Life cycle assessment for the land application of food processing wash-water and solid residuals.

A life cycle assessment (LCA) study was completed to understand the environmental impacts associated with the land application of wastes produced from rural food-processing operations for final disposal. The system boundaries for the two comprised scenarios included the storage of the produced non-agriculture source material (NASM), transportation to an applicable location, land application of the NASM, and the impacts of the final emissions to the soil and groundwater for a full year. The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemicals and Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI) v2.

Mitigating fugitive methane emissions from closed landfills: A pilot-scale field study.

Emissions from Canadian landfills account for 20 % of national greenhouse gas emissions, a portion of which occur as fugitive emissions. Depending on management factors, significant quantities of landfill gas are emitted during the operational phase and over several decades following landfill closure. Successful landfill reclamation developments depend on low-maintenance solutions to manage fugitive emissions.

Life-cycle assessment of full-scale membrane bioreactor and tertiary treatment technologies in the fruit processing industry.

A life-cycle assessment (LCA) study was completed to assess the environmental impacts of an on-site wastewater treatment system in the fresh-cut fruit processing industry consisting of a membrane bioreactor (MBR), followed by reverse osmosis (RO) and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. The system boundaries comprised raw materials extraction and processing, transportation, construction, operation, and waste disposal. SimaPro 8.

Predicting fruit and vegetable processing wash-water quality.

Wastewaters from the fresh produce processing industry are high in solids and organic matter requiring adequate treatment prior to disposal or recycling. Characterization of the processing wastewater, also referred to as wash-water is challenging, as the quality is a function of the produce. Analysis of water quality parameters, such as total suspended solids, total solids, total dissolved solids, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, ammonia, and electrical conductivity from different fruit and vegetable operations were analyzed to develop the innovative power function models and ranking system to estimate wash-water quality.

Biodegradation and Metabolism of Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) in the Bioaugmented Activated Sludge Batch Bioreactor System by Heterotrophic and Nitrifying Bacteria.

  Tetrabromobisphenol A [2,4'-isopropylidenebis(2,6-dibromophenol)] has been identified in wastewater samples collected from the Guelph municipal wastewater treatment plant (GWWTP). In order to assess the kinetics and metabolic mechanisms of the dissolved TBBPA, bench scale experiments were completed with batch bioreactors. The biodegradation test was conducted by taking aerobic sludge from the conventional activated sludge reactor (CAS) and membrane bioreactor (MBR), and bioaugmenting both reactors with soil based strains of Bacillus brevis and Bacillus pumilus.

Potential Water Reuse for High Strength Fruit and Vegetable Processor Wastewater with an MBR.

  High strength food processing wastewater from two processing plants was studied to determine the effectiveness of an aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR) to reduce BOD, TSS and nutrients below municipal sewer discharge limits. The MBR comprised a 20 L lab-scale reactor combined with a flat sheet, ultrafiltration membrane module. The parameters studied included the operational flux, solids and hydraulic retention times and recirculation ratio with regards to nitrification/denitrification.

Estimating water content in an active landfill with the aid of GPR.

Landfill gas (LFG) receives a great deal of attention due to both negative and positive environmental impacts, global warming and a green energy source, respectively. However, predicting the quantity of LFG generated at a given landfill, whether active or closed is difficult due to the heterogeneities present in waste, and the lack of accurate in situ waste parameters like water content. Accordingly, ground penetrating radar (GPR) was evaluated as a tool for estimating in situ water content.

Three-dimensional numerical model for soil vapor extraction.

Mass transfer limitations impact the effectiveness of soil vapor extraction (SVE) and cause tailing. In order to identify the governing mass transfer processes, a three-dimensional SVE numerical model was developed. The developed model was based on Comsol Multiphysics a finite element method that incorporates multi-phase flow, multi-component transport and non-equilibrium transient mass transfer.

Estimation of SVE closure time.

The ability to predict the time when to stop a SVE system is critical when designing and operating a SVE remediation system. Completed research on the tailing performance of SVE, allowed the development of the closure time index (CTI) concept. CTI is based on breakthrough curves for both lab-scale experiments and a field-scale application of SVE.

Retention capacity of dry soils for NAPLs.

Retention capacity values were measured in the laboratory for three non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs), PCE, TCE and gasoline. The dry soils studied were sandy loam, clay, organic top soil and peat moss. For the conditions tested, it was determined that the retention capacity increased with an increase in the NAPL's density and the soil's porosity and a decrease in the soil bulk density.