Integrated Nitrogen and Flow Modelling (INCA) in a Boreal River Basin Dominated by Forestry: Scenarios of Environmental Change

A new version (v1.7) of the Integrated Nitrogen in CAtchments model(INCA) was applied to the northern boreal Simojoki river basin (3160 km²) in Finland. The INCA model is a semi-distributed, dynamic nitrogen (N) process model which simulates N transport and processes in catchments. The INCA model was applied to model flow and seasonal inorganic N dynamics of the river Simojoki basin over the period 1994–1996, and validated for two more years. Both calibration and validation of the model were successful. The model was able to simulate annual dynamics of inorganic N concentrations in the river. The effects of forest management and atmospheric deposition on inorganic N fluxes to the sea in 2010 were studied. Three scenarios were applied for forestry practices and two for deposition. The effects of forest cutting scenarios and atmospheric deposition scenarios on inorganic N flux to the sea were small. The combination of the maximum technically possible reduction of N deposition and a decrease of 100% in forest cutting and peat mining areas decreased NO₃ ^--N flux by 6.0% and NH₄ ⁺-N flux by 3.1%.     

Integrated Nitrogen Modeling in a Boreal Forestry Dominated River Basin: N Fluxes and Retention in Lakes and Peatlands

Two models, N_EXRET and INCA, were applied to the Simojoki river basin (3160 km²) in northern Finland in order to assess nitrogen retention in wetlands and lakes. N_EXRET is a spatial, export coefficient-based N export and retention model developed for large river basins. It utilizes remote sensing-based land use and forest classification, evaluated export coefficients, and data on areal N deposition and point sources of N. A new version (v1.7) of the Integrated Nitrogen in CAtchments model (INCA) is a semi-distributed, dynamic nitrogen process model, which simulates and predicts nitrogen transport and processes within catchments. Average retention of the gross total N load of 700 t a^-1 to the river system was estimated using N_EXRET model as 17 t N a^-1 to the wetlands and 77 t N a^-1 to the lakes. A good fit was found between modeled and measured values along the river. Inorganic N fluxes simulated by the INCA model were compared with measured fluxes along the river Simojoki, with a good fit between modeled and measured NH₄ ⁺-N fluxes, and an adequate fit for NO₃ ^--N fluxes. Both fluxes were overestimated at the first reach, below Lake Simojärvi. High percentage of peatlands led to high NH₄ ⁺-N/NO₃ ^--N ratios derived from data, indicating negligible nitrification in large river subbasins and particularly in small research catchments.     

曝气-过滤一体化装置脱氮除磷的研究

曝气-过滤一体化装置将生物反应器与过滤机理有机结合,较好地维持了反应器中的高污泥浓度,实现了水力停留时间（HRT）与污泥停留时间的分离。采用连续流间歇曝气工艺对该装置的脱氮除磷效果进行了研究。实验结果表明：在HRT为8h,运行方式为曝气2h、停曝2h的条件下,COD去除率为95．55％,NH3-N未检出,TN为84．90％,TP为93．69％,出水各项指标都达到了GB8978-1996（污水综合排放标准》一级排放标准要求。     

Characterization, Fluxes and Toxicity of Leather Tanning Bath Chemicals in a Large Tanning District Area (IT)

The leather tanning industry is perceived as responsible of a significant consume of natural resources and output of wastes such as high concentration of organics, salts and heavy metals such as chromium, both in solid and liquid form as a result. Now as ever the future of tanneries strongly depends on the increase of their awareness that a sustainable industry for the future means embracing a forward-looking philosophy of the leather making process through optimal resource management within the tannery. This study reports the characterization of some chemicals used in a large tanning district area in terms of COD, BOD, aromaticity (UV₂₈₀) and double bond (UV₂₅₄) absorbance measurements, toxicity on fresh and saline water as well as terrestrial species, GC-MS scanning. The study provides a consistent set of information on tannin-associated concentration-related trends and suggests novel criteria in defining control quality for evaluating environmental impact of leather tanning industry.     

Dynamics of Bacterial Abundance,Biomass, Activity,and Community Composition in the Oligotrophic Traunsee and the Traun River (Austria)

