Die Nato-Partnerschaft für den Frieden im Wandel: Entwicklung und Zukunft eines kooperativen Sicherheitsinstrumentes

ISSN:1423-389

Bulletin 1997/98 zur schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik

ISSN:1024-060

Bulletin 1995 zur schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik

ISSN:1024-060

Bulletin 1996/97 zur schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik

ISSN:1024-060

Microbiological Landscape of Oil-contaminated Soil and its Bioremediation by Microorganisms

The composition of microbial contaminants of soil samples contaminated with oil and oil products from oil depots of ports in southern Ukraine was investigated, and the possibility of their bioremediation by microorganisms present in the soil was determined. The microbiological landscape of the soil contaminated with oil and oil products was established, the quantitative and qualitative characteristics, group and dendrological composition of microorganisms were determined, and their potential ability to biodegrade petroleum hydrocarbons was determined. The degree of sanitary and ecological contamination of the samples was characterized by the number of the main groups of microorganisms - mesophilic aerobic and facultative anaerobic microorganisms (MAFAnM), molds, yeasts, as well as the dominance of MAFAnM by 3-5 orders among the studied groups of microorganisms. According to MAFANM, the number of thermophilic bacteria, titers of nitrifying bacteria, E. coli, Clostridium perfringens, bacteria of the genus Proteus, and the degree of oil contamination, the soil samples studied are characterized as contaminated and heavily contaminated. According to the study of morphological, tintorial, cultural, biochemical properties, 130 species were identified and 9 morphogroups of bacteria in oil-contaminated soil samples were determined. A dendrogram was constructed based on the set of studied properties of the isolated microorganisms. According to the results of the screening, the microorganisms isolated from contaminated soil samples are capable of biodegradation of long-chain alkanes of petroleum hydrocarbons. The identified groups of microorganisms can be arranged in the following sequence in order of increasing this indicator: Bacillus subtilis and Paenibacillus macerans ˂ Paenibacillus polymyxa ˂ Bacillus licheniformis ˂ Bacillus thuringiensis ˂ Bacillus megaterium ˂ Bacillus pumilis ˂ Bacillus cereus ˂ Paenibacillus circulans. Paenibacillus circulans and Bacillus cereus were identified as the most promising strains, biotransforming up to 48 percent of the total amount of hydrocarbons

Bulletin 2000 zur schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik

ISSN:1024-060

Methane potential from municipal biowaste: Insights from six communities in Maharashtra, India

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of biowaste can generate biogas with methane (CH4) as energy source and contribute to sustainable municipal solid waste management in India. Characteristic municipal biowastes sampled seasonally from household, fruit and vegetable market and agricultural waste collection points in villages, towns and cities in Maharashtra were analysed to assess the potential as substrate for AD. The mean biochemical methane potential (BMP, at 37 °C) across seasons and community sizes was between 200–260, 175–240 and 101–286 NLCH4 kgvs −1 for household, market and agricultural biowaste, respectively. CH4 yields were comparable in villages, towns and cities. Seasonal variations in CH4 yields were observed for market and agricultural biowaste with highest values during pre-monsoon season. Results underpin that municipal biowaste is a suitable substrate for AD in India. However, low purity of available biowaste resulted in lower CH4 yields compared to recent studies using source-segregated biowaste

Highly Compact Robots for Inspection of Power Plants

This paper reports on a 3 years applied research project dealing with several inspection scenarios of power plants and resulting in many robot prototypes and 3 main achievements. The project is a common effort between industry and university, including ALSTOM together with researchers from the 2 Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology. The goal is to generate knowledge and transfer technology to the industry in the field of robot inspection. The method is to collect commercial scenarios, study them, make some exploratory prototypes, select the best scenarios and develop enhanced prototypes for the most promising applications. The 3 most evolved robots are MagneBike for steam chest, AirGapCrawler for generators and TubeCrawler for boiler tube. The supporting technologies that have been developed are adhesion, locomotion, system integration and localization