Tons Of Material Research Articles

Identification and Treatment of Potential Acid-Producing Rocks and Water Quality Monitoring Along a Transmission Line in the Blue Ridge Province, Southwestern North Carolina

Geologic mapping, petrographic analysis, and Acid-Base Accounting testing of rocks along the corridor of a transmission line in the Blue Ridge Province of southwestern North Carolina indicated a potential for acid production in certain areas related to road and tower construction. The potential acid-producing rocks are graphite schist units in the Great Smoky Group (Anakeesta Formation), graphitic metasiltstones of the Murphy Belt (Nantahala Formation), and thin layers of sulfidic rock within the Great Smoky Group (Ammons Formation—Horse Branch Member). Net Neutralization Potential (NNP) for the graphite schist units ranges from −19.27 to 1.81 tons CaCO 3 per 1,000 tons of excavated material (an NNP value of −5 tons CaCO 3 or less is interpreted as predicting acid drainage). NNP for the graphitic metasiltstones of the Nantahala Formation range from −43.56 to −11.39 tons CaCO 3 per 1,000 tons of material. The NNP for a sulfide-rich layer in the Ammons Formation is −26.03 tons CaCO 3 per 1,000 tons of material. Treatment for the potential acid-producing material involves stockpiling topsoil, mixing agricultural lime with the excavated material in a ratio based on the lowest NNP value for the particular rock unit, and covering the excavated material with a least 2 (two) ft of stockpiled topsoil to isolate the sulfidic material from the atmosphere, retarding the oxidation of the sulfides. When the treated material is spoiled in a roadbed, a base of limestone aggregate is placed on the existing roadbed, followed by the treated, compacted material with additional lime added after every lift. This is followed by topsoil (compacted) to encapsulate the limestone base and treated material, with limestone aggregate applied as the final road surface. Drainage is provided to divert water from the fills and tower foundation excavations. A monitoring program, in-place before, during, and after construction, was used to identify water-quality variations that might indicate ail effect on stream chemistry from disturbance of potential acid-producing materials. Results of the monitoring program suggest that the methods used to identify and treat the materials have been effective in minimizing the impact of their disturbance on the environment.

Municipal Landfilling Practice And Its Impact On Groundwater Resources In And Around Urban Toronto, Canada

The hazardous contents of municipal landfills are rarely documented and problems are usually not recognised until landfill leachate pollutes a well or surface-water body. By this time, the groundwater is often extensively contaminated with little opportunity for redress. Recent studies in southern Ontario have adopted a pro-active stance to this issue. The location, size, design and geologic setting of almost 1,200 active and inactive landfills have been documented; in addition, a contaminant-source audit has been performed for a representative region of urban Toronto, where 82 landfills sites are contained in an area of 700 km2. Groundwater flow modeling reveals that at half the sites groundwater travel time to major urban streams and Lake Ontario is less than 10 years, suggesting that chemically conservative chemicals released at these sites would have a rapid impact on surface-water quality. The sites are as large as 99 ha, and waste thickness normally ranges from 3–30 m. In the audited area, the sites contain an estimated 4.6×107 tons of material, consisting primarily of domestic waste, incinerator ashes, and construction and commercial debris; some sites are believed, however, to have received liquid waste from industrial sources. The chemical audit indicates that more than 1.3 million tons, or approximately 2.9 percent of the landfill waste, will enter the landfill leachate. About 99 percent of the leachable mass is composed of calcium, magnesium, sodium, nitrogen (as ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite), chloride, sulphate, and bicarbonate. However, the real potential damage must be measured by the degree of environmental degradation that would ensue if the leachate is released to the subsurface. Ignoring the possible effects of chemical biodegradation and volatilization within the aquifer, calculations indicate that 17 of the 39 leachate components investigated are individually capable of contaminating at least 2×1012 liters of water in excess of Provincial water-quality standards, a volume that approximately represents the quantity of groundwater that passes through the study area during a 20-year period. Given that only two of the 82 landfills operate a leachate collection system, 60–70 percent of the potential impacts are likely to be realized. Particularly threatened is the lower Don Valley, where about 20 landfills are concentrated in an area of just 60 km2.

