Studies on fish waste management practices in Aroor Seafood Industrial Belt, Kerala and conversion of seafood waste into a liquid plant growth supplement

This study was materialized to analyze the management issues regarding the seafood processing waste generated including its impact on the coastal community in one of the important seafood hubs of India Aroor Seafood Industrial Belt Alappuzha District Kerala The area has witnessed serious pollution issues related to seafood waste and seldom has any action been implemented by either the polluters or the preventers Further this study is also intended to suggest a low cost eco friendly method for utilizing the bulk quantity of seafood solid waste generated in the area for the promotion of organic farming The high nutritional value of seafood enables the subsequent offal to be considered as an excellent source for plant nutrition The liquid silage accepted worldwide as the cheapest and practical solution for rendering fish waste in bulk for production of livestock feed is adopted in this study to develop foliar fertilizer formulations from various seafood waste The effect of seafood foliar sprays is demonstrated by field studies on two plant varieties such as Okra and Amaranthus

Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene/ Poly(vinyl alcohol) Blends and Their Biodegradability by Vibrio sp. Isolated from Marine Benthic Environment

Increasing amounts of plastic waste in the environment have become a problem of gigantic proportions. The case of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) is especially significant as it is widely used for packaging and other applications. This synthetic polymer is normally not biodegradable until it is degraded into low molecular mass fragments that can be assimilated by microorganisms. Blends of nonbiodegradable polymers and biodegradable commercial polymers such as poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) can facilitate a reduction in the volume of plastic waste when they undergo partial degradation. Further, the remaining fragments stand a greater chance of undergoing biodegradation in a much shorter span of time. In this investigation, LLDPE was blended with different proportions of PVA (5–30%) in a torque rheometer. Mechanical, thermal, and biodegradation studies were carried out on the blends. The biodegradability of LLDPE/PVA blends has been studied in two environments: (1) in a culture medium containing Vibrio sp. and (2) soil environment, both over a period of 15 weeks. Blends exposed to culture medium degraded more than that exposed to soil environment. Changes in various properties of LLDPE/PVA blends before and after degradation were monitored using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) for crystallinity, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) for surface morphology among other things. Percentage crystallinity decreased as the PVA content increased and biodegradation resulted in an increase of crystallinity in LLDPE/PVA blends. The results prove that partial biodegradation of the blends has occurred holding promise for an eventual biodegradable product

Pretreatment Of Agricultural Waste With Pleurotus Sp. For Ethanol Production

Bioethanol is a liquid fuel obtained from fermentation of sugar/starch crops. Lignocellulosic biomass being less expensive is considered a future alternative for the food crops. One of the main challenges for the use of lignocellulosics is the development of an efficient pre-treatment process. Pretreatments are classified into three - physical, chemical, and biological pretreatment. Chemical process has not been proven suitable so far, due to high costs and production of undesired by-products. Biologically, hydrolysis can be enhanced by microbial or enzymatic pretreatment. Studies show that the edible mushrooms of Pleurotus sp. produce several extracellular enzymes which reduce the structural and chemical complexity of fibre. In the present study, P. ostreatus and P. eous were cultivated on paddy straw. Spent substrate left after mushroom cultivation was powdered and used for ethanol production. Saccharomyces sp. was used for fermentation studies. Untreated paddy straw was used as control. Production of ethanol from P. ostreatus substrate was 5.5 times more when compared to untreated paddy straw, while the spent substrate of P. eous gave 5 times increase in ethanol yield. Assays showed the presence of several extracellular enzymes in the spent substrate of both species, which together contributed to the increase in ethanol yield

Molecular Epidemiology of Escherichia coli isolates from Environmental, Food and Clinical Sources

