AbstractThe objective of the paper is to present sustainability indicators for municipal solid waste management (MSWM). Sustainability implies environmental, economic and social acceptance. The complexity of the system-in-focus requires the employment of a systems (or cybernetic) approach: Acceptance implies clear objectives, from a specific point of view (here, the viewpoint of the municipal administration is taken), over a time horizon covering at least two generations, a life-cycle considerat...
Autori: Demetrios Panagiotakopoulos, Konstantinia Tsilemou
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25112

AbstractIntegrated water resources management requires planning and management activities, as well as adequate information and communication within a structure that groups different stakeholders (industry, agriculture and other types of water users, civil society representatives, university and research institutions, water authorities and waterworks companies), being thus characterized by a high level of complexity, and requiring the involvement of numerous decision-makers operating at different...
Autori: , , Luminita Lupu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25344

Abstract The idea of sustainable farming relies on raising its yield along with a safe and constant gain with minimum environmental impact and by ensuring the population’s food security. Sustainable agriculture is a large concept that encompasses the complexity of this production system, the biological stability of farming plants and varieties, the conservation and protection of natural resources, but also the implementing and generalization of high-output modern technologies. Sustainable a...
Autori: Brindusa Robu, Carmen Cătălina Ioan, Edinel Robu, Matei Macoveanu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25520

Abstract The Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) concept evolved over time, the focus on river basin management, consultation and coordination with all water users, and the use of the â€?polluter pays?? principle being all included in the EU Water Framework Directive (EC Directive, 2000), which forms the basis of water management undertaken in Europe. The role and significance of water resources for sustainable development, as well as the water crisis experienced nowadays are ...
Autori: , Claudia Cojocariu, Corina - Petronela Musteret, Ioana Gabriela Dascalescu, Ionut Caraene
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25559

Abstract As a result of the global climatic changes generated by the alteration of the environment through polution, the ecosystems' natural ressources are incontrollably distributed, generating unforseeable effects at the level of the subsequent evolution of the natural balance factors. One of the greatest challenges of the science concerned with environment protection, is that of real time monitoring of the biochemical constitution. The real time monitoring of a great number of biochemical ...
Autori: Andrada Pretorian, Bojin Dionezie, Gabriel Epure, Ion Savu, Lucia Mutihac, Mihaela Muresan, Nicoleta Petrea, Petrisor Zamora Iordache, Razvan Petre, Rodica Lungu, Vasile Somoghi
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25583

Abstract Prompt and accurate residential fire detection is important for on-time fire extinguishing and consequently reducing damages and life losses. To detect fire sensors are needed to measure the environmental parameters and algorithms are required to decide about occurrence of fire. Recently, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been used for environmental monitoring and real-time event detection because of their low implementation costs and their capability of distributed sensing and pr...
Autori: Majid Bahrepour, Nirvana Meratnia, Paul J. M. Havinga
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25611

Abstract Mathematical modeling of the ultrafiltration (UF) process is motivated by the complexity of retention phenomena that occur during the UF in conjunction with the complexity of wastewater matrices submitted to ultrafiltration, as well as by the need to predict the process behavior in extreme conditions, such as high pollution loads for UF-membrane cleaning cycles optimization or for automated control of the process. Thus, series of laboratory-scale ultrafiltration experiments were perf...
Autori: , George Barjoveanu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25630

Abstract:In order to capture as much solar energy as possible, the photovoltaic converter has to follow the sun movement during a day; thiscan be achieved by a tracking system. Most tracking systems have complex and costly structures that can provide wide anglevariations. This paper presents a geared linkage that is build up by a planetary system of gears fitted on a linkage, and thus helpsin reaching wide angles. Starting from a patented linkage, which reaches ≈200° angular strokes, by a...
Autori: Dorin Diaconescu, Ioana Hermenean, Nora Creanga
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25736

Abstract:Energy mix used in "Solar House" is currently composed of about 50% renewable energy sources (geothermal energy) and 50%conventional sources of energy (mainly electricity from national grid and less than 10% natural gas). The geothermal energy isextracted by the mean of a ground coupled heat pump which assures the heating load of the "Solar House" and the preparation ofdomestic hot water. The peak load in heating period is covered by a natural gas boiler and the electricity to drive the...
Autori: Bogdan Burduhos, Ion Vişa, Macedon Moldovan
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25756

Abstract:Hydropower exploitation has become a multifaceted task due to continuously increasing interest in all parts of the world but alsodue to inhomogeneity of framework conditions in the social, the political, the regulatory and the economic view. The final successof a plant is not only ensured by a good technical concept or design but additionally by a suitably model of financing, by selectingthe most reliable partners, by evaluating the environmental restrictions or the political stability ...
Autori: Bernhard Pelikan
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25761

