Management of trans-boundary water resources: comparing Russian and American experiences

This article is based on a comparative analysis of Russia and US’s experience of participation in international cooperation in the field of trans-boundary water management. The author showcases the work of Russian-Estonian Commission for Protection and Rational Use of Trans-Boundary Waters and the US-Canadian International Joint Commission. The Russian-Estonian Commission works in accordance with the principle of intergovernmentalism, whereas transnationalism is the founding principle of the International Joint Commission in North America. Though the Russian-Estonian Commission is more efficient in water quality improvement in its area of responsibility, it is early still to claim that intergovernmental cooperation is more effective than transnational cooperation. However, it gives a reason to question the conclusions of the proponents of transnationalism in the international relations theory, who claim that the latter is more efficient. Practical significance of this paper is in the proposed recommendations for further modernization of international cooperation in the field of trans-boundary water management

Comparison of the mesophilic, thermophilic and temperature-phased anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge

Tesi en modalitat de cotutela: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya i Vysoká škola chemicko-technologická v Praze, (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague)Anaerobic digestion (AD) is currently spread all over the world for sewage sludge stabilisation, volume reduction and green energy production. Its implementation contributes to turn a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) into a resource recovery facility. AD processes at WWTP are studied quite well, however, there are still some issues that are open for further investigation. In this PhD Thesis, three different AD configurations were studied with regard to the following operational and functional issues: - Digested sludge quality, dewaterability and pathogenic safety; - AD efficiency in terms of mixing equipment and its operational regime; - Life cycle assessment (LCA) of sludge and wastewater treatment. Though TPAD has already been studied, a comprehensive study on the simultaneous operation of several AD systems fed with the same substrate and comparing not only the main operational AD parameters such as organic matter degradation and methane production rate, but also digested sludge quality in terms of dewaterability, pathogenic safety and energetic value, considering its final disposal step, is still missing. Thus, one of the objectives of this PhD Thesis was to compare the mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD), thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) and TPAD digested sludges and define the best alternatives for final disposal. The complex parameter of dewaterability was tested by two methods, centrifugation and mechanical pressing. Applying both methods, the experimental results showed that TAD and TPAD overcome MAD performance. The AD efficiency depends on many factors, including the mixing system and its operational regime. A mixing system and its operational regime are of high practical interest, as the stirring process can affect the AD efficiency significantly, both positively and negatively. Hence, there are several studies that investigate the effectiveness of the AD process in terms of mixing efficiency. However, most of them focus on certain factors (like microbial diversity or organic matter degradation efficiency) under a single temperature regime and configuration without a parallel comparison of several AD systems. Thus, in this PhD Thesis two different types of mixing mechanisms with two rotational regimes were selected. These mixing equipment alternatives were tested simultaneously on three laboratory AD systems with three different temperature regimes (mesophilic, thermophilic and temperature-phased) and two configurations (single- and double-stage AD) and afterwards modelled. The experiments showed that the simplest mixing mechanism at slow mixing velocity affected the AD efficiency in a better way than the more complicated mixing system at higher rotational speed. Another issue studied was a short HRT of the first stage of the TPAD system. It was found out that even at two days of HRT at TPAD1 methane content and volume can be reached in the fermenter and maintained a at significant amount at the second stage (TPAD2). These findings were proved by the microbiological analysis of samples taken from both stages of TPAD systems. Finally, the same three alternative