In the present study diversity of E. coli in the water samples of Cochin estuary were studied for a period of 3 years ranging from January 2010- December 2012. The stations were selected based on the closeness to satellite townships and waste input. Two of the stations (Chitoor and Thevara) were fixed upstream, two in the central part of the estuary namely Bolgatty and Off Marine Science Jetty, and one at the Barmouth. Diversity was assessed in terms of serotypes, phylogenetic groups and genotypes. Two groups of seafood samples such as fish and shellfish collected from the Cochin estuary were used for isolation of E. coli. One hundred clinical E. coli isolates were collected from one public health centre, one hospital and five medical labs in and around Cochin City, Kerala. From our results it was clear that pathogen cycling is occurring through food, water and clinical sources. Pathogen cycling through food is very common and fish and shellfish that harbour these strains might pose potential health risk to consumer. Estuarine environment is a melting pot for various kinds of wastes, both organic and inorganic. Mixing up of waste water from various sources such as domestic, industries, hospitals and sewage released into these water bodies resulting in the co-existence of E. coli from various sources thus offering a conducive environment for horizontal gene transfer. Opportunistic pathogens might acquire genes for drug resistance and virulence turning them to potential pathogens. Prevalence of ExPEC in the Cochin estuary, pose threat to people who use this water for fishing and recreation. Food chain also plays an important role in the transit of virulence genes from the environments to the human. Antibiotic resistant E. coli are widespread in estuarine water, seafood and clinical samples, for reasons well known such as indiscriminate use of antibiotics in animal production systems, aquaculture and human medicine. Since the waste water from these sources entering the estuary provides selection pressure to drug resistant mutants in the environment. It is high time that the authorities concerned should put systems in place for monitoring and enforcement to curb such activities. Microbial contamination can limit people’s enjoyment of coastal waters for contact recreation or shellfish-gathering. E. coli can make people sick if they are present in high levels in water used for contact recreation or shellfish gathering. When feeding, shellfish can filter large volumes of seawater, so any microorganisms present in the water become accumulated and concentrated in the shellfish flesh. If E. coli contaminated shellfish are consumed the impact to human health includes gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and bacteraemia. In conclusion, the high prevalence of various pathogenic serotypes and phylogenetic groups, multidrug-resistance, and virulence factor genes detected among E. coli isolates from stations close to Cochin city is a matter of concern, since there is a large reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes and virulence traits within the community, and that the resistance genes and plasmid-encoded genes for virulence were easily transferable to other strains. Given the severity of the clinical manifestations of the disease in humans and the inability and/or the potential risks of antibiotic administration for treatment, it appears that the most direct and effective measure towards prevention of STEC and ExPEC infections in humans and ensuring public health may be considered as a priority.

A Study of Single Stage Semi‐Dry Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste

Solid waste generation is a natural consequence of human activity and is increasing along with population growth, urbanization and industrialization. Improper disposal of the huge amount of solid waste seriously affects the environment and contributes to climate change by the release of greenhouse gases. Practicing anaerobic digestion (AD) for the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) can reduce emissions to environment and thereby alleviate the environmental problems together with production of biogas, an energy source, and digestate, a soil amendment. The amenability of substrate for biogasification varies from substrate to substrate and different environmental and operating conditions such as pH, temperature, type and quality of substrate, mixing, retention time etc. Therefore, the purpose of this research work is to develop feasible semi-dry anaerobic digestion process for the treatment of OFMSW from Kerala, India for potential energy recovery and sustainable waste management. This study was carried out in three phases in order to reach the research purpose. In the first phase, batch study of anaerobic digestion of OFMSW was carried out for 100 days at 32°C (mesophilic digestion) for varying substrate concentrations. The aim of this study was to obtain the optimal conditions for biogas production using response surface methodology (RSM). The parameters studied were initial pH, substrate concentration and total organic carbon (TOC). The experimental results showed that the linear model terms of initial pH and substrate concentration and the quadratic model terms of the substrate concentration and TOC had significant individual effect (p < 0.05) on biogas yield. However, there was no interactive effect between these variables (p > 0.05). The optimum conditions for maximizing the biogas yield were a substrate concentration of 99 g/l, an initial pH of 6.5 and TOC of 20.32 g/l. AD of OFMSW with optimized substrate concentration of 99 g/l [Total Solid (TS)-10.5%] is a semi-dry digestion system .Under the optimized condition, the maximum biogas yield was 53.4 L/kg VS (volatile solid).. In the second phase, semi-dry anaerobic digestion of organic solid wastes was conducted for 45 days in a lab-scale batch experiment for substrate concentration of 100 g/l (TS-11.2%) for investigating the start-up performances under thermophilic condition (50°C). The performance of the reactor was evaluated by measuring the daily biogas production and calculating the degradation of total solids and the total volatile solids. The biogas yield at the end of the digestion was 52.9 L/kg VS for the substrate concentration of 100 g/l. About 66.7% of volatile solid degradation was obtained during the digestion. A first order model based on the availability of substrate as the limiting factor was used to perform the kinetic studies of batch anaerobic digestion system. The value of reaction rate constant, k, obtained was 0.0249 day-1. A laboratory bench scale reactor with a capacity of 36.8 litres was designed and fabricated to carry out the continuous anaerobic digestion of OFMSW in the third phase. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the digester at total solid concentration of 12% (semi-dry) under mesophlic condition (32°C). The digester was operated with different organic loading rates (OLRs) and constant retention time. The performance of the reactor was evaluated using parameters such as pH, volatile fatty acid (VFA), alkalinity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), TOC and ammonia-N as well as biogas yield. During the reactor’s start-up period, the process is stable and there is no inhibition occurred and the average biogas production was 14.7 L/day. The reactor was fed in continuous mode with different OLRs (3.1,4.2 and 5.65 kg VS/m3/d) at constant retention time of 30 days. The highest volatile solid degradation of 65.9%, with specific biogas production of 368 L/kg VS fed was achieved with OLR of 3.1 kg VS/m3/d. Modelling and simulation of anaerobic digestion of OFMSW in continuous operation is done using adapted Anaerobic Digestion Model No 1 (ADM1).The proposed model, which has 34 dynamic state variables, considers both biochemical and physicochemical processes and contains several inhibition factors including three gas components. The number of processes considered is 28. The model is implemented in Matlab® version 7.11.0.584(R2010b). The model based on adapted ADM1 was tested to simulate the behaviour of a bioreactor for the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of OFMSW at OLR of 3.1 kg VS/m3/d. ADM1 showed acceptable simulating results.

