According to a UBA study, water bodies can be sources of greenhouse gases and thus contribute to climate change. In our surface waters carbon and nitrogen can be transformed into carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The type of gas that is produced, results from various biological and chemical decomposition processes of organic material. In heavily anthropogenically modified surface water, conditions are created that favour the release of greenhouse gases. Waters that have been modified by humans therefore emit more greenhouse gases. River restoration and the reconnection of floodplains can help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our surface waters. Veröffentlicht in Texte | 107/2024.
Das Projekt "Transport and fate of contaminants (WP EXPO 2)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Wasserbau durchgeführt. Transport processes: The behaviour of contaminants in the water and sediments in river basins cannot be studied without taking into account the relevant processes in the basins and the boundaries with the upstream river system and the coastal region. The rivers that flow into these coastal areas take a considerable amount of contaminated sediments which are stored for longer or shorter periods in these estuaries. Retention of sediments will take place in the low-energy areas such as the smaller tributaries in the river basin. Within this work package various empirical formulations and characteristics will be defined that typically determine the sediment retention (e.g. hydraulic load and specific runoff). The estuarine regions of a river basin represent a diverse and complex water system. The tidal motion and the density currents induced by the change from fresh to saltwater are of particular importance in describing the water quality of estuaries. In the estuary strong intrusion of saltwater landward and current reversal might occur. The coastal area is characterised by the typical oscillations of the tidal movement and has a complicated current structure resulting from the horizontal intrusion of saline water and vertical stratification due to density differences. It is obvious that the estimation of the time and spatial behaviour of the exposure of contaminants in estuaries is complicated by the effects of tidal motion and chemical behaviour. In order to have an accurate description of the fate and distribution of contaminants in estuarine regions, a carefully analysis of model concepts and implementation is needed in this work package to assess the degree of complexity and valid merging of process formulations. Bio-chemical fate processes: Besides transport processes compounds are subject to many distribution and transformation processes or reactions which determine the exposure of contaminants within a river basin. Physico-chemical processes such as sorption, partitioning and evaporation determine the distribution between the water, air and particulate phases. Most compounds are subjected to transformation or degradation reactions, such as hydrolysis, photo-degradation, redox reactions and degradation by micro-organisms. The significance of degradation processes may vary with depth. For several compounds degradation is most prominent in the upper water layers, due to photo-degradation. Biodegradation rates in the lower water column are assumed to be lower. In anoxic sediments, biodegradation rates usually are much slower than in the water column. Many trace metals and persistent organic compounds are strongly bound to particulate phases or dissolved organic material or in the case of trace metals bound to inorganic and organic ligands. Usually only a limited fraction of a specific compound is present in a truly free dissolved state and available for uptake by aquatic organisms. usw.
Das Projekt "PAB-Bambus" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von RWTH Aachen University, Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftswissenschaften für Ingenieure und Naturwissenschaftler durchgeführt. Ziele des Vorhabens sind, die Anerkennung unseres Verfahrens als Qualitätssicherungsmaßnahme in der Verarbeitung von inhomogenen organischen Werkstoffen durch akkreditierte Stellen wie z.B. den TÜV, die Reduzierung der Fertigungszeit von Rahmenstrukturen aus Bambusrohr durch Automatisierung der einzelnen Fertigungsschritte und die Verbesserung der Umweltbilanz von Rahmen aus Bambus durch die Verwendung von umweltfreundlichen Kleb- und Zusatzstoffen. Durch die schnelle Vermarktung von qualitätsgesicherten umweltfreundlichen aber manuell hergestellten Produkten generieren wir Traktion. Die Detailplanung der Automatisierung ist idealerweise das Ergebnis des Feedback zahlender Kunden. In umfangreichen Testreihen optimieren wir die Hardware und verfeinern die Algorithmen unserer optischen Deformationsanalyse. Die gewonnene Datenbasis ist Ausgangspunkt der Festlegung von Sicherheitsbeiwerten in engem Dialog mit etablierten Prüforganisationen. Mit einem Benchmark analysieren wir die Eigenschaften der wichtigsten handelsüblichen Metallrahmen. Für die Automatisierung der Rohrverbindung entwickeln wir die Vorrichtungen und Sondermaschinen der Fertigungsschritte: Zuschneiden, Positionieren, Wickeln und abschließende Feinbearbeitung. Durch das Prinzip der Werkstückführung könne wir die einzelnen Vorrichtungen mit manueller Bedienung entwickeln und sukzessive durch Universalroboter automatisieren. Für die Bewegungssteuerung der Roboter nutzen wir ROS.
