The effect of a biofilm on solute diffusion in fractured porous media

At sites in fractured rock where contamination has been exposed to the rock matrix for extended periods of time, the amount of contaminant mass residing in the matrix can be considerable. Even though it may be possible to diminish concentrations by the advection of clean water through the fracture features, back diffusion from mass held in the matrix will lead to a continuing source of contamination. In such an event, the development of a biofilm (a thin film of microbial mass) on the wall of the fractures may act to limit or prevent the back diffusion process. The objective of this preliminary study is to explore the influence imparted by the presence of a biofilm on the process of matrix diffusion. The investigation was conducted using radial diffusion cells constructed from rock core in which biofilm growth was stimulated in a central reservoir. Once biofilms were developed, forward diffusion experiments were conducted in which a conservative solute migrated from the central reservoir into the intact rock sample. Diffusion experiments were performed in a total of 11 diffusion cell pairs where biofilm growth was stimulated in one member of the pair and inhibited in the other. The effect of the presence of a biofilm on tracer diffusion was determined by comparison of the diffusion curves produced by each cell pair. A semi-analytical model that accounts for the presence of a biofilm was used to investigate the effect of the biofilm on mass transfer due to changes in the effective porosity, effective diffusion coefficient, and the depth of penetration of the biofilm into the intact rock. The results show that the biofilm acted to plug the rock matrix, rather than forming a discrete layer on the reservoir surface. The reduction in effective porosity due to the biofilm ranged from 6% to 52% with the majority of the samples in the 30% to 50% range. Based on the present results, with more efficient biofilm stimulation, it is reasonable to assume that a more complete plugging of the microcrack porosity might be possible, leaving a much thicker and efficient barrier than could be achieved via a surface biofilm.     

The use of clays to sequestrate organic pollutants. Leaching experiments

Leaching experiments are performed from clay-pollutant systems in order to evaluate the capability of clays to sequestrate organic pollutants from wastewaters. Reference kaolinite KGa-1b, montmorrillonite SWy-2 and reference soil BCR^®-700 are the sorbent materials. 2,4,6-trichloroaniline (2,4,6-TCA) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) are the typical pollutants, sorbed at amounts of 10.0 mg g⁻¹ and 5.8 mg g⁻¹ on SWy-2 and 7.3 mg g⁻¹ and 2.2 mg g⁻¹ on KGa-1b, respectively.The leaching agents are ultrapure water and model solutions of acid rain and surface waters that simulate meteoric leaching. 1.0 mM HNO₃, 1.0 mM H₂SO₄ solutions and a methanol/water 50/50 (v/v) mixture simulate leaching agents of industrial source.The results are compared and the preferential capability of the clays to sequestrate the more lipophilic 2,4,6-TCA is evidenced.The bond interactions are discussed and explained through preferential adsorption reactions. For montmorrillonite also a simultaneous intercalation in the phyllosilicate interlayer is proposed.     

A Constant Erosion Rate Model for Fine Sediment in the York River,Virginia

Results of field experiments using the Virginia Institute of Marine Science' Sea Carousel and tripod system reveal a highly dynamic sediment activity at the Clay Bank site in the York River. At the water-sediment interface, the critical bed shear stress for sediment erosion varied between 0.026 Pa and 0.1 Pa. For the well consolidated sediment below the interface, the critical bed shear stress increased significantly, to more than 0.6 Pa. The seasonal variation of erosion rate for the surficial sediment is significant. For the well consolidated sediment below the surficial sediment, however, the seasonal variation diminished and erosion rate approached a constant. Experimental results from the Carousel deployments imply that the erosion process for quasi-steady tidal flows is always near equilibrium. For this reason, a constant rate erosion model is proposed for the time during tidal acceleration phases. For other times, the erosion rate would be zero. The measured suspended sediment concentration at 10 cm above bed from the VIMS tripod system also Supports this model.     

