APRÈN. Portal de la producció docent del professorat de la UPC

This master's thesis focuses on the study, design and implementation of a water purification system for a rural area in the municipality of La Dorada, Caldas, Colombia. The research arises from the need to improve the quality of drinking water in a small rural population that faces difficulties of access and lacks an adequate supply. Through a detailed analysis of the current water supply situation, the main deficiencies in the existing system and the risks associated with the quality of the water consumed are identified, thus determining the various drinking water treatment technologies available in the state of the art, evaluating their applicability and sustainability in the local context. Based on this review, a drinking water treatment system using BSF biosand filtration and solar disinfection SODIS is proposed. This method minimizes the use of chemical substances, prioritizing the reduction of environmental impact and is economically viable for the community. In this way, it not only seeks to improve water quality, but also to make the system replicable and easy to operate by local inhabitants, who lack specialized technical training. Finally, after obtaining the results of its implementation, it was found that some improvements should be made in the system in order to guarantee water quality but because it is much more economical and contributes to a lower environmental impact, has great potential to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants.

The objective of this project is the optimization of resources, specifically, the recycling of gray water by applying physicochemical treatment systems to recycle this water in personal hygiene in the locker rooms of sports facilities. The aim is to study the physicochemical quality of this gray water obtained from the showers of sports facilities, thus generating a report with the most viable option for water recycling, verifying if the water can be used for reuse for personal hygiene, saving a very important volume of water and reduce the environmental impact generated by sports activities in the consumption of water in large quantities. The final objective is the installation of a pilot plant for the regeneration of water obtained from the changing rooms and its recycling and reuse for showers.

Són diferents els serveis que brinden els ecosistemes, des de serveis fonamentals com la provisió d'aigua i regulació del clima a serveis recreatius i culturals, varia el tipus de servei en un ecosistema i l'altre. Diversos estudis mostren la importància d'aquests ecosistemes en el benestar humà i el grau d'afectació que tenen per les activitats antròpiques i per fenòmens naturals. S'està accelerant l'escalfament global, extingint espècies, sobreexplotant els recursos naturals, tot això afecta el bon funcionament dels ecosistemes. La Jalca és un lloc que ha estat escenari destudis botànics, ecològics i econòmics, per la seva importància en la conservació del medi ambient i provisió de serveis ecosistèmics. En aquest estudi es va proposar com a objectiu identificar, descriure i analitzar els serveis ecosistèmics prioritaris de Jalca de Cajamarca i el seu estat de conservació. L'escenari de l'estudi està entre els 3000 i 4200 m s. n. m., té clima fred, de mitjana 10 °C i alta precipitació al voltant de 1000 mm. Es va fer servir la diferent literatura disponible per complir aquest objectiu. Com a resultat es va obtenir que els serveis d'alta prioritat són: la provisió d'aigua, la regulació del clima (captura de carboni per les torberes), els valors espirituals i les plantes medicinals. La Jalca proveeix aigua a ciutats de Cajamarca i Lambayeque per als seus diferents usos. Es van comptabilitzar 300 llacunes presents a totes les conques. La Jalca emmagatzema carboni a les seves torberes que poden arribar fins a 7 metres de profunditat, s'estima que de mitjana hi ha 7103.2 t de carboni orgànic per hectàrea. A més, és una font de coneixement tradicional i espiritual que s'ha conservat en el temps, es creu als apus, al vent, la pluja i en alguns animals que tenen significat mític. És un banc de medicines que proveeix amb 437 plantes per a diferents afeccions.

Currently, the Provincial Municipality of Piura in Peru lacks an Integrated Solid Waste Plan (PIR), which means that all the waste generated is deposited in open dumps in the vicinity of the city. Following an analysis of the current situation, the serious consequences of this deficient management have been identified. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to develop a design for a Sorting Plant that will contribute to reduce the impact caused by waste and promote the progress of the municipality. The selected plant is a Triage and Composting Plant, with Compost as one of the main products, due to the high agricultural activity in the area. The integral design of the plant contemplates the initial definition of the necessary characteristics for the work flow. This process is divided into three parts: waste reception and unloading, pretreatment and classification, and composting. The flow to be followed, the distribution of space and the machinery requirements necessary for each area have been designed. The final products include recovered materials and compost. In addition, the design of auxiliary processes, such as odor and leachate control, has been included in order to minimize the environmental impact on the local community. Finally, an estimated budget for the implementation of the project is presented, as well as a plan that facilitates the understanding of the internal layout of the plant.

