Detection of tritium sorption on four soil materials

In order to measure groundwater age and design nuclear waste disposal sites, it is important to understand the sorption behavior of tritium on soils. In this study, batch tests were carried out using four soils from China: silty clays from An County and Jiangyou County in Sichuan Province, both of which could be considered candidate sites for Very Low Level Waste disposal; silty sand from Beijing; and loess from Yuci County in Shanxi Province, a typical Chinese loess region. The experimental results indicated that in these soil media, the distribution coefficient of tritium is slightly influenced by adsorption time, water/solid ratio, initial tritium specific activity, pH, and the content of humic and fulvic acids. The average distribution coefficient from all of these influencing factors was about 0.1-0.2 mL/g for the four types of soil samples. This relatively modest sorption of tritium in soils needs to be considered in fate and transport studies of tritium in the environment.     

Development of a multi-criteria index ranking system for urban runoff best management practices (BMPs) selection

Low impact development best management practices (LID-BMPs) are considered to be cost-effective measures for mitigating the water quantity and quality impact of urban runoff. Currently, there are many types of LID-BMPs, and each type has its own intrinsic technical and/or economical characteristics and limitations for implementation. The selection of the most appropriate BMP type(s) for a specific installation site is therefore a very important planning step. In the present study, a multi-criteria selection index system (MCIS) for LID-BMP planning was developed. The selection indexes include 12 first-level indices and 26 second-level indices which reflect the specific installation site characteristics pertaining to site suitability, runoff control performance, and economics of implementation. A mechanism for ranking the BMPs was devised. First, each individual second-level index was assigned a numeric value that was based on site characteristics and information on LID-BMPs. The quantified indices were normalized and then integrated to obtain the score for each of the first-level index. The final evaluation scores of each LID-BMP were then calculated based on the scores for the first-level indices. Finally, the appropriate BMP types for a specific installation site were determined according to the rank of the final evaluation scores. In order to facilitate the application of the MCIS BMP ranking system, the computational process has been coded into a software program, BMPSELEC. A case study demonstrating the MCIS methodology, using an LID-BMP implementation planning at a college campus in Foshan, Guangdong Province, is presented.     

废旧冰箱拆解及聚氨酯泡沫放置的一氟三氯甲烷释放量研究

研究了废旧冰箱聚氨酯(PUR)泡沫中所含的一氟三氯甲烷(CFC-11)总量,并对冰箱箱体切割过程、金属板剥离过程和PUR泡沫破碎后常温放置时的CFC-11释放量进行了测定。结果表明,PUR泡沫所含CFC-11总量占PUR泡沫质量的20.06%;箱体切割和金属板剥离过程中的CFC-11释放量分别占PUR泡沫中CFC-11总量的0.75%和2.32%;常温放置到第15天时,0.5、1.0、4.0、8.0 mm 4种粒径PUR泡沫颗粒的CFC-11累计释放量分别占PUR泡沫所含CFC-11总量的4.75%、5.25%、5.42%、6.50%,均高于箱体切割、金属板剥离过程中的CFC-11释放量。     

Gas/particle partitioning of atmospheric PCDD/Fs in a satellite town in Eastern China

Gas/particle partitioning of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in ambient air was investigated in a satellite town in Eastern China from April 2007 to January 2008 comprehending large temperature variations (from 3 to 34 °C, daily average). Molecular weight, molecular structure and ambient temperatures are the three major factors that govern the gas/particle partitioning of atmospheric PCDD/Fs throughout the year. Generally, good agreements were obtained (except for winter) between measured particulate fractions and theoretical estimates of both the Junge–Pankow adsorption model and Harner Bidleman absorption model using different sets of subcooled liquid vapor pressure and octanol–air partition coefficient (K_oa), respectively. Models utilizing estimates, derived from gas chromatographic retention indices (GC-RIs), are more accurate than that of entropy-based. Moreover, during winter, the K_oa-based model using the GC-RIs approach performs better on lower chlorinated PCDD/Fs than that of -based. Furthermore, possible sources of mismatch between measured and predicted values in winter (3–7 °C) were discussed. Gas adsorption artifact was demonstrated to be of minor importance for the phenomena observed. On the other hand, large deviations of slopes (m_r) and intercepts (b_r) in logK_p vs. plots from theoretical values are observed in the literature data and these are found to be linearly correlated with ambient temperatures (P<0.001) in this study. This indicates that the non-equilibrium partitioning of PCDD/Fs in winter may be significantly influenced by the colder temperatures that may have slowed down the exchange between gaseous and particulate fractions.     

