Biohydrogen production in continuous-flow reactor using mixed microbial culture.

The goal of the proposed project was to develop an anaerobic fermentation process that converts negative-value organic wastes into hydrogen-rich gas in a continuous-flow reactor under different operating conditions, such as hydraulic retention time (HRT), heat treatment, pH, and substrates. A series of batch tests were also conducted in parallel to the continuous study to evaluate the hydrogen conversion efficiency of two different organic substrates, namely sucrose and starch. A heat shock (at 90 degrees C for 15 minutes) was applied to the sludge in an external heating chamber known as a sludge activation chamber, as a method to impose a selection pressure to eliminate non-spore-forming, hydrogen-consuming bacteria and to activate spore germination. The experimental results showed that the heat activation of biomass enhanced hydrogen production by selecting for hydrogen-producing, spore-forming bacteria. The batch feeding at a shorter HRT of 20 hours (or higher organic loading rate) favored hydrogen production, whereas, at a longer HRT of 30 hours, methane was detected in the gas phase. The major organic acids of hydrogen fermentation were acetate, butyrate, and propionate. Up to 23.1% of influent chemical oxygen demand was consumed in biomass synthesis. Batch tests showed that the hydrogen-production potential of starch was lower than sucrose, and better conversion efficiency from starch was obtained at a lower pH of 4.5. However, addition of sucrose to starch improved the overall hydrogen-production potential and hydrogen-production rate. This study showed that sustainable biohydrogen production from carbohydrate-rich substrates is possible through heat activation of settled sludge.     

有机粘土矿物对水中低浓度菲的吸附性能和机理

分别选用十六烷三甲基溴化铵(HDTMA-Br)、四甲基溴化铵(TMA-Br)、聚乙二醇(PEG)表面活性剂改性天然粘土矿物,研究其对水中低浓度多环芳烃类难降解有机物菲的吸附性能和机理,并讨论了有机粘土的用量对吸附菲的性能的影响,验证了有机粘土矿物吸附菲后的稳定性.3种有机粘土矿物对菲的吸附等温线均呈中凹型,表现为分配系数(Kp)逐渐增大,表明吸附是分配作用和溶剂化效应共同作用的结果.根据Kp及土样有机碳含量(foc)所得的经有机碳归一化的分配系数(Koc)基本为常数,远远高于天然土壤/沉积物的Koc.在相同实验条件下,3种有机粘土矿物中HDTMA改性粘土矿物对菲的吸附性能最强,PEG改性粘土矿物次之,TMA改性粘土矿物最差.     

Correlation of gas chromatographic properties of chlorobenzenes and polychlorinated biphenyls with the occurrence of reductive dechlorination by untamed microorganisms

To understand the dechlorination ability of chlorobenzenes (CBs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by untamed microorganisms under anaerobic condition and to correlate gas chromatographic properties with the occurrence of reductive dechlorination, introduction of CBs and PCBs in the culture medium inoculated with microorganisms from sludge and sediment, respectively, were performed. Three kinds of culture media preparing from sludge, river water and a synthetic medium were used in the experiments. HCB was degraded to 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene (1,3,5-TCB) and 1,3-dichlorobenzene (1,3-DCB) in both sludge medium and synthetic medium with inoculated microorganisms. Three PCB congeners including 2,3,4-, 3,4,5- and 2,3,4,5-CBp (chlorinated biphenyl) were not found to be dechlorinated in the river water medium with inoculation culture but to be dechlorinated in the synthetic medium. MNDO methodology was used to compute theoretical dechlorination reaction heats and GC-ECD techniques were used to estimate chromatographic data of CB and PCB congeners. Both CB and PCB congeners showed that dechlorination by untamed microorganisms under anaerobic mixed cultures were more likely to occur when larger amounts of energy were released and greater deltaln RRT value between the parent congener and the daughter product was observed. Deltaln RRT provided a more precise information on the singularity of PCBs ortho-dechlorination in an aspect of thermodynamic favorable rule.     

Alcaligenes sp.YF11菌对杀灭菊酯的降解机理

测定了降解菌Alcaligenessp.YF11对不同浓度杀灭菊酯的降解及其降解途径。在纯培养系统中,Alcaligenessp.YF11对100mg／L的杀灭菊酯的降解符合零级动力学特征,其降解速率为2．1mg／L·h;50mg／L的杀灭菊酯在24h的降解率为87.5％;10mg／L的杀灭菊酯10h的降解率为71．0％。Alcaligenesso．YF11对杀灭菊酯的降解为矿化作用。     

