Volatile organic compounds concentration profiles and control strategy in container manufacturing industry: Case studies in China

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), important precursors of ozone (O₃) and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), are the key to curb the momentum of O₃ growth and further reducing PM_2.5 in China. Container manufacturing industry is one of the major VOC emitters, and more than 96% containers of the world are produced in China, with the annual usage of coatings of over 200,000 tons in recent years. This is the first research on the emission characteristics of VOCs in Chinese container manufacturing industry, including concentration and ozone formation potential (OFP) of each species. The result shows that the largest amounts of VOCs are emitted during the pretreatment process, followed by the paint mixing process and primer painting process, and finally other sprays process. The average VOC concentrations in the workshops, the exhausts before treatment and the exhausts after treatment are ranging from 82.67–797.46 , 170–1,812.65 , 66.20–349.63 mg/m³, respectively. Benzenes, alcohols and ethers are main species, which contribute more than 90% OFP together. Based on the emission characteristics of VOCs and the technical feasibility, it is recommended to set the emission limit in standard of benzene to 1.0 mg/m³, toluene to 10 mg/m³, xylene to 20 mg/m³, benzenes to 40 mg/m³, alcohols and ethers to 50 mg/m³, and VOCs to 100 mg/m³. The study reports the industry emission characteristics and discusses the standard limits, which is a powerful support to promote VOCs emission reduction, and to promote the coordinated control of PM_2.5 and O₃ pollution.     

Influence of drying and calcination temperatures for Ce-Cu-Al trimetallic composite catalyst on simultaneous removal H2S and PH3: Experimental and DFT studies

This work explored the influences of the drying and calcination temperatures on a Ce-Cu-Al trimetallic composite catalyst for the simultaneous removal of H₂S and PH₃. The effects of both temperatures on the structural features and activity were examined. The density functional theory method was used to calculate adsorption energies and further analyze their adsorption behavior on different slabs. Experiments revealed suitable drying and calcination temperatures to be 60 and 500°C, respectively. The capacity reached 323.8 and 288.1 mg/g. Adjusting drying temperature to 60°C is more inclined to form larger and structured grains of CuO. Rising calcinating temperature to 500°C could increase the grain size and redox capacity of CuO to promote performance. Higher temperatures would destroy the surface structure and lead to a crystal phase transformation, which was that the CuO and Al₂O₃ were gradually recombined into CuAl₂O₄ with a spinel structure. The exposed crystal planes of surficial CuO and CuAl₂O₄ were determined according to characterization results. Calculation results showed that, compared with CuO (111), H₂S and PH₃ have weaker adsorption strength on CuAl₂O₄ (100) which is not conducive to their adsorption and removal.     

Assessment of health benefit of PM2.5 reduction during COVID-19 lockdown in China and separating contributions from anthropogenic emissions and meteorology

The national lockdown policies have drastically disrupted socioeconomic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, which provides a unique opportunity to investigate the air quality response to such anthropogenic disruptions. And it is meaningful to evaluate the potential health impacts of air quality changes during the lockdown, especially for PM_2.5 with adverse health effects. In this study, by using PM_2.5 observations from 1388 monitoring stations nationwide in China, we examine the PM_2.5 variations between the COVID-19 lockdown (February and March in 2020) and the same period in 2015–2019, and find that the national average of PM_2.5 decreases by 18 μg/m³, and mean PM_2.5 for most sites (about 75%) decrease by 30%–60%. The anthropogenic and meteorological contributions to these PM_2.5 variations are also determined by using a stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) model combined with the Kolmogorov–Zurbenko filter. Our results show that the change of anthropogenic emissions is a leading contributor to those widespread PM_2.5 reductions, and meteorological conditions have the negative influence on PM_2.5 reductions for some regions, such as Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH). Additionally, the avoided premature death due to PM_2.5 reduction is estimated as a predicted number based on a log-linear concentration-response function. The total avoided premature death is 9952 in China, with dominant contribution (94%) from anthropogenic emission changes. For BTH, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Hubei regions, the reductions of PM_2.5 are 24.1, 24.3, 13.5 and 29.5 μg/m³, with the avoided premature deaths of 1066, 1963, 454 and 583, respectively.     

Remediation of preservative ethylparaben in water using natural sphalerite: Kinetics and mechanisms

As a typical class of emerging organic contaminants(EOCs), the environmental transformation and abatement of preservative parabens have raised certain environmental concerns. However, the remediation of parabens-contaminated water using natural matrixes(such as, naturally abundant minerals) is not reported extensively in literature. In this study, the transformation kinetics and the mechanism of ethylparaben using natural sphalerite(NS) were investigated. The results show that around 63% of ethy...     

锰矿区周边农田土壤重金属污染特征、来源解析及风险评价

为了解锰矿周边农田土壤重金属污染和生态风险情况,采集某矿区周边174份农田土壤样品,分析了土壤中8种重金属(Cu、 Zn、 Pb、 Cr、 Ni、 Mn、 As和Hg)的含量,采用主成分分析(PCA)和正定矩阵因子分解模型(PMF)分析土壤重金属的来源,通过单因子污染指数法、地累积指数法、潜在生态风险指数法和人体健康风险评价模型评价土壤重金属生态环境风险.结果表明,研究区农田土壤Cu、 Zn、 Cr、 Ni、 Mn和Hg含量的均值均高于贵州省土壤背景值,100%样本Zn和38.86%样本Cu均超过农用地土壤污染风险筛选值.源解析显示农田土壤重金属的主要来源为矿业开采排放源,其次为农业活动和交通运输混合源、自然源和农业活动源.风险评价结果表明,土壤中Ni、 Cr、 Pb和As属于清洁水平,Hg和Cu属于轻度污染水平,Zn属于偏中度污染水平,Mn属于偏重污染水平.Cu、 Zn、 Pb、 Cr、 Ni、 Mn和As存在轻微潜在生态风险,Hg存在强潜在生态风险.研究区整体存在强潜在生态风险,8种重金属存在致癌风险和0～5岁儿童非致癌风险,主要贡献因子分别是Cr和Mn.     