Simultaneous determination of three herbicides by differential pulse voltammetry and chemometrics

A novel differential pulse voltammetry method (DPV) was researched and developed for the simultaneous determination of Pendimethalin, Dinoseb and sodium 5-nitroguaiacolate (5NG) with the aid of chemometrics. The voltammograms of these three compounds overlapped significantly, and to facilitate the simultaneous determination of the three analytes, chemometrics methods were applied. These included classical least squares (CLS), principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares (PLS) and radial basis function-artificial neural networks (RBF-ANN). A separately prepared verification data set was used to confirm the calibrations, which were built from the original and first derivative data matrices of the voltammograms. On the basis relative prediction errors and recoveries of the analytes, the RBF-ANN and the DPLS (D – first derivative spectra) models performed best and are particularly recommended for application. The DPLS calibration model was applied satisfactorily for the prediction of the three analytes from market vegetables and lake water samples.     

Incidence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in central air conditioner filter dust from a new office building

This study examined polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in central air conditioner filter (CACF) dust from a new office building in Shenzhen, China. Human exposure to PBDE via dust inhalation and ingestion were also estimated. PBDEs level in CACF dust was lower than those in the other countries and regions. Approximately 0.671 pg/kg bw/day PM_2.5 (Particulate Matter up to 2.5 μm in size) bounded Σ₁₅PBDEs can be inhaled deep into the lungs and 4.123 pg/kg bw/day PM₁₀ (Particulate Matter up to 10 μm in size) bounded Σ₁₅PBDEs tend to be deposited in the upper parts of the respiratory system. The average total intake of Σ₁₅PBDEs via dust inhalation and ingestion for adults reached ∼141 pg/kg bw/day in this building. This value was far below the reference dose (RfD) recommended by United States Environmental Protection Agency. Human exposure to PBDEs via dust inhalation and ingestion in the new building is less than the old ones.     

固定化微生物法去除模拟渗滤液中氨氮的研究

采用固定化微生物曝气生物滤池（I-BAF）技术成功处理了模拟垃圾渗滤液,探讨了pH和溶解氧（DO）对系统脱氮性能的影响。结果表明,固定化微生物曝气生物滤池反应系统启动迅速,运行稳定,可以有效去除模拟垃圾渗滤液中的有机物和氨氮,其去除率分别达到97.1%和99.9%。在pH为7.5～8.5之间,DO 4.0 mg/L左右的条件下对模拟垃圾渗滤液中氮的去除最为有利,同步硝化反硝化效率以及总氮去除率均达到最高,分别为96.2%和94.3%。这主要是由于I-BAF系统中大孔载体提供了厌氧-兼氧-好氧的微环境,使硝化和反硝化反应在同一个反应器内发生,共同作用实现模拟垃圾渗滤液中总氮的去除。     

重庆天然气净化总厂污染减排管理及措施建议

文章就重庆天然气净化总厂近年来围绕可持续发展战略,针对净化总厂主要污染物废水、废气、固体废物,在工程技术改造、提高管理等方面所采取的污染减排措施和取得的成效进行归纳总结;并对净化总厂进一步的污染减排工作进行分析,提出切实可行的污染减排对策建议。     

四川彭县银厂沟峡谷自然景观成因初探

四川省彭县银厂沟峡谷全长21公里,峡谷和原始森林保存完整。时隐时现的“彩虹”出现于峡谷两岸的瀑布上。区内自然景观丰富多彩。本文根据旅游地质调查工作成果,对自然景观的成因作了初步探讨。     

Odor and gas release from anaerobic treatment lagoons for swine manure

Odor and gas release from anaerobic lagoons for treating swine waste affect air quality in neighboring communities but rates of release are not well documented. A buoyant convective flux chamber (BCFC) was used to determine the effect of lagoon loading rate on measured odor and gas releases from two primary lagoons at a simulated wind speed of 1.0 m s(-1). Concentrations of ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitric oxide (NO) in 50-L air samples were measured. A panel of human subjects, whose sensitivity was verified with a certified reference odorant, evaluated odor concentration, intensity, and hedonic tone. Geometric mean odor concentrations of BCFC inlet and outlet samples and of downwind berm samples were 168 +/- 44 (mean +/- 95% confidence interval), 262 +/- 60, and 114 +/- 38 OU(E) m(-3) (OU(E), European odor unit, equivalent to 123 microg n-butanol), respectively. The overall geometric mean odor release was 2.3 +/- 1.5 OU(E) s(-1) m(-2) (1.5 +/- 0.9 OU s(-1) m(-2)). The live mass specific geometric mean odor release was 13.5 OU(E) s(-1) AU(-1) (animal unit = 500 kg live body mass). Overall mean NH3, H2S, CO2 and SO2 releases were 101 +/- 24, 5.7 +/- 2.0, 852 +/- 307, and 0.5 +/- 0.4 microg s(-1) m(-2), respectively. Nitric oxide was not detected. Odor concentrations were directly proportional to H2S and CO2 concentrations and odor intensity, and inversely proportional to hedonic tone and SO2 concentration (P < 0.05). Releases of NH3, H2S, and CO2 were directly proportional (P < 0.05) to volatile solids loading rate (VSLR).