Books in Environmental chemistry substances and processes

Activated Carbon Surfaces in Environmental Remediation

1st Edition
Volume 7
January 11, 2006
Teresa J. Bandosz
English
eBook
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Activated Carbon Surfaces in Environmental Remediation provides a comprehensive summary of the environmental applications of activated carbons. In order to understand the removal of contaminants and pollutants on activated carbons, the theoretical bases of adsorption phenomena are discussed. The effects of pore structure and surface chemistry are also addressed from both science and engineering perspectives. Each chapter provides examples of real applications with an emphasis on the role of the carbon surface in adsorption or reactive adsorption. The practical aspects addressed in this book cover the broad spectrum of applications from air and water cleaning and energy storage to warfare gas removal and biomedical applications. This book can serve as a handbook or reference book for graduate students, researchers and practitioners with an interest in filtration, water treatment, adsorbents and air cleaning, in addition to environmental policies and regulations.

Oil Pollution and its Environmental Impact in the Arabian Gulf Region

1st Edition
Volume 3
November 11, 2005
M. Al-Azab + 2 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 0 8 0 4 5 7 8 0 2

Situated within the richest oil area in the world, the Arabian Gulf represents a stressed ecosystem with scarce published data and environmental studies.The oil-related activities cause significant damages to different ecosystem components such as coral reefs, algal mats, mangrove and other habitats. In addition to the increasing potential of pollution and its adverse effect on the ecosystem, oil spills and relevant implications can severely affect the main source of desalinated water for the Gulf countries due to their limited water resources. Interest in pollution issues associated with Arabian Gulf has been growing in the last few years. These issues include identification and documentation of the major sources of oil pollution in the Gulf region, evaluation of the analytical methods used to identify the different types of pollutants, review of the recent advances in oil pollution impact treatment and prevention, develop stronger cooperation ties between interested members of the community, and encourage awareness of the oil pollution as a serious environmental problem in the region. This book compiles recent studies addressing the above issues grouped in four categories; monitoring and characterizing oil spills, modeling the fate of pollutants and oil slicks in marine water, environmental effects of oil pollution on the ecosystem components, and combating, prevention and treatment of oil pollution.

The Metrics of Material and Metal Ecology

1st Edition
Volume 16
November 2, 2005
M.A. Reuter + 6 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 0 8 0 4 5 7 9 2 5

This book is a must for individuals and companies that have an interest in developing sustainable technology and systems in the complex 'Web of Metals' on a first principles, technological and economic basis, with a focus to the minerals, metals and product manufacturing industries. In this inter-, intra- and trans-disciplinary book the material/metal cycle will be central, addressing technology as the basis for achieving sustainability within the system of primary mineral and metal producing, and the consumer product material cycles, linked to nature's cycles. The following major topics (not exclusive) are discussed in a detail, which will satisfy company CEO's and students of environment, engineering, economics, and law alike: (i) industrial ecology, (ii) system engineering concepts, (iii) development of future breakthrough technology as well optimization of present technology, (iv) process fundamentals (e.g. thermodynamics, separation physics, transport processes etc.), (v) product manufacture and design (for recycling), (vi) environmental legislation and (vii) technology as a basis for achieving sustainability within our present society.The book discusses contentious issues such as the limits of recycling determined by physics, chemistry, economics and process technology, therefore providing the reader with a fundamental basis to understand and critically discuss the validity of environmental legislation. Furthermore, the 'Web of Metals' (i.e. the dynamic interconnection of metal and material cycles and product systems) will reveal that, if the application of environmental evaluation techniques such as material flow analysis, life cycle assessment etc. are not carried out on a sufficient theoretical basis, technological and economic understanding, analyses could lead to erroneous and in the end environmentally harmful conclusions.The book is illustrated with many industrial examples embracing car and electronic consumer goods manufacturing and recycling, and the production and recycling of all major metals (e.g. steel, aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, magnesium, PGM's and PM's) and to an extent plastics. A complete section of the book is devoted to the recycling of light metals. Numerous colour figures and photos, plant and reactor data as well as software and computer models (running under Matlab's Simulink® and AMPL® as well as tools based on neural net technology (CSense™) are provided to give the reader the opportunity to investigate the various topics addressed in this book at various levels of depth and theoretical sophistication, providing a wealth of information, share-data and industrial know-how.Finally, the book philosophically discusses how to harmonize the resource, life and technological cycles depicted by the figure on the cover to make a contribution to the sustainable use of resources and products.

