1,721,180 research outputs found
Influence of the Collection Equipment on Organic Waste Treatment: Technical and Environmental Analyses
Full text linkThe research investigated the influence of different collection bag types on the environmental and energy performances of the food waste management chain, comparing paper and bioplastic bags. First, the use of bags during the food waste household storage was examined. Subsequently, the behavior of bags when subjected to anaerobic digestion was evaluated, performing Biochemical Methane Potential tests and semi-continuous co-digestion tests with the food waste, to simulate the operating conditions of full-scale digesters. Finally, the performances of the food waste management chain were evaluated, with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The experimental tests showed a more favorable behavior of paper bags, showing a very good compatibility with the anaerobic digestion. The LCA results revealed how paper bags lead to improvements in the impact associated to the food waste management
Life Cycle Assessment for the evaluation of the organic waste management: a literature review
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A new approach for video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy "the caudal position"
No full textBackground: Despite a general agreement about effectiveness of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy the surgical technique is still not standardized, and many technical variations have been described until now. We describe our technique to perform thoracoscopic lobectomy by a caudal approach. Methods: We studied a position in which the operator stays from the inferior side of the thorax, positioning the patients in a lateral sitting position. This position ensures the operator to enjoy all the benefits of the anterior and posterior approach limiting the disadvantages of both. The surgeon maneuvers are further assisted and simplified by the movement of the surgical bed. Results: We perform 23 "caudal video assisted-lobectomy" for non-small cell lung cancer. The conversion rate was 0% and we had no complications related with the new approach. Conclusions: We think that our new position could be considered a further effective technical variation to perform VATS-lobectomy
Influence of the type of collection bag on the food waste treatment chain: a life cycle assessment
No full textPotential for improving the environmental performance of railway sleepers with an outer shell made of recycled materials
Full text linkAn innovative sleeper with a pre-stressed reinforced concrete inner structure wrapped by an outer shell manufactured with end-of-life tires powder and recycled plastics has been recently designed by the Greenrail company. The external protection is aimed at increasing its lifetime and reducing the maintenance requirements of the railway lines. This study evaluates the environmental performances of this sleeper, under different operational conditions, in comparison with traditional pre-stressed reinforced concrete sleepers, using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The assessment includes 16 environmental, energy, and human health impact categories. It is performed considering the following functional unit: 1 railway sleeper, including the fastenings of the rail to the sleeper and the portion of the track bed underneath it, over one year of operation. The evaluated system includes the sleeper production, its installation, the railway maintenance, the sleeper removal at its end-of-life and the final recovery. Moreover, the ballast is included in the analysis considering its mining and transportation to the railway line, the partial replacement during maintenance operations, the removal during a track renewal, and the end-of-life management. For the worst operational conditions of the Greenrail sleeper, the potential impacts between the two sleeper typologies differ by <10% for most of the examined categories, meaning that no significant environmental differences are observed. In the average conditions, impact reductions for the Greenrail sleepers result bigger than 10% for 7 out of 16 categories. Finally, for the best conditions, benefits are in the range 20% - 30% for 11 impact categories
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