Options for Centralized Management of Swine Waste

Management of swine waste generated in North Carolina and other states is a challenging problem facing engineers, farmers, scientists, regulators, and policy makers. Technologies for processing and storing swine waste have not been fully developed and refined in a manner acceptable to the public and environmental regulators. The primary concerns with improperly disposed swine waste are the effects on human and livestock health, surface and groundwater quality, air quality, and conservation of nitrogen fertilizers. Centralized swine waste management facilities, analogous to municipal wastewater treatment plants, provide an alternative to individually managed swine lagoons, which are subject to spills, leaks, and improper management and application of waste. A preliminary analysis for Duplin County, N.C., was performed with one, three, or ten centralized waste treatment systems within Duplin County. Centralized waste treatment facilities have high capital and transportation costs as compared to individual on-site lagoons, but may offer greater treatment efficiency and reduced environmental impact with associated economies of scale.     

Life-Cycle Assessment of Waste Management Greenhouse Gas Emissions Using Municipal Waste Combustor Data

This paper compares life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from two municipal solid waste (MSW) management options, municipal waste combustion, and landfilling, using a U.S. EPA life-cycle assessment (LCA) model, the MSW Decision Support Tool. Unlike previously reported LCAs, key combustion model inputs—total MSW carbon content and its biogenic/fossil split—are determined not from MSW composition studies, but from measurements taken at operating municipal waste combustors (MWCs). MWC measurement data show U.S. MSW carbon content averages of 30% with a biogenic/fossil split of 66%/34%. The LCA also considers a range of landfilling scenarios which account not only for alternative landfill gas (LFG) management techniques, but also for the variability of landfill methane generation and capture. The LCA found that for the range of inputs and scenarios considered, municipal waste combustion outperforms landfilling in terms of GHG emissions, regardless of the LFG management technique.     

我国危险废物管理与处置发展历程

在辩析危险废物定义的基础上，介绍我国危险废物处理处置的现状以及发展历程，阐述目前危险废物处理处置领域存在的问题和困难及应采取的措施。     

Decision Support Tool for Life-Cycle-Based Solid Waste Management

Existing solid waste management (SWM) planning software provides only limited assistance to decision makers struggling to find strategies that address their multifarious concerns. The combinatorial nature (many waste items and many management options) and multiple objectives of the SWM problem severely constrain the effectiveness of a manual search process using these tools. Recognizing this, researchers have proposed several optimization-based search procedures. These methods, however, enjoy limited use due to the substantial expertise required for their application. This paper presents a new computer-based decision support framework that addresses these limitations. The new framework integrates process models that quantify the life-cycle inventory of a range of pollutants and costs for an extensive municipal solid waste system, an optimization search procedure that identifies strategies that meet cost and environmental objectives and site-specific restrictions, and a user-friendly interface that facilitates utilization of these components by practitioners. After describing the software design, the use and value of the tool in typical waste management scenarios is demonstrated through a hypothetical, but realistic, case study in which several alternative SWM strategies are generated and examined.     

我国危险废物管理与处置发展历程

在辩析危险废物定义的基础上,介绍我国危险废物处理处置的现状以及发展历程,阐述目前危险废物处理处置领域存在的问题和困难及应采取的措施。     

Evaluation of Solid Waste Management System Using Fuzzy Composition

Evaluating the best alternative for a solid waste management system often requires decision makers to consider conflicting, vague, and uncertain information. Fuzzy set theory offers a possible means of managing these kinds of data or information. In this study, we propose a systematic approach to evaluating a solid waste management system in a fuzzy environment. The approach employs three main concepts: linguistic variables, fuzzy numbers, and an analytic hierarchy process. The linguistic variables are used to represent the degree of appropriateness of decision criteria, which are vague or uncertain. These linguistic variables are then translated into fuzzy numbers to reflect their uncertainties and aggregated into the final fuzzy decision value using a hierarchical structure. Through a case study, the approach is applied to the evaluation of a solid waste management system consisting of four different treatment alternatives. The results demonstrate that the developed approach can be a useful tool for evaluating a solid waste management system, where criteria are vague or imprecise.     

