Performance, microbial community and inhibition kinetics of long-term Cu2+ stress on an air-lift nitritation reactor with self-recirculation

Biological nitrogen removal process could be affected due to the presence of heavy metals owing to their toxicity and accumulation in the sludge.In this study,the impact of Cu~(2+)shock on a long-term nitritation operation was investigated in an air-lift reactor with selfrecirculation.Both the dynamics of microbial community and inhibition kinetics under Cu~(2+) stress were ascertained.The results showed that Cu~(2+) exerted severe inhibition on nitritation performance of an air-lift reactor(ALR) at 25 mg/L.The corresponding NH_4~+-N removal efficiency decreased to below 50%,which was mainly due to the variation of microbial community structure,especially the inhibition of nitrifiers like Nitrosomonas(the relative abundance decreased from 30% to 1% after Cu~(2+)inhibition).Kinetic parameters were obtained and compared after fitting the Haldane model.The long-term Cu~(2+) stress on the ALR aggravated the ammonium affinity and the resistance to substrate self-inhibition of the nitritation sludge,but reduced the resistance to Cu~(2+) inhibition.Furthermore,Cu~(2+)acted as uncompetitive inhibitor on nitritation process.Our results provide new insights into the nitritation characteristics under long-term Cu~(2+) stress.     

Preface

正Air pollution as well as climate change and their possible effects on the environment,ecosystems and human health,are pressing challenges.Nowadays,it is clear that sustainable societal development cannot remain solely wealth-oriented,but must take into account the present and future environmental issues.However,this approach is possible only if scientifically sound knowledge in all environmental areas becomes available to our societies and decision makers,which requires a firm     

农用地土壤环境分类管理研究

通过分析国内外农用地土壤环境分类管理经验,结合我国土壤环境质量状况,以土壤环境风险管控为主线,将农用地土壤分为优先保护类、安全利用类和严格管控类3个类别,并提出相应的分类管理措施,保障农产品质量安全和人体健康。     

The gap report of global climate change mitigation,finance, and governance after the United States declared its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

On 1 June 2017, the US President Donald Trump officially announced the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, thus the study on the reasons of withdrawal, the potential impacts, and coping strategies has become a focus among policy circles and of the international community. Based on the self-developed US Policy Assessment Model, this paper systematically evaluates the three potential “major deficits” in terms of mitigation, climate finance, and global climate governance, as a result of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and puts forward policy suggestions for coping with such transformations accordingly. The study shows that the United States ’withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will affect the existence and implementation of successive climate policies and result in an additional 8.8–13.4% increase in the global emissions reduction deficit. The United States’ withdrawal will also deteriorate the existing climate finance mechanism. The Green Climate Fund (GCF)’s funding gap will increase by US$2 billion, while the gap of long-term climate finance will increase by about US$5 billion a year. Either the China–EU or the “BASIC plus” mechanism could fill the governance deficit caused by the United States and the lack of political momentum may continue for a while in the future.     

Influence of aeration modes on leachate characteristic of landfills that adopt the aerobic–anaerobic landfill method

As far as the optimal design, operation, and field application of the Aerobic–Anaerobic Landfill Method (AALM) are concerned, it is very important to understand how aeration modes (different combinations of aeration depth and air injection rate) affect the biodegradation of organic carbon and the transformation of nitrogen in landfill solid waste. Pilot-scale lysimeter experiments were carried out under different aeration modes to obtain detailed information regarding the influence of aeration modes on leachate characteristics. Results from these lysimeter experiments revealed that aeration at the bottom layer was the most effective for decomposition of organic carbon when compared with aeration at the surface or middle layers. Moreover, the air injection rate led to different nitrogen transformation patterns, unlike the lesser influence it has on organic carbon decomposition. Effective simultaneous nitrification and denitrification were observed for the aeration mode with a higher air injection rate (=1.0 L/min). On the other hand, the phenomenon of sequenced nitrification and denitrification could be observed when a low air injection rate (=0.5 L/min.) was employed. Finally, it is concluded that, for AALM, air injection with a higher air injection rate at the deepest layer near the leachate collection pipe tends to accelerate the stabilization of landfill waste as defined in terms of the enhancement of denitrification as well as organic carbon decomposition.     