The significance of heterogeneity on mass flux from DNAPL source zones: an experimental investigation

Understanding the process of mass transfer from source zones of aquifers contaminated with organic chemicals in the form of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL) is of importance in site management and remediation. A series of intermediate-scale tank experiments was conducted to examine the influence of aquifer heterogeneity on DNAPL mass transfer contributing to dissolved mass emission from source zone into groundwater under natural flow before and after remediation. A Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) spill was performed into six source zone models of increasing heterogeneity, and both the spatial distribution of the dissolution behavior and the net effluent mass flux were examined. Experimentally created initial PCE entrapment architecture resulting from the PCE migration was largely influenced by the coarser sand lenses and the PCE occupied between 30 and 60% of the model aquifer depth. The presence of DNAPL had no apparent effect on the bulk hydraulic conductivity of the porous media. Up to 71% of PCE mass in each of the tested source zone was removed during a series of surfactant flushes, with associated induced PCE mobilization responsible for increasing vertical DNAPL distributions. Effluent mass flux due to water dissolution was also found to increase progressively due to the increase in NAPL-water contact area even though the PCE mass was reduced. Doubling of local groundwater flow velocities showed negligible rate-limited effects at the scale of these experiments. Thus, mass transfer behavior was directly controlled by the morphology of DNAPL within each source zone. Effluent mass flux values were normalized by the up-gradient DNAPL distributions. For the suite of aquifer heterogeneities and all remedial stages, normalized flux values fell within a narrow band with mean of 0.39 and showed insensitivity to average source zone saturations.     

How Do Groups Solve Local Commons Dilemmas? Lessons from Experimental Economics in the Field

The use of experimental settings to observe human behaviour in a controlled environment of incentives, rules and institutions, has been widely used by the behavioural sciences for sometime now, particularly by psychology and economics. In most cases the subjects are college students recruited for one to two hour decision making exercises in which, depending on their choices, they earn cash averaging US$ 20. In such exercises players face a set of feasible actions, rules and incentives (payoffs) involving different forms of social exchange with other people, and that in most cases involve some kind of externalities with incomplete contracts, such as in the case of common-pool resources situations. Depending on the ecological and institutional settings, the resource users face a set of feasible levels of extraction, a set of rules regarding the control or monitoring of individual use, and sometimes ways of imposing material or non-material costs or rewards to those breaking or following the rules. We brought the experimental lab to the field and invited about two hundred users of natural resources in three Colombian rural villages to participate in such decision making exercises and through these and other research instruments we learned about the ways they solve - or fail to - tragedies of the commons with different social institutions. Further, bringing the lab to the field allowed us to explore some of the limitations of existing models about human behaviour and its consequences for designing policies for conserving ecosystems and improving social welfare.     

Dispersion in Urban Environments; Comparison of Field Measurements with Wind Tunnel Results

A wind tunnel study was performed to determine the dispersion characteristics of vehicle exhaust gases within the urban canopy layer. The results were compared with those from a field monitoring station located in a street canyon with heavy traffic load. The agreement found was fair. In the second part of the paper it is shown how wind tunnel data can be utilized to supplement and thereby enhance the value of field data for model validation purposes. Uncertainty ranges were quantified which are inherent to mean concentration values measured in urban streets.     

3种地被竹对重金属复合污染农田土壤的修复潜力

选用菲黄竹、箬竹和鹅毛竹这3种地被竹在Cu、Zn、Cd和Pb复合污染农田上进行为期2 a的田间试验,分析其在污染条件下的生长富集特征,并结合土壤中重金属含量变化情况,对比3种地被竹对重金属复合污染的修复潜力.结果表明,菲黄竹在重金属复合污染农田上适应性最好,生长株数为种植时的63.8倍.3种地被竹体内重金属含量均集中在根部,且对Cd的富集效果最好,对Pb的富集能力最差.3个竹种的根部和鞭部的Cd富集系数均远大于1,其中菲黄竹和箬竹根部富集系数分别为17.68和14.63.重金属累积量则主要集中在根部和鞭部,其中菲黄竹对Cu、Zn和Cd的累积量分别为157.14、363.3和7.18 g·hm^-2,高于鹅毛竹和箬竹.种植2 a后,地被竹周围表层土壤中重金属含量较种植前均有下降,其中Cd含量下降最多,为39.6%~40.4%.此外,菲黄竹和鹅毛竹根际土壤中Cu、Zn和Cd含量均显著小于表层土壤（P<0.05）.试验证明,3种地被竹对Cd均有较强富集能力,可作为Cd修复植物继续深入研究;菲黄竹在生长状况、重金属富集量和累积量等方面均优于箬竹和鹅毛竹,对土壤重金属复合污染修复潜力最高.     

