Performance of a hybrid anaerobic-contact oxidation biofilm baffled reactor for the treatment of decentralized molasses wastewater

A novel hybrid anaerobic-contact oxidation biofilm baffled reactor （HAOBR） was developed to simultaneously remove nitrogenous and carbonaceous organic pollutants from decentralized molasses wastewater in the study. The study was based on the inoculation of anaerobic granule sludge in anaerobic compartments and the installation of combination filler in aerobic compartments. The performance of reactor system was studied regarding the hydraulic retention time （HRT）, microbial characteristics and the gas water ratio （GWR）. When the HRT was 24h and the GWR was 20：1, total ammonia and chemical oxygen demand （COD） of the effluent were reduced by 99% and 91.8%, respectively. The reactor performed stably for treating decentralized molasses wastewater. The good performance of the reactor can be attributed to the high resistance of COD and hydraulic shock loads. In addition, the high solid retention time of contact oxidation biofilm contributed to stable performance of the reactor.     

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.     

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.     

Interspecific association among main plant species in the unstable slope with high-frequency debris flow北大核心CSCD

To determine the characteristics of vegetation community structure and the relationship between species in the frequent watersheds of debris flow in fragile ecological environments, based on sample survey and 2 × 2 joint table techniques, we used analysis of variance test, χ2 test, Jaccard index, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test to study the main plant species correlations in the stable zone, instable zone, and deposit zone of the unstable slope. The analysis of variance test showed that all 45 species pairs had a significant negative correlation in the stable zone and instable zone, whereas there was no significant negative correlation in the deposit zone, which showed that the species had an independent distribution trend. The results from the different tests showed that there were 1 pair, 4 pairs, and 4 pairs from the stable zone, instable zone, and deposit zone, respectively, which had significant interspecific association under the χ2 test and the ratios of positive correlation pairs to negative correlation pairs were 0.55, 0.67, and 0.67 in the stable zone, instable zone, and deposit zone, respectively. There were 8 pairs, 5 pairs, and 5 pairs from the stable zone, instable zone, and deposit zone, respectively, which had significant interspecific association from the Pearson correlation analysis test, and the ratios of positive correlation pairs to negative correlation pairs were 0.36, 0.45, and 0.45 in the stable zone, instable zone, and deposit zone, respectively. There were 10 pairs, 6 pairs, and 9 pairs from the stable zone, instable zone, and deposit zone, respectively, which had significant interspecific association from the Spearman's rank correlation analysis test and the ratios of positive correlation pairs to negative correlation pairs were 0.5, 0.55, and 0.6 in the stable zone, instable zone, and deposit zone, respectively. The three test results showed general similarities but there were some differences. Most species pairs did not reach a significant level in the three zones and the number of negatively related species was more than the number of positively related species. In brief, this loose interspecific relationship indicates that the entire plant community was not stable, and the interspecific relationships among species are susceptible to environmental interference in the ecologically fragile areas of the debris flow basin. Therefore, rational selection and configuration of species should be applied to promote community structure development and ecological environmental improvement in vegetation restoration process areas with high-frequency debris flow. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

A new efficient azo dye-decolorizing bacterium Paenibacillus dendritiformis GGJ7 and its decolorization process北大核心CSCD

This paper aimed to find an efficient bacterium for decolorizing azo dyes. A strain which could decolorize Congo Red efficiently was isolated from Congo Red. The strain was identified as Paenibacillus dendritiformis GGJ7 (GGJ7, in short) by 16S rRNA gene sequence (NCBI accession No. KY655213). Strain GGJ7 was applied to the decolorization of azo dyes in this research, and influencing factors of decolorization were investigated, including diverse nutritional conditions, culture conditions (pH, temperature, oxygen conditions), and various dyes. The results demonstrated that the decolorization rate of Congo Red by strain GGJ7 was much higher than that of the other eight strains (e.g., YRJ1, YRJ2 etc.) in our previous work. The optimal conditions for Congo Red decolorization were 25 g/L LB broth as nutrient source, 30 °C, pH 7, and an anaerobic environment. The mechanism of decolorization was mainly biodegradation, and the decolorization process of strain GGJ7 was conformed to the first-class kinetics model: -ln (At /A0) = 0.6058t - 0.1082. For different azo dyes, the decolorization rate was up to 95%. Strain GGJ7 only needed 1 h to decolorize 50 mg/L Methyl Orange, 25 mg/L Croceine Scarlet, and 25 mg/L Methyl Red, needed 3 h to decolorize 50 mg/L Orange G and 50 mg/L Orange G6, and needed 4 h to decolorize 50 mg/L Congo Red. In summary, strain GGJ7 is an efficient azo dye-decolorizing bacterium, and it has a potential application in treating printing and dyeing wastewater. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Characterization of phosphorus species and modeling for its organic forms in eutrophic shallow lake sediments,North China