anaerobic digestion systems (TAD, MAD and TPAD) were compared to determine which system may have the best environmental performance. Two life cycle assessments were performed considering: the whole WWTP (for a functional unit (FU) of 1 m3 of treated wastewater), and the sludge line (SL) alone (for FU of 1 m3 of produced methane). The data for the LCA were obtained from previous laboratory experimental work in combination with full-scale WWTP and literature. According to the results, the best AD alternative was TAD concerning all environmental impact categories, except for Climate change and Human toxicity.La digestión anaeróbica (DA) está actualmente extendida por todo el mundo para la estabilización de lodos de depuradora, reducción de volumen y producción de energía verde. Su implementación contribuye a convertir una planta de tratamiento de aguas residuales (EDAR) en una instalación de recuperación de recursos. Los procesos de DA en las depuradoras se han estudiado bastante, sin embargo, todavía hay algunos temas que están abiertos a la investigación. En esta Tesis Doctoral, se estudiaron tres configuraciones de DA diferentes con respecto a los siguientes problemas operacionales: - Calidad del lodo digerido, deshidratación y presencia de patógenos; - Eficiencia de la DA en términos de equipo de agitación y su régimen de operación; - Análisis del ciclo de vida (ACV) del tratamiento de lodos y aguas residuales. Aunque el sistema de doble etapa (TPAD) ya ha sido estudiado, faltan datos experimentales operando simultáneamente varios sistemas de DA alimentados con el mismo sustrato y comparando no solo los principales parámetros operativos de la DA como la degradación de la materia orgánica y la tasa de producción de metano, sino también la calidad de los lodos digeridos en términos de deshidratación, presencia de patógenos y valor energético, considerando también su disposición final. Así, uno de los objetivos de esta Tesis Doctoral fue comparar la digestión anaeróbica mesofílica (MAD), la digestión anaeróbica termofílica (TAD) y la TPAD, y definir las mejores alternativas para la disposición final de los lodos. El complejo parámetro de capacidad de deshidratación se probó mediante dos métodos, centrifugación y prensado mecánico. Aplicando ambos métodos, los resultados experimentales mostraron que TAD y TPAD superan el rendimiento del sistema MAD. La eficiencia de la DA depende de muchos factores, incluido el sistema de mezcla y su régimen de operación. Un sistema de mezcla y su régimen de operación son de gran interés práctico, ya que la agitación puede afectar significativamente la eficiencia del proceso de DA, tanto positiva como negativamente. Por lo tanto, hay varios estudios que han investigado la efectividad del proceso de DA en términos de eficiencia de mezcla. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los estudios se enfocan en ciertos factores (como la diversidad microbiana o la eficiencia de degradación de la materia orgánica) bajo una única configuración y régimen de temperatura, pero sin una comparación paralela de varios sistemas de DA. Así pues, en esta Tesis Doctoral se compararon dos tipos de agitadores con dos regímenes de rotación. Estas alternativas se probaron simultáneamente en tres sistemas de DA de laboratorio con tres regímenes de temperatura diferentes (TAD, MAD y TPAD) y dos configuraciones (DA en una y dos etapas) y posteriormente se modelaron. Los experimentos mostraron que el agitador más simple a una velocidad de mezcla lenta afectaba en mayor medida la eficiencia de la DA que el agitador más complicado a una velocidad de rotación más alta. Otro tema estudiado fue un HRT breve de la primera etapa del sistema TPAD. Se descubrió que incluso a los dos días de HRT en el TPAD1, pueden alcanzarse un cierto contenido y volumen de metano en el fermentador y mantenerse en una cantidad significativa en la segunda etapa (TPAD2). Estos hallazgos fueron comprobados mediante el análisis microbiológico de muestras tomadas de ambas etapas de los sistemas TPAD. Finalmente, se compararon los mismos tres sistemas TAD, MAD y TPAD para determinar qué sistema podría tener el menor impacto ambiental. Se realizaron dos análisis de ciclo de vida considerando: la depuradora completa (WWTP) y solo la línea de lodos (SL). Los datos para el ACV se obtuvieron en los trabajos experimentales de laboratorio previos, complementados con datos de depuradoras reales y de la literatura. Según los resultados, a mejor alternativa de DA fue TAD en todas las categorías de impacto ambiental, excepto Cambio climático y Toxicidad humana.Postprint (published version

Historical memory in the age of globalization: the case of Russian-Estonian relations

