Thesis and Internship Opportunities in South America

Transcription

1 Thesis and Internship Opportunities in South America 2017/2018 The following MSc thesis/internship topics are intended for MUE students willing to travel to Chile or Colombia, end of 2017-beginning of Academic supervisor in Latin-America will be Dr. Claudia Pabón, Professor at Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Santiago de Chile. Depending on the thesis topics, special timing and language command requirements might apply. If interested in any of the topics please send an to: Topic 1. Two stage digestion of market waste at psychrophilic temperatures. Miriam van Eekert, PhD Temperature is usually a limitation for anaerobic technology, leading to long sludge retention times. Using the biogas produced to heat the reactor diminishes the energy balance of the system, therefore there is a challenge to better understand the anaerobic digestion process at low temperatures in order to increase its efficiency. Currently a two-phase 200 L anaerobic reactor is operating in EcoParque under psychrophilic conditions, treating municipal market waste. In addition, 10 liters reactors are being operated with the same substrate, studying different digestion conditions. An internship or thesis in this pilot reactor is available, involving both laboratory and systems analysis challenges. 1 P a g e

2 Topic 2. Cost-effective digestate upgrading for maximal reusability in urban contexts Researchers involved in USE: Miriam van Eekert, PhD/ Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld PhD Organic residues transport and disposal in Santiago de Chile is mostly done via landfilling causing high costs for municipalities, hindering resource reuse and generating unwanted emissions. Currently a pilot anaerobic digestion (AD) plant for the treatment of market residues is being operated in EcoParque Penalolen UAI. Given the high volume of digestate that an AD plant will produce and the location of the plant within urban boundaries, there is interest in researching new ways of upgrading the digestate that fit the local demand for water and fertilizers while minimizing transport costs. Options being considered include solar upgrading of the digestate, application to compost and vermicompost beds and struvite precipitation. The aim of this research is to compare the mentioned upgrading methods on sustainability grounds, considering costs and benefits. This research will be carried in the EcoParque Penalolen UAI, a project that the Universidad Adolfo Ibanez and the Municipality of Penalolen have set up to carry out applied research in the field of solid residues valorization and reuse in Santiago de Chile. Topic 3. Assessing the potential for resource reuse in urban agriculture in Santiago de Chile Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, PhD; Urban agriculture has a demand for natural resources, including water, nutrients and energy. Urban waste streams could serve as resource inputs for urban agriculture, thereby closing resource cycles. However, the types, the amounts and the application regimes of the demand for these resources from urban agriculture is unknown. 2 P a g e

3 In the past a survey was conducted as well as a MFA study in order to better understand urban agriculture practices within Penalolen Municipality in Santiago de Chile. It is the aim of this research to study the application of different by products from residues and wastewater valorization (i.e. digestate, struvite, urine), by carrying out small-scale experiments in the urban garden of EcoParque Penalolen UAI, a project that the Universidad Adolfo Ibanez and the Municipality of Penalolen have set up to carry out applied research in the field of solid residues valorization and wastewater reuse in Santiago de Chile. Topic 4. Investigating options for wastewater valorization at periurban level adapting the Urban Vital System concept Supervisor in Chile: Pabón Claudia Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, PhD; Semi-natural systems for wastewater treatment like constructed wetlands are attractive due to their lower investment, robustness and less technological knowledge required for their operation, however they require significant area. It is the aim of this research to study the application of the Urban Vital System, an improved wetland system currently developed in India. Within the research the use of locally sourced materials for the wetland bedding, and the use of treatment plants having a market value will be assessed evaluating both technological efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the proposed system. The research is expected to be carried out in EcoParque Penalolen UAI, a project that the Universidad Adolfo Ibanez and the Municipality of Penalolen have set up to carry out applied research in the field of solid residues valorization and wastewater reuse in Santiago de Chile. 3 P a g e

