Das Projekt "Heterogen und homogen katalysierte elektochemische Gasreinigung zur Entschwefelung und Entstickung" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von DECHEMA Forschungsinstitut Stiftung bürgerlichen Rechts durchgeführt. General Information: An increasing market is developing for the purification of off-gases from smaller power stations, heating combustion units and chemical plants producing such waste gases. It is the purpose of the project to develop the scientific and engineering fundamentals which are necessary for the industrial realisation of such processes. Based on a thermodynamic screening of possible reaction pathways several alternative routes will be investigated. This will result in the creation of new and innovative electro-catalytic processes. The thermodynamically possible reaction schemes will be investigated with respect to their kinetics. Also the economically important rate of the absorption step and the possibilities of absorption capacity enhancement will be intensively studied. Improvements of absorption column design, optimization of electrochemical packed bed cell and process steps for the product/homogeneous catalyst separation will be studied. The most promising process concepts for so2 and NOx removal will be selected and studied in pilot plants. Achievements: partners in this project developed two new electrochemical processes for gas purification. These processes produce less chemical waste by using electrons, rather than chemicals, as a reagent to remove sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide. The processes are being tested under industrial conditions and could be used for pollution control in small plants and combustion units in the future.
Das Projekt "Coordination action on Environmental Technology Verification ETV - Building a framework for international cooperation (ADVANCEETV)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von DECHEMA Forschungsinstitut Stiftung bürgerlichen Rechts durchgeführt. Objective: AdvanceETV aims to demonstrate that the proposed schemes and protocols for Environmental Technologies Verification systems have the potential to be recognised internationally. Thus the main objective is to develop an international framework for cooperation and mutual recognition by supporting the cooperation of international ETV activities, e.g the International Working Group (IWG). This requires support by joint coordination activities: - Providing a European basis for mutual recognition - Coordinating requirements for co-verification and joint verification - Developing a framework for international harmonization. The European basis will be elaborated through integrating previous and on-going European RTD. This is done by bringing together protocols/verification reports out of the FP6 projects, consolidating stakeholder feedback of RTD and EC activities and by integrating experiences out of the CEN workshop agreement (CWA) elaboration and use. To raise awareness on gaps and overlaps of international cooperation a case study workshop on co- and joint verification will be initiated together with U.S. and Canadian partners. To foster recognition by harmonisation a standardisation framework will be identified to prepare the initiation of a standardisation procedure. Cross cutting issue workshops ensure feedback and exchange between these different areas. To bring forward mutual recognition, to support cooperation by co-/joint verification and harmonisation requires a strong link to international ETV activities and the IWG on ETV. A confirmed expert board with ETV system representatives from Canada, U.S., South Korea, Japan and others provides the direct link here. This concept supports the working structure of the CA: focused on a series of conferences, coordinated with international ETV activities, serving as a platform for incremental consolidation of the international framework.
Das Projekt "Fire Detection and Management through a Multi-Sensor Network for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Areas from the Risk of Fire and Extreme Weather Conditions (FIRESENSE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Centre for Research and Technology Hellas durchgeführt. Objective: The proposed project aims to develop an automatic early warning system to remotely monitor areas of archaeological and cultural interest from the risk of fire and extreme weather conditions. Since these areas have been treasured and tended for very long periods of time, they are usually surrounded by old and valuable vegetation or situated close to forest regions, which exposes them to an increased risk of fire. Additionally, extreme weather conditions (such as storms and floods) pose great risks for these sites. The proposed system will take advantage of recent advances in multi-sensor surveillance technologies, using a wireless sensor network capable of monitoring different modalities (e.g. temperature) andoptical and infrared cameras, as well as local weather stations on the deployment site. The signals collected from these sensors will be transmitted to a monitoring center, which will employ intelligent computer vision and pattern recognition algorithms as well as data fusion techniques to automatically analyze sensor information. The proposed system will be capable of generating automatic warning signals for local authorities whenever a dangerous situation arises. Detecting the starting position of a fire is only the first step in fire fighting. After detecting a wildfire, the main focus should be the estimation of the propagation direction and speed in order to help forest fire management. FIRESENSE will provide real-time information about the evolution of fire using wireless sensor network data. Furthermore, it will estimate the propagation of the fire based on the fuel model of the area and other important parameters such as wind speed, slope, and aspect of the ground surface. Finally, a 3-D Geographic Information System (GIS) environment will provide visualisation of the predicted fire propagation.Demonstrator deployments will be operated in selected sites in Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and Italy.
Das Projekt "Development and application of environmental Life Cycle Impact assessment Methods for imProved sustAinability Characterisation of Technologies (LC-IMPACT)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universiteit Nijmegen durchgeführt. Objective: LC-IMPACT is a 3-year project and its main objective is the development and application of life cycle impact assessment methods, characterisation and normalisation factors. Impact from land use, water use, marine, mineral and fossil resource use, ecotoxicity and human toxicity, and a number of non-toxic emission-related impact categories will be considered in LC-IMPACT. First, new impact assessment methods will be developed for categories that are not (commonly) included in life cycle impact assessments and categories for which model uncertainties are very high, i.e. land use, water exploitation, resource use, and noise. Second, LC-IMPACT will provide spatially explicit characterisation factors based on global scale models for land use, water exploitation, toxicants, priority air pollutants, and nutrients. Thirdly, parameter uncertainty and value choices will be assessed for impact categories with high uncertainties involved, such as ecotoxicity and human toxicity. Fourthly, ready-to-use characterisation factors will be calculated and reported. Fifthly, normalisation factors for Europe and the world will be calculated for the impact categories included. Sixthly, the improved decision support of the new characterisation factors and normalisation factors will be demonstrated in the context of the following three case studies: - Food production (fish, tomatoes, margarine) - Paper production and printing - Automobile manufacturing and operation. Finally, verification and dissemination of the new life cycle impact assessment methods and factors will be done by a portfolio of actions, such as stakeholder consultation, a project website, workshops, course developments, and training of user groups. In short, LC-IMPACT will provide improved, globally applicable life cycle impact assessment methods, characterisation and normalisation factors, that can be readily used in the daily practice of life cycle assessment studies.
Das Projekt "Development and application of standardized methodology for the PROspective SUstaInability assessment of TEchnologies (PROSUITE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Utrecht durchgeführt. Objective: The main goal of PROSUITE is to develop a framework methodology, operational methods and tools for the sustainability assessment of current and future technologies over their life cycle, applicable to different stages of maturity. The project will apply the methodology for four technology cases with close consultation of the stakeholders involved, which includes cases from biorefineries, nanotechnology, information technologies, and carbon storage and sequestration. PROSUITE will show: - how to combine technology forecasting methods with life cycle approaches - how to develop and possibly combine the economic, environmental and social sustainability dimensions in a standardized, comprehensive, and broadly accepted way. PROSUITE will create a solid research basis for technology characterization, including the identification of decisive technology features, basic engineering modules for estimations of material flows and energy use, and learning curves. For the economic assessment, methods for the assessment for economic and sectoral impacts of novel technologies will be developed and combined with background data for scenario-based life-cycle inventory modelling. For the environmental assessment, state-of-the-art environment indicators will be proposed together with targeted method development for the assessment of geographically explicit land and water use impacts, metal toxicity and outdoor nanoparticle exposure. For the social assessment, a set of quantitative and qualitative social indicators will be selected via participatory approaches, setting the standard for future assessments. The use of various multicriteria assessment methods will be explored to aggregate across indicators. The methods developed will be part of a decision support system, which will be output as open source modular software.