Animal Biomass as a Raw Material for Basic Organic Synthesis Products

Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils - The review examines biomass of animal origin in terms of a potential renewable raw material for obtaining CO2-neutral fuel unaffecting the carbon...     

Model-Supported Impact Assessment for the Water Sector in Central Germany Under Climate Change—A Case Study

Climate change challenges water managers and researchers to find sustainable management solutions, in order to avoid undesirable impacts on water resources, environment and water-dependent sectors. Needed are projections into the future for the main driving forces, the resulting pressures on water resources, and quantification of the impacts. Modeling studies can play an important role in investigating, quantifying, and communicating possible impacts of climate change, with account of uncertainty of the results. However, climate change related impacts and a need for adaptation still play a minor role in current river basin management plans that have to comply e.g. with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). One important reason is that climate impact assessment is generally done in research institutes, while management plans are designed by practitioners working in national and regional environmental agencies and water supply companies. Knowledge transfer from science to practice and visa versa is often missing. In the present study, we propose a methodology and a case study for model-supported decision making in the water sector applicable to a participatory water resources planning process. The methodology is applied in a case study investigating climate change impacts on water resources. The case study area is the German State of Saxony-Anhalt, where the task was to develop a climate change impact assessment including possible adaptation measures as basis for a federal adaptation directive.     

Exchange and Nonexchange Interactions during the Sorption of Histidine on Clinoptilolite and Glauconite

Protection of Metals and Physical Chemistry of Surfaces - The patterns of sorption of histidine zwitterions by natural aluminosilicates—clinoptilolite and glauconite—have been...     

The Effect of a Pulsed Magnetic Field on the Hydration Properties of Clinoptilolite and Glauconite

The effect of a weak pulsed magnetic field (WPMF) on the hydration properties of natural aluminosilicates of different structures (clinoptilolite and glauconite) is established. Isotherms of water adsorption are analyzed using the BET equation and a more considerable decrease in the limiting capacity of a monolayer on clinoptilolite is determined as compared to that on glauconite (more than threefold), as is the corresponding decrease in the specific surface area of clinoptilolite, which is confirmed by the data of IR-spectral analysis.     

Plant Biomass as a Raw Material for Producing Basic Organic Sysnthesis Products

Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils - This paper considers use of plant biomass as a potential renewable raw material for production of CO2-neutral fuel that does not affect the carbon...     

Adsorption of α-tocopherol on a clinoptilolite modified with organosilanes

Adsorption of α-tocopherol on a clinoptilolite modified with trimethylchlorosilane and dimethyldichlorosilane from ethanol, ethyl acetate, and hexane solutions was studied. Equilibrium adsorption was shown to involve steps of monolayer fixing of α-tocopherol and to form associates in mesopores of the sorbent modified. The monomolecular adsorption was shown to be determined by dispersion interactions between modifier’s alkyl groups and adsorbate’s isoprenoid radical. Formation of the associates in the adsorption layer occurs due to interaction of α-tocopherol’s isoprenoid radicals. The silylated clinoptilolite was found to possess a great affinity to α-tocopherol upon sorption from hexane.     

Regional Socio-economic and Environmental Changes and their Impacts on Water Resources on Example of Odra and Elbe Basins

During the last two decades significant socio-economic and environmental changes took place in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including collapse of the old socio-economic systems and climate change. The main objective of the paper is to analyse changes in water resources in the region and to relate them either to ongoing climate change or to socio-economic changes in the region, where possible. Two basins located in the Eastern part of Germany and in the Western part of Poland were taken as case study areas. An attempt to compare changes of water resources triggered by socio-economic and environmental (therein climate) changes was undertaken, including quantitative assessment of relative magnitudes of impacts, where feasible. The impacts on both water quantity and water quality aspects were investigated, considering changes in river discharge, groundwater dynamics, water demand, point and non-point source pollution in both basins under study. Where necessary, the analysis of data was supported by modelling results. The analysis reported confirms that until now the changes in socio-economic systems have impacted regional water resources in a more significant way than the climate change. However, the impacts of climate change on water resources in the study regions are likely to increase in the future, warmer climate, as projected by the existing scenarios.     

