Interchangeable modular design and operation of photo-bioreactors for Chlorella vulgaris cultivation towards a zero-waste biorefinery.

This study explores diverse cultivation modes for Chlorella vulgaris within a biorefinery at pilot scale that produces both biodiesel by transesterification of waste frying oils and syngas by gasification of organic wood waste. Given microalgae's comparatively modest biofuel yield relative to principal biorefinery products, the microalgae cultivation process is designed on the biofuels production rates. Liquid and gaseous waste streams are recycled inside the biorefinery: crude glycerol is mixed with wood to enhance the quality of syngas, wastewater is fed to microalgae so as flue gas. Also, the oil extracted from microalgae contributes to produce biodiesel and the waste cells are gasified. Considering that the optimal fit for each cultivation mode varies with the shape of the reactor, we propose a modular approach to assemble them in batteries of tubular, bubble flow, and airlift reactors, and present an operating design criterion that can fulfill the mass balance of the plant by adding/transforming the number of units inside the different batteries. Methods to adjust the operating conditions and control the operating parameters are also discussed. The designed configurations were operated recycling nominal waste streams of about 30 L d-1 of wastewater and 90 Nm3 h-1 of flue gas. Results confirm that the most advantageous one, in terms of volume per recycled waste streams, is a battery of 16 airlift reactors, operating in mixotrophic mode, with growing rate of 0.427 d-1, yield of 3.06, glycerol conversion 39 %, CO2 removal 64 % of inlet 6-10 %(mol) concentration. The same nominal waste streams can also be managed by 40 tubular reactors in almost heterotrophic conditions coupled with 12 bubble columns in autotrophic conditions; working respectively at growing rates of 0.395 d-1 and 0.362 d-1 and yields of 2.94 and 2.84. The battery of tubular reactors reached a glycerol conversion of 45 % and the array of bubble columns removed about 51 % of inlet 12-20 %(mol) CO2 concentration. A complete comparison is reported also in terms of dimensionless numbers and pumping/mixing requirements.

Spatiotemporal role of muscarinic signaling in early chick development: exposure to cholinomimetic agents by a mathematical model.

Awareness is growing that, besides several neurotoxic effects, cholinomimetic drugs able to interfere the cholinergic neurotransmitter system may exert a teratogen effect in developing embryos of vertebrate and invertebrate organisms. Cholinomimetic substances exert their toxic activity on organisms as they inhibit the functionality of the cholinergic system by completely or partially replacing the ACh molecule both at the level of the AChE active site and at the level of acetylcholine receptors. In this work, we focused the attention on the effects of muscarinic antagonist (atropine) and agonist (carbachol) drugs during the early development and ontogenesis of chick embryos. An unsteady-state mathematical model of the drug release and fate was developed, to synchronize exposure to a gradient of drug concentrations with the different developmental events. Since concentration measures in time and space cannot be taken without damaging the embryo itself, the diffusion model was the only way to establish at each time-step the exact concentration of drug at the different points of the embryo body (considered two-dimensional up to the 50 h stage). This concentration depends on the distance and position of the embryo with respect to the releasing source. The exposure to carbachol generally enhanced dimensions and stages of the embryos, while atropine mainly caused delay in development and small size of the embryos. Both the drugs were able to cause developmental anomalies, depending on the moment of development, in a time- and dose-dependent way, regardless the expression of genes driving each event. 1. Early chick embryos were exposed to muscarinic drugs in a spatial-temporal context. 2. Effects were stage-(time) dependent, according to distance and position of the source. 3. Atropine inhibited growth, mainly interfering with the cephalic process formation and heart differentiation; carbachol increased growth reducing differentiation. 4. Interferences may be exerted by alteration of calcium responses to naturally occurring morphogen-driven mechanisms.

Human Health Risk Assessment of a pilot-plant for catalytic pyrolysis of mixed waste plastics for fuel production.

Dioxins, PCBs and VOCs are the main hazardous chemicals emitted by gaseous streams from catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics. In this work we propose a methodology to assess toxic and cancer risk under uncertainty, due to inhalation and ingestion of these chemicals by considering complex scenarios, as repeated start-ups and short continuous operation that may occur in a pilot-plant. Different simulation tools are combined to evaluate the expected concentration of pollutants in the environmental compartments and food. Hazard Index and Cancer Risk remain under the threshold for both dioxins (HI < 0.012, CR < 5.03 10-7) and PCBdl (HI < 1.3 10-7, CR < 2.49 10-12) in all the simulated scenarios, also for the worst case of children ingesting vegetables and meat and uncertainty factors up to 1000. Different results are obtained for VOCs since repeated leakages during the pilot-plant operation are possible. All the risk indexes for benzene are under the threshold (HI < 0.175, CR < 1.41 10-7); acute toxic risk due to inhalation and cancer risk due to ingestion of grain/vegetables are over the threshold if all the uncertainties are considered. Lesson learned: HHRA is important also during scale-up; pilot-plants for pyrolysis of waste plastics must always be equipped with all the abatement systems designed for the final plant.

Probabilistic risk assessment of nitrate groundwater contamination from greenhouses in Albenga plain (Liguria, Italy) using lysimeters.

