Chemical and Morphological Study of PM10 Analysed by SEM-EDS

Single particle characterization can provide information on the evolution of size distribution and chemical composition of pollution aerosol. The work described the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) combined with X-ray Dispersive Energy Spectrometry (EDS) to characterize inorganic atmospheric particles samples collected on PM10 filters from January 2013 to October 2013 from three zones within the city of Hermosillo, Sonora. Specimens were initially processed by separating the collected particles from the filters by means of submersing a 2 cm2 section of each filter into isopropilic alcohol within a test tube for 5 minutes. Then, an aliquot of the suspension was placed over a sample holder and into the SEM. The different elements found amongst individual particles were Al, Ba, Ca, Cl, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Pb, S, Si, Ti and U. The predominant elements are Al (17.10 At%), Si (10.17 At%), Ba (5.90 At%), Fe (5.45 At%) and U (2.32 At%). The particles were classified into groups based on morphology and elemental composition: particles of aluminosilicate, salts of sodium chloride, sulfates, metal particles, barium and uranium. These particles morphology and chemical composition, illustrate an abundance of natural elements within the zone. However, some of the elements presented are directly related with human activities, and are of much interest from the public health and environmental perspectives.

Rationalizing the Use of Water in Industry—Part 2: Instruments Developed by the Clean Technology Network in the State of Bahia

The instruments developed by the Clean Technology Network of Bahia (TECLIM) at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) (cited in Part 1 of this paper) are presented. Factors regarding water management in industry were examined, on the basis of experience acquired over the period of a decade in cooperative research projects with large industrial process plants located mostly in the Camacari Petrochemical Complex, Bahia State, Brazil. The main results consist of training about 1700 industry professionals in CP, the identification of about 500 ideas for the rationalization of water use, the presentation and publication of 90 articles in journals, conferences and other academic events, identification of ideas with potential water savings estimated at around 1400 t·h–1 and the reduction of at least 500 t·h–1 in effluents. Other sectors that make use of water, for example public buildings, commercial buildings, homes, shopping centers and airports can adapt and use the TECLIM method as will be exemplified.

Rationalizing the Use of Water in Industry—Part 1: Summary of the Instruments Developed by the Clean Technology Network in the State of Bahia and Main Results Obtained

Based on cleaner production concepts, a method for water use minimization has been developed by the Clean Technology Network of Bahia (TECLIM) at one of the largest industrial complexes in Latin America located in the State of Bahia, Brazil. This method is concerned with an area of secondary interest to the productive sector: the use of water. Based on the best cleaner production principles (CP), nine instruments have been developed during cooperative projects with chemical, petrochemical and copper metallurgical industries. These instruments are described in Part 2 of this paper [1]. The main benefits derived from partnership schemes include: a reduction in water consumption and effluent generation;the development of a techno-operational culture to increase eco-efficiency;and the introduction of conceptual projects to ensure the continuity of the activities in the company after the projects have been completed. The specific consumption of water was reduced by 20% as a consequence of the application of this method in Company A;a specific reduction in the generation of effluents of more than 40% was observed in Company B;a 42% fall in fresh water consumption in Company C;and a 20% decrease in the cost of effluent treatment in Company D. Among the difficulties encountered were the limited time availability of the operators and engineers for the project, the lack of measurement and calibration of available flow meters and the lack of detailed technical data.

On Cost Based Algorithm Selection for Problem Solving

This work proposes a novel framework that enables one to compare distinct iterative procedures with known rates of convergence, in terms of the computational effort to be employed to reach some prescribed vicinity of the optimal solution to a given problem of interest. An algorithm is introduced that decides between two competing algorithms, which algorithm makes the best use of the computational resources for some prescribed error. Several examples are presented that illustrate the trade-offs involved in such a choice and demonstrate that choosing an algorithm over another with a higher rate of convergence can be perfectly justifiable in terms of the overall computational effort.

