Municipalities as key actors in the heat transition to decarbonise buildings: Experiences from local planning and implementation in a learning context

Municipalities are key actors in planning and enabling the transition in the built environment to sustainable heat systems. Literature on the municipal experiences in the early phases of the heat transition is scarce. This paper addresses this gap by depicting the approaches of twenty-eight municipalities in the Netherlands. It aims to assess...

Specialistische ondersteuning in de basiszorg voor jeugd

This article presents results of an evaluation of two local initiatives to support preventive youth healthcare services. Youth mental health specialists were appointed by the municipalities of Nijmegen and Renkum with the aim of 1) strengthening collaboration within the social domain (i.e., school, youth mental healthcare, social team, general...

Legal situation and current practice of waste incineration bottom ash utilisation in Europe

Almost 500 municipal solid waste incineration plants in the EU, Norway and Switzerland generate about 17.6 Mt/a of incinerator bottom ash (IBA). IBA contains minerals and metals. Metals are mostly separated and sold to the scrap market and minerals are either disposed of in landfills or utilised in the construction sector. Since there is no...

Towards local implementation of Dutch health policy guidelines: a concept-mapping approach

To develop a targeted implementation strategy for a municipal health policy guideline, implementation targets of two guideline users [Regional Health Services (RHSs)] and guideline developers of leading national health institutes were made explicit. Therefore, characteristics of successful implementation of the guideline were identified....

Comparison of industrial emissions and carpet dust concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in a multi-center U.S. study

Proximity to facilities emitting polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) has been associated with increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). There is limited information about whether proximity to industrial sources leads to indoor PCDD/F contamination of homes. We measured carpet dust concentrations (pg/g...

Modelling piloted ignition of wood and plastics

To gain insight in the startup of an incinerator, this article deals with piloted ignition. A newly developed model is described to predict the piloted ignition times of wood, PMMA and PVC. The model is based on the lower flammability limit and the adiabatic flame temperature at this limit. The incoming radiative heat flux, sample thickness and...

New regulations for hollow core slabs after premature partial collapse

In October 2007, a floor made up of pre-cast prestressed hollow core floor elements suffered early partial collapse during a fire in a carpark of a moderately high new building in Rotterdam, predominantly in use for housing and for limited enterprise. The damage pattern revealed horizontal cracks through the webs of the hollow core slabs,...

Risks to health and environment of the use of lead in products in the EU

The EU Commission's Services asked TNO and CML to perform a study into the risks of the present uses of lead over time, as an input to a discussion on the need of a further reduction of the use of this material. The study was set up as a substance flow analysis to analyse trends in uses and emissions of lead in Europe between 2000 and 2030. The...

Nonlinear model predictive control with moving horizon state and disturbance estimation - With application to MSW combustion

This paper presents a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) strategy that can be used to tackle model predictive control problems that involve relatively simple nonlinear dynamic models, as for example obtained with first-principles modeling. The main feature of the proposed NMPC strategy is the usage of a moving horizon estimator (MHE) for...

On-line determination of the calorific value of solid fuels

In thermal processes with highly inhomogeneous fuels it is desirable to know real time fuel characteristics. In the case of municipal solid waste combustion (MSWC) it was up till now not possible to determine the calorific value of the waste on-line with a high accuracy. In this paper, a new method is presented where the calorific value is...

The effect of air preheating on the combustion of solid fuels on a grate

Combustion of solid fuels on a grate is widely used. Mostly, the combustion behaviour is explained by the classical theory of Rogers. However, that theory cannot explain the combustion process when primary air preheating is applied. Solid fuel grate combustion is studied by experiments in a pot furnace. Experiments with and without primary air...

On-line calorific value sensor and validation of dynamic models applied to municipal solid waste combustion

This paper deals with two aspects concerning the optimization of municipal solid waste combustion (MSWC) processes. First of all, an on-line calorific value sensor is discussed by means of which the calorific value of the waste can be estimated from actual process data. Experimental results on a MSWC process are discussed which show that the...

MIMO closed-loop identification of an MSW incinerator

In this paper, the application of a specific system identification procedure to a municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerator is discussed. This procedure is a combination of, on the one hand, a particular closed-loop identification method called the two-stage method and, on the other hand, the approach of high-order multiple input multiple output ...

The leaching of trace elements from municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash at different stages of weathering

For a proper assessment of the environmental impact of the utilisation and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator (MSWI) bottom ash it is necessary to understand weathering processes and their effects on (trace) element leaching. The authors have investigated the processes that control the leaching of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Mo from 3...

The useful application of sulphur-bound waste materials

An immobilization process is described which is based on sulphur (instead of cement) as a binding agent for the treatment of hazardous waste materials. Elemental sulphur is able to bind chemically metals such as mercury and, to a lesser extent, lead as metal sulphides. Furthermore, sulphur forms a compact solid mass that has a low permeability,...