Variations of phosphorus （P） and its species in surface sediment of Baiyangdian Lake, a eutrophic shallow lake located in North China, were investigated through combination of field survey and numerical calculation based on cluster analysis. P fractionation was performed by a sequential extraction scheme, categorized as loosely bound P （NH4Cl-P）, reductant soluble P （BD-P）, metallic oxide bound P （NaOH-P）, calcium bound P （HCl-P） and organic P （Org-P）. P concentrations exhibited regional similarities and a total of four sub-areas were identified in which the same rank was HCl-P 〉 Org-P 〉 BD-P ,=NaOH-P 〉NH4Cl-E NH4Cl-P, BD-P and Org-P were found to contribute to P enrichment in overlying water column. Specifically, labile Org-P acted as a potential pool with a greater contribution in aerobic layer compared to anaerobic layer. A hysteresis （lag = 4 months） existed when labile Org-P concentration was negatively correlated with aerobic layer thickness. In view of magnitude of identified P contributors in sub-areas, higher potential of P release was present in Fuhe River and Tang River estuary areas. On the basis of calibration and verification, the mathematical model with parameter settings applied in this study was improved to serve as a tool for limnology management and eutrophic control.     

Remediation of soil heavily polluted with polychlorinated biphenyls using a low-temperature plasma technique

Polychlorinated biphenyls （PCBs） were removed by low-temperature plasma technique （dielectric barrier discharge） from heavily polluted soil and their intermediate products were analyzed. The removal rate ranged from 40.1 to 84.6% by different treatments, and they were also influenced significantly （P 〈 0.01） by soil particle-size, electric power, gas flow rate and reaction time. The optimal reaction conditions of PCB removal from the soil were obtained experimentally when soil particle-size, electrical power, flow rate and reaction time were 5-10mm, 21w, 120mL. rain and 90rain, respectively. However, decreasing electrical power, flow rate and reaction time to 18 w, 60 mL. min- and 60 min respectively were also acceptable in view of the cost of remediation. This technique was characterized by the additional advantage of thorough oxidation of PCBs in the soil, with no formation of intermediate products after reaction. The technique therefore shows some promise for application in the remediation of soils contaminated with persistent organic pollutants in brown field sites in urban areas.     

Relationship between herbaceous community distribution and soil environmental factors in the riparian zone of the Baiyangdian River Basin北大核心CSCD

Riparian zone vegetation is an important part of the riparian ecosystem and plays an important role in the riparian zone functioning. Herbs, which are one of the main types of riparian vegetation, are extremely sensitive to environmental changes and human activities and have become a hot spot of riparian vegetation research. In this study, the herbaceous communities of four representative rivers (Xiaoyi, Baohe, Fuhe, and Baigouyin River) entering Baiyangdian Lake in China were researched. The herbaceous species in their riparian zones were systematically investigated using the sample plot method. The Shannon-Wiener diversity (H’), Pielou evenness (J), and Patrick richness (R) indices were estimated to examine the species composition and diversity of the herb communities, following which redundancy analysis (RDA) was conducted. The relationship between species diversity, distribution patterns of herbaceous plant communities, and soil environmental factors in the riparian zone of the four rivers is discussed. (1) Eighty-three species of herbaceous plants belonging to 66 genera and 27 families in the riparian zone entering Baiyangdian Lake. Most herbaceous plants, including Poaceae, Compositae, and Chenopodiaceae, were weeds or associated plants. Riparian vegetation was greatly affected by human disturbance. (2) All the three estimated indices of the Xiaoyi, Baigouyin, and Fuhe rivers were better than those of the Baohe River. (3) The vegetation coverage and species diversity of riparian herbaceous communities were positively correlated with soil organic matter and water content but negatively correlated with pH, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. Therefore, these communities are conducive to the restoration of vegetation and the stability of biodiversity in the riparian core area to reduce the disturbance of human activities and increase humidity. © 2022 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Applications of nanomaterials in water treatment and environmental remediation

