Investigation of the hydrodynamic behavior of diatom aggregates using particle image velocimetry

The hydrodynamic behavior of diatom aggregates has a significant influence on the interactions and flocculation kinetics of algae. However, characterization of the hydrodynamics of diatoms and diatom aggregates in water is rather difficult. In this laboratory study, an advanced visualization technique in particle image velocimetry (PIV) was employed to investigate the hydrodynamic properties of settling diatom aggregates. The experiments were conducted in a settling column filled with a suspension of fluorescent polymeric beads as seed tracers. A laser light sheet was generated by the PIV setup to illuminate a thin vertical planar region in the settling column, while the motions of particles were recorded by a high speed charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. This technique was able to capture the trajectories of the tracers when a diatom aggregate settled through the tracer suspension. The PIV results indicated directly the curvilinear feature of the streamlines around diatom aggregates. The rectilinear collision model largely overestimated the collision areas of the settling particles. Algae aggregates appeared to be highly porous and fractal, which allowed streamlines to penetrate into the aggregate interior. The diatom aggregates have a fluid collection efficiency of 10%-40%. The permeable feature of aggregates can significantly enhance the collisions and flocculation between the aggregates and other small particles including algal cells in water.     

Aerosol structure and vertical distribution in a multi-source dust region

The vertical distribution of aerosols was directly observed under various atmospheric conditions in the free troposphere using surface micro-pulse lidar (MPL4) at the Zhangye Station (39.08°N, 100.27°E) in western China in the spring of 2008. The study shows that the aerosol distribution over Zhangye can be vertically classified into upper, middle and lower layers with altitudes of 4.5 to 9 km, 2.5 to 4.5 km, and less than 2.5 km, respectively. The aerosol in the upper layer originated from the external sources at higher altitude regions, from far desert regions upwind of Zhangye or transported from higher atmospheric layers by free convection, and the altitude of this aerosol layer decreased with time; the aerosols in the middle and lower layers originated from both external and local sources. The aerosol extinction coefficients in the upper and lower layers decreased with altitude, whereas the coefficient in the middle layer changed only slightly, which suggests that aerosol mixing occurs in the middle layer. The distribution of aerosols with altitude has three features: a single peak that forms under stable atmospheric conditions, an exponential decrease with altitude that occurs under unstable atmospheric conditions, and slight change in the mixed layer. Due to the impact of the top of the atmospheric boundary layer, the diurnal variation in the aerosol extinction coefficient has a single peak, which is higher in the afternoon and lower in the morning.     

Ultrafine particle emission characteristics of diesel engine by on-board and test bench measurement

This study investigated the emission characteristics of ultrafine particles based on test bench and on-board measurements. The bench test results showed the ultrafine particle number concentration of the diesel engine to be in the range of (0.56-8.35) × 10⁸ cm^-3. The on-board measurement results illustrated that the ultrafine particles were strongly correlated with changes in real-world driving cycles. The particle number concentration was down to 2.0 × 10⁶ cm^-3 and 2.7 × 10⁷ cm^-3 under decelerating and idling operations and as high as 5.0 × 10⁸ cm^-3 under accelerating operation. It was also indicated that the particle number measured by the two methods increased with the growth of engine load at each engine speed in both cases. The particle number presented a "U" shaped distribution with changing speed at high engine load conditions, which implies that the particle number will reach its lowest level at medium engine speeds. The particle sizes of both measurements showed single mode distributions. The peak of particle size was located at about 50-80 nm in the accumulation mode particle range. Nucleation mode particles will significantly increase at low engine load operations like idling and decelerating caused by the high concentration of unburned organic compounds.     

2010年广州亚运会期间灰霾天气分析

使用广州地区气象资料,重点研究了 2010 年广州亚运会期间的灰霾天气特征. 结果发现,2010 年 11 月广州出现灰霾天气 5 d,较近年平均水平明显偏少,但 2008—2010 年的污染气象条件分析表明,2010 年的扩散条件较 2008 和 2009 年均较差,说明 2010 年广州亚运会前期的各项减排措施取得了明显成效. 作为对照,自 20 世纪 80 年代初开始,广州地区的能见度急剧恶化并导致灰霾天数增加,每年 10 月至次年 4 月的旱季灰霾天数较多,改革开放以来,每年 11 月份的灰霾天气大幅增加,并于 1994 和1999 年分别出现了最多的17 d. 2000 年以后,11 月份灰霾天气最多为 12 d,出现在 2005 年; 最少为 3 d,分别出现在 2002 和 2003 年. 广州市空气质量逐年恶化的趋势不容乐观,珠江三角洲复合型新型空气污染日趋严重的态势非常严峻; 且区域性特征明显,治理难度加大; 广州周边的佛山、清远、东莞、江门的灰霾天气都比广州多,对广州治理灰霾天气形成了压力. 因而 2010 年 11 月灰霾天气的明显减少,更说明区域联动、机动车单双号限行、重点工业污染源调控、严控垃圾秸秆焚烧等减排措施效果明显.     

