Mercury levels and estimated total daily intakes for children and adults from an electronic waste recycling area in Taizhou, China: Key role of rice and fish consumption

In order to assess the potential health risks of Hg pollution, total mercury (T–Hg) and methyl mercury (MeHg) concentrations were determined in air, dust, surface soil, crops, poultry, fish and human hair samples from an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area in Taizhou, China. High concentrations of T–Hg and MeHg were found in these multiple matrices, and the mean concentration was 30.7 ng/m³ of T–Hg for atmosphere samples, 3.1 μg/g of T–Hg for soil, 37.6 μg/g of T–Hg for dust, 20.3 ng/g of MeHg for rice and 178.1 ng/g of MeHg for fish, suggesting that the e-waste recycling facility was a significant source of Hg. The inorganic Hg (I–Hg) levels (0.84 μg/g) in hair samples of e-waste workers were much higher than that in the reference samples. Pearson''s correlation coefficients showed that strong positive correlations (p < 0.01) between hair I–Hg and time staying in industrial area (r = 0.81) and between MeHg and fish consumption frequency (r = 0.91), imply that workers were mainly exposed to Hg vapor through long-time inhalation of contaminated air and dust, while other population mainly exposed to MeHg through high-frequency fish consumption. The estimated daily intakes of Hg showed that dietary intake was the major Hg exposure source, and Hg intakes from rice and fish were significantly higher than from any other foods. The estimated total daily intakes (TDIs) of MeHg for both children (696.8 ng/(kg·day)) and adults (381.3 ng/(kg·day)) greatly exceeded the dietary reference dose (RfD) of 230 ng/(kg·day), implying greater health risk for humans from Hg exposures around e-waste recycling facilities.     

Simulation of scenario characteristics of LPG tank explosion accident and its contribution to emergency planning: A case study

Leakage and explosion of hazardous chemicals during road transportation can cause serious building damage and casualties, and adoption of highly-efficient emergency rescue measures plays a critical role in reducing accidental hazards. Considering a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) transport tanker explosion accident that occurred in Wenling, Zhejiang Province, China on June 13, 2020 as example, this study proposes a risk assessment framework. This framework recreates the leakage and explosion of the accident process using FLACS v10.9, suggests plans for evacuation, describes the rescue areas of different levels, and explores the influence of environmental factors on the evacuation and rescue areas. The results show that simulated and predicted distributions of fuel vapour cloud concentration and explosion overpressure can provide a reference basis for rapid rescue activities; the characterization of the dynamic effects of wind speed, wind direction, and temperature with respect to the evacuation and rescue areas can be used as theoretical support for on-site adjustment of rescue forces. The role of obstacles can prevent the expansion of the evacuation areas under low wind-speed conditions, and the presence of highly congested obstacles determines the level of the rescue area. The results obtained are important for the risk analysis and the development of emergency rescue measures in case of explosion accidents associated with transportation of hazardous chemicals on high-hazard and high-sensitive road sections.     

Low-reactive circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) fly ashes as source material for geopolymer synthesis

In this contribution, low-reactive circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) fly ashes (CFAs) have firstly been utilized as a source material for geopolymer synthesis. An alkali fusion process was employed to promote the dissolution of Si and Al species from the CFAs, and thus to enhance the reactivity of the ashes. A high-reactive metakaolin (MK) was also used to consume the excess alkali needed for the fusion. Reactivities of the CFAs and MK were examined by a series of dissolution tests in sodium hydroxide solutions. Geopolymer samples were prepared by alkali activation of the source materials using a sodium silicate solution as the activator. The synthesized products were characterized by mechanical testing, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractography (XRD), as well as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results of this study indicate that, via enhancing the reactivity by alkali fusion and balancing the Na/Al ratio by additional aluminosilicate source, low-reactive CFAs could also be recycled as an alternative source material for geopolymer production.     

Greenhouse gas emissions from MSW incineration in China: Impacts of waste characteristics and energy recovery

Determination of the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted during municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is complex because both contributions and savings of GHGs exist in the process. To identify the critical factors influencing GHG emissions from MSWI in China, a GHG accounting model was established and applied to six Chinese cities located in different regions. The results showed that MSWI in most of the cities was the source of GHGs, with emissions of 25–207 kg CO₂-eq t^?1 rw. Within all process stages, the emission of fossil CO₂ from the combustion of MSW was the main contributor (111–254 kg CO₂-eq t^?1 rw), while the substitution of electricity reduced the GHG emissions by 150–247 kg CO₂-eq t^?1 rw. By affecting the fossil carbon content and the lower heating value of the waste, the contents of plastic and food waste in the MSW were the critical factors influencing GHG emissions of MSWI. Decreasing food waste content in MSW by half will significantly reduce the GHG emissions from MSWI, and such a reduction will convert MSWI in Urumqi and Tianjin from GHG sources to GHG sinks. Comparison of the GHG emissions in the six Chinese cities with those in European countries revealed that higher energy recovery efficiency in Europe induced much greater reductions in GHG emissions. Recovering the excess heat after generation of electricity would be a good measure to convert MSWI in all the six cities evaluated herein into sinks of GHGs.     