Abstract:One of the basic conditions for the operation of nuclear installations is security operation. The complexity of the phenomena inheavy water detritiation plants, determine the use of advanced equipment for technological processes involved. Pilot Plant forTritium and Deuterium Separation developed the cryogenic technology of tritium separation from tritiated heavy water. Theprocess is based on an catalyzed isotopic exchange module, where the tritium is extracted from tritiated heavy water...
Autori: Sorin Gherghinescu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25787

The first part of this work presents the development and implementation in the Benchmark Simulation Model No 1 (BSM1) of a modified Activated Sludge Model No 3 (ASM3). The enhanced ASM3 presented in this study has three modifications compared to the original ASM3. The first modification is the representation of the simultaneous heterotrophic biomass growth on the primary substrate and on the internal storage products. Second, nitrification is modeled as a two-step process with nitrite as an inte...
Autori: George Simion Ostace, Paul Şerban Agachi, Vasile Mircea Cristea
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25865

Tourism is one of the essential components of population services and a major influence factor for economic and social development. The tourism industry is characterized by a great structural complexity, in multiple forms of this service.This industry can also have an impact on the natural resources and environment in the various tourist destinations, on everyday life of these locations and also on the individuals from those areas, whether rural or urban. Nowadays, tourism faces different challe...
Autori: , Elena Elisabeta Pomeanu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25903

“The Exploratory Workshop „Progress inEnvironmental Engineering, Biotechnology andManagement in The Frame of Knowledge-BasedSustainable Economy” took place in the contextwhen worldwide research shows that the currentindustrial system supports a population that useresources and generates waste, consuming the Earth'ssupply, but who’s biocapacity is far outweighed bythe increased demand of products for a developmentsystem that often works on unsustainable bases.Today’s challenge is the integration ...
Autori:
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=25969

AbstractThe representation of relevant information from data generated through atmospheric imaging is of substantial importance toenvironmental sciences, meteorology, as well as in weather hazard predictive models for disaster prevention. As the techniquesfor the acquisition of such data have progressed and grown in complexity, so have the visualization algorithms required to processthe related data and to produce images or animations of the underlying information. To this extent, we present a g...
Autori: Marius Gavrilescu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26001

The book edited by Haibo Xie and NicholasGathergood focuses on one of the most importantscientific issues of the 21 century which is thereplacing fossil fuel with sustainable alternatives suchas biomass. Fossil fuels are conventional rawmaterials for many industrial sectors includingchemical and energy production. Usage of fossil fuelis limited by their availability, price and carbonfootprint. Biomass is a renewable resource globallyavailable, cheaper and carbon sequestering. Step bystep shiftin...
Autori: Adrian Catalin Puitel
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26101

AbstractCoal fire is a serious hazard in China and also in other coal-producing countries. A lot of studies have been done by manyinvestigators. This paper analyzes the environmental hazards of coal fire and introduces the current prevention methods. Thestudy reveals that coal fires in Northwest China still induce severe hazards. They result in serious air pollution, water pollution,ecological disturbance and geological disasters, which are analyzed in detail. The current coal fire prevention me...
Autori: Xuyao Qi
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26184

AbstractKohonen Self-organizing map (KSOM) modeling have been applied increasingly for analysis, estimation and prediction ofseveral water quality processes, which are embedded with high complexity, dynamism and non-linearity. KSOM or unsupervisedneural networks were applied to microbial data (Escherichia coli, faecal streptococci, and total coliforms) from the effluent of atwo year data set (2008-2010) on two permeable (pervious) pavement systems used to treat storm water runoff contaminated wi...
Autori: Kiran Tota-Maharaj
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26226

AbstractIn the context of the complexity of the environmental system, this paper addresses the problem of environmental modeling,considering the global aspects of sustainability as well as the linkage between environmental and economic issues. The survey onintegrated modeling highlights that the complexity of the environmental problems should be approached on the basis of multidisciplinarycooperation and studies. Furthermore, the European environmental standards and products quality standards im...
Autori: Ion Viorel Matei, Laura Ungureanu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26356

AbstractDuring the last decades, the biodiversity conservation became a constant concern for the specialists in environmental resourcemanagement by increasing the awareness of the complexity, fragility and inestimable value of our planet. Nowadays, this issueshould be an ethical duty for all the 7.2 billion inhabitants of the planet. The biodiversity conservation should be approached as amultidisciplinary research field, developed in response to the actual world crisis. In this multidisciplinary...
Autori: Csaba Lorinţ
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26400