This article contributes to the discussion within the "Towards the Common Past" international academic network bringing together scholars from Russia, the Baltic States and the Nordic countries. It assesses the relationship between globalization and historical memory, thus contributing to the discussion on globalization and the roles and applications of history. On the basis of an analysis of academic discourses on globalization and historical memory, the author arrives at two conclusions. On the one hand, the proponents of globalization use historical memory as one of their arguments: they claim that the history of globalization in international relations stretches back to the 19th century, thus globalization is an irreversible process. On the other hand, globalization attaches international significance to historical events that were earlier considered as being of local importance. The author proves the latter statement through comparing Russian and Estonian discourses on the relationship between the events which took place in Tallinn in September 1944 and April 2007. Highlighting the differences between the two discourses may help Russian scholars understand the reasons behind the political decisions made by the Estonian authorities in April 2007. It accounts for the practical significance of the research conducted, since one of the most important objectives of international relations as a discipline is not to explain what decision would have been the most appropriate in the given situation, but to further the understanding of the reasons behind the actually made decision. The author expresses his gratitude to his counterparts from St. Petersburg State University and the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, as well as those from the Universities of Lund (Sweden), Tampere (Finland), and Tartu (Estonia) for their comments on the earlier versions of the article. At the same time, the author alone bears all the responsibility for the conclusions drawn in the article

Comparison of the mesophilic, thermophilic and temperature-phased anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge

Tesi en modalitat de cotutela: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya i Vysoká škola chemicko-technologická v Praze, (University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague)Anaerobic digestion (AD) is currently spread all over the world for sewage sludge stabilisation, volume reduction and green energy production. Its implementation contributes to turn a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) into a resource recovery facility. AD processes at WWTP are studied quite well, however, there are still some issues that are open for further investigation. In this PhD Thesis, three different AD configurations were studied with regard to the following operational and functional issues: - Digested sludge quality, dewaterability and pathogenic safety; - AD efficiency in terms of mixing equipment and its operational regime; - Life cycle assessment (LCA) of sludge and wastewater treatment. Though TPAD has already been studied, a comprehensive study on the simultaneous operation of several AD systems fed with the same substrate and comparing not only the main operational AD parameters such as organic matter degradation and methane production rate, but also digested sludge quality in terms of dewaterability, pathogenic safety and energetic value, considering its final disposal step, is still missing. Thus, one of the objectives of this PhD Thesis was to compare the mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD), thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) and TPAD digested sludges and define the best alternatives for final disposal. The complex parameter of dewaterability was tested by two methods, centrifugation and mechanical pressing. Applying both methods, the experimental results showed that TAD and TPAD overcome MAD performance. The AD efficiency depends on many factors, including the mixing system and its operational regime. A mixing system and its operational regime are of high practical interest, as the stirring process can affect the AD efficiency significantly, both positively and negatively. Hence, there are several studies that investigate the effectiveness of the AD process in terms of mixing efficiency. However, most of them focus on certain factors (like microbial diversity or organic matter degradation efficiency) under a single temperature regime and configuration without a parallel comparison of several AD systems. Thus, in this PhD Thesis two different types of mixing mechanisms with two rotational regimes were selected. These mixing equipment alternatives were tested simultaneously on three laboratory AD systems with three different temperature regimes (mesophilic, thermophilic and temperature-phased) and two configurations (single- and double-stage AD) and afterwards modelled. The experiments showed that the simplest mixing mechanism at slow mixing velocity affected the AD efficiency in a better way than the more complicated mixing system at higher rotational speed. Another issue studied was a short HRT of the first stage of the TPAD system. It was found out that even at two days of HRT at TPAD1 methane content and volume can be reached in the fermenter and maintained a at significant amount at the second stage (TPAD2). These findings were proved by the microbiological analysis of samples taken from both stages of TPAD systems. Finally, the same three alternative anaerobic digestion systems (TAD, MAD and TPAD) were compared to determine which system may have the best environmental performance. Two life cycle assessments were performed considering: the whole WWTP (for a functional unit (FU) of 1 m3 of treated wastewater), and the sludge line (SL) alone (for FU of 1 m3 of produced methane). The data for the LCA were obtained from previous laboratory experimental work in combination with full-scale WWTP and literature. According to the results, the best AD alternative was TAD concerning all environmental impact categories, except for Climate change and Human toxicity.La digestión anaeróbica (DA) está actualmente extendida por todo el mundo para la estabilización de lodos de depuradora, reducción de volumen y producción de energía verde. Su implementación contribuye a convertir una planta de tratamiento de aguas residuales (EDAR) en una instalación de recuperación de recursos. Los procesos de DA en las depuradoras se han estudiado bastante, sin embargo, todavía hay algunos temas que están abiertos a la investigación. En esta Tesis Doctoral, se estudiaron tres configuraciones de DA diferentes con respecto a los siguientes problemas operacionales: - Calidad del lodo digerido, deshidratación y presencia de patógenos; - Eficiencia de la DA en términos de equipo de agitación y su régimen de operación; - Análisis del ciclo de vida (ACV) del tratamiento de lodos y aguas residuales. Aunque el sistema de doble etapa (TPAD) ya ha sido estudiado, faltan datos experimentales operando simultáneamente varios sistemas de DA alimentados con el mismo sustrato y comparando no solo los principales parámetros operativos de la DA como la degradación de la materia orgánica y la tasa de producción de metano, sino también la calidad de los lodos digeridos en términos de deshidratación, presencia de patógenos y valor energético, considerando también su disposición final. Así, uno de los objetivos de esta Tesis Doctoral fue comparar la digestión anaeróbica mesofílica (MAD), la digestión anaeróbica termofílica (TAD) y la TPAD, y definir las mejores alternativas para la disposición final de los lodos. El complejo parámetro de capacidad de deshidratación se probó mediante dos métodos, centrifugación y prensado mecánico. Aplicando ambos métodos, los resultados experimentales mostraron que TAD y TPAD superan el rendimiento del sistema MAD. La eficiencia de la DA depende de muchos factores, incluido el sistema de mezcla y su régimen de operación. Un sistema de mezcla y su régimen de operación son de gran interés práctico, ya que la agitación puede afectar significativamente la eficiencia del proceso de DA, tanto positiva como negativamente. Por lo tanto, hay varios estudios que han investigado la efectividad del proceso de DA en términos de eficiencia de mezcla. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los estudios se enfocan en ciertos factores (como la diversidad microbiana o la eficiencia de degradación de la materia orgánica) bajo una única configuración y régimen de temperatura, pero sin una comparación paralela de varios sistemas de DA. Así pues, en esta Tesis Doctoral se compararon dos tipos de agitadores con dos regímenes de rotación. Estas alternativas se probaron simultáneamente en tres sistemas de DA de laboratorio con tres regímenes de temperatura diferentes (TAD, MAD y TPAD) y dos configuraciones (DA en una y dos etapas) y posteriormente se modelaron. Los experimentos mostraron que el agitador más simple a una velocidad de mezcla lenta afectaba en mayor medida la eficiencia de la DA que el agitador más complicado a una velocidad de rotación más alta. Otro tema estudiado fue un HRT breve de la primera etapa del sistema TPAD. Se descubrió que incluso a los dos días de HRT en el TPAD1, pueden alcanzarse un cierto contenido y volumen de metano en el fermentador y mantenerse en una cantidad significativa en la segunda etapa (TPAD2). Estos hallazgos fueron comprobados mediante el análisis microbiológico de muestras tomadas de ambas etapas de los sistemas TPAD. Finalmente, se compararon los mismos tres sistemas TAD, MAD y TPAD para determinar qué sistema podría tener el menor impacto ambiental. Se realizaron dos análisis de ciclo de vida considerando: la depuradora completa (WWTP) y solo la línea de lodos (SL). Los datos para el ACV se obtuvieron en los trabajos experimentales de laboratorio previos, complementados con datos de depuradoras reales y de la literatura. Según los resultados, a mejor alternativa de DA fue TAD en todas las categorías de impacto ambiental, excepto Cambio climático y Toxicidad humana.Enginyeria ambienta

