Production of N2O in two biologic nitrogen removal processes: a comparison between conventional and short-cut nitrogen removal processes

The N2O production in two nitrogen removal processes treating domestic wastewater was investigated in laboratory-scale aerobic-anoxic sequencing batch reactors （SBRs）. Results showed that N2O emission happened in the aerobic phase rather than in the anoxic phase. During the aerobic phase, the nitrogen conversion to N2O gas was 27.7% and 36.8% of NH＋-N loss for conventional biologic N-removal process and short-cut biologic N-removal process. The dissolved N2O was reduced to N2 in the anoxic denitrification phase. The N2O production rate increased with the increasing of nitrite concentration and ceased when NH＋-N oxidation was terminated. Higher nitrite accumulation resulted in higher NEO emission in the short-cut nitrogen removal process. Pulse-wise addition of 20 mg NO2 -N. L- 1 gave rise to 3-fold of N2O emission in the conventional N-removal process, while little change happened with 20 mg NOS-N L-1 was added to SBR1.     

Electrocatalytic debromination of BDE-47 at palladized graphene electrode

Graphene electrodes （Ti/Gr） were prepared by depositing Gr sheets on Ti substrate, followed by an annealing process for enhancing the adhesion strength. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopies and X-ray dif- fraction patterns displayed that the electrochemical behavior of Ti/Gr electrodes can be improved due to the generation of TiO2 layer at Ti-Gr interface during the annealing process. The palladized Gr electrodes （Ti/Gr/Pd） were prepared by electrochemical depositing Pd nanoparticles on Gr sheets. The debromination ability of Ti/Gr/Pd electrodes was investigated using BDE-47 as a target pollutant with various bias potentials. The results indicated that the BDE-47 degradation rates on Ti/Gr/Pd electrodes increased with the negative bias potentials from 0V to -0.5 V （vs. SCE）. Almost all of the BDE-47 was removed in the debromination reaction on the Ti/Gr/Pd electrode at - 0.5 V for 3 h, and the main product was diphenyl ethers, meaning it is promising to debrominate completely using the Ti/Gr/Pd electrode. Although the debromination rate was slightly slower at -0.3 V than that under -0.5 V, the current efficiency at -0.3 V was higher, because the electrical current acted mostly on BDE-47 rather than on water.     

Modeling of Ce（IV） transport through a dispersion flat combined liquid membrane with carrier P507

A mathematical model for the transport of Ce （IV） from hydrochloric acid solutions through dispersion flat combined liquid membrane （DFCLM） with contain 2- ethyl hexyl phosphonic acid-mono-2-ethyl hexyl ester （P507） as the carrier, dissolved in kerosene as the membrane solution have been studied. This process of facilitated transport, based on membrane technology, is a variation on the conventional technique of solvent extraction and may be described mathematically using Fick＇s second law. The equations for transport velocity are derived considering the diffusion of P507 and its metallic complexes through the liquid membrane. In this work, the system is considered to be in a transient state, and chemical reaction between Ce（IV） and the carrier to take place only at the solvent-aqueous interfaces. Model concentration profiles are obtained for the Ce（IV）, from which extraction velocities are predicted. The experimental and simulated Ce（IV） extractions showed similar tendencies for a high Ce （IV） concentration and acidity case.The model results indicate that high initial Ce（IV） concentrations and acidity both have detrimental effects on Ce（IV） extraction and stripping. The diffusion coefficient of Ce（IV） in the membrane and the thickness of diffusion layer between feed phase and membrane phase are obtained and the values are 6.31 × 10-8m2·s-1 and 31.2 μm, respectively. The results are in good agreement with experimental results.     

