Energy and Environmental Benefit of Solar Charging System for Charging Auto-Rickshaw in Developing Countries

The energy crisis and environmental impact are the major concern mf the present world. Three-wheeler auto-rickshaw becoming an important passenger transport vehicle in a developing country which are indirectly powered by the grid electricity through the batteries. Such vehicle consumes significant grid energy during charging which increases the load in the national grid and put extra stress on the electrification in line with the environmental impact. This paper investigated the existing facilities for charging auto-rickshaw in Bangladesh and designed a proposed solar charging model as a replacement based on the existing model. Then the energy and environmental benefit were estimated to reflect the significance of the proposed model and contribution in the context of the global energy crisis and environmental impact. The investigation found that the daily energy consumption is 290 kWh for a charging station capacity of 30 auto-rickshaws which is significant. The proposed solar model is designed to meet this demand offset. The environmental analysis showed that the proposed model can offset CO2, CH4, and NOx emissions by 54 tCO2eq, 40 kgCO2eq, and 60 kgCO2eq per year respectively of which the contribution of CO2­ is significant. Further research could be focused on the economic and financial analysis in-depth to promote the proposed model.

Assessing the Economic Feasibility of Integrated Waste to Use Systems for Uganda

Waste and sanitation Management is a major challenge in urban areas in Uganda where waste is composed of atleast 70% organic content and is basically collected and disposed of in landfills. While 90% of the sanitation facilities used are onsite systems often requiring additional treatment of sewage and faecal matter sewage yet faecal and sewage sludge treatment plants are few. The projected population increase is expected to further influence urbanization, increasing the need for basic waste and sanitation services. Integrated Waste to Use systems that consider combined management of organic waste streams i.e. biowaste, animal waste, sewage and faecal sludge, could be a viable solution for the urban areas. The systems which consist of a combination of anaerobic digestion, composting, incineration and solar drying technologies promote resource recovery in the form of biogas, briquettes and organic fertilizer. The economic feasibility of the Waste to Use systems was carried out and the results indicated that the feasibility of the systems was positively influenced by the inclusion of the anaerobic digestion process, which allowed for recovery of biogas and digestate as organic fertilizer. Furthermore, a combination of low system investment costs, increased revenues from resource recovery, consideration of equity capital of at least 30%, interest rate of at most 10% and fugitive emissions less than 7 % would positively influence the economic feasibility of the system alternatives.

Prediction of Road Traffic Noise by CRTN Model in a Sub-Urban Town of India

Present study was undertaken for assessment of spatial characteristics of road traffic noise at varying intervals viz early morning (8-9 am), late morning (11-12 pm), afternoon (2-3 pm) and evening (6-7 pm) time at ten important locations (near school building) of G. T. Road which is passing through the Burdwan town. Digital noise meter was used for recording the traffic noise and noise contour map was constructed by using Geographical Information System (GIS). The recorded data revealed that the highest and lowest average noise 67.1 dB (A) and 86.9 dB (A), respectively. The results revealed that the performance of the CRTN model in both afternoon and evening time for predicting noise level near school building with a coefficient of determination (R2) are 0.536 and 0.544 and a mean difference of - 1.19 dB (A) and - 0.48 dB (A) between the measured and predicted values respectively. Similarly, Pearson statistics also revealed the strong correlation between measured and predicted noise level at afternoon (r = 0.732, p < 0.016) and evening time (r = 0.744, p < 0.014). However, the predicted traffic noise during early morning and late morning hour are less than 0.5. These low values are due to irregular traffic speed, traffic density and irregular building height are the appropriate reasons for low accuracy in predicting model. Finally, it may be suggested that CRTN model can be a decision tool for predicting equivalent noise level in the city like Burdwan.

Review of Wastewater Treatment Technologies in View of their Application in the DR Congo Mining Industry

The world is currently experiencing a water crisis in terms of both quantity and quality due to water ever-growing demand in large-scale consumer sectors such as agriculture, industry and tourism. This crisis results from the increasing pressure on water resources brought about the world population growth, continued urbanization and rapid industrialization as sources of an increased release of contaminated water into watercourses. Faced with this worrying situation, strategies have been developed throughout the world for improving both the availability and access to water. Different technologies, both established and emerging ones, are utilized in view to treat wastewaters, including those of the mining origin. The present work reviews the different uses of water in the mining industry and identifies its different sources of polluted water. It analyses some wastewater treatment techniques and their applicability in the reclamation of wastewater generated by the DR Congo mining industry. The adopted approach, in dealing with the relevant issue of water crisis experienced worldwide in terms of both quantity and quality, is expected to help improving practices in the management of wastewater of mining origin, increasing access to water and its sustainable use.

Latest Reports in Managing Acidic Sludge of Used Motor Oil Reprocessing Industries

Used Motor Oils Recycling (UMOR) can be fulfilled in different ways depending on the quality and quantity of the fresh oil and the quality of the collected UMO. The Acidic Sludge (AS) is a byproduct of UMOR with hazardous effects and impacts on the environment. It yields 0.15 of each barrel (220 liters) of UMOR operation. The valid and relevant databases were used to discover the latest reports in managing the AS of UMOR operation. The findings of the current review were oriented towards the physical-chemical backbone of AS and its industrial exploitation. The chemical structure of AS was highlighted by a glance view in the recent reports. To sum up, it was recommended to utilize this valuable byproduct in many industrial applications as an additive.

Polluted Waters Use in the Urban Agriculture and Its Impact on the Quality of the Grown Vegetables

Urban agriculture has become a common practice in major urban agglomerations, particularly in the mining region of Katanga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, this agriculture is based on the production of vegetables grown on the soil contaminated by industrial water and domestic wastewater, wherein one finds heavy metals and pathogenic microbes capable of endangering the consumer’s health. This work has been carried out in view of contributing to the consumer’s health protection and endeavours at establishing, based on physicochemical and mineral analyses of water samples, the soil used in the urban agriculture and edible plants, a link between the use of contaminated waters in the urban agriculture, the build-up of heavy metals in the soil and the possible contamination by heavy metals of vegetables grown (amaranths and broccolis) in the Kasungami district and consumed by the population living in the City of Lubumbashi (DRC). The results given by the analyses of water, soils and vegetable samples revealed that, apart from cobalt, other heavy metals were present in water used in the urban agriculture to concentrations below quality standards. As for the soil, it contained heavy metals to concentration reputed phytotoxic. However, only the broccolis were contaminated with lead, contrarily to amaranths in which heavy metals were present to concentrations below quality standards. These findings enabled concluding that urban agriculture of vegetables encountered in the large agglomerations of the DRC could endanger the consumers’ health and measures need to be taken in view of preventing heavy metal from entering the food chain.