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.     

基于TMVOC的地下水位波动带苯系物迁移转化模拟

为探究水位波动情况下苯系物的迁移转化规律,提高石油污染场地地下水污染治理精度,以西北某傍河石化场地为研究对象,基于TMVOC模型对特征污染物苯系物开展泄漏模拟,通过情景模拟比较水位波动对苯系物迁移转化的影响,并从污染分布、相间转化等方面,解析地下水位稳定和波动状态下苯系物迁移转化过程差异.结果表明:①TMVOC模型较好地模拟了水位波动状态下苯系物迁移转化过程.②相较于水位稳定状态下,水位波动作用下苯系物污染深度增加0.5 m,污染面积增加25%,总质量增加12 kg.③水位稳定和波动状态下苯系物"气-液-NAPL（Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids）相"占比分别为0.17%、2.03%、97.8%和0.04%、3.69%、96.27%.④NAPL相苯系物饱和度分布与苯系物质量分布呈正相关,水位波动造成NAPL相初始饱和度降低,且初始水位面以下NAPL相饱和度升高.⑤对于苯而言,水位波动状态下非饱和带中苯在液相中的质量是水位稳定状态下的1.11倍,饱和带为10.15倍.研究显示,水位波动显著地影响了苯系物的迁移转化过程,促进了苯系物的溶解,并使更多的苯系物残留在地下介质中.      

污泥腐殖酸对Cd2+的吸附特性

为了促进污水处理厂剩余污泥的资源化利用,探索S-HA（sludge-based humic acid, 污泥腐殖酸）对溶液中重金属Cd2+的吸附特性.采用国际腐殖酸协会（IHSS）推荐的方法提取S-HA,通过元素分析、FT-IR（傅里叶红外光谱分析）和SEM-EDS（外观形态分析）等方法,考察溶液pH和共存阳离子对吸附过程的影响,并对吸附过程分别进行了吸附动力学模型、等温吸附模型和吸附热力学模型拟合,同时通过对比S-HA吸附前后的红外光谱和扫描电镜-能谱图片,探索S-HA对Cd2+的吸附机制.结果表明:①S-HA表面呈松散的簇团状,含有大量的羧基、醇羟基和酚羟基等含氧官能团,芳香度较高,含有较多的脂肪链结构;S-HA在吸附水中Cd2+的过程中,Cd2+与S-HA表面上的酚羟基、羧基等官能团发生了络合作用.②S-HA对Cd2+的吸附量随溶液pH升高而增加,溶液中Na+、NH₄+和Ca2+等共存阳离子的存在不利于S-HA对Cd2+的吸附,其中Ca2+的存在对S-HA吸附Cd2+影响最大.③S-HA对Cd2+的吸附由快吸附、慢吸附和吸附平衡3个阶段组成,吸附平衡时间为12 h;吸附过程符合准二级动力学模型,其整体吸附速度由液膜扩散和颗粒内扩散共同控制;吸附等温线符合Freundlich等温吸附模型,25℃下的最大吸附量为19.29 mg/g,Cd2+在S-HA上的吸附是自发吸热反应.研究显示:污水处理厂剩余污泥提取的S-HA对Cd2+具有较好的吸附效果;S-HA对Cd2+的吸附过程同时存在着物理吸附和化学吸附;高pH对S-HA吸附Cd2+有促进作用,而高离子强度对S-HA吸附Cd2+有抑制作用.      

中温期和高温期污泥堆肥物料中典型氟喹诺酮类抗生素去除的影响因素

污泥处理后土地利用是氟喹诺酮类抗生素（fluoroquinolones,FQs）进入土壤环境的主要途径之一。好氧堆肥具有高效去除FQs、削减其环境风险的潜力,但目前对于堆肥过程中各阶段物料FQs去除影响因素的研究仍较少。该研究在制备典型城市污泥好氧堆肥获取其中温期、高温期物料的基础上,向堆肥中添加2种典型的FQs（ofloxacin,OFL;norfloxacin,NOR）,在不同FQs初始浓度（0,2.5,5.0 mg/kg）、含水率（50%、60%、70%）和通风量（0,15 mL/min）条件下,进行56 d的抗生素去除试验,控制各堆肥物料在其对应堆肥阶段温度（中温期物料,35℃;高温期物料,55℃）。结果表明:2种物料中FQs去除率均随着初始浓度上升而逐步下降,中温期物料最佳初始FQs浓度分别为5.0 mg/kg（OFL）、2.5 mg/kg（NOR）,对于高温期物料两者均为2.5 mg/kg;中温期物料中,FQs去除率随含水率增加先上升后下降,最佳含水率均为60%,高温期物料中,FQs去除率随含水率升高而逐步增加;2种物料中,通风量15 mL/min下的FQs去除率均明显高于未通风处理。与中温期物料对比,高温期物料中FQs去除过程需要较低的初始浓度和较高的含水率;在2种物料中,充分通风下FQs的去除率均明显高于未通风处理。