Long-Term Performance of Permeable Reactive Barriers

1st Edition
Volume 7
April 27, 2005
K.E. Roehl + 3 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 3 5 6 1 6

While extensive research has been performed on many technological aspects of permeable reactive barriers and a number of contaminants have so far been successfully treated by PRB systems, long-term performance has not been extensively considered and little is known about the processes influencing long-term behaviour. This gap in our knowledge is all the more disadvantageous as design life has a decisive influence on the economic viability of PRBs. The book describes methods for evaluation and enhancement of the long-term performance of PRB systems, especially of those targeting heavy metals, specifically uranium, and organic contaminants by sorption and/or precipitation mechanisms. Major topics in the book are: Selection and characterisation of suitable reactive materials Characterisation of the relevant contaminant attenuation processes Developing new contaminant-binding chemical compounds ("ligands") Accelerated testing methods to assess the long-term performance of the attenuation mechanisms in PRBs Evaluation of the influence of site characteristics on PRB performance Monitoring of existing and new field installations Coupling of electrokinetic techniques and PRB systems Large-scale laboratory and field tests and their results It addresses the long-term performance of PRBs, an important feature of this novel remediation technology, systematically. It deals extensively with heavy metal removal, with special emphasis on uranium. A number of case studies, experiences with large-scale modelling and test site experiments provide insight into the practical application of the results. This volume will contribute to the science underpinning groundwater remediation, and this will result in the improvement of quality of life and health and safety.

The Natural Radiation Environment VII

1st Edition
Volume 7
March 30, 2005
J.P. McLaughlin + 2 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 0 8 0 4 5 7 9 1 8

The Natural Radiation Environment Symposium (NRE VII), the Seventh in the NRE series, which commenced forty years ago in 1963 at Rice University Texas, was held in Rhodes (Greece) in May 2002. During the intervening four decades the research work presented at these NRE Symposia has contributed to a deeper understanding of natural radiation and in particular of its contribution to human radiation exposures.It is clear from the quality and diversity of the 143 papers in this volume of Radioactivity in the Environment series that the study of the natural radiation environment is an active and continually expanding field of research. The papers in this volume fall into a number of main and topical research areas namely: the measurement and behaviour of natural radionuclides in the environmentcosmic radiation measurement and dosimetry the external penetrating radiation field at ground levelTENR (Technologically Enhanced Natural Radiation) and NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) studiesassessment of the health effects of radon regulatory aspects of natural radiation exposures In these papers the results of many new surveys of natural radionuclide levels in the environment and of improved methods of detection are described. While some of the natural radiation sources investigated are unmodified by human activity, many accounts are given here of exposures to natural sources which have been enhanced by technology. Such TENR and NORM exposures are shown to range from activities such as mining, oil and gas exploitation, the use of industrial by-products as building materials, to space travel to name but a few. In several cases quite high doses to some individuals are shown to occur. Accounts are given here of methods to prevent and reduce exposures to such sources.

Heavy Metals in the Environment: Origin, Interaction and Remediation

1st Edition
Volume 6
March 3, 2005
Heike Bradl
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 0 8 0 4 5 5 0 0 6

Excessive levels of heavy metals can be introduced into the environment, for example, by industrial waste or fertilizers. Soil represents a major sink for heavy metals ions, which can then enter the food chain via plants or leaching into groundwater. In Heavy Metal Ions in the Environment, the author looks at where heavy metals ions come from, how they interact with the environment and how they can be removed from the environment – by a process known as remediation. This book serves as a valuable addition to an increasingly important field of study, which is, at present, served by a limited number of archival texts.

Marine Radioactivity

1st Edition
Volume 6
September 17, 2004
H.D. Livingston
English
Hardback
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eBook
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This book on Marine Radioactivity sets out to cover most of the aspects of marine radioactivity which have been the focus of scientific study in recent decades. The authors and their reviews divide into topic areas which have defined the field over its history. They cover the suite of natural radioisotopes which have been present in the oceans since their formation and quantitatively dominate the inventory of radioactivity in the oceans. Also addressed are the suite of artificial radionuclides introduced to the oceans as a consequence of the use of the atom for development of nuclear energy, nuclear weapons and various applications of nuclear science. The major source of these continues to derive from the global fallout of atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s but also includes both planned and accidental releases of radioactivity from both civilian and military nuclear technology. The other division of the major study direction depends on whether the objective is to use the radionuclides as powerful tools to study oceanic processes, to describe and understand the ocean distribution of the various natural or artificial radionuclides or to assess the different radionuclides' impact on and pathways to man or marine organisms.The oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface and thus contains a corresponding large share of the Earth's radioactivity. Marine Radioactivity covers topics of recent scientific study in this young field. It examines both natural radioactivity (radioactivity naturally present in oceans since their formation) and artificial radioactivity (radioactivity introduced by man and use of atomic and nuclear energy) with regard to possible effects on the global environment.