The holomictic Traunsee is the deepest and second largest lakein Austria. The special characteristic of this ecosystem isthe fact that local salt and soda industries presumably alterthe lake by the discharge of waste materials. Since thebeginning of the 20th century salt and soda works areannually releasing up to 50,000 tons of solid wastes and up to150,000 tons of chloride into Traunsee. To assess potentialeffects of these anthropogenic impacts on the bacterioplanktonthree sampling sites, influenced as well as not influenced bythe industrial discharge, were chosen for comparison andsampled monthly from November 1997 to October 1998. Bacterialabundance ranged between 0.4 to 3.0 × 10⁶ cells ml^-1 with decreasing numbers along the depth profile. Theproportion of actively respiring bacteria, i.e. INT [2-(4-iodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyltetrazolium chloride]reducing cells, never exceeded 10% of DAPI (4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole) stained cells. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to examine the seasonal and spatial distribution of dominant phylogenetic groups of thebacterioplankton. Up to 84% of bacteria detected with DAPIcould be detected via FISH applying the universal bacterialprobe EUB338. Percentages of alpha- and beta-Proteobacteriaand members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium cluster did notexceed 60% of DAPI-stained cells.Beta-Proteobacteriaappeared to be the most abundant group, not only in Traunsee butalso in two reference lakes, Attersee and Hallstättersee. No significant differences in any of the bacterial parameters couldbe detected between the three sampling sites and all measurementswere found in the range reported for oligotrophic lakes. The highdischarge of the Traun River, resulting in a lake water renewaltime of only one year, may diminish possible effects of industrial waste discharge in the pelagic zone.     

Integrated Assessment of Abatement Strategies to Improve Air Quality in Urban Environments, the USIAM Model

Planning effective strategies to combat air pollution in amajor city such as London requires integration ofinformation on atmospheric concentrations and where theyexceed prescribed air quality standards, detailed data onemissions and potential measures to reduce them includingcosts, and a good understanding of the relativecontributions of different emission sources to pollutantconcentrations plus the remaining background. The UrbanScale Integrated Assessment Model (USIAM) is designed as atool to integrate such information, and to explore andassess a variety of potential strategies for improving airquality. It is based on the same principles as theAbatement Strategies Assessment Model (ASAM) that has beenused in the UN Economic Commission for Europe. To startwith the USIAM model is being developed with respect to theparticulate PM₁₀ only, and in particular the primaryparticulate contribution. The secondary particulate istreated as part of the background superimposed on theprimary particulate concentrations; this may need to betreated more specifically at a later stage, particularlywith respect to nitrate formation over the city. The USIAMmodel therefore sets out to examine a selection of severeepisode conditions as well as long-term annual averageconcentrations, and aims to find strategies that aresuccessful in eliminating exceedance of the prescribedtarget concentrations. By ranking different options forabatement of emissions, for example in terms of cost orease of implementation, the USIAM model can also select andprioritise different potential strategies.     

Effects of Nitrogen Supply on the Sensitivity to O3 of Growth and Photosynthesis of Japanese Beech (Fagus crenata) Seedlings

To obtain basic information for evaluating critical levels of O₃ under different nitrogen loads for protecting Japanese beech forests, two-year-old seedlings of Fagus crenata Blume were grown in potted andisol supplied with N as NH₄NO₃ solution at 0, 20 or 50 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and exposed to charcoal-filtered air or O₃ at 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 times the ambient concentration from 16 April to 22 September 2004. The O₃ induced significant reductions in the whole-plant dry mass, net photosynthetic rate at 380 μmol mol⁻¹ CO₂ (A ₃₈₀), carboxylation efficiency (CE) and concentrations of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and total soluble protein (TSP) in the leaves. The concentrations of Rubisco and TSP were negatively correlated with the concentration of leaf acidic amino acid, suggesting that O₃ enhanced the degradation of protein such as Rubisco. The N supply to the soil did not significantly change the whole-plant dry mass and A ₃₈₀, whereas it significantly increased the CE and concentrations of Rubisco and total amino acid. No significant interactive effects of O₃ and N supply to the soil were detected on the growth, photosynthetic parameters and concentrations of protein and amino acid in the leaves. In conclusion, N supply to the soil at ≤50 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ does not significantly change the sensitivity to O₃ of growth and net photosynthesis of Fagus crenata seedlings.     

离子色谱法同时测定水中总氮和总磷

采用碱性过硫酸钾消解—离子色谱法同时测定水中总氮和总磷的含量。该方法避免了国标法中过硫酸钾和氢氧化钠对吸光度的干扰,对总氮和总磷测定的精密度有很大的提高。该方法在实验测定的浓度范围内总氮和总磷的相对标准偏差分别为3.84%和4.24%;总氮和总磷的最低检出限分别为0.007 mg/L和0.009 mg/L,比国标法更低;对实际试样总氮和总磷的加标回收率分别为92.6%～105.3%和94.7%～100.2%。     

Critical Loads of Acidity for Surface Waters in South-Central Ontario, Canada: Regional Application of the First-Order Acidity Balance (FAB) Model

Major sulphur emission control programs have been implemented in North America, resulting in current emissions being ～30% less than those in 1980. However, the level of acidic deposition remaining is still unlikely to promote widespread recovery of aquatic ecosystems. The First-order Acidity Balance (FAB) model has been applied to south-central Ontario (285 lakes in the Muskoka River Catchment) to evaluate the need for further reductions in emissions. As a result of the past decline in deposition, the proportion of lakes with critical loads exceedance has dropped substantially; however, further reductions in sulphur and nitrogen emissions are required to eliminate critical loads exceedance. Based on bulk deposition of sulphate and nitrogen (41.1 mmol_c m^-2 yr^-1 and 62.5 mmol_c m^-2 yr^-1, respectively) for the period 1995–1999, 166 lakes (58.3%) exceedcritical loads. Even with full implementation of SO₂ abatementprograms in Canada (achieved in 1994) and the United States (legislated for 2010), critical loads will be exceeded in a large proportion (46.6%) of the study lakes.     

