Recovery of Ni(II) from real electroplating wastewater using fixed-bed resin adsorption and subsequent electrodeposition

Resin adsorption and subsequent electrodeposition were used for nickel recovery. Treated wastewater can meet the Electroplating Pollutant Discharge Standard. The spent resin is completely regenerated by 3 BV of 4% HCl solution. 95.6% of nickel in concentrated eluent was recovered by electrodeposition. Effective recovery of high-value heavy metals from electroplating wastewater is of great significance, but recovering nickel ions from real electroplating wastewater as nickel sheet has not been reported. In this study, the pilot-scale fixed-bed resin adsorption was conducted to recover Ni(II) ions from real nickel plating wastewater, and then the concentrated Ni(II) ions in the regenerated solution were reduced to nickel sheet via electrodeposition. A commercial cation-exchange resin was selected and the optimal resin adsorption and regeneration conditions were investigated. The resin exhibited an adsorption capacity of 63 mg/g for Ni(II) ions, and the average amount of treated water was 84.6 bed volumes (BV) in the pilot-scale experiments. After the adsorption by two ion-exchange resin columns in series and one chelating resin column, the concentrations of Ni(II) in the treated wastewater were below 0.1 mg/L. After the regeneration of the spent resin using 3 BV of 4% (w/w) HCl solution, 1.5 BV of concentrated neutral nickel solution (>30 g/L) was obtained and used in the subsequent electrodeposition process. Using the aeration method, alkali and water required in resin activation process were greatly reduced to 2 BV and 3 BV, respectively. Under the optimal electrodeposition conditions, 95.6% of Ni(II) in desorption eluent could be recovered as the elemental nickel on the cathode. The total treatment cost for the resin adsorption and regeneration as well as the electrodeposition was calculated.     

A novel sequence batch membrane carbonation photobioreactor developed for microalgae cultivation

A novel SBM-C-PBR was constructed for microalgae cultivation. Membrane fouling was greatly mitigated by membrane carbonation. NH₄⁺ and P removal rates were around 80% in SBM-C-PBR. Biomass was completely retained by membrane. In this study, a novel sequence batch membrane carbonation photobioreactor was developed for microalgae cultivation. Herein, membrane module was endowed functions as microalgae retention and CO₂ carbonation. The results in the batch experiments expressed that the relatively optimal pore size of membranes was 30 nm, photosynthetically active radiation was 36 W/m² and the CO₂ concentration was 10% (v/v). In long-term cultivation, the microalgal concentration separately accumulated up to 1179.0 mg/L and 1296.4 mg/L in two periods. The concentrations of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids were increased about 23.2, 14.9 and 6.3 mg/L respectively in period I; meanwhile, the accumulation was about 25.0, 14.5, 6.6 mg/L respectively in the period II. Furthermore, the pH was kept about 5.5–7.5 due to intermittent carbonation mode, which was suitable for the growth of microalgae. Transmembrane pressure (TMP) was only increased by 0.19 and 0.16 bar in the end of periods I and II, respectively. The pure flux recovered to 75%–80% of the original value by only hydraulic cleaning. Scanning electron microscope images also illustrated that carbonation through membrane module could mitigate fouling levels greatly.     

浅覆地层盾构开挖面被动破坏极限支护力及破坏模式研究

浅覆地层盾构掘进时支护力过大极易导致开挖面前方土体发生被动破坏,造成地表隆起。基于筒仓理论,通过优化传统三维楔形体模型,建立楔形块+倒棱台的土体被动破坏三维计算模型(修正三维楔形体模型),并推导被动极限支护力计算公式;对不同埋深下滑动破裂角β分析研究;采用有限元分析软件MIDAS-GTS对盾构隧道开挖面的被动破坏进行模拟,揭示被动破坏支护力变化规律及破坏模式。结果表明:本文研究计算模型更符合开挖面土体被动破坏模式;通过对破裂角β分析,解析土体被动破坏时其最优解30°左右;在浅覆盾构开挖面中,揭示S/(γD)受土体内摩擦角φ、埋深比K的影响,文中S/(γD)随内摩擦角φ的增大呈非线性增加,埋深比K越大,其幅度越明显;破坏模式分析中,K越小,土体位移变形对S/(γD)越敏感,越容易发生开挖面被动破坏;发生被动破坏时,土体纵向位移变形大于横向位移变形。     

Using mRNA to investigate the effect of low-pressure ultraviolet disinfection on the viability of E. coli