Food decay and offensive odorants: A comparative analysis among three types of food

In this study, a list of offensive odorants including reduced sulfur, carbonyls, nitrogenous, and volatile organic compounds was measured by the indirect (instrumental) method during the decay processes of three food types (snipe egg, mackerel, and squid). The strengths of the odor release were also quantified in terms of dilution-to-threshold (D/T) ratio based on the air dilution sensory test. To collect odor samples for each food type, decaying experiments were conducted in 100 mL throwaway syringes for 1 month. The results showed that ammonia had the largest mean ranging from 385 ppm (fish) to 554 ppm (egg). However, most odorants generally fell in the range of 0.01–10 ppm, regardless of food type. The odor strengths measured with the suprathreshold method in terms of average D/T values increased on the order of 33,520 (egg), 202,330 (fish), and 766,330 (squid). These results were highly comparable to the patterns of odor indices derived by empirical conversion of odorant concentration data. The overall results of this study thus suggest that a unique pattern of odor release develops among different odorants as well as food type.     

Synthesis, characterization and experimental investigation of Cu-BTC as CO2 adsorbent from flue gas

Porous Cu-BTC material was synthesized by the solvothermal method. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) was used to test the phase purity of the synthesized material and investigate its structural stability under the influence of flue gas components. The thermal stability of the material was determined through thermal gravimetric (TG) analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to study the microstructure of the material. Cu-BTC was demonstrated not only to have high CO₂ adsorption capacity but also good selectivity of CO₂ over N₂ by means of packed bed tests. The adsorption capacity of Cu-BTC for CO₂ was about 69 mL/g at 22°C. The influence of the main flue gas components on the CO₂ capacity of the material were discussed as well.     

不同载体材料对厌氧氨氧化效果影响的研究

文章分别采用水性聚氨酯(WPU)和活性炭2种材料作为生物载体,在2个不同的上流式厌氧污泥床(UASB)反应器中接种包埋污泥和生物活性炭,采用人工配水进行连续实验,观测厌氧氨氧化反应器启动过程中各种含氮化合物的变化,以考察不同载体材料对厌氧氨氧化过程的影响。文章在生物活性炭反应器中成功驯化了采自污水处理厂的普通厌氧污泥,证明了从环境中驯化培养厌氧氨氧化菌的可能性。通过2个阶段中脱氮效率的比较,发现以水性聚氨酯包埋材料作为未驯化细菌载体并无明显优势,反而成为传质的障碍;而采用生物活性炭则可以迅速达到提高局部生物量、聚集功能菌、屏蔽不利环境的干扰等作用,是理想的微生物载体。     

磷对混养反硝化污泥活性和微生物群落结构的影响

生物反硝化脱氮是现在最广泛使用的去除水中NO-3-N的方法之一,混养反硝化因其综合了异养和自养反硝化的共同特性而引人关注.本实验探究添加一定量无机磷前后反硝化污泥活性及其微生物群落结构的变化.结果表明,混养反硝化污泥在无磷供给时也能进行反硝化反应,但磷的添加可显著提高其生物量和反硝化活性,反硝化污泥的异养反硝化活性明显高于自养部分,添加无机磷之后,自养和异养反硝化速率(以N/VSS计)分别可达0.056 mg·(L·min·g)-1和0.232mg·(L·min·g)-1,分别为加磷前的2.9和3.9倍.此外,微生物群落分析表明,投加磷之后混养污泥中反硝化菌占比显著增加,从13.47%增加到44.82%;优势菌属发生显著变化,添加无机磷使自养、异养以及兼性反硝化菌的生长均得到有效促进.     

The ignored emission of volatile organic compounds from iron ore sinter process

Iron ore sintering is a major source of gaseous and particulate pollutants emission in iron smelt plant. The aim of present study is to characterize the volatile organic compounds(VOCs) emission profiles from iron ore sintering process. Both sinter pot test and sinter simulation experiment were conducted and compared. Out results showed that sinter process produced large quantity of VOCs together with NOxand SO_2. VOCs and NO were produced simultaneously in sinter pot test from 3 to 24 min after ignition, flowed by SO_2 production from 15 min to the end of sintering. Total VOCs(TVOC) concentration in sinter flue gas was affected by the coal and coke ratio in sinter raw material. The maximum TVOC concentration was 34.5 ppm when using 100% coal as fuel. Sinter simulation experiments found that the number of VOCs species and their concentrations were found by sinter temperature. The largest VOCs species varieties were obtained at 500 °C. Benzene, toluene,xylene and ethylbenzene were major VOCs in sinter flue gas based on the results from both simulation test and sinter pot. It thus demonstrated that in addition to NO_x, SO_2 and metal oxide particles, sinter flue gas also contained significant amount of VOCs whose environmental impact cannot be ignored. Based on our work, it is timely needed to establish a new VOC emission standard for sinter flue gas and develop advanced techniques to simultaneously eliminate multi-pollutants in iron ore sinter process.     

屏蔽电机主泵双金属飞轮飞射物对承压边界完整性破坏作用

目的掌握反应堆冷却剂泵双金属飞轮飞射物对承压边界完整性的影响规律。方法基于ANSYS/LS-DYNA对飞轮保持环失效后钨合金块与承压边界的碰撞过程进行分析,模拟承压边界在重要因素(电机壳厚度、钨合金块数)的影响下对飞轮飞射物的包容过程。结果在保持飞射物入射初速度不变的情况下,当电机壳厚度小于118 mm时,发生非包容性失效。改变钨合金块数(4、8、12、16块),可以发现钨合金块数越多,飞射物对承压边界施加的破坏能量就越小。结论增加电机壳厚度、钨合金块数有利于承压边界能够很好地包容住所有飞射物。该研究成果对屏蔽电机主泵惰转飞轮的可靠性设计具有重要意义。