Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences was first conceived, published, and disseminated by the Center for Information and Numerical Data Analysis and Synthesis (CINDAS) * at Purdue University in 1 957, starting its coverage of theses with the academic year 1955. Beginning with Volume 13, the printing and dissemination phases of the activity were transferred to University Microfilms/Xerox of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with the thought that such an arrangement would be more beneficial to the academic and general scientific and technical community. After five years of this joint undertaking we had concluded that it was in the interest of all con cerned if the printing and distribution of the volumes were handled by an interna tional publishing house to assure improved service and broader dissemination. Hence, starting with Volume 18, Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences has been disseminated on a worldwide basis by Plenum Publishing Cor poration of New York, and in the same year the coverage was broadened to include Canadian universities. All back issues can also be ordered from Plenum. We have reported in Volume 36 (thesis year 1991) a total of 11,024 thesis titles from 23 Canadian and 161 United States universities. We are sure that this broader base for these titles reported will greatly enhance the value of this important annual reference work. While Volume 36 reports theses submitted in 1991, on occasion, certain univer sities do report theses submitted in previous years but not reported at the time.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act are forcing those in charge of landfills to adhere to more stringent operating standards. This, along with the growing scarcity of landfill availability, makes the use of landfills less desirable for solid waste disposal. As such, new disposal methods that are environmentally safe and economically practical must be found. One alternative, that is not really new but which has gained renewed interest, is incineration. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act also requires that government agencies should direct their installations to recover as many resources as possible. Therefore if incineration is to be implemented, heat recovery should be incorporated into the system. There are several processes available to convert raw refuse into a fuel for use in a heat recovery system. Refuse derived fuels (RDF) can be in the form of raw refuse, densified refuse, powdered refuse, gas, or pyrolytic oil. The only form of RDF that is economically feasible for systems designed to process less than 200 TPD (tons per day) is raw refuse. Most Navy bases generate far less than 200 TPD of solid waste and therefore the Navy has focused most of its attention on modular heat recovery incinerator (HRI) systems that utilize raw refuse as fuel.

This study investigated the technical and economic feasibility of using refuse as an energy resource at Ft. Bragg, NC. The technically proven system found to be most cost-effective uses mixed solid waste generated at both military (Ft. Bragg, Pope AFB) and civilian (City of Fayetteville) sources in the region. Refuse is delivered to an energy-recovery plant near the 82nd Airborne Division Heating Plant at Ft. Bragg, where it is processed into a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) by shredding and magnetic removal of ferrous materials. RDF is temporarily stored in a hopper until fed by screw conveyor to the incinerator feed hopper, from which it is ram-fed into the furnace. The stoking mechanism is a three-flight double reciprocating grate. Saturated steam at 160 psig is produced in the boiler section after furnance and fed to the main header of the nearby steam plant for distribution. Nearly 65,000 tons of refuse is processed annually. Review of alternative system reveals that if the civilian sector chooses not to participate in the plan, energy recovery from the military refuse alone is still economically attractive.

Volume 36 reports (for thesis year 1991) a total of 11,024 thesis titles from 23 Canadian and 161 US universities. The organization of the volume, as in past years, consists of thesis titles arranged by discipline, and by university within each discipline. The titles are contributed by any and all a

This study was undertaken to assess the feasibility of energy-recovery incineration of solid waste at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. It was found that use of solid waste as a fuel for steam generation at Naval Station Mayport is technically and economically feasible and environmentally compatible. The recommended system employs a clean-fuel fired, basket-grate incinerator in series with an energy-recovery train consisting of an afterburner and boiler. The afterburner fires fuel reclaimed at an on-station bilge and fuel tank waste oil treatment facility. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is fired one shift, five days per week, with the auxiliary burner assuming the load during nights and weekends. Production of 22,700 pounds of steam/hour can be achieved. The benefit-to-cost ratio of this system is 8:1. Through implementation of this system a net fuel savings of 345,800 gallons/yr can be achieved, excluding the amount of the reclaimed oil used. Design criteria are provided.