On-going nitrification in chloraminated drinking water distribution system (DWDS) is conditioned by hydraulics and disinfection strategies

Within the drinking water distribution system (DWDS) using chloramine as disinfectant, nitrification caused by nitrifying bacteria is increasingly becoming a concern as it poses a great challenge for maintaining water quality. To investigate efficient control strategies, operational conditions including hydraulic regimes and disinfectant scenarios were controlled within a flow cell experimental facility. Two test phases were conducted to investigate the effects on the extent of nitrification of three flow rates (Q = 2, 6, and 10 L/min) and four disinfection scenarios (total Cl₂=1 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=3:1; total Cl₂=1 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=5:1; total Cl₂=5 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=3:1; and total Cl₂=5 mg/L, Cl₂/NH₃-N=5:1). Physico-chemical parameters and nitrification indicators were monitored during the tests. The characteristics of biofilm extracellular polymetric substance (EPS) were evaluated after the experiment. The main results from the study indicate that nitrification is affected by hydraulic conditions and the process tends to be severe when the fluid flow transforms from laminar to turbulent (2300<Re<4000). Increasing disinfectant concentration and optimizing Cl₂/NH₃-N mass ratio were found to inhibit nitrification to some extend when the system was running at turbulent condition (Q = 10 L/min, Re = 5535). EPS extracted from biofilm that was established at the flow rate of 6 L/min had greater carbohydrate/protein ratio. Furthermore, several nitrification indicators were evaluated for their prediction efficiency and the results suggest that the change of nitrite, together with total organic carbon (TOC) and turbidity can indicate nitrification potential efficiently.     

Coupling mechanism of activated carbon mixed with dust for flue gas desulfurization and denitrification

To clarify the effect of coking dust, sintering dust and fly ash on the activity of activated carbon for various industrial flue gas desulfurization and denitrification, the coupling mechanism of the mixed activated carbon and dust was investigated to provide theoretical reference for the stable operation. The results show that coking dust had 34% desulfurization efficiency and 10% denitrification efficiency; correspondingly, sintering dust and fly ash had no obvious desulfurization and denitrification activities. For the mixture of activated carbon and dust, the coking dust reduced the desulfurization and denitrification efficiencies by blocking the pores of activated carbon, and its inhibiting effect on activated carbon was larger than its own desulfurization and denitrification activity. The sintering dust also reduced the desulfurization efficiency on the activated carbon while enhancing the denitrification efficiency. Fly ash blocked the pores of activated carbon and reduced its reaction activity. The reaction activity of coking dust mainly came from the surface functional groups, similar to that of activated carbon. The reaction activity of sintering dust mainly came from the oxidative property of Fe₂O₃, which oxidized NO to NO₂ and promoted the fast selectively catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO to form N₂. Sintering dust was activated by the joint action of activated carbon, and both had a coupling function. Sintering dust enhanced the adsorption and oxidation of NO, and activated carbon further promoted the reduction of NO_x by NH₃; thus, the denitrification efficiency increased by 5%-7% on the activated carbon.     

Photodegradation of Hexafluoropropylene Oxide Trimer Acid under UV Irradiation

As a novel alternative to traditional perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), hexafluoroproplyene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TA) has been detected worldwide in surface water. Moreover, recent researches have demonstrated that HFPO-TA has stronger bioaccumulation potential and higher hepatotoxicity than PFOA. To treat these contaminants e.g. PFOA and PFOS, some photochemical techniques by adding exogenous substances had been reported. However, there is still no report for the behavior of HFPO-TA itself under direct UV irradiation. The current study investigated the photo-transformation of HFPO-TA under UV irradiation in aqueous solution. After 72 hr photoreaction, 75% degradation ratio and 25% defluorination ratio were achieved under ambient condition. Reducing active species, i.e., hydrated electrons and active hydrogen atoms, generated from water splitting played dominant roles in degradation of HFPO-TA, which was confirmed by different effects of reaction atmospheres and quenching experiments. A possible degradation pathway was proposed based on the products identification and theoretical calculations. In general, HFPO-TA would be transformed into shorter-chain PFASs, including hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), perfluoropropionic acid (PFA) and trifluoroacetate (TFA). This research provides basic information for HFPO-TA photodegradation process and is essential to develop novel remediation techniques for HFPO-TA and other alternatives with similar structures.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in benthos of the northern Bering Sea Shelf and Chukchi Sea Shelf

Eighteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were detected in benthos collected onboard the ‘Snow Dragon’ in the Northern Bering Sea Shelf and Chukchi Sea Shelf during the 6^th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (CHINARE 2014). Σ₁₈PAHs for all biota samples ranged from 34.2 to 128.1 ng/g dry weight (dw), with the highest concentration observed in fish muscle (Boreogadus saida) samples close to St. Lawrence Island. The PAH composition pattern was dominated by the presence of lighter 3 ring (57%) and 2 ring (28%) PAHs, indicating oil-related or petrogenic sources as important origins of PAH contamination. Concentrations of alkyl-PAHs (1-methylnaphthalene and 2-methylnaphthalene) were lower than their parent PAH (naphthalene) in all biological tissue, and their percentage also decreased significantly (p<0.05) compared with those in the corresponding sediment. There were no significant relationships between PAH concentrations and trophic levels, which is possibly due to the combined results of the complex benthic foodweb in the subarctic/Arctic shelf region, as well as a low assimilation/effective metabolism for PAHs. According to toxic potency evaluation results from TCDD toxic equivalents (TEQs) and BaP-equivalent (BaPE) values, whelk (Neptunea heros) and starfish (Ctenodiscus crispatus) are two macroinvertebrate species showing relatively higher dioxin-like toxicity and carcinogenic risk.     

Particulate matter exchange between atmosphere and roads surfaces in urban areas

The deposition and the re-suspension of particulate matter (PM) in urban areas are the key processes that contribute not only to stormwater pollution, but also to air pollution. However, investigation of the deposition and the re-suspension of PM is challenging because of the difficulties in distinguishing between the resuspended and the deposited PM. This study created two Bayesian Networks (BN) models to explore the deposition and the re-suspension of PM as well as the important influential factors. The outcomes of BN modelling revealed that deposition and re-suspension of PM10 occurred under both, high-traffic and low-traffic conditions, and the re-suspension of PM2.5 occurred under low-traffic conditions. The deposition of PM10 under low-volume traffic condition is 1.6 times higher than under high-volume traffic condition, which is attributed to the decrease in PM10 caused by relatively higher turbulence under high-volume traffic conditions. PM10 is more easily resuspended from road surfaces compared to PM2.5 as the particles which larger than the thickness of the laminar airflow over the road surface are more easily removed from road surfaces. The increase in wind speed contributes to the increase in PM build-up by transporting particulates from roadside areas to the road surfaces and the airborne PM2.5 and PM10 increases with the increase in relative humidity. The study outcomes provide a step improvement in the understanding of the transfer processes of PM2.5 and PM10 between atmosphere and urban road surfaces, which in turn will contribute to the effective design of mitigation measures for urban stormwater and air pollution.     

Analytical methods and environmental processes of nanoplastics

The degradation of plastic debris may result in the generation of nanoplastics (NPs). Their high specific surface area for the sorption of organic pollutions and toxic heavy metals and possible transfer between organisms at different nutrient levels make the study of NPs an urgent priority. However, there is very limited understanding on the occurrence, distribution, abundant, and fate of NPs in the environment, partially due to the lack of suitable techniques for the separation and identification of NPs from complex environmental matrices. In this review, we first overviewed the state-of-the-art methods for the extraction, separation, identification and quantification of NPs in the environment. Some of them have been successfully applied for the field determination of NPs, while some are borrowed from the detection of microplastics or engineered nanomaterials. Then the possible fate and transport of NPs in the environment are thoroughly described. Although great efforts have been made during the recent years, large knowledge gaps still exist, such as the relatively high detection limit of existing method failing to detect ultralow masses of NPs in the environment, and spherical polystyrene NP models failing to represent the various compositions of NPs with different irregular shapes, which needs further investigation.     

