Fouling distribution in forward osmosis membrane process

Fouling behavior along the length of membrane module was systematically investigated by performing simple modeling and lab-scale experiments of forward osmosis （FO） membrane process. The flux distribution model developed in this study showed a good agreement with experimental results, validating the robustness of the model. This model demonstrated, as expected, that the permeate flux decreased along the membrane channel due to decreasing osmotic pressure differential across the FO membrane. A series of fouling experiments were conducted under the draw and feed solutions at various recoveries simulated by the model. The simulated fouling experiments revealed that higher organic （alginate） fouling and thus more flux decline were observed at the last section of a membrane channel, as foulants in feed solution became more concentrated. Furthermore, the water flux in FO process declined more severely as the recovery increased due to more foulants transported to membrane surface with elevated solute concentrations at higher recovery, which created favorable solution environments for organic adsorption. The fouling reversibility also decreased at the last section of the membrane channel, suggesting that fouling distribution on FO membrane along the module should be carefully examined to improve overall cleaning efficiency. Lastly, it was found that such fouling distribution observed with co-current flow operation became less pronounced in counter- current flow operation of FO membrane process.     

Experimental study on filtration and continuous regeneration of a particulate filter system for heavy-duty diesel engines

This study investigated the filtration and continuous regeneration of a particulate filter system on an engine test bench, consisting of a diesel oxidation catalyst（DOC） and a catalyzed diesel particulate filter（CDPF）. Both the DOC and the CDPF led to a high conversion of NO to NO2 for continuous regeneration. The filtration efficiency on solid particle number（SPN） was close to100%. The post-CDPF particles were mainly in accumulation mode. The downstream SPN was sensitively influenced by the variation of the soot loading. This phenomenon provides a method for determining the balance point temperature by measuring the trend of SPN concentration.     

Community structure and elevational diversity patterns of soil Acidobacteria

Acidobacteria is one of the most dominant and abundant phyla in soil,and was believed to have a wide range of metabolic and genetic functions. Relatively little is known about its community structure and elevational diversity patterns. We selected four elevation gradients from 1000 to 2800 m with typical vegetation types of the northern slope of Shennongjia Mountain in central China. The vegetation types were evergreen broadleaved forest,deciduous broadleaved forest,coniferous forest and sub-alpine shrubs. We analyzed the soil acidobacterial community composition,elevational patterns and the relationship between Acidobacteria subdivisions and soil enzyme activities by using the 16 S rRNA meta-sequencing technique and multivariate statistical analysis. The result found that 19 known subdivisions as well as an unclassified phylotype were presented in these forest sites,and Subdivision 6 has the highest number of detectable operational taxonomic units(OTUs). A significant single peak distribution pattern(P 0.05) between the OTU number and the elevation was observed. The Jaccard and Bray–Curtis index analysis showed that the soil Acidobacteria compositional similarity significantly decreased(P 0.01) with the increase in elevation distance. Mantel test analysis showed the most of the soil Acidobacteria subdivisions had the significant relationship(P 0.01) with different soil enzymes. Therefore,soil Acidobacteria may be involved in different ecosystem functions in global elemental cycles. Partial Mantel tests and CCA analysis showed that soil pH,soil temperature and plant diversity may be the key factors in shaping the soil Acidobacterial community structure.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of marine actinobacterial extract and its mediated titanium dioxide nanoparticles in the degradation of azo dyes