Biochemical Characterization and Bio-evaluation of Collagen and Collagen Peptides Extracted and Purified from Fish Skin: In vitro and In vivo Studies on Antiarthritic and Wound Healing Properties

In fish processing plants, there is huge amount of skin that is left as the waste. When this skin is taken and processed into fish collagen, it will save large amount of money that is used for extraction of collagen from other animal s.Fish collagen can be used as an alternative to replace mammalian collagen, especially collagen extracted from bovine, when we consider the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) and the foot - and-mouth disease (FMD) issues. BSE and TSE are progressive neurological disorders affecting cattles caused by proteinacious infectious particles called prions.The study aims in producing collagen that has been extracted from fish skin to replace other animal collagen so as to overcome the problem of other animal collagen issues. Also the study utilized the abandoned fish waste produced by fish processing industry since bone, skin, fin and scales of fish can be a useful source of collagen.

Sono, Photo and Sonophoto Catalytic Removal of Chemical and Bacterial Pollutants from Wastewater

The term ‘water pollution’ broadly refers to the contamination of water and water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, groundwater etc). Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove the harmful contaminants. This affects not only the plants and organisms living in these bodies of water but also the entire natural biological communities and the biodiversity.Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) have been tested as environment-friendly techniques for the treatment of contaminated water, in view of their ability to convert pollutants into harmless end products. These techniques refer to a set of treatment procedures designed to remove organic or inorganic contaminants in wastewater by oxidation. The contaminants are oxidized by different reagents such as air, oxygen, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide which are introduced in precise, preprogrammed dosages, sequences and combinations under appropriate conditions. The procedure when combined with light in presence of catalyst is known as photocatalysis. When ultrasound (US) is used as the energy source, the process is referred as sonication. Sonication in presence of catalyst is referred as sonocatalysis. Of late, combination of light and sound as energy sources has been tested for the decontamination of wastewater in the presence of suitable catalyst. In this case, the process is referred as sonophotocatalysis. These AOPs are specially advantageous in pollution control and waste water treatment because unlike many other technologies, they do not just transfer the pollutant from one phase to another but completely degrade them into innocuous substances such as CO2 and H2O.

