Life cycle assessment of a biofuel production system from algal biomass cultivated in photobioreactors

Algae have been widely studied as a source of organic matter used by industrial technologies for the production of third generation biofuels, as well as for numerous other possible applications (e.g. human and animal food, environmental engineering solutions). In the energy field, the aim of using algae is to seek alternatives and sustainable energy solutions to fuels deriving from fossil fuels, but also from first- and second-generation biofuels. This paper describes results of a four-year experimental project for the development of a low-scale demonstration plant of an advanced energy system based on the massive cultivation of microalgae and their treatment. In particular, the article focuses on the results of the Life Cycle Assessment developed on the entire plant. The study compares the environmental impacts and the energy demand of different scenarios, analyzing their overall effects and evaluating alternative technological solutions, as well as further possible design alternatives. The system boundaries include algae cultivation, algae collection, lipids extraction, transesterification to produce bio-oil from lipids and anaerobic digestion of residual biomass. Results are be compared to those of conventional biodiesel from rape

CALPUFF e ADMS-URBAN: due modelli a confronto per la trattazione di sorgenti puntuali

L’affidabilità dei modelli di dispersione degli inquinanti in atmosfera è un elemento fondamentale nella scelta degli strumenti da utilizzare per le valutazioni ambientali. L’obiettivo del presente studio è quello di confrontare i risultati di due modelli numerici (CALPUFF e ADMS-URBAN) applicati nell’area urbana di Ravenna. Gli inquinanti considerati sono il PM 10 e gli NO 2 . I risultati mostrano che CALPUFF simula valori di concentrazione superiori rispetto ad ADMS-URBAN, in particolare in prossimità delle sorgenti emissive ed in condizioni di calma di vento. I risultati sono stati validati mediante analisi statistica (media aritmetica, Bias, FB, COR, FA2, NMSE, IOA) e diagnostica. Le analisi suggeriscono che la diversa risposta dei due modelli sia principalmente influenzata dalla diversa influenza che la velocità del vento ha nella trattazione matematica del modello

Impatti ambientali - PROGETTO ALGENCAL Sistema innovativo per la coltura di microalghe in fotobioreattori per la produzione di energia da fonte rinnovabile e di altri prodotti

Per limitare l’utilizzo di carburanti derivanti dal petrolio, che contribuiscono al riscaldamento globale e sono disponibili in numero limitato, è necessario studiare ed individuare fonti alternative di approvvigionamento, green e rinnovabili, da destinare alla produzione di biocarburanti. Lo studio effettuato nel presente lavoro ha aperto una nuova strada verso la produzione di microalghe all’interno di un impianto dimostrativo su scala pseudo-industriale da destinare alla produzione di bio-olio e altri output finali quali energia e prodotti a maggiore valore aggiunto. Le microalghe rappresentano una valida alternativa non solo alla produzione di carburanti di origine fossile, ma anche ai biocarburanti di prima generazione che utilizzano piante superiori prodotte tramite i normali metodi di coltivazione. Però, al momento non esistono processi produttivi in grado di fornire quantitativi di biodiesel adeguati ad una scala produttiva elevata e che garantiscano un bilancio positivo dal punto di vista economico ed energetico. I punti critici sono rappresentati soprattutto dai processi per la separazione della biomassa microalgale dal mezzo acqueo di coltura e dall’estrazione dell’olio contenuto nelle microalghe, ancora molto costosi per grandi quantitativi. Il sistema studiato ha tentato di superare queste criticità, focalizzandosi sull’individuazione di un metodo semplice da utilizzare, con il minimo impiego di risorse energetiche e con un’alta riproducibilità ed esportabilità. Quest’ultimo aspetto diventa fondamentale per poter replicare le metodologie di coltivazione studiate anche in altre realtà, soprattutto quelle del bacino del Mediterraneo che presentano caratteristiche climatiche ed ambientali molto simili al sito di installazione dell’impianto prototipale. I risultati raggiunti sono stati soddisfacenti; le soluzioni individuate, seppure rispondono positivamente in particolare ai problemi di dewatering e di estrazione degli olii, per poter essere effettivamente implementate richiedono ancora un ulteriore step di ottimizzazione

Comparison between odorous emission dispersion pattern and public risk perception near a Waste-to-Energy plant

Though Waste-to-Energy (WTE) facilities offer effective solutions to the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generating energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, however, the Not-In-My-Back-Yard (NIMBY) boycotts are increasingly becoming an obstruction of the sitting and operation of WTE facilities in developing countries. Today more than 100 WTE plants operate in China and approximately 400 new facilities are planned over the next decade. In this context, the East China Normal University has been carried out a survey of the public acceptability of WTE plants in Shanghai (China) for several years.. This study introduces insight into the relationship between air pollutant (especially odorous substances) dispersion pattern and public risk perception, taking Laogang WTE Plant (in Shanghai) as a case study. The poor performance of waste sorting leads to odour emission, and therefore it meets with strong adverse attitude from the local residents - who tend to associate odours to unhealthy conditions. In the study, firstly odorous substances were specified through literature survey, and then CALPUFF model was applied to simulate dispersion of the air emissions of the incineration within a semicircular buffer zone with a radius of 10 km. The meteorological data of Shanghai in 2013 was applied as meteorological background. The most sensitive areas to the odour emission around WTE facility were identified at this step. During a previous questionnaire survey, the nearby residents\u2019 concerns and attitudes surrounding the Laogang WTE Plant were assessed. A Geographic information System techniques were applied to this survey to conduct the spatial analysis of physical perceptions, especially odour annoyance and opposition to WTE facilities. Therefore, in the second step, a correspondence analysis between the distribution of air emission and public risk perceptions was executed. Based on these results, a point-to-point comparison was executed with statistic analysis to gain the comparison and accordance of air emission and public risk perception. The results will be benefit to risk communication and environment education to reduce conflict and to build social trust