Air Quality Regarding to TSP in Six Cities of Sonora,Mexico,a Criticism to the NOM-025-SSA1-1993 and a Proposed Criterion for Its Non-Compliance

In the present study, the air quality is assessed for the year 2010 regarding to the Total Suspended Particles (TSP) for six cities of Sonora, Mexico, representing the first regional study in Sonora in air quality. The assessment used performance indicators and indicators of compliance with the regulations. It is established that in all the cities the maximum limit value of daily concentration of 210 μg/m3 is exceeded, being the percentage of days above the rule of 30%, 78%, 76%, 6%, 3% and 62% for Agua Prieta, Nogales, Puerto Penasco, Hermosillo, Guaymas and Obregón respectively, classifying these days with poor air quality. According to the annualized index used, the air quality was not satisfactory for the period of study in the six cities. Nogales and Puerto Penasco presented the most adverse conditions of air quality with annual average values of TSP of 363 and 345 μg/m3 and maximum daily of 1047 and 1239 μg/m3 (498% and 590% above the norm) respectively. The requirements of coverage that establishes the Mexican Official Standard NOM-025-SSA1-1993 (SSA, 2005) are questioned for its compliance, proposing in this paper a criterion of non-compliance by prioritizing the protection of health and the precautionary principle. It is recommended to implement air quality management programs (PROAIRE) in these cities.

Application of Transformed Two-Stage Network DEA to Strategic Design of Biofuel Supply Chain Network

This paper proposes an innovative procedure for designing efficient biomass-biofuel logistics networks(BBLNs).This procedure is based on the two-stage network data envelopment analysis(TSN-DEA)models that have been developed to provide specific process guidance for the managers to improve the efficiency of the decision-making unit(DMU)with the TSN process.The crucial issue of the TSN-DEA is that the overall efficiency score depends on the DMUs under evaluation.Thus,the rankings for the DMUs generated by the TSN-DEA model are inconsistent.As a result,the TSN-DEA-based ranking methods are limited.The TSN-DEA’s inconsistency frequently makes it difficult for decision-makers to select the top-rated DMUs.We develop the transformed TSN(T-TSN)DEA method by applying the multi-criteria DEA model to overcome this issue.The proposed method transforms the DMUs with any number of inputs,intermediate measures,and outputs in the TSN process,through the multi-objective programming model with a minimax objective approach,into the DMUs with two inputs and one output in the single-stage network(SSN)process.Then,the well-known DEA methods for the SSN,such as the cross-efficiency and super-efficiency DEA methods,can be applied to evaluate and rank the transformed DMUs more consistently.We exhibit the applicability of the proposed approach for the BBLN design problem.A case study of South Carolina in the USA demonstrates that the proposed method performs well in identifying efficient BBLN schemes more consistently than the traditional TSN-DEA.

Application of Integrated Multiple Criteria Data Envelopment Analysis to Humanitarian Logistics Network Design

This paper considers a humanitarian logistics network(HTLN)design problem,including the emergency relief facilities(ERFs)location-allocation decision for the efficient distribution of emergency supplies from the ERFs to the affected areas.A goal programming(GP)approach is applied to consider the multiple objectives simultaneously.Solving the GP model with a given weight assigned to each goal yields a single HTLN scheme,so there will be various schemes available by solving the GP with multiple values of the weights.For evaluating these schemes and identifying the most efficient one,we apply the data envelopment analysis(DEA)methods considering each scheme as a decision-making unit(DMU).Since the classical DEA(C-DEA)intrinsically aims to identify efficient DMUs and the efficient frontier,the use of C-DEA may not lead to a full ranking in many situations.There are several independent evaluation approaches to increasing discriminating power.Among them,this study integrates the multiple criteria DEA(MC-DEA)with the following three DEA methods,(i)stratification DEA(S^DEA),(ii)cross-efficiency DEA(CE-DEA),and(iii)super-efficiency DEA(SE-DEA),to make the most use of each method's strengths.Through a case study of designing the HTLN system for South Carolina,the procedure of implementing the integrated multiple criteria DEA(IMC-DEA)method is demonstrated.It is observed that the IMCDEA method performs well in terms of designing the HTLN system and would help the decision-makers consider more efficient options and make a final decision.