Environmental Engineering
M.G. Nugraha; A. Sharfan; V.S.Y. Prakoso; M. Hidayat; H. Saptoadi
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Agriculture significantly contributes to global economies, yet it concurrently generates waste in the form of crop residues. Conventional waste disposal methods, such as open burning, contribute to atmospheric particulate emissions, impacting air quality regionally and potentially ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Agriculture significantly contributes to global economies, yet it concurrently generates waste in the form of crop residues. Conventional waste disposal methods, such as open burning, contribute to atmospheric particulate emissions, impacting air quality regionally and potentially globally. Exposure to these pollutants poses substantial risks to human health, including respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and premature mortality. This study aims to assess the environmental implications of biomass waste combustion in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Additionally, the study aims to investigate potential enhancements in biomass burning practices through experimental campaigns conducted in both open and closed burning conditions.METHODS: The study evaluates Yogyakarta's regional air quality using data from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency for the period spanning from 2020 to 2022. Emission factors from open and closed burning practices are assessed using an experimental furnace equipped with real-time combustion parameters monitoring, including temperature, particulate matter concentration, and oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. The openburning experiments involve various combustion conditions for bagasse, leaf litter, and rice straw, encompassing variations in ignition location, initial mass, and air supply methods. Closed burning experiments explore variations in reloading frequency, air-fuel ratio, and air staging.FINDINGS: Yogyakarta's air quality assessment involves comparing rice harvest trends with atmospheric particulate matter concentrations during 2020-2022. Open burning practices in Yogyakarta exhibit a correlation with heightened rainfall, which in turn leads to higher emissions from April to August due to reduced rain frequency. Experimental campaigns have revealed that open burning practices result in a significant amount of emissions, ranging from 3 to 29 grams of particulate matter per kilogram of biomass.. Meanwhile, the utilization of closed combustion systems has been demonstrated to decrease the emission factor within the range of 0.37 to 1.98 grams of particulate matter per kilogram of biomass. This highlights the importance of operating conditions altering particulate emissions. Moreover, the emission reduction by factor nine, emphasizing the efficacy of controlled combustion techniques in comparison to open burning methods, in mitigating particulate emissions.CONCLUSION: The study identifies that greater initial biomass mass, mid-ignition, and natural airflow contribute to lower emissions in open burning practices. o achieve optimal closed combustion conditions, it is recommended to reload biomass more frequently with100 percent excess air allocation, distributing 30 percent to primary air and 70 percent to secondary air. These findings not only propose better practices for disposing of agricultural waste and minimizing air pollution but also emphasize the potential of utilizing biomass waste for energy conversion.
Environmental Engineering
Y. Zehtab Yazdi; N. Mansouri; F. Atabi; H. Aghamohammadi
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sand and gravel product plants are among the significant sources of dust pollutants. This study was conducted to estimate dust concentrations released from these plants in a mineral complex in the southwest of Tehran.METHODS: Initially, the amount of silt and moisture content ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sand and gravel product plants are among the significant sources of dust pollutants. This study was conducted to estimate dust concentrations released from these plants in a mineral complex in the southwest of Tehran.METHODS: Initially, the amount of silt and moisture content of the samples taken from these plants were determined according to the American Society for Testing and Materials C136 and D2216 methods, respectively. Accordingly, the rates of particulate matter emissions from these plants were determined by the AP-42 dust emission estimation methods published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Next, a Gaussian model was used to estimate the particulate matter concentrations in the surrounding residential areas. Finally, the simulated concentrations were compared with the United States Environmental Protect Agency and World Health Organization standards.FINDINGS: Results showed that hauling operations, with producing 70%, 86%, and 90% of total PM2.5, PM10 and total suspended particulates, respectively, were the major sources of dust emission in the sand and gravel product plants. The lowest dust emission was related to stockpiling handling, producing 0.24%, 0.33%, and 0.16% of the total PM2.5, PM10 and total suspended particulates. The results of the presented model indicated that 24-hour average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, and total suspended particulates produced by mining activities were about 36, 183, and 690 µg/m3 in the working zone and less than 30, 100, and 400 µg/m3 beyond the mineral complex boundary, respectively. Thus, annual average dust concentrations were negligible. The concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 produced by these plants in the mineral complex ambient air were higher than the standard average values recommended by the United States Environmental Protect Agency and World Health Organization. However, the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 from these plants in the residential areas around the complex, were below the standard limits proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.CONCLUSION: Sand and gravel mining activities increased the concentrations of particulate matter in the air of the surrounding areas and, to some extent, farther cities. PM2.5 and PM10 resulting from the sand and gravel mining activities could damage the workers in the mineral complex. They exceeded the 24-hour average permissible limits proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency about 1 and 33 µg/m3, respectively. This study showed the necessity of changing the industrial policies adopted to decrease dust emission rates. The results of this study can help the air pollution experts develop proper strategies for improving the air quality in the vicinity of surface mines.
Environmental Management
R.J. Isaifan
Abstract
The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31st, 2019. As the number of coronavirus infections has exceeded 100,000 with toll deaths of about 5000 worldwide as of early March, 2020, scientists and researchers are racing to investigate the nature of ...
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The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31st, 2019. As the number of coronavirus infections has exceeded 100,000 with toll deaths of about 5000 worldwide as of early March, 2020, scientists and researchers are racing to investigate the nature of this virus and evaluate the short and long term effects of this disease. Despite its negative impacts that obliged the World Health Organization to declare COVID-19 epidemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the rate of mortality of this infection has not exceeded 3.4% globally. On the other hand, the mortality rate caused by ambient air pollution has contributed to 7.6% of all deaths in 2016 worldwide. The outbreak of COVID-19 has forced China to lockdown its industrial activities and hence dropped its NO2 and carbon emissions by 30 and 25%, respectively. This work reports on the first case study that compares the air quality status before and after the crisis. It sheds light on the facts related to the demographics of deaths by gender, age and health status before infection. The historical data on air quality, estimates of annual deaths and its economic burden have been presented and analyzed. The actual daily deaths due to COVID-19 have been obtained from the official records of the daily Situation Reports published by World Health Organization as of March 11th. The rate of mortality due to COVID-19 was impacted by two factors: age and health status. Results show that 75% of deaths were related to cases that had underlying present diseases with the majority aged of 80+ years. The reported figures were compared with the average daily mortality due to poor air quality which reached up to 3287 deaths due to high levels of NO2, O3 and PM. The air quality status before the crisis was compared with the current situation showing that COVID-19 forced-industrial and anthropogenic activities lockdown may have saved more lives by preventing ambient air pollution than by preventing infection.
