Chromium steel from chromite ore processing residue — A valuable construction material from a waste

As species we humans generate excessive amounts of waste and hence for sustainability we should explore innovative ways to recover them. The primary objective of this study is to demonstrate an efficient and optimum way to recover chromium and iron from chromite ore processing residues (COPR) for the production of chrome steel and stainless steel. In Hudson County, New Jersey, there are more than two million tons of leftover COPR. Part of COPR was used as fill materials for construction sites, which spread the problem to a larger area. With high solubility along with their toxicity leached chromate from COPR is threatening the environment as well as human health. In this research, COPR was thermally treated to recover iron with chromium by applying techniques used in steel manufacturing. An extensive experimental program was performed using a Thermo-Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA) and bench scale tests to thermally treat the processed chromium contaminated soils with carbon and sand at varying temperatures and under reducing environment. The optimum chemical composition of COPR and additives to be used in the melts were evaluated based upon the thermodynamic properties of the mixture to ensure good phase separation, least amounts of iron and chromium oxides in the slag and minimum variability of final product (steel or iron with chromium). The impact of other oxides on the steel making process was evaluated to minimize the adverse impact on the process. The research demonstrated the feasibility of recovering a valuable construction material (chrome steel) from a waste (COPR).     

Allelochemicals and allelopathy from microorganisms in wheat rhizosphers

Allelochemicals from fungi and bacteria in wheat rhizosphere,as well as their allelopathic effects on wheat and maize have been conducted.Fungi and bacteria were incubated at temperature 28-30℃.The extracts were tested for bioassay.Some samples identified to be responsible for allelopathy have been determined by GC-MS.Some chemicals identified were selected to test again their bioactivity.The results showed that acidic extracts were more toxic to germination of wheat and maize seeds(statistic significant difference P<0.01 or P<0.05)and basic extracts were less toxic and stimulated effects on germination in some cases.A good relationship has been observed between the data of chemical analysis and bioassay. A wide variety of chemicals such as phenolic acids,organic acids,aldehydes,alcohol,ketones,nitrogen-containing chemicals,were identified by GC-MS.Some phenols and organic acids were identified to be inhibit and nitrogens-containing compounds were to be stimulate to germination of seeds and extension of root and shoot of wheat and maize.     

Sustainability： A view from the wind-eroded field

This article explores the assessment of sustainability in fields subject to wind erosion. In the first part, simple sustainability audits are examined, as of soil depth and nutrients. Direct measurement of these characteristics has many problems, largely because of huge variability in space and time at all scales. Modelling still has its problems, but it may be possible to overcome many of them soon. It is true that wind erosion preferentially removes soil nutrients, but there are imponderables even here. The nutrient balance in many of these soils includes considerable input from dust. In West Africa, it has been shown that the amounts of calcium and potassium that are added in dust are sufficient to fertilize dispersed crops. In mildly acidic sandy soils, such as those found on the widespread palaeo- aeolian deposits, much of the phosphorus is fixed and unavailable to plants by the time it is removed by wind erosion, so that erosion has no added downside. Most of the nutrients carried by dust have been shown to travel close to the ground （even when they are attached to dust-sized particles）, and so are trapped in nearby fallow strips, and are thus not lost to the farming system. Second, the sustalnabillty of a whole semi-arid farming system is explored. Wind erosion in semi-arid areas （like China, the Sahel and Norflawestern Europe） generally takes place on aeolian deposits of the recent geological past. Most of these soils are deep enough to withstand centuries of wind erosion before they are totally lost to production, and some of these soils have greater fertility at greater depth （so that wind erosion may even improve the soil）. Finally some remarks are made about environmental change in relation to sustainability.     

Secondary pollution from sediment and red tide occurrence

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Measurement of nitrous oxide emission dynamics from soil

A simple laboratory device which simulates environmental factors that affect N₂O emission from soil has been constructed． It is convenient to use it to observe the N₂O emission dynamics from soil cores while simulating some factors such as different fertilizer sources，management，temperature．and chemical inhibitors，etc．The detect limit was 2．5mg N₂O-N m^{-2．s-1 with maxinlum error about 10%, so it could be used for agricultural soils It was found that fertilizer source，fertilizer management and native soil type were preliminarily important factors on N₂O emission fluxes in some of our experiments．}     

Simultaneous elution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals from contaminated soil by two amino acids derived from β-cyclodextrins

