Semivolatile and Volatile Compound Evolution during Pyrolysis and Combustion of Colombian Coffee Husk

Thermal characterization of coffee husk (Coffea arabica) from Colombian coffee has been studied. Different products, mostly volatile and semivolatile compounds, were analyzed, paying special attention to 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) classified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as priority pollutants, frequently used for checking toxicity in environmental samples. A fixed amount of raw material was exposed to different excess air ratios (λ = 0–2.33) and nominal temperature of 1123 K in a horizontal quartz reactor. The results show that coffee husk is a promising biomass for energetic exploitation with reduced formation of PAHs in a low air excess ratio. This implies reduction of carcinogenic potential in the limited presence of oxygen, demonstrated by calculating the carcinogenic potential (KE) for each experimental condition. Most volatile and semivolatile compounds followed different trends, with the oxygen presence prevailing their decomposition with increasing the air excess ratio.

Greater TTIP Ambition in Chemicals: Why and how. CEPS Special Report, 28 July 2015. Paper No. 10 in the CEPS-CTR project ‘TTIP in the Balance’ and CEPS Special Report No. 114/July 2015.

To date, the negotiations over chemicals in the Translatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) have not shown sufficient ambition. The talks have focused too much on the differences in the two ‘systems’, rather than on the actual levels of health and environmental protection for substances regulated by both the US and the EU. Given the accomplishments within the OECD and the UN Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), the question is whether TTIP can be any more ambitious in the area of chemicals? We find that there is no detailed or systematic knowledge about how the two levels of protection in chemicals compare, although caricatures and stereotypes abound. This is partly due to an obsessive focus on a single US federal law, the Toxic Subtances Control Act (TSCA), whereas in practice US protection depends on many statutes and regulations, as well as on voluntary withdrawals (under pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency) and severe common law liability. This paper makes the economic case for firmly addressing the regulatory barriers, discusses the EU’s proposals, finds that the European Parliament’s Resolution on TTIP of July 2015 lacks a rationale (for chemicals), argues that both TSCA and REACH ought to be improved (based on ‘better regulation’), discusses the link with a global regime, advocates significant improvement of market access where equivalence of health and environmental objectives is agreed and, finally, proposes to lower the costs for companies selling in both markets by allowing them to opt into the other party’s more stringent rules, thereby avoiding duplication while racing-to-the-top. The ‘living agreement’ on chemicals ought to be led by a new TTIP institution authorised to establish the level of health and environmental protection on both sides of the Atlantic for substances regulated on both sides. These findings will lay the foundation for a highly beneficial lowering of trading costs without in any way affecting the level of protection. Indeed, this is exactly what TTIP is, or should be, all about.This paper is the 10th in a series produced in the context of the “TTIP in the Balance” project, jointly organised by CEPS and the Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR) in Washington, D.C. It is published simultaneously on the CEPS (www.ceps.eu) and CTR websites (http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu).

Economic impact of effluent regulations on the rum industry, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands /

Study conducted by Development, Planning and Research Associates, Inc.

Development of risk assessment methodology for surface disposal of municipal sludge.

"EPA/600/6-90/001."

Assessment of potential radiological population health effects from radon in liquefied petroleum gas /

"February 1977."

Economic incentives for land use control /

"February 1977."

Potential industrial carcinogens and mutagens /

Mode of access: Internet.

Economic analysis of pesticide disposal methods /

Mode of access: Internet.

An assessment of ozone and chlorine dioxide technologies for treatment of municipal water supplies /

Mode of access: Internet.

Recent advances in fish toxicology : a symposium /

Co-sponsored in cooperation with the Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University.

Planning methodologies for analysis of land use/water quality relationships /

Mode of access: Internet.

Toward a national strategy for noise control /

Mode of access: Internet.

Critical review of estimating benefits of air and water pollution control /

Contract no. 68-01-2821.

Wastewater irrigation at Tallahassee, Florida /

Aug. 1979.

Long-term effects of land application of domestic wastewater : Roswell, New Mexico, slow rate irrigation site /

Mode of access: Internet.