Dechlorination of 2,2＇,4,4＇,5,5＇-hexachlorobiphenyl by thermal reaction with activated carbon-supported copper or zinc

Activated carbon （AC）-supported copper or zinc made from ion exchange resin （IRCu-C and IRZn-C） have an increased metal load of 557.3 mg·g^-1 and 502.8 mg·g^-1 compared to those prepared by the traditional method involving impregnation with AC and copper （II） citrate or zinc citrate solution （LaCu-C and LaZn-C） of 12.9 mg·g^-1 and 46.0 mg·g^-1 respectively. When applied to decompose 2,2＇,4,4＇,5,5＇-hexachlorobiphenyl at 250 ℃, IRCu-C achieved higher activity of 99.0% decomposition efficiency than LaCu-C of 84.7%, IRZn-C of 90.5% and LaZn-C of 62.7%. When the reaction temperature rose to 350 ℃, all the four kinds of reactants can decompose PCB- 153 with efficiency above 90%. Further, X-ray photoelec- tron spectroscopy characterization of IRCu-C before and after the reaction indicated transformation of 19.1% of Cu atoms into Cu^2＋, illustrating that Cu is the active ingredient or electron donor promoting the decomposition of PCB- 153. The mechanism underlying this process differs from a traditional H donor. However, there is no significant change on the surface of IRZn-C before and after the reaction, suggesting that Zn acts as catalyst during the process of PCB-153 decomposition.     

Phase transition behavior of elastin-like polypeptides oligomerized with the Foldon domain北大核心CSCD

To investigate the underlying mechanism of the unique phase transition behavior of SpyCatcher-ELPs40 (C-E) and the influence of the oligomerization domain on the phase transition of C-E, we constructed a non-covalent three-armed star oligomerization of C-E-F and E-F by fusing the Foldon (F) domain with SpyCatcher-ELPs40 (C-E) and ELPs40 (E). Results showed that the phase transition temperature of ELPs40 fused with Foldon was higher than that of ELPs120, whereas it was lower than those of ELPs40 and the SpyTag/SpyCatcher-mediated covalent three-armed elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs). This proved that the topology of ELPs could affect their phase transition behaviors. The phase transition temperature of C-E-F was 28.8 ℃ and 35.6 ℃ higher than those of C-E and ELPs40, respectively, although C-E-F had a similar sequence with C-E and ELPs40. When the concentration of NaCl was 0.8 mol/L, the differences in the phase transition temperatures were 41.2 ℃ and 47.1, respectively. We could only observe the phase transition of C-E-F in the Na2CO3 solution with high concentration (≥ 0.7 mol/ L); however, the phase transition could be clearly detected in the Na2SO4 solution, even when the concentration of Na2SO4 was very low. This result was obviously inconsistent with the Hofmeister series. This is the first report of non-linear ELPs that has shown this unique phase transition behavior. The possible reason was related to the charges distributed on the solvent accessible surface and the oligomeric state of C-E-F triggered by the Foldon domain. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Migration behavior and in-situ bioremediation of chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent in vadose zone: a review北大核心CSCD

It is of great significance for in-situ bioremediation to clarify the migration behavior and biodegradation laws of chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents (CHS) in the vadose zone. We systematically summarized the phase distribution of CHS, the interaction between different phases, and the migration characteristics and clarified the evolution rules of CHS under different phases in the polluted vadose zone. CHS exists in the vadose zone as the NAPL, dissolved phase, adsorbed phase, gas phase, and other phases, where there are three decay evolution stages: early, middle, and late stages. Phase change and diffusion matrix size are important indicators at different stages; at the same time, gas, solid, liquid and NAPL phase CHS have a variety of interactive relationships in the vadose zone. Subsequently, the characteristics of the three main biological metabolic pathways of CHS in the vadose zone–aerobic co-metabolism, direct oxidation and anaerobic reduction, and dechlorination–and their influencing factors were summarized. Generally speaking, the anaerobic dechlorination capacity decreases with a decrease in the number of chlorine atoms, whereas the aerobic degradation capacity increases with a decrease in the number of chlorine atoms. The current status of in-situ remediation of CHS in the vadose zone was summarized using biostimulation and bioaugmentation methods, indicating that adding nutrient substances and injecting anaerobic dechlorination strains of Dehalococcoides are effective means of remediation. Simultaneously, the factors influencing the biodegradation of CHS in the vadose zone were elaborated to acquire a systematic insight into the significance of redox characteristics (oxygen) on the degradation of CHS. Finally, research on the biodegradation of CHS in the vadose zone is prospected, and it is necessary to carry out research on the interactive relationship between different phases of CHS, the data monitoring of CHS, the structure of the functional bacterial community, and research and development of active strains to provide theoretical guidance for the in-situ remediation of CHS in the vadose zone. © 2022 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Removal of 17β-estradiol in laccase catalyzed treatment processes