The availability and quality of fresh water is one of the main problems we are currently facing. Protecting and conserving water is of vital importance for this reason. One of the main consequences of this problem is the climate change because it causes the deterioration of this resource. To deal with this problem, alternatives such as desalination plants have been developed. This resource makes it possible to save and use sea water to provide suitable water to a large part of the population. On the one hand, the main objectives of this work is to carry out an extensive bibliographic search about conventional desalination technologies and, above all, on those that are in the process of research and development to deal with this problem. On the other hand, to make an extensive bibliographic study about membrane distillation, a new desalination technology,to carry out a rigorous experimental part. This experimental part aims to optimize the working conditions of a membrane distillation system (flow rate and temperature), studying the effect of the salt concentration in the feedwater on the system, as well as the effects derived from treating real salt water (sea water and brine). Finally, the experimental results obtained will be compared with the literature results. From the results obtained experimentally, contrasted and reasoned from the bibliographic documentation it is obtained that the membrane distillation process by direct contact is effective to desalinate water. Although this method is favored at higher feed temperatures and lower salt concentrations in the feed stream, it performs well in real water streams (sea water and brine), resulting in high rejection values and demonstrating its effectiveness in real life (at least, on a laboratory scale). Finally, an evaluation of the environmental impact and the economic value of the work is done in order to determine the viability of the project, concluding that before studying its implementation on a larger scale it would be necessary to carry out tests at pilot scale.

There is currently a great energy demand, which is why the amount of radioactive waste produced has increased considerably, mainly due to the growing use of nuclear power plants in the generation of electrical energy. That is why proper management of spent nuclear fuels (SNF) is very important. Today, one of the most viable solutions for the correctmanagement of SNF is storage in deep geological formations (DGF), DGF would be a definitive solution for nuclear waste, which consists of isolating and confining the SNF to deep geological formations based on a multi-barrier system whose objective is to ensure that the traffic time until the arrival in the biosphere of any stored radionuclide that could be released is long enough to avoid a major impact on man and the environment. One of the problems that most arises are the fact that the barrier can fail and that there could be leaks of groundwater and at the same time release of radionuclides (RN) contained in it. Therefore, to guarantee safety, it is necessary to develop models that can predict the long-term behavior of SNF in contact with groundwater, as well as the migration of NR into the environment. This work focuses on the study and location of RADIONUCLIDES IN SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL PILLS AND THEIR RELEASE IN GROUNDWATER FROM DEEP GEOLOGICAL STORAGE. The study of the release of nine elements (U, Pu, Nd, Cs, Sr, Mo, Tc, Ru and Rh) in different types of fuels and samples was carried out. The experimental values are obtained from other studies and have allowed us to carry out the adjustments using a semi-empirical mathematical model called SERNIM, which is obtained in (1). 6 samples have been studied with burnup degrees (GC): 42 GWd/tU, 54 GWd/tU and 60 GWd/tU), types of fuel (BWR and PWR), all samples being pellets, two samples for each GQ, MID and FULL, these samples corresponding to different areas of the tablet, and bicarbonate (BIC) as lixiviant. The results for Cs and Sr are as expected for all the cases studied. For Ru and Rh the expected results are also obtained since their solubility is not governed by the fuel matrix. A better fit was expected for Pu, and it was observed that in most cases the fit was above the experimental values, but even so, the evolution of Pu is consistent with SERNIM. Finally, with the Nd, the Mo, and the Tc, it is observed that the 3 RN are congruent with the uranium for high BU values, especially for the samples of a BU 60GWd/tU.

