CEReS -Co-processing of Coal Mine & Electronic Wastes: Novel Resources for a Sustainable Future

International audienceMany coal mines produce waste which causes acid mine drainage (AMD) potentially resulting in severe environmental damage. This drainage can be treated, but most wastes will continue to produce such drainage for hundreds of years. Therefore, longer term, permanent solutions are needed. At the same time, the pace of technological development means most electrical and electronic equipment becomes obsolete within a matter of years. This results in the generation of vast and growing quantities of electronic waste (e-waste) every year. Where this cannot be recycled, it must be discarded. CEReS was a 3.2 M€ RFCS-funded project comprising eight partners from five countries. It targeted the development of a co-processing approach to treat these waste streams to produce metals and other valuable products, while eliminating their environmental impact. This brings together two waste streams from opposite ends of the supply chain (for which no alternative treatment option exists); turning each into a novel resource in a single, coherent 'grave-to-cradle' process. This industrial ecology approach is key to supporting a circular economy while securing the sustainable supply of critical raw materials. The project successfully elaborated a novel co-processing flow-sheet comprising: (i) the accelerated weathering of AMD-generating coal production wastes to generate a biolixiviant; (ii) the pyrolysis and catalytic cracking of low-grade PCBs to produce hydrocarbon fuel, a halogen brine a Cu-rich char; (iii) the leaching of base metals from the char using the biolixiviant; (iv) the reuse of the stabilised coal wastes; and (v) the recovery of valuable metal while concentrating precious and critical metals into enriched substrates. These individual process units were demonstrated individually at lab-pilot scale. The data were then used to validate the entire flow-sheet in an integrated process simulator. Finally an LCA approach was used to demonstrate the environmental benefits of the CEReS process over the status quo

Sex determination based on the analysis of a contemporary Polish population’s palatine bones: a computed tomography study of 1,200 patients

Background: The aims of the present study were to assess whether the hard palate reveals any measurable sex-related differences, and to create a mathematical model which would differentiate between males and females using hard palate measurements alone. Materials and methods: The present study was conducted on 1,200 archived sinus computed tomography (CT) scans. Each cranial measurement was taken twice by the same observer, and in cases of any discrepancies, the mean of the two values was recorded. Twenty per cent of randomly chosen samples were re-measured by an observer who did not partake in assessing the samples the first time. Logistic regression was used to derivate two mathematical formulas which would calculate the probability of a skull being male. Results: The studied group comprised 1,200 head CT’s (627 female; 52.3%). The mean age of the group was 43.5 ± 17.4 years — no age difference between sexes was noted (p = 0.37). All of the performed measurements were significantly (p < 0.0001) larger in males than in females. The mathematical formula based on the “orale-spina nasalis posterior” (O-SNP) distance alone had a reliability rate of 68.35%. The equation based on the depth of the right greater palatine canal (GPC), the O-SNP distance and the anterior width of the palatal arch (AWPA) had a reliability rate of 78.37%. Conclusions: The most prominent sexually dimorphic parameters were the O-SNP, the GPC depth and the AWPA. The mathematical models presented in the current study can be used to successfully distinguish between sexes during forensic examination.

Determination of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and ammonia in ambient air using the passive sampling method associated with ion chromatographic and potentiometric analyses

Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), and ammonia (NH3) were determined in the ambient air of Al-Ain city over a year using the passive sampling method associated with ion chromatographic and potentiometric detections. IVL samplers were used for collecting nitrogen and sulfur dioxides whereas Ogawa samplers were used for collecting ozone and ammonia. Five sites representing the industrial, traffic, commercial, residential, and background regions of the city were monitored in the course of this investigation. Year average concentrations of ≤59.26, 15.15, 17.03, and 11.88 μg/m3 were obtained for NO2, SO2, O3, and NH3, respectively. These values are lower than the maxima recommended for ambient air quality standards by the local environmental agency and the world health organization. Results obtained were correlated with the three meteorological parameters: humidity, wind speed, and temperature recorded during the same period of time using the paired t test, probability p values, and correlation coefficients. Humidity and wind speed showed insignificant effects on NO2, SO2, O3, and NH3 concentrations at 95% confidence level. Temperature showed insignificant effects on the concentrations of NO2 and NH3 while significant effects on SO2 and O3 were observed. Nonlinear correlations (R2 ≤ 0.722) were obtained for the changes in measured concentrations with changes in the three meteorological parameters. Passive samplers were shown to be not only precise (RSD ≤ 13.57) but also of low cost, low technical demand, and expediency in monitoring different locations