Environmental Protection Issues Research Articles

Multiple etchings methodology: a new approach in multiphase steel characterization.

Following the first and second generations, the challenge in obtaining a better balance between strength and elongation is still the main characteristic of the third generation of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). With this, the use of multiphase microstructures has increased over the last few years. It can be difficult to characterize all the phases with only optical microscopy (OM), so the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is essential for accuracy in cases where researchers lack experience. To expand the possibilities, this research proposed a new approach that would allow experienced researchers to characterize multiphase steels using only OM. A high silicon steel was austempered slightly below martensite start (Ms) temperature for three different time periods in order to obtain different quantities of martensite, bainite and retained austenite. X-ray diffraction was carried out in order to confirm and obtain retained austenite volume fractions, and the results indicated that shorter holding times were not enough to enrich and stabilize retained austenite. Then, each samples was etched with four different etchants. Results showed that the new multiple etchings methodology (MEM) allowed a better visualization of all the phases when viewed together. Beraha martensitc revealed nontempered martensitic microstructures. Sodium metabisulfite revealed retained austenite. LePera and Nital were the best at revealing the evolution of the microstructure over time, even with the changes which occurred due to martensite tempering. SEM images confirmed the results obtained via MEM. LAY DESCRIPTION: For improving safety, environmental protection, mechanical resistance and others issues, many different steel grades have been studied. These grades were named depending on their mechanical properties. The current generation is the third, which is still searching for one of the main antagonists in material science: the best balance between mechanical resistance (how strong it is) and elongation (how long it can be stretched to). In order to achieve this goal, many researchers are studying variations in the production processes. During production, the materials are able to internally change their basic microstructure, named phases. In the past, steels were usually produced to have only a few phases. Today's advanced high strength steels (AHSS) can have many. Each of these phases has its own characteristics. The main focus of this research was to give a new way of identify these phases using an optical microscope. For revealing these phases, etchants are normally used. The etchants used in this research are capable of tinting each of these phases with a different colour or tone. So the purpose of this work was to suggest a new approach in order to allow for more precise identification of the phases in the steel. The results were positive, showing that looking at the samples as a whole is better than the traditional methods. Also, different etchants' characteristics were observed during the changes obtained by this work's chosen processes.

A Green-IKE Inference System Based on Grey Neural Network Model for Humanized Sustainable Feeling Assessment about Products

Due to extraordinary concerns about the issue of environmental protection from time to time, so far, sustainable development draws much attention. In developing sustainable products, the studies on methodologies of how to precisely grasp the sustainable feeling about products and translate it into desired constructed elements are scarce. This study aims to propose a novel sustainable feeling assessment system about products, called green-initiative Kansei engineering (GIKE). The Kansei engineering scheme is a distinguished customer-oriented technology for dealing with peoples’ affection about concerning matters. In this study, we extend Kansei engineering to initiatively include the designated sustainable image other than statistically obtained high-ranking images. Then, through survey and analysis of concerning matters, we precisely build a GIKE inference system via the grey-model-based backpropagation neural network scheme, in which it provides a precise relationship between affective (including sustainable) images of products and their constructive elements. A computer mouse is selected as the target in experiments to verify the proposed methodology, and the result is satisfying. Through our study, we may know the way to acquire a human’s sustainable feeling about concerning matters. And, most importantly, the proposed GIKE methodology firstly and innovatively expands the application filed of Kansei engineering to the field of sustainability evaluation and translation for concerning matters.

Implementation of a Coastal Management Model at Kinvara Bay in the North Atlantic Ocean

Applying a management model to coastal areas is always a challenge because of the multiple scenarios from which they can be addressed. The coastal zone represents a dynamic area, which can be analyzed using physical processes. However, it can also be analyzed from the perspective of land–sea interaction or the socio-economic activities that take place in the area. Last but not least, the coastal area holds great significance for biodiversity, as well as for the communities that live there, their traditions and customs, and their cultural heritage, especially in the context of climate change and sea-level rise. In this context, the present paper aims to analyze the social and economic aspects of environmental protection issues and how these factors, identified by a series of indicators, can coexist together. The target area is Kinvara Bay, which is located south of the Atlantic’s Galway Bay, in the western part of Ireland.

