In southern Sweden, beech (Fagus silvatica) and spruce (Picea abies) are two species with similar demands on soil properties. With increased global warming and high acid deposition the future may bring larger areas were the two species are overlapping, competing for the same soil. The aim of this study was to compare spruce and beech concerning distribution, cultivation and soil properties. From available data comparisons were made between spruce and beech forests in Sweden. Soil analyses were made on samples from beech forest in southern Sweden, with and without natural regeneration of spruce.

The production of oilseed rape is an important issue in Sweden and those who never have grown oilseed rape (OSR) are now willing to try. It is always a risk to grow oilseed rape, specially winter OSR, because of outwintering. This risk increases as you go north and therefore establishment and autumn growth is very important. These are some of the reasons that I have chosen to write about the establishment of winter oilseed rape in Middle Sweden. There are many factors that influence the outcome of the establishment, e. g.

In this final thesis, an existing method for analysis of chlorophenols (CP) in bottom sediments has been updated and adjusted for analysis of chlorophenols in soil. The covalent bonds between the chlorophenols and the soil matrix were broken through basic hydrolysis and the chlorophenols were then separated from the water phase through addition of sulphuric acid followed by ether extraction. The chromatography was improved through extractive acetylation of the chlorophenols.The updated method was then applied on soil samples from a contaminated area (a former sawmill in Hyttsjö, Östergötland, Sweden).The analyse was preformed by GC/MS with respect to 2-MonoCP, 4-MonoCP, 2,4-DiCP, 2,6-DiCP, 2,4,6-TriCP, 2,3,4,6-TetraCP and pentachlorophenol (PCP).Contamination of chlorophenols in nature can be explained by the former use of wood preservative chemicals based on chlorophenols. In the 1960s and the 1970s these chemicals were used in Sweden, but due to their toxicity they were banned by the Swedish government in 1978.In Hyttsjö a pentachlorophenol-based product named Santobrite was used for several years. The concentration of PCP in the soil samples from Hyttsjö varied from 0.2->1.8 ng/mg dry substance.

ABB Surge Arrestors in Ludvika have for a long time had a problem to keep the moisture at a steady state in the production of their ZnO-powder, that is used to produce varistors.Some black-box models of the spray drying process have been designed and evaluated to find a solution for the problem. After evaluating the collected data it has been found that variations in the supply voltage causes control difficulties for the operator. A cascade control system was designed, consisting of three PI control loops designed with lambda tuning. The disturbance in the supply voltagewas used as a feed forward in the control system.At the end of the project the control system was installed, and tests were made to verify the functionality of the regulator. It was shown that most of the variations in the moisture of the powder could be eliminated using small resources, through purchase of a process controller and four power meters.

This thesis investigated the possibilities to resume cultivation of an old manor house built of timber and what this would mean from an energy and moisture perspective. The building in this case study is named Sofiedals mansion and was built in 1858 in Valbo 11 kilometers west of Gävle.The structure of the house was documented and used as a starting-point for carrying out calculations focused on energy and moisture aspects. With the help of a number of computer programs and a conducted air tightness test, the buildings energy consumption were calculated and compared with the current building regulations.In addition, the building was analyzed considering energy retrofitting and what it meant for moisture problems. The energy retrofitting consisted of additional insulation, decreasing the buildings permeability through air sealing; window and door replacements. When a building is equipped with natural ventilation it is difficult to know its precise performance and how an energy retrofitting affects it.

Toxic metals contaminate soil worldwide and thus serve as sever environmental threat. Therefore the purposes of this study were to investigate in which soil fractions that different heavy metals (Fe, As, Cu, Zn and Pb) could be found in contaminated soils and if it is possible to use sieving as a method for decontamination. Soil samples were collected from three different locations, the Nasa silver mine, the Blaiken-mine and Svalget environmental station. The samples were oven dried and later on sieved into six different fractions 8mm, 4 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.250mm, 0.063 mm and <0.063 mm. The fractions 4 mm, 0.5 mm and <0.063 mm from each location were analyzed in an x-ray fluorescence detector.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att studera om det finns en målgradient vid investeringsbedömning som medför en preferens för alternativ med kort återbetalningstid och snabba belöningar. Vi valde att genomföra denna studie med hjälp av en kvantitativ ansats, då vi genomförde ett experiment med studenter vid Blekinge Tekniska Högskola. Detta motiverar vi med att utifrån vårt syfte och vår teoretiska referensram, ger det oss störst möjlighet att generera ett intressant och relevant resultat. Vårt resultat visar tydligt att beslutsfattare föredrar att använda återbetalningsregeln före nettonuvärdesmetoden i en beslutssituation, och därmed ett fokus på tidsaspekten och när en investering är återbetald. 81 % av våra respondenter valde tidsalternativet i minst ett av de två casen.

