Mireille Montréjaud-Vignoles

Life cycle assessment of biofuels from Jatropha curcas in West Africa: a field study

In recent years, liquid biofuels for transport have benefited from significant political support due to their potential role in curbing climate change and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. They may also participate to rural development by providing new markets for agricultural production. However, the growth of energy crops has raised concerns due to their high consumption of conventional fuels, fertilizers and pesticides, their impacts on ecosystems and their competition for arable land with food crops. Low‐input species such as Jatropha curcas, a perennial, inedible crop well adapted to semiarid regions, has received much interest as a new alternative for biofuel production, minimizing adverse effects on the environment and food supply. Here, we used life‐cycle assessment to quantify the benefits of J. curcas biofuel production in West Africa in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy use, compared with fossil diesel fuel and other biofuels. Biodiesel from J. curcas has a much higher performance than current biofuels, relative to oil‐derived diesel fuels. Under West Africa conditions, J. curcas biodiesel allows a 72% saving in greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional diesel fuel, and its energy yield (the ratio of biodiesel energy output to fossil energy input) is 4.7. J. curcas production studied is eco‐compatible for the impacts under consideration and fits into the context of sustainable development.

Monitoring of water quality from roof runoff: Interpretation using multivariate analysis

The quality of harvested rainwater used for toilet flushing in a private house in the south-west of France was assessed over a one-year period. Temperature, pH, conductivity, colour, turbidity, anions, cations, alkalinity, total hardness and total organic carbon were screened using standard analytical techniques. Total flora at 22xa0°C and 36xa0°C, total coliforms, Escherichia coli and enterococci were analysed. Overall, the collected rainwater had good physicochemical quality but did not meet the requirements for drinking water. The stored rainwater is characterised by low conductivity, hardness and alkalinity compared to mains water. Three widely used bacterial indicators - total coliforms, E. coli and enterococci - were detected in the majority of samples, indicating microbiological contamination of the water. To elucidate factors affecting the rainwater composition, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were applied to the complete data set of 50 observations. Chemical and microbiological parameters fluctuated during the course of the study, with the highest levels of microbiological contamination observed in roof runoffs collected during the summer. E. coli and enterococci occurred simultaneously, and their presence was linked to precipitation. Runoff quality is also unpredictable because it is sensitive to the weather. Cluster analysis differentiated three clusters: ionic composition, parameters linked with the microbiological load and indicators of faecal contamination. In future surveys, parameters from these three groups will be simultaneously monitored to more accurately characterise roof-collected rainwater.

Water Quality Monitoring and Hydraulic Evaluation of a Household Roof Runoff Harvesting System in France

The quality of harvested rainwater used for toilet flushing in a private house in the south-west of France was assessed over a one-year period. Twenty-one physicochemical parameters were screened using standard analytical techniques. The microbiological quality of stored roof runoff was also investigated and total flora at 22°C and 36°C, total coliforms, Escherichia Coli, enteroccocci, Cryptospridium oocysts, Giardia cysts, Legionella species, Legionella pneumophila, Aeromonas, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were analysed. Chemical and microbiological parameters fluctuated during the course of the study, with the highest levels of microbiological contamination observed in roof runoffs collected during the summer. Overall, the collected rainwater had a relatively good physicochemical quality but variable, and, did not meet the requirements for drinking water and a microbiological contamination of the water was observed. The water balance of a 4-people standard family rainwater harvesting system was also calculated in this case study. The following parameters were calculated: rainfall, toilets flushing demand, mains water, rainwater used and water saving efficiency. The experimental water saving efficiency was calculated as 87%. The collection of rainwater from roofs, its storage and subsequent use for toilet flushing can save 42xa0m3 of potable water per year for the studied system.

Optimization of pressurized liquid extraction using a multivariate chemometric approach for the determination of anticancer drugs in sludge by ultra high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The present paper describes an analytical method for the determination of 2 widely administered anticancer drugs, ifosfamide and cyclophosphamide, contained in sewage sludge. The method relies on the extraction from the solid matrix by pressurized liquid extraction, sample purification by solid-phase extraction and analysis by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The different parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized using an experimental design. Solvent nature was the most decisive factor for the extraction but interactions between some parameters also appeared very influent. The method was applied to seven different types of sludge for validation. The performances of the analytical method displayed high variability between sludges with limits of detection spanning more than one order of magnitude and confirming the relevance of multi-sample validation. Matrix effect has been determined as the most limiting analytical step for quantification with different extent depending on analyte and sludge nature. For each analyte, the use of deuterated standard spiked at the very beginning ensured the complete compensation of losses regardless of the sample nature. The suitability of the method between freshly spiked and aged samples has also been verified. The optimized method was applied to different sludge samples to determine the environmental levels of anticancer drugs. The compounds were detected in some samples reaching 42.5μg/kgDM in ifosfamide for the most contaminated sample.

