Composition of Floating Debris in Harbours of the United States

As part of a programme to characterize floating anthropogenic debris in the aquatic environment, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted 18 field surveys in the harbours of major metropolitan cities of the east, west, and Gulf coasts of the United States and the Mid-Atlantic Bight. the surveys were designed to provide information on the types, relative amounts, and distributions of aquatic debris in different geographic regions of the United States. Neuston nets (0.33 mm mesh) were used to collect surface debris during outgoing tides on two or three consecutive days in selected areas of each city. After each net tow, the debris, which ranged in size from small resin pellets to large plastic sheeting pieces, was identified, categorized, and counted. the data are being used to qualitatively characterize aquatic debris in coastal metropolitan areas, to examine potential regional variations, and to tentatively identify potential sources.     

深冲钢板塑性变形形为研究

单相塑性材料的强度和塑性基本上是分别研究讨论的。此文以低碳深冲钢板为例,从能量观点出发,讨论了强度和塑性的内在制约关系,唯象地提出了单相塑性材料塑性破坏的判据,并解释了几个实验现象。此文的研究有助于加深对深冲钢塑性变形形为的理解。     

塑料和橡胶类废物的热物理与焚烧特性研究的进展

随着社会和科技的发展，塑料和橡胶废弃量与日俱增，已成为城市垃圾的重要组成，由于这类废弃的聚合物给环境带来了污染问题，怎样合理地处理和利用已经成为一项重要的研究课题，本文对塑料和橡胶类的废物的理化性质，热值，焚烧特性，污染特性进行了论述，并根据它们的热物理及焚烧特性提出了进一步优化废物焚烧炉，完善低污染，低腐蚀，低粘结的废弃物的焚烧工艺的一些设想。     

新型介孔薄膜涂层固相微萃取-气相色谱法测定塑料浸取液中的邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯

自制新型介孔薄膜涂层固相微萃取头,结合顶空固相微萃取-气相色谱法(HS-SPME-GC),测定水溶液中的邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯(DEHP)。结果表明,该方法具有良好的线性范围(0.1～2000μgL),检出限为0.08μgL,相对标准偏差为5.5%(n=3)。将该法应用于检测塑料浸取液中DEHP,结果令人满意。     

火灾中均布荷载作用下钢筋混凝土方板的极限分析

本文利用有限差分法确定了火灾时钢筋混凝土板的温度分布，并基于塑性铰线理论确定了火灾时钢筋混凝土方板的破坏机制，根据高温下混凝土和钢筋的力学性能对火灾过程中塑性铰截面的弯矩及板的极限荷载进行了分析，可为建筑结构的耐火设计提供依据。     

Recycling-oriented characterization of plastic frames and printed circuit boards from mobile phones by electronic and chemical imaging

This study characterizes the composition of plastic frames and printed circuit boards from end-of-life mobile phones. This knowledge may help define an optimal processing strategy for using these items as potential raw materials. Correct handling of such a waste is essential for its further “sustainable” recovery, especially to maximize the extraction of base, rare and precious metals, minimizing the environmental impact of the entire process chain. A combination of electronic and chemical imaging techniques was thus examined, applied and critically evaluated in order to optimize the processing, through the identification and the topological assessment of the materials of interest and their quantitative distribution. To reach this goal, end-of-life mobile phone derived wastes have been systematically characterized adopting both “traditional” (e.g. scanning electronic microscopy combined with microanalysis and Raman spectroscopy) and innovative (e.g. hyperspectral imaging in short wave infrared field) techniques, with reference to frames and printed circuit boards. Results showed as the combination of both the approaches (i.e. traditional and classical) could dramatically improve recycling strategies set up, as well as final products recovery.     

