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Indoor environment quality in buildings and its impact on outdoor environment
15
Environment
(po//ution,
health
protection,
safety)
Like all industrialized countries, Belgium accepted to diminish its greenhouse gas emissions in the frame of the Kyoto agreement. On top of the list figures CO*. A major emission source for COa is burning fossil fuels. As the residential sector accounts for 28% of the country’s annual energy consumption and as this consumption mainly concerns fossil fuels, it has an equally important share in the COa release. Hence, at first sight, the best policy for a decrease is by improving the energy efficiency. The question to be solved, however, is which improvement could generate the reduction needed? This study discusses a methodology and comments simulations that help in answering that question. The results obtained are not straightforward. The housing stock in fact acts as a conservatory system. The impact of energy efficient new construction on the CO? release remains quite margmal if the period considered does not extend beyond a decade. The effect becomes significant only over a longer period, on condition that more stringent energv efficiency measures are combined with a shift from new construction to retrofit and reconstruction. Also a diminishing increase in the number of households may help in reducing energy consumption and COa release.
;zOl
E;
dmpacts
of biomass
burning
on tropospheric
CO,
Galzter, M.tc
02/01157 Improved environmental protection through modern coke plant technology at the new plant in Schwelgern, Germany Hofherr, K. e/ rrl. S/u/r/ Rsen, 2001, 121, (3), 33-40. (In Germany) The new coking plant Schwelgern is going to be erected by Carbonaria GmbH to replace the coking plant August Thyssen in DuisburgBruckhausen. The coking plant Schwelgern will be equipped with the most modern techniques also concerning the environmental protection. The plant consists of two batteries, each equipped with 70 coke ovens with a capacity of 93 m’ per oven. The scale of these biggest coke ovens is caused by cautious increase of the chamber height to 8.43 m and chamber length to 20.80 m. Lowering the amount of pushing coke ovens from 560 per day in the coking plant August Thyssen to 135 per day in Schwelgern causes a high reduction of pollution. Further improvements are realized by the use of computerized process control of coke oven batteries and gas purification. The pressure control of individual coke ovens, possible by using PROven (pressure regulated oven), is also responsible for lowering pollution, substantiated by scientific data. The use of new scaling systems at ascension pipes, further developments of the coke oven doors and the residual free combustion of coke gas by steam injected crude gas torches improve the environmental situation, too. The cornerstone ceremony took place on 26 July 2000 and in spring 2003 the first coke will be pushed 142
Fuel and Energy Abstracts
March 2002
02/01158 Indoor environment quality in buildings and its impact on outdoor environment Roulet, C-A Energy crnd Buildings, 2001, 33, 183-191. The main purpose of buildings is to provide a comfortable living environment for their occupants. This includes, among others, thermal, visual and acoustic comfort as well as indoor air quality. Except during the 1950s and 196Os, it has always been considered important that an excess use of energy should be avoided in the construction and the management of a building, sometimes even at the cost of user comfort. Energy saving is, however, not the main purpose of the building, Indeed, if it were really so, the largest energy savings would be obtained by not erecting the building in the first place. Since the Rio conference, there have been more and more incentives to save energy and lower the impact of buildings on the environment. Therefore, there is no excuse for the building sector not to adopt a sustainable development policy. Some energy is required to control the indoor climate and indoor air quality. Therefore, it is often suspected that energy savings result in poorer indoor environment quality, or, on the contrary, that a high comfort level is the result of high technology and high energy consumption. This is not true. It is now generally admitted among building scientists that high quality energy services do not necessarily incur a high energy use, and that good environment quality can be obtained with a reasonable amount of energy and power, and with a low environmental impact. The presentation brings some evidence from past and current research to support this assertion. 