Aim of the present study was to synthesize titanium dioxide nanoparticles （YiO2 NPs） from marine actinobacteria and to develop an eco-friendly azo-dye degradation method. A total of five actinobacterial isolates were isolated from Chennai marine sediments, Tamilnadu, India and analyzed for the synthesis of TiO2 NPs using titanium hydroxide. Among these, the isolate PSV 3 showed positive results for the synthesis of TiO2 NPs, which was confirmed by UV analysis. Further characterization of the synthesized TiO2 NPs was done using XRD, AFM and FI＇-IR analysis. Actinobacterial crude extract and synthesized TiO2 NPs was found efficient in degrading azo dye such as Acid Red 79 （AR-79） and Acid Red 80 （AR-80）. Degradation percentage was found to be 81% for AR-79, 83% for AR-80 using actinobacterial crude extract and 84% for AR-79, 85% for AR-80 using TiO2 NPs. Immobilized actinobacterial ceils showed 88% for AR-79 and 81% for AR- 80, dye degrading capacity. Degraded components were characterized by FT-IR and GC-MS analysis. The phytotoxicity test with 500 μg/mL of untreated dye showed remarkable phenotypic as well as cellular damage to Tagetes erecta plant. Comparatively no such damage was observed on plants by degraded dye components. In biotoxicity assay, treated dyes showed less toxic effect as compared to the untreated dyes.     

Reduction and characterization of bioaerosols in a wastewater treatment station via ventilation

Bioaerosols from wastewater treatment processes are a significant subgroup of atmospheric aerosols. In the present study,airborne microorganisms generated from a wastewater treatment station(WWTS) that uses an oxidation ditch process were diminished by ventilation.Conventional sampling and detection methods combined with cloning/sequencing techniques were applied to determine the groups,concentrations,size distributions,and species diversity of airborne microorganisms before and after ventilation. There were 3021 ± 537 CFU/m3 of airborne bacteria and 926 ± 132 CFU/m3 of airborne fungi present in the WWTS bioaerosol.Results showed that the ventilation reduced airborne microorganisms significantly compared to the air in the WWTS. Over 60% of airborne bacteria and airborne fungi could be reduced after4 hr of air exchange. The highest removal(92.1% for airborne bacteria and 89.1% for fungi) was achieved for 0.65–1.1 μm sized particles. The bioaerosol particles over 4.7 μm were also reduced effectively. Large particles tended to be lost by gravitational settling and small particles were generally carried away,which led to the relatively easy reduction of bioaerosol particles0.65–1.1 μm and over 4.7 μm in size. An obvious variation occurred in the structure of the bacterial communities when ventilation was applied to control the airborne microorganisms in enclosed spaces.     

Aerobic granules cultivated and operated in continuous-flow bioreactor under particle-size selective pressure

A novel method based on the selective pressure of particle size （particle-size cultivation method, PSCM） was developed for the cultivation and operation of aerobic granular sludge in a continuous-flow reactor, and compared with the conventional method based on the selective pressure of settling velocity （settling-velocity cultivation method, SVCM）. Results indicated that aerobic granules could be cultivated in continuous operation mode by this developed method within 14 days. Although in the granulation process, under particle-size selective pressure, mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） in the reactor fluctuated greatly and filamentous bacteria dominated the sludge system during the initial operation days, no obvious difference in profile was found between the aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM and SVCM. Moreover, aerobic granules cultivated by PSCM presented larger diameter, lower water content and higher specific rates of nitrification, denitrifieation and phosphorus removal, but lower settling velocity. Under long term operation of more than 30 days, aerobic granules in the continuous-flow reactor could remain stable and obtain good chemical oxygen demand （COD）, NH4^＋-N, total nitrogen （TN） and total phosphorus （TP） removal. The results indicate that PSCM was dependent on the cultivation and maintenance of the stability of aerobic granules in continuous-flow bioreactors.     