Air Pollution, Global Change and Forests in the New Millennium

1st Edition
Volume 3
December 18, 2003
D.F. Karnosky + 4 more
English
Hardback
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eBook
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The chapters in this book present a snapshot of the state of knowledge of air pollution effects at the beginning of the 21st century. From their different disciplines, a distinguished collection of authors document their understanding of how leaves, trees, and forests respond to air pollutants and climate change. Scenarios of global change and air pollution are described. The authors describe responses of forests to climate variability, tropospheric ozone, rising atmospheric CO2, the combination of CO2 and ozone, and deposition of acidic compounds and heavy metals. The responses to ozone receive particular attention because of increasing concern about its damaging effects and increasing concentrations in rural areas. Scaling issues are addressed - from leaves to trees, from juvenile trees to mature trees, from short-term responses to long-term responses, and from small-scale experiments and observations to large-scale forest ecosystems. This book is one major product of a conference sponsored by the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations, the USDA Forest Service Global Change Northern Stations Program, the Arthur Ross Foundation, NCASI, the Canadian Forest Service, and Michigan Technological University. The conference, held in May 2000 in Houghton, Michigan, USA, was appropriately titled "Air Pollution, Global Change, and Forests in the New Millennium". The Editors, David Karnosky, Kevin Percy, Art Chappelka, Caroline Simpson, and Janet Pikkarainen organized the conference and edited this book.

Analysis and Fate of Surfactants in the Aquatic Environment

1st Edition
Volume 40
August 22, 2003
Thomas P. Knepper + 2 more
English
Hardback
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eBook
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An understanding of the fate and behaviour of organic chemicals, such as surfactants, in the environment is a prerequisite for the sustainable development of human health and ecosystems. As surfactants are being produced in huge amounts, it is important to have a detailed knowledge about their lifetime in the environment, their biodegradability in wastewater treatment plants and in natural waters, and their ecotoxicity. Parameters relevant for the assessment of long-term behaviour, such as interactions with hormonal systems need to be understood to avoid unexpected adverse effects to future generations of people and the environment. However, the identification and quantification of commercial surfactants in the environment is made more complicated and cumbersome because they comprise of tens to hundreds of homologues, oligomers and isomers of anionic, nonionic, cationic and amphoteric compounds.The EU-funded PRISTINE project (Priority surfactants and their toxic metabolites in wastewater effluents: An integrated study; ENV4-CT97-0494) provides the basis for the content of this title. It provides policy makers and industry with detailed information on analysis and concentrations of surfactants and their degradation products in the environment.In addition to a general introduction to surfactants, this book comprises a comprehensive variety of analytical techniques, including sample handling, for the analysis of surfactants in the aquatic environment. Readers will find all the necessary information for analyzing the different groups of surfactants, with special emphasis on transformation products. Quality assurance is also reported on in detail. Chapters on toxicity and risk assessment are also included and give a complete perspective on the surfactants problem in the aquatic environment.

Modelling Radioactivity in the Environment

1st Edition
Volume 4
May 22, 2003
E.M. Scott
English
eBook
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Just as an environmental model typically will be composed of a number of linked sub-models, representing physical, chemical or biological processes understood to varying degrees, this volume includes a series of linked chapters exemplifying the fundamental nature of environmental radioactivity models in all compartments of the environment.Why is a book on modelling environmental radioactivity necessary? There are many reasons why such a boook is necessary, perhaps the most important that:- modelling is an often misunderstood and maligned activity and this book can provide, to a broad audience, a greater understanding of modelling power but also some of the limitations.- modellers and experimentalists often do not understand and mistrust each other's work yet they are mutually dependent, in the sense that good experimental science can direct good modelling work and vice-versa; we hope that this book can dispel mistrust and engender improved understanding.- there is an increasing reliance on model results in environmental management, yet there is also often misuse and misrepresentation of these results. This book can help to bridge the gap between unrealistic expectations of model power and the realisation of what is possible, practicable and feasible in modelling of environmental radioactivity; and finally,- modelling tools, capacity and power have increased many-fold in a relatively short period of time. Much of this is due to the much-heralded computer revolution, but much is also due to better science. It is useful to consider what gap if any still remains between what is possible and what is necessary.

Related subjects

Air pollution

Environmental radioactivity

Fate of chemicals

Freshwater pollution

Groundwater pollution and remediation

Heavy metals

Marine pollution

Life Sciences

Physical Sciences & Engineering

Social Sciences & Humanities

Health