AbstractThe simulation of different situations that may occur in the operation of the mine ventilation network is performed on its virtualmodel, developed and optimized using dedicated software. Depending on the chosen scenario, on the network model are applieda number of changes (addition of new ventilation workings, addition / removal of branches and nodes, changes in aerodynamicparameters: pressure, air flow driven by the fan etc.), the ultimate goals being: to assess how the new model obtain...
Autori: Marius Cornel Șuvar
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26408

AbstractThe industrial development, the demographic growth and the limitation of the natural regions have determined a continuousdegradation of the water quality due to high concentrations and complexity of pollutants from the wastewater. The centralizedand decentralized treatment systems apply treatment procedures and techniques which can be complementary in solving theenvironmental pollution problems due to wastewater. In the present paper a three-dimensional mathematical model waselaborated b...
Autori: Narcis Barsan
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26422

AbstractAdaptive water resources management recognizes the centrality of learning to its effective implementation. However, theliterature on learning in Adaptive Management (AM) is disjointed and lacks rigorous treatment. The purpose of this paper is toclarify how learning associated with AM is distinctive and to explain the importance of successfully integrating it into policydesign. Because adaptive learning holds a unique position within the adaptive management and assessment process, it shou...
Autori: Wietske Medema
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26450

Abstract The recycling and later use of construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) as construction materials present a strategic inconvenience for many stakeholders involved in the sustainable construction. In some countries, the recycling percentage of C&D waste is around 80% of the C&D generated. However, in other countries this percentage is much lower. This complexity requires a better understanding of the recycling dynamic. In the specific case of Spain, the National Inte...
Autori: Nuria Calvo
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26817

Abstract Although in Lithuania artificial land drainage is a common water management practice, there are still concerns about its downstream hydrological effects. Due to the complexity of flow driving factors, the hydrological effect of drainage is very uncertain, making it difficult to determine its relative importance. Aiming to distinguish between the influence of drainage and other factors in this study, the extent of changes of twenty hydrologic variables (flow magnitude, frequency, dur...
Autori: Arvydas Povilaitis
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26848

Abstract In the present study, several selected formulations based on recycled (rPP) or virgin polyolefins (vPP) and lignocelluloses were prepared and subjected to microorganism attack. Biodegradation tests were performed with microbial strains belonging to fungal genera, like Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium. The initiation of biodegradation was demonstrated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrographs showing the colonization of surface samples by microbial strains. The crystalli...
Autori: Luiza Jecu
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=26879

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), the bioelectrochemical devices for conversion of waste into electricity through bacterial metabolic activity can use substrates with different complexity and strength. Wastewaters with moderate to high organic content can be exploited as MFC substrates. In this study, four different industrial wastewaters (from a chemical company, milk industry, soyabased food and soft-drink company and laundry) with different compositions were used as substrates in identical MFCs...
Autori: Deepak Pant
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27117

The application of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) emerged as an interesting topic during the last decade. Many studies have been devoted to the complexity of phenomena imposed by AOPs, and a lot of effort was made to justify the application of AOPs. However, the reliability of AOPs has not been an issue of any extensive work. In this work, failure analysis and comparative reliability study were performed for the chosen AOP system, i.e. a laboratory scale photo- and sonoreactor, during the p...
Autori: Ivana Grčić
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27220

The aims of this research are (1) to analyze the topic of forests in Romania as presented in scientific literature and (2) to identify the Romanian Geography teachers’ perceptions of and opinions about (a) the consequences of human actions on the situation of forests in Romania, (b) their own actions that lead to diminishing vulnerability and risks for forest clearances, (c) factors that influenced their attitude and behavior towards forests, and (d) suggestions for actions of forest prote...
Autori: Maria Eliza Dulamă
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27238

A possible prediction methodology for the concentration of pollutants wave in aquatic environment using Rough Set Theory is presented. The issue is of increasingly importance especially for early pollution risk warning. The hydro-morphologic complex characteristics of surface water bodies should be taken into account when pollution dispersion models are designed. However, when more characteristics/multi-criteria are taken into account, including pollutants physical-chemical ones and their enviro...
Autori: Georgeta Mădălina Aramă
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27319

Conversion of natural ecological systems has been one of the greatest human impact on terrestrial ecosystems. The expansion of anthroposphere altered virtually all biogeochemical cycles of elements. Nitrogen holds a key place in sustaining life and presents unique traits such as broad chemical speciation and mobility within the environmental compartments. With historically adapted ecosystems to low bioavailable nitrogen, understanding the complexity of the nitrogen disruption is a continuous cha...
Autori: Andreea Csolti
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27329

Studying on evolution law of sediment concentration in the lower Yellow River, revealing the evolution cycle and the relationship with the grain size of sediment have an important guiding significance for the governance of sediment in the Lower Yellow River. Based on the sediment data concentration of four important hydrological stations, Huayuankou, Gaocun, Aishan and Lijin, in the lower Yellow River. The evolution of the sediment sequence cycle were studied using Morlet wavelet analysis the co...
Autori: Xianqi Zhang
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27491