This project investigated how elevation and vegetation type influences variation in plant litter phenolic content and protein precipitation capacity among and within common plant species for two different vegetation types, heath and meadow, in a subarctic ecosystem in the Abisko region of northern Sweden. As nutrient availability generally decreases with increasing elevation as a result of decreasing temperature, I hypothesised that phenolic content would increase with elevation and be higher on the heath than the meadow. To test this, the total phenolic content and protein precipitation capacity was estimated in leaf litter from 13 species in both heath and meadow vegetation across an elevational gradient ranging from 500 to 1000 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) in the study region. The results showed that elevation and vegetation type both had a strong impact on both variables. Total phenolic concentrations decreased with elevation for the meadow, and were greater for the heath than the meadow.

The moisture content in 10 deliveries of tree parts and 10 deliveries of wood residues were measured with different methods to analyze the quality of procedure used at Dåvamyran today. At the same time a survey was made on the measure procedures used at heating plants in Sweden The majority of the heating plants in Sweden use weight and moisture content as base for payment but at some plants only volume. The moisture content is usually estimated by drying wood chips in an oven but few plants a visual estimation is used. At few plants moisture content is estimated spectroscopicily. The techniques using near infra read light and other electromagnetic are still at a test stage. The methods of measurement used today are quit unreliable for the individual deliveries and there is a risk for systematic mistakes.

AbstractThe research project Liberation, supported by the European Commission under the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme (Fifth RTD Framework Programme) aimed at developing a decision support system for ecological risk assessment of contaminated sites has proposed a tiered system including the triad method. This method integrates contaminant chemistry and bioavailability analyses with observed ecotoxicological effects in soil and groundwater. In this study the triad method was used to perform a risk characterization of a former surface treatment and metal industry, now used for the student union buildings of the Mälardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden. On the site, high concentrations of copper, zinc and nickel have been detected in the soil in a preliminary investigation of contaminant levels with XRF. For performing the risk assessment of the site according to the triad method, contaminant bioavailability, soil metal concentrations and soil toxicity were determined and an ecological assessment was carried out on four selected soil samples (one reference soil and three samples with low (B), medium (C) and high (D) contaminant levels). Contaminant bioavailability was measured through leaching (ISO TC 190/S7) and biouptake tests (DGT).

The margin in crop production is more and more less and it forces the producer to check out how to reduce the cost of establishment of new crop. One way to reduce the cost in establishment is to begin with plough less farming. It saves money and time compares to conventional soil preparation with plough and harrow. Not all soil types are god for plough less farming and should be continued with ploughing (mainly light soil), but other soil types working very well with plough free farming. If you want to success with plough less farming you have to think in new lanes. One of the things you have to think about is to not grow too much cereal after cereal. Low stubble is important when you harvest the crop and also to spread and chop the straw well. I have in this work interviewed some farmers and farm advisers in Östergötland to see which thoughts they have about plough less farming.

This paper aims to describe the variation and develop a method to control the production for the product Metropol Kaktus from the snuff developer Fiedler & Lundgren. We are going to use the requirements from the product specifications as limits of the expected quality when we present methods to control the process. One method attempts to control during the process and the other attempts to maximize the number of products with strived quality before the process starts. Metropol Kaktus is a product produced with high quality, the mean weight is 20,023 gram and this is very close to the weight, 20 gram, which is reported in the product specifications. The variation in weight variable is less than what is reported in the specifications and the minimum weight is over the limit set by Livsmedelsverket.

The decomposition of organic carbon in drained peat soils is a major source of carbon di-oxide in Sweden. A big part of these drained peat soils are used in agriculture and it is a big challenge to slow down their decomposition. It has earlier been thought that less tilling and higher water table levels would decrease the activity of soil microbes and thereby the decomposition, but recent experiments has showed that this has little or no effect. In this bachelor thesis a field experiment was made on drained peat soil with ley, outside Björklinge, Uppsala municipality, Sweden. The experiment was carried out in May 2011. The objective was to develop a method to examine how the net exchange of carbon diox-ide from plant covered peat soil is affected by temperature and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

Cultural heritages are environments created by humans that are considered to have a conservation value for the posterity. They can be seen as one of society's non renewable resources. It is important to have knowledge of how cultural heritages are affected by future climate changes.The water flow in Uppsala is estimated to increase during winter and decrease during spring and summer. Precipitation will gradually increase as well as the intense short period precipitation. The average temperature is estimated to increase as well.

The interaction between the driver, the car and the road is essential for the road safety. This case study focuses on the road condition and its effect regarding road safety issues. By studying and isolating the road condition aspect and its contributing role to the accident occurrence, the aim is to explore their relationship, as well as highlight the road parameters that are commonly associated with accident occurrence. This result will be used to develop and increase awareness of the impact of poor road alignment and poor road surface conditions on traffic safety, in order to prevent these accidents from occurring. The road parameters chosen for this study include side friction, cross slope and rut bottom cross slope, road texture, curvature, drainage gradient and rutting.The case study was limited to lv 360 in Va?sterbotten, where all accidents with an unclear cause of the accident were studied, between 2003 and 2012 were carefully studied and assessed based on the condition of the road at the time of the accident.