The removal of 17β-estradiol （E2） in laccase catalyzed oxidative coupling processes was systematically studied in this work. We focused on the influence of pH and natural organic matter （NOM） on the performance of the enzymatic treatment processes. It was found that the optimal pH for E2 removal was between 4 and 6. The removal of E2 was slightly inhibited in the presence of NOM. Enzymatic transformation of E2 was second-order in kinetics with first-order to both the concentrations of the enzyme and contaminant. Mass spectrum （MS） analysis suggested that coupling products were formed through radical-radical coupling mechanism. The results of this study demonstrated that laccase catalyzed oxidative coupling process could potentially serve as a treatment strategy to control steroid estrogens.     

Plasma treated M1 MoVNbTeOx-CeO2 composite catalyst for improved performance of oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane

High activity and productivity of MoVNbTeO_x catalyst are challenging tasks in oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane(ODHE) for industrial application.In this work,phase-pure M1 with 30 wt% CeO₂ composite catalyst was treated by oxygen plasma to further enhance catalyst performance.The results show that the oxygen vacancies generated by the solid-state redox reaction between Ml and CeO₂ capture active oxygen species in gas and transform V⁴⁺ to V⁵⁺     

Research progress of nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZII) and its relationship with the environment北大核心CSCD

The greenhouse effect has become increasingly serious globally. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is both the major ozone depleting substance and a potent greenhouse gas having a global warming potential 298 times that of CO2, and the N2O concentration is still increasing at an annual rate of about 0.8 × 10-9. Nitrous oxide reductase (N2OR) can reduce N2O to N2, and until recently, the nosZ gene was the only gene known to be able to encode N2OR. Besides the well-known nosZI, a new lineage of the N2O-reductase (nosZ clade II), which is abundant and widespread in soils, has been identified. In this paper, the main characters of nosZII-containing microbial communities and the related working mechanisms are summarized. In addition to the main differences between nosZI and nosZII, the important environmental factors that regulate the composition, abundance, and expression of nosZII-containing communities are also discussed in this paper. Studies have shown that nosZII communities are distributed among a diverse range of bacterial and archaeal phyla, such as Epsilon-proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Aquificae. Interestingly, most of the nosZII microbes lack a nitrite reductase encoding gene (nirS or nirK) and are therefore unable to denitrify, indicating the importance of these communities as N2O sinks. Soil properties such as texture, pH, C/ N ratio, temperature, and lake physical gradient could regulate nosZII microbe abundance and diversity, and the pH and C/ N ratio may be the most important influencing factors. Studies on the ecological function of nosZII microbes have advanced considerably with the development of molecular biology technology. However, further studies on the community structure of nosZII microbes, the influencing factors of nosZII microbe abundance and diversity, and characteristics of nosZII strains with strong N2O reducing ability are needed. We hope to provide a theoretical basis that can be used to facilitate N2O reduction and relieve the greenhouse gas problem. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

