Inferring coastal processes from regional-scale mapping of Radon and salinity: examples from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The radon isotope ²²²Rn and salinity in coastal surface water were mapped on regional scales, to improve the understanding of coastal processes and their spatial variability. Radon was measured with a surface-towed, continuously recording multi-detector setup on a moving vessel. Numerous processes and locations of land-ocean interaction along the Central Great Barrier Reef coastline were identified and interpreted based on the data collected. These included riverine fluxes, terrestrially-derived fresh submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) and the tidal pumping of seawater through mangrove forests. Based on variations in the relationship of the tracers radon and salinity, some aspects of regional freshwater inputs to the coastal zone and to estuaries could be assessed. Concurrent mapping of radon and salinity allowed an efficient qualitative assessment of land-ocean interaction on various spatial and temporal scales, indicating that such surveys on coastal scales can be a useful tool to obtain an overview of SGD locations and processes.     

上海市城区春节和“五一”节期间大气挥发性有机物的组成特征

挥发性有机物(VOCs)是对流层臭氧和二次有机气溶胶等二次污染生成过程的关键前体物.研究VOCs的浓度水平、组成特征和反应活性对揭示复合型大气污染的形成机制具有重要意义.本研究利用在线气相-氢离子火焰法测量了2009年春节和"五一"节期间上海市城区大气中56种VOCs.结果表明,上海市城区大气受机动车尾气排放源影响明显,VOCs浓度日变化特征呈双峰状,与上下班交通高峰基本吻合.大气中VOCs平均体积分数为(28.39±18.35)×10-9;各组分百分含量依次为:烷烃46.6%,芳香烃27.0%,烯烃15.1%,乙炔11.2%.用OH消耗速率和臭氧生成潜势(OFP)评估了VOCs大气化学反应活性,结果表明,上海市城区大气VOCs化学反应活性与VOCs体积浓度相关性良好;VOCs活性与乙烯相当,平均化学反应活性较强;OH消耗速率贡献最大的物种是烯烃51.2%和芳香烃31.8%;OFP贡献最大的物种是芳香烃53.4%和烯烃30.2%;对臭氧生成贡献最大的关键活性物种为丙烯、乙烯、甲苯、二甲苯以及丁烯类物质.     

Odor Control for Land Application of Lime Stabilized Biosolids

Over three million dry metric tons of biosolids produced in the United States are land applied as Class B. Lime stabilization is employed for biosolids treatment at approximately 20% of the wastewater treatment plants because it is a simple and inexpensive process. During lime stabilization, the pH of sewage sludge is raised above 12 for pathogen inactivation and odor reduction. Lime dose and mixing have been found to greatly reduce odor generation from lime stabilized biosolids. A better quality biosolids product is less likely to create public opposition to land application programs. In this study, land application tests using Class B biosolids were conducted in order to determine whether better mixing can reduce odor generation during the land application of lime stabilized biosolids. The mixing quality of a treatment plant’s lime stabilized biosolids was improved by relocating the lime addition point, which prolonged the mixing time and produced a better mixed biosolids product. Based on field observations of land application, the poorly mixed biosolids were more odorous and offensive prior to incorporation. However, once incorporated into the soil, there was no appreciable odor difference between the biosolids. Another land application study was conducted to assess the odor of unincorporated Class A biosolids and compare it with incorporated Class A biosolids with the soil.     

Insights into the formation of secondary organic carbon in the summertime in urban Shanghai

To investigate formation mechanisms of secondary organic carbon(SOC) in Eastern China,measurements were conducted in an urban site in Shanghai in the summer of 2015. A period of high O_3 concentrations(daily peak 120 ppb) was observed, during which daily maximum SOC concentrations exceeding 9.0 μg/(C·m~3). Diurnal variations of SOC concentration and SOC/organic carbon(OC) ratio exhibited both daytime and nighttime peaks. The SOC concentrations correlated well with O_x(= O_3+ NO_2) and relative humidity in the daytime and nighttime, respectively, suggesting that secondary organic aerosol formation in Shanghai is driven by both photochemical production and aqueous phase reactions. Single particle mass spectrometry was used to examine the formation pathways of SOC. Along with the daytime increase of SOC, the number fraction of elemental carbon(EC) particles coated with OC quickly increased from 38.1% to 61.9% in the size range of 250–2000 nm, which was likely due to gas-to-particle partitioning of photochemically generated semi-volatile organic compounds onto EC particles. In the nighttime, particles rich in OC components were highly hygroscopic, and number fraction of these particles correlated well with relative humidity and SOC/OC nocturnal peaks. Meanwhile, as an aqueous-phase SOC tracer, particles that contained oxalate-Fe(III) complex also peaked at night. These observations suggested that aqueous-phase processes had an important contribution to the SOC nighttime formation. The influence of aerosol acidity on SOC formation was studied by both bulk and single particle level measurements, suggesting that the aqueous-phase formation of SOC was enhanced by particle acidity.     

Mixing hazard evaluation of organic peroxides with other chemicals

Organic peroxides (POs) have been widely used in chemical industries as initiators of polymerization, hardening or bridge formation agents, and they are known for its self-reactive and also mixing hazard characteristics when mixed with other chemicals such as acids and alkalis. It is the purpose of this investigation to propose a simple but useful evaluation flow of mixing hazards of POs with other chemicals using conventional experimental techniques such as a glass test tube test, Dewar vessel test and DSC is proposed. 7 kinds of POs (DEPD, THP, TBEH, TBTC, MEKPO, DTBP, THHP) were mixed with sulfuric acids with various concentration, sodium hydroxide solutions, -iron(III) oxide and acrylonitrile (AN).