Russian-Estonian relations: a medium-term forecast

This article shows why the non-existent political dialogue between Russia and Estonia will hardly develop in the next five years and why Estonia can lose its significance for the Russian foreign policy rhetoric and Russian mass media. This conclusion is drawn from a medium-term forecast about the changing role of Estonia in Russian foreign policy. The forecast is based on the scenario methodology, which suggests that the modern means of political forecasting make it possible to make conclusions not about the future states of political phenomena, but rather about the trends of current states, which are called scenarios. The article describes the four possible scenarios of changes in the role of Estonia in Russian foreign policy that are evaluated from the perspective of the development of Russian-Estonian relations and factors affecting the probability of each scenario. It is shown that any change in the role of Estonia in Russian foreign policy depends not only on the specific actions of the Estonian elite, for example their readiness to change their position on the participation of Russian-speaking population in the democratic decision-making process or the evaluation of controversial events of the past, but also on the meaning that will be attached to these actions by the Russian elite

The regional approach in the policy of the Russian Federation towards the Republic of Estonia

This author uses regionalism as a theoretical framework for analyzing the foreign policy of the Russian Federation towards the Republic of Estonia. Regionalism is interpreted as a situation, when a political leader’s beliefs change depending on what region of the world is considered. Leaders of great powers often assume that, for example, small European countries are subject to a treatment different from that of small Middle Eastern countries. The method of operational coding is employed to identify the impact of the regional approach on the beliefs of political leaders. The author comes to the conclusion that Russia’s policy towards Estonia largely depends on Russia’s policy towards the regions which the Russian elite relate Estonia to — the Baltic States, Northern Europe, and Europe as a whole. The results of the study can further the understanding of Russia’s policy towards Estonia both in Russia and abroad. Lack of understanding sometimes results in sharing the views of radical Estonian politicians who claim that Russia’s policy towards Estonia is unpredictable and thus poses a threat to security and stability in Europe

Saint-Petersburg in the Baltic Sea region

The article describes the place of St Peters-burg in international cooperation in the Baltic Sea region and the role of the Baltic region as one of the priorities of the international relations of the city. The authors show continual attention of Saint-Petersburg to developing international relations in the Baltic Sea region. The article indicates one of the most important areas of inter-national cooperation – the participation of the city in the renewed Northern Dimension policy

Latvia in the system of European territorial security: a view from the inside and outside

This article focuses on Latvian contribution to European security, which, for the purposes of this study, is understood as a territorial system of regional security. Such system is a combination of interconnected institutions with Latvian participation operating in the field of security, Latvian cooperation with other European countries in the field of security, and the European perception of major security challenges and threats (that Latvia may or may not agree with). A systemic approach to studying the role of Latvia in the territorial system of European security requires a solid theoretical framework. The theories of international relations discussed in this article fall into two categories: those where territorial security systems are viewed as a product of external factors, and those that focus on internal regional factors. In this article, the authors rely on a variety of methods, including those that are characteristic of classical theories of international relations (such as realism and liberalism), and those employed in social constructivism studies. It is concluded that Latvian cooperation with institutions and countries of the territorial system of European security is rather limited, which indicates either a lack of the country's integration into the system or a crisis of the system itself. An important result of the study is the validation of a systemic approach to studying regional security systems. This angle proves particularly useful in identifying crises of territorial systems of regional security in various regions of the world

Two Types of Neuter: Closest-Conjunct Agreement in the Presence of '5 and Ups'

Linguistic