Two highly water-soluble amino acids, which derived from -CDs, i.e., glutamic acid- -cyclodextrin (GluCD) and ethylene-diamine- -cyclodextrin (EDCD), were synthesized and were examined for their e ect on solubilization of anthracene (ANT), complexation of cadmium (Cd2+), and elution removal of ANT and Cd2+ in soil. The results showed that GluCD and EDCD were powerful complexant for ANT and Cd2+. In the presence of 10 g/L GluCD and EDCD, the solubilization of ANT increased by 47.04 and 23.85 times compared to the control, respectively. GluCD resulted in approximately 90% complexation of Cd2+ while 70% complexation was observed for EDCD. Simultaneously, GluCD and EDCD could greatly enhance the elution removal of ANT and Cd2+ from soil. GluCD resulted in the highest elution e ciency of ANT and Cd2+.With the addition of 10 g/L GluCD, 53.5% of ANT and 85.6% of Cd2+ were eluted, respectively. The ANT had a negligible e ect on the Cd2+ removal due to di erent complexing sites of ANT and Cd2+, while Cd2+ enhanced the ANT removal under the addition of GluCD because Cd2+ neutralized the –COOH group of GluCD. Adversely, the removal of ANT was decreased with Cd2+ under the addition of EDCD, this was due to the fact that Cd2+ enhanced the polarity of EDCD molecule and inhibited the complexation between ANT and EDCD. The study suggested that GluCD could be preferred and be successfully applied to remediation of heavy metals or organic compounds in contaminated soil.     

Intensification of adsorption process by using the pyrolytic char from waste tires to remove chromium(Ⅵ) from wastewater

Pyrolysis has the potential of transforming waste into valuable recyclable products. Pyrolytic char (PC) is one of the most important products from the pyrolysis of used tires. One of the most significant applications for pyrolytic char recovered is used for the removal of Cr( Ⅵ ) in the wastewater effluent to control waste by waste. The surface chemistry properties of surface element distribution/concentration and chemical structure were examined for the pyrolytic char and the commercial activated carbon(CAC) respectively. The results showed that surfaces of PC possesses a large amount of ester and hydrocarbon graft, whereas there are mainly carbon functional components of C-OH, C=O and COOH on the surface of CAC. Therefore the surface electronegativity of PC is lower than that of CAC in the water. The repulsive interactions between the surfaces of PC and the negatively charged Cr（Ⅵ ) ion are weaker than that of CAC,which results in an intensification of the adsorption process by the utilization of PC. The adsorption isotherms of Cr( Ⅵ ) ion on the two kinds of carbons were determined experimentally. The larger adsorption amount on the PC in the case of Cr( Ⅵ ) may be attributed mainly to its special surface micro-chemical environment. The mechanism of the removal Cr( Ⅵ ) from aqueous solution was assumed to be the integration of adsorption and redox reaction. The adsorption was the rate-controlled step for Cr( Ⅵ ) removal. The adsorption of Cr( Ⅵ )was identified as pseudo-second-order kinetics. The rate constants of adsorption were evaluated.     

Simultaneous elution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals from contaminated soil by two amino acids derived from β-cyclodextrins

Two highly water-soluble amino acids,which derived from β-CDs,i.e.,glutamic acid-β-cyclodextrin (GluCD) and ethylene-diamineβ-cyclodextrin (EDCD),were synthesized and were examined for their effect on solubilization of anthracene (ANT),complexation of cadmium (Cd2+),and elution removal of ANT and Cd2+ in soil.The results showed that GluCD and EDCD were powerful complexant for ANT and Cd2+.In the presence of 10 g/L GluCD and EDCD,the solubilization of ANT increased by 47.04 and 23.85 times compared to the control,respectively.GluCD resulted in approximately 90% complexation of Cd2+ while 70% complexation was observed for EDCD.Simultaneously,GluCD and EDCD could greatly enhance the elution removal of ANT and Cd 2+ from soil.GluCD resulted in the highest elution efficiency of ANT and Cd2+.With the addition of 10 g/L GluCD,53.5% of ANT and 85.6% of Cd2+ were eluted,respectively.The ANT had a negligible effect on the Cd2+ removal due to different complexing sites of ANT and Cd2+,while Cd2+ enhanced the ANT removal under the addition of GluCD because Cd2+ neutralized the-COOH group of GluCD.Adversely,the removal of ANT was decreased with Cd2+ under the addition of EDCD,this was due to the fact that Cd2+ enhanced the polarity of EDCD molecule and inhibited the complexation between ANT and EDCD.The study suggested that GluCD could be preferred and be successfully applied to remediation of heavy metals or organic compounds in contaminated soil.     

