Há tempos a ubiquidade dos materiais plásticos no meio ambiente é assunto de discussão, com destaque para as partículas menores, ditas microplásticos (< 5 milímetros). Fibras provenientes de materiais têxteis são um subgrupo dos microplásticos e têm origem em diversas fontes, incluindo lavagens domesticas, uma vez que filtros de lavadoras e sistemas de tratamento de esgoto não são desenhados especificamente para retê-las. Quando no meio ambiente, estes materiais podem alcançar concentrações até milhares de unidades por metro cúbico, ficando disponíveis a uma gama de espécies. Neste cenário, o presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar parâmetros de lavagem, e características têxteis que pudessem influenciar no desprendimento de fibras em efluentes de lavadoras domesticas. Foram realizados experimentos com dez sucessivas lavagens individuais, com e sem detergente, para quatro tipos de artigo: algodão (como padrão de comparação), acrílico, poliéster e poliamida. Os efluentes foram então filtrados (< 1 milímetro, 500 mícrons, 63 mícrons, 8 mícrons) e pesados. Resultados demonstram que todos os artigos têxteis liberaram fibras na lavagem. Dez sucessivas lavagens representaram queda na massa desprendida, bem como o uso de detergentes em comparação a lavagens sem detergente. Diferenças entre artigos sugeriram variação conforme características têxteis, onde algodão liberou mais fibras, seguido de acrílico, poliamida e poliéster. Em relação ao tamanho das fibras, a maioria ficou retida no filtro da lavadora (< 1 milímetro) e na peneira de 63 mícrons, mostrando o potencial de diminuição de porosidade do filtro. A visualização de fibras em papel-filtro de 8 mícrons sugere a existência de fibras micro e nano. Convertendo massa para numero de unidades, a lavagem individual de um artigo têxtil mostrou desprender entre milhares e centenas de milhares de fibras. Para uma extrapolação mundial, cerca de 40,4 mil toneladas de algodão e 21,5 mil toneladas de fibras sintéticas seriam liberadas em efluentes de esgoto. No Brasil estes valores corresponderiam, respectivamente, a 1,6 mil e 860 toneladas ano. Caso fossem tratadas em estações de tratamento de esgoto em condições ideais, seriam liberadas, em um ano, cerca de 737 toneladas de fibras sintéticas em escala mundial e 29 toneladas em escala nacional. Uma vez em cursos d\'água, estas fibras atingiriam, em ultima instância, o ambiente marinho, indicando a necessidade por soluções que combatam este tipo de poluição, sem antes deixar de explorar as lacunas do conhecimento, relacionadas, no âmbito têxtil, especialmente às diferenças metodológicas entre os estudos. / Since decades, the ubiquity of plastic materials in the environment has been a matter of discussion. Smaller pieces, named microplastic (< 5 millimeters) gained more attention recently and are now the focus of several studies. Textile fibers are a subgroup of microplastics and can be originated from several sources, including domestic washings, once filters and sewage treatment plants are not specifically designed to retain them. In the environment, these materials can reach concentrations up to millions of units per cubic meter, being available to many species. The objective of the present study was to evaluate washing parameters and also textile characteristics, which could influence in fibers emission from domestic washing machines. Experiments were done in ten successive times, with and without detergent, for four types of articles: cotton (as a pattern for comparison), acrylic, polyester and polyamide. Resulting effluents were then filtered in different porosities (< 1 millimeter, 500 microns, 63 microns, 8 microns), weighted, related to mass of textile articles and simulated regarding number of fibers. Results demonstrated that all textile articles emitted fibers during domestic washings. Ten successive washings represented a decrease in the emitted mass, as well as the use of detergent in relation to washings without the product. Differences between articles suggested variation of results according to textile characteristics, where the ranking of emission was: cotton, acrylic, polyamide and polyester. When considering the size of fibers, the majority was retained in the filter of the washing machine (porosity < 1 millimiter) and in 63 microns sieve, when compared to 500 microns sieve, showing the importance of the filter of the washing machine and the potential to decrease its porosity. Fibers retained in the filter- paper of 8 microns, couldnt be weighted because of its low mass, but their visualization suggests the existence of fibers in micro and nano scales. Converting mass to number of fibers, one individual washing was responsible for something between thousands and hundred of thousands of units. When extrapolating values to a global perspective, it reaches something around 40.4 thousand tonnes of cotton per year and 21.5 thousand tonnes of synthetic fibers per year. In a Brazilian perspective, these values correspond, respectively, to 1.6 thousand tonnes year and 860 tonnes year. If this effluents were all treated in sewage treatment plants, in ideal conditions, still they would release something like 737 tonnes of synthetic fibers per year in a global scale and 29 tonnes of synthetic fibers per year in a national scale. Once in water bodies, those fibers would reach the marine environment, indicating the necessity of solutions that could impair this kind of pollution, not before solving knowledge gaps, specially related, in the textile area, to methodology differences between studies