Life-Cycle-based Solid Waste Management. I: Model Development

This paper describes an integrated solid waste management (ISWM) model to assist in identifying alternative SWM strategies that meet cost, energy, and environmental emissions objectives. An SWM system consisting of over 40 unit processes for collection, transfer, separation, treatment (e.g., combustion, composting), and disposal of waste as well as remanufacturing facilities for processing recycled material is defined. Waste is categorized into 48 items and their generation rates are defined for three types of sectors: single-family dwelling, multifamily dwelling, and commercial. The mass flow of each item through all possible combinations of unit processes is represented in a linear programming model using a unique modeling approach. Cost, energy consumption, and environmental emissions associated with waste processing at each unit process are computed in a set of specially implemented unit process models. A life-cycle approach is used to compute energy consumption and emissions of CO, fossil- and biomass-derived CO2,NOx,SOx, particulate matter, PM10 and greenhouse gases. The model is flexible to allow representation of site-specific issues, including waste diversion targets, mass flow restrictions and requirements, and targets for the values of cost, energy, and each emission. A companion paper describes the application of this model to examine several SWM scenarios for a hypothetical, but realistic, case study.     

Life-Cycle-based Solid Waste Management. II: Illustrative Applications

A companion paper described the development of the integrated solid waste management (ISWM) model that considers cost, energy, and environmental releases associated with management of municipal solid waste. This paper demonstrates the application of the ISWM model to a hypothetical, but realistic, case study. Several solid waste management (SWM) scenarios are studied, including the variation in energy and environmental emissions among alternate SWM strategies; the effect of mandated waste diversion (through recycling and other beneficial uses of waste such as combustion to recover energy) on environmental releases and cost; the tradeoff between cost and the level of waste diversion; and the tradeoff between cost and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the flexibility of the model is illustrated by the identification of alternate SWM strategies that meet approximately the same objectives using distinctly different combinations of unit processes. This flexibility may be of importance to local solid waste management planners who must implement new SWM programs. Use of the model illustrates the potential impact of solid waste management policies and regulations on global environmental emissions.     

垃圾热处理新技术--斯托克焚烧技术

对垃圾热处理技术的分类和各种方法进行了综述,详细介绍了一种新的垃圾焚烧技术--斯托克焚烧技术,以及利用斯托克装置进行发电和处理二恶英等有害排放物的新方法,最后提出了垃圾热处理的发展方向.     

固体废物处理技术进展

系统地论述了我国固体废物目前的现状、产量，分析了医疗废物、生活垃圾焚烧厂飞灰、生活垃圾和工业固体废物处理过程中存在的主要问题和解决办法，提出了深入开展固体废物处理与资源化研究的方向，特别是有关生活垃圾深度分选技术研究和应用、危险废物的预处理技术等。     

Fuzzy Inexact Mixed-Integer Semiinfinite Programming for Municipal Solid Waste Management Planning

Based on the concept of functional intervals, fuzzy inexact mixed-integer semiinfinite programming (FIMISIP) method is developed for municipal solid waste management planning. The method allows the uncertainties in parameters expressed as fuzzy, interval, and functional interval numbers to be directly communicated into the programming problem. The FIMISIP problem is solved by dividing it into two interactive semiinfinite programming (SIP) subproblems. Solutions reflecting the inherent uncertainties can then be generated by combining the SIP solutions into a set of decision intervals. The method is applied to a municipal solid waste management planning system for demonstrating its effectiveness in dealing with uncertain and dynamic complexities. Compared to the previous inexact programming methods, FIMISIP has the advantages as follows: (1) the dynamic complexity can be addressed by introducing the functional-interval parameters associated with time into the programming problem; (2) the FIMISIP solutions provide a set of flexible waste-management schemes to the decision makers; and (3) the FIMISIP solutions are more reliable than those from the previous ILP ones since they can be “really” optimal regardless of how the parameters vary with time within the time period. While this study is a first attempt to solve solid waste management issues under complex uncertainties, the method can be extended to other environmental management planning problems.     