Use of lead reclamation in secondary lead smelters for the remediation of lead contaminated sites

The EPA has estimated that there are over 3,000 sites across the United States contaminated with lead. Techniques to remediate these sites include standard stabilization/disposal technologies, reclamation of lead using secondary lead smelters, soil washing and biological removal technologies. This paper presents the results of a study recently conducted by the Center for Hazardous Materials Research (CHMR), in conjunction with a major lead smelter, which demonstrates that secondary lead smelters may be used economically to reclaim lead from a wide range of lead-containing materials frequently found at Superfund sites. Such materials include battery case materials, lead dross, and other debris containing between 3% and 70% lead. During the study, CHMR and the smelter reclaimed lead from five sets of materials, including two Superfund sites containing primarily battery cases, and one battery breaker/smelter site with a variety of lead-containing materials. Between 20 and 1500 tons of materials from these sites were excavated and processed at the smelter, while the research team assessed the effects on furnace operation and performance. Two additional sets of materials, one from the demolition of a house containing lead-based paint, and the other consisting of blasting abrasive material from work on a bridge coated with lead paint, were also processed in the smelter. The results showed that it was technically feasible to use the secondary lead smelter to reclaim lead from all of the materials. CHMR also assessed the economics of using secondary lead smelters to reclaim lead from Superfund sites, and developed a method for estimating the cost of reclaiming lead. This method develops cost as a function of material excavation, transportation and processing costs combined with cost benefits received by the smelter (in the form of recovered lead, reduced fuel usage and/or reduced iron usage). The total remediation costs using secondary lead smelters for the sites and materials studied varied between $80 and $374 per ton, based on January 1994 market prices for lead. The costs were primarily a function of lead concentration, the market price for lead, distance from the smelter, and the amount of materials which become incorporated into slag from the process, although other factors affected the economics as well. Materials with high concentrations of lead were significantly less expensive to remediate than those with low concentrations. The cost to remediate materials which left few slag residues in the furnace was significantly lower than the cost to remediate materials which contained significant slagging components. The research described in this article was funded under a cooperative agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency, under the Emerging Technologies Program.

Indirect parasympathomimetic activity (IPA) of class-I antiarrhythmic drugs

The 6 R's of sustainability are implemented to the life cycle of a washing machine, refrigerator and air-conditioner in a Western Australian scenario. A detailed life cycle assessment of each white good was carried out and new scenarios 1, 2 and 3, increasing the combined reuse and remanufacturing rate to 80%, 50% and 30% were implemented. Scenarios 1, 2 and 3 will save 2487.1, 2057.5 and 1772.2tonnes of material from washing machines and 1594.5, 1044.7 and 739.9tonnes from refrigerators respectively. The mass saved implementing 100% recycle rate to air-conditioners is 450.1tonnes. GHG emissions saved from remanufacturing a washing machine and refrigerator instead of producing a new model are 956.2 and 1636.3 kg CO2-e respectively. The embodied energy saved from remanufacturing and recycling washing machines for scenarios 1, 2 and 3 are 482.7x10^6, 254.0x10^6 and 101.5x10^6 MJ and for refrigerators are 566.3x10^6, 250.8x10^6 and 42.29x10^6 MJ respectively. Although remanufacturing white goods significantly decreases the environmental impacts, selling the refurbished products can be a challenge due to fashionable obsolesce, technology advancement and the stigma of remanufactured goods.

Density-independent Microwave Measurement of Moisture Content in Static and Flowing Grain

Conventional techniques for the determination of moisture content in grain often use small static samples to represent several tons of material. A more desirable alternative would be a method which utilizes continuous dynamic moisture measurement of the grain. The potential for making density-independent moisture content measurements in both static and flowing grain using microwave frequencies was evaluated in tests with soft red winter wheat over moisture contents from 11% to 19% (w.b.). Moisture measurements were predicted within 0.7% for the static samples and within 1.2% for wheat in a dynamic solid-flow condition. For suspended flow (aerated sample of grain) scatter became more apparent and the system accuracy decreased.

