación del calculo de potencial de licuefacción antes y después de la aplicación de las columnas de grava, así como mediante el numero de golpes del ensayo SPT se puede ver las mejora del terreno. / This thesis studies how to eliminate the potential for soil liquefaction in the Port of Callao, specifically in Pier 5E, through the use of gravel columns. Where the analysis of the liquefaction potential is done by the modified SEED & IDRISS method, the calculations were made with an earthquake of grade 8.5 on the Richter scale. Terrain data were found by standard penetration tests (SPT). To solve the soil liquefaction problem, gravel columns were applied, the design of these was calculated using the SEED & BOOKER method, these allow to densify the land and drain the existing water, reduce the total and differential settlements, and increase the capacity. bearing from the ground. Finally, the thesis aims to be able to demonstrate by comparing the calculation of liquefaction potential before and after the application of the gravel columns, as well as by means of the number of hits of the SPT test, the improvement of the terrain can be seen. / Tesis

付記する学位プログラム名: グローバル生存学大学院連携プログラム / 京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第20340号 / 工博第4277号 / 新制||工||1662(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科社会基盤工学専攻 / (主査)教授 寶 馨, 教授 角 哲也, 准教授 佐山 敬洋 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

付記する学位プログラム名: グローバル生存学大学院連携プログラム / 京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第21056号 / 工博第4420号 / 新制||工||1687(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科社会基盤工学専攻 / (主査)教授 寶 馨, 教授 角 哲也, 准教授 佐山 敬洋 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

[pt] A história registra ao longo dos séculos muitos casos de colapso de depósitos de solos arenosos, com consideráveis prejuízos econômicos, perdas de vidas humanas e danos ao meio ambiente, causados pela liquefação dinâmica ou por mobilidade cíclica. Quando um desempenho satisfatório de estruturas não puder ser garantido sob carregamento sísmico, métodos de mitigação devem ser empregados para reduzir o potencial de liquefação. Dentre estes, a execução de drenos verticais é solução interessante, mas desafiadora, pois drenos verticais podem ser utilizados caso dissipem suficientemente rápido os excessos de poropressão e transportem eficientemente o volume de água durante os poucos segundos de duração de terremotos. Uma dificuldade é a avaliação do coeficiente de permeabilidade do depósito de solo, o que afeta e torna incerta a distância desejável entre drenos. Nesta dissertação, análises do desempenho de drenos verticais para mitigação de liquefação dinâmica são realizadas com base em formulações matemáticas e modelos numéricos pelo método dos elementos finitos. / [en] Throughout centuries there are many recorded cases of collapse of sandy deposits with considerable economic losses, loss of human life and damage to the environment caused by the dynamic liquefaction or cyclic mobility. When a satisfactory performance of structures can’t be guaranteed under seismic loading, methods of mitigation must be employed in order to reduce the potential of liquefaction. Among these methods, the execution of prefabricated vertical drains is an interesting, but challenging, solution, because drains can be used if they dissipate very quickly the excess of porepressure generated during the small duration of earthquakes. One of the main challenges is to evaluate the coefficient of permeability of the deposit which affects and brings uncertainties to the desirable distance between the drains installed. On this work, analysis of the performance of vertical drains to mitigate dynamic liquefaction are performed based in mathematical formulations and numerical models through the Finite Element Method.

Three progressively larger statnamic lateral load tests were performed on a 2.59 m diameter drilled shaft foundation after the surrounding soil was liquefied using down-hole explosive charges. An attempt to develop p-y curves from strain data along the pile was made. Due to low quality and lack of strain data, p-y curves along the test shaft could not be reliably determined. Therefore, the statnamic load tests were analyzed using a ten degree-of-freedom model of the pile-soil system to determine the equivalent static load-deflection curve for each test. The equivalent static load-deflection curves had shapes very similar to that obtained from static load tests performed previously at the site. The computed damping ratio was 30%, which is within the range of values derived from the log decrement method. The computer program LPILE was then used to compute the load-deflection curves in comparison with the response from the field load tests. Analyses were performed using a variety of p-y curve shapes proposed for liquefied sand. The best agreement was obtained using the concave upward curve shapes proposed by Rollins et al. (2005) with a p-multiplier of approximately 8 to account for the increased pile diameter. P-y curves based on the undrained strength approach and the p-multiplier approach with values of 0.1 to 0.3 did not match the measured load-deflection curve over the full range of deflections. These approaches typically overestimated resistance at small deflections and underestimated the resistance at large deflections indicating that the p-y curve shapes were inappropriate. When the liquefied sand was assumed to have no resistance, the computed deflection significantly overestimated the deflections from the field tests.

<p>Biomass liquefaction is a nascent field within biorefinery research and has arisen in response to the bottleneck created from materials handling at the front end of the biorefinery. The basic concept is that if the biomass were to be converted into a flowable slurry at the front-end of the process, then the material could smoothly flow into the biorefinery pretreatment and down time due to the material forming a plug would be minimized or eliminated. Three liquefaction routes were studied in this work. These routes were: enzyme route, enzyme mimetic route, and a combined route of enzyme and enzyme mimetic. Through a Techno-economic assessment (TEA), it is possible to determine which route is most-economical to scale up and also to understand the extent to which liquefaction increases/decreases of the price of the biorefinery product.</p> <p>Gasification is a bio-based technology that has recently acquired more attention as it is an efficient conversion process for a variety of feedstocks. As new techniques and process routes are discovered, it is important to analyze which process technique is feasible for commercial scale up, as the highest performing technique may not be the most economical option to pursue. Along the same philosophy, a process concept was developed on Aspen Plus® to treat syn-gas impurities and also recycle the spent solvents. A TEA study was performed to determine the unit cost of treatment and to explore avenues of cost saving.</p>