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Publications

Publications by CPES

2019

Assessment of the air quality in 20 public indoor swimming pools located in the Northern Region of Portugal

Authors
Gabriel, MF; Felgueiras, F; Mourao, Z; Fernandes, EO;

Publication
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL

Abstract
Air exposures occurring in indoor swimming pools are an important public health issue due to their popularity and regular use by the general population, including vulnerable groups such as children and elderly people. More comprehensive information on indoor air quality (IAQ) in swimming pools is thus needed in order to understand health risks, establish appropriate protective limits and provide evidence-based opportunities for improvement of IAQ in these facilities. In this context, twenty public indoor swimming pools located in the Northern Region of Portugal were examined in two sampling campaigns: January-March and May-July 2018. For each campaign, a comprehensive set of environmental parameters was monitored during the entire period of the facilities' operating hours of a weekday, both indoors and outdoors. In addition, four air (1-h samplings) and water samples were collected. Findings show that comfort conditions, ultrafine particles number concentrations and exposure to substances in the indoor air (concentration and composition) is likely to vary greatly from one public indoor swimming pool to another. Trihalomethanes (THM) and dichloroacetonitrile were the predominant disinfection by-products identified in the indoor air but other potentially hazardous volatile organic compounds, such as limonene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane, 2- and 3-methylbutanenitrile, acetophenone, benzonitrile, and isobutyronitrile were found to have relevant putative emission sources in the environment of the swimming pools analyzed. Furthermore, indicators of poor ventilation conditions (namely carbon dioxide, relative humidity and existence of signs of condensation in windows) and some water-related parameters (THM levels, conductivity and salinity) were found to be determining factors of the measured airborne THM concentrations that appeared to significantly potentiate the exposure. In summary, this work provides evidence for the need to establish adequate standards for the comprehensive evaluation of IAQ in public swimming pools, in order to guide further development of evidence-based prevention/remediation strategies for promoting healthy environments in swimming pools.

2019

Impact of future energy policy on water resources in Kazakhstan

Authors
Rivotti, P; Karatayev, M; Mourao, ZS; Shah, N; Clarke, ML; Konadu, DD;

Publication
ENERGY STRATEGY REVIEWS

Abstract
As part of its strategic economic and social plan, Kazakhstan has a target of increasing the share of renewables and alternative energy sources in power generation to 50% by 2050. This greatly contrasts with the current situation, where around 90% of electricity is produced from fossil fuels. To achieve the target, the introduction of between 600 and 2000 MW of nuclear power is expected by 2030. This would impact water resources, already under stress due to significant losses, heavy reliance on irrigation for agriculture, unevenly distributed surface water, variations in transboundary inflows, amongst others. This study presents an integrated analysis of the water-energy systems in Kazakhstan, to investigate the water resource availability to support such energy system transition.

2019

Predicting health risk from exposure to trihalomethanes in an Olympic-size indoor swimming pool among elite swimmers and coaches

Authors
Gouveia, P; Felgueiras, F; Mourao, Z; Fernandes, ED; Moreira, A; Gabriel, MF;

Publication
JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH-PART A-CURRENT ISSUES

Abstract
Disinfection by-products (DBP) such as trihalomethanes (THM) are formed when chlorine and bromine interact with natural organic materials in chlorine-treated swimming pools. Epidemiological evidence demonstrated an association between exposure to swimming pool environment and adverse health effects. Therefore, this study aimed to assess carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk of long-term exposure of elite swimmers and their coaches. In an Olympic-size indoor chlorinated swimming pool, THM levels were determined in water (21-69 mu g/L), in the boundary layer above the water surface (59-397 mu g/m(3)), and in the air surrounding the pool (28-390 mu g/m(3)). These values were used to predict multi-pathway chronic daily intake (CDI), cancer risk (CR) and hazard index (HI). Oral and dermal CDI for swimmers were 2.4 x 10(-6) and 2.0 x 10(-8), respectively. The swimmers' inhalation CDI (1.9 x 10(-3) mg/kg/day) was estimated to be sixfold higher than levels obtained for coaches (3.3 x 10(-4) mg/kg/day). According to guidelines, the HI was acceptable, but CR exceeded the recommended limit for both, coaches (CR: 5.5 x 10(-7)-8.5 x 10(-5); HI: 6.5 x 10(-4)-1 x 10(-1)) and swimmers (CR: 1.4 x 10(-5)-3.6 x 10(-4) HI: 1.6 x 10(-2)-4.3 x 10(-1)). Our findings provide further support to the need to develop comprehensive guidelines to safeguard the health of individuals involved in elite swimming.

2019

A maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic systems based on Monod equation

Authors
Camilo, JC; Guedes, T; Fernandes, DA; Melo, J; Costa, F; Sguarezi Filho, AJ;

Publication
Renewable Energy

Abstract

2019

An Analytical Approach to the Environmental/Economic Dispatch Problem

Authors
Carrillo-Galvez A.; Flores-Bazan F.; Parra E.L.;

Publication
IEEE CHILEAN Conference on Electrical, Electronics Engineering, Information and Communication Technologies, CHILECON 2019

Abstract
In this paper an analytical approach is proposed to solving the Environmental/Economic Dispatch problem (EED). The EED is a multiobjective optimization problem (MOP) that has as objectives to minimize the emissions of pollutants and the total fuel cost of meeting the energy requirements of an electrical power network. The Weighted Sum Method is used for the scalarization of the MOP and therefore to find the whole Pareto front. To solve the obtained quadratic programming problem, the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions were used, based on a theoretical condition that allowed us to obtain solutions by solving a system of lineal equations. This strategy was tested on two systems with different number of generators and characteristics. The obtained results were compared with other previously reported elsewhere, showing some evident advantages of our proposal.

2019

Harmonics and flicker in an iron and steel industry with AC arc furnaces

Authors
Pérez Donsión, M; Jar Pereira, S; Oliveira, FT;

Publication
Renewable Energy and Power Quality Journal

Abstract
An AC arc furnace is an unbalanced, non-linear and time-varying load, which can cause many power quality problems to the electric network inside the plant and in its electrical vicinity. Although different studies addressing harmonics and flicker analyses on arc furnaces can be found in the bibliography, it is very difficult obtain an exact model that considers all the parameters that influence the process, and therefore it is necessary to obtain actual measurements under different conditions. This paper presents measurement results for harmonic distortion, flicker and unbalance obtained over three different measurement campaigns on an iron and steel industry (SNL), as well as the pertinent conclusions. Measurement campaigns were performed on an AC arc furnace of 83 MW (170 TM) with a 120 MVA transformer connected by a ‘dirty’ 220 kV line (55 km) to the Substation of Carregado, where other feeders supply industrial and domestic consumers. Finally, the dynamic behaviour of an SVC will be analysed and compared to that of a STATCOM by means of simulation studies.

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