4 Topic 5. Investigating resource valorisation options for educational institutions in Chile Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, PhD; Universidad Adolfo Ibanez and Colegio Nido de Aguilas, are both important educational institutions in Santiago de Chile, with 5000 and 2200 people in Campus respectively. Both institutions are currently carrying out activities to improve their resource management (energy, water and residues) by means of developing long -term sustainability strategies. There is opportunity to carry out collaborative research to evaluate the potential of organic residues upgrading by means of composting, vermicomposting and/or anaerobic digestion to close resource cycles at Campus level. Material Flow Analysis to evaluate different scenarios as well as small scale pilot trials are expected activities. This information at pilot level will serve to pursue bigger scale implementation as part of the future sustainability activities of these educational institutions. Topic 6. Closing resource cycles through the design and evaluation of alternative residues management strategies in Bucaramanga, Colombia Supervisor in Colombia: Claudia Pabón Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, PhD; Bucaramanga is the capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. It has the fifth largest economy, the lowest unemployment rate and the ninth largest population in the country,. Bucaramanga is known as "La Ciudad de Los Parques" ("The City of Parks") and "La Ciudad Bonita de Colombia" ("Colombia's Beautiful City"). The municipality of Bucaramanga is interested in changing their current residues management strategy towards circular urban metabolism. Within this research, first a baseline scenario assessment is to be done collecting and systematizing information about 4 P a g e

5 resource flows within urban residues in the city. From this information a baseline scenario is developed and baseline indicators quantified. Thereafter, technological alternatives need to be proposed and evaluated. Material Flow Analysis will be used as main assessment tool as well a multicriteria analysis and scenario assessment. Topic 7. Modelling resource flows and developing technological options for new peri-urban condominiums in Chile Supervisor in Chile: Claudia Pabón Researchers involved in USE: Miriam van Eekert, PhD/ Katarzyna Kujawa- Roeleveld PhD Linear metabolism is embedded in urban design all around the world. Such approach has led to several negative consequences both in terms of resource scarcity and environmental pollution. Given population growth cities are still enlarging in developing countries and mostly in an unsustainable way. New possibilities exist for developing new peri-urban settlements that work in line with circular metabolism principles. In the past, research has been carried out in Chile, developing possible technological configurations for different sizes of hypothetical peri-urban settlements located in three different regions in Chile. Water and residues flows were taken into account and sustainability outcomes were modelled considering economic and climatic variables. In parallel, research has been conducted in the Urban System Engineering group regarding the dynamic modelling of cities striving for their circular metabolism. The present research strives to continue the mentioned work by applying methodology developed in USE group to the Chilean cases. Main research challenges are to include the infrastructural variables in the case studies, land area requirements and to certain extent the dynamic variation expected in order to achieve results that are comparable to other urban case studies. 5 P a g e

6 Topic 8. Matching needs and possibilities for resource reuse in Cano del Oro, Tierra Bomba, Colombia Supervisors in Colombia: Claudia Pabón and Tania Jimenez (Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar) Researchers involved in USE: Miriam van Eekert, PhD/ Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld PhD The department of Bolivar in Colombia is characterized by the presence of many isolated communities that have inadequate access to sanitation and residues disposal. In addition they also have poor access to drinking water and to energy for cooking or lighting. Appropriate technologies embedded within systems that emulate the circular metabolism found in nature, can provide better living conditions to these communities. Caño del Oro community in Tierra Bomba island is one of these communities. It is located 20 minutes marine distance from Cartagena and is inhabited by 1708 people, mostly African descendants. The island has no food production of its own although space exist, they lack appropriate sanitation their groundwater being already polluted, and their residues are transported back to Cartagena, generating high transport costs for this already impoverished community. Within this research the challenge is to quantify and qualify different resource flows taking place in the community and propose technological scenarios that can cost-effectively treat and allow for the reuse of organic solid waste and wastewater flows thereby generating energy, purified water and nutrients and organic matter to be used in local urban agriculture. This research requires at least two months field work in Cartagena, Colombia. 6 P a g e