Glucose production from hydrolysis of cellulose over a novel silica catalyst under hydrothermal conditions

A novel silica catalyst was synthesized by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method and tested for the catalytic selective hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. This silica catalyst exhibited a higher catalytic activity than other oxides prepared by the same method, such as ZrO₂, TiO₂, and Al₂O₃. Using silica as a catalyst, cellulose was selectively hydrolyzed into glucose with a glucose yield as high as 50% under hydrothermal conditions without hydrogen gas. The silica catalyst was characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH₃-TPD) and textural properties indicated that the synergistic effect between strong acidity and a suitable pore diameter of the silica catalyst may be responsible for its high activity. In addition, the catalyst was recyclable and showed excellent stability during the recycle catalytic runs.     

Size distributions of aerosol and water-soluble ions in Nanjing during a crop residual burning event

To investigate the impact on urban air pollution by crop residual burning outside Nanjing, aerosol concentration, pollution gas concentration, mass concentration, and water-soluble ion size distribution were observed during one event of November 4-9, 2010. Results show that the size distribution of aerosol concentration is bimodal on pollution days and normal days, with peak values at 60-70 and 200-300 nm, respectively. Aerosol concentration is 10⁴ cm^-3. nm^-1 on pollution days. The peak value of spectrum distribution of aerosol concentration on pollution days is 1.5-3.3 times higher than that on a normal day. Crop residual burning has a great impact on the concentration of fine particles. Diurnal variation of aerosol concentration is trimodal on pollution days and normal days, with peak values at 03:00, 09:00 and 19:00 local standard time. The first peak is impacted by meteorological elements, while the second and third peaks are due to human activities, such as rush hour traffic. Crop residual burning has the greatest impact on SO₂ concentration, followed by NO₂, O₃ is hardly affected. The impact of crop residual burning on fine particles (< 2.1 μm) is larger than on coarse particles (> 2.1 μm), thus ion concentration in fine particles is higher than that in coarse particles. Crop residual burning leads to similar increase in all ion components, thus it has a small impact on the water-soluble ions order. Crop residual burning has a strong impact on the size distribution of K⁺, Cl^-, Na⁺, and F^- and has a weak impact on the size distributions of NH₄⁺, Ca²⁺, NO₃^- and SO₄^2-.     

Responses of protists with different feeding habits to the changes of activated sludge conditions: A study based on biomass data

Changes of protists, which were categorized into different functional groups primarily according to their feeding habits, in two full-scale municipal wastewater treatment systems experiencing sludge bulking were investigated over a period of 14 months. Protist biomass represented 3.7% to 5.2% of total biomass on average under normal sludge conditions, and the percentage increased significantly (p < 0.05) under sludge bulking conditions. The biomass of Chilodonella spp., capable of eating filamentous bacteria, tended to decrease in both systems when sludge bulking occurred, showing that the abnormal growth of filamentous bacteria did not lead to a biomass bloom of this group of protists. On the other hand, the bactivorous protists represented more than 96% of total protist biomass, and the biomass of this group, particularly the attached ciliates, increased significantly (p < 0.05) when sludge bulking occurred. The significant increase of the attached ciliates may have possibly facilitated the growth of filamentous bacteria through selectively preying on non-filamentous bacteria and further exacerbated sludge bulking. The redundancy analysis and correlation analysis results showed that the biomass changes of the attached ciliates were primarily related to the sludge volume index and to some extent related to five-day biochemical oxygen demand loading and hydraulic retention time.     