Nanotechnology has revolutionized plethora of scientific and technological fields; environmental safety is no exception. One of the most promising and well- developed environmental applications of nanotechnology has been in water remediation and treatment where different nanomaterials can help purify water through different mechanisms including adsorption of heavy metals and other pollutants, removal and inactivation of patho- gens and transformation of toxic materials into less toxic compounds. For this purpose, nanomaterials have been produced in different shapes, integrated into various composites and functionalized with active components. Nanomaterials have also been incorporated in nanostructured catalytic membranes which can in turn help enhance water treatment. In this article, we have provided a succinct review of the most common and popular nanomaterials （titania, carbon nanotubes （CNTs）, zero-valent iron, dendrimers and silver nanomaterials） which are currently used in environmental remediation and particularly in water purification. The catalytic properties and functionalities of the mentioned materials have also been discussed.     

Mobilization of arsenic in groundwater of Bangladesh: evidence from an incubation study

The extensive extraction of arsenic (As)-contaminated groundwaters for drinking, household and agricultural purposes represents a serious health concern in many districts of Bangladesh. This laboratory-based incubation study investigated the sources and mechanisms of As mobilization in these groundwaters. Several incubation studies were carried out using sediments collected from the Bangladesh aquifer that were supplemented, or not, with different nutrients, followed by an analysis of the sediment suspensions for pH, ORP (oxidation-reduction potential), EC (electrical conductivity) and As and Fe(ΙΙ) concentrations. In the substrate-amended sediment suspensions incubated under anaerobic environment, there was a mobilization of As (maximum: 50–67 μg/l) and Fe(ΙΙ) (maximum: 182 μg/l), while the ORP value decreased immediately and drastically (as much as −468 mV to −560 mV) within 5–6 days. In the sediment suspensions incubated under control and aerobic conditions, no significant As mobilization occurred. The simultaneous mobilization of As and Fe(ΙΙ) from sediments is a strong indication that their mobilization resulted from the reduction of Fe oxyhydroxide by the enhanced activity of indigenous bacteria present in the sediments; this phenomenon also provides insights on the mobilization mechanism of As in groundwater. The concentrations of As in the sediments used in the incubation studies were strongly linked to the gradients of redox potential development that was stimulated by the quantity of organic nutrient (glucose) used. The penetration of surface-derived organic matter into the shallow aquifer may stimulate the activity of microbial communities, thereby leading to a reduction of iron oxyhydroxide and As release.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment of water supply network in Tianjin,China

The water supply network （WSN） system is a critical element of civil infrastructure systems. Its complexity of operation and high number of components mean that all parts of the system cannot be simply assessed. Earthquakes are the most serious natural hazard to a WSN, and seismic risk assessment is essential to identify its vulnerability to different stages of damage and ensure the system safety. In this paper, using a WSN located in the airport area of Tianjin in northern China as a case study, a quantitative vulnerability assessment method was used to assess the damage that the water supply pipelines would suffer in an earthquake, and the finite element software ABAQUS and fuzzy mathematic theory were adopted to construct the assessment method. ABAQUS was applied to simulate the seismic damage to pipe segments and components of the WSN. Membership functions based on fuzzy theory were established to calculate the membership of the components in the system. However, to consider the vulnerability of the whole system, fuzzy cluster analysis was used to distinguish the importance of pipe segments and components. Finally, the vulnerability was quantified by these functions. The proposed methodology aims to assess the performance of WSNs based on pipe vulnerabilities that are simulated and calculated by the model and the mathematical method based on data of damage. In this study, a whole seismic vulnerability assessment method for a WSN was built, and these analyses are expected to provide necessary information for a mitigation plan in an earthquake disaster.     

