Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Personality”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,387 records · Page 77
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Path of Disposal for Hazardous and Non-hazardous Waste from Cradle to Grave

Hazardous waste is a threat to human health and the environment and must be managed and disposed of properly. A Solid Waste is defined as any material (solid, liquid, containerized gas) which has been discarded, abandoned (no longer needed), or recycled. The Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) is a law that creates the framework for the proper management of solid waste. Under RCRA, EPA has developed a program which ensures hazardous waste is managed safely from the moment it is generated to its final disposal (cradle-to-grave)2. To educate about how waste is handled at the Savannah River Research Campus (SRRC) under RCRA, the path it takes from point of generation (cradle) to disposal (grave), and the responsibilities of every person involved in the process. Researcher or other laboratory personnel that generates waste as a result of their work Responsibilities: - Fill out inventory log sheet and corresponding container sheet which includes the constituents of the waste; - Properly label waste container with SAA/WSA ID no., generator's name, what it is, the hazards, and date; - Place waste in designated waste storage area. Laboratory Custodian Responsibilities: - Ensures waste is handled and stored properly; - Ensures inventory is updated; - Ensures all container sheets are completed; - Ensures only authorized personal have access to waste storage areas. Environmental Compliance Authority Responsibilities: - Develops waste procedures; - Provide waste training; - Inspects for improperly handled waste; - Establishes or closes waste storage areas as needed; - Determines if waste can be recycled; - Determines if waste is RCRA hazardous: Is it U or P listed? - Unused commercial chemical products; Is it F listed - Spent solvents; Is it characteristic? - Flammable/Oxidizer, Corrosive, Reactive, Toxic; - Weighs waste to ensure laboratory has not exceeded its monthly or total storage limits; - Maintains waste records; - Determines how waste should be disposed: Trash - Nonhazardous solids; Drain - Nonhazardous Liquids; Labpack; - Prepares waste for shipment with Vendor and Department of Transportation (DOT) personnel. Packages, Transports, and Treats Hazardous Waste Responsibilities: - Must be EPA permitted and approved by the Department of Energy - Picks up hazardous waste for transport to a treatment, storage or disposal facility depending on waste disposal requirements - Must meet all Department of Transportation regulations for transporting hazardous waste - Dispose of waste according to RCRA regulations. Due to the potential risks to human health and the environment, waste must be handled safely through the chain of possession from cradle to grave. To ensure proper handling, there are many safety checks as required by RCRA and DOT regulations. This includes proper labeling, inventory, and characterization to ensure all hazards are known, inspections by the Custodian, ECA, and the state regulator (SCDHEC), and transportation verifications and manifesting. One of the best ways to reduce the risks that waste presents is to minimize or eliminate the creation of waste. This can be accomplished through source reduction which includes: Inventory control, material substitution, process modification, improved housekeeping, and preventative maintenance and recycling.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2014

Study of Plastic Scintillator Properties for Radioactive Sources Dosimetry - Paper 108

