COntaminant behavior in Air, Liquids, and Solids (COALS) Controls Tool

Coal is a complex mixture containing trace elements of environmetnal concern, including mercury, arsenic, selenium, and lead. The COntaminant behavior in Air, Liquid, and Solids (COALS) Controls tool is a model that has been developed to predict the partitioning behavior of these trace elements at coal-fired power plants.

The tool is available as Python code and as an .exe file that can be installed on Windows computers. Details and docuemntation can be found on the Open Science Foundation project page. The code can be found on the GitHub project page.

Papers Published Using the COALS Controls Framework

Gingerich, D.B.; Zhao, Y.; Mauter, M.S. Environmentally significant shifts in trace element emissions from coal plants complying with the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, Energy Policy, 2019, 132, 1206-1215. Journal Link, DoE OSTI Open Access Version

Sun, X.; Gingerich, D.B.; Azevedo, I.L.; Mauter, M.S. Trace element mass flow rates from U.S. coal fired power plants, Environmental Science & Technology, 2019, 53(10), 5585-5595. Journal Link, DoE OSTI Open Access Version

Water Associated Health and Environmntal Air Damages (AHEAD) Tool

The goal of drinking water and wastewater treatment is to reduce human health risks from chemical, radiological, or biological contaminants. However, treating this water involves using electricity to drive processes or chemical reagents - producing either of which leads to air emissions that reduce the overall health benefits of that water treatment. The Water Associated Health and Environmental Air Damages (AHEAD) tool has been developed to quantify the social damages associated with treating drinking water, municipal wastewater, and industrial wastewater.

The tool is available as Python code and as an .exe file. Details and docuemntation can be found on the Open Science Foundation project page. The code can be found on the GitHub project page.

Papers Published Using the Water AHEAD Framework

Gingerich, D.B.; Mauter, M.S., Air Emission Benefits of Biogas Electricity Generation at Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants, Environmental Science & Technology, 2018, 52(3) 1633-1643. Journal Link

Gingerich, D.B.; Mauter, M.S., Air Emissions Damages from Municipal Drinking Water Treatment Under Current and Proposed Regulatory Standards, Environmental Science & Technology, 2017, 51(18), 10299-10306. Journal Link

Gingerich, D.B.; Sun, X.; Behrer, A.P.; Azevedo, I.M.L.; Mauter, M.S., Spatially resolved air-water emissions tradeoffs improve regulatory impact analyses for electricity generation, Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, 2017, 114(8), 1862-1867. Journal Link