Bioremediation of highly contaminated oilfield soil: Bioaugmentation for enhancing aromatic compounds removal

This study evaluated the effectiveness of different amendments--including a commercial NPK fertilizer, a humic substance （HS）, an organic industrial waste （NovoGro）, and a yeast-bacteria consortium--in the remediation of highly contaminated （up to 6% of total petroleum hydrocarbons） oilfield soils. The concentrations of hydrocarbon, soil toxicity, physicochemical properties of the soil, microbial population numbers, enzyme activities and microbial community structures were examined during the 90-d incubation. The results showed that the greatest degradation of total petroleum hydro- carbons （TPH） was observed with the biostimulation using mixture of NPK, HS and NovoGro, a treatment scheme that enhanced both dehydrogenase and lipase activities in soil. Introduction of exogenous hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria （in addition to biostimulation with NPK, HS and NovoGro） had negligible effect on the removal of TPH, which was likely due to the competition between exogenous and autochthonous microorganisms. None- theless, the addition of exogenous yeast-bacteria consor- tium significantly enhanced the removal of the aromatic fraction of the petroleum hydrocarbons, thus detoxifying the soil. The effect of bioaugmentation on the removal of more recalcitrant petroleum hydrocarbon fraction was likely due to the synergistic effect of bacteria and fungi.     

Isolation,identification, and the degradation characteristics of a BDE-47 degrading strain北大核心CSCD

In an effort to remove BDE-47 residues from the environment, a bacterial strain that is capable of utilizing BDE-47 as the sole carbon source was isolated and screened from soil collected from an e-waste recycling area in Tianjin to analyze the degradation properties. The strain was preliminarily identified as Enterobacter sp. according to a 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. The strain degraded 35.8% of 525 μg/L of BDE-47 in 35 d when the initial concentration of bacteria was 7.1 × 105 cells/ mL. The product of the biodegradation of BDE-47 was BDE-28. The biodegradation of BDE-47 fit well with first-order kinetics, and its degradation kinetics was ln Ct = - 0.104t + 6.22. With the addition of an electron acceptor, such as Fe3+, SO4 2- and NO3 -, the BDE-47 degradation rate was significantly increased to 49.8%, 59.1%, and 67.3%, respectively. The above results revealed that the strain could degrade BDE-47, which is of importance in the application of environmental bioremediation of BDE-47. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Research progress on hydrothermal dissolution and hydrolysis of lignocellulose and lignocellulosic waste

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic waste has attracted considerable attention because of its feasi- bility and the generation of valuable products. Previous studies have shown that pretreatment and hydrolysis are key processes for lignocellulose conversion. Hydrothermal process is a promising technique because of its efficiency to break down the lignocellulosic structures and produce fermentable hexoses. Most studies in this field have therefore focused on understanding these processes or optimizing the parameters, but commonly reported low yields of fermentable hexoses. The inability to produce high yields of fermentable hexoses is mainly attributed to inadequate information on the conversion mechanisms of lignocellulose, particularly the reaction rules of dissolu- tion, which is a limiting step in the entire conversion process. This paper critically reviewed the progress done in the research and development of the hydrothermal dissolution and hydrolysis of lignocellulose. Principles, processes, and related studies on separate dissolution and asynchronous hydrolysis of lignin, hemieellulose, and cellulose are presented. Potential research prospects are also suggested.     

Diversity and vertical distributions of sediment bacteria in an urban river contaminated by nutrients and heavy metals

The aim of this study was to investigate the benthic bacterial communities in different depths of an urban river sediment accumulated with high concentrations of nutrients and metals. Vertical distributions of bacterial operational taxonomic units （OTUs） and chemical para- meters （nutrients： NH4＋, NO3, dissolved organic carbon, and acid volatile sulfur; metals： Fe, Zn, and Cu） were characterized in 30 cm sediment cores. The bacterial OTUs were measured using the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Biodiversity indexes and multivariate statistical analyses were used to characterize the spatial distributions of microbial diversity in response to the environmental parameters. Results showed that concentrations of the nutrients and metals in this river sediment were higher than those in similar studies. Furthermore, high microbial richness and diversity appeared in the sediment. The diversity did not vary obviously in the whole sediment profile. The change of the diversity indexes and the affiliations of the OTUs showed that the top layer had different bacterial community structure from deeper layers due to the hydrological disturbance and redox change in the surface sediment. The dominant bacterial OTUs ubiquitously existed in the deeper sediment layers （5-27 cm） corresponding to the distributions of the nutrients and metals. With much higher diversity than the dominant OTUs, the minor bacterial assemblages varied with depths, which might be affected by the sedimentation process and the environmental competition pressure.     