Activities related to human medicines in Romania: Legal environmental protection issues

Current environmental research focuses extensively on pharmaceutical waste, demonstrating the contamination caused by active pharmaceutical ingredients. Regulations and programs to evaluate, prevent, and reduce environmental risks linked to human medicines are currently being developed in various countries. We assessed the Romanian legislation to identify the potential areas of development of environmental protection policies in the pharmaceutical field. Laws and regulations of interest were selected, and their relevant provisions were analysed using methods of legal interpretation, then corelated with their equivalent in more developed countries. Romanian legislation requires an evaluation of the environmental impact of human medicines, an assessment of non-clinical research and pharmaceutical manufacturing projects, appropriate management of pharmaceutical waste and its disposal on a contract basis, and the collection and disposal of expired or unused medicines by pharmacies. In practice, however, a coherent system for pharmaceutical waste management is lacking because of many legal loopholes in environmental protection. Romanian legislation does not include specific rules regarding sound environmental practice for clinical research laboratories, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and wholesale distributors. The pharmaceutical industry has no legal responsibility to manage and dispose expired or unused medicines collected from the population. Equitable sharing of environmental responsibility by the pharmaceutical industry actors along with the involvement of public authorities should be established via legislation and regulation that reflect the requirements mandated by other more advanced countries. Additionally, continuous training programs should be provided for practitioners to reinforce their role in the rational use of medicines and professional campaigns should be created to raise public awareness about preventing environmental contamination.

Political problems connected with the efficient realization of the nature conservation policy in the global economy

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to indicate the reasons for too insignificant determination of some countries with regards to the issue of environmental protection. Research method – Acritical analysis of the literature together with deductive reasoning have been used. Among the quantitative methods, the author employed the use of the simple tools of descriptive statistics.Results – One of the reasons for too insignificant determination of some countries relating to issues in environmental protection is competition for the hegemony position they are involved in. The conservation of nature demands expenditure, which could be used to achieve higher economic growth. In the conditions of countries’ competition for the hegemony title, higher economic growth enables beneficial solving of the conflict.Originality / value – The author attempts to explain the reason for too low determinations of some countries in environmental protection, which is a current topic. Understanding the reason may contribute to helping to solve the problem of environmental protection on a global scale.

Accommodation of Clean Energy: Challenges and Practices in China Southern Region

Clean energy (including hydropower, wind power, solar power, nuclear power, etc.) provides an effective solution to deal with the issue of environmental protection and alleviate the depletion pressure of traditional fossil energy. However, in real practices, there are also many barriers that can challenge the accommodation of clean energy, including geographical condition, economy growth, energy endowment, technology limitation and so on. Due to regional discrepancies, unevenly distribution of power resources and electricity consumption, it is also a challenge for China Southern Power Grid (CSG) to utilize clean energy. To better develop clean energy, CSG has put a series of efforts, include: the long-transmission power network construction, power market support, dispatch optimization, technology innovation, etc. This paper mainly reviews the challenges and practices for the accommodation of clean energy in CSG. The corresponding outcome and future trends are also comprehensively introduced. It is expected through this paper, the case of CSG can inspire the development and accommodation of clean energy, as well as can provide beneficial references to other worldwide regions.

Issues of environmental protection and coordination of the system of rational use of natural resources in Uzbekistan

Due to the fact that ecological problems have become one of the most important ones owing to their detrimental consequences during globalization, the attainment of sustainable development of ecology and state through the elimination of these ecological problems and their effects are analyzed in the current article. Coordination of work in the field of sustainable development education in educational institutions, enterprises and organizations, teaching of natural sciences in general education institutions in accordance with state educational standards, the impact of scientific and technical progress on the relationship between society and nature, Environmental Aspects of Sustainable Development, the Concept of Sustainable Development and Education Priorities, and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for Sustainable Development and Development are all the more important in the current era of globalization. The rapid development of transport, population growth and urbanization, the chemicalization of agricultural production, the chaotic, unplanned development of lands, the uneconomical use of water resources, on one hand, will allow to use more of the republic's resources, on the other-hand, from ammonia to the environment, disrupting its natural balance. As a result, the region's air and water are being polluted, soil erosion is accelerating, some species of plants and animals are declining or disappearing, and natural monuments are being damaged. Preventing these situations shows that all countries must work together to maintain the ecological balance in nature.

On the advisability of nationalization of industrial enterprises that violate environmental legislation

The article deals with the issues of environmental protection while considering the feasibility of nationalizing industrial enterprises that violate environmental legislation, and without reimbursing the value of the nationalized assets.