Nosocomial infections are acquired in health care settings and they can lead to catastrophic health care consequences for patients. These infections can also pose significant financial burdens on society and health care systems. Educating nurses on hand hygiene is essential to reducing infection rates. The research question for the study examined the effectiveness of hand hygiene among nurses in reduction of nosocomial infections and how can health care organizations develop educational strategies to reduce nosocomial infections to improve public confidence in health care systems. The purpose of this study was to educate nurses on how to reduce the incidence of nosocomial infections. The evidence-based practice model for this project was Florence Nightingale's environmental theory. The health belief model was used to identify the reasons for health care culture and how they inspire change. In this study, 2 licensed practical nurses and 2 registered nurses were educated on how to reduce nosocomial infections in acute care settings. Participants then completed a questionnaire to assess their knowledge of hand hygiene as a means of reducing nosocomial infections when caring for patients. All participants agreed that hand hygiene; reduces the risk of contracting a nosocomial infection, suggesting that the incidence of nosocomial infections within acute care settings maybe reduced through this education. This project has potential positive social change by educating first and second year nursing students on the importance of hand hygiene in reduction of nosocomial infections and preventing patients from sustaining further injuries while admitted in acute care settings.

Peach production in Utah is an important enterprise. In 1946 the crop of 700,000 bushels was valued at $1,085,000, which was approximately one percent of the value of all agricultural commodities grown in the state. The estimate average annual production over the ten-year period, 1936 to 1945, was 636,000 bushels. About 95 percent of the peach trees are located in Washington county and along the Wasatch Front in Utah, Salt lake, Davis, Weber, and Box Elder counties. Small-scale family type units characterize the production of peaches in Utah. The 5,071 farmers who reported growing peach trees in 1944 had an average of 146 trees per farm. In the state, peach production is concentrated on well-drained open soils which require frequent irrigation. The usual practice is to disk several times during the growing season. Some operators leave the ground between the trees bare during the winter months, while others prefer to leave an undergrowth of clover, grass, or weeds. The enterprise is most successful if located where air currents protect the orchards from early spring frosts. In Utah the freestone varieties predominate. The Early and Late Elbertas are most common, followed by J. H. Hale, Late Crawford, Heath Cling, Rochester, Greensboro and other less popular varieties. Golden Jubilee and Halbertas were also found. Canning factories provide a market for a small portion of the peach crop, but most of them must be marketed fresh by peddling and at roadside stands or shipped out of the state through marketing associations and brokers. The competitive nature of agriculture makes it necessary for successful farmers to attempt to keep costs at a minimum. Present high production costs and the likelihood of lower prices for farm products in the future make this problem vitally important to Utah peach growers and to farmers in general. The purposes of this study are (1) to determine the unit cost of producing peaches in Utah and the items comprising the costs, and (2) to discover what methods of production are associated with success in the peach industry.

