Evaluating national hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirement and economic competitiveness of fuel cell electric long-haul trucks

This study explored the national hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirement along major United States (US) interstate highway corridors to support the deployment of fuel cell electric trucks (FCETs) for the national long-haul trucking fleet. Given the long-haul trucking shipment demand in 2025 projected by the Freight Analysis Framework, locations and capacities of hydrogen stations were identified for inter-zone freight flows, and the total daily refueling demand was estimated for intra-zone flows for each FAF zone. Based on the infrastructure deployment results, we conducted an economic feasibility analysis of FCETs by evaluating the total ownership cost. We found that when the FCET penetration is relatively high (e.g., 10% penetration), FCETs become more competitive in terms of fuel cost and idling cost and could be economic viable if the incremental vehicle cost is reduced to meet the near-term FCET technology cost targets and the liquefaction cost is reduced to an optimal case. We also observed that the station cost depends on regional factors, particularly regional demand, which is used to determine station capacity. Thus, one possible strategy for station roll-out is to have early investment in target regions where station costs are expected to be relatively low such as the Pacific and West South Central regions.

     

沈阳市农村生活污水处理设施有机废弃物归趋

采用实地观察法、文献调查法对沈阳市农村生活污水处理设施基本状况进行研究分析。结果显示:沈阳市已建成农村生活污水处理设施297处,有机废弃物产生量(干重)约为:剩余污泥637 t/a、湿地植物废弃物169 t/a。     

表面活性剂增强修复地下水中PCE的砂箱实验及模拟

在石英砂充填的二维砂箱中开展表面活性剂（Tween 80）冲洗四氯乙烯（PCE）的修复实验,基于图像分析技术监测不同污染源区结构条件下NAPL相的去除过程.由于实验条件限制,实验中缺乏溶解相浓度数据.为此进一步基于UTCHEM数值模拟方法来理解NAPL相和溶解态之间的质量传输过程,并探讨表面活性剂浓度、注入速率等因素对修复效率的影响.综合砂箱实验和数值模拟结果表明：介质均质和非均质条件下会形成不同类型DNAPL污染源区结构,表现为离散状PCE与池状PCE体积比（GTP）差异.由于离散状污染物与表面活性剂的接触面积更大,更易被优先去除;初始GTP值越高,污染物的修复速率和修复效率也越高.增大表面活性剂浓度或提高表面活性剂的注入速率,虽然能提高DNAPL的修复速率,但会明显降低表面活性剂的修复效率,实验过程中修复效率降幅可达93%.线性驱动溶解模型可以有效地模拟表面活性剂修复DNAPLs过程,基于数值模拟方法选择合适的表面活性剂配比可有效的节省实际污染场址修复经费和时间成本.     

Potential of secondary aerosol formation from Chinese gasoline engine exhaust

Light-duty gasoline vehicles have drawn public attention in China due to their significant primary emissions of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds(VOCs). However,little information on secondary aerosol formation from exhaust for Chinese vehicles and fuel conditions is available. In this study, chamber experiments were conducted to quantify the potential of secondary aerosol formation from the exhaust of a port fuel injection gasoline engine. The engine and fuel used are common in the Chinese market, and the fuel satisfies the China V gasoline fuel standard. Substantial secondary aerosol formation was observed during a 4–5 hr simulation, which was estimated to represent more than 10 days of equivalent atmospheric photo-oxidation in Beijing. As a consequence, the extreme case secondary organic aerosol(SOA) production was 426 ± 85 mg/kg-fuel, with high levels of precursors and OH exposure. The low hygroscopicity of the aerosols formed inside the chamber suggests that SOA was the dominant chemical composition. Fourteen percent of SOA measured in the chamber experiments could be explained through the oxidation of speciated single-ring aromatics. Unspeciated precursors, such as intermediate-volatility organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds, might be significant for SOA formation from gasoline VOCs. We concluded that reductions of emissions of aerosol precursor gases from vehicles are essential to mediate pollution in China.     

The effects of autophagy on vascular endothelial cells induced by airborne PM2.5

The purpose of this study was to examine the direct toxicity of PM2.5 collected from Beijing on human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC). A Cell Counting Kit 8(CCK8) assay demonstrated that PM2.5 exposure decreased the proliferation of HUVECs in a dosedependent manner. We also found that PM2.5 exposure induced autophagy in HUVECs, as evidenced by:(1) an increased number of double-membrane vesicles;(2) enhanced conversion and punctuation of the microtubule-associated protein light chain 3(LC3); and(3) decreased levels of the selective autophagy substrate p62 in a time-dependent manner.Furthermore, promoting autophagy in PM2.5-exposed HUVECs with rapamycin increased the cell survival rate, whereas inhibiting autophagy via 3-methyladenine significantly decreased cell survival. These results demonstrate that PM2.5 exposure can induce cytotoxicity and autophagy in HUVECs and that autophagy play a protective role against PM2.5-induced cytotoxicity. The findings of the present study imply a direct toxic effect of PM2.5 on HUVECs and provide novel insight into the mechanism of cardiovascular diseases caused by PM2.5 exposure.     