E. coli and bacteriophage MS2 disinfection by UV,ozone and the combined UV and ozone processes

The combination of low-dose ozone with ultraviolet （UV） irradiation should be an option to give benefit to disinfection and reduce drawbacks of UV and ozone disinfection. However, less is known about the disinfection performance of UV and ozone （UV/ozone） coexposure and sequential UV-followed-by-ozone （UV- ozone） and ozone-followed-by-UV （ozone-UV） expo- sures. In this study, inactivation of E. coli and bacterioph- age MS2 by UV, ozone, UV/ozone coexposure, and sequential UV-ozone and ozone-UV exposures was investigated and compared. Synergistic effects of 0.5-0.9 log kill on E. coli inactivation, including increases in the rate and efficiency, were observed after the UV/ozone coexposure at ozone concentrations as low as 0.05 mg-L-1 in ultrapure water. The coexposure with 0.02-mg.L-1 ozone did not enhance the inactivation but repressed E. coli photoreactivation. Little enhancement on E. coli inactivation was found after the sequential UV-ozone or ozone-UV exposures. The synergistic effect on MS2 inactivation was less significant after the UV/ozone coexposure, and more significant after the sequential ozone-UV and UV-ozone exposures, which was 0.2 log kill for the former and 0.8 log kill for the latter two processes, at ozone dose of 0.1 mg. t-1 and UV dose of 8.55 mJ. cm 2 in ultrapure water. The synergistic effects on disinfection were also observed in tap water. These results show that the combination of UV and low-dose ozone is a promising technology for securing microbiological quality of water.     

Oxidative treatment of aqueous monochlorobenzene with thermally-activated persulfate

The oxidation of aqueous monochlorobenzene （MCB） solutions using thermally- activated persulfate has been investigated. The influence of reaction temperature on the kinetics of MCB oxidation was examined, and the Arrenhius Equation rate constants at 20℃, 30℃, 40℃, 50℃, and 60℃ for MCB oxidation performance were calculated as 0, 0.001, 0.002, 0.015, 0.057 min-1, which indicates that elevated temperature accelerated the rate. The most efficient molar ratio ofpersulfate/MCB for MCB oxidation was determined to be 200 to 1 and an increase in the rate constants suggests that the oxidation process proceeded more rapidly with increasing persulfate/MCB molar ratios. In addition, the reactivity of persulfate in contaminated water is partly influenced by the presence of background ions such as CI-, HCO3, SO2 , and NO3. Importantly, a scavenging effect in rate constant was observed for both C1 and CO2- but not for other ions. The effective thermally activated persulfate oxidation of MCB in groundwater from a real contaminated site was achieved using both elevated reaction temperature and increased persulfate/MCB molar ratio.     

Irrigation quotas for high water use efficiency and economic water productivity of typical crops in Shiyang River Basin北大核心CSCD

Water consumption in agricultural activities is the main water use in inland oases in Northwest China. Research on water conservation in agriculture is of great significance to alleviate the conflict between the use of agricultural and ecological water and is of great importance to local farmers’ livelihoods. This study, based on traditional irrigation practices (flood irrigation and fixed irrigation frequency) of Minqin County in Shiyang River Basion, was designed to reveal the impacts of five irrigation quotas (1 800, 1 440, 1 080, 720, and 360 m3/hm2) on crop yield, biomass, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), and economic water productivity (EWP) to determine the optimal irrigation for five crops and guide local irrigation practices. The results showed that: (1) Under the five irrigation quotas, IWUE of corn, with the highest of 12.27 kg/m3, was higher than the other four crops; (2) The average EWP of cotton with a 2-year-average of 8.0 yuan/m3 was higher than the other four crops. Thus, the economic output of cotton is the best under the same irrigation quota; (3) Considering the yield, IWUE, EWP, and biomass, corn was better than the other four typical crops; and (4) 1 080 m3/hm2 was the optimal irrigation quota for sunflower in local planting practices. In addition, 720 m3/hm2 was suitable for corn, pepper, wheat, and cotton as their irrigation quota. This study shows that reducing the amount of irrigation quota in the Shiyang River Basin can effectively improve local IWUE and EWP. © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.     