Fe3O4/GO对水溶液中Cd(II)去除的影响因素

为探索高效且快速去除水溶液中Cd （Ⅱ）污染方法,采用自制磁性四氧化三铁负载氧化石墨烯（Fe₃O₄/GO）纳米复合材料对水溶液中Cd （Ⅱ）进行去除,利用单因素实验确定影响因素水平范围（初始Cd （Ⅱ）浓度、温度、反应时间、初始pH值）,并采用响应面法（RSM）及人工神经网络-遗传算法（ANN-GA）对去除水溶液中Cd （Ⅱ）的影响因素（4因素3水平）进行优化,利用等温吸附、动力学及热力学参数研究吸附剂性能.通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、X射线衍射仪及超导量子干涉器件（SQUID）对复合材料表征.结果表明,平均粒径为30.9nm的磁性Fe₃O₄/GO纳米复合材料被成功制备.RSM用于磁性Fe₃O₄/GO纳米复合材料对水溶液中Cd （Ⅱ）去除条件优化,预测去除率达到86.451%,验证试验为82.220%,对应条件：温度为20.14℃,反应时间为57.78min,初始pH值为6.41和初始Cd （Ⅱ）浓度为11.18mg/L; ANN-GA优化条件后的预测去除率为89.722%,验证试验为87.723%,相应条件：温度为29.96℃,pH值为5.49,初始Cd （Ⅱ）浓度为28.36mg/L,反应时间为65.78min.根据模型R²值,预测的最大去除率及验证试验,ANN-GA模型性能及预测能力均高于RSM.RSM方差分析表明4个因素对磁性Fe₃O₄/GO纳米复合材料去除水溶液中Cd （Ⅱ）的影响大小为：初始Cd （Ⅱ）浓度>温度>反应时间>pH值.吸附机理分析结果显示,Fe₃O₄/GO纳米复合材料对Cd （Ⅱ）吸附过程同时存在着物理吸附和化学吸附.结合ANN-GA优化,利用磁铁实现且快速分离,磁性Fe₃O₄/GO纳米复合材料用于去除Cd （Ⅱ）是可行的.关键字：Cd （Ⅱ）;四氧化三铁负载氧化石墨烯;单因素实验;响应面法;人工神经网络-遗传算法中图分类号：X53     

Tying enforcement to prices in emissions markets: An experimental evaluation

We present results from laboratory emissions permit markets designed to investigate the transmission of abatement cost risk to firms' compliance behavior and regulatory enforcement strategies. With a fixed expected marginal penalty, abatement cost shocks produced significant violations and emissions volatility as predicted. Tying the monitoring probability to average permit prices effectively eliminated noncompliance, but transmitted abatement cost risk to monitoring effort. Tying the penalty to average prices reduced violations, but did not eliminate them. Some individuals in these treatments sold permits at low prices, presumably in an attempt to weaken enforcement. While tying sanctions directly to prevailing permit prices has theoretical and practical advantages over tying monitoring to prices, our results suggest that tying sanctions to prices may not be as effective as predicted without additional modifications.     

Utilization of solar energy in sewage sludge composting: Fertilizer effect and application

Three reactors, ordinary, greenhouse, and solar, were constructed and tested to compare their impacts on the composting of municipal sewage sludge. Greenhouse and solar reactors were designed to evaluate the use of solar energy in sludge composting, including their effects on temperature and compost quality. After 40 days of composting, it was found that the solar reactor could provide more stable heat for the composting process. The average temperature of the solar reactor was higher than that of the other two systems, and only the solar reactor could maintain the temperature above 55 °C for more than 3 days. Composting with the solar reactor resulted in 31.3% decrease in the total organic carbon, increased the germination index to 91%, decreased the total nitrogen loss, and produced a good effect on pot experiments.