02/01159 Influence of coal ash and slag dump on pollution of surrounding surface and ground waters with vanadium and titanium Popovic, A. et crl. Ph_~s. Chem. 2000. Proc. Inl. Conf. Fundmn. Appl. Aspects Ph,m. Chem., j/h, 2000, 556-558. Edited by Ribnikar S. and Anic S. To study possible pollution by Ti and V caused by coal ash and slag deposition of the Kostolac C and B power plant dumps (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), different wastewater, surface water, and groundwater samples were collected and analysed. V was a more serious water pollutant than Ti; it was present in all wastewater, whereas Ti was only observed in some overflow water s.amples. Despite V and Ti loads which were larger than those in surface water, river water samples collected downstream from drainage and overflow water collectors and those collected upstream from these collectors did not differ in V concentrations, whereas Ti concentrations in surface water and groundwater were below detection limits. V concentrations were large in groundwater near the coal ash and slag dump. 02/01160 Large-scale experiments for microbiological evaluation of measures for safeguarding sulfidic mine waste Schippers, A. et crl. B’usre Munagemenl, 2001, 21, (2). 139-146. In the framework of a German-Romanian scientific cooperation, experiments were performed to evaluate feasible and cheap techniques for the safe storage of mine waste to prevent acid rock drainage (ARD). A large four-chamber percolator (4CP) was installed in a waste heap at Ilba Mine, Romania, to test the effect of biocides and alkaline layers on the bacteria causing acid rock drainage (ARD). The 4CP consisted of four chambers each containing 65 ma of sulfidic waste material. The 4CP enabled the transfer of laboratory results to a technical scale. The detergent sodiumdodecylsulfate (SDS) was proved to be active against the leaching bacteria. Organotrophic microorganisms were not effected by the SDS application. The alkaline layers caused an increase of pH, however, a decrease of cell numbers was measured only in adjacent ore layers, but not in the whole ore body. A rapid evaluation of the effects of these countermeasures on ARD formation became possible by microcalorimetric activity measurements for bioleaching. 02/01161 Life cycle COP analysis of LNG and city gas Tamura, I. e/ al. Applied Enrrg~, 2001, 68, (3), 301-319. An analysis was conducted on greenhouse gas emissions from the liquified natural gas (LNG) chain and life cycle of City Gas 13A [caloric value: 46 MJ/Nm3 (1000 kcal/Nm3)], which is produced from LNG. The analysis was based on highly reliable data which are qualified in terms of source and representativeness. Actually, the latest data for CO* and CH4 emissions from the natural gas field and liquefaction plant were obtained from field studies. Moreover, the analysis includes COa emissions during the LNG transportation from exporting countries to Japan, city gas production and distribution stage in Japan and the manufacturing of facilities associated with the production of natural gas overseas to final domestic consumption. The reduction effect of CO* using LNG cryogenic energy was also considered. The evaluation showed that the level of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumptions in the modern natural gas production and liquefaction plants were lower than those previously reported due to improvements in the production process. The results of the analysis also provide basic data essential for conduction life cycle analyses in many fields using natural gas.
Environment
(po//ution,
health
protection,
safety)
Like all industrialized countries, Belgium accepted to diminish its greenhouse gas emissions in the frame of the Kyoto agreement. On top of the list figures CO*. A major emission source for COa is burning fossil fuels. As the residential sector accounts for 28% of the country’s annual energy consumption and as this consumption mainly concerns fossil fuels, it has an equally important share in the COa release. Hence, at first sight, the best policy for a decrease is by improving the energy efficiency. The question to be solved, however, is which improvement could generate the reduction needed? This study discusses a methodology and comments simulations that help in answering that question. The results obtained are not straightforward. The housing stock in fact acts as a conservatory system. The impact of energy efficient new construction on the CO? release remains quite margmal if the period considered does not extend beyond a decade. The effect becomes significant only over a longer period, on condition that more stringent energv efficiency measures are combined with a shift from new construction to retrofit and reconstruction. Also a diminishing increase in the number of households may help in reducing energy consumption and COa release.