Immobilisation of beryllium in solid waste (red-mud) by fixation and vitrification

The objective of this study was to obtain information on the immobilization of beryllium (Be) in solid waste generated in the extraction process of beryllium from its ore, Beryl. This solid waste, termed red-mud, contains oxides of iron, aluminium, calcium, magnesium and beryllium. The red-mud waste contains beryllium at levels above the permissible limit, which prevents its disposal as solid waste. The total beryllium content in the red-mud analysed showed value ranging from 0.39 to 0.59% Be The studies showed that 50% of the total beryllium in red-mud can be extracted by water by repeated leaching over a period of 45 days. The cement mix, casting into cement blocks, was subjected to leachability studies over a period of 105 days and immobilization factor (IF factor) was determined. These IF values, of the order of 102, were compared with those obtained by performing leachability study on vitrified red-mud masses produced at different temperature conditions. Direct heating of the red-mud gave the gray coloured, non-transparent vitreous mass (as 'bad glass') showed effective immobilisation factor for beryllium in red-mud of the order of 10(4).     

Model of technological alternatives of production of sodium chromate (VI) with the use of chromic wastes

This article presents a mathematical model which describes the sodium chromate (VI) production process with the use of chromic waste as a substitution of natural raw materials. This model is a function of selected process parameters common for all of the examined alternatives and based on equations of material balance. Optimization of the elaborated technological alternatives of the production process with use of recycling of chromic waste has been evaluated by determining the extreme value of the quality indicator WJ. This indicator defines the quantity of waste created in the process. Optimization results enabled the selection of the optimal technological solution from all of the alternatives possible for use in industrial practice. Negative values of the indicator prove that there is the possibility of introducing to the process a larger quantity of waste than the one obtained in the process and transported to the storage heaps.     

Protozooplankton in the Deep Oligotrophic Traunsee (Austria) Influenced by Discharges of Soda and Salt Industries

Traunsee is a deep oligotrophic lake in Austria characterised by an artificial enrichment of chloride in the hypolimnion (up to 170 mg L^-1) caused by waste disposal of soda and salt industries. Protists were collected monthly over one year, observed alive and after Quantitative Protargol Staining (ciliates) or via epifluorescence microscopy (heterotrophic flagellates). Three sites within the lake (0–40 m depths) were compared to deeper water layers from 60–160 m depths where chloride concentrations and conductivity were increased. In addition, we observed the protozooplankton of two neighbouring lakes, i.e. reference systems, during one sampling occasion. In Traunsee the abundance of ciliates was low (200–36 600 cells L^-1) in contrast to high species diversity (at least 60 different species; H_S = 2.6) throughout the year. The main pelagic species in terms of abundance were small oligotrichs and prostomatids like Rimostrombidium brachykinetum/hyalinum, Balanion planctonicum and Urotricha spp. throughout the investigation period. Among free-living heterotrophic flagellates, which occurred at densities of 40–2800 cells mL^-1, small morphotypes dominated in the pelagial. No differences at the community level between the three lakes could be observed and pelagic ciliates and flagellates seemed not to be affected by increased chloride concentrations or by enhanced conductivity.     

Integrated process development for the recovery of Europium and Yttrium from waste fluorescent powder

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Fluorescent powder plays an important role in the modern electronic lighting products. During the production of electronic lighting products, a...     

Utilisation of IGCC slag and clay steriles in soft mud bricks (by pressing) for use in building bricks manufacturing

The subject of this study is the application to the construction of soft mud bricks (also known as pressed bricks), both green and heat-treated bodies, built from raw materials from Santa Cruz de Mudela, Ciudad Real, and IGCC slag from the power central of Puertollano (Ciudad Real, Spain). For this purpose, industrial level tests have been performed: the production of these kind of bricks from mixes of waste from ores of construction clays and to significant fraction of different ratios and clay granulometries mixed with IGCC slag. The results of this experimentation suggests that not only can IGCC slag be applied to a ceramic process, but also its use gives several advantages, as water and energy savings, as well as improvements on the final properties of products.     