浙江2001—2016年露天生物质燃烧排放污染物时空格局

生物质露天燃烧排放烟气颗粒物对大气环境、生态系统和人类健康有重要影响. 该研究基于MODIS - MCD64A1数据提取2001—2016年浙江省森林、灌丛、草地火灾面积和作物秸秆火点数据,结合植被类型、生物质密度和燃烧效率,运用排放因子法,估算16年间浙江区域露天生物质燃烧排放污染物总量. 结果表明,2001—2016年浙江区域露天生物质燃烧总量为58.78 mt,其中乔木、灌木、草本、水稻、小麦、玉米、豆类和油菜燃烧总量分别为202.18 kt、10.43 kt、300.10 t、46.66 mt、1.94 mt、2.45 mt、3.45 mt和4.06 mt. 森林和秸秆火次数分别为1783次和23257次,森林火灾多集中在浙江南部区域,秸秆火多集中在浙江北部区域. 森林和草地火灾次数主要集中在3月和10月,作物秸秆火点主要集中在5、7和8月份,占全年75%以上. 各污染物CO₂、CO、NO_x、VOCs、PM_2.5、TC、OC和EC排放总量分别为667.20、26.40、1.13、4.92、5.12、2.85、2.59和0.23 mt. 该研究揭示了浙江地区生物质露天燃烧排放污染物的时空变化,为深入揭示生物质燃烧对区域环境影响提供数据支持.     

广州市谷河黑臭评价及其与裸藻丰度和生物量相关性分析

藻类密度增加是黑臭现象发生的重要原因之一.目前的黑臭评价标准缺少藻类等水生生物指标,而黑臭河流中浮游微藻时空特征研究也极少.于2017年秋和2018年冬和春在谷河布设6个样点,采用污染指数法(I_1)和黑臭多因子加权指数法(I_2)评价谷河黑臭情况,同时调查浮游微藻的丰度和生物量等,并对黑臭评价结果和微藻进行Pearson相关分析.结果表明,I_2指数法更适合评价谷河的黑臭情况;裸藻门丰度与I_2的相关系数较高(r=0.784,p0.01);裸藻门丰度比例和生物量比例与I_2的相关系数分别为0.750和0.776(p0.01);裸藻门的种数和裸藻门污染指示种个数与I_2的相关系数均为0.623(p0.01).裸藻门可能适合于作为评价谷河黑臭的水生生物指标.天然水体中微藻或裸藻与致臭物质的产生等有待深入研究.     

碳磷添加对黄土区农田土壤呼吸及温度敏感性的影响

黄土区耕地面积占全国耕地面积的15%以上,该区域降水资源贫乏,是我国土壤生产力和土壤有机碳储量最低的区域之一。营养的大量投入可以极大地提高土壤生产力,但对于营养添加下土壤CO_2排放有何变化以及是如何改变黄土区土壤环境,进而影响土壤呼吸及温度敏感性还尚不清楚。本文以长武实验田的黑垆土作为研究对象,分别对N12(施氮量120 kg?hm~(-2))土样设置不添加、添加磷源以及CK(长期连作不施肥)土样设置不添加、添加磷源、碳源、碳磷源(共计6个处理),比较分析在15℃和25℃培养下土壤呼吸速率的变化,以及培养周期内土壤温度敏感性Q_(10)(即温度每升高10℃,温室气体排放速率变化的倍数)的变化趋势。通过对呼吸前后土壤pH值、全碳全磷、有机碳、速效磷、硝态氮、铵态氮以及微生物生物量碳磷(MBC、MBP)的测定,分析其影响因素。碳磷添加在一定程度上提高了土壤的呼吸速率,其中碳源的添加明显增强了土壤呼吸速率以及土壤Q_(10)值。碳磷添加大幅度提高了土壤全碳、速效磷含量以及微生物活性,15℃条件培养后,土壤微生物生物量最高。碳磷添加后,土壤呼吸速率与土壤pH、全碳、铵态氮、MBC呈极显著相关关系。该研究为黄土区土壤生产力的提高以及降低温室气体的排放、恢复和改善生态环境提供理论依据。     

Relationships between nutrients and macroalgal biomass in a brazilian coastal lagoon: the impact of a lock construction

The Piratininga Lagoon is a coastal, choked, and brackish ecosystem in SE Brazil, where uncontrolled discharge of domestic sewage led to eutrophication, increasing massive proliferation of benthic macroalgae, and decrease of the lagoon mean depth. In 1992, a dam was constructed by the local Municipality at its tidal channel aiming at stabilising its water level. Main physico-chemical parameters, together with macroalgae biomass, nutrient concentrations in the water column, particulate organic carbon, and chlorophyll a were recorded monthly at 4 sampling stations within the Piratininga lagoon from April 1994 to April 1995. The data, compared with “before-lock” existing studies, show that nutrients and chlorophyll a concentrations significantly increased after the lock construction. Based on the functioning of the ecosystem, we propose to harvest the algal mats before their decomposition period in order to partly remove the nutrient stocks from the lagoon and the future ecosystem modelling to predict the impact of natural and anthropogenic eutrophication.     

