15 Environment (pollution, health protection, safety)

99103393 Operation of flue gas desulfurization equipment for a power plant fired with fossil fuels and/or refuse Pfeiffer, J. etal. Ger. Offen. DE 19,741,120 (Cl. BOlD53/80), 10 Dee 1998, DE Appl. 19,724,801, 6 Jun 1997, 4 pp. (In German) A two-stage or two-circuit scrubber is implemented for the desulfurization of flue gas from electric power plants. An absorption agent suspension is charged into an upper circuit of the scrubber and oxidation air is charged into a lower circuit of the scrubber. To eliminate sulfite deposits in the upper circuit, the sulfites are oxidized to gypsum by feeding of an additional amount of air into the suspension at any point of the upper circuit and/or into a container for the circulating absorption agent.

99103394 PCDDIF-emissions from coal combustion in small residential plants Mocha, W. and Thanner, G. Organohalogen Compd., 1998, 36, 329-332. PCDD/F releases from the combustion of coal in a central heating boiler and a household stove were measured. Levels released were 0.29 and 0.33 ng TEQ/kg coal via the flue gas of the central heating boiler. Much higher releases (108.46-663.90 ng TEQ/kg coal) were observed by combustion in the household stove. The homologue profiles of the releases from household stove showed decreasing abundance of the homologues with increasing chlorination degree for both PCDFs and PCDDs. The homo- logue profiles of the central heating furnace show decreasing abundance with increasing chlorination degree for PCDFs and increasing abundance with increasing chlorination degree for PCDDs.

99103395 Pollution in China: problems, policies and opportunities Bailey, K. D. et al. Proc., Annu. Meet. Air Waste Manage. Assoc. [computer optical disk], 1998, 91st, WA7304/1-15. It is fast becoming common knowledge that China’s massive economic development has resulted in serious environmental problems. For nearly 20 years China’s central government has made legislative efforts to tackle its pollution problem, but with only limited success. Despite a series of pollution-control laws enacted between 1979 and 1989, public and local support for greening China-much like support for greening the United States and Europe-was secondary to the peoples desire to expand the economy. However, the last few years have witnessed a new and serious effort at responsible environmental management in China. The nation has enacted several tough new pieces of environmental legislation designed to reduce pollution and encourage cleanup efforts. This paper attempts to summarize certain key aspects of the Chinese environmental regulatory system and discuss some of the opportunities for foreign businesses.

99103396 Possibility of utilization of gas-separation membranes as countermeasure for global warming Haraya, K. Bunri Gijursu, 1998, 28, (5). 299-303. (In Japanese) A brief summary of some of the general aspects involved in the COP3 (Kyoto, 1997) is provided. Topics include: (1) development in COz separation membranes and molecular sieve ceramic membranes, (2) COz separation from combustion flue gas, (3) separation and recovery of methane and other greenhouse gases, (4) modification and improvement of the energy efficiencies in coal power stations and (5) utilization of the biomass.

99103397 Prospects for the use of activated anthracites in wastewater treatment technology Admakin, L. A. et al. Koks Khim., 1998, (S), 30-32. (In Russian) Activated anthracite was proved to be highly effective for treating wastewaters containing dissolved components, mainly metals such as zinc and copper, via an experimental study. Such adsorbents are very promising for remediation of river systems in urbanized regions. However, these adsorbents are less effective for removing of organic and inorganic suspended substances.

99103396 Pure Air’s advanced flue gas desulfurization clean coal project Brown, J. R. Environ. Prog., 1998, 17, (3), 173-182. December 1996 saw four and a half years of successful operation for Pure Air’s advanced flue gas desulfurization (AFGD) clean coal project at the Northern Indiana Public Service Company’s (NIPSCO) Bailly Generating Station. This project received a $60 million grant from the DOE Clean Coal II programme. Included in this was a three year DOE demonstration period. Pure Air of Ailentown, Pennsylvania, through it’s project company, Pure Air on the Lake, Limited Partnership designed, built, owns and operates the facility. The project met or exceeded all performance criteria, averaging 95.3% SOz removal, 99.9% availability and producing high quality commercial gypsum. Its many advanced technology features include a single, large absorber module serving two boilers, a wastewater evaporation system, an air rotary sparger for oxidation and a new technology for agglomerating gypsum. The AFGD system will continue to serve NIPSCO’s Bailly Station for at least another 15 years under an own & operate contract. The data presented in this paper is based on performance during the first three years of operation.