In this paper, a statistical analysis of the concentrations of a total of 62 atmospheric pollutants corresponding to volatile organic compounds, collected in a total of 12 different Catalan locations during the year 2020, has been carried out. After locating the localities according to the nearby industrial zones, the concentration data have been compared with those collected during the year 2019, calculating the evolution of the concentrations, performing the Student test and comparing graphically using box plots. It has been studied which are the most abundant volatile organic compounds in the different localities, individually and in classification by chemical groups. Finally, the effect that the confinement stage caused by the COVID-19 virus has had on the concentration values of volatile organic compounds, which substances have been affected in different locations, individually and in chemical groups, has been studied. From this it has been possible to conclude that most of the substances studied have decreased their concentration during the confinement stage.

The objective of this research is to prepare a study on the recovery of pig waste in Catalonia and Mexico to contribute to the circular economy. This project will contribute to solving the problem as alternative recovery proposals are implemented that have a high added value for the waste in which all its benefits are not used. To carry out this research, the methodology used was a search for general information on the pig meat production process in Catalonia and Mexico, identification of the entities located within the perimeters of pig slaughterhouses, determination of synergies between slaughterhouses in Mexico. and Catalonia and these entities, analysis of the recovery of waste generated in the production process of the pig sector in Catalonia and Mexico, preparation of a flow chart and a study of the recovery of waste generated in the production process of the pig sector to present an alternative proposal that contributes to the circular economy. According to the results obtained, there are around 15 unit operations for the pig meat production process and the procedures are the same in both countries for the management of pig exploitation, Catalonia is at a more advanced level than Mexico due to that their ordinances are classified into categories which determine the final destination for the recovery of these wastes. On the other hand, in Mexico they are only classified and not described by category, making it more difficult to determine the appropriate valuation for each waste. Alternative proposals were presented for the recovery of swine waste that convert this into raw material for other companies, especially for hair that do not have great added value in either of the two countries, allowing this sector to make its transition from the linear model to a circular model .

In 2019, the average of municipal waste per capita in Catalunya was of 1,48 kg/citizen per day, which is the equivalent of 256 kg/citizen by year, and that is a total of 4.037.309 tons by year in Catalunya. Of that amount, more than a half was collected as general waste, which implies that only 44,8% of total municipal waste generation was separated in their appropriate fractions. This number is an average, calculated including the total number of Catalan municipalities. However, there are some municipalities that double the selective collection rate and others that only achieve a 12%. The significant variations between the selective collection rates of the different municipalities are mainly due to the waste collection model implemented in each one of them. In this project, the different existing models are evaluated to determine which one leads to better selective collection results. First, a compilation of the most common existing models at Catalan level is maid, such as door-to-door waste collection, the use of containers or the combination of both models in the same territory. Next, the average of selective collection rates by type of system implemented was calculated. One of the main porpoises of this analysis is to serve as a guide for municipal waste management decision making, that is, to help determine which collection system is the most appropriate depending on the type of territory and what results can be achieved. Ion the other hand, and since the European Union has established increasingly demanding measures and objectives in terms of recycling, this work also covers this point and analyses the degree of compliance with the objectives set by European Directives (D2008 / 98 / CE, D2018 / 851 (CE) and D 2018/852 (CE)).

In the following TFG the protective values of chemical pollutants of reused water for different uses are studied with the aim of knowing the minimum requirements that these waters have to meet to allow safe use without causing any adverse effect. Studies have been carried out on the basis of the treatments for the elimination of these pollutants in wastewater leaving treatment plants and regeneration stations. The latter consists of basic and advanced treatments that in this work have focused more on the basic treatments of ERA. The quality of the water that is legally required and the treatments necessary to control the microbiological risk have also been studied in depth, with special attention to environmental uses for the maintenance of minimum flows and pre-drinking use. From the studies carried out, a methodology based on a legislative and technical hierarchy has been developed and it has been applied to a case study of the quality of the outlet water of WWTP and ERA as a representation of the facilities of Prat de Llobregat, since this It is important worldwide for its design flow, distinguishing the macro and micro pollutants it contains. In the case of environmental use, various regulated pollutants have been found that would prevent direct use of the water from the WWTP and the ERA and that would require additional treatment to guarantee the quality required for such use. In the pre potable case, the values of the ERA case study have been compared with the values, of the hierarchy to calculate what the reduction in DWTP has to be in order to comply with the drinking water requirements. The use of these diagnoses has made it possible to see alternatives for basic treatment of the ERA water to improve and control its quality.