Das Projekt "Bio-Teilprojekt V / Teilprojekt Schleich" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Schleich GmbH durchgeführt. Das Ziel dieses Projekts ist die Entwicklung und Qualifizierung einer neuartigen Materialklasse von TPV, welche zu größer90 Prozent aus nachwachsenden Rohstoffen bestehen (kurz: Bio-TPV). Dadurch wäre es erstmals möglich, weiche Bauteile und Hart-Weich-Verbunde vollständig aus Kunststoffen zu fertigen, die überwiegend aus nachwachsenden Rohstoffen hergestellt wurden. AP 1: Festlegung der Ausgangsparameter - Beratung bei der Auswahl geeigneter Roh- und Zusatzstoffe sowie Definition der Materialparameter und produktspezifischen Anforderungen. AP 2: Vorversuche im Laborkneter - Begleitung hinsichtlich Anwendbarkeit der entstehenden Werkstoffe. AP 3: Compoundierung auf einem Doppelschneckenextruder - Begleitung hinsichtlich Anwendbarkeit der entstehenden Werkstoffe. AP 4: Variation der Rohstoffe - Festlegung der Anwendungsparameter für die Verarbeitung des TPV im Spritzguss. AP 5: Fertigung und Untersuchung von Demonstratoren - Sicherstellung der Anwendbarkeit durch Abmusterung des neuartigen TPV. AP 6: Ökoeffizienzanalyse - Schleich liefert Beiträge und Daten zur Analyse der Ökoeffizienz. AP 7: Abschlussbericht - Beiträge zu Berichten.
Das Projekt "Sedimentdynamik in den Mangrovengebieten des Mekong- und des Ho Chi Minh - Dong Nai River Deltas" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Sektion Geowissenschaften, Institut für Geowissenschaften durchgeführt. Mangroves are widely recognised as playing a major role in coastal defence by trapping sediments in the coastal system (import), in wildlife conservation and as a key source of organic material and nutrients (export) vitally important for a wide range of marine communities. Despite this knowledge there are increasing threats to the survival of mangroves as a result of mans activities augmented by the threats of predicted sea level rise. Due to the needs of agriculture, aquaculture, buildings but mainly because of the loss of timber by the application of defoliants during the second Indochina war, Vietnam lost huge areas of mangrove forests. Today Vietnam has the biggest reforestation programs all over the world. Nevertheless there is a critical need to get a better understanding of mangrove structure and functioning. The aim of the studies is to investigate the up to now poorly known influence of natural and reforested mangroves to changes in coastal processes and coastline development. A better understanding of the interaction between mangrove species, hydrodynamics and morpho- and sediment-dynamics with regard to rehabilitated and natural mangroves stands is envisaged. The studies focus on short-term timescales like events, days, seasons and years. The final goal is to elaborate sediment budgets for selected key areas to get a better understanding of future coastal evolution.
Das Projekt "Exzellenzcluster 80 (EXC): Ozean der Zukunft" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität zu Kiel, Mathematisches Seminar, Arbeitsgruppe Angewandte Mathematik durchgeführt. The biotic uptake of carbon of the ocean crucially depends on near surface vertical mixing processes. Vertical mixing transports the essential nutrients from the aphotic to the euphotic zone where photosynthesis can take place. This upward flux of nutrients is (in steady state) in turn balanced by the export of organic materials down to the aphotic zone, i.e. it is directly related to the biotically induced carbon drawdown in the ocean (the biological carbon pump). In ocean models these processes have to be parameterized since not all spatial scales can be resolved. These parametrizations are still a source of large uncertainties concerning the carbon uptake of the oceans. In this project, we aim to improve the parameterization of near surface vertical mixing processes. We propose to apply a 3-D non-hydrostatic Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) model to the surface ocean to explicitly resolve spatial scales ranging from 500m down to 1 m. The results will be compared with different state-of-the-art parameterizations of vertical mixing as used in the existing global ocean circulation models (e.g. Kiel Climate Model, FLAME). The intention is to optimize parameters associated with the parameterizations of vertical mixing and, subsequently, to examine the sensitivity of modeled carbon uptake (as modeled with an ecosystem coupled to a global ocean circulation model) on the optimized parameterizations.