Word Wars at Home: U.S. Response to World War II Propaganda

The United States used the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Foreign Agents Registration Act to require those mailing propaganda to the United States to register with the government, a requirement that offended the Soviet Union even after 1941 when the USSR changed from supporting to opposing Cermany. Empowered to evaluate, stop and burn incoming materials, the Post Office played an active role under direction of Postmaster General Frank Walker. Soviet materials did not fare well throughout the war. In all, the Post Office was responsible for burning an estimated 50 tons of materials, despite the concerns of some who argued that “book burning” was alien to United States tradition.

Short term mine planning at Syncrude

Abstract The Syncrude Canada Limited Mine has been in operation for the past ten years, producing synthetic crude oil from the oil sands with a consistently upward trend in production each year. The open-pit mine currently delivers an average of 300,000 tonnes of oil sands per day to the Extraction Plant. For the mining of oil sands, the mine is equipped with four draglines, four bucketwheel reclaimer/ conveyor systems and an auxiliary production system to supplement major equipment production. Overburden is stripped by a large fleet of shovels and trucks. All these systems combined will handle approximately 325 million tonnes of material in 1988. The effective technical support is crucial to the achievement of high production objectives. The short term mine planning functions to achieve these objectives, are performed by two groups; Overburden Engineering and Short Range Planning, The short term plans range from day to day operating plans to one year mine plans. This paper will discuss the short term pla...

Packaging Continues as Strong Growth Market for Plastics

Good growth lies ahead for plastics in packaging, but pressure on the packaging industry will intensify because of increasing concerns about waste disposal and biodegradation. That's the conclusion reached at a plastics packaging conference held during Interplas '87, an international plastics and rubber exhibition, in Birmingham, England, earlier this month. The conference was sponsored by the Plastics & Rubber Institute, based in London. Certainly a message of growth in the packaging industry would be good news to the industry's suppliers of plastics and nonplastics alike. As Geoffrey Barrett, a principal with Corporate Development Consultants Ltd. (CDC) in Bristol, England, pointed out, pulp and paper-making chemicals for packaging, in value terms, account for more than 3.5 million metric tons of material, worth about $2 billion. Other packaging materials include petrochemical feedstocks for polymers; chlorine and soda ash for polyvinyl chloride and glass; and various specialty supplies, such as solvent...

Permanent magnets for magnetic resonance imaging

Several permanent-magnet structures for whole-body nuclear magnetic resonance diagnostics are described and compared. All provide a field of 1.5 kOe over working volumes of about 0.9 m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> without the use of electrical solenoids or bulky power supplies. A previously proposed ferrite model now weighs more than 11 tons. By using more unorthodox configurations employing rare earth permanent magnets, the same performance can be attained with as little as 3.6 tons of material.

Carbon-in-pulp processes in South Africa

The carbon-in-pulp (CIP) process is now well established in the South African gold industry, with a total of over 1 million metric tons of material being treated each month in six large plants. This tonnage is derived from ground ore, from filtered pulp, from calcine, and from reclaimed sand-tailings dumps. With this new process and the new large plants, those concerned with CIP are experiencing a learning process, since each new plant presents a different set of problems to be overcome. The knowledge and experience gained from these plants is being shared, and will be of benefit in the design and operation of new plants. The CIP process can be subdivided into the following unit operations: • prescreening at a fine size, • adsorption on carbon, • carbon acid-washing and elution, • carbon reactivation, and • gold electrowinning. Results concerning each of these unit operations, which were obtained from pilot plants and from large-scale CIP plants in South Africa, are presented. The latest developments in each of these areas are summarized.