Mercury flows in large-scale gold production and implications for Hg pollution control

Large-scale gold production(LSGP) is one of the five convention-related atmospheric mercury(Hg) emission sources in the Minamata Convention on Mercury. However, field experiments on Hg flows of the whole process of LSGP are limited. To identify the atmospheric Hg emission points and understand Hg emission characteristics of LSGP, Hg flows in two gold smelters were studied. Overall atmospheric Hg emissions accounted for 10%–17% of total Hg outputs and the Hg emission factors for all processes were 7.6–9.6 kg/ton. There were three dominant atmospheric Hg emission points in the studied gold smelters, including the exhaust gas of the roasting process, exhaust gas from the environmental fog collection stack and exhaust gas from the converter of the refining process. Atmospheric Hg emissions from the roasting process only accounted for 16%–29% of total emissions and the rest were emitted from the refining process. The overall Hg speciation profile(gaseous elemental Hg/gaseous oxidized Hg/particulate-bound Hg) for LSGP was 34.1/57.1/8.8. The dominant Hg output byproducts included waste acid, sulfuric acid and cyanide leaching residue. Total Hg outputs from these three byproducts were 80% in smelter A and 84% in smelter B. Our study indicated that previous atmospheric Hg emissions from large-scale gold production might have been overestimated.Hg emission control in LSGP is not especially urgent in China compared to other significant emission sources(e.g., cement plants). Instead, LSGP is a potential Hg release source due to the high Hg output proportions to acid and sludge.     

Relationship between physicochemical properties and dewaterability of hydrothermal sludge derived from different source

Sewage sludge (SS) and deinking sludge (DS) were used to comparatively study the hydrothermal dewatering of sludge with different components. For a better overview, an insight into the relationship between physicochemical properties and dewaterability of hydrothermal sludge was provided. Results found that not all kinds of sludge were suitably conditioned by hydrothermal treatment (HT) in term of the elevation of dewaterability. Higher hydrothermal temperature tended to enhance the dewaterability of SS rather than DS, which was supported by the variation of their physicochemical properties (including water distribution, bonding energy, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), particles size, acid functional groups and zeta potential in this study). In addition, the changes in surface morphology suggested that the reverse effect of HT on sludge dewaterability was mainly due to their dewatering behavior. For SS, the destruction of EPS structure leaded to the release of bound water, thereby strengthening sludge dewatering. Conversely, “Bridging effect” generated by lignocellulose in DS was beneficial for sludge dewatering; however, the increasing hydrothermal temperature degraded part of lignocellulose and weakened “bridging effect”, finally resulting in worse dewaterability of DS.     

Seasonal variation and size distribution of biogenic secondary organic aerosols at urban and continental background sites of China

Size-resolved biogenic secondary organic aerosols(BSOA) derived from isoprene and monoterpene photooxidation in Qinghai Lake, Tibetan Plateau(a continental background site) and five cities of China were measured using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry(GC/MS). Concentrations of the determined BSOA are higher in the cities than in the background and are also higher in summer than in winter. Moreover, strong positive correlations(R2= 0.44–0.90) between BSOA and sulfate were found at the six sites,suggesting that anthropogenic pollution(i.e., sulfate) could enhance SOA formation,because sulfate provides a surface favorable for acid-catalyzed formation of BSOA. Size distribution measurements showed that most of the determined SOA tracers are enriched in the fine mode( 3.3 μm) except for cis-pinic and cis-pinonic acids, both presented a comparable mass in the fine and coarse( 3.3 μm) modes, respectively. Mass ratio of oxidation products derived from isoprene to those from monoterpene in the five urban regions during summer are much less than those in Qinghai Lake region. In addition, in the five urban regions relative abundances of monoterpene oxidation products to SOA are much higher than those of isoprene. Such phenomena suggest that BSOA derived from monoterpenes are more abundant than those from isoprene in Chinese urban areas.     

基于环境温度传感的节水调节器设计研究

传统节水调节器使用半自动机械控制,能够实现部分水资源节约,但在新疆等温度交替变化明显地区,无法根据温度变化情况实现自动控制节水调节,从而造成部分水资源浪费。为此提出基于环境温度传感的节水调节器设计。采用concise结构设计,在阻挠蝶板上增加环境温度传感装置,依托沿程阻力系数判定温度传感器节水调节系数ξ,通过不同ξ值的反馈,针对性的采取相应调节措施;使用调节Accurate检验机制,对温度变化幅度k进行测定,确定调节幅度有效取值,完成节水调节器的自动调节控制,实现基于环境温度传感的节水调节器设计。     

Microbiological characteristics in a zero-valent iron reactive barrier

Zero-valent iron (Fe⁰)-based permeable reactive barriertreatment has been generating great interest for passivegroundwater remediation, yet few studies have paid particularattention to the microbial activity and characteristics withinand in the vicinity of the Fe⁰-barrier matrix. The presentstudy was undertaken to evaluate the microbial population andcommunity composition in the reducing zone of influence byFe⁰ corrosion in the barrier at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plantsite. Both phospholipid fatty acids and DNA analyses were usedto determine the total microbial population and microbialfunctional groups, including sulfate-reducing bacteria,denitrifying bacteria, and methanogens, in groundwater andsoil/iron core samples. A diverse microbial community wasidentified in the strongly reducing Fe⁰ environment despitea relatively high pH condition within the Fe⁰ barrier (up topH 10). In comparison with those found in the backgroundsoil/groundwater samples, the enhanced microbial populationranged from 1 to 3 orders of magnitude and appeared to increase from upgradient of the barrier to downgradient soil. Inaddition, microbial community composition appeared to change overtime, and the bacterial types of microorganismsincreased consistently as the barrier aged. DNA analysisindicated the presence of sulfate-reducing and denitrifyingbacteria in the barrier and its surrounding soil. However, theactivity of methanogens was found to be relatively low,presumably as a result of the competition by sulfate/metal-reducing bacteria and denitrifying bacteria because of the unlimited availability of sulfate and nitrate in the site groundwater. Results of this study provide evidenceof a diverse microbial population within and in the vicinity ofthe iron barrier, although the important roles of microbial activity, either beneficially or detrimentally, on the longevityand enduring efficiency of the Fe⁰ barriers are yet to be evaluated.