固体废弃物实施进展以及对我国的启示

在分析世界各地对全过程固体废弃物实施进程借鉴的基础上,对全过程固体废弃物管理中各个环节的实践进展加以综述.固体废弃物管理包括源头减量化、分类收集和分类处理、固体废弃物再生循环利用、固体废弃物处置四个阶段.实践证明,源头减量化--资源化--无害化处理是固体废弃物理想的处理顺序.     

Integrated Modeling for Optimal Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategies under Uncertainty

In this study, an inexact fuzzy-probabilistic programming (IFPP) method is advanced for developing optimal municipal solid waste (MSW) management strategy with uncertain information. The IFPP can support the assessment of risk of violating constraints associated with fuzzy and random features. The developed method is applied to a case study of long-term MSW management planning in the city of Changchun, China. Violations for transfer-station capacity constraints are allowed under a range of probability and possibility levels, which are related to trade-offs between the system cost and the constraint-violation risk. The results indicate that useful solutions for planning the MSW management practices have been generated. They are valuable for supporting the identification of efficient waste-flow allocation patterns, the long-term capacity planning of the city’s waste management system, and the formulation of local policies regarding waste management under uncertainty.     

Fuzzy Parametric Programming Model for Integrated Solid Waste Management under Uncertainty

Solid waste management (SWM) is increasingly becoming a challenging task for the municipal authorities due to increasing waste quantities, changing waste composition, decreasing land availability for waste disposal sites, and increasing awareness about the associated environmental risk. This paper presents a fuzzy parametric programming model for the selection of the treatment and disposal facilities and optimum capacity planning and waste allocation under uncertainty associated with the long-term planning for SWM. The model dynamically locates the facilities and allocates the waste considering fuzzy waste quantities and capacities of waste-management facility in a multiperiod planning for integrated SWM. The model addresses uncertainty in waste quantity as well as uncertainties in the operating capacities of waste-management facilities. An example problem has been presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed model in making the planning decisions related to SWM and achieving an efficient plan. The model is solved at different levels of membership function for the alternative solutions with respect to objective. The example problem reveals that the uncertainty in the waste quantity is likely to affect the planning for waste treatment/disposal facilities more as compared with the uncertainty in the capacities of the waste-management facilities. The relationship between increase in waste quantity and increase in the total cost involved in waste management is found to be nonlinear. The modeling results are useful for generating a range of decision alternatives under various economic conditions. They are valuable for analyzing the existing waste-management practices, the long-term capacity planning for the city’s waste-management system, and the identification of desired policies regarding waste generation and management.     

A Fifty Cent Rheometer for Waste Management of Environmentally Sensitive Ore Tailings

Abstract

Substantial progress has been made recently toward developing environmentally acceptable disposal strategies in the minerals industry. Typically disposal schemes incorporate a mechanical dewatering stage in which the material is concentrated before disposal. At higher concentrations many particulate suspensions will exhibit a yield stress which is of vital importance to the operation of the disposal scheme. The present paper illustrates how the slump test, previously used for determining the empirical flow properties of fresh concrete, has been adopted as a means for accurately measuring the yield stress. The slump test offers a quick and easy way of measuring yield stress without the need for sophisticated electronic equipment, thereby giving plant operators an effective tool for examining yield stress in the field. A simple theoretical model is briefly described and experimental results performed to validate the model.     

Dual-Interval Fuzzy Stochastic Programming Method for Long-Term Planning of Municipal Solid Waste Management

In many real-world problems, quality of the available information is generally poor and uncertainties presented as multiple formats may exist in various system components. In this study, a dual-interval fuzzy stochastic programming (DIFSP) method is developed for tackling uncertainties presented as dual intervals and random variables within a multistage context. The developed method is applied to a case study of long-term planning of a municipal solid waste-management system. It has been demonstrated that DIFSP has advantages in addressing the dynamic, interactive, and uncertain characteristics. Moreover, it can reflect dynamics in terms of both waste-flow allocation and facility-capacity expansion through constructing a multilayer scenario tree. With the aid of an interactive algorithm woven with a vertex analysis, solutions for waste-flow allocation and facility-capacity expansion under various uncertainty levels in decision making may be illuminated in support of solid waste-management system planning in urban regions. They can help decision makers to identify desired waste-management policies with minimized system cost and maximized environmental efficiency.