FBC-DPF在柴油机颗粒物控制中的应用研究

目前针对加装FBC-DPF(燃油添加剂-柴油机颗粒捕集器)后的柴油机放特性研究较少,并且缺乏FBC-DPF对颗粒物中PAHs排放量的影响效果研究.为全面评估加装FBC-DPF后柴油机颗粒物排放特性和FBC-DPF对柴油机尾气中的颗粒物排放污染控制效果,在发动机台架上对装有FBC-DPF的重型柴油机进行了颗粒物排放特性试验.利用电子低压撞击仪(ELPI)测量加装FBC-DPF前、后柴油机颗粒物的数浓度与粒径分布,用玻璃纤维滤膜采集加装FBC-DPF前、后尾气中的固相PAHs,利用色谱质谱联用仪对加装FBC-DPF前、后尾气中的固相PAHs进行定量分析.结果表明:①加装FBC-DPF后柴油机排放的颗粒物数浓度大幅降低,FBC-DPF对尾气中颗粒物的捕集效率平均值在95%左右;②加装FBC-DPF后柴油机固相PAHs总比排放量有所降低,在大负荷区域降幅在25.0%～88.0%之间;③加装FBC-DPF前的颗粒物中位直径为30～89 nm,而加装FBC-DPF后的颗粒物中位直径为41～98 nm,平均增幅为38.2%.对于国Ⅳ及未来国Ⅴ柴油机排放法规,FBC-DPF是解决柴油机颗粒物排放的有效手段;此外,FBC-DPF可以大幅降低柴油机尾气中的有毒成分,并且能够适应高含硫量的燃油环境.     

Efficacy of two chemical coagulants and three different filtration media on removal of Aspergillus flavus from surface water

Aquatic fungi are common in various aqueous environments and play potentially crucial roles in nutrient and carbon cycling as well as interacting with other organisms. Species of Aspergillus are the most common fungi that occur in water. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the efficacy of two coagulants, aluminum sulfate and ferric chloride, used at different concentrations to treat drinking water, in removing Aspergillusflavus, as well as testing three different filtration media： sand, activated carbon, and ceramic granules, for their removal of fungi from water. The results revealed that both coagulants were effective in removing fungi and decreasing the turbidity of drinking water, and turbidity decreased with increasing coagulant concentration. Also, at the highest concentration of the coagulants, A. flavus was decreased by 99.6% in the treated water. Among ceramic granules, activated carbon, and sand used as media for water filtration, the sand and activated carbon filters were more effective in removing A.flavus than ceramic granules while simultaneously decreasing the turbidity levels in the test water samples. Post-treatment total organic carbon （TOC） and total nitrogen （TN） concentrations in the experimental water did not decrease; on the contrary, TN concentrations increased with the increasing dosage of coagulants. The filtration process had no effect in reducing TOC and TN in tested water.     

全球环境展望5——我们未来想要的环境:第2章 大气

<正>联合国环境规划署(UNEP)于2012年9月正式发布了全球环境展望5(GEO-5)中文版,该报告评估了世界上最重要的90个环境目标的完成情况。最新发布的GEO-5中文版将为世界上人口最多国家的研究人员、学者、政府代表、行业和民间团体带来联合国最全面的环境评估。本刊自2012年06期起对其进行连载。报告来源:联合国环境规划署。     

颗粒活性炭改性同步去除水中铅、铬的研究

为提高颗粒活性炭同步去除水中铅、铬污染物的能力,分别使用氧化铁、氧化锰、十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(HTMAB)和氯化十六烷基吡啶(CPC)制作改性活性炭(Fe Cl3-AC,Mn O2-AC,HTMAB-AC,CPC-AC)。通过测定4种改性活性炭表面的等电点p H、酸碱官能团和扫描电子显微镜图像,研究4种改性活性炭吸附效果优异并分析其中原因。结果表明:Fe Cl3-AC同步去除铅、铬效果最佳,HTMAB-AC、CPC-AC与原炭效果持平,Mn O2-AC效果还不及原炭。从等电点p H来看,Fe Cl3-AC拥有较低的等电点p H,有利于静电吸附铬酸根阴离子团;从酸性基团数目来看,Fe Cl3-AC表面拥有较多酸性官能团,有利于离子交换作用,保证了对铅离子较高的吸附效率;从SEM来看,Fe Cl3-AC上Fe Cl3负载均匀,有效改善了活性炭表面特性,有利于吸附。