预防煤炭自燃的注砂技术实验研究

山砂是我国西北部矿区地表的主要自然资源之一,但如用其直接作为煤矿注浆防灭火的原料,不仅会造成输送管路的堵塞,还会引起输送管路的严重磨损。为此,首先研究了常见增稠剂羧甲基纤维素、聚丙烯酰胺和聚丙烯酸钠等对砂粒的悬浮性能,实验结果表明它们只能延缓砂粒的沉降。进而从理论上分析了砂粒悬浮的条件,发现具有一定屈服应力的假塑性流体特性的液体才能悬浮砂粒;并且悬浮砂粒粒径越大,所需屈服应力也越大。基于理论分析,研制了具有该特性的浆液,山砂在该浆液中不仅具有良好的悬浮性能,浆液还具有输送阻力小的特性。管道输送试验表明,浆液稳定性和流动阻力符合实际要求。     

Quantification of intrinsic water use efficiency along a moisture gradient in Northeastern China

Water use efficiency (WUE) is an important ecophysiological characteristic of plants, especially in semiarid and arid regions. At the scale of community or ecosystem, WUE is difficult to quantify because the amount of water used per unit dry mass production is a function of microclimatic variables and species composition. In this study, we analyzed corrected intrinsic water use efficiency (IWUE(s)) of grass and shrub species along the western segment of the Northeast China Transect (NECT) and the relationship between IWUE(s) and mean annual rainfall, habitat degradation status, vegetation type, and plant functional type (C3 versus C4) at 22 survey sites. Site intrinsic water use efficiency (IWUE(v)) and its relationship with the aforementioned site variables were analyzed based on species frequencies at each site. First, it was concluded that photosynthetic pathway played a very important role in determining species IWUE(s). Mean IWUE(s) for C4 species was approximately double that of C3 species. Second, mean annual rainfall, vegetation type, and site degradation status significantly affected IWUE(s) (p < 0.01). Mean IWUE(s) at degraded sites was twice as high as that at nondegraded sites. The mean IWUE(s) for meadows was significantly higher than those for other vegetation types (p < 0.05). Third, the frequency of occurrence of C4 plants explained 36% of the variance in IWUE(v) across the survey sites. The mean frequency of C4 occurrence at degraded sites was more than double that at nondegraded sites. Consequently, mean IWUE(v) at degraded sites was more than double that at nondegraded sites. Dominant C4 species in saline-alkaline areas tended to have higher intrinsic WUE than dominant C4 species in sandy shrub communities.     

Facile Preparation of Chitosan Films for High Performance Removal of Reactive Blue 19 Dye from Aqueous Solution

This study aimed at finding effective strategies for high-performance removal of reactive blue 19 (RB19) dye from aqueous solution. Chitosan (CS) films had been prepared by using solvent casting with mild drying for this purpose. The CS films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The performance of RB19 removal using CS were evaluated by varying contact time, solution pH, initial dye concentration, and adsorbent dosage. Adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and desorption were investigated by batch experiments. Results showed that CS films exhibited the optimal adsorption performance for RB19 removal and high maximum adsorption capacities of RB19, which were 799 and 822.4 mg g^?1 at 20 and 40 °C, respectively. Adsorption kinetic data were well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. FTIR analyses further indicated that interactions between RB19 and the CS film occurred during adsorption. The CS films also exhibited satisfactory desorption of RB19 at about 80 % after 30 min of desorption at pH 11. Our study demonstrated that the CS films can be easily prepared and applied for effective removal of RB19 in treatment of wastewater.     

Report on the fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists,ECOTOX

The fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists took place on 25 to 27 November 2014 in Biarritz, France. The main aim of the meeting was to bring together ecotoxicologists from INRA and associated partners, providing them ample opportunity to share and discuss their latest scientific results as well as the national policy of research in ecotoxicology and to precise perspectives for the network.     

The temporal stability and developmental differences in the environmental impacts of militarism: the treadmill of destruction and consumption-based carbon emissions

This study examines the relationship between national-level militarism and consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions. We analyze panel data from 1990 to 2010 for 81 nations to determine whether the magnitude of the effects of (1) military expenditures as percent of total gross domestic product and (2) military personnel as percent of total labor force on carbon emissions change over time. Results of two-way fixed effects models highlight the temporal stability of the environmental impacts of both national-level military characteristics. The findings also reveal that the effect of military expenditures on emissions is larger in the more developed OECD nations than in the developing non-OECD nations. Overall, the results support the treadmill of destruction perspective, which suggests that the nations’ militaries are an important social institution to consider in sustainability science research on the human drivers of global environmental change.     

Carbon dioxide emissions,output, and energy consumption categories in Algeria

This study examines the relation between CO₂ emissions, income, non-renewable, and renewable energy consumption in Algeria during the period extending from 1980 to 2011. Our work gives particular attention to the validity of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) with break point method outcome demonstrates the positive effect of non-renewable type of energy on CO₂ emissions consumption. On the contrary, the results reveal an insignificant effect of renewable energy on environment improvement. Moreover, the results accept the existence of EKC hypothesis but the highest gross domestic product value in logarithm scale of our data is inferior to the estimated turning point. Consequently, policy-makers in Algeria should expand the ratio of renewable energy and should decrease the quota of non-renewable energy consumption.