UV can induce damages on mRNA consistently among different genes. SOS response was more active after UV treatment. Programmed cell death was not found to be more active after UV treatment. The efficacy of ultraviolet (UV) disinfection has been analyzed and validated by numerous studies using culture-based methods, yet the discovery of the viable but nonculturable state necessitates the investigation of UV disinfection based on viability parameters. Paired regulators of the SOS response system, recA-lexA, and the programmed cell death system, mazEF, in Escherichia coli were chosen as the target genes, and the effect of UV irradiation on the mRNAs of the four genes was studied. This research showed that, after UV irradiation, the responses of the mRNAs were highly consistent, with reduction percentages of approximately 60% at 20 mJ/cm², 70% at 40 mJ/cm², and 90% at 80 mJ/cm², and these reductions were believed to be the result of direct UV damage to nucleic acids. After 24 h of dark incubation, recA and lexA were both upregulated but to a lesser extent for repressor lexA; and mazE and mazF were both downregulated. This result implies that UV irradiation induces the dark repair system more actively, and the cells will proceed to death at a rate similar to that associated with natural decay.     

Contamination characteristics of trace metals in dust from different levels of roads of a heavily air-polluted city in north China

Concentrations of eight trace metals (TMs) in road dust (RD) (particles?<?25 μm) from urban areas of Xinxiang, China, were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The geometric mean concentrations of Zn, Mn, Pb, As, Cu, Cr, Ni and Cd were 489, 350, 114, 101, 60.0, 39.7, 31.6, and 5.1 mg kg^?1, respectively. When compared with TM levels in background soil, the samples generally display elevated TM concentrations, except for Cr and Mn, and for Cd the enrichment value was 69.6. Spatial variations indicated TMs in RD from park path would have similar sources with main roads, collector streets and bypasses. Average daily exposure doses of the studied TMs were about three orders of magnitude higher for hand-to-mouth ingestion than dermal contact, and the exposure doses for children were 9.33 times higher than that for adults. The decreasing trend of calculated hazard indexes (HI) for the eight elements was As?>?Pb?>?Cr?>?Mn?>?Cd?>?Zn?>?Ni?>?Cu for both children and adults.     

Effects of climate variables on the transmission of COVID-19: a systematic review of 62 ecological studies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was initially discovered at the end of 2019 in Wuhan City in China and has caused one of the...     

Adsorption of Ammonium by Graphene Oxide-Based Composites Prepared by UV Irradiation and Using as Slow-Release Fertilizer

A novel sodium alginate-grafted poly(acrylic acid)/graphene oxide (NaAlg-g-PAA/GO) composite hydrogel was prepared via ultraviolet irradiation, and characterized by infrared spectroscopy spectrometer. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It was employed to adsorb NH₄⁺ from aqueous solution and used as slow-release nitrogen fertilizers (SNFs). Result indicated that the adsorption process for NH₄⁺ reached equilibrium within 50 min, with the adsorption capacity of 6.6 mmol g^?1 even if 30 wt% GO was incorporated. The results of adsorption kinetic and isotherm were well described by the pseudo-second-order and Freundlich model. The thermodynamics analysis showed the adsorption process was spontaneous. The study indicated excellent water-holding ratio of soil with 2 wt% SNFs was 81.2%, and nitrogen release was up to 55.1% within 40 days in soil. Overall, NaAlg-g-PAA/GO could be considered as an efficient adsorbent for the recovery of nitrogen with the agronomic reuse as a fertilizer.     

Distillers’ grains anaerobic digestion residue biochar used for ammonium sorption and its effect on ammonium leaching from an Ultisol

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The aim of this work was to explore the potential application of biochar from distillers’ grains anaerobic digestion residue pyrolyzed at...     

长江经济带城市扩张的时空特征与生态响应

量化识别城市扩张在不同发展阶段的时空特征，有助于从宏观上认知城市扩张态势，理解城市化的生态响应。以Landsat TM/OLI影像为数据源，分析了近30a（1986~2016年)长江经济带3个省级城市和4个地级市的城市扩张，包括建设用地的时空变化和扩张模式，以及扩张的生态效应。结果表明：(1)建设用地扩张量在过去30a呈线性递增过程，平均扩张速率在2006~2016年降低，表明建设用地由增量扩张向存量开发转型，但地级市的转型滞后于省级城市;(2)蔓延式扩张比例下降而填充式扩张和飞地式扩张不断增加，说明城市扩张模式由粗放蔓延型向紧凑集约型转换;(3)建设用地从快速扩张到稳定扩张的过程与植被覆盖从退化到管控的过程一致，印证了建设用地扩张与植被覆盖度的时空关联性。同时，建设用地扩张导致的生态系服务价值负值不断增加，较大幅度的降低了生态系统服务总价值。面临城市扩张进程中出现的植被覆盖退化和建设用地生态系统服务负值过大的问题，合理而有力的规划政策实施在未来城市发展中尤为重要。