Thesis (M.S. - Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics)--University of Arizona, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 206-211).

Abstract Production of pulp and paper from raw wood involves the washing of substantial quantities of highly coloured material from the wood pulp. Although most of this colour is trapped within the mill and the mills wastewater treatment system, discharge of coloured wastewater remains a problem of public concern. Lake Rotorua, New Zealand is filled with sediment consisting almost exclusively of diatoms. The most abundant species, Aulacoseira, has been shown to have very small pores, less than 200 nm, that could be very useful for the capture and holding of large organic molecules. Lake Rotorua is situated close to the two largest pulp and paper mills in New Zealand and may have to be dredged to solve a problem of eutrophication. Wastewaters generated at the Kinleith (Tokoroa) and Tasman (Kawerau) mills in the North island of New Zealand have been used to assess the characteristics of colour removal by Lake Rotorua diatoms. Vacuum filtration through the diatoms succeeded in removing colour but proved to be impractically slow as an industrial process. Addition of diatoms to wastewater streams in stirred experiments showed that significant adsorption took place. The majority of the colour was removed within 30 seconds of mixing. The efficiency of colour removal was found to vary between wastewater streams within the mills. The pH dependency of this removal was tested and found to be most effective in a pH range of 3.6 to 5. Attempts to reuse the diatoms showed that chemical backwash regimes were more effective than calcination. This study concluded that surface silanols were likely to be the principle agent in forming coagulants with the colour material and were subsequently trapped on the diatom surfaces, but more importantly within the pores.

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-152). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.97-102).

The overall objective of the research conducted and described in this thesis was to develop an environmentally relevant bioassay to assess the effects of complex effluents on a sentinel fish species. A short-term fathead minnow (FHM) reproductive bioassay was utilized to assess the effects of industrial effluents on multiple levels of biological organization (sub-organismal to population endpoints). The FHM bioassay was tested in both lab and on-site investigations using an artificial stream system. The incorporation of trophic-transfer into the bioassay was also developed to quantify the importance of contaminated food as a source of exposure. This work was conducted in two key phases. Phase I focused on testing and developing the FHM bioassay, in the lab and on-site with pulp mill effluent (PME), to firstly document response patterns and, secondly, to conduct an investigation of cause study. Phase II focused on developing the trophic-transfer system to document responses to metal mine effluent (MME) in the lab and on-site in an artificial stream system. Development of the trophic-transfer system was also conducted during this phase to compare responses to standard water-only exposures. <p>In Phase I, exposure to PME in both the lab and field studies resulted in disruptions in egg production and spawning events. By focusing on identifying response patterns I was able to determine that the effects observed were indicative of an estrogenic response. I was also able to identify a process stream that was the potential cause of responses observed after exposure to final effluent. Isolation of this process stream will assist the mill in developing approaches for future mitigation. The results from this research will also provide additional data for the environmental effects monitoring (EEM) program for pulp and paper and investigation of cause studies on a national basis. <p> In Phase II, in both the field and laboratory investigations, significant decreases in reproductive output (egg production and spawning events) were observed in the water-only system exposures. Significant decreases in hatching success and increases in deformities were observed in the trophic-transfer system only, suggesting that the combination of both food and water was important in assessing the effects on the F1 generation. Overall, the responses in the trophic-transfer system were not comparable between the lab and field studies. In the lab study, significant decreases in reproductive output occurred, compared to the field study where significant increases in egg production and spawning events occurred. In addition, the effects on the F1 generation in the field study were not as severe as those observed in the lab investigation. It was concluded that the presence of reference water and the environment within the trophic-transfer system were responsible for this reduction in toxicity. <p> Phases I and II of this research have made significant contributions to artificial stream development within Canada for the assessment of industrial effluents and their effects on aquatic biota. The results from these studies have also demonstrated that environmentally relevant testing is essential if we are to accurately assess effects on aquatic biota. Future development and application of this bioassay should be towards developing a standardized approach for not only assessing the effects of industrial effluents in a comparative manner, but also in investigation of cause studies.

