In this study, combustion performances and emission characteristics of olive cake and olive cake+coal mixture are investigated in a bubbling fluidized bed of 102 mm inside diameter and 900 mm height. The average particle sizes of coal and olive cake used in the experiments were 1.57 mm and 1.52 mm, respectively. Flue gas concentrations of O2, CO, SO2, NOx, and total hydrocarbons (CmHn) were measured during combustion experiments. Operational parameters (excess air ratio, secondary air injection) were changed and variation of pollutant concentrations and combustion efficiency with these operational parameters were studied. The temperature profiles measured along the combustor column was found higher in the freeboard for olive cake than coal due to combustion of hydrocarbons mostly in the freeboard. The location of the maximum temperature in the freeboard shifted to the upper part of the column, as the volatile matter content in the fuel mixture increased. Combustion efficiencies in the range of 83.6-90.1% were obtained for olive cake with the excess air ratio of 1.12-2.30. The corresponding combustion efficiency for coal was 98.4-99.7% under the same conditions. As the CO and hydrocarbon concentration in the flue gas increased, the combustion efficiency decreased. Also co-combustion experiments of olive cake and coal for various mixing ratios were carried out. As the amount of olive cake in the fuel mixture increased, SO2 emissions decreased because of the very low sulfur content of olive cake. In order to increase the combustion efficiency, secondary air was injected into the freeboard which was a good solution to decrease the CO and hydrocarbon emissions, and to increase the combustion efficiency. For the setup used in this study, the optimum operating conditions with respect to NOx and SO2 emissions were found as 1.35 for excess air ratio, and 30 L/min for secondary air flowrate for the combustion of 75 wt% olive cake and 25 wt% coal mixture. Highest combustion efficiency of 99.8% was obtained with an excess air ratio of 1.7, secondary air flow rate of 40 L/min for the combustion of 25 wt% olive cake and 75 wt% coal mixture.

The environmental impact of the automotive fuels in the quality of the air is one of the great problems of the current world. The present work had as objective to evaluate the air quality in RMSP (Metropolitan Area of São Paulo), in the period from 2001 to 2005. It presents, mainly, a study of the impact of the emissions of gases for light automotive vehicles, taking into account the PROCONVE (Program of Control of Automotive Air Pollution). The methodology involved a comparative study of the technical reports published by CETESB (Company of Technology of Environmental Sanitation), INPE (National Institute of Space Research), ANFAVEA (National Agency of Automotive Manufacturers), MME (Ministry of Mine and Energy), MMA (Ministry of the Environment), IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for the Environment), DENATRAN (National Department of Automotive Traffic) and PROCONVE. The most used fuels by light automotive vehicles in Brazil are: gasoline type C, moisturized ethyl alcohol and natural gas (GNV). The results obtained with PROCONVE reveal that the automakers have been accomplishing the legal demands (resulting in a reduction of more than 94% in the emission of pollutants of new vehicles). The improvements of the fuels in order to obey the demands of the program are minimizing the environment impact of the pollutants from 10 to 30% in the RMSP. In a general way there is a pledge on the part of the automotive assemblers, the fuel industry and CETESB in framing of the new automobiles, as well as the fuels, within the legal demands of PROCONVE. / O impacto ambiental dos combustíveis automotivos na qualidade do ar é uma das grandes problemáticas do mundo atual. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar as condições do ar na RMSP (Região Metropolitana de São Paulo), no período de 2001 a 2005. Apresenta, principalmente, um estudo do impacto das emissões de gases por veículos leves, levando em consideração o PROCONVE (Programa de Controle da Poluição do Ar por Veículos Automotores). A metodologia utilizada envolveu um estudo comparativo dos relatórios técnicos publicados pela CETESB (Companhia de Tecnologia de Saneamento Ambiental), INPE (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais), ANFAVEA (Agência Nacional de Fabricantes de Veículos Automotores), MME (Ministério das Minas e Energia), MMA (Ministério do Meio Ambiente), IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiental), DENATRAN (Departamento Nacional de Trânsito) e PROCONVE. Os combustíveis automotivos mais usados em veículos leves, no Brasil, são: gasolina tipo C, álcool etílico hidratado e gás natural veicular (GNV). Os resultados obtidos com as medidas do PROCONVE revelam que os fabricantes de veículos têm cumprido as exigências legais, resultando numa redução de mais de 94% na emissão de poluentes de veículos novos. As alterações nos combustíveis no sentido de obedecer às exigências do programa vêm minimizando o potencial poluidor veicular em média de 10 a 30% na RMSP. De uma maneira geral, tem havido empenho por parte das montadoras automotivas, das indústrias de combustível e da CETESB em enquadrar os automóveis novos, bem como os combustíveis, nas exigências legais do PROCONVE.

<p dir="ltr">The goal of this thesis is to develop a method of evaluating long-term IAQ performance of an industrial facility and use machine-learning to model the relationship between critical air pollutants and the facility’s HVAC systems and processes. The facility under study for this thesis is an electroplating manufacturer. The air pollutants at this facility that were studied were particulate matter, total-volatile organic compounds, and carbon-dioxide. Upon sensor installation, seven “zones” were identified to isolate areas of the plant for measurement and analysis. A statistical review of the long-term data highlighted how this facility performed in terms of compliance. Their gaseous pollutants were well within regulation. Particulate matter, however, was found to be a pressing issue. PM10 was outside of compliance more than 15% of the time in five out of seven of the zones of study. Some zones were out of compliance up to 80% of the total collection period. The six pollutants that met these criteria were deemed critical and moved on to machine learning modeling. Our model of best fit for each pollutant used a gaussian process regression model, which fits best for non-linear rightly skewed datasets. The performance of each of our models was deemed significant. Every model had at least a regression coefficient of 0.935 and above for both validation and testing. The maximum average error was 12.64 ug.m^3, which is less than 10% of the average PM10 concentration. Through our modeling, we were able to study how HVAC and production played a role in particulate matter presence for each zone. Exhaust systems of the west side of the plant were found to be insufficient at removing particulates from their facility. Overall, the methods developed in this thesis project were able to meet the goal of analyzing IAQ compliance, modeling critical pollutants using machine learning, and identifying a relationship between these pollutants and an industrial facility’s HVAC and production systems.</p>

Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases which have strong impacts on the environment and its amount in the atmosphere is far beyond to be ignored. Carbon dioxide levels are projected to be reduced by sequestering it directly to the underground. High amounts of carbon dioxide can be safely stored in underground media for very long time periods. Storage in depleted gas reservoirs provides an option for sequestering carbon dioxide. In 2002, production of Kuzey Marmara gas reservoir has been stopped due to gas storage plans. Carbon dioxide sequestration in Kuzey Marmara field has been considered in this study as an alternative to the gas storage projects. Reservoir porosity and permeability maps were prepared with the help of Surfer software demo version. These maps were merged with the available Kuzey Marmara production information to create an input file for CMG-GEM simulator and a three dimensional model of the reservoir was created. History match of the field model was made according to the 1998-2002 production data to verify the similarity between the model and actual reservoir. Kuzey Marmara field is regarded as a candidate for future gas storage projects. The reservoir still contains producible natural gas. Four different scenarios were prepared by considering this fact with variations in the regional field properties and implemented into previously built simulation model. These scenarios primarily focus on sequestering carbon dioxide while producing as much as natural gas possible. After analyzing the results from the scenarios it is realized that / CO2 injection can be applied to increase natural gas recovery of Kuzey Marmara field but sequestering high rate CO2 emissions is found out to be inappropriate.