Plastic scintillator is a simple material which has the density close to that of human soft tissue (1.06 g/cm{sup 3}). Its energy response is close to that of human soft tissue and it is relatively energy independent. This prospect provide a desired characteristics in measuring dose by plastic scintillator either for radiation monitoring or personal dosimeter. Generally the energy calibration of organic scintillator will be done by using gamma ray sources. The positions of Compton edge in pulse height spectra, which have known energy values will be identified. However the Compton edge normally is very broad and difficult to determine the point corresponding to that particular Compton electron energies. Many researchers used several fitting functions and Monte Carlo simulations to determine the position of Compton edge. For example, Proctor and Wellman (2012) used a straight line fit to the linear part of Compton edge and extrapolated to zero count. While L. Swiderski et al. used a method based on a back-scattered coincidence measurement to measure in a wide energy range the position of Compton edge in organic scintillators. For a simple and quick approach of calibration, we used a Gauss-error function to fit the Compton edge region of interest by assumed that the location of maximum energy of Compton electrons is half-height of the Compton maximum (CM). The reasons is because the CM position could be determined easily from the spectra throughout wide energy range. Interpreting gamma dose rates from accumulated plastic scintillation detector spectra is often a complex task because the probability of a full energy deposition event in the detector is often negligible. Despite no full energy peaks in plastic scintillator spectra, several attempts have been made by the other researchers to obtain the dose from the energy distribution spectra of gamma radiation. For example, Proctor and Wellman used the modified spectrum dose index (SDI) to calculate the exposure rates by multiplying the energy corresponding to its channel and all products are summed before multiply by a calibration constant to yield an exposure rate. While Lobdell and Hertel calculated dose using a response matrix based on spectral unfolding technique. From these points of view, we have made an attempt to correlate the counts obtained in scintillator with absorbed dose or ambient dose equivalent. We aimed to calibrate the plastic scintillator energy deposition for dose, by correlate the counts obtained with a particular value of dose. By designed the scintillator to measure at 1 cm tissue depth might be helpful to be used as radiation monitoring or personal dosimeter since the energy response of plastic scintillator is relatively energy independent compared to that of inorganic scintillators. The energy calibration proposed from simple fitting approach had been verified with calculated spectra. This might be considered as a practical approach for technician or radiation workers with sufficient accuracy. The linear behavior of counts per absorbed dose give promising to calibrate scintillator energy deposition to read dose (equivalent dose or absorbed dose) for photons. Thus the scintillator could provide both the energy and dose response simultaneously, which may important in some radiation field of measurements. Currently the scintillator is able to give dose rate value for gamma sources of Cs-137 and Mn-54. The number of counts per unit absorbed dose would likely to vary somewhat with photon energy, although the plastic scintillator should have a tissue dose response that is relatively energy independent. Further analysis will be done on conversion factor parameters so that it could be used in such situations where the radiation field is complex or unknown. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Better Living Through Biology: Studying Enzymes to Make Industrial Processes More Efficient

In biology, enzymes are the molecular machinery needed to speed up slow chemical reactions for life to occur. These molecular machines enhance chemical processes to a large degree, allowing for improbable and challenging chemical reactions to efficiently happen in water at room temperature. Many microorganisms have specialized enzymes used to tackle particularly challenging chemistry that they experience in their own environment. Our group is studying a specific enzyme using a reaction called "electron bifurcation" that energetically pairs electrons and is analogous to a trampoline, using one person's jump to propel another person higher than they could by themselves. We have learned that certain metal- and vitamin-containing pathways in this protein funnel electrons in specific directions. Our investigation into this enzyme is the foundation for future industrial applications, ranging from biological production of sustainable aviation fuel from CO2, production of nitrogen-based fertilizers, and biologically remediating environmental contamination.

BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Evolution of Airport Terminal Wayfinding Technologies

This work was presented during the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) webinar "Enhancing the Airport Experience with Wayfinding" on May 23, 2024. The process of navigating within airports has evolved over the years, with various technologies emerging to complement static signage. Historically, wayfinding began with static signage and airport staff members providing personal guidance, before progressing into digital signs, interactive kiosks, and displays. In recent years, wayfinding has continued along its digital path using mobile applications, indoor positioning technology, and even robot guides. With ever- larger airport facilities and a growing number of travelers, the future of wayfinding will likely be heavily linked to further digital developments such as facial recognition, augmented-reality technology, and autonomous vehicle navigation. This presentation delves into the history of interior wayfinding in airports, its present state, and the anticipated future. Key wayfinding technologies are discussed with an emphasis on emerging smartphone applications. Other considerations such as legal issues, language barriers, and human-technology interactions are included. A wayfinding framework is proposed, with static wayfinding technologies serving as the base upon which dynamic and personalized digital technologies are built. In this framework, electronic wayfinding technologies do not replace - but rather augment - traditional methods. These technologies can be integrated into existing wayfinding systems for a seamless traveler experience.

airport↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sustainable Public Transport: Providing Responsive, On-Demand Service with Clean Energy