Based on the proposed evaluation flow the testing results were classified into 4 ranks due to the hazard criteria. Futhermore DEPD/acrylonitrile mixtures were investigated in more detail and the influences of the mixing ratio and the stirring speed were discussed.     

温压工艺中聚合物添加剂的加入方式

采用温压技术制备铁基粉末冶金材料,研究了干混和湿混两种聚合物添加剂加入方式及压制温度对生坯和烧结体性能的影响,并对其作用机理进行了探讨.试验结果表明,干混混合粉生坯及烧结体的性能略高于湿混混合粉生坯及烧结体的性能,但前者的最佳压制温度范围略高.     

Morphology, composition, and sources of individual aerosol particles at a regional background site of the YRD, China

Aerosol samples were collected at Lin'an, a background site of Yangtze River Delta(YRD).Morphology, size, composition, and mixing state of individual aerosol particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy(TEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS), and the soluble ions of PM_(1.0) were studied by aerosol mass spectrometer(AMS). The daily average AMS mass concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium were about 5.8, 8.6, and 5.6 μg/m~3, respectively. Individual aerosol particles were classified into seven types: S-rich, K-rich, organic matter(OM), soot, fly ash, metal, and mineral. S-rich particles were dominant in all size bins, and 51%(by number) of S-rich particles were internally mixed with other particles. The fraction of organic coating particles was 13.7% in morning, 25.2% in afternoon, and 11% in evening, suggesting that the strong photochemical process during afternoon produced more secondary organic aerosols(SOA) on the surface of inorganic particles. Fly ash and metal particles were abundant during the day, suggesting the influence of emissions from coal-fired power plants and steel plants. The results indicate that the intense industrial emissions in the YRD significantly transported to the background areas. PM_(2.5) concentration may be lower in background air than in urban air but complex mixing state of aerosol particles indicates that the long-range transported particles substantially influenced the background air quality.     

Characteristics and mixing state of S-rich particles in haze episodes in Beijing

Direct individual analysis using Scanning Electron Microscopy combined with online observation was conducted to examine the S-rich particles in PM_2.5 of two typical polluted haze episodes in summer and winter from 2014 to 2015 in Beijing. Four major types of S-rich particles, including secondary CaSO₄ particles (mainly observed in summer), S-rich mineral particles (SRM), S-rich water droplets (SRW) and (C, O, S)-rich particles (COS) were identified.We found the different typical morphologies and element distributions of S-rich particles and considered that (C, O, S)-rich particles had two major mixing states in different seasons. On the basis of the S-rich particles’ relative abundances, S concentrations and their relationships with PM_2.5 as well as the seasonal comparison, we revealed that the S-participated formation degrees of SRM and SRW would enhance with increasing PM_2.5 concentration. Moreover, C-rich matter and sulfate had seasonally different but significant impacts on the formation of COS.

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A new fault detection method for non-Gaussian process based on robust independent component analysis

Conventional fault detection method based on fast independent component analysis (FastICA) is sensitive to outliers in the modeling data and thus may perform poorly under the adverse effects of outliers. To solve such problem, a new fault detection method for non-Gaussian process based on robust independent component analysis (RobustICA) is proposed in this paper. A RobustICA algorithm which can effectively reduce the effects of outliers is firstly developed to estimate the mixing matrix and extract non-Gaussian feature called independent components (ICs) by robust whitening and robust determination of the maximum non-Gaussian directions. Furthermore, a monitoring statistic for each extracted IC is constructed to detect process faults. Simulations on a simple example of the mixing matrix estimation and a fault detection example in the continuous stirred tank reactor system demonstrate that the RobustICA achieves much higher estimation accuracy for the mixing matrix and the ICs than the commonly used FastICA algorithm, and the RobustICA-based fault detection method outperforms the conventional FastICA-based fault detection method in terms of the fault detection time and fault detection rate.     

Sea-water seasonal changes at a heavy tourism investment site on the Jordanian northern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba,Red Sea

The Gulf of Aqaba exhibits a strong seasonality due to convective mixing during winter and stratification during summer. The present study provides a detailed appraisal of summer and winter sea-water characteristics at the northern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, that is witnessing rapid development and increasing changes in its geomorphological characteristics. Sea-water temperature, salinity, nutrients, and chlorophyll a concentrations were measured biweekly at five coastal and four cross-sectional stations during the periods February to April and July to September 2004. Meteorological conditions were continuously recorded at the Marine Science Station. The coastal study sites included four open coastal stations and a marina with one-way exchange with the open water. The effect of convective mixing was clearly apparent on the sea-water characteristics. Natural seasonal characteristics of higher nutrients and chlorophyll a concentrations were recorded during winter at most of the open coastal stations. In the cross-sectional stations, the concentrations of nutrients and chlorophyll a were not different between the surface and the bottom during winter, but the bottom waters had generally higher concentrations during summer. Some deviations from the natural seasonal cycle were recorded at the marina and other coastal stations. Here, higher nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations were recorded in summer than in winter. These deviations that are most likely due to anthropogenic effects are discussed.