内生真菌-禾草共生体内生物碱的种类及其生理生态作用

In this review, we summarized recent studies on alkaloids in endophyte - grass symbiont, including detection and classification, effects of environmental factors on concentration of the alkaloids, and their ecophysiological role to the plant host. Tab 1, Ref 49     

Indicating landfill stabilization state by using leachate property from Laogang Refuse Landfill

Variation and evolution process of leachate can be applied as a reference for landfill stabilization phase. In this work, leachates with different ages were collected from Laogang Refuse Landfill, and characterized with 14 key parameters. Simultaneously, principal component analysis （PCA） was applied to develop a synthetic parameter-F based on these 14 parameters, and a logarithm equation was simulated for the landfill stabilization process finally. It was predicted that leachates would meet Class I and Class II in standard for pollution control on the landfill site of municipal solid waste （GB 16889-1997） after 32 years and 22 years disposal under the natural attenuation in the humid and warm southern areas of China, respectively. The predication of landfill state would be more accurate and useful according to the synthetic parameter F of leachate from a working landfill.     

Impacts of surfactants on the ecotoxicological effects of TiO2-NP and/or Cd contamination in sediments北大核心CSCD

Surfactants may alter the interaction between engineered nanoparticles (ENP) and coexisting pollutants, and further influence the ecotoxicity of these pollutants. This research aimed to evaluate the impacts of the surfactant sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDS) on the ecotoxicological effects of TiO2-NP and Cd combined contamination in freshwater sediments by deposit-feeding gastropoda Bellamya aeroginosa. We investigated the effects of TiO2-NP and/or Cd contamination in the presence of different concentrations of SDS on DNA damage, Na+, K+-ATPase activities, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and protein carbonyl (PCO) levels in the hepatopancreas of B. aeroginosa following 21-d chronic sediment bioassay. The results showed that low concentration (5 μg g-1) of Cd had no toxicity to B. aeroginosa, while relatively high concentration (25 μg g-1) displayed obvious toxicity, and that SDS could significantly enhance the toxicity of Cd to B. aeroginosa. TiO2-NP with nontoxic concentration could enhance the toxicity of Cd with low concentration to B. aeroginosa, but had no effects on the toxicity of Cd with high concentration. SDS could significantly enhance the toxicity of TiO2-NP and Cd combined contamination to B. aeroginosa in a SDS-concentration-dependent manner. When assessing the potential environmental risk of ENP, we should not only focus on the toxicity of ENP itself, or the interaction between ENP and coexisting contaminants, but also should consider the potential impacts of surfactants and other environmental factors.     

Removal of pharmaceutical and personal care products by sequential ultraviolet and ozonation process in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant

The application of appropriate advanced treat- ment process in the municipal wastewater treatment plants （WWTPs） has become an important issue considering the elimination of emerging contaminants, such as pharma- ceutical and personal care products （PPCPs）. In the present study, the removal of 13 PPCPs belonging to different therapeutic classes by the sequential ultraviolet （UV） and ozonation process in a full-scale WWTP in Beijing was investigated over the course of ten months. Most of the target PPCPs were effectively removed, and the median removal efficiencies of individual PPCPs, ranging from -13% to 89%, were dependent on their reaction rate constants with molecular ozone. Noticeable fluctuation in the removal efficiencies of the same PPCPs was observed in different sampling campaigns. Nevertheless, the sequential UV and ozonation process still made a significant contribution to the total elimination of most PPCPs in the full-scale WWTP, by compensating for the poor or fluctuant removal performance of PPCPs by biologic treatment process.