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) uses the Mobility Energy Productivity (MEP) as a metric and a lens to guide applied research into high performance public mobility. In the current initiative to abate global warming, the US needs not only zero-emission vehicles in the transit fleet (such as buses and shuttles) but also time- and cost-effective services to connect people with goods, services and employment toward a high-quality of life. Our current transportation system is overly dependent on personally-owned automobiles for high quality mobility, with public modes being less viable in many areas. Simply electrifying the drivetrains of existing public transit modes will fail to improve the quality of mobility for those that do not have access to private automobiles. The slow rebound by transit from the pandemic reveals the need to reinvent public transit service. Using the MEP lens, NREL researchers have tracked various novel developments in the public mobility space, with the confluence of shared, on-demand transit (ODT) services using light duty vehicles emerging as a key enabler of high-efficiency public mobility. Deployments such as those in Arlington, TX, Dallas, TX, Fort Erie, ON, and Innisfil, ON showcase the use of fleets of light-duty vehicles as the basis for community circulation and first/last mile to intra-regional transit. ODT services have demonstrated improvements in being more time efficient for riders, more energy efficient in operation (even before the introduction of fully electric vehicles), as well as being cost effective. It appears that aspects of the long-awaited promise of Personal Rapid Transit from the 1970s are beginning to be realized through ODT deployments, leveraging transportation network company (TNC) logistics, popularized by Uber and Lyft, but applied to public mobility. Currently, manually driven ODT operations are already cost competitive with traditional transit systems on a cost per ride basis, and full automation promises to reduce costs by 50% while providing additional safety and verified customer service. Connecting these ODT systems with efficient and effective intra-regional backbone transit service is the next step, with transit agencies like DART providing early results. This discussion will walk through the evidence for this postulated outcome and show results from a series of case-studies.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Research Testbed for Experimental Connectivity and Automation in Cars

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are engineered systems in which the computational components and physical components of the system are interdependent and deeply linked. Discovery and development of CPS technologies are changing the way people interact with engineered systems. To demonstrate this point, consider the Global Positioning System (GPS) which revolutionized personal mobility. Its research origins stem from the US Department of Defense in 1973 for military use. By 2000 limitations on civilian consumption of GPS service were lifted. Immediately, personal GPS products were shipped for in-car navigation systems. Soon after, GPS receivers were embedded into mobile phones with the introduction of the Nokia N95 and Apple iPhone for maps and turn-by-turn navigation. With the benefit of hindsight we can see that GPS has become a cornerstone technology of our daily life. Satellite-based navigation has gone from a radical space technology, to a matter of uninteresting availability; it is the typical way that people navigate through roadways now. The combination of the satellite infrastructure, the integration of receiver modules, and powerful maps applications has significantly changed mobility in the 21st century.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Status of the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project

The International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) has continued its work generating evaluations of new and historical benchmark experiments since the last update to the nuclear criticality safety (NCS) community at the 12th International Conference on Nuclear Criticality Conference held in 2023. One additional version of the ICSBEP Handbook has been published since that update, and the Technical Review Group (TRG) held two in-person meetings to review and approve additional benchmarks. The 2022 and 2023 editions of the handbook were combined into one release (published in November 2024) and contained 13 new evaluations with 46 different configurations and two major revisions to existing evaluations. The 2024 version of the handbook, currently under publication review, will contain two new evaluations with 15 new configurations and one major revision to HEU-MET-FAST-028, the evaluation of Flattop with a uranium core. The ICSBEP TRG met again in person in April 2025 to review benchmarks for the 2025 ICSBEP Handbook and final comment resolution is currently ongoing. Many of the new benchmarks represent contemporaneous experiments that have been specifically optimized to provide validation cases relevant to the NCS community. One major area of focus for new critical experiments is to target the sparsely populated intermediate energy (or resonance) region. Another focus of many of the new benchmarks is to provide experiments sensitive to different materials, such as chlorine, hafnium, tantalum, titanium, molybdenum, chromium, and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, or Lucite). The ICSBEP continues to deliver high-quality, peer reviewed evaluations of integral experiments relevant to the nuclear data community.

HEU-MET-FAST-028↗
DOE OSTI2025

Fleet Algorithm Design for Pooled Rideshare: Integrating Human Factors, Simulation, and Optimization

This dissertation explores the study the integration of human factors modeling and rideshare fleet control algorithms. Pooled rideshare is a unique transportation mode offering that allows riders increased flexibility and accessibility over public transportation, and decreased cost relative to personal vehicles or traditional rideshare. Additionally, relative to personal vehicles, pooled rideshare offers reduced costs and options for those with difficulty obtaining transportation. Prior research in the space typically focused on modeling human behavior, or optimizing system performance, but a lack of integration of the concepts leads to unrealistic or underutilized outcomes. To tackle this problem, novel rideshare assignment, and repositioning strategies were designed and implemented in a simulation environment. Through a series of successive studies, improvements to current rideshare processes were identified, and beneficial outcomes for profitability, accessibility, and traffic were explored. Further, improved metrics to assess rideshare performance were designed and analyzed in the context of improved rideshare offerings. This research contributes to the field of transportation by tackling novel but pragmatic approaches to challenges facing the rideshare industry. Through the course of this dissertation, rideshares impacts on users, operators, and even regulators will be explored in detail. The justification behind the use of a simulation environment, a set of simulated regional models for testing, and the focus on realism and deployability is illustrated. The research identifies holes in potential markets for the use of both private, and public rideshare systems.