During the last decades, the implementation of dynamic systems based on investigations of aquatic ecosystems and their relationship with their surroundings has generated studies and applications related to statistical modeling. The intention is to complement verbal models into abstract and complex systems. The study presented here builds a model for water quality evaluation in Alalay pond, Cochabamba, Bolivia, by means dynamic systems, developing analyses of the physical, chemical and biological components. Alalay pond is the largest freshwater lentic waterbody in the ecoregion known as South American Interandean Dry Valley. At the landscape level, the pond is one of the most important urban ecosystems due to its extension and biodiversity. Between years 1979-2020, several scientific studies were carried on the pond with the aim to understand the limnology of the pond. The present study includes a model proposed in 1999 for the analysis of the complexity in shallow aquatic ecosystems and the multiple alternative states that can arise due to the conditions affecting the ecosystem. Working with historical data comprising field measurements, four variables or subsystems were grouped to be used in the design of a causal diagram through which relational information could be derived. Afterwards, a series of variations within the dynamic model were programmed in NetLogo.

Litoral of Besòs in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona is one of the greatest receptors of environmental loads due to the mouth of the Besós river to the sea, which is under the influence of agricultural and livestock activities upstream, as well as the location of the industrial sector, urban dynamics and infrastructures of great importance for water, waste and energy management. These environmental loads can be recognized through the analysis of urban flows, water, energy and waste. By understanding urban metabolism, it is possible to identify causes and effects and subsequently potential industrial synergies that promote the circular economy and contribute to the improvement of environmental quality.

En el presente trabajo se estudia el funcionamiento de una planta piloto de tratamiento de agua freática en el municipio de Sant Adriá del Besós, para reducir los niveles de amonio, arsénico, hierro y manganeso por debajo de los límites de la legislación actual. La planta piloto contiene dos líneas, la primera basada en procesos de membrana y la segunda, que es la que se operó, compuesta de unidades de filtración, adsorción e intercambio iónico. El principal objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar su funcionamiento y ajustarlo, con el fin de aprovechar el recurso para consumo humano, uso industrial u otros potenciales usos. Para cumplir con el objetivo propuesto, se operó la planta piloto y se tomaron muestras de agua de cada unidad de proceso, así como del agua de entrada. Las muestras se analizaron mediante cromatografía iónica, valoración ácido-base, espectrofotometría UV-Vis y Espectrometría de Masas con Plasma Acoplado Inductivamente (ICP-MS). Los resultados obtenidos indican que las unidades de tratamiento de la línea 2 son efectivas para la eliminación de sustancias contaminantes del agua, aunque no todas ellas se lograron reducir por debajo de los límites establecidos por la normativa vigente para diferentes usos. En tal sentido, los parámetros críticos fueron amonio, sodio, conductividad eléctrica, magnesio y cadmio. Se destacan positivamente las reducciones individuales de calcio (99,31%), magnesio (97,89%), manganeso (99,53%), plomo (94,83%) y arsénico (87,99%). El costo total del proyecto fue de 13.378,6 €. Las emisiones de CO2 provenientes del uso de energía eléctrica durante su realización ascendieron a 0,002 kg CO2/kg de agua producida