Past changes in the abundance of diatoms as inferred from a sediment core from Hebe Haven, Saikung, Hong Kong

１　Ｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ１－１　ＤｉａｔｏｍｓＤｉａｔｏｍｓ（ＣｌａｓｓＢａｃｉｌｌａｒｉｏｐｈｙｃｅａｅ）ａｒｅｃｏｍｍｏｎａｎｄｗｉｄｅｌｙｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｅｄｉｎｂｏｔｈｆｒｅｓｈａｎｄｍａｒｉｎｅｗａｔｅｒｓ（Ｍｏｓｅｒ，１９９６）．ＴｈｅｓｅｍｉｃｒｏｓｃｏｐｉｃｕｎｉｃｅｌｌｕｌａｒｐｌａｎｔｓｆｉｘａｍａｊｏｒｐｏｒｔｉｏｎｏｆｔｈｅＥａｒｔｈ○ｓｃａｒｂｏｎ，ｇｅｎｅｒａｔｅｏｘｙｇｅｎ，ａｎｄｓｕｐｐｌｙｆｏｏｄｔｏａｎｉｍａｌｓｗｈｉｃｈｆｅｅｄｏｎｔｈｅｍ（Ｄｉｘｉｔ…     

Dating sediments on several lakes inferred from radionuclide profiles

ＤａｔｉｎｇｓｅｄｉｍｅｎｔｓｏｎｓｅｖｅｒａｌｌａｋｅｓｉｎｆｅｒｒｅｄｆｒｏｍｒａｄｉｏｎｕｃｌｉｄｅｐｒｏｆｉｌｅｓＸｉａｎｇＬｉａｎｇＬａｋｅＳｅｄｉｍｅｎｔａｎｄＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔＬａｂｏｒａｔｏｒｙ，ＮａｎｊｉｎｇＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏ...     

Measurement and simulation of evaporation from a bare soil

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Limited acid deposition inferred from diatoms during the 20th century — A case study from lakes in the Tatra Mountains

Mountain lakes are usually sensitive to the effects of global and regional environmental changes. Since the second half of the 20th century, surface-water acidification has become a significant ecological problem, and many lakes in Europe and North America have anthropogenically acidified. Additionally, following reduction in emissions of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) compounds, recovery from acidification has been observed in many lakes. In this study, we used changes in diatom communities to reconstruct the pH histories based on changes recorded in nine Tatra lakes (Western Carpathians, Poland) since approximately 1850 AD. Overall, results indicate that acidic precipitation had little influence on lake-water pH in the Tatra Mountain lakes. Changes in diatom-inferred pH (DI-pH) generally were small and showed little evidence of acidification during the time of the highest air pollution (since the 1960s), and have shown little change since the reduction of acidic deposition since the 1990s. Lakes that showed some evidence of acidification included dystrophic lakes with low acid neutralizing capacity. However, as illustrated by the PCA trajectories of the diatom assemblages, the majority of the lakes currently contain diatom assemblages that are unlike the diatom floras that existed ca. 1850.     

Research of green cement clinker calcinated from ferrochrome slag

Ｗｈｅｎｃｈｒｏｍｉｔｅｉｓｒｅｆｉｎｅｄｔｏｐｒｏｄｕｃｅｓｉｌｉｃｏｆｅｒｒｏｃｈｒｏｍｅａｌｌｏｙ，ａｋｉｎｄｏｆｓｌａｇｃｏｎｔａｉｎｉｎｇｃｈｒｏｍｉｕｍｉｓｆｏｒｍｅｄ，ｋｎｏｗｎａｓｆｅｒｒｏｃｈｒｏｍｅｓｌａｇ．Ｉｔｃｏｎｓｉｓｔｓｏｆｍａｉｎｌｙｃａｌｃｉｕｍｏｘｉｄｅ，ｓｉｌｉｃｏｎｂｉｏｘｉｄｅａｎｄａｆｅｗｂｉｃｈｒｏｍｉｕｍｔｒｉｏｘｉｄｅ．Ｂｅｃａｕｓｅｏｆｉｔ○ｓｌａｒｇｅｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎａｎｄａｌｓｏｂｅｃａｕｓｅｉｔｃｏｎｔａｉｎｓｈａｒｍｆｕｌＣｒ６＋ｗ…     

Turanoceratops tardabilis—the first ceratopsid dinosaur from Asia

Turanoceratops tardabilis from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Bissekty Formation of Dzharakuduk, Uzbekistan, represents the first definite ceratopsid dinosaur recorded from Asia. Reexamination of the original and study of newly collected material indicate that Turanoceratops has well-developed supraorbital horns and apparently lacks a nasal horn. Turanoceratops is more derived than the more or less coeval Zuniceratops from the Moreno Hill Formation of New Mexico in the presence of double-rooted teeth and of two or three teeth in each vertical dental file.     