An Automatic Garbage Classification System Based on Deep Learning

Garbage classification has always been an important issue in environmental protection, resource recycling and social livelihood. In order to improve the efficiency of front-end garbage collection, an automatic garbage classification system is proposed based on deep learning. Firstly, the overall system of the garbage bin is designed, including the hardware structure and the mobile app. Secondly, the proposed garbage classification algorithm is based on ResNet-34 algorithm, and its network structure is further optimized by three aspects, including the multi feature fusion of input images, the feature reuse of the residual unit, and the design of a new activation function. Finally, the superiority of the proposed classification algorithm is verified with the constructed garbage data. The classification accuracy of the proposed algorithm is enhanced by 1.01%. The experimental results show that the classification accuracy is as high as 99%, the classification cycle of the system is as quick as 0.95 s.

Environmental protection as a factor of agricultural development in the Republic of Serbia

Public concern about the environmental impact of economic activities has significantly increased around the globe in recent years. Within the scope of unlawful acts, environmental delicts are among the most serious ones in terms of environmental impact, the consequences of which directly affect the quality and development of agriculture as the main branch of economic activity. The issue of environmental protection and liability can be approached from different perspectives, and the focus of the present research will be on the analysis of environmental delicts committed by legal entities, taking into consideration the importance and role of these entities in agriculture. In addition to general assumptions on legal regulation of the liability of legal entities, the authors also presented the results of research on legal entities reported, charged, and convicted for environmental delicts in the Republic of Serbia in the period from 2010 to 2017, with a special emphasis on the analysis of results obtained in the abovementioned research areas for the territory of AP Vojvodina.

The 5th International Innovative Mining Symposium in the year of the 70th anniversary of T.F. Gorbachev Kuzbass State Technical University: rely on traditions, open to the future

International Innovative Mining Symposium, being organized on the basis of T.F. Gorbachev Kuzbass State Technical University since 2017, is meant to promote the growth of fundamental knowledge in the field of mining. That allows comprehensively covering the innovative development of mining and deep processing of minerals, the greening of mining, the modernization of equipment, the introduction of modern means of ensuring labor safety, and the sustainable development of mining clusters. Contributing to the solution of the innovative development problems of the Russian mineral resource complex, the 5th International Innovative Mining Symposium will unite the efforts of representatives of domestic and world mining science and production. This event will help to accelerate the transfer of innovations and adapt foreign experience in the extraction and processing of minerals, involving a wide range of stakeholders in the discussion of labor and environmental protection issues, rational use of natural resources, national energy security.

Biological remediation of roadside areas

During the construction of highways, significant damage is caused to the environment: the soil cover is degraded, vegetation cover and the natural landscape are destroyed. The issue of minimizing the negative impact of this direction on the environment was not given enough attention. Therefore, one of the main issues of environmental protection is the timely implementation of works on reclamation of disturbed lands. Land areas of temporary allotment for road construction that are subjected to mechanical impact after the stage of technical reclamation are subject to biological reclamation, which is aimed at landscaping the roadside area. To achieve these goals, we used the method of developing measures for the reclamation of disturbed land during the construction of the highway. Activities on biological remediation can be performed as a result of: the serial complexity of the species composition of plant communities, which has long co-exist with man-made recultivated territories; the launch of the rehabilitation process which can be carried out simultaneously in a multispecies complex of phytocenosis, suggesting further its sustainable functioning. As a result of biological reclamation measures, using crops that are resistant to pollutants and meliorants, it is possible to gradually reduce the content of pollutants in the soil due to natural self-cleaning processes as a result of removal of elements by plants and their leaching outside the root layer of the soil.

Effective enhancement of Cu ions adsorption on porous polyurea adsorbent by carboxylic modification of its terminal amine groups