Paul, Joseph↗
NASA NTRS1987

Exploring flight crew behaviour

A programme of research into the determinants of flight crew performance in commercial and military aviation is described, along with limitations and advantages associated with the conduct of research in such settings. Preliminary results indicate significant relationships among personality factors, attitudes regarding flight operations, and crew performance. The potential theoretical and applied utility of the research and directions for further research are discussed.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗
DOE OSTI2020

A hidden Markov model for population-level cervical cancer screening data

The Cancer Registry of Norway has been administrating a national cervical cancer screening program since 1992 by coordinating triennial cytology exam screenings for the female population between 25 and 69 years of age. Up to 80% of cancers are prevented through mass screening, but this comes at the expense of considerable screening activity and leads to overtreatment of clinically asymptomatic precancers. Here, we present a continuous-time, time-inhomogeneous hidden Markov model which was developed to understand the screening process and cervical cancer carcinogenesis in detail. By leveraging 1.7 million individual's multivariate time-series of medical exams performed over a 25-year period, we simultaneously estimate all model parameters. We show that an age-dependent model reflects the Norwegian screening program by comparing empirical survival curves from observed registry data and data simulated from the proposed model. The model can be generalized to include more detailed individual-level covariates as well as new types of screening exams. By utilizing individual screening histories and covariate data, the proposed model shows potential for improving strategies for cancer screening programs by personalizing recommended screening intervals.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Evaluation of Effective Dose During Abdominal Three-Dimensional Imaging for Three Flat-Panel-Detector Angiography Systems

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effective dose during abdominal three-dimensional (3D) imaging on phantoms and estimate the dose-area product (DAP) for effective dose conversion factors for three types of angiographic units. Three-dimensional imaging was performed for three sizes (small, medium, large) of human-shaped phantoms using three types of angiographic units (Allura Xper FD20/10, INNOVA 4100, AXIOM Artis dTA). We calculated 25 organ doses and effective doses using Monte Carlo technique for the three phantoms with a program for a personal computer. As benchmark studies to back up the results by Monte Carlo technique, we measured the organ doses directly on the small phantom using radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeters. The DAP value increased as the phantom size increased. The organ doses and the effective doses during the 3D imaging increased as the phantom size increased. The effective doses for the small phantom by Monte Carlo technique were 1.9, 2.2, and 2.1 mSv for the Allura Xper FD20/10, INNOVA 4100, and AXIOM Artis dTA, respectively, while those by direct measurement were 1.6, 2.0, and 2.6 mSv. The effective doses to DAP ratios by Monte Carlo technique were 0.37-0.45, 0.26-0.32, and 0.13-0.15 (mSv Gy{sup -1}cm{sup -2}) for the Allura Xper FD20/10, INNOVA 4100, and AXIOM Artis dTA, respectively. In conclusion, the effective doses during 3D imaging and the dose-to-DAP ratios differ among angiographic units, and the effective dose can be estimated using a proper conversion factor for each angiographic unit.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Pairwise alignment for very long nucleic acid sequences

Highlights: • The PAAVLS algorithm can be employed for alignment of very long sequences. • The PAAVLS algorithm largely reduces memory demand as the Smith–Waterman algorithm. • The running times of the PAAVLS and Smith–Waterman algorithms are comparable. Sequence alignment is one of the fundamental problems in computational biology and has numerous applications. The Smith–Waterman algorithm generates optimal local alignment for pairwise alignment task and has become a standard algorithm in its field. However, the current version of the Smith–Waterman algorithm demands a significant amount of memory and is not suitable for alignment of very long sequences. On the hand, the recent DNA sequencing technologies have produced vast amounts of biological sequences. Some nucleic acid sequences are very long and cannot employ the Smith–Waterman algorithm. To this end, this study proposes the PAAVLS algorithm that follows the dynamic programming technique employed by the Smith–Waterman algorithm and largely reduces the demand of memory. The proposed PAAVLS algorithm can be employed for alignment of very long sequences, i.e., sequences contain more than 100,000,000 nucleotides, on a personal computer. Additionally, the running time of the proposed PAAVLS algorithm is comparable with the running time of the standard Smith–Waterman algorithm.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Assessing Internet energy intensity: A review of methods and results