Outdoor Weathering Evaluation of Carbon-Black-Filled, Biodegradable Copolyester as Substitute for Traditionally Used, Carbon-Black-Filled, Nonbiodegradable, High-Density Polyethylene Mulch Films

Carbon-black-filled, biodegradable, copolyester mulch film (Eastar®, or EA, Tennessee Eastman, Kingsport, TN) and commercial carbon-black-filled, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) mulch film were exposed for 12 weeks to commercial vegetable crop growing conditions by being placed directly on irrigated soil in the field of the University of Tennessee Alcoa Highway State Agriculture Experiment Station (Knoxville, TN) and by being placed on a plywood exposure rack as described by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard Test Method 1435: Outdoor Weathering of Plastics. Mechanical properties and weather information were collected in order to evaluate the feasibility of using the newly developed biodegradable EA mulch film to replace the nonbiodegradable HDPE mulch film. Results indicate that the EA mulch film exhibited favorable tensile strength and elongation-at-break during outdoor exposure rack testing and outdoor, in-field, placed directly on the soil, exposure testing, suggesting biodegradable EA could be a substitute for the HDPE nonbiodegradable material.     

Material cycles in Asia: especially the recycling loop between Japan and China

In this article, we clarify the current status of Japanese exports and Chinese imports of secondary resources. A total of around 10 million metric tons (t) of secondary resources are exported annually from Japan to China, Hong Kong, and Korea. Hong Kong plays the role of a transshipment point, especially regarding the trade in plastic waste, and China imports much from the USA and Japan, often through Hong Kong. The secondary resources exported from Japan include both byproducts from manufacturing processes and end-of-life products or materials. The great demand in China, and the difference in prices between countries, drive this transboundary shipment, although Japan has enacted various recycling laws that were implicitly intended to promote domestic recycling. In China, the imported secondary resources are recycled, usually by means of primitive and low-cost hand labor. The greatest concern is whether there are still improper (illegal or polluting) recycling activities in China. International material cycles should prevent environmental pollution and ensure efficient resource utilization. To that end, the following measures are needed: cooperative control of the trade of secondary resources between countries, the alignment of domestic laws with the regulations in other countries based on the actual trade activities, and the realization of sound practices for global resources management.     

Catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbon into hydrogen and carbon in a spouted-bed reactor as the second-stage reactor of a plastic recycling process

A two-stage process for the chemical recycling of plastics is proposed. In this process, which consists of two reactors, plastics are converted into hydrogen and carbon. In the first reactor, plastic chips are thermally decomposed into hydrocarbons. In the second reactor, the hydrocarbons formed in the first reactor are catalytically decomposed into carbon and hydrogen. In this study, in order to obtain basic data for the second reactor, propene was catalytically decomposed in a laboratory-scale spouted-bed reactor (600mm high, 21.6mm internal diameter, made of SUS304). The effect of the type of spouting medium used on the decomposition behavior of propene was investigated using four types of spouting medium (nickel-plated -alumina, palladium-plated -alumina, nickel-impregnated -alumina, and -alumina). The nickel-impregnated -alumina gave the best propene conversion and hydrogen yield.     

Assessment of plastic packaging waste: Material origin,methods, properties

The global plastics production has increased annually and a substantial part is used for packaging (in Europe 39%). Most plastic packages are discarded after a relatively short service life and the resulting plastic packaging waste is subsequently landfilled, incinerated or recycled. Laws of several European and Asian countries require that plastic packaging waste collected from households has to be sorted, reprocessed, compounded and reused. These recycling schemes typically produce milled goods of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(ethylene) (PE), isotactic poly(propylene) (PP), mixed plastics, and agglomerates from film material. The present study documents the composition and properties of post-consumer polyolefin recyclates originating from both source separation and mechanical recovery from municipal solid refuse waste (MSRW). The overall composition by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were determined and compared with the sorting results of the sorted fractions prior to the reprocessing into milled goods. This study shows that the collection method for the plastic packaging waste has hardly any influence on the final quality of the recyclate; however, the sorting and reprocessing steps influence the final quality of the recyclate. Although the mechanical properties of recyclate are clearly different than those of virgin polymers, changes to the sorting and reprocessing steps can improve the quality.