The pollution by metal ions has been a key issue in environmental protection. Amine-rich porous polyurea (PPU), prepared by a simple one-step precipitation copolymerization of diisocyanate and diamine, is highly selective for Cu2+ adsorption, but associated with a poor reusability. We report here a chemically modified PPU by simply turning the amine groups of PPU to aminoacetic carboxyls. The results indicate that this carboxylation is an easy and effective pathway to polymer adsorbent, with high performance for Cu2+ adsorption and reusability superior to most of the reported adsorbents. Cu2+ adsorption capacity on PPU-M, i.e. PPU after carboxylation, increased to 2.84 mmol/g, an increase by 22% in comparison with PPU. The chemical modification process was optimized. The porosity and morphology of PPU-M were characterized using N2 adsorption, mercury intrusion, and scanning electron microscopy. The high Cu2+ adsorption was interpreted through a complex coordination mechanism of Cu2+ based on XPS analysis. The high performance of reusability of PPU-M, thanks to enhanced desorption of 99.5% or more of the adsorbed Cu2+ after each recycled use, was also interpreted based on the stability constants of acid-base equilibrium of amine and carboxyl towards Cu2+ and protons. Adsorption kinetics modelling demonstrated this adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption analysis by isothermal adsorption showed this adsorption was well fitted by Freundlich equation and in good agreement with the suggested adsorption mechanism.

Hydrogeochemical and isotopic characteristics of groundwater in Xinchang preselected site and their implications.

The safety disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) has become an important issue for nuclear energy and environmental protection. Water chemistry and environmental isotope are accepted as feasible ways to trace groundwater circulation; it can effectively reveal the conversion relationship between different groundwater of the disposal site. Geochemical and isotopic tracers were used to constrain origins and chemical evolution of groundwater in the arid fissure system of the Xinchang preselected site for high-level radioactive waste geological disposal in China. Groundwater level, water temperature, and water chemistry information at different depths were obtained by multi-layer groundwater monitoring. The results show that the chemical and isotopic composition of groundwater in this fissure system is mainly controlled by evaporation, the water chemistry type of the shallow groundwater is mainly Na-Cl-SO4 or Na-Ca-Cl-SO4, and the deep groundwater is mainly Na-Cl-SO4. Based on the values of monitoring data in deep borehole, the fluctuation of groundwater level is less than 0.40m with weak hydrodynamic condition, and the geothermal gradient is 1.91°C/100m. The isotope analyses indicate that the groundwater in the system recharged by local atmospheric precipitation, and the deep groundwater recharged capacity of the site is weak and with no deep cycle.

Project Based Learning as Teaching Approach for Master Students

Human resources experts consider important for a young graduate to be well trained in the field of expertise and to have developed skills like problem-solving, communication, collaboration, responsibility, and self-direction. Project Based Learning (PBL) concord with the requests of the legal framework and studies showed that the method was successful in achieving them. In order to be efficient, PBL needs to respect a list of requirements, one of them being the realism of the themes. The paper presents the results of two projects which used the environmental protection issues as real-world context supported by interactive computer simulations. Subjects approached in two projects assessed the current state of quality of natural habitat and investigated the effect of building placement and orientation on the dispersion of traffic air pollutants. PBL was successfully used to effectively shape the learning environment for master students from a designated Applied Engineering program.

“The Recovery of the People Is Tied to the Recovery of Food”: Food Sovereignty and Winona LaDuke’s Last Standing Woman

Abstract This essay turns to LaDuke’s literature and activism to explore ways in which contemporary Native American writers center their work around issues of food sovereignty, environmental protection, and economic self-determination as essential platforms for community regeneration, renewal, and survival. I argue that Last Standing Woman (1997), Anishinaabe writer Winona LaDuke’s first novel, dramatizes many of these concerns at the heart of her activist and political work. Central to the novel Last Standing Woman is the significance of wild rice for the White Earth Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people of Minnesota. In Last Standing Woman, wild rice is not only a traditional and sustainable crop but also one that can ensure the livelihood of the community. At the heart of a feminist and activist novel like Last Standing Woman – as well as Winona LaDuke’s activist work, more broadly – is a twofold challenge, which resonates across much Native American writing: on the one hand, the challenge to preserve (existing resources, cultural practices, etc.); on the other, to recover the losses Native communities have suffered historically through colonization and its many consequences, such as the enormous loss of land suffered by the White Earth community. The turn to literature provides Winona LaDuke with a powerful site of political engagement, where she foregrounds issues of gender, tribal politics, and the environment at the same time as she tells a powerful story about Anishinaabe continued resilience.