Engineering and Processing of Poly(HydroxyButyrate) (PHB) Modified by Nano-sized Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNP) and Amino-Functionalized Silica (A-fnSiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>)

Manufacturing of plastics by biodegradable polymers can reduce the environmental impact and limit the recourse to non-renewable resources. Physical, chemical and mechanical properties of biodegradable polymers cannot often be comparable with petroleum-based plastics. However, the modification of bioplastics by physical and chemical routes can improve their performance. In this work, Poly(HydroxyButyrate) PHB is reprocessed by the dispersion of graphene nano-platelets as well as by the dispersion of Amino-Functionalized Nano-Silica (A-fnSiO₂). Modification of the PHBs after compounding and pelletizing was evaluated by Fourier Transform Infrared. Thermal analysis was performed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry after extrusion and compression moulding. Hardness and scratch performance of the polymers were measured on compression molded substrates by pencil and progressive and constant load scratch tests. Chemical resistance was evaluated on compression molded substrates by dipping in aggressive acidic, basic and saline aqueous solutions. In conclusion, the PHBs modified by the graphene nanoplatelets were found to be very promising, featuring good chemical inertness, hardness and mechanical strength.     

A Chronology of Nitrogen Deposition in the UK Between 1900 and 2000

Measurements of the concentrations of nitrogen compounds in air and precipitation in the UK have been made since the mid-19th century, but no networks operating to common protocols and having traceable analytical procedures were established until the 1950s. From 1986 onwards, a high-quality network of sampling stations for precipitation chemistry was established across the UK. In the following decade, monitoring networks provided measurement of NO₂, NH₃, HNO₃ and a satisfactory understanding of the dry deposition process for these gases allowed dry deposition to be quantified. Maps of N deposition for oxidized and reduced compounds at a spatial scale of 5 km × 5 km are available from 1986 to 2000. Between 1950 and 1985, the more limited measurements, beginning with those of the European Air Chemistry Network (EACN) provide a reasonable basis to estimate wet deposition of NO ₃ ^– –N and NH ₄ ⁺ –N. For the first half of the century, estimates of deposition were scaled with emissions assuming a constant relationship between emission and deposition for each of the components of the wet and dry deposition budget at the country scale. Emissions of oxidized N, which dominated total nitrogen emissions throughout the century, increased from 312 kt N annually in 1900 to a peak of 787 kt for the decade 1980–1990 and then declined to 460 kt in 2000. Emissions of reduced N, largely from coal combustion were about 168 kt N in 1900, increasing to a peak of 263 kt N in 2000 and by now dominated by agricultural sources. Reduced N dominated the deposition budget at the country scale, increasing from 163 kt N in 1900 to 211 kt N in 2000, while deposition of oxidized N was 66 kt N in 1900 and 191 kt N in 2000. Over the century, 68 Mt (Tg) of fixed N was emitted within the UK, 78% as NO _x , while 29 Mt of nitrogen was deposited (43% of emissions), equivalent to 1.2 t N ha^–1, on average, with 60% in the reduced form. Deposition to semi-natural ecosystems is approximately 15 Tg N, equivalent to between 1 and 5 t N ha^–1, over the century and appears to be accumulating in soil. The N deposition over the century is similar in magnitude to the total soil N inventory in surface horizons.     

Fabrication of Admicelled Natural Rubber by Polycaprolactone for Toughening Poly(lactic acid)

Natural rubber (NR) with polycaprolactone (PCL) core–shell (NR-ad-PCL), synthesized by admicellar polymerization, was acted as an impact modifier for poly(lactic acid) (PLA). PLA and NR-ad-PCL were melt-blended using a co-rotating twin screw extruder. The morphology of PLA/NR-ad-PCL blends showed good adhesion as smooth boundary around rubber particles and PLA matrix. Only 5 wt% of rubber phase, NR-ad-PCL was more effective than NR to enhance toughness and mechanical properties of PLA. The contents of the NR-ad-PCL were varied from 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%. From thermal results, the incorporation of the NR-ad-PCL decreased the glass transition temperature and slightly increased degree of crystallinity of PLA. Mechanical properties of the PLA/NR-ad-PCL blends were investigated by dynamic mechanical analyser, pendulum impact tester and universal testing machine for tension and flexural properties. The increasing NR-ad-PCL contents led to decreasing Young’s and storage moduli but increasing loss modulus. Impact strength and elongation at break of the PLA/NR-ad-PCL blends increased with increasing NR-ad-PCL content up to 15 wt% where the maximum impact strength was about three times higher than that of pure PLA and the elongation at break increased to 79%.     

Applying phytochemical analysis in the pre-selection process of plant-based substrates for biomethanation: the case of avocado oil processing byproducts

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Phytochemicals in avocado oil processing byproducts were evaluated in this study. This information was used to make inferences use of these...