Management approaches in organic potato and tomato production

The presented thesis considered three different system approach topics to ensure yield and plant health in organically grown potatoes and tomatoes. The first topic describes interactions between late blight (Phytophthora infestans) incidence and soil nitrogen supply on yield in organic potato farming focussing in detail on the yield loss relationship of late blight based on results of several field trials. The interactive effects of soil N-supply, climatic conditions and late blight on the yield were studied in the presence and absence of copper fungicides from 2002-2004 for the potato cultivar Nicola. Under conditions of central Germany the use of copper significantly reduced late blight in almost all cases (15-30 %). However, the reductions in disease through copper application did not result in statistically significant yield increases (+0 – +10 %). Subsequently, only 30 % of the variation in yield could be attributed to disease reductions. A multiple regression model (R²Max), however, including disease reduction, growth duration and temperature sum from planting until 60 % disease severity was reached and soil mineral N contents 10 days after emergence could explain 75 % of the observed variations in yield. The second topic describes the effect of some selected organic fertilisers and biostimulant products on nitrogen-mineralization and efficiency, yield and diseases in organic potato and tomato trials. The organic fertilisers Biofeed Basis (BFB, plant derived, AgroBioProducts, Wageningen, Netherlands) and BioIlsa 12,5 Export (physically hydrolysed leather shavings, hair and skin of animals; ILSA, Arizignano, Italy) and two biostimulant products BioFeed Quality (BFQ, multi-compound seaweed extract, AgroBioProducts) and AUSMA (aqueous pine and spruce needle extract, A/S BIOLAT, Latvia), were tested. Both fertilisers supplied considerable amounts of nitrogen during the main uptake phases of the crops and reached yields as high or higher as compared to the control with horn meal fertilisation. The N-efficiency of the tested fertilisers in potatoes ranged from 90 to 159 kg yield*kg-1 N – input. Most effective with tomatoes were the combined treatments of fertiliser BFB and the biostimulants AUSMA and BFQ. Both biostimulants significantly increased the share of healthy fruit and/or the number of fruits. BFQ significantly increased potato yields (+6 %) in one out of two years and reduced R. solani-infestation in the potatoes. This suggests that the biostimulants had effects on plant metabolism and resistance properties. However, no effects of biostimulants on potato late blight could be observed in the fields. The third topic focused on the effect of suppressive composts and seed tuber health on the saprophytic pathogen Rhizoctonia solani in organic potato systems. In the present study 5t ha-1 DM of a yard and bio-waste (60/40) compost produced in a 5 month composting process and a 15 month old 100 % yard waste compost were used to assess the effects on potato infection with R. solani when applying composts within the limits allowed. Across the differences in initial seed tuber infestation and 12 cultivars 5t DM ha-1 of high quality composts, applied in the seed tuber area, reduced the infestation of harvested potatoes with black scurf, tuber malformations and dry core tubers by 20 to 84 %, 20 to 49 % and 38 to 54 %, respectively, while marketable yields were increased by 5 to 25 % due to lower rates of wastes after sorting (marketable yield is gross yield minus malformed tubers, tubers with dry core, tubers with black scurf > 15% infested skin). The rate of initial black scurf infection of the seed tubers also affected tuber number, health and quality significantly. Compared to healthy seed tubers initial black scurf sclerotia infestation of 2-5 and >10 % of tuber surface led in untreated plots to a decrease in marketable yields by 14-19 and 44-66 %, a increase of black scurf severity by 8-40 and 34-86 % and also increased the amount of malformed and dry core tubers by 32-57 and 109-214 %.

Local food security and principle of organic farming (from farm to fork) in context of food culture in Indonesia: Minangkabau's case study