Reclamation of damaged agricultural land: an example of the Samara region

The issues of environmental protection, prevention of degradation and reclamation of damaged land are currently very significant and relevant. As damaged land has been observed the land where low productivity and low economic potential have arisen and natural productivity of ecosystems is changed due to human-caused activities. The nature and extent of the violation depends on the type, depth and duration of anthropogenic impact, on adopted system of work organization and the conditions of the environment. Black soil dominates in the soil cover in Samara region, therefore there has been developed agricultural production. However there are located large oilfields and gas fields, which are under active exploitation and reduction of vegetation, dumping technological sites, laying trenches for pipelines, etc. have been noticed, which leads to formation of technogenic soils, damaged land cover, loss of soil fertility and land use type change. There special restoration measure - reclamation should be putted into practice on the territory of all categories of land, but especially on agricultural land. The aim of the article is to study the situation with damaged agricultural land in Samara region of Russia and to develop scientifically based proposals for regeneration of its fertility after reclamation measures. The problems of pollution of agricultural land in the region have been investigated, main sources and types of pollution have been analysed, as well as legal, methodological and environmental protection documents on land reclamation have been studied. The peculiarities of reclamation of land on federal, municipal and property level have been considered. The article presents measures for reclamation of the land on the example of natural monopolies in the territory of the Samara region.

Carbonaceous–TiO2 materials: unique morphologies for photocatalytic applications

Semiconductor photocatalysts has become one of the most attractive technologies in the field of environmental remediation. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely concerned due to the potential applications in the degradation of organic dyes. Nonetheless, the inherent wide band gap of TiO2 has been proved to restrict the photocatalytic activation under visible light, and a variety of strategies have been attempted to develop TiO2 composite catalysts with short band gap compositions, such as carbonaceous nanomaterials. In the recent progress, the present review attaches more importance to the unique morphology and fickle structure of carbonaceous–TiO2 photocatalysts, among which there are sandwich-like structure, foam-like structure, core–shell structure, nanotube, nanorod structure, semi-wrapped structure, etc., and all of them have been demonstrated in this paper. Furthermore, reviews of the enhanced mechanisms, synthesis method and performance comparison of carbonaceous–TiO2 photocatalysts reported in the literature are also suggested and conducted. In brief, this work provides some novel insights for the preparation of TiO2 composites as photocatalysts with excellent performance and contributes to promoting their application in environmental protection issues.

Sustainability benchmarking tool (SBT): theoretical and conceptual model proposition of a composite framework

Sustainable development and sustainability notions are among trending topics of twenty-first century. Elevated sustainability concerns of various stakeholders have been forcing members of all industries to evolve into their more environmentally and socially responsible versions. However, a complete framework with a true sustainability and benchmarking focus is yet to be delivered. Within this study, an innovative, holistic, versatile and scalable tool was developed to assess and benchmark sustainability performance of organizations and supply chains. The proposed framework was established upon trivet structure of triple bottom line philosophy and fueled by lean, Six Sigma and life cycle analysis methodologies for accurate and effective measurement of sustainability performance. Completeness of the framework was ensured through development of first-generation key performance indicator pool with 33 indicators, a unique work environment assessment mechanism for safety and environmental protection issues in terms of 11 risk categories and by construction of an ownership structure for ease of framework deployment. Proposed framework is expected to help with true sustainability performance improvement and benchmarking objectives at a range of business levels from facility to sectoral operations. Both small- and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations could benefit from SBT Framework since it eliminates unit-based comparisons within its standardized performance measurement modules. Industries with lower profit margins could also gain competitive edge through continuous discovery of improvement opportunities. Furthermore, some manufacturing industries with unique characteristics such as wood products industries with their carbon sequestration potential and electric car manufacturers with their renewable energy-dependent final products could document their strengths more effectively through this science-based assessment mechanism.

Sequential injection analysis system with DGA resin for sample pretreatment in ICP-MS determination of 239Pu in nuclear industry samples

The monitoring of the presence of plutonium isotopes is a very important issue in both nuclear energy industry and environmental protection for human health risk assessment. The developed method for the determination of 239Pu isotope with ICP-QMS detection is based on the use of sequential injection analysis (SIA) system for the pretreatment of samples to be analyzed with the use of a commercial sorbent called diglycolamide (DGA-b) for the analyte preconcentration and separation from 238U, which is the source of the most significant isobaric interference 238U1H+. Optimizing the size of the sorbent bed and the conditions of analyte sorption and elution of plutonium and uranium provides the analytical procedure for 239Pu determination, where at total analysis time of 45 min (at flow rate 10 mL min−1) the evaluated method detection limit (MDL) for 100 mL sample volume was 88 mBq L−1. This is satisfactory detectability for applications in both technological and environmental samples.