无排泥运行MBR处理不同浓度氨氮废水及其生物特性

考察了水力停留时间(HRT)为10 h时无排泥运行下膜-生物反应器(MBR)处理不同浓度氨氮无机废水的运行性能及微生物特性.结果表明,在处理NH₄⁺-N≤500 mg/L的废水时,氨氮转化率可达99%且反应器内微生物增长缓慢,比硝化速率从0.2kg/(kg·d)升至0.52 kg/(kg·d);当NH₄⁺-N≥700 mg/L时,出水亚硝酸氮和氨氮相继出现明显累积,比硝化速率随之下降至0.4kg/(kg·d)以下,反应器内生物量从3 200 mg/L上升至6 700 mg/L.反应器中的氨氧化菌维持在10⁷CFU/mL,亚硝酸盐氧化菌从10⁶CFU/mL下降至10³CFU/mL.系统内的溶解性微生物产物(以TOC表示)升至65 mg/L后保持稳定,出水TOC一直维持在3～4mg/L;细胞外分泌物(EPS)在膜的截流作用下随运行时间的延长积累至600 mg/L.     

Phytoremediation of Cadmium-Contaminated Soils by Rorippa globosa Using Two-Phase Planting (5 pp)

Background Phytoextraction of contaminated soils by heavy metals can provide a great promise of commercial development. Although there are more than 400 species of hyperaccumulators found in the world, phytoremediation technology is rarely applied in field practice for remedying contaminated soils, partially due to low biomass and long growth duration for most of discovered hyperaccumulating plants. In order to enhance the metal-removing efficiency in a year, the two-phase planting countermeasure of phytoextraction by harvesting anthesis biomass was investigated on the basis of the newly found Cd-hyperaccumulator Rorippa globosa (Turcz.) Thell. with 107.0 and 150.1 mg/kg of the Cd accumulation in stems and leaves, respectively, when soil Cd added was concentrated to 25.0 mg/kg. Methods The field pot-culture experiment was used to observe the distribution property of R. globosa aboveground biomass and to examine characteristics of accumulating Cd by the plant at different growth stages. The concentration of Cd in plants and soils was determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). Results and Discussion The results indicated that the total dry stem and leaf biomass of R. globosa harvested at the flowering phase was up to 92.3% of that at its full maturity and the concentration of Cd in stems and leaves harvested at the flowering phase was up to 73.8% and 87.7% of that at the mature phase, respectively. The Cd-removing ratio by shoots of R. globosa harvested at the flowering phase was up to 71.4% of that at the mature phase. It was also found, by observing the growth duration of R. globosa, that the frostless period at the experiment site was twice as long as the growth time from the seedling-transplanted phase to the flowering phase of the hyperaccumulator. Conclusion R. globosa could be transplanted into contaminated soils twice in one year by harvesting the hyperaccumulator at its flowering phase based on climatic conditions of the site and traits of the plant growth. In this sense, the extraction efficiency of Cd in shoots of R. globosa increased 42.8% compared to that of at its single maturity when the plant was transplanted into contaminated soils after it had been harvested at its flowering phase and the plant accumulated Cd from soil at the same extraction ratio at its second flowering phase. Thus, the method of anthesis biomass regulation by the two-phase planting is very significant to increase the Cd-removing efficiency by phytoremediation used in practice over the course of a year. Recommendation and Outlook As for some hyperaccumulators that the growth duration from the seedling-transplanted phase to the flowering phase are short and the concentrations of heavy metals accumulated in their shoots at the flowering phase are high, the efficiency of phytoremediation can greatly be improved using the method of the two-phase planting.