The basic idea behind improving local food security consists of two paths; first, accessibility (price, stock) and second, availability (quantity and biodiversity); both are perquisites to the provision of nutrients and a continuous food supply with locally available resources. The objectives of this thesis are to investigate if indigenous knowledge still plays an important role in traditional farming in the Minangkabau`s culture, thus supporting local food security. If the indigenous knowledge still plays a role in food culture in the Minangkabau`s culture which is linked to the matrilineal role and leads to a sound nutrition. Further, it should be tested if marantau influences traditional farming and food culture in Minangkabau`s, and if the local government plays a role in changing of traditional farming systems and food culture. Furthermore this thesis wants to prove if education and gender are playing a role in changing traditional farming system and food culture, and if the mass media affects traditional farming systems and food culture for the Minangkabau. The study was completed at four locations in West Sumatera; Nagari Ulakan (NU) (coastal area), Nagari Aia Batumbuak (NAB) (hilly area), Nagari Padang Laweh Malalo (NPLM) (lake area), Nagari Pandai Sikek (NPS) (hilly area). The rainfall ranged from 1400- 4800 mm annually with fertile soils. Data was collected by using PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) to investigate indigenous knowledge (IK) and its interactions, which is also combining with in depth-interview, life history, a survey using semi-structured-questionnaire, pictures, mapping, and expert interview. The data was collected from June - September 2009 and June 2010. The materials are; map of area, list of names, questionnaires, voices recorder, note book, and digital camera. The sampling method was snowball sampling which resulted in the qualitative and quantitative data taken. For qualitative data, ethnography and life history was used. For quantitative, a statistical survey with a semi-structured questionnaire was used. 50 respondents per each site participated voluntarily. Data was analyzed by performing MAXQDA 10, and F4 audio analysis software (created and developed by Philip-University Marburg). The data is clustered based on causality. The results show that; the role of IK on TFS (traditional farming system) shown on NPLM which has higher food crop biodiversity in comparison to the other three places even though it has relatively similar temperature and rainfall. This high food crop biodiversity is due to the awareness of local people who realized that they lived in unfavourable climate and topography; therefore they are more prepared for any changes that may occur. Carbohydrate intake is 100 % through rice even though they are growing different staple crops. Whereas most of the people said in the interviews that not eating rice is like not really eating for them. In addition to that, mothers still play an important role in kitchen activities. But when the agriculture income is low, mothers have to decide whether to change the meals or to feel insecure about their food supply. Marantau yields positive impact through the remittances it provides to invest on the farm. On the other hand, it results in fewer workers for agriculture, and therefore a negative impact on the transfer of IK. The investigation showed that the local government has a PTS (Padi Tanam Sabatang) programme which still does not guarantee that the farmers are getting sufficient revenue from their land. The low agricultural income leads to situation of potential food insecurity. It is evident that education is equal among men and women, but in some cases women tend to leave school earlier because of arranged marriages or the distances of school from their homes. Men predominantly work in agriculture and fishing, while women work in the kitchen. In NAB, even though women work on farmland they earn less then men. Weaving (NPS) and kitchen activity is recognized as women’s work, which also supports the household income. Mass media is not yielding any changes in TFS and food culture in these days. The traditional farming system has changed because of intensive agricultural extension which has introduced new methods of agriculture for the last three decades (since the 1980’s). There is no evidence that they want to change any of their food habits because of the mass media despite the lapau activity which allows them to get more food choices, instead preparing traditional meal at home. The recommendations of this thesis are: 1) The empowerment of farmers. It is regarding the self sufficient supply of manure, cooperative seed, and sustainable farm management. Farmers should know – where are they in their state of knowledge – so they can use their local wisdom and still collaborate with new sources of knowledge. Farmers should learn the prognosis of supply and demand next prior to harvest. There is a need for farm management guidelines; that can be adopted from both their local wisdom and modern knowledge. 2) Increase of non-agricultural income Increasing the non-agricultural income is strongly recommended. The remittances can be invested on non-agricultural jobs. 3) The empowerment of the mother. The mother plays an important role in farm to fork activities; the mother can be an initiator and promoter of cultivating spices in the backyard. Improvement of nutritional knowledge through information and informal public education can be done through arisan ibu-ibu and lapau activity. The challenges to apply these recommendations are: 1) The gap between institutions and organizations of local governments. There is more than one institution involved in food security policy. 2) Training and facilities for field extension agriculture (FEA) is needed because the rapid change of interaction between local government and farmer’s dependent on this agency.

Urban and peri-urban agricultural production along railway tracks: a case study from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) contributes to food security, serves as an opportunity for income generation, and provides recreational services to urban citizens. With a population of 21 Million people, of which 60 % live in slums, UPA activities can play a crucial role in supporting people’s livelihoods in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). This study was conducted to characterize the railway gardens, determine their role in UPA production, and assess potential risks. It comprises a baseline survey among 38 railway gardeners across MMR characterized by different demographic, socio-economic, migratory, and labour characteristics. Soil, irrigation water, and plant samples were analyzed for nutrients, heavy metals, and microbial load. All the railway gardeners practiced agriculture as a primary source of income and cultivated seasonal vegetables such as lady’s finger (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench), spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), red amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L.), and white radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) which were irrigated with waste water. This irrigation water was loaded with 7–28 mg N l^(−1), 0.3–7 mg P l^(−1), and 8–32 mg K l^(−1), but also contained heavy metals such as lead (0.02–0.06 mg Pb l^(−1)), cadmium (0.03–0.17 mg Cd l^(−1)), mercury (0.001–0.005 mg Hg l^(−1)), and pathogens such as Escherichia coli (1,100 most probable number per 100 ml). Levels of heavy metals exceeded the critical thresholds in surface soils (Cr, Ni, and Sr) and produce (Pb, Cd, and Sr). The railway garden production systems can substantially foster employment and reduce economic deprivation of urban poor particularly slum dwellers and migrant people. However this production system may also cause possible health risks to producers and consumers.