Das Projekt "Bio-Teilprojekt V / Teilprojekt SKZ" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von SKZ - KFE gGmbH durchgeführt. Das Ziel dieses Projekts ist die Entwicklung einer neuartigen Materialklasse von TPV, welche zu größer90 Prozent aus nachwachsenden Rohstoffen bestehen (kurz: Bio-TPV). Dadurch wäre es erstmals möglich, Hart-Weich-Verbunde vollständig aus Kunststoffen zu fertigen, die überwiegend aus nachwachsenden Rohstoffen hergestellt wurden. AP 1: Festlegung der Ausgangsparameter - Recherche und Auswahl geeigneter Roh- und Zusatzstoffe sowie Definition der Materialparameter und produktspezifischen Anforderungen. AP 2: Vorversuche im Laborkneter - Begleitung der Versuche auf einem Laborkneter mit Basis-Rezeptur. Ableitung geeigneter Verfahrenskonzepte für einen reproduzierbaren Compoundierprozess. AP 3: Compoundierung auf einem Doppelschneckenextruder - In diesem Arbeitsschritt werden die Rezepturen und Aussagen zu den Verarbeitungsbedingungen aus Arbeitspaket 2 auf einen gleichlaufenden Doppelschneckenextruder im Technikumsmaßstab übertragen. AP 4: Variation der Rohstoffe - Optimierung des Compounds durch Additive und andere Rohstoffe. Festlegung der Anwendungsparameter für die Verarbeitung des TPV im Spritzguss. AP 5: Fertigung und Untersuchung von Demonstratoren. AP 6: Ökoeffizienzanalyse. AP 7: Abschlussbericht
Das Projekt "Pollution at coke works - measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the atmosphere within the environs and in the neighbourhood of coke works - Phase II" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von DMT-Gesellschaft für Forschung und Prüfung, Institut für Kokserzeugung und Kohlechemie durchgeführt. Objective: The main aims of the research project are to - harmonize the measuring procedures for conditions at the place of work and in the environment of coking plants - to find out more about the passage of PAH emissions from coking plants through the atmosphere and their effects. General Information: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are formed in the pyrolysis of organic material, e.g. in the coking of hard coal. Although the major proportion of the PAH produced in the coking plant is separated out of the crude gas together with the tar, and then undergoes further treatment, a certain amount can still be emitted into the atmosphere and thus affect both the workers at the plant and the population living in the environment. This is particularly important since some PAH e.g. benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), are considered carcinogenic. To investigate the related questions, a joint research project was carried out and provided answers to several highly complex questions, e.g.: - harmonization of analysis methods - harmonization of sampling methods for measuring emissions - drawing up balance sheets for PAH in emissions, at places of work and in the environment - the implementation of new techniques e.g. LAMMA measuring procedure, mutagenesis tests. Other problems, some of which arose during the investigations, could not be solved satisfactorily for lack of either time or financial resources. In particular, it was not possible to harmonize the sampling methods of the three organisations for measurements at the place of work and in the environment of coking plants. Although this had no influence on the assessment of the results achieved in each Member State, it was impossible to compare these results where they had been obtained under conditions peculiar to coking in specific Member States i.e. different coal types, coking conditions, environmental protection facilities, oven design etc. The US Environmental Protection Agency's most recent decision to classify coking oven emissions as dangerous pollutants and the effects of this decision on legislation in Europe make this type of information increasingly important. It was therefore agreed to tackle the outstanding questions in a follow-up project.
Das Projekt "Delta13C of particulate organic material in the Southern Ocean" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Stiftung Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung e.V. in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft (AWI) durchgeführt.
Das Projekt "Intelligent low-cost system for fume control during laser material processing" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von UST Umweltsensortechnik GmbH durchgeführt. Problems to filter gaseous harmful substances efficiently and to monitor the clean air quality when processing organic materials using lasers have not been solved sufficiently. When processing organic materials with lasers a very complex mixture of particulate and gaseous laser generated air contaminants (LGACs) is emitted. Today, for economic reasons, most of the laser units in Europe are equipped with commercial activated carbon filters to adsorb the gaseous LGACs. However, the operation reliability of an activated carbon system is limited with respect to the complex mixtures of gaseous LGACs, so that the quality of the clean air is unknown and inadmissible contamination of the clean air cannot be avoided safely. Up to now, no low-cost sensor system for LGACs is available on the market, affordable for SMEs. The low-cost system to be developed shall be used to both monitor the quality of the clean air, and to be integrated into a closed loop for the ventilation and filter system to optimise their operation efficiency with respect to the LGACs.