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A vast number of sites that have been contaminated by industrial activities have been identified worldwide. Many such sites now pose serious risks to humans and the environment. Given the large number of contaminated sites there is a great need for efficient, cost-effective  remediation methods. Extensive research has therefore been focused on the development of such methods. However, the remediation of old industrial sites is challenging, for several reasons. One major  problem is that organic contaminants become increasingly strongly sequestered as they persist in the soil matrix for a long period of time. This process is often referred to as ‘aging’, and leads to decreasing availability of the contaminants, which also affects the remediation efficiency. In the work underlying this thesis, the influence of soil and contaminant properties on the efficiency of various physical and chemical soil remediation methods was investigated. The investigated contaminants were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs). Briefly, the results show that as the size of soil particles decreases the contaminants become more strongly sorbed to the soil’s matrix, probably due to the accompanying increases in specific surface area. This affected the efficiency of the removal of organic pollutants by both a process based on solvent washing and processes based on chemical oxidation. The sorption strength is also affected by the hydrophobicity of the contaminants. However, for a number of the investigated PAHs their chemical reactivity was found to be of greater importance for the degradation efficiency. Further, the organic content of a soil is often regarded as the most important soil parameter for adsorption of hydrophobic compounds. In these studies the effect of this parameter was found to be particularly pronounced for the oxidation of low molecular weight PAHs, but larger PAHs were strongly adsorbed even at low levels of organic matter. However, for these PAHs the degradation efficiency was positively correlated to the amount of degraded organic matter, probably due to the organic matter being oxidized to smaller and less hydrophobic forms. The amount of organic matter in the soil had little effect on the removal efficiency obtained by the solvent-washing process. However, it had strong influence on the performance of a subsequent, granular activated carbon-based post-treatment of the washing liquid. In conclusion, the results in this thesis show that remediation of contaminated soils is a complex process, the efficiency of which will be affected by the soil matrix as well as the properties of the contaminants present at the site. However, by acquiring thorough knowledge of the parameters affecting the treatability of a soil it is possible to select appropriate remediation methods, and optimize them in terms of both remediation efficiency and costs for site- and contaminant-specific applications.

In this project a washing station has been constructed for Albany International AB. At present, there is no existing system to clean the dirty pipes that are coming back to the company. The work followed the product development process, and it started with the requirements list. This was followed by brainstorming, evaluation and completion. The result was a concept for de present time and one concept for the future. The present concept is intended to be built immediately. This is an adjustable bench with sliding bearings to facilitate the work. The actual cleaning is done with a high pressure washer that uses hot water. When the future concept will be brought into use, you don’t need to modify or rebuild anything, just add to the constructions that already exist. The future is to increase efficiency and become even more environmentally friendly. The concept also includes two types of warehouses, one for the dirty pipes, and one for the clean pipes. On these you are supposed to place several pipes, so it’s possible to streamline processing, and wash more pipes in a flow. The washing station will lead to improvement of the working environment, and the new technology will make improvements on the result. / I detta arbete har en tvättstation konstruerats åt företaget Albany international AB. I dagsläget finns inget befintligt system för att tvätta smutsiga returrör. Arbetet följde produktutvecklingsprocessen, och började med en kravspecifikation. Därefter följde brainstorming, utvärdering och färdigställande. Resultatet blev ett nutidskoncept och ett framtidskoncept. Nutidskonceptet är tänkt att det skall byggas omgående. Detta är en ställbar tvättbänk med kulhus för att underlätta arbetet. Själva rengöringen sker med en högtryckstvätt som använder varmvatten. När framtidskonceptet skall tas i bruk behöver företaget inte ändra eller bygga om någonting, utan bara göra tillägg i den konstruktion som redan finns. Framtidsvisionen handlar om att öka effektiviteten och samtidigt bli ännu mer miljövänlig. I konceptet ingår det även två typer av magasin, ett för de smutsiga rören, och ett för de rena rören. På dessa ska man kunna lägga flera rör, så att man ska kunna effektivisera bearbetningen och tvätta fler rör i ett flöde. Tvättstationen ska leda till att arbetsmiljön blir bättre, och den nya tekniken gör att resultatet förbättras.

In this thesis a finite element model of a household washing machine cylinder is built and analysed in ABAQUS 6.9-2. The aim is to help Asko appliances in conducting similar analysis for future manufacturing of high capacity cylinders by reducing experimentation. The analysis is mainly concerned with an evenly distributed load at a constant angular velocity. The load is applied with the help of lead plates instead of clothes. The cylinder is loaded with three thin (2 mm) lead plates weighing 2 kg each. The plates with dimensional 370x240x2 mm are mounted with one strip of double sided foam tape inside the cylinder. To estimate the behavior of the cylinder the strains are measured when the cylinder is rotating at 1620 and 2200 revolution per minute (rpm). To validate the model the numerical analyses are compared with experimental results. The results clearly show that the numerical strain values fit with experimental strain values.