The overall objective of the research conducted and described in this thesis was to develop an environmentally relevant bioassay to assess the effects of complex effluents on a sentinel fish species. A short-term fathead minnow (FHM) reproductive bioassay was utilized to assess the effects of industrial effluents on multiple levels of biological organization (sub-organismal to population endpoints). The FHM bioassay was tested in both lab and on-site investigations using an artificial stream system. The incorporation of trophic-transfer into the bioassay was also developed to quantify the importance of contaminated food as a source of exposure. This work was conducted in two key phases. Phase I focused on testing and developing the FHM bioassay, in the lab and on-site with pulp mill effluent (PME), to firstly document response patterns and, secondly, to conduct an investigation of cause study. Phase II focused on developing the trophic-transfer system to document responses to metal mine effluent (MME) in the lab and on-site in an artificial stream system. Development of the trophic-transfer system was also conducted during this phase to compare responses to standard water-only exposures. <p>In Phase I, exposure to PME in both the lab and field studies resulted in disruptions in egg production and spawning events. By focusing on identifying response patterns I was able to determine that the effects observed were indicative of an estrogenic response. I was also able to identify a process stream that was the potential cause of responses observed after exposure to final effluent. Isolation of this process stream will assist the mill in developing approaches for future mitigation. The results from this research will also provide additional data for the environmental effects monitoring (EEM) program for pulp and paper and investigation of cause studies on a national basis. <p> In Phase II, in both the field and laboratory investigations, significant decreases in reproductive output (egg production and spawning events) were observed in the water-only system exposures. Significant decreases in hatching success and increases in deformities were observed in the trophic-transfer system only, suggesting that the combination of both food and water was important in assessing the effects on the F1 generation. Overall, the responses in the trophic-transfer system were not comparable between the lab and field studies. In the lab study, significant decreases in reproductive output occurred, compared to the field study where significant increases in egg production and spawning events occurred. In addition, the effects on the F1 generation in the field study were not as severe as those observed in the lab investigation. It was concluded that the presence of reference water and the environment within the trophic-transfer system were responsible for this reduction in toxicity. <p> Phases I and II of this research have made significant contributions to artificial stream development within Canada for the assessment of industrial effluents and their effects on aquatic biota. The results from these studies have also demonstrated that environmentally relevant testing is essential if we are to accurately assess effects on aquatic biota. Future development and application of this bioassay should be towards developing a standardized approach for not only assessing the effects of industrial effluents in a comparative manner, but also in investigation of cause studies.

Dissertation (M.Sc. (Chemical engineering)) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-52)

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. / Bibliography: leaves 140-147.

Thesis (M. S.)--Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Haizheng Li, Committee Chair ; Patrick McCarthy, Committee Member ; Vivek Ghosal, Committee Member. Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract The results of the comparison of various dissolution methods for sulphur showed, that HNO3 together with H2O2 gave more complete decomposition of organic components than HNO3 alone. The acid procedure with a mixture of HNO3+H2O2 slightly underestimated the S concentrations of plant material. The losses of sulphur were the highest in the dry ashing digestion procedure (HF(DAC)). The Leco combustion technique with infrared (IR) detection gave good precision and accuracy for sulphur. For the determination of heavy metals in plant materials, both the HNO3 and HNO3+H2O2 procedures were especially effective for determining Cr. However, the HNO3+HClO4 procedure gave lower results, and HF and HF(DAC) procedures greater values for Cr. Sulphur accumulation in pine needles around the pulp and paper mills was clearly higher than other points in the Kemi area. For example, within a radius of about 1-1.5 km around the mills of Oy Metsä-Botnia Ab Kemi Mills, the sulphur concentrations for (C) and (C+1) needles were 28 % and 26 % higher than those in the corresponding background samples collected in Kuivaniemi at a distance about 25 km from Kemi. Pine needles do not appeared to be appropriate a method for monitoring the accumulation of Fe, Zn, V and Pb emitted from pulp and paper mills. However, the Ca concentrations in (C+1) needles in the vicinity of the Oy Metsä-Botnia Ab Kemi Mills was 48 % higher than the average Ca concentration calculated from all (C+1) needles; thus it is likely that part of the Ca in the needles is derived from the mills. The regional distribution pattern of Cr and Ni in mosses in the Kemi-Tornio area in 2000 showed clearly that the most polluted area (Cr > 200 μg/g and Ni > 20 μg/g) appeared to lie within a few kilometres of the ferrochrome and stainless steel works of AvestaPolarit Stainless Oy. Within this area, the Cr concentrations in mosses were 4-13 times higher than those outside the urban area of Tornio. The area most polluted by the opencast chromium mining complex (Cr > 200 μg/g and Ni &lt; 20 μg/g) appeared to be in the immediate vicinity of complex. All the 95th percentile values for TSP (total suspended particles) in the mine area of AvestaPolarit Chrome Oy Kemi Mine were below the current Finnish air quality limit value of 300 μg/m3. However, the 98th percentile value exceeded the Finnish air quality guideline value of 120 μg/m3 at one monitoring site. According to leaching studies, the sum of calculated annual airborne pollution impact of water-soluble fraction (H2O) and environmentally mobile (CH3COONH4) fraction from the AvestaPolarit Chrome Oy Kemi Mine was Cr 1.2 kg, Fe 29 kg, Cu 63 kg, Ni 2.5 kg and Cd &lt; 100 mg. According to the homogeneity studies of heavy metal deposition on TSP filters, Cr, Ni, Cu and Fe were non-uniformly distributed over the glass fibre filters. The rsd values varied between 5.4-33.9 % for Cr, between 7.5-35.0 % for Ni, between 3.6-25.9 % for Cu, and between 6.6-19.9 % for Fe.