Reviews of emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in Asia

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in the atmosphere play important roles in the formation of ground-level ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in global scale and also in regional scale under some condition due to their large amount and relatively higher reactivity. In places with high plant cover in the tropics and in China where air pollution is serious, the effect of BVOCs on ozone and secondary organic aerosols is strong. The present research aims to provide a comprehensive review about the emission rate, emission inventory, research methods, the influencing factors of BVOCs emissions, as well as their impacts on atmospheric environment quality and human health in recent years in Asia based on the summary and analysis of literatures. It is suggested to use field direct measurement method to obtain the emission rate and model method to calculate the emission amount. Several recommendations are given for future investigation and policy development on BVOCs emission.     

微生物菌剂对堆肥功能微生物重构的影响

堆肥产品不仅可以作为有机肥或土壤改良剂,还可以在包气带土层防护地下水污染的过程中起到微生物载体的作用.在堆肥中接种菌剂能够加速堆肥进程,促进堆肥材料的腐熟,但是也有研究认为接种剂与堆肥土著微生物的竞争会导致菌剂无法发挥作用.为了阐明菌剂与土著微生物之间的相互作用,采用宏蛋白质组学方法,分析餐厨垃圾堆肥接菌组（木质纤维素混合菌剂）和对照组（未接菌）中功能微生物群落和碳水化合物代谢途径的变化.结果表明:接菌组中假单胞菌目（Pseudomonadales）和散囊菌纲（Eurotiomycetes）菌群的相对丰度比对照组分别提高了12.5%和22.0%,成为优势细菌和真菌,二者在碳水化合物代谢活性上也成为优势菌群.菌剂主要是由芽孢杆菌目（Bacillales）和散囊菌纲的曲霉（Aspergillus）组成,曲霉因具有堆肥系统所需的木质纤维素分解能力而成为优势真菌,而菌剂中的芽孢杆菌虽然数量较多,但是缺乏堆肥系统所需的功能而无法成为优势细菌.餐厨垃圾中易降解物质分解过程中产生的有机酸会导致酸性环境,对照组中能够适应酸性环境的芽孢杆菌目和酵母菌纲（Saccharomycetes）是优势群落,添加菌剂后,堆肥系统中土著的假单胞菌目和散囊菌纲具有较高的碳水化合物代谢活性和多种有机酸转化通路,因此在与菌剂中的芽孢杆菌目和土著的芽孢杆菌及酵母菌的竞争中成为优势菌群.研究显示,外源菌剂与土著微生物之间以及各土著微生物之间都会发生竞争作用,能否成为优势菌群取决于是否适应堆肥底物新陈代谢的变化,因此只要选择好菌剂的功能和接种时机,菌剂就能够发挥原有的作用.      

不同制备温度下污泥生物炭对Cr(Ⅵ)的吸附特性

以城市剩余污泥为原料,于300,400,500,600 ℃温度条件下制备生物炭,通过单因素静态吸附实验探讨制备温度对生物炭吸附Cr（Ⅵ）的影响。结果表明:在500 ℃以内随着温度上升制备的生物炭对Cr（Ⅵ）的吸附量增加,制备温度高于500 ℃后变化不明显;扫描电镜（SEM）、比表面积（BET）、傅里叶红外光谱（FTIR）表征结果显示,热解温度对生物炭表面形貌和官能团组成有显著影响;等温模型及动力学拟合结果表明,生物炭吸附Cr（Ⅵ）为单分子层吸附、物理-化学复合吸附。热解温度对污泥制备生物炭吸附Cr（Ⅵ）的性能有显著影响,最佳制备温度为500 ℃,在此条件制备的生物炭对Cr（Ⅵ）的理论吸附量可达7.93 mg/g。     

应用改良型水质综合指数法评价饮用水水质

应用1套改良型水质综合指数法对3种不同类型的饮用水水质进行评价。将选取的26项检测指标按照卫生学意义分为5大类,并对各分类指标赋权。选用内梅罗法和最差因子判别法与五色等级分级法结合对2017年4—8月的3种类型饮用水进行水质评价。除7月和8月的管网水水质为2级（水质综合指数>0.5,蓝色）以外,其余月份的出水水质均达到1级（绿色）评价标准。不同类型饮用水中对水质综合指数影响最大的水质分类指标均是有机污染指标。2种不同类型的净水机出水水质均优于管网末梢水,但需注意个别指标的污染。