Dispositif nouveau pour l'echantillonnage en securite D'UF 6 liquide (a new safety liquid UF 6 sampling device)

Uranium hexafluoride (UF 6), to or from isotopic enrichment plants is stored and transported, as a solid, in tanks containing 2 to 12 metric tons of material. Sampling must be carry out after complete melting obtained by heating of the tank. This sampling process is difficult and hazardous by risks of local solidification (sealing), of reaction with air moisture (Fluorhydric Acid, highly corrosive and toxic is formed), of chemical and radioactive contamination (in case of leaking), of loss of expensive material (especialy if enriched UF 6), and of over-filling of sampling pot (possible domage during warming up of itagain). The described new device was concepted and developed by COGEMA Laboratories and is used for two years in sampling facilities of enrichment plant of PIERRELATTE. It permits to warrant sample validity and eliminate all the hereabove risks. It allows seeing and adjusting volume of the samples and their flow, and permits measurement of temperature and pressure, specified for UF 6. This new device is usable for many others materials which present some risks and difficults, as Fluorine and its derivates, chlorine, liquefied inflammable gases etc.

The application of terrestrial photogrammetry at Tremadoc, North Wales, and an estimate of its cost-effectiveness in relation to a slope stability study

Terrestrial photogrammetry has been applied during a rock slope stability investigation at Tremadoc, North Wales. The need to carry out engineering geological mapping was highlighted by an inspection of the relict coastline lying adjacent to the north side of the village, which showed the naturally occurring rock face to be in a poor condition. The problems identified indicated that continuous ravelling of small blocks would occur and, more importantly, that sections of the face—up to several hundred tonnes of material—were potentially unstable.

Atmospheric Turbidity in Saharan Dust Outbreaks as Determined by Analyses of Satellite Brightness Data

Abstract Using VHRR brightness data obtained from the NOAA 3 satellite, isopleths of aerosol Optical depth for Saharan dust have been drawn for seven days during summer 1974 over a portion of the eastern equatorial North Atlantic. The large-scale patterns reveal an elongated dust plume which emerges from a narrow region along the African coast. Thereafter, the plume moves westward and spreads laterally though maintaining rather discrete boundaries associated with sharp gradients of turbidity, especially along the southern border. Exceptionally large values of optical depth (>2.0) are found near the centers of some dust outbreaks but these high values contribute Little to the total dust loading, which, in typical episodes, are estimated to represent a loss of topsoil from Africa of ∼8 million metric tons of material in a period of 4–5 days. There appeared to be no direct intrusion of the dust plume into the ITCZ or north of 25°N in that region. Outbreaks of dust appear often to be no to the rear of a well-...

Fusion Research (I): What Is the Program Buying the Country?

The generalizations that fusion would be safer than fission, involve no dangerous radioactive materials, and rely on a cheap and plentiful fuel are potentially true. But it is pointed out that the type of fusion machine that the U.S. program is developing will deliver only some of these advantages. A gap is developing between what the fusion program appears to promise and what it is most likely to deliver. Fusion power would not be infinitely abundant, because the present reactors rely on a fuel cycle that must have lithium, and lithium is not particularly more abundant than the /sup 238/U that would fuel the breeder reactor. Fusion power would not be free of radioactive gases because the lithium would be used to breed tritium--a gas more benign than fission products but one that is hard to contain. The fusion reactor would not be free of waste disposal problems, even though the ''spent fuel'' would be nonradioactive, because the burning of the fuel would produce approximately four times as many neutrons as a fission reactor, and such a neutron flux would make all the structural materials of the reactor intensely radioactive--one estimate of the waste disposal problem is at least 250more » tons of material every year from each reactor. Finally, fusion power would not be cheap. The greatest potential advantages of fusion occur with advanced fuel cycles which include deuterium with deuterium; deuterium with helium-3; helium-3 with helium-3; and hydrogen with boron. Fusion with these fuels could be a clean process, but most research is directed toward fusion of deuterium and tritium. The funding of the program in the U.S. has seen the magnetic fusion budget exploding from $38 million in 1973 to $279 million in 1977. A second article will clarify the properties of various types of fusion reactors. (MCW)« less

Turbidity Sources in Lake Superior

Landsat data and measurements of turbidity profiles with depth, suspended solids and particle sizes are used in analysis of red clay turbidity plumes in western Lake Superior for a variety of wind conditions. The measurements allow for an estimate of the relative contribution to lake turbidity arising from shore erosion, runoff, and bottom sediment resuspension. The major source of turbidity is due to erosion, yielding an estimated 2.3 × 10° metric tons of material removed per year from the shores of Douglas County, Wisconsin. This is equivalent to a shore recession rate of nearly 1.2 m/year. During the months of May through November when all three turbidity sources contribute, 70% of the total suspended load observed in the lake is due to shore erosion, 10% is due to precipitation runoff from the rivers (with major input in this category coming from the Nemadji River), and 20% of the load is due to resuspension.