99103399 Quality measurement of emissions at stationary sources Chassin, B. Gaz d’aujourd’hui, 1999, 123, (3), 17-22. (In French) Environmental issues are becoming an ‘ever-increasing concern for industrial customers using natural gas. Businesses have begun to develop environmental management systems, carrying out such things as environ- mental programmes, environmental audits or certification to IS0 14001. To meet such needs, Compagnie francaise du methane has perfected a service whereby polluting emissions levels in the air can be measured at any of its customers sites.

99/03400 Radiation exposure of the population in the vicinity of coal-fired power plants Kljajic, R. et al. IRPA9, Int. Congr. Radiat. Prot.: Ninth Int. Congr. Int. Radiat. Prot. Assoc., 1996, 2, 223-225. Four coal-fired power plants (CPP) were monitored near inhabited locations; ash and slag deposits are 2-5 km away from the CPP. Exposition dose rate measurements were performed using a highly sensitive in-situ ionizing chambers under high pressure 1 m above ground and by thermoluminescent (TLD) dosimeters at 4 points (2-5 km in front of the CPP, on the CPP grounds, at ash and slag deposits and 2-5 km behind the CPP). Average annual radiation dose at the five locations near the CPP was -1 mSv.

99lQ3401 Radiation hazard in underground mines Skowronek, J. Przegl. Corn., 1998, 54, (6), 21-29. (In Poland) The paper presents an estimate of the health hazard of natural radio- nuclides in coal mines and other underground mines. The estimation takes into consideration current recommendations and standards and an evaluation of cumulative doses is carried out, as well as percentage of manpower (employees) in the particular classes of hazards.

99io3402 Radiation hazard of coal-slags as building material in Tatabanya town (Hungary) Somlai, J. et al. Health Phys., 1998, 75, (6), 648-651. In coal slags originating from the region of the settlement Tatabanya, Transdanubian Middle Mountains, Hungary, high concentrations of zz6Ra (865-2,383 Bq kg-‘) were measured. These slags are commonly used as building materials in this district. The external gamma dose rate was measured in 188 rooms at different heights above the floor. In 124 rooms with slags used for construction, the average absorbed dose rate was 296 nGy h-‘. In ten apartments the average radon concentration was 502 Bq mm3. In that case the estimated ED due to inhaled radon and its progeny and gamma radiation was 10.3 mSv year-t.

99103403 Recently released cleaner production technologies for industry Reeve, D. J. J. Cleaner Prod., 1999, 7 (1). 89-99. This paper describes several, recently released, commercial cleaner production (CP) technologies, mainly from Australia, across a broad industry spectrum. Five technologies are described in some detail, namely: (1) medical waste reduction and treatment for recovery/reuse without incineration that reduces waste at source and keeps resources in the manufacturing cycle; (2) refrigeration/air conditioning compressor lubri- cant to reduce ozone depletion and provide increased energy efficiencies; (3) simple, cheap, electrolytic water purification for potable water and recovery/reuse of industrial effluents that removes solids, colour, viruses, metals and some anions; (4) low-cost brick kiln for developing countries that utilizes a long, zigzag fire zone for reduced pollution and consistent high-quality curing; (5) non-cyanide, non-mercury, gold extraction technol- ogy for low-grade ores and mine tailings as packaged process systems with closed-loop chemistries. Brief statements are also made about: biological precleaning for metal surfaces to replace solvent and hot alkali methods; fluidized bed heat treatment and oil impregnation to replace hard chromium plating; oil spill dispersant for residual clean-up using bacterial activity. These technologies demonstrate how CP research can provide many of the answers to improve the environmental performance and economics of industrial processing.

99lQ3404 Remediation of petroleum-contaminated soils by fluidized thermal desorption Lee, J. K. er al. Waste Mgt., 1998, 18, (6-8), 503-507. A novel type of tluidized bed desorber was developed for the remediation of petroleum-contaminated soils at low temperature with high efficiency. Cahn balancea was utilized to investigate the thermal desorption behaviour of soils contaminated by various hydrocarbons. The performance of the fluidized-bed desorber was investigated at different operating modes. Batch operation of the fluidized-bed desorber exhibited 99.9% desorption efficiency at temperatures of around 300°C within a half hour. Continuous operation of the fluidized-bed indicated that Q/F (the ratio of the mass flow rate of fluidizing gas to feeding rate of contaminated soils) is less important at higher temperature (>30OC”C), if proper fluidization is ensured. The periodic operation of the fluidized bed desorber shows the possibility to reduce off-gas volume significantly.

356 Fuel and Energy Abstracts September 1999