Utilisation of Giant African snail (Achatina fulica) meal as protein source by laying hens

A 12-week experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of substituting Giant African snail meal for fish meal in laying hens diet. Four diets were formulated to contain snail meal as replacement for fish meal at 0 (control), 33, 67 and 100%. A total of 120 Shaver Brown pullets aged 18 weeks were allocated to the dietary treatments in a randomised design. Each treatment consisted of three replicates and ten birds per replicate. Feed intake increased only for the 33% treatment as compared to the 67% replacement diet but did not differ from the other treatments. There were no significant treatment effects on egg performance parameters observed (egg production, egg weight, total egg mass, feed conversion ratio and percent shell). The overall feed cost of egg production reduced on the snail meal-based diets. The organoleptic evaluation of boiled eggs revealed no difference between the treatments. Based on these results it was concluded that total replacement of fish meal with cooked snail meat meal does not compromise laying performance or egg quality. The substitution is beneficial in terms of production cost reduction and the reduction of snails will have a beneficial impact especially where these snails are a serious agricultural pest. The manual collection and processing of snails can also become a source of rural income.

Effects of In-Kind transfers on female labor supply: evidence from the food supply program comedores comunitarios

En la literatura se argumenta que las transferencias en especie podrían tener efectos positivos sobre la oferta laboral. En este trabajo utilizamos el programa de nutrición de la ciudad de Bogotá, Comedores Comunitarios, para esclarecer dicho punto. El programa otorga un almuerzo diario a las personas pobres que son vecinas de los comedores. Utilizando la técnica de emparejamiento con la Encuesta de Calidad de Vida 2007, una encuesta de corte transversal, se encuentra tanto efectos significativos positivos como negativos en la oferta laboral femenina para diferentes grupos de mujeres (con diferencias en edad, composición del hogar y acceso a redes sociales). Estos resultados son relevantes para entender los incentivos al trabajo heterogéneos generados cuando se aplica esta clase de programas.

Plan de negocio Gree-Waste

El crecimiento apresurado de la industria tecnológica en los últimos años a nivel mundial, ha generado un nuevo problema socio-ambiental: el manejo y control de los volúmenes de aparatos y componentes electrónicos obsoletos que crecen exponencialmente, específicamente los aparatos que provienen de sistemas de informática, volviéndose en una situación descontrolada y desatendida. Esta problemática empeora cada día por el desconocimiento, la imprudencia, las malas políticas adoptadas por el gobierno y el constante deseo de los consumidores por estar en contacto con los últimos modelos del mercado, reflejándose en un incremento acelerado en las ventas de aparatos electrónicos. Sin embargo, muchos se preguntaran él porque proponemos una idea de negocio caracterizada por lo social y lo ambiental, pues dicha idea viene de la experiencia que se ha tenido durante 7 años en el mercado de tecnología en computación y periféricos, que ha logrado una relación directa con empresas y personas; observando así, las verdaderas preocupaciones de los clientes y a su vez un aumento acelerado en los desechos tecnológicos. De esta manera y siguiendo con el espíritu emprendedor que nos ha caracterizado desde pequeños, hemos llegado a pensar en una idea de negocio interesante y viable, que nos permita incursionar ante competidores importantes y sobresaliendo con una idea innovadora que no se maneja de lleno en dicho sector. Para lograrlo, aprovecharemos los conocimientos y la experiencia que hemos acumulado a través de los años con el contacto directo con los clientes, quienes consideramos son el motor del negocio y llevándonos a concluir con el transcurrir del tiempo, que en Colombia no existe una cultura para desechar los elementos tecnológicos de una manera ecológica y saludable con el medio ambiente. Gracias a la oportunidad latente que muestra el mercado en el sector de reciclaje de desechos tecnológicos, nuestro equipo de trabajo se muestra inquieto ante la oportunidad de negocio encontrada, debido a que en Colombia existen pocas organizaciones que se especialicen en el proceso de reciclaje y reutilización adecuada de dichos desechos. Por esta razón, se confirma la oportunidad para generar un completo plan de negocio que gire en torno al manejo de e-waste y cuidado del medio ambiente, mediante la implementación de productos y servicios especializados para la recolección de dichos desechos electrónicos tanto para los consumidores como para las empresas.

