Woods are customarily divided into two types: hardwood and softwood. Softwoods are generally conifers (pine, fir, spruce, cedar, etc.) and hardwoods come from deciduous trees (oak, beech, ash, silver birch, etc.) and from certain tropical species (mahogany, teak, etc.). This distinction is purely botanical, softwoods corresponding to the gymnosperms and hardwoods to the angiosperms, and certain...

1. We determined the effects of nutrient enrichment on wood decomposition rates and microbial activity during a 3-year study in two headwater streams at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, NC, U.S.A. After a 1-year pretreatment period, one of the streams was continuously enriched with inorganic nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) for 2 years while the other stream served as a reference. We determine...

The purpose of this work was to elucidate the repercussion of changing pH, incubation time and As(V) competition on fluoride (F-) sorption on forest and vineyard soil samples, pyritic, and granitic materials, as well as on the by-products pine sawdust, oak wood ash, mussel shell ash, fine and coarse mussel shell, and slate processing waste fines. To reach this end, the methodological approach w...

Studies in Florida, USA, focusing on the environmental impacts of wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) were initiated because of elevated levels of arsenic and chromium encountered in ash from wood cogeneration plants within the State. During 1996 it was determined that these elevated levels were due to contamination of wood fuel with discarded CCA-treated wood. Since this time, a ...

An experimental study was undertaken to compare the differences between municipal solid waste (MSW) derived solid recovered fuel (SRF) (complying with CEN standards) and refuse derived fuel (RDF). Both fuels were co-combusted with coal in a 50 kW fluidized bed combustor and the metal emissions were compared. Synthetic SRF was prepared in the laboratory by grinding major constituents of MSW such...

Our earlier experiments in small composters (220 l) indicated the favourable effect of ash from co-incineration of sorted dry waste on the composting of catering waste. The aim of this new study was to clarify further, at a scale of 10 m3, the feasibility of using similar ash as an additive in composting. Source-separated catering waste was mixed with bulking agent (peat and wood chips) and fue...