Noise is one of the most significant contemporary environmental pollutants. Sources of noise are numerous, but traffic is undoubtedly one of the most prominent. In practice, there is a growing interest in traffic noise protection, but the selection of an adequate solution represents quite a challenge. The purpose of this paper is to suggest an innovative approach to selecting the optimal road noise protection solutions. The theoretical approach for public roads noise protection has been teste...
Autori: Vladimir Lj. Obradovic
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27508

This paper presents the research on the temporal variability of water quality parameters for the most important river system in Romania and Europe – Danube River. The data on the river water quality had been obtained during ten years. The investigation was systematic and complex. Using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and traditional statistical methods based on correlation matrix - Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Factor Analysis (FA), and ANOVA all the samples data sets were classified...
Autori: Paula Popa
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27601

In this study, we consider a potential Finnish solution to sustainable energy production to satisfy the European Union's forestrelated energy policies related to climate change. Conventional energy production includes a number of fossil fuel, peat, and renewable fuel procurement chains that supply a combined heat and power (CHP) plant during different periods of the year. In Finland, peat is commonly used as fuel by energy plants. However, it is not environmentally friendly because it is ...
Autori: Teijo Sakari Palander
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27672

Several studies have been conducted in various fields comparing Mamdani and Sugeno fuzzy inference systems (FISs). This study contributes to the literature by comparing the performance of Mamdani and Sugeno hierarchical fuzzy systems (HFSs) in terms of their technical performance within the context of environmental impact assessment (EIA), a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method, with the aim of illuminating practical issues that need to be taken into account during application. The con...
Autori:
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27681

In the framework of the European Commission Blue Growth Strategy, a joint process among European countries has been put in place since 2014 to promote and implement research and innovation actions to increase the number of jobs in the marine and maritime sectors, commonly named ‘blue’, and pursue a sustainable growth in the Mediterranean area. The process has then been extended to the non-European (non-EU) Mediterranean countries. The natural and cultural uniqueness of the Mediterran...
Autori: Margherita Cappelletto
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27786

An innovative strategy significantly increasing data density by introducing a flexible, problem-orientated, and cost-effective water quality monitoring approach is presented. Most current monitoring strategies produce water quality data based on fixed stations conducted on fixed dates throughout a defined period of time and, thus, often give a biased and insufficient picture of the water quality. Establishing a refined picture of water quality while not increasing monitoring costs clearly needs ...
Autori: Wiebke Warner
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27805

The intrinsic safety type of protection significantly increased in complexity during the last decades. Thus, it even provides the opportunity to use highly complex electronic circuits without involving a significant explosion risk within the oil industry or in power plants, but not limited to those two. In order to achieve this performance, the type of protection is based on three pillars: limiting of energy, heat and also fault tolerance. The potential failure of components, connections, and...
Autori: Marius Darie
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=27950

The bio-inspired algorithms are versatile approaches that can be applied to a variety of problems. However, their efficiency is influenced by a multitude of characteristics such as quality of final solution, consumed computational resources, diversity management, convergence, complexity of the problem being solved. Consequently, the issue of choosing the best approach for a particular problem is a difficult task. In this work, the performance of two bio-inspired algorithms, Differential Evolutio...
Autori: Elena Niculina Dragoi
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28159

In this study, we discuss a risk assessment method for spatial point source accumulation that is suitable for regional comprehensive prevention and control of environmental risks. The distribution types of spatial risk sources and other related data are collected and analyzed by adopting Fengtai District, Beijing as an example. On the basis of the spatial analysis algorithm, the environmental risk of region is comprehensively assessed from the perspective of risk-inducing factors, risk substa...
Autori: Tianxin Li
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28194

The focus of the research starts from a critical investigation of the environmental situation in Lombardy in the 1990s, linked to waste disposal and the related legislation produced by the Regional Council with the approval of the Regional Law of 1 July 1993, to analyse its evolution through the example of the construction of the waste-to-energy plant1 in Dalmine (Bergamo). The growing local urban socio-economic complexity, combined with the urgent global environmental problems produced by the o...
Autori: Roberto Redaelli
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28311

Healthcare wastes are produced from all medical and therapeutic activities in hospitals and healthcare centres. Around 15-20% of these wastes are classified as infectious wastes that could be hazardous. Therefore, an effective approach is required for handling costs and environmental issues. In this paper, a bi-objective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is presented for logistics of infectious and non-infectious wastes. The proposed bi-objective model aims to minimize network costs ...
Autori: Mohammad Nikzamir
ISSN: 1843 - 3707
http://www.ecozone.ro/reviste.php?RID=28314