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Co-pyrolysis of solid oily waste for efficient waste reduction and energy recovery in marine oil spill response
No full textDespite substantial advances in cleaning up marine spills, solid oily waste generation during a spill is an inevitable problem that could easily exceed the capacity of locally available waste management facilities. This thesis developed a pyrolysis system to cope with multiple oily solid waste streams simultaneously. The treatment of contaminated sorbent through co-pyrolysis with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that are two types of solid oily waste in marine oil spill
response was carried out in a heating mantle system over temperature and heating rate ranges of 350 to 550 °C and 5 to 20 °C/min, respectively. Response surface method was applied to evaluate the main and interaction effects of three experimental factors (contaminated sorbent ratio in feedstock, heating rate, and temperature) on pyrolysis oil and gas yields. It was found that gas yield decreased while the oil yield increased with raising the contaminated sorbent percentage in feedstock. Total weight loss as high as 99.6% (liquid; 96.8%, gas; 2.8%, and char; 0.4%) and 84.4% (liquid; 77.4%, gas; 7.0%, and char; 15.6%) was achieved at the contaminated sorbent ratios of 100% and 80%, respectively. The oil yield value of 98.1% under optimal experimental conditions (temperature; 460 °C, heating rate; 5 °C /min, and contaminated sorbent ratio; 99%) with 1% error compared to the predicted value of 97.1% validated the model. The oil obtained through co-pyrolysis at a contaminated sorbent ratio of 75% exhibited a Higher Heating Value (HHV) of 43.67 MJ/Kg, thereby suggesting its potential as an energy source. As a result, multiple types of solid oily waste can be treated through the co-pyrolysis process to produce energy-rich products, reduce the amount of waste, recover spilled hydrocarbons, and improve energy recovery
Rural Considerations Influencing Inter-City Transportation: Presentation to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
No full textRural ResilienceNavigating Rura
Teachers’ perceptions of a school-wide approach to teaching self-regulation skills
No full textLiterature suggests that students growing up in low socio-economic circumstances, especially those who have experienced trauma at home, often struggle with dysregulation. The purpose of this research study was to gain a deeper understanding of teachers’ perceptions of self-regulation and their early perceptions of a SWA to teaching SRS. The perceptions of five participants were explored through semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed three factors that teachers perceived as affecting students’ ability to self-regulate in a school context: their home and classroom environment, physical and emotional factors, and social factors. For the school-wide approach to be successful, the participants agreed on three essential factors: consistency among staff and between home and school; strong relationships between staff, students, and peers, and incorporating meaningful lessons to increase buy-in from stakeholders. The study also suggested that teachers were already using various teaching practices to support dysregulated students, which could be leveraged to enhance the school-wide self-regulation program. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of the implementation of self-regulation strategies in schools and provides insights for improving its effectiveness.self-regulationdysregulationschool-wide approachconsistencyrelationship
Effects of changing environmental conditions on glyphosate degradation and melatonin production in wild strawberries
No full textGlyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide commonly used in Canadian forests to control competitive vegetation. The non target plant species are exposed to a sublethal dose of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) due to aerial applications that cause deformities along with other potentially unknown effects. The efficiency and degradation of glyphosate to its metabolic by-products, including amino-methyl phosphonic acid (AMPA), are based on environmental conditions and the genetic capabilities of the plant or exposed organism. Glyphosate enters the plant through foliage and blocks the production of aromatic amino acids such as tryptophan by inhibiting the plant enzyme
5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS). Interestingly, the amino acid tryptophan acts as the precursor of the plant stress response hormone called melatonin. Whenever a plant is exposed to biotic or abiotic stress, the level of melatonin increases to protect the plant. The production of melatonin also tends to change depending on the environmental conditions. Glyphosate-based herbicides may act as a chemical stress, and the plants may respond to it by increasing melatonin concentration. The objectives of this research were: 1)To find out how environment, in this case, measured by the effects of the combination of temperature and photoperiod, affect plant stress responses to GBH application, and to determine which combination of temperature and lightsupported the faster degradation of glyphosate to its secondary metabolite AMPA; 2) To determine the effects of changing environmental conditions and GBH application on a plant’s melatonin production. I used wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana) as my experimental species as they are a common understory species grown in the forest areas of British Columbia, Canada, where GBH is sprayed, and are also of importance as food to humans and wildlife. I used 1080 g/m2 of GBH treatments in my experiment to replicate the sublethal dose received by the non-target plants in industrial operations. Several plant stress responses were observed during the measurement period in three different trials. Trial 1 had different temperatures with constant photoperiod, trial 2 had different photoperiods with constant temperature, and trial 3 combined variation in temperature and photoperiod. At the end of experiment, I found that GBH were highly effective at 20°C with 18 hours of photoperiod as it affected several plant morphological features. The degradation of GBH were maximum at 20°C with 24 hours of photoperiod as suggested by the degradation ratio of glyphosate and AMPA. The new leaves produced by the plants after GBH application were more sensitive to glyphosate as leaf area and photosynthetic capacity by the new leaves were severely affected compared to the previously emerged leaves. Melatonin levels were altered by temperature, week of sample collection and slightly by photoperiod. The production was not affected by GBH application. These results suggest that wild strawberries grown in forest areas with warmer temperatures are most highly affected by glyphosate applications and when warm temperatures are accompanied by longer duration of sunlight, faster degradation of glyphosate is facilitated in tissues
Projecting future wildfire spread potential in British Columbia, Canada
No full textWildfire spread in Canada is largely driven by weather. Hotter, drier conditions result in higher spread potential, and fires that occur on days of extreme fire weather are more likely to threaten human lives and infrastructure.
Under climate change, research suggests that western North America will experience more frequent and severe extreme fire weather events.
In this study we use General Circulation Models (GCMs) to investigate trends in the frequency and magnitude of extreme
fire weather events in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia (BC) over the next century.
We assess trends in the annual extreme values (95th percentile) of the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System. As a proxy for extreme fire weather events, we also investigate the frequency of weather-based Potential Spread Days (PSDs) identified using FWI System variables.posterInternational Wildland Fire Conference - Portugalclimate changeclimate modellingwildfireextreme fire weathergeneral circulation model
Earth Science Virtual Reality field trip lab software
No full textIn this research, we are developing an educational Virtual Reality (VR) experience that simulates a geological mapping field trip. This interactive experience will allow students to practice the process of mapping geological features of an environment in a virtual setting prior to an off-campus lab. The objective of this research project is to develop and implement an efficient, realistic, and immersive VR experience for EAES students at Douglas College to practice geological mapping techniques in a virtual setting. Accuracy and efficiency are often in conflict within computing science, so our aim is to explore different methods for creating a realistic experience given the limited computational power available of the Meta Quest 2 headset. This application will be developed using Unreal Engine 5.1 for the Meta Quest 2.
Video submission was sponsored by Dr. Shahriar Khosravi, (Computing Science Department) for course CMPT 2367 and was presented at the New Westminster campus on April 12, 2023, for Student Research Days 2023