Assessing the average energy intensity of Internet transmissions is a complex task that has been a controversial subject of discussion. Estimates published over the last decade diverge by up to four orders of magnitude — from 0.0064 kilowatt-hours per gigabyte (kWh/GB) to 136 kWh/GB. This article presents a review of the methodological approaches used so far in such assessments: i) top–down analyses based on estimates of the overall Internet energy consumption and the overall Internet traffic, whereby average energy intensity is calculated by dividing energy by traffic for a given period of time, ii) model-based approaches that model all components needed to sustain an amount of Internet traffic, and iii) bottom–up approaches based on case studies and generalization of the results. Our analysis of the existing studies shows that the large spread of results is mainly caused by two factors: a) the year of reference of the analysis, which has significant influence due to efficiency gains in electronic equipment, and b) whether end devices such as personal computers or servers are included within the system boundary or not. For an overall assessment of the energy needed to perform a specific task involving the Internet, it is necessary to account for the types of end devices needed for the task, while the energy needed for data transmission can be added based on a generic estimate of Internet energy intensity for a given year. Separating the Internet as a data transmission system from the end devices leads to more accurate models and to results that are more informative for decision makers, because end devices and the networking equipment of the Internet usually belong to different spheres of control. -- Highlights: • Assessments of the energy intensity of the Internet differ by a factor of 20,000. • We review top–down, model-based, and bottom–up estimates from literature. • Main divergence factors are the year studied and the inclusion of end devices. • We argue against extending the Internet system boundary beyond data transmission. • Decision-makers need data that differentiates between end devices and transmission.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Lifestyle Factors in U.S. Residential Electricity Consumption

A multivariate statistical approach to lifestyle analysis of residential electricity consumption is described and illustrated. Factor analysis of selected variables from the 2005 U.S. Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) identified five lifestyle factors reflecting social and behavioral choices associated with air conditioning, laundry usage, personal computer usage, climate zone of residence, and TV use. These factors were also estimated for 2001 RECS data. Multiple regression analysis using the lifestyle factors yields solutions accounting for approximately 40% of the variance in electricity consumption for both years. By adding the associated household and market characteristics of income, local electricity price and access to natural gas, variance accounted for is increased to approximately 54%. Income contributed only {approx}1% unique variance to the 2005 and 2001 models, indicating that lifestyle factors reflecting social and behavioral choices better account for consumption differences than income. This was not surprising given the 4-fold range of energy use at differing income levels. Geographic segmentation of factor scores is illustrated, and shows distinct clusters of consumption and lifestyle factors, particularly in suburban locations. The implications for tailored policy and planning interventions are discussed in relation to lifestyle issues.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Generation of and control measures for, e-waste in Hong Kong

While accurately estimating electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) generation is important for building appropriate infrastructure for its collection and recycling, making reliable estimates of this kind is difficult in Hong Kong owing to the fact that neither accurate trade statistics nor sales data of relevant products are available. In view of this, data of e-products consumption at household level was collected by a tailor-made questionnaire survey from the public for obtaining a reasonable e-waste generation estimate. It was estimated that on average no more than 80,443 tonnes (11.5 kg/capita) of waste is generated from non-plasma and non-liquid crystal display televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners and personal computers each year by Hong Kong households. However, not more than 17% of this is disposed as waste despite a producer responsibility scheme (PRS) not being in place because of the existence of a vibrant e-waste trading sector. The form of PRS control that can possibly win most public support is one that would involve the current e-waste traders as a major party in providing the reverse logistics with a visible recycling charge levied at the point of importation. This reverse logistic service should be convenient, reliable and highly accessible to the consumers.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2011

A preliminary categorization of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment as secondary metal resources