Impact of dry weather discharges on annual pollution from a separate storm sewer in Toulouse, France

The city of Toulouse with its separate sewer system is ideal for studying stormwater. However, during dry weather, the storm sewer also discharges water into the environment, and it is the impact of these discharges on annual pollution from storm sewer that is the object of this study. Samples have been taken from the outlets of two storm drains located in heavily and moderately urbanized areas. Sampling has been undertaken during wet weather and during dry weather between January 2010 and February 2011. Three dry weather and two wet weather samples have been taken every three months and from each outlet. The overall pollution parameters have been analyzed (chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, total nitrogen, ammonium, nitrate, total phosphorus, suspended solid matter, volatile suspended matter, pH, conductivity, turbidity). Characterization has been completed by analysis of trace organic compounds: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, total hydrocarbons, methyl tert-butyl ether, diethylhexylphthalate, nonylphenols, hormones (estradiol, ethinylestradiol). For certain parameters, the results obtained did not conform to legislative requirements concerning discharge into the natural environment. Correlations between these parameters have been studied, and identified between several of them using principal component analysis. The most important correlation observed was between conductivity and concentration in total phosphorus for one of the outlet. Results showed that dry weather had an impact on annual pollution load from separate storm sewer and that level of urbanization was also a factor. The effect of season has been studied but no significant impact was found.

Impact of carwash discharge on stormwater quality (Toulouse, France)

The contribution of discharge from carwashes to pollutant levels in stormwater was evaluated. Five carwashes and two outlets in the city of Toulouse (France) were selected. Water samples were collected from December 2006 to December 2007. Concentrations and loadings of classical water quality parameters (conductivity, pH, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, nitrogen, phosphorus, ammonium, nitrate, suspended solid and volatile suspended solid) and five groups of organic compounds (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, lauryl alkyl benzene sulphonates, methyl tert-butyl ether and total hydrocarbons) were determined. The results suggest that the wastewater derived from carwashes was negligible compared to the volume and flow rates within the stormwater network. However, high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phosphorus and lauryl alkyl benzene sulphonates in liquid waste from carwashes, and the impact of these pollutants on stormwater quality could not be neglected.

Pesticides in roof runoff: Study of a rural site and a suburban site

The quality of stored roof runoff in terms of pesticide pollution was assessed over a one-year period. Two tanks, located at a rural and suburban site, respectively, were sampled monthly. The two studied collection surface were respectively a tile slope roof and a bituminous flat roof. Four hundred and five compounds and metabolites were screened using liquid and gas chromatography coupled with various detection systems. Principal Component Analysis was applied to the data sets to elucidate patterns. At the rural site, two groups of compounds associated with two different types of agriculture, vineyard and crops, were distinguished. The most frequently detected compound was glyphosate (83%) which is the most commonly used herbicide in French vineyards. At the suburban site, quantified compounds were linked to agriculture rather than urban practices. In addition, all samples were contaminated with mecoprop which is a roof-protecting agent. Its presence was attributed to the nature of roofing material used for rainwater collection. For both sites, the highest number and concentrations of compounds and metabolites were recorded at the end of spring and through summer. These results are consistent with treatment periods and higher temperatures.

Assessment of Jatropha Curcas bioprocess for fuel production using LCA and CAPE

Abstract The importance of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as an environmental decision support tool continues to increase rapidly in the recent years. Research on the environmental impacts of chemical engineering has gain a lot of popularity but it still needs bundles of improvement and expansion for its implementation in the industrial process evaluation. In this study, Life Cycle Assessment of biofuel production from Jatropha Curcas L . was conducted using an attributional approach. The assessment encompasses the cultivation of the crop, the oil extraction stage and finally, the biofuel production stage. IMPACT 2002+ based on mid-point perspective was applied. This study demonstrates the potential of second generation biofuel production to reduce environmental impact. While LCA method is mainly focus on products and raw data collection, we want to define a new approach based on process system engineering. We suggest ways for an integrated LCA and CAPE approach especially for agro-chemical applications.

Polychlorinated biphenyls fractioning in aqueous bioremediation assay with Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium is able to degrade PCBs in water and in soil. This study aims at estimating the fractioning of truly degraded PCBs, adsorbed PCBs and residual PCBs in an aqueous bioremediation assay with Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Di-, tri- tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta-chlorinated biphenyls (IUPAC numbers: PCB28, PCB52, PCB101, PCB118, PCB138, PCB153, PCB180) were extracted from 500 mL aqueous bioremediation assays using a liquid–liquid extraction with n-hexane. Analyses were performed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The study reveals that the adsorbed PCBs fraction ranges from 42% to 54%, whereas the degraded one ranges from 39% to 49%. No PCBs were detected in the residual water (limit of detection: 13 ng L−1).