Supervisory systems in waste water treatment plants: sistematise their implementation

La implantació de Sistemes de Suport a la presa de Decisions (SSD) en Estacions Depuradores d'Aigües Residuals Urbanes (EDAR) facilita l'aplicació de tècniques més eficients basades en el coneixement per a la gestió del procés, assegurant la qualitat de l'aigua de sortida tot minimitzant el cost ambiental de la seva explotació. Els sistemes basats en el coneixement es caracteritzen per la seva capacitat de treballar amb dominis molt poc estructurats, i gran part de la informació rellevant de tipus qualitatiu i/o incerta. Precisament aquests són els trets característics que es poden trobar en els sistemes biològics de depuració, i en conseqüència en una EDAR. No obstant, l'elevada complexitat dels SSD fa molt costós el seu disseny, desenvolupament i aplicació en planta real, pel que resulta determinant la generació d'un protocol que faciliti la seva exportació a EDARs de tecnologia similar. L'objectiu del present treball de Tesi és precisament el desenvolupament d'un protocol que faciliti l'exportació sistemàtica de SSD i l'aprofitament del coneixement del procés prèviament adquirit. El treball es desenvolupa en base al cas d'estudi resultant de l'exportació a l'EDAR Montornès del prototipus original de SSD implementat a l'EDAR Granollers. Aquest SSD integra dos tipus de sistemes basats en el coneixement, concretament els sistemes basats en regles (els quals són programes informàtics que emulen el raonament humà i la seva capacitat de solucionar problemes utilitzant les mateixes fonts d'informació) i els sistemes de raonament basats en casos (els quals són programes informàtics basats en el coneixement que volen solucionar les situacions anormals que pateix la planta en el moment actual mitjançant el record de l'acció efectuada en una situació passada similar). El treball està estructurat en diferents capítols, en el primer dels quals, el lector s'introdueix en el món dels sistemes de suport a la decisió i en el domini de la depuració d'aigües. Seguidament es fixen els objectius i es descriuen els materials i mètodes utilitzats. A continuació es presenta el prototipus de SSD desenvolupat per la EDAR Granollers. Una vegada el prototipus ha estat presentat es descriu el primer protocol plantejat pel mateix autor de la Tesi en el seu Treball de Recerca. A continuació es presenten els resultats obtinguts en l'aplicació pràctica del protocol per generar un nou SSD, per una planta depuradora diferent, partint del prototipus. L'aplicació pràctica del protocol permet l'evolució del mateix cap a un millor pla d'exportació. Finalment, es pot concloure que el nou protocol redueix el temps necessari per realitzar el procés d'exportació, tot i que el nombre de passos necessaris ha augmentat, la qual cosa significa que el nou protocol és més sistemàtic.

Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) from a former phosphoric acid processing plant

In recent years there has been an increasing awareness of the radiological impact of non-nuclear industries that extract and/or process ores and minerals containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). These industrial activities may result in significant radioactive contamination of (by-) products, wastes and plant installations. In this study, scale samples were collected from a decommissioned phosphoric acid processing plant. To determine the nature and concentration of NORM retained in pipe-work and associated process plant, four main areas of the site were investigated: (1) the 'Green Acid Plant', where crude acid was concentrated; (2) the green acid storage tanks; (3) the Purified White Acid (PWA) plant, where inorganic impurities were removed; and (4) the solid waste, disposed of on-site as landfill. The scale samples predominantly comprise the following: fluorides (e.g. ralstonite); calcium sulphate (e.g. gypsum); and an assemblage of mixed fluorides and phosphates (e.g. iron fluoride hydrate, calcium phosphate), respectively. The radioactive inventory is dominated by U-238 and its decay chain products, and significant fractionation along the series occurs. Compared to the feedstock ore, elevated concentrations (<= 8.8 Bq/g) of U-238 Were found to be retained in installations where the process stream was rich in fluorides and phosphates. In addition, enriched levels (<= 11 Bq/g) of Ra-226 were found in association with precipitates of calcium sulphate. Water extraction tests indicate that many of the scales and waste contain significantly soluble materials and readily release radioactivity into solution. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.