Wasps robbing food from ants: a frequent behavior?

Food robbing, or cleptobiosis, has been well documented throughout the animal kingdom. For insects, intrafamilial food robbing is known among ants, but social wasps (Vespidae; Polistinae) taking food from ants has, to the best of our knowledge, never been reported. In this paper, we present two cases involving social wasps robbing food from ants associated with myrmecophytes. (1) Polybioides tabida F. (Ropalidiini) rob pieces of prey from Tetraponera aethiops Smith (Formicidae; Pseudomyrmecinae) specifically associated with Barteria fistulosa Mast. (Passifloraceae). (2) Charterginus spp. (Epiponini) rob food bodies from myrmecophytic Cecropia (Cecropiaceae) exploited by their Azteca mutualists (Formicidae; Dolichoderinae) or by opportunistic ants (that also attack cleptobiotic wasps). We note here that wasps gather food bodies (1) when ants are not yet active; (2) when ants are active, but avoiding any contact with them by flying off when attacked; and (3) through the coordinated efforts of two to five wasps, wherein one of them prevents the ants from leaving their nest, while the other wasps freely gather the food bodies. We suggest that these interactions are more common than previously thought.     

Organic contam ination in the drinking water from Clmohu Lake

Chaohu Lake water body is a major drinking water source for dwellers of Hefei City and Chaohu City．The paper describes the work that concerning with the method of system analysis on the raw water and drinking water of Fourth Water Plant in Hefei City and the results on the identification of orga．nic compounds iII the water．     

Properties of mercuric reductase from a HgCl_2-resistant fungus

ＰｒｏｐｅｒｔｉｅｓｏｆｍｅｒｃｕｒｉｃｒｅｄｕｃｔａｓｅｆｒｏｍａＨｇＣｌ＿２－ｒｅｓｉｓｔａｎｔｆｕｎｇｕｓＷａｎｇＢａｏｊｕｎ；ＬｉＷｅｎｚｈｏｎｇ；ＹａｎｇＨｕｉｆａｎｇＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＭｉｃｒｏｂｉｏｌｏｇｙ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅ...     

Furfural residues from straw become complex fertilizer by addition method

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＦｕｒｆｕｒａｌｉｓａｋｉｎｄｏｆｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｒａｗｍａｔｅｒｉａｌｉｎｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙ.Ｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｇｒｏｗｔｈｏｆｉｔｓｕｓｅ,ｉｔｓｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎｉｓｉｎｃｒｅａｓｉｎｇａｎｎｕａｌｌｙ.Ｂｕ?..     

Are megacities viable? A cautionary tale from Mexico City

This article describes the poor environmental and living conditions in Mexico City due to its huge size. Mexico City's size is a challenge to sustainability, and the outcome is unknown. Mexico City and the geographic basin surrounding it included about 18.5 million population in 1995. The basin and surrounding volcanic ranges include nine major environmental zones. Urban growth followed four stages. Different cultures applied different solutions to water supply problems. The basin shifted from self-sufficiency to reliance on 31% of supplies from external watersheds. The water table is declining and canals are polluted. Irrigated agriculture is disappearing. There is an average water deficit of over 800 million cubic meters per year. Mexico City is actually sinking due to groundwater exploitation. There is bacterial contamination of wells due to improper seals. About 75% of the population has access to wastewater treatment and sanitation, but sewage treatment plants operate at under 50% efficiency and treat only about 7% of the total wastewater. Atmospheric pollution from suspended particles has been a problem for decades. Ozone was the most significant air contaminant in 1994. Lead was the most harmful pollutant in 1986. Air pollutants may be the source of submucosal inflammations. Industrial areas are contaminated with suspended particles and sulfur dioxide. High traffic areas have high carbon monoxide levels. Atmospheric pollution has affected the quality of the rainwater. The city survives by importing food, energy, wood, water, building materials, and other products. The development model aims to improve quality of life. The city has been the center of political power since Aztec times, and its preeminent position forces government action. The author concludes that there are limits to urbanization, which the city is approaching rapidly.