This Monday we had a semi normal day of classes. Professor Stefano Milia was a guest speaker talking about site remediation. I have always discussed site remediation on co-op but have yet to have a class that focuses on it. It was exciting to hear about different site characterizations and remediation strategies. Even more exciting was we had a chance to practice calculating potential solutions that can be used to on contaminated areas. The calculations covered physical containment and chemical reactions that can occur on site and in collected lab data. In the afternoon the wifi was down on campus so we worked on projects and papers in our dorm.
One thing we have started doing is going on evening walks down by the port. There is a nice boardwalk that is always surrounded with fish. There are schools of tiny fish that you can hardly see, schools of medium fish that look like a net rippling in the water, then occasionally there are schools of big fish that swim by, all hungry for something. Someone we are with always wishes for a fishing rod but I love being an onlooker to the food chain in action. As a whole it is a relaxing way to end the evening and I am glad it is becoming a regular part of our days here.
Tuesday was Festa della Repubblica, Republic Day, in Italy when they voted against the monarchy. In true liberation style, everyone had the day off. All of us went to the Poetto to go to the beach and almost all of us went sailing. It was such a great day. One of my favorite things in the world is to be on or in the water and I got it all! Sailing was fun, even as a NSP (Nahant Sailing Program) dropout, and it made me want to try to make it a regular activity when I return home. The beaches here are a little different, but I still managed to get a slushie. The water is gorgeously blue, clear, and warm. This was our first time swimming in Cagliari and we are planning to return this weekend. I did not bring my camera, but will post pictures this weekend.
Today we the Villaservice Plant which is the dream plant for solid waste engineering. The plant had three landfills, an anaerobic digestion, waste water treatment, composting, solar panels, and wind turbines. There we met with a chemist who spoke almost perfect English, though he confessed he only spent one week in England in his life. Because we experienced the smell of the composting and landfills, I was excited to learn about anaerobic digestion. The goal of anaerobic digestion is to decompose organics, such as food and yard waste, using biological processes. There are different bacteria that perform these biological processes, but generally they need no oxygen present and as an end goal will produce methane. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, organic content is made mostly of carbon and methane (chemical formula CH4) is a fuel source.
The goal of the Villaservice Plant was to find an alternative use for discarded waste, typically as an energy source. The landfills, first opened in 1993, collect biogas (methane). The anaerobic digestors, first installed in 2003, have peaked at an 80% recovery of biogas. The composting plant installed in 2009 has biogas production along with a fertilizer product that can be sold for €5/ton. However, we were shown some numbers for the plant's performance, and there was still a net energy loss of the plant, which I found interesting. As a whole the plant and presentations were well executed and I had a great time.
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| The guides for the day |
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| Organic waste conveyor belt |
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| Getting prepared for future landfill mining |
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| Inside the biogas accumulation dome |
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| Wastewater Treatment! |
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| Not bad views |
After the plant we ate lunch in our luxurious bus. I felt sneaky doing so because later when we tried to get on the bus with ice cream he wouldn't let us... We spent the afternoon hiking in Villacidro. There were so many wonderful things about the place we stopped. The first was the fresh spring of mineral water we drank from. Sardinia is famous for its high population of centenarians, so hopefully the spring we drank out of was connected to the island's fountain of youth. The second thing that was wonderful was this tiny trickling waterfall up the trail. The third was the hiking trails overlooking the waterfall. This entire trip has been fantastic because so many of us are interested in hiking. We made a few wrong turns off the trail but ended up overlooking the falls and the bus. There are few things better than sitting on top of the world. The fourth and final joy of the afternoon was the double chocolate ice cream bar I got. My camera died halfway through the afternoon so I only had a chance to snap a few pictures... I hope you enjoy them.
Thanks for reading!
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