Highlights: > End-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) as secondary metal resources. > The content and the total amount of metals in specific equipment are both important. > We categorized 21 EEE types from contents and total amounts of various metals. > Important equipment types as secondary resources were listed for each metal kind. > Collectability and possible collection systems of various EEE types were discussed. - Abstract: End-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has recently received attention as a secondary source of metals. This study examined characteristics of end-of-life EEE as secondary metal resources to consider efficient collection and metal recovery systems according to the specific metals and types of EEE. We constructed an analogy between natural resource development and metal recovery from end-of-life EEE and found that metal content and total annual amount of metal contained in each type of end-of-life EEE should be considered in secondary resource development, as well as the collectability of the end-of-life products. We then categorized 21 EEE types into five groups and discussed their potential as secondary metal resources. Refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and CRT TVs were evaluated as the most important sources of common metals, and personal computers, mobile phones, and video games were evaluated as the most important sources of precious metals. Several types of small digital equipment were also identified as important sources of precious metals; however, mid-size information and communication technology (ICT) equipment (e.g., printers and fax machines) and audio/video equipment were shown to be more important as a source of a variety of less common metals. The physical collectability of each type of EEE was roughly characterized by unit size and number of end-of-life products generated annually. Current collection systems in Japan were examined and potentially appropriate collection methods were suggested for equipment types that currently have no specific collection systems in Japan, particularly for video games, notebook computers, and mid-size ICT and audio/video equipment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Monitoring of WEEE plastics in regards to brominated flame retardants using handheld XRF

Highlights: • Specification of an empirical factor for conversion from bromine to PBB and PBDE. • The handheld XRF device was validated for this particular application. • A very large number of over 4600 pieces of monitor housings was analysed. • The recyclable fraction mounts up to 85% for TV but only 53% of PC waste plastics. • A high percentage of pieces with bromine contents of over 50,000 ppm was obtained. - Abstract: This contribution is focused on the on-site determination of the bromine content in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), in particular waste plastics from television sets (TV) and personal computer monitors (PC) using a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device. The described approach allows the examination of samples in regards to the compliance with legal specifications for polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) directly after disassembling and facilitates the sorting out of plastics with high contents of brominated flame retardants (BFRs). In all, over 3000 pieces of black (TV) and 1600 pieces of grey (PC) plastic waste were analysed with handheld XRF technique for this study. Especially noticeable was the high percentage of pieces with a bromine content of over 50,000 ppm for TV (7%) and PC (39%) waste plastics. The applied method was validated by comparing the data of handheld XRF with results obtained by GC–MS. The results showed the expected and sufficiently accurate correlation between these two methods. It is shown that handheld XRF technique is an effective tool for fast monitoring of large volumes of WEEE plastics in regards to BFRs for on-site measurements.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

An investigation of used electronics return flows: A data-driven approach to capture and predict consumers storage and utilization behavior

Highlights: • We analyzed a data set of HDDs returned back to an e-waste collection site. • We studied factors that affect the storage behavior. • Consumer type, brand and size are among factors which affect the storage behavior. • Commercial consumers have stored computers more than household consumers. • Machine learning models were used to predict the storage behavior. - Abstract: Consumers often have a tendency to store their used, old or un-functional electronics for a period of time before they discard them and return them back to the waste stream. This behavior increases the obsolescence rate of used still-functional products leading to lower profitability that could be resulted out of End-of-Use (EOU) treatments such as reuse, upgrade, and refurbishment. These types of behaviors are influenced by several product and consumer-related factors such as consumers’ traits and lifestyles, technology evolution, product design features, product market value, and pro-environmental stimuli. Better understanding of different groups of consumers, their utilization and storage behavior and the connection of these behaviors with product design features helps Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and recycling and recovery industry to better overcome the challenges resulting from the undesirable storage of used products. This paper aims at providing insightful statistical analysis of Electronic Waste (e-waste) dynamic nature by studying the effects of design characteristics, brand and consumer type on the electronics usage time and end of use time-in-storage. A database consisting of 10,063 Hard Disk Drives (HDD) of used personal computers returned back to a remanufacturing facility located in Chicago, IL, USA during 2011–2013 has been selected as the base for this study. The results show that commercial consumers have stored computers more than household consumers regardless of brand and capacity factors. Moreover, a heterogeneous storage behavior is observed for different brands of HDDs regardless of capacity and consumer type factors. Finally, the storage behavior trends are projected for short-time forecasting and the storage times are precisely predicted by applying machine learning methods.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