Novel synthetic approaches and TWC catalytic performance of flower-like Pt/CeO2

A novel Ultrasonic Assisted Membrane Reduction （UAMR）-hydrothermal method was used to prepare flower-like Pt/CeO2 catalysts. The texture, physical/chemical properties, and reducibility of the flower-like Pt/CeO2 catalysts were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction （XRD）, Scanning Electron Microscope （SEM）, Transmission Electron Microscope （TEM）, N2 adsorption, and hydrogen temperature programmed reduction （HE-TPR） techniques. The catalytic performance of the catalysts for treating automobile emission was studied relative to samples prepared by the conventional wetness impregnation method. The Pt/CeO2 catalysts fabricated by this novel method showed high specific surface area and metal dispersion, excellent three-way catalytic activity, and good thermal stability. The strong interaction between the Pt nanoparticles and CeO2 improved the thermal stability. The Ce4＋ ions were incorporated into the surfactant chains and the Pt nanoparticles were stabilized through an exchange reaction of the surface hydroxyl groups. The SEM results demonstrated that the Pt/CeO2 catalysts had a typical three-dimensional （3D） hierarchical porous struc- ture, which was favorable for surface reaction and enhanced the exposure degree of the Pt nanoparticles. In brief, the flower-like Pt/CeO2 catalysts prepared by UAMR-hydrothermal method exhibited a higher Pt metal dispersion, smaller particle size, better three-way catalytic activity, and improved thermal stability versus conven- tional materials.     

Laboratory study on high-temperature adsorption of HCI by dry-injection of Ca（OH）2 in a dual-layer granular bed filter

Combustion-generated hydrogen chloride （HCl） is considered to be a very hazardous acid gaseous pollutant. This paper presents a laboratory study on the dry adsorption of HCl. The experiments were conducted in a dual-layer granular bed filter, at gas temperatures of 500℃-700℃ and n（Ca）/n（Cl）molar ratios of 1.0-5.0 using the silver nitrate titration method by dry adsorbent powders Ca（OH）2. Mainly, the adsorption efficiency of HCI and utilization efficiency of Calcium were studied, by varying relevant factors including n（Ca）/n（Cl）, tempera- ture, feeding method, water vapor and CO2. With a relatively higher HCl concentration of 1000ppm, the experimental results revealed that 600℃ may be the optimum temperature for HCl adsorption when optimum n （Ca）/n（Cl） was 2.5 in our tests. The results also demonstrated that the feeding at a constant pressure was more effective, and the HCl adsorption efficiency could rapidly reach over 90% with n（Ca）/n（Cl） = 2.5 at 600℃. Furthermore, the HCl adsorption efficiency was found to be slightly promoted by water vapor, while could be impeded by CO2, and the utilization efficiency of calcium could be up to 74.4% without CO2, while was only 36.8% with CO2 when n（Ca）/n（Cl） was 2.5 at 600℃.     

High specificity detection of Pb2+ ions by p-SCN-Bz-DTPA immunogen and p-NH2-Bn-DTPA coating antigen

Only one bifunctional metal-chelator was used to prepare immunogen and coating antigen in all of the previous researches. However, the antibody-specific recognition to the spacer arm of the bifunctional metal- chelator might lower the specificity of heavy metal ions immunoassay. Two different bifunctional metal-chelators were adopted to prepare the immunogen and coating antigen respectively in our study to avoid this problem. The conjugates of keyhole limpet hemocyanin （KLH） and p-SCN-Bz-DTPA-Pb were used as immunogen, whereas the conjugates of bovine sentrn albumin （BSA） and p- NH2-Bn-DTPA-Pb were used as coating antigen. Poly- clonal antibodies specific to DTPA-Pb chelates were obtained from rabbits. Indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was adopted to detect Pb^2＋ ion solutions prepared by Pb^2＋ standard solution and ultrapure water. In the mixing microplate, DTPA and Pb2＋ ions formed chelates and combined with specific anti- bodies. After incubation, the DTPA-Pb and the antibodies complex were added into the wells of the reaction microplate. The reaction microplate was coated by the conjugates ofBSA andp-NH2-DTPA-Pb, which competed for the specific antibodies. The result signals presented a good sigmoid curve when the Pb^2＋ concentration ranges from 0.01 to 100mg·L^-1 The IC50 of the indirect competitive ELISA is 0.23±0.04mg·L^-1 Pb2＋ ion. The cross-reaction with Cd^2＋, Cu^2＋, Fe^2＋, Mn^2＋, Zn^2＋, and other divalent ions were less than 5%.     

