Amaya Martínez

Life cycle analysis of urban water cycle in two Spanish areas: Inland city and island area

Abstract In this paper, the results of the complete life-cycle assessment (LCA) analysis of the water cycle in two Spanish urban areas are presented. First case study was Zaragoza city (700,000 inhabitants), with enough surface water resources for drinking purpose. Second case was the Mancomunidad del Sureste, a highly populated and touristic area in a water-scarce island (Gran Canaria). Main objective of the paper was to show, from an environmental global perspective, which was the relative pollutant weights of the diverse water cycle stages in an urban area, in order to put the efforts in reducing the environmental penalties associated to the water cycle. Results showed that environmental load associated to energy consumed in dwelling uses (to produce hot sanitary water) exceeded by far the environmental impact provoked by water cycle infrastructures (water treatment plants, water supply and drainage networks, and wastewater treatment plants). Additionally, it is very important to remark that new water ...

Exergy as a guide to allocate environmental costs for implementing the Water Framework Directive in the Ebro River

Abstract The Physical Hydronomics (PH) methodology is a tool to properly calculate restoration cost of water resources (regarding to quality degradation of water as well as water quantity losses) in the framework of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It is based on the exergy, a thermodynamic property that can be understood as the minimum energy needed to restore a resource from its reference environment. An opportunity that methodology brings up is the development of River exergy profiles which can be represented along the length of the river, for different periods and degradation statuses. Focusing on the Water Framework Directive milestones, the most relevant contribution which is presented here is the assessment of restoration cost among diverse water polluters from physicochemical parameters of the river. The case study which is developed is the Ebro basin, a very representative Mediterranean river in Spain. Figures shown that quality restoration costs, found in the agriculture user resulted to be the...

Batch ED fed by a PV unit: a reliable, flexible, and sustainable integration

Abstract Electrodialysis (ED) is a reliable technique to produce drinking water from brackish raw water sources. If the ED unit is fed by a photovoltaic (PV) generator, water production maybe also understood as sustainable. In this paper, the feasibility of a small and easily operating batch ED pilot plant powered by PV modules or by a rectifier (electrical grid connection) was studied in depth. First, a mathematical model was implemented in order to predict the batch ED-FV pilot plant behavior. Then, numerous tests were carried out at the experimental installation. Some relevant parameters were studied: the influence of NaCl concentration (600–10,000 ppm), the applied voltage (8–12 V), and the configuration of PV array, as well as environmental conditions. Different optimal operating conditions were investigated depending on the batch ED energy source: if the ED stack was fed by the rectifier, the lowest specific energy consumption or maximal production was followed. On the contrary, when it was fed by t...

A study of the application of the physical hydronomics methodology to assess environmental costs of European rivers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to check out the status of collected data in European water-related information tools, with the final aim of analyzing the cost to reach the good environmental status in European rivers, from recorded physical and chemical data, within the second law of thermodynamics. Design/methodology/approach – The study is especially focussed in an economical assessment to account for the environmental costs of water bodies according to the Water Framework Directive. The Catchments and Rivers Network System, the most important information tool in Europe nowadays, constitutes the support of this work. This study shows a methodology to estimate the cost to restore water bodies in energy terms with the help of an aggregated indicator, from physical and chemical characteristics of rivers. More over, energy results are converted later into an economic value. This work presents diverse case studies, starting from Garonne, Rhone, Rhine, Danube, Ebro and Seine rivers. Findings – Figures...

Exergy Evaluation of the Mineral Capital on Earth: Influence of the Reference Environment

The mineral capital on Earth is assessed from a 2nd law of thermodynamics approach. This requires to define precisely the Reference Environment (R.E.). Therefore, the exergy difference of the mineral capital generated from different R.E. is calculated. A sensitivity analysis is done to measure the influence of the element chemical exergy and other physical parameters of the R.E. on the mineral’s exergy. The exergy of the world mineral reserves, base reserves and world resources is obtained: 0.75, 1.08 and 6.59 Gtoe, respectively.Copyright

Assessment of Water Resources by Exergy Cost

This chapter presents the application of exergy analysis to water bodies focusing the attention on the assessment of the exergy cost. It comprises three different but clearly connected sections: exergy cost of water technologies, exergy value of the hydrological cycle and fundamentals, and application and results of the Physical Hydronomics methodology. The exergy cost is a key parameter to be included in any water analysis regarding exergy efficiency. It measures the goodness of the considered technological process when it is compared with the ideal one and it is used to translate the objective exergy measurements into economic figures. The unit exergy cost of water technologies is introduced both in the analysis of the exergy value of the natural hydrological cycle and in the calculation of water costs. In particular, Physical Hydronomics is defined as the application of the exergy analysis to the assessment of costs of water bodies and it has presented interesting results when considered in the European Water Framework Directive implementation for Spanish and European watersheds. The background and main results of these three mentioned issues are presented along this chapter.

Experiencia piloto de aula invertida para mejorar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en la asignatura de Termodinámica Técnica

Este trabajo ha sido financiado por medio de los proyectos de innovacion docente PIIDUZ_16_032 y PIIDUZ_16_165 (Programa de Proyectos de Innovacion Docente para Grupos de Profesores del Vicerrectorado de Politica Academica de la Universidad de Zaragoza).

Evaluación de la mejora del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje mediante la integración de objetos de aprendizaje reutilizables en un curso abierto OCW

En un contexto de Recursos Educativos Abiertos (REA), el concepto de Objetos de Aprendizaje Reutilizables (OAR), en formato digital y de caracter independiente y autonomo, resulta de gran interes para su uso en contextos educativos multiples como los cursos abiertos (OCW, por sus siglas en ingles). El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar los principales resultados obtenidos hasta la fecha en un proyecto de innovacion docente financiado por la Universidad de Zaragoza durante los cursos academicos 2015-16 y 2016-17 (Ref. PIIDUZ_15_079, 16_165 y 16_032). En este proyecto, se han creado 25 OARs en forma de videos docentes bajo licencias Creative Commons para mejorar los resultados de aprendizaje de cinco asignaturas en el campo de la Termodinamica y la Ingenieria Termica, que actualmente se imparten en tres titulaciones distintas. Para evaluar la mejora del proceso de ensenanza-aprendizaje obtenida mediante los videos, se han preparado y lanzado diferentes cuestionarios para los estudiantes. Hasta el momento, los resultados muestran que la mayoria de los estudiantes estan satisfechos con esta experiencia de innovacion. En este sentido, consideran que el uso de videos docentes ha mejorado su proceso de aprendizaje, aumentando su motivacion para estudiar y ayudandoles a entender los conceptos mas complejos. Keywords: OAR, OCW, REA, videos docentes, innovacion docente.