The use of fertilizers in greenhouse-grown crops can pose a threat to groundwater quality and, consequently, to human beings and subterranean ecosystem, where intensive farming produces pollutants leaching. Albenga plain (Liguria, Italy) is an alluvial area of about 45km2 historically devoted to farming. Recently the crops have evolved to greenhouses horticulture and floriculture production. In the area high levels of nitrates in groundwater have been detected. Lysimeters with three types of reconstituted soils (loamy sand, sandy clay loam and sandy loam) collected from different areas of Albenga plain were used in this study to evaluate the leaching loss of nitrate (NO3-) over a period of 12weeks. Leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) was selected as a representative green-grown crop. Each of the soil samples was treated with a slow release fertilizer, simulating the real fertilizing strategy of the tillage. In order to estimate the potential risk for aquifers as well as for organisms exposed via pore water, nitrate concentrations in groundwater were evaluated by applying a simplified attenuation model to the experimental data. Results were refined and extended from comparison of single effects and exposure values (Tier I level) up to the evaluation of probabilistic distributions of exposure and related effects (Tier II, III IV levels). HHRA suggested HI >1 and about 20% probability of exceeding RfD for all the greenhouses, regardless of the soil. ERA suggested HQ>100 for all the greenhouses; 93% probability of PNEC exceedance for greenhouses containing sand clay loam. The probability of exceeding LC50 for 5% of the species was about 40% and the probability corresponding to DBQ of DEC/EC50>0.001 was >90% for all the greenhouses. The significantly high risk, related to the detected nitrate leaching loss, can be attributed to excessive and inappropriate fertigation strategies.

Analytical Solutions of Three-Dimensional Contaminant Transport Models with Exponential Source Decay.

Despite the availability of numerical models, interest in analytical solutions of multidimensional advection-dispersion systems remains high. Such models are commonly used for performing Tier I risk analysis and are embedded in many regulatory frameworks dealing with groundwater contamination. In this work, we develop a closed-form solution of the three-dimensional advection-dispersion equation with exponential source decay, first-order reaction, and retardation, and present an approach based on some ease of use diagrams to compare it with the integral open form solution and with earlier versions of the closed-form solution. The comparison approach focuses on the relative differences associated with source decay and the effect of simulation time. The analysis of concentration contours, longitudinal sections, and transverse sections confirms that the closed-form solutions studied can be used with acceptable approximation in the central area of a plume bound transversely within the source width, both behind and beyond the advective front and for concentration values up to two orders of magnitude less than the initial source concentration. As the proposed closed-form model can be evaluated without nested numerical computations and with simple mathematical functions, it can be very useful in risk assessment procedures.

A Method for Identifying Pollution Sources of Heavy Metals and PAH for a Risk-Based Management of a Mediterranean Harbour.

A procedure for assessing harbour pollution by heavy metals and PAH and the possible sources of contamination is proposed. The procedure is based on a ratio-matching method applied to the results of principal component analysis (PCA), and it allows discrimination between point and nonpoint sources. The approach can be adopted when many sources of pollution can contribute in a very narrow coastal ecosystem, both internal and outside but close to the harbour, and was used to identify the possible point sources of contamination in a Mediterranean Harbour (Port of Vado, Savona, Italy). 235 sediment samples were collected in 81 sampling points during four monitoring campaigns and 28 chemicals were searched for within the collected samples. PCA of total samples allowed the assessment of 8 main possible point sources, while the refining ratio-matching identified 1 sampling point as a possible PAH source, 2 sampling points as Cd point sources, and 3 sampling points as C > 12 point sources. By a map analysis it was possible to assess two internal sources of pollution directly related to terminals activity. The study is the prosecution of a previous work aimed at assessing Savona-Vado Harbour pollution levels and suggested strategies to regulate the harbour activities.

Assessment of sediment contamination and sampling design in Savona Harbour, Italy.

A method for assessing environmental contamination in harbour sediments and designing the forthcoming monitoring activities in enlarged coastal ecosystems is proposed herein. The method is based on coupling principal component analysis of previous sampling campaigns with a discrete optimisation of a value for money function. The objective function represents the utility derived for every sum of money spent in sampling and chemical analysis. The method was then used to assess actual contamination and found to be well suited for reducing the number of chemicals to be searched during extended monitoring activities and identifying the possible sources of contamination. Data collected in Savona Harbour (Porto Vado), Italy, where construction of a new terminal construction is planned, were used to illustrate the procedure. 23 chemicals were searched for within a total of 213 samples in 68 sampling points during three monitoring campaigns. These data were used to test the procedure. Subsequently, 28 chemicals were searched for within 14 samples in 10 sampling points and collected data were used to evaluate the experimental error and to validate the proposed procedure.

A new method for laboratory estimation of the transverse dispersion coefficient.

We introduce a method for identifying the transverse dispersion coefficient in laboratory experiments based on the analytical solution of a pulse injection of a nonreactive solute in a soil column (cylindrical geometry) packed with a homogeneous porous medium. This method takes into account the effect of boundary conditions such as no flux on the column perimeter, and it does not need a priori knowledge of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient. Numerical applications of the method show that it is stable and robust and that the results are reasonably in accordance with those found using the classical maximum likelihood method.