This project thesis is developed in collaboration with the mechanical department at University of Skövde, and it is focused in the determination of different loading cases and the application of their results to the optimization of two parts of a washing machine.   The first step in this report is to obtain a numerical model of a washing machine. It includes the assembly in a mechanical software program (Abaqus), and the assignment of the specific boundary conditions and material properties for the problem. Simulation parameters such as mesh size; types of elements, and number of iterations used in the calculations will also be decided.   A study of the different loading cases is carried out with the intention of having a general view of the problem and selecting four specific cases for its application to the reconstruction of the aimed parts (tripod and front cover). This study includes the calculation of the worst relative angle between the tripod and the resultant force for two opposite loads inside the drum. This angle results to be 35º between the arm and the direction of the resultant force.   Through the application of these different loading conditions to this model, the mechanical behaviour of the parts will be obtained and this information will be used in the reconstruction. By mechanical behaviour it is meant to know the maximum level of stress (tension, compression and shear), and deformation (displacement and strain).   Once it is well known which are the most suffering points of the tripod and in the front cover, several different new shapes are created. The parameters considered in this reconstruction were the decrease of volume, the reduction of the level of stress and the deformations. Two of these shapes are chosen and tested in the numerical model, as a checkout.   Finally all these results are presented to the University of Skövde for possible future use.

In order to avoid harmful substances ending up at the municipal sewage treatment plants, it is important to purify the wastewater at the source. One such source is the wheel washers available in many tire garages which are used to wash the wheels on our vehicles when we change between summer and winter tires. It is important to wash the wheels before storage, to extend the tires lifetime. The purpose of this study is to find a green innovative solution for reduction of emissions of heavy metals at the source, so that the sludge from the sewage treatment plants can be used as fertilizer. The target is to find a wheel wash method which leads to compliance with the guidelines for car washers, and that also provides a better washing result than with the existing method. Chemical analyzes of water samples have been performed and the cleanliness of the wheels has been checked visually. As there are no specific emission requirements for wheel washes, the results have mainly been compared with current guidelines for vehicle washes. A new washing and flocculation method have been developed during the study. The proposed new method is suitable as pretreatment of the water before discharging it, as it reduces metal emissions and provides better washing results compared to the old method. Significantly larger number of wheels may be washed in one session, which leads to a reduction of water- and energy consumption since the machine can be emptied and cleaned less often. For many years there has been an environmental adaption to eco-friendly car washers, so the opportunities should be good for wheel washers to win goodwill and market advantages by being profiled with an environmentally adapted washing method. / För att undvika att miljöskadliga ämnen hamnar i de kommunala reningsverken är det viktigt att rena avloppsvattnet vid källan. En sådan källa är de hjultvättmaskiner som finns på många verkstäder och som används för att tvätta hjulen på våra fordon i samband med skifte mellan sommar- och vinterdäck. Det är viktigt att tvätta hjulen före förvaring, för att förlänga däckens livslängd. Syftet med denna undersökning är att hitta en grön innovativ lösning för att främja uppströmsarbetet, dvs att rena utsläppen av tungmetaller vid källan, så att slammet från våra reningsverk kan användas som gödningsmedel. Målet är att finna en metod för hjultvätt som medför att riktlinjerna för fordonstvättar uppfylls, och som samtidigt ger ett bättre tvättresultat än befintlig metod. Kemiska analyser av vattenprover har utförts och renheten har kontrollerats visuellt. Eftersom det saknas specifika utsläppskrav för hjultvättar, har resultaten i första hand jämförts med gällande riktlinjer för fordonstvättar. En ny tvätt- och flockningsmetod har utvecklats under studiens gång. Den föreslagna nya metoden är lämplig som förbehandling av vattnet innan utsläpp, eftersom den sänker metallutsläppen samt ger ett bättre tvättresultat jämfört med den gamla metoden. Betydligt fler hjul kan tvättas per tvättomgång vilket innebär en minskning av vatten- och energiförbrukningen eftersom maskinen behöver tömmas och rengöras mer sällan. Under många år har det skett en miljöanpassning av fordonstvättar, så möjligheterna borde vara goda för att även hjultvättar ska kunna vinna goodwill och marknadsmässiga fördelar genom att profilera sig med en miljöanpassad tvättmetod.

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