Deodorization of dimethyl sulfide using a discharge approach at room temperature

The traditional technologies for odor removal of thiol usually create either secondary pollution for scrubbing, adsorption, and absorption processes, or sulfur (S) poisoning for catalytic incineration. This study applied a laboratory-scale radio-frequency plasma reactor to destructive percentage-grade concentrations of odorous dimethyl sulfide (CH3SCH3, or DMS). Odor was diminished effectively via reforming DMS into mainly carbon disulfide (CS2) or sulfur dioxide (SO2). The removal efficiencies of DMS elevated significantly with a lower feeding concentration of DMS or a higher applied rf power. A greater inlet oxygen (O2)/DMS molar ratio slightly improved the removal efficiency. In an O2-free environment, DMS was converted primarily to CS2, methane (CH4), acetylene (C2H2), ethylene (C2H4), and hydrogen (H2), with traces of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methyl mercaptan (CH3SH), and dimethyl disulfide. In an O2-containing environment, the species detected were SO2, CS2, carbonyl sulfide, carbon dioxide (CO2), CH4, C2H4, C2H2, H2, formaldehyde, and methanol. Differences in yield of products were functions of the amounts of added O2 and the applied power. This study provided useful information for gaining insight into the reaction pathways for the DMS dissociation and the formation of products in the plasmolysis and conversion processes.     

Effect of adsorbents coated with titanium dioxide on the photocatalytic degradation of propoxur

Photocatalytic oxidation of pesticides in aqueous media irradiated by UV light is a rapidly growing field of research. Therefore, the treatment technology for degradation of propoxur (an insecticide) using titanium dioxide coated on the supports such as activated carbon, zeolite, brick, quartz and glass beads, was performed in this research. Results show that GAC/TiO2 is the best complexing agent for oxidizing propoxur because of its adsorption properities. The others follow the sequence: plain TiO2 > glass beads > zeolite > brick > quartz. The degradation rate of propoxur with plain TiO2 is higher than that with TiO2/GAC complexing agent. But the mineralization rate of propoxur with plain TiO2 is lower than that with TiO2/GAC complexing agent. However, it can be concluded that using GAC as the support can improve the photocatalytic efficiency.     

Risk-based approach to appraise valve closure in the clam Corbicula fluminea in response to waterborne metals

We developed a risk-based approach to assess how the valve closure behavior of Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea responds to waterborne copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd). We reanalyzed the valve closure response data from published literature to reconstruct the response time-dependent dose-response profiles based on an empirical three-parameter Hill equation model. We integrated probabilistic exposure profiles of measured environmental Cu and Cd concentrations in the western coastal areas of Taiwan with the reconstructed dose-response relationships at different integration times of response to quantitatively estimate the valve response risk. The risk assessment results implicate exposure to waterborne Cu and Cd may pose no significant risk to clam valve activity in the short-time response periods (e.g., <30 min), yet a relative high risk for valve closure response to waterborne Cu at response times greater than 120 min is alarming. We successfully linked reconstructed dose-response profiles and EC50-time relationships associated with the fitted daily valve opening/closing rhythm characterized by a three-parameter lognormal function to predict the time-varying bivalve closure rhythm response to waterborne metals. We parameterized the proposed predictive model that should encourage a risk-management framework for discussion of future design of biological monitoring systems.     

How to accurately assay the algal toxicity of pesticides with low water solubility

A novel method for assaying and calculating the toxicity of water-insoluble pesticides to green algae has been put forward in this work. First, a solvent is selected for use in bioassays; there should be a detailed screening to identify a solvent with inherently low toxicity to the test organism. Second, the EC50 is determined for selected pesticides by measuring the toxicity of various concentrations of each of the selected pesticides in a fixed concentration of selected solvent. Third, concentrations of the selected solvent are varied and the EC50 of each pesticide tested is assayed at a fixed concentration. Fourth, several suitable groups of solvent concentrations are selected and the corresponding EC50 values of tested pesticides are considered to establish the linear regression equation. Letting the solvent concentration be zero, one calculates the corresponding EC50 value, which corresponds to the inherent toxicity of the tested pesticide.     

废纸造纸废水处理工程应用

报道了自制混凝剂产品处理废纸造纸废水的工程应用情况。经过 1年多的运行结果表明 ,当进水CODCr、悬浮物浓度分别为 972mg/L、82 5mg/L以及色度为 3 0 0倍时 ,采用该工艺处理后 ,CODCr去除率平均为 95 .7% ,SS去除率平均为 98.9% ,色度去除率平均为 99.3 % ,出水水质远低于国家一级排放标准 (GB3 5 44 - 92 ) ,并且工厂实践表明 ,对生产有显著的效益 ,从而证明该方法对于废纸造纸废水的处理是可行的。该处理工艺设备简单 ,系统运行稳定 ,操作方便 ,成本低     

城市污泥的重金属生物活性及其控制

随着土壤法规的加强 ,城市污泥中的重金属严重影响着污泥的处理、处置。介绍了污泥中重金属的分配和化学形态 ,以及迄今为止几种主要的控制方法