A methodology for designing short-term stationary air quality campaigns with mobile laboratories using different possible allocation criteria

Air quality monitoring and control are key issues for environmental assessment and management in order to protect public health and the environment. Local and central authorities have developed strategies and tools to manage environmental protection, which, for air quality, consist of monitoring networks with fixed and portable instrumentation and mathematical models. This study develops a methodology for designing short-term air quality campaigns with mobile laboratories (laboratories fully housed within or transported by a vehicle and maintained in a fixed location for a period of time) as a decision support system for environmental management and protection authorities. In particular, the study provides a methodology to identify: (i) the most representative locations to place mobile laboratories and (ii) the best time period to carry out the measurements in the case of short-term air quality campaigns. The approach integrates atmospheric dispersion models and allocation algorithms specifically developed for optimizing the measuring campaigns. The methodology is organized in two phases, each of them divided into several steps. Fourteen allocation algorithms dedicated to three type of receptors (population, vegetation and physical cultural heritage) have been proposed. The methodology has been applied to four short-term air quality campaigns in the Emilia-Romagna region

Studio di una metodologia per l’individuazione spazio/temporale del monitoraggio di fonti emissive

La qualità dell'aria e gli effetti causati dall'esposizione di recettori sensibili agli inquinanti atmosferici rappresentano un problema di fondamentale rilievo. In particolare, risulta di interesse comune il tema del controllo e del monitoraggio delle emissioni in atmosfera, soprattutto delle sorgenti presenti in aree urbane ed industriali, spesso in stretta connessione tra loro. L'obiettivo del presente studio consiste nello sviluppo di una metodologia innovativa rivolta alla progettazione delle campagne di monitoraggio della qualità dell'aria attraverso l'impiego di mezzi mobili. L'approccio proposto integra l'utilizzo di variabili proxy per la disaggregazione a livello locale degli inventari di emissione, i risultati di modelli matematici di dispersione degli inquinanti in atmosfera, l'impiego di funzioni di danno specifiche per i diversi recettori sensibili all'esposizione alle sostanze inquinanti ed algoritmi di allocazione per la scelta dei punti di monitoraggio

Spatial surrogates for the disaggregation of emission inventories inside the urban area

Air pollution resulting from sources located inside and nearby the urban context represents a significant problem in urban areas. Emission inventories offer comprehensive information on emission sources and fluxes and they are important tools to manage air quality. The main purpose of inventories is to provide an estimate of the pressure exerted on an area; clearly data accuracy is strongly related to their spatial resolution. This work describes a top-down approach to disaggregate a municipal emission inventory from an higher scale down to a lower one (100x100 m cells). The proposed methodology aims to develop a tool able to detail information on pressures impacting on a high density population area. The case study is the urban area of Ravenna (North-Eastern Italy). The methodology focuses on the main urban emission sources in the air: domestic heating and vehicular traffic. In order to develop a methodology applicable also with low information availability, different surrogate variables allowing the disaggregation were identified starting from the easiness of data retrieval. The selected variables are: resident population and volume of buildings (for domestic heating), type and length of roads (for vehicular traffic). The methodology is based on the following assumptions: 1) strong correlation between the emission of a given activity and the surrogate variable; 2) the correlation does not lose its significance down-sizing from higher to lower scale. The results obtained using the surrogate variables have been verified by the ones obtained by using the following data: fuel consumption for each household and emission flows for each road. The comparison has confirmed that the selected surrogate variables allow to obtain satisfactory results, in particular for domestic heating. The traffic has more uncertainty situations, particularly for the shorter secondary roads. The results of this work will then be use to evaluate the urban area air quality

Development and evaluation of emission disaggregation models for the spatial distribution of non-industrial combustion atmospheric pollutants

The aim of the present work is to define top-down approaches to allocate atmospheric emissions from non-industrial combustion plants (residential, institutional and commercial sectors) to a detailed grid system of 100 7 100 m2. The conceptual model adopted permits the use of suitable proxy variables for the scaling down of atmospheric emissions from a provincial to a local scale. \u2018Resident population\u2019, \u2018building volume\u2019 and a statistical combination of both have been used as proxy variables for realizing three emission disaggregation models. The choice of the proxy variables was influenced by both data availability and relevance. The results of the emission disaggregation models have been compared with emission values resulting from a bottom-up approach starting from local data. The selected case study was located in the Emilia-Romagna Region (NE Italy), and NOx was the reference pollutant

A Case of Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Triggered by Disseminated Tuberculosis and Hairy Cell Leukaemia after SARS-CoV2 Infection

Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare but life-threatening disease that can occur either as a primary condition or as a consequence of a variety of triggers, including infectious diseases. Here we present a case of secondary HLH triggered by systemic Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in a 59-year-old immunocompromised Hairy Cell Leukemia and previous SARS-CoV2 infected patient. This case report underlines the role of Etoposide-based chemotherapy in treating the severe inflammation that is the defining factor of HLH, suggesting how, even when such therapy is not effective, it may still give the clinicians time to identify the underlying condition and start the appropriate targeted therapy. Moreover, it gives insight on our decision to treat the underlying haematological condition with a BRAF-targeted therapy rather than purine analog-based chemotherapy to reduce the risk of future severe infections