El creixement de la població, l'increment de la demanda d'aliments, l'ús dels recursos de manera ineficient, els impactes ambientals i les elevades taxes de malbaratament alimentari a tots els nivells del sistema necessiten una transició cap a pràctiques més sostenibles. Aquests fets han provocat que la recerca científica hagi augmentat l'interès en l'economia circular com a eina per a aprofitar el potencial que tenen els subproductes de la indústria alimentària, reduint així les pèrdues d'energia i matèria. En aquesta línia es troben branques d'estudi amb la voluntat d'aconseguir el tancament de cicle de materials i substàncies, reduint tant el consum de recursos com els abocaments al medi. La producció de porc a Catalunya és una de les indústries més potents en termes de beneficis econòmics del sector, tant a nivell català com espanyol, tot i això demanda grans quantitats de recursos naturals i genera grans fluxos de residus. El present estudi té com a objectiu fer una proposta de tancament de cicle de matèria d'un escorxador de porcs tipus per contribuir a l'economia circular. Per arribar a l'objectiu s'ha visitat un escorxador de porcs a la comarca d'Osona, així com també una empresa de valorització de subproductes d'escorxadors, situada a la Garrotxa, per tal de fer l'anàlisi dels subproductes d'un escorxador de porcs tipus. Al mateix temps s'ha tingut en compte la informació extreta de l'exemple de simbiosi agroindustrial entorn a un clúster situat a Penjamo (Guanajuato, Mèxic). Finalment, s'han estudiat a fons les diferents valoritzacions possibles per als subproductes d'escorxador porcí a través de l'anàlisi de la literatura. S'ha conclòs principalment que la legislació és el factor més important de partida a l'hora de valoritzar subproductes animals, que la major part de subproductes d'escorxador ja és valoritzen i que falta recerca per poder trobar valoritzacions de més valor afegit.

El principal problema de l'energia nuclear està relacionat amb la gestió dels residus radioactius, en particular, del combustible nuclear gastat (CNG). Degut a l'augment en la producció a les centrals nuclears d'energia elèctrica, es genera una major quantitat de residus que cal guardar en algun lloc. Per això mateix és necessari que el CNG s'emmagatzemi de manera segura; a Europa l'opció escollida és la construcció d'un magatzem geològic profund (AGP), en el qual s'aïllen i confinen els residus en formacions geològiques profundes basades en un sistema multibarrera que tenen com a objectiu assegurar que el temps de trànsit fins l'arribada a la biosfera de qualsevol radionúclid (RN) emmagatzemat que es pogués alliberar sigui suficientment llarg per evitar un gran impacte en l'ésser humà i el medi ambient (Astudillo Pastor & Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos (España), 2001). El problema que aquesta solució presenta es produeix en el cas de què la barrera falli i l'aigua subterrània arribi al CNG, provocant la seva dissolució i alhora l'alliberament dels radionúclids continguts en aquest. Per això es molt important conèixer quin és el comportament de cada RN present al CNG en el moment del seu alliberament. Aquest treball es centra en l'estudi de la localització i el comportament dels productes de fissió (PF) que es troben al CNG una vegada irradiat al reactor. En concret, s'ha dut a terme l'estudi de l'alliberació de quatre RN (U, Cs, Mo i Pu) en diferents tipus de combustible i de mostres. Els valors experimentals utilitzats en aquest treball han estat obtinguts d'altres estudis anteriors i s'han utilitzat per realitzar l'ajust dels valors experimentals d'urani mitjançant un model matemàtic semi-empíric anomenat SERNIM i per obtenir els paràmetres del model i així poder predir l'alliberació del cesi, el molibdè i el plutoni. S'han estudiat onze mostres amb diferents graus de cremat (Entre 42 MW·d/kgU i 60 MW·d/kgU), tipus de combustible (BWR i PWR), tipus de mostra (en pols de la part interna i externa del CNG o en pastilla) i diferents tipus de lixiviant (BIC i aigües de ciment). Els resultats obtinguts pel cesi i el plutoni en mostres en pols s'adeqüen al que s'esperava, en canvi el molibdè presenta un comportament totalment diferent a l'esperat tot i que ja es tenia una idea de què això passaria i per això mateix es va triar aquest RN en concret, per comprovar-ho. Respecte als resultats de les mostres de pastilles senceres de combustible, tant pel cesi com pel molibdè s'arriba a la conclusió de què tots dos s'alliberen independentment de la matriu del combustible i en cap cas es té en compte l'urani durant l'alliberació d'aquests. El plutoni mostra el comportament que s'esperava excepte per les mostres HBU amb aigües de ciment com a lixiviant, en les quals és possible que es produeixi la precipitació de fases secundàries que no han sigut estudiades encara i que poden ser motiu de nous estudis degut a la importància d'aquest actínid al combustible.