亚硝酸盐型甲烷厌氧氧化微生物特性研究进展

亚硝酸盐型甲烷厌氧氧化(nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation,N-DAMO)是新近发现的生物反应,是偶联碳氮循环的关键环节,是环境领域和微生物领域的重大发现.N-DAMO的发现对于完善碳氮生物地球化学循环、丰富微生物学内容和研发新型生物脱氮除碳工艺均具有巨大的推动作用.催化N-DAMO反应的微生物为Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera(M.oxyfera),其隶属于一新发现的细菌门——NC10门.近年来,M.oxyfera的生物学研究取得了许多突破性进展,如初步探明了其个体形态特征、细胞化学组分特征、富集培养特征、生理生化特征及生态学特征,最突出的例子包括发现了M.oxyfera独特的细胞(星状)形态及特殊的脂肪酸(10Me C16∶1Δ7)组分等.最近,N-DAMO的机制研究方面也有了突破性进展:发现了地球上第4种生物产氧途径.目前认为,M.oxyfera具有内产氧功能,其首先将NO-2还原为NO,然后将2分子NO进行歧化反应生成N2和O2,最后利用生成的O2对甲烷进行氧化.本文系统地介绍了M.oxyfera各方面的微生物特性.     

白石水库颗粒有机物及沉积物中碳、氮稳定同位素的空间分布特征

于2013年10月对辽宁省白石水库水质、颗粒有机物及底泥沉积物中δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N值的空间分布特征进行了研究.结果表明:白石水库POC的平均浓度为(1.76±0.98)mg·L~(-1);TP的平均浓度为(0.04±0.03)mg·L~(-1);TN的平均浓度为(1.80±0.08)mg·L~(-1),TP和POC从上游到下游呈现逐渐降低的趋势;TN的水平分布变化不大.小型颗粒有机物的δ~(13)C值平均为(-24.6±0.9)‰;δ~(15)N值平均为(4.8±0.4)‰.大型颗粒有机物的δ~(13)C值平均为(-22.5±0.9)‰;δ~(15)N值平均为(6.7±0.5)‰,颗粒有机物的δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N变化范围都很广,小型颗粒有机物的δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N值最大差异可达4.6‰和2.7‰,大型颗粒有机物的δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N值最大差异分别为3.3‰和1.8‰.底泥沉积物的δ~(13)C值平均为(-24.2±1.2)‰;δ~(15)N值平均为(4.1±0.7)‰.大型颗粒有机物与小型颗粒有机物之间的δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N值存在极显著正相关关系(P0.01).颗粒有机物和底泥沉积物中δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N值的水平分布具有由上游到下游逐渐增大的规律,颗粒有机物与沉积物之间的δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N值存在显著正相关关系(P0.05).垂直分布中,颗粒有机物的δ~(15)N值是表层大于底层,TN和大型颗粒有机物的δ~(15)N值呈显著正相关(P0.05),POC与颗粒有机物的δ~(15)N值呈极显著正相关关系(P0.01).白石水库水中和沉积物中的有机质主要来源于浮游生物和土壤有机质,颗粒有机物的δ~(13)C值与POC和TP呈显著负相关(P0.05).     

Morphology and composition of particles emitted from a port fuel injection gasoline vehicle under real-world driving test cycles

Traffic vehicles, many of which are powered by port fuel injection (PFI) engines, are major sources of particulate matter in the urban atmosphere. We studied particles from the emission of a commercial PFI-engine vehicle when it was running under the states of cold start, hot start, hot stabilized running, idle and acceleration, using a transmission electron microscope and an energy-dispersive X-ray detector. Results showed that the particles were mainly composed of organic, soot, and Ca-rich particles, with a small amount of S-rich and metal-containing particles, and displayed a unimodal size distribution with the peak at 600?nm. The emissions were highest under the cold start running state, followed by the hot start, hot stabilized, acceleration, and idle running states. Organic particles under the hot start and hot stabilized running states were higher than those of other running states. Soot particles were highest under the cold start running state. Under the idle running state, the relative number fraction of Ca-rich particles was high although their absolute number was low. These results indicate that PFI-engine vehicles emit substantial primary particles, which favor the formation of secondary aerosols via providing reaction sites and reaction catalysts, as well as supplying soot, organic, mineral and metal particles in the size range of the accumulation mode. In addition, the contents of Ca, P, and Zn in organic particles may serve as fingerprints for source apportionment of particles from PFI-engine vehicles.     