Cross-Comparison of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Across Large River Basins in Europe, Africa and Asia

A cross-comparison of climate change adaptation strategies across regions was performed, considering six large river basins as case study areas. Three of the basins, namely the Elbe, Guadiana, and Rhine, are located in Europe, the Nile Equatorial Lakes region and the Orange basin are in Africa, and the Amudarya basin is in Central Asia. The evaluation was based mainly on the opinions of policy makers and water management experts in the river basins. The adaptation strategies were evaluated considering the following issues: expected climate change, expected climate change impacts, drivers for development of adaptation strategy, barriers for adaptation, state of the implementation of a range of water management measures, and status of adaptation strategy implementation. The analysis of responses and cross-comparison were performed with rating the responses where possible. According to the expert opinions, there is an understanding in all six regions that climate change is happening. Different climate change impacts are expected in the basins, whereas decreasing annual water availability, and increasing frequency and intensity of droughts (and to a lesser extent floods) are expected in all of them. According to the responses, the two most important drivers for development of adaptation strategy are: climate-related disasters, and national and international policies. The following most important barriers for adaptation to climate change were identified by responders: spatial and temporal uncertainties in climate projections, lack of adequate financial resources, and lack of horizontal cooperation. The evaluated water resources management measures are on a relatively high level in the Elbe and Rhine basins, followed by the Orange and Guadiana. It is lower in the Amudarya basin, and the lowest in the NEL region, where many measures are only at the planning stage. Regarding the level of adaptation strategy implementation, it can be concluded that the adaptation to climate change has started in all basins, but progresses rather slowly.     

Effect of Temperature on the Torrefaction of Peat

The effect of temperature on the torrefaction (mild pyrolysis) of peat was studied. The process was carried out under anaerobic conditions at atmospheric pressure and a temperature of 230–300°C. It was established that an increase in the temperature from 230 to 270°C leads to a certain decrease in the yield of biocoal and an increase in the gas formation. However, in this case, the fraction of carbon in the material increases by 10%. As a result, the calorific value of solid fuel increases to 25–26 MJ/kg. The process is characterized by a high carbon efficiency (about 90%)     

Automatic fuzzy-rule assessment and its application to the modelling of nitrogen leaching for large regions

 Diffuse nutrient emissions from agricultural land is one of the major sources of pollution for ground water, rivers and coastal waters. The quantification of pollutant loads requires mathematical modelling of water and nutrient cycles. The deterministic simulation of nitrogen dynamics, represented by complicated highly non-linear processes, requires the application of detailed models with many parameters and large associated data bases. The operation of those models within integrated assessment tools or decision support systems for large regions is often not feasible. Fuzzy rule based modelling provides a fast, transparent and parameter parsimonious alternative. Besides, it allows regionalisation and integration of results from different models and measurements at a higher generalised level and enables explicit consideration of expert knowledge. In this paper an algorithm for the assessment of fuzzy rules for fuzzy modelling using simulated annealing is presented. The fuzzy rule system is applied to simulate nitrogen leaching for selected agricultural soils within the 23687 km² Saale River Basin. The fuzzy rules are defined and calibrated using results from simulation experiments carried out with the deterministic modelling system SWIM. Monthly aggregated time series of simulated water balance components (e.g. percolation and evapotranspiration), fertilization amounts, resulting nitrogen leaching and crop parameters are used for the derivation of the fuzzy rules. The 30-year simulation period was divided into 20 years for training and 10 years for validation, with the latter taken from the middle part of the period. Three specific fuzzy rule systems were created from the simulation experiments, one for each selected soil profile. Each rule system includes 15 rules as well as one prescribed rules from expert knowledge and 7 input variables. The performance of the fuzzy rule system is satisfactory for the assessment of nitrate leaching on annual to long term time steps. The approach allows rapid scenario analysis for large regions and has the potential to become part of decision support systems for generalised integrated assessment of water and nutrients in macroscale regions.