An exposure experiment will be carried out in an artificial marine mesocosm (AAM) where mussels will be exposed to a mixture of environmental contaminants at relevant environmental concentrations. Specimens with a uniform size distribution will be used, they will be fed daily during the acclimation and experiment periods. Two aquariums will be used for the exposed groups and two for the controls. All groups will be held in the same conditions except the presence of contaminants that will be exclusively in the exposed groups.

Inventari de dades ambientals a l'aire, aigua superficial i subterrània, sòls i biodiversitat del litoral Besòs. Definició d'indicadors ambientals per conèixer l'estat ambiental present i futur.

Los residuos radioactivos generados debido a la producción de electricidad están confinados en repositorios aislados. Puesto que el cemento es usado en las barreras de aislamiento, así como material de sellado, es importante estudiar el efecto de las aguas cementosas en contacto con el combustible usado ya que estos materiales pueden jugar un rol importante como barreras químicas y física para la liberación de radionuclideo en el entorno. Se realizó una revisión del proceso de electrodeposición del UO2 para modificar electrodos comerciales (Dropsens). Ello permitió realizar experimentos electroquímicos y así como comprender el comportamiento de la matriz de combustible en condiciones hiper alcalinas con disoluciones de Ca y Si. Se usaron dos tiempos de deposición: 15-min y 60-min; los resultados más reproducibles fueron obtenidos por el electrodo electrodepositado en 60-min así que este fue usado para realizar el resto de los experimentos. Se registraron ciclo-voltamogramas usando tres tipos de electrolitos: Na+Cl- 0,1 M; Na+Cl- 0,1 M, SiO3-2 0,001M; Na+Cl- 0,1 M, SiO3-2 0,001M y Ca2+ 0,0001 M, todos ellos a pH=12. Se realizaron experimentos potencioestáticos y de potencial de corrosión para determinar el efecto de los iónes Ca y Si en el proceso de oxidación. Los CVS mostraron seis regiones definidas donde ocurrieron los procesos de oxidación y reducción, los resultados potencioestáticos revelaron que la densidad de corriente más alta fue obtenida para el SiO3 -2 y Ca2+, SiO3 -2 , y la densidad de corriente más baja fue obtenidapara el Na+Cl. El valor del potencial de corrosión obtenido para Na+Clfue de 42mV, 40 mV para el SiO3 -2 y -2 mV para el SiO3 -2 y Ca2+. Estos resultados demuestran que ambos iones refuerzan la formación de productos de corrosión protectores en la superficie del electrodo, actuando como inhibidores y/o bloqueando el proceso de corrosión del combustible.

This document presents a proposal for an Environmental Restoration Plan called Guardianas/es del Lago, which involves phytoremediation using macrophytes, The plan is designed with the participation of the local population, and proposes to reduce the current pollution that exists in Lake San Pablo. To design it in accordance with reality, a diagnosis of the physical and chemical conditions, identification of the plankton and macrophytes of the lake has been carried out, as well as a socio-anthropological inquiry to assess the population's perceptions and willingness to participate in the project. In addition, the GAD of the city of Otavalo (Municipality) support the project, and they are going to lead the plan. The environmental restoration plan Guardianas/es del Lago was designed with previous information for the diagnosis of the conditions of the lake. This plan contains two programs: the first one refers to the technical aspects and is based on the bibliographic review to define the species to be planted, the area needed to eliminate pollutants, and the techniques of sowing and cultivation. The second contains the strategies to implement and maintain the program over time, which have been guided by cases of citizen participation in social projects, these strategies have been designed according to the socio-economic and cultural reality of the area, promoting the commitment and care of the environment.