Kinetic and thermodynamic studies on partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) between aqueous solution and modeled individual soil particle grain sizes

The significance of soil mineral properties and secondary environmental conditions such as pH, temperature, ionic strength and time in the partitioning of eight selected polychlorinated biphenyl(PCB) congeners between aqueous solution and soil particles with different grain sizes was studied. The mineral properties of a model soil sample were determined, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller(BET) adsorption–desorption isotherms were employed to observe the surface characteristics of the individual modeled soil particles.Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to determine the sorption of PCBs onto soil particles of different sizes. The results revealed that the sorption of PCB congeners onto the soil was dependent on the amount of soil organic matter, surface area, and pore size distribution of the various individual soil particles. Low pH favored the sorption of PCBs,with maximum sorption occurring between pH 6.5 and 7.5 with an equilibration period of 8 hr.Changes in the ionic strength were found to be less significant. Low temperature favored the sorption of PCBs onto the soil compared to high temperatures. Thermodynamic studies showed that the partition coefficient(K_d) decreased with increasing temperature, and negative and low values of ΔH° indicated an exothermic physisorption process. The data generated is critical and will help in further understanding remediation and cleanup strategies for polluted water.     

Effect of air masses motion on the rapid change of aerosols in marine atmosphere

The impact of air masses motion on marine aerosol properties was investigated using an on-board single particle mass spectrometer(SPAMS) deployed for the determination of single particle size resolved chemical composition over Southeast China Sea. Two aerosol blooms(E1 and E2) were observed during the cruise. High average particle number count occurred in E1(7320), followed by E2(5850), which was more than 100–150 times of the average particle number count during normal periods. Particles were classified as four major sources, including continental source, shipping source, marine source, and transport source based on the mass spectral similarity. Transport source was identified as those particles with high particle number count occurred only during aerosol bloom period. Three sub-types of EC-Ca, OC-Ca, and Al-rich were classified as transport source.EC-Ca was the dominant particles of the transport source, accounting for more than 70%of the total particles in aerosol bloom events. A uni-modal size distribution in the size range of 0.1–2.0 μm was observed during normal period, while a bimodal distribution with a tiny mode(0.3 μm) and a coarse mode between 0.4 and 0.6 μm was present during aerosol bloom. The variation of aerosol source is consistent with air masses back trajectories, for the reason that most of the long-range air trajectories are from the ocean,while short air trajectories originate in the continental regions, which means that air masses have a significant impact on the aerosol physical–chemical properties along their tracks.     

颗粒冲蚀对注射法制备C/C-ZrC-SiC复合材料 抗烧蚀性能的影响研究

目的采用ZrC和SiC复相陶瓷对C/C复合材料进行改性,研究改性后的复合材料受到颗粒冲蚀破坏的烧蚀行为。方法采用注射法将ZrC和SiC复相陶瓷前驱体引入到等温化学气相渗透法(ICVI)制备的低密度C/C复合材料中,再通过高温热处理、ICVI的方法制备出ZrC和SiC复相陶瓷改性的C/C(C/C-ZrC-SiC)复合材料,随后对制备的复合材料进行高速颗粒冲击实验破坏,并对破坏后的试样进行氧乙炔火焰烧蚀,研究其烧蚀行为。结果改性后的复合材料线冲蚀率和质量冲蚀率分别为253.1μm/s和79.8 mg/s,相较于同孔隙率的C/C复合材料分别降低了49.2%和61%。颗粒冲蚀破坏后C/C-ZrC-SiC复合材料的线烧蚀率和质量烧蚀率分别为4.26μm/s和1.44 mg/s,相比于同孔隙率的C/C复合材料,分别降低了37%和39%。结论由于引入的ZrC和SiC陶瓷相的硬度大于碳基体,C/C-ZrC-SiC复合材料在受到高速颗粒的冲击时,能通过硬质陶瓷相起到抗冲击作用,使得改性后的复合材料抗冲蚀性能大幅度提高。受到颗粒冲蚀破坏后的C/C-ZrC-SiC复合材料内部仍存在超高温陶瓷相,烧蚀过程中能够形成ZrO2骨架结构和SiO2球形颗粒,进而有效保护碳纤维和热解碳基体。