Particulate residence times

Examination of suspended particulate concentration data from a year-long, regional air-quality study of a portion of the Great Lakes area revealed that depletion of particulates occurred during extended periods of travel over water surfaces. Based on particulate concentrations and meteorological measurements, residence times of background regional particulate matter were found to be between 5 and 16 h in the region. Using a simple model for the deposition of particulate matter into the lakes, deposition rates ranging from 0.2 to 3.9, μg m−2 s−1 were found. This results, for example, in an estimated 150 metric tons of material being deposited into Lake St. Clair, area 1270 km2, during a 24 h period.

Ecology and the problems of rehabilitating wastes from mineral extraction

Ecology and the problems of rehabilitating wastes from mineral extraction

Land Reclamation and River Pollution Problems in the Croal Valley Caused by Waste from Chromate Manufacture

Chromate salts were manufactured at the Hall Chemical Works, Little Lever, near Bolton, from 1880 until 1968. All that now remains on the site is the derelict works and two heaps of waste from the process. They are up to 15 m high, and consist of several hundred thousand tonnes of material. Most of the 15-ha site is devoid of vegetation and it is a conspicuous feature of the landscape of the Croal Valley. Reclamation of the site would greatly improve the amenity of the district. It would also mitigate river pollution, for at present, rain water drains into the nearby river Croal and carries with it 3-5 t of soluble chromium every year. This effluent water has a severe effect upon the river flora. Table 1 shows the algal and macrophyte flora upstream from the effluent, as well as 200 m and 1P5 km downstream. Even 1 5 km downstream, the flora shows little sign of recovery, and there was no detectable decrease in the concentration of chromium in the river water, which varied between 0-2 and 0 5 mg Cr/l. A grass cover on the waste heaps would return half of the rain water back to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration (Ministry of Agriculture 1962) and so reduce the volume of effluent water. Two other factors would influence the amount of chromium entering the river: the degree of saturation of chromium in the effluent and the area of the heaps after they have been flattened. Reclamation schemes have been proposed by the Lancashire County Council not only to alter the unsightly waste heaps but to improve the condition of the river Croal. Part of this work was carried out as a preliminary study of these schemes.

Dissolved, suspended and bed load movement patterns in Two O'Clock Creek, Rocky Mountains, Canada, summer, 1969

During the summer of 1969, 12850 tons of material were removed as suspended sediment load, 440 tons as dissolved load and 65 tons as bed load from Two O'Clock Creek Basin in the Canadian Rockies. This is equivalent to a surface lowering of the basin by 0.0195 inches per year, a figure which agrees very well with rates of denudation reported by researchers for other mountain areas. During the peak snow melt generated flood in early June, 87 per cent of the total sediment load was exported. Most of the remainder was transported out of the basin by a secondary high flow resulting from rainfall and snow melt in early July. The single most intense rainstorm of the season on August 5 and 6 resulted in a minor increase in stream flow but no increase in sediment discharge.

Contribution of Burning of Agricultural Wastes to Photochemical Air Pollution

Agricultural wastes from orchards, grain fields, and range lands are burned each year in California as the most practical means of ridding the land of these wastes. In order to determine the relative contribution of the burning of such material to photochemical air pollution, the effluent from 1 23 fires of known weights of range brush, both dry and green, barley and rice stubble, and prunings from various fruit and nut trees were monitored in a special tower which provided an open burning situation. Analyses were made for total hydrocarbon, expressed as C, by flame ionization detection, and for 24 individual hydrocarbons by gas chromatography, as well as for CO and CO2 by infrared spectroscopy. A few analyses were made for oxides of nitrogen. These data, coupled with temperature and airflow measurements, allowed calculations to be made on pounds of effluent per ton of material burned and demonstrated that the emissions from agricultural burning are much less than those from the automobile, a principal so...