Analysis of Cell Concentration,Volume Concentration,and Colony Size of Microcystis Via Laser Particle Analyzer

The analysis of the cell concentration, volume concentration, and colony size of Microcystis is widely used to provide early warnings of the occurrence of blooms and to facilitate the development of predictive tools to mitigate their impact. This study developed a new approach for the analysis of the cell concentration, volume concentration, and colony size of Microcystis by applying a laser particle analyzer. Four types of Microcystis samples (55 samples in total) were analyzed by a laser particle analyzer and a microscope. By the application of the laser particle analyzer (1) when n = 1.40 and k = 0.1 (n is the intrinsic refractive index, whereas k is absorption of light by the particle), the results of the laser particle analyzer showed good agreement with the microscopic results for the obscuration indicator, volume concentration, and size distribution of Microcystis; (2) the Microcystis cell concentration can be calculated based on its linear relationship with obscuration; and (3) the volume concentration and size distribution of Microcystis particles (including single cells and colonies) can be obtained. The analytical processes involved in this new approach are simpler and faster compared to that by microscopic counting method. From the results, it was identified that the relationship between cell concentration and volume concentration depended on the colony size of Microcystis because the intercellular space was high when the colony size was high. Calculation of cell concentration and volume concentration may occur when the colony size information is sufficient.     

双ZBS2型酒杯塔输电线路雷电绕击特性研究

通过建立缩小比例为25:1的双ZBS2型酒杯塔输电线路模型,对其进行长间隙放电,研究了塔头、避雷线保护角、地面倾斜度等因素对雷击绕击率的影响。结果表明:杆塔对雷电先导具有吸引作用,雷击杆塔附近时,线路绕击率较低,从杆塔到档距中央,绕击率呈现一种先增大后减小的趋势;随着避雷线保护角由正到负变化,绕击概率随之降低;线路绕击概率随地面倾斜角增大,而呈现先增大后减小的趋势。本研究结果可指导企业输配电线路的雷电防护工作,为线路绕击防护装置的研发提供数据支持。     

海南地区新型雷电预警系统预警效率的评估与分析

基于2017年5-8月全国雷电监测定位系统ADTD探测到的闪电定位数据,根据标准IEC-62793中对雷电预警系统预警效率评估的定义,对海南地区部分雷电预警站点的预警效率进行了统计分析。海南地区新型雷电预警系统的平均有效预警率(MPOD)约为85%,高于大部分雷电预警系统的有效预警率;对闪电事件的预警率平均可达到95%,表明可以对发生在预警站点有效覆盖范围内95>的闪电提供有效预警;平均错误预警率(MFAR)约为73%,与各类预警系统相比,错误预警率偏高;预警提前期的平均值和中值分别为13.9min和9.6min。     

Hierarchical Ag-SiO2@Fe3O4 magnetic composites for elemental mercury removal from non-ferrous metal smelting flue gas

Hierarchical Ag-SiO_2@Fe_3O_4 magnetic composites were selected for elemental mercury(Hg~0) removal from non-ferrous metal smelting flue gas in this study. Results showed that the hierarchical Ag-SiO_2@Fe_3O_4 magnetic composites had favorable Hg~0 removal ability at low temperature. Moreover, the adsorption capacity of hierarchical magnetic composite is much larger than that of pure Fe_3O_4 and SiO_2@Fe_3O_4. The Hg~0 removal efficiency reached the highest value as approximately 92% under the reaction temperature of 150°C, while the removal efficiency sharply reduced in the absence of O_2. The characterization results indicated that Ag nanoparticles grew on the surface of SiO_2@Fe_3O_4 support. The large surface area of SiO_2 supplied efficient reaction room for Hg and Ag atoms. Ag–Hg amalgam is generated on the surface of the composites. In addition, this magnetic material could be easily separated from fly ashes when adopted for treating real flue gas, and the spent materials could be regenerated using a simple thermal-desorption method.     

Monitoring gas- and particulate-phase short-chain polychlorinated paraffins in the urban air of Dalian by a self-developed passive sampler

The concentration of short-chain polychlorinated paraffins(SCCPs) in the urban air of Dalian,China was monitored from September 2016 to August 2017 with a self-developed passive sampler(PAS1) and an active high-volume sampler, simultaneously. PAS1 successfully collected the entire target SCCPs in the ambient air. Air SCCPs sampled by PAS1 were found be in the linear uptake stage during 181 days of sampling. Passive and active samples showed comparable congener profiles, and the dominant contributors of SCCPs in the two kinds of samples were similar. A significant linear correlation was observed between the total concentration of SCCPs sampled by PAS1 and active sampler in the four seasons. The passive sampling rates of the PAS1 for the gas and particulate phases of SCCPs were measured. The quantitative structure–property relationship of the sampling rate of PAS1(Rair) for gas-phase SCCPs was studied. From the molecular point of view, Rairwas mainly affected by the molecular weight and sub-cooled liquid vapor pressure of SCCPs. In general, SCCPs in the urban air of Dalian mainly existed in gas phase,lower molecular weight SCCPs primarily occurred in the gas phase, whereas higher molecular weight SCCPs were predominately adsorbed or absorbed on airborne particles. The air concentration of SCCPs in the four seasons were different, the correlation of the concentration of SCCPs in the air with the meteorology parameters was conducted. The exposure risk by intake air SCCPs of the residents around the sampling sites was evaluated according to the European risk assessment standards.