Strengthening absorption ability of Co-N-C as efficient bifunctional oxygen catalyst by modulating the d band center using MoC

Co-N-C is a promising oxygen electrochemical catalyst due to its high stability and good durability.However,due to the limited adsorption ability improvement for oxygen-containing intermediates,it usually exhibits inadequate catalytic activity with 2-electron pathway and high selectivity of hydrogen peroxide.Herein,the adsorption of Co-N-C to these intermediates is modulated by constructing heterostructures using transition metals and their derivatives based on d-band theory.The heterostructured...     

Reuse of heavy metal-accumulating Cynondon dactylon in remediation of water contaminated by heavy metals

Phytoremediation technology is regarded as a simple and efficient way to remove heavy metals from contaminated soil. A reasonable disposal of metal hyperaccumulators is always and resource-saving. The a major issue in waste reuse heavy metal-accumulating Cynondon dactylon （L.） was investigated where heavy metals were desorbed by a facile acid-treatment. The result indicated that more than 90% of heavy metals （Zn, Pb and Cu） was extracted from Cynondon daetylon with 0.2 mmol· L^-1 HCl. The plant residue was used to adsorb heavy metals ions. The adsorption fitted the Langmuir isotherm model with the saturation adsorption capacity of 9.5 mg·g^-1 Zn^2＋, 36.2 mg·g^-1 Pb2＋ and 12.9 mg·g^-1 Cu^2＋, and the surface eomplexation and the backfilling of heavy metal imprinting cavities existed simultaneously during the adsorption. The treatment of wastewaters indicated that the plant residue exhibited a high removal rate of 97% for Cu. Also, the material could be recycled. The method offers a new disposal approach for heavy metal hyperaccumulator.     

Speciation evolutions of target metals （Cd,Pb） influenced by chlorine and sulfur during sewage sludge incineration

In sludge incineration, the thermal behavior of heavy metal is a growing concern. In this work, the combined analysis of metal partitioning behavior between vapor phase and condensed phase, speciation redistribu- tion in condensed phase and the difference of metal species in binding energy was carried out to investigate the possible volatilization-condensation mechanism of heavy metals in high-temperature sludge incineration. It was found that there were two steps in metal volatilization. The initial volatilization of heavy metal originated from their exchangeable （EXC）, carbonate bound （CAR） and iron- manganese bound （FM） fractions, which is primarily composed of simple substance, chlorides, oxides and sulfides. With the increase of chlorine and sulfur in sludge, the inner speciation redistribution of heavy metals occurred in condensed phase, which was an important factor affecting the potential volatility of heavy metals. A partial of metal species with complexed （COM） and residual （RES） fractions gradually decomposed into simple substance or ions, oxides and carbonates, which signifi- cantly strengthened the second volatility. In presence of chlorine, about 46% of Cd with the RES fraction disappeared when the volatility rate of Cd increased by 44.89%. Moreover, about 9% of Pb with COM fraction disappeared when there was an increase of nearly 10% in the volatilization rate. Thus, the second volatilization was mainly controlled by the decomposition of metal species with COM and RES fractions. By virtue of XRD analysis and the binding energy calculation, it was found that metal complex and silicates were inclined to decompose under high temperature due to poor thermo stability as compared with sulfates.     

N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor for biological N and P removal from wastewater

Nitrous oxide （N2O） is a greenhouse gas that can be released during biological nitrogen removal from wastewater. N2O emission from a sequencing batch reactor （SBR） for biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater was investigated, and the aims were to examine which process, nitrification or denitrification, would contribute more to N2Oemission and to study the effects of heterotrophic activities on N2O emission during nitrification. The results showed that N2O emission was mainly attributed to nitrification rather than to denitrification. N2O emission during denitrification mainly occurred with stored organic carbon as the electron donor. During nitrification, NaO emission was increased with increasing initial ammonium or nitrite concentrations. The ratio of N2O emission to the removed ammonium nitrogen （N2O- N/NH4-N） was 2.5% in the SBR system with high heterotrophic activities, while this ratio was in the range from 0.14% to 1.06% in batch nitrification experiments with limited heterotrophic activities.