;zOl
E;
dmpacts
of biomass
burning
on tropospheric
CO,
Galzter, M.tc
02/01157 Improved environmental protection through modern coke plant technology at the new plant in Schwelgern, Germany Hofherr, K. e/ rrl. S/u/r/ Rsen, 2001, 121, (3), 33-40. (In Germany) The new coking plant Schwelgern is going to be erected by Carbonaria GmbH to replace the coking plant August Thyssen in DuisburgBruckhausen. The coking plant Schwelgern will be equipped with the most modern techniques also concerning the environmental protection. The plant consists of two batteries, each equipped with 70 coke ovens with a capacity of 93 m’ per oven. The scale of these biggest coke ovens is caused by cautious increase of the chamber height to 8.43 m and chamber length to 20.80 m. Lowering the amount of pushing coke ovens from 560 per day in the coking plant August Thyssen to 135 per day in Schwelgern causes a high reduction of pollution. Further improvements are realized by the use of computerized process control of coke oven batteries and gas purification. The pressure control of individual coke ovens, possible by using PROven (pressure regulated oven), is also responsible for lowering pollution, substantiated by scientific data. The use of new scaling systems at ascension pipes, further developments of the coke oven doors and the residual free combustion of coke gas by steam injected crude gas torches improve the environmental situation, too. The cornerstone ceremony took place on 26 July 2000 and in spring 2003 the first coke will be pushed 142
Fuel and Energy Abstracts
March 2002
02/01158 Indoor environment quality in buildings and its impact on outdoor environment Roulet, C-A Energy crnd Buildings, 2001, 33, 183-191. The main purpose of buildings is to provide a comfortable living environment for their occupants. This includes, among others, thermal, visual and acoustic comfort as well as indoor air quality. Except during the 1950s and 196Os, it has always been considered important that an excess use of energy should be avoided in the construction and the management of a building, sometimes even at the cost of user comfort. Energy saving is, however, not the main purpose of the building, Indeed, if it were really so, the largest energy savings would be obtained by not erecting the building in the first place. Since the Rio conference, there have been more and more incentives to save energy and lower the impact of buildings on the environment. Therefore, there is no excuse for the building sector not to adopt a sustainable development policy. Some energy is required to control the indoor climate and indoor air quality. Therefore, it is often suspected that energy savings result in poorer indoor environment quality, or, on the contrary, that a high comfort level is the result of high technology and high energy consumption. This is not true. It is now generally admitted among building scientists that high quality energy services do not necessarily incur a high energy use, and that good environment quality can be obtained with a reasonable amount of energy and power, and with a low environmental impact. The presentation brings some evidence from past and current research to support this assertion. 02/01159 Influence of coal ash and slag dump on pollution of surrounding surface and ground waters with vanadium and titanium Popovic, A. et crl. Ph_~s. Chem. 2000. Proc. Inl. Conf. Fundmn. Appl. Aspects Ph,m. Chem., j/h, 2000, 556-558. Edited by Ribnikar S. and Anic S. To study possible pollution by Ti and V caused by coal ash and slag deposition of the Kostolac C and B power plant dumps (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), different wastewater, surface water, and groundwater samples were collected and analysed. V was a more serious water pollutant than Ti; it was present in all wastewater, whereas Ti was only observed in some overflow water s.amples. Despite V and Ti loads which were larger than those in surface water, river water samples collected downstream from drainage and overflow water collectors and those collected upstream from these collectors did not differ in V concentrations, whereas Ti concentrations in surface water and groundwater were below detection limits. V concentrations were large in groundwater near the coal ash and slag dump. 02/01160 Large-scale experiments for microbiological evaluation of measures for safeguarding sulfidic mine waste Schippers, A. et crl. B’usre Munagemenl, 2001, 21, (2). 139-146. In the framework of a German-Romanian scientific cooperation, experiments were performed to evaluate feasible and cheap techniques for the safe storage of mine waste to prevent acid rock drainage (ARD). A large four-chamber percolator (4CP) was installed in a waste heap at Ilba Mine, Romania, to test the effect of biocides and alkaline layers on the bacteria causing acid rock drainage (ARD). The 4CP consisted of four chambers each containing 65 ma of sulfidic waste material. The 4CP enabled the transfer of laboratory results to a technical scale. The detergent sodiumdodecylsulfate (SDS) was proved to be active against the leaching bacteria. Organotrophic microorganisms were not effected by the SDS application. The alkaline layers caused an increase of pH, however, a decrease of cell numbers was measured only in adjacent ore layers, but not in the whole ore body. A rapid evaluation of the effects of these countermeasures on ARD formation became possible by microcalorimetric activity measurements for bioleaching. 02/01161 Life cycle COP analysis of LNG and city gas Tamura, I. e/ al. Applied Enrrg~, 2001, 68, (3), 301-319. An analysis was conducted on greenhouse gas emissions from the liquified natural gas (LNG) chain and life cycle of City Gas 13A [caloric value: 46 MJ/Nm3 (1000 kcal/Nm3)], which is produced from LNG. The analysis was based on highly reliable data which are qualified in terms of source and representativeness. Actually, the latest data for CO* and CH4 emissions from the natural gas field and liquefaction plant were obtained from field studies. Moreover, the analysis includes COa emissions during the LNG transportation from exporting countries to Japan, city gas production and distribution stage in Japan and the manufacturing of facilities associated with the production of natural gas overseas to final domestic consumption. The reduction effect of CO* using LNG cryogenic energy was also considered. The evaluation showed that the level of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumptions in the modern natural gas production and liquefaction plants were lower than those previously reported due to improvements in the production process. The results of the analysis also provide basic data essential for conduction life cycle analyses in many fields using natural gas.