Crystalline phase evolution behavior and physicochemical properties of glass–ceramics from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Appropriate management and treatment of fly ash from municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration plant have become an urgent environmental protection...     

Environmental impacts of a large-scale incinerator with mixed MSW of high water content from a LCA perspective

Large-scale incinerators are applied widely as a result of the heavy burden of municipal solid waste(MSW) generated, while strong opposition is arising from the public living nearby. A large-scale working incineration plant of 1500 ton/day was chosen for evaluation using life cycle assessment. It was found that the corresponding human toxicity impacts via soil(HTs), human toxicity impacts via water(HTw) and human toxicity impacts via air(HTa)categories are 0.213, 2.171, and 0.012 personal equivalents(PE), and global warming(GW100)and nutrient enrichment(NE) impacts are 0.002 and 0.001 PE per ton of waste burned for this plant. Heavy metals in flue gas, such as Hg and Pb, are the two dominant contributors to the toxicity impact categories, and energy recovery could reduce the GW100 and NE greatly. The corresponding HTs, HTw and HTa decrease to 0.087, 0.911 and 0.008 PE, and GW100 turns into savings of- 0.007 PE due to the increase of the heating value from 3935 to5811 k J/kg, if a trommel screener of 40 mm mesh size is used to pre-separate MSW. MSW sorting and the reduction of water content by physical pressure might be two promising pre-treatment methods to improve the combustion performance, and the application of stricter standards for leachate discharge and the flue gas purification process are two critical factors for improvement of the environmental profile identified in this work.     

Greenhouse gas emission and its potential mitigation process from the waste sector in a large-scale exhibition

As one of the largest human activities, World Expo is an important source of anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas emission (GHG), and the GHG emission and other environmental impacts of the Expo Shanghai 2010, where around 59,397 tons of waste was generated during 184 Expo running days, were assessed by life cycle assessment (LCA). Two scenarios, i.e., the actual and expected figures of the waste sector, were assessed and compared, and 124.01 kg CO₂-equivalent (CO₂-eq.), 4.43 kg SO₂-eq., 4.88 kg NO₃^--eq., and 3509 m³ water per ton tourist waste were found to be released in terms of global warming (GW), acidification (AC), nutrient enrichment (NE) and spoiled groundwater resources (SGWR), respectively. The total GHG emission was around 3499 ton CO₂-eq. from the waste sector in Expo Park, among which 86.47% was generated during the waste landfilling at the rate of 107.24 kg CO₂-eq., and CH₄, CO and other hydrocarbons (HC) were the main contributors. If the waste sorting process had been implemented according to the plan scenario, around 497 ton CO₂-eq. savings could have been attained. Unlike municipal solid waste, with more organic matter content, an incineration plant is more suitable for tourist waste disposal due to its high heating value, from the GHG reduction perspective.     

Progress and prospects of atmospheric environmental sciences in China: Preface

正Anthropogenic emissions impact significantly the atmospheric environment which human being relies on,e.g.,global warming,stratospheric ozone depletion,photochemical smog,acid rain,haze and so on.Although clean air actions have been legislated by many nations to mitigate pollutants’emission with the aim of protecting the atmospheric environment,     

中国大气挥发性有机物控制现状及对策研究

大气挥发性有机物(VOCs)不仅本身具有较强毒性,而且是影响中国区域复合大气污染的重要前体物和参与物。近年来,中国不断加大对VOCs的管控力度,从制定政策体系、建立监测标准等角度采取了一系列的措施。但总体来看,中国大气VOCs控制仍存在许多问题。突出地体现在:基础数据匮乏,排放状况不清;法律法规滞后,污染防治与监管体系不健全;排放标准和监测规范不完善,控制技术亟需革新。基于此,本文从完善法律法规、健全制度体系和加强标准控制等方面提出了加强VOCs管控的思路和对策建议。