Life cycle modelling of fossil fuel power generation with post-combustion CO2 capture

Due to its compatibility with the current energy infrastructures and the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions significantly, CO₂ capture and geological storage is recognised as one of the main options in the portfolio of greenhouse gas mitigation technologies being developed worldwide. The CO₂ capture technologies offer a number of alternatives, which involve different energy consumption rates and subsequent environmental impacts. While the main objective of this technology is to minimise the atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, it is also important to ensure that CO₂ capture and storage does not aggravate other environmental concerns. This requires a holistic and system-wide environmental assessment rather than focusing on the greenhouse gases only. Life Cycle Assessment meets this criteria as it not only tracks energy and non-energy-related greenhouse gas releases but also tracks various other environmental releases, such as solid wastes, toxic substances and common air pollutants, as well as the consumption of other resources, such as water, minerals and land use. This paper presents the principles of the CO₂ capture and storage LCA model developed at Imperial College and uses the pulverised coal post-combustion capture example to demonstrate the methodology in detail. At first, the LCA models developed for the coal combustion system and the chemical absorption CO₂ capture system are presented together with examples of relevant model applications. Next, the two models are applied to a plant with post-combustion CO₂ capture, in order to compare the life cycle environmental performance of systems with and without CO₂ capture. The LCA results for the alternative post-combustion CO₂ capture methods (including MEA, K⁺/PZ, and KS-1) have shown that, compared to plants without capture, the alternative CO₂ capture methods can achieve approximately 80% reduction in global warming potential without a significant increase in other life cycle impact categories. The results have also shown that, of all the solvent options modelled, KS-1 performed the best in most impact categories.     

Concentrations,atmospheric partitioning,and air–water/soil surface exchange of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran along the upper reaches of the Haihe River basin,North China

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran (PCDD/PCDF) were overall measured and compared in ambient air, water, soils, and sediments along the upper reaches of the Haihe River of North China, so as to evaluate their concentrations, profiles, and to understand the processes of gas–particle partitioning and air–water/soil exchange. The following results were obtained: (1) The average concentrations (toxic equivalents, TEQs) of 2,3,7,8-PCDD/PCDF in air, water, sediment, and soil samples were 4,855 fg/m³, 9.5 pg/L, 99.2 pg/g dry weight (dw), and 56.4 pg/g (203 fg TEQ/m³, 0.46 pg TEQ/L, 2.2 pg TEQ/g dw, and 1.3 pg TEQ/g, respectively), respectively. (2) Although OCDF, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF, OCDD, and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD were the dominant congeners among four environmental sinks, obvious discrepancies of these congener and homologue patterns of PCDD/PCDF were observed still. (3) Significant linear correlations for PCDD/PCDF were observed between the gas–particle partition coefficient (K _p) and the subcooled liquid vapor pressure (P _L ⁰) and octanol–air partition coefficient (K _oa). (4) Fugacity fraction values of air–water exchange indicated that most of PCDD/PCDF homologues were dominated by net volatilization from water into air. The low-chlorinated PCDD/PCDF (tetra- to hexa-) presented a strong net volatilization from the soil into air, while high-chlorinated PCDD/PCDF (hepta- to octa-) were mainly close to equilibrium for air–soil exchange.     

改性膨润土联合混凝剂处理微污染水中有机物

采用十二烷基多糖苷季铵盐作为改性剂制备改性膨润土,研究了改性膨润土联合混凝剂去除有机物的效果,考察了有机改性剂用量、微波辐射功率、辐射时间、膨润土投加量、pH值对有机物去除效果的影响,探讨了改性膨润土的改性和去除机理。结果表明,经微波改性后,实现了十二烷基多糖苷季铵盐阳离子对膨润土的插层,增大了层间距,提高了膨润土的吸附性能。联合混凝剂投加改性膨润土能够改善絮凝性能,显著提高有机物的去除效果。在最佳条件下,改性膨润土与PAC联合后的强化混凝,对初始浓度15.3 mg/L的微污染水中有机物的去除率达到95%以上,吸附符合Freundlich吸附等温方程。     

Concentration and health risk evaluation of heavy metals in market-sold vegetables and fishes based on questionnaires in Beijing,China

Concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Zn) in market vegetables and fishes in Beijing, China, are investigated, and their health risk to local consumers is evaluated by calculating the target hazard quotient (THQ). The heavy metal concentrations in vegetables and fishes ranged from not detectable (ND) to 0.21 mg/kg fresh weight (f.w.) (As), ND to 0.10 mg/kg f.w. (Cd), and n.d to 0.57 mg/kg f.w. (Pb), with average concentrations of 0.17, 0.04, and 0.24 mg/kg f.w., respectively. The measured concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Zn are generally lower than the safety limits given by the Chinese regulation safety and quality standards of agriculture products (GB2762-2012). As, Cd, and Pb contaminations are found in vegetables and fishes. The exceeding standard rates are 19 % for As, 3 % for Cd, and 25 % for Pb. Pb contaminations are found quite focused on the fish samples from traditional agri-product markets. The paper further analyzed the health risk of heavy metals in vegetables and fishes respectively from supermarkets and traditional agri-product markets; the results showed that the fishes of traditional agri-product markets have higher health risk, while the supermarkets have vegetables of higher heavy metal risk, and the supervision should be strengthened in the fish supply channels in traditional agri-product markets.     

铁氧化物复合氧化铝催化臭氧化过程中溴酸盐的生成控制

以市售活性炭、硅藻土和氧化铝小球为载体,考察了负载铁基活性组分对催化臭氧化过程中溴酸盐的控制情况,其中,铁基复合氧化铝小球体现出更好的溴酸盐还原特性和催化剂稳定性,证实催化剂中铁氧化物是溴酸盐得到有效控制的主要活性组分。进一步考察了铁基复合氧化铝小球催化臭氧化处理实际原水过程中对溴酸盐的生成控制,以及反应过程中溶解性有机碳（DOC）的去除情况。结果表明,与单独臭氧化相比,该催化剂既能有效去除水中的溶解性有机物,又能明显抑制溴酸盐的生成,反应50h,其活性并没有明显下降。催化剂失活主要归因于吸附位点数量的下降,可以通过负载铁氧化物来实现催化剂的再生。     

An Optimal Model and Its Application for the Management of Municipal Solid Waste from Regional Small Cities in China

Abstract

Based on the basic characteristics of municipal solid waste (MSW) from regional small cities in China, some optimal management principles have been put forward: regional optimization, long-term optimization, and integrated treatment/disposal optimization. According to these principles, an optimal MSW management model for regional small cities is developed and provides a useful method to manage MSW from regional small cities. A case study application of the optimal model is described and shows that the optimal management scenarios in the controlling region can be gained, adequately validating and accounting for the advantages of the optimal model.     

电化学工艺处理有机废水的研究进展

综述了目前国内外学者在二维电极和三维电极的开发和改进方面的研究成果,指出了电化学氧化技术和电极材料的主要研究方向和发展趋势.提出为解决电化学水处理技术中提高电催化效率和延长电极寿命的问题,当前研究的主要方向应集中在阳极材料、反应器结构和处理工艺方面.     

Effects of T-2 toxin on histopathology,fatty acid and water distribution of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) muscle

T-2 toxin (T-2), one of the naturally occurring mycotoxins, often accumulates in aquatic animals from contaminated feed. Shrimp (n?=?30 per group) were fed with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.5, 4.5 and 13.5?mg kg^?1) of T-2 for 20?days. Changes in histopathology, fatty acid and water distribution of shrimp muscle were analyzed. Histopathology of shrimp muscle showed dose-dependent marked degenerative and necrotic changes on exposure to dietary T-2. The T-2 significantly (P?<?0.05) affected the muscle fatty acid composition. ∑SFA, ∑MUFA and ∑PUFA initially decreased and then increased slowly in the high-dosed groups. C16:0, C18:1n-9 and C18:2n-6 were the main saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), respectively. Also, T-2 significantly affected water distribution in shrimp muscle. High doses of T-2 reduced free water content, resulting in a reduction in the water holding capacity and hence changes to the shrimp muscle quality. Collectively, these results illustrated that T-2 significantly affects the fatty acid and water distribution, and also muscle histopathology, all of which would result in a reduction in the quality and nutritional value of shrimp.     

Dechlorination of hexachlorobenzene using lead–iron bimetallic particles

Synthesized lead–iron (Pb/Fe) bimetallic particles were applied to dechlorinate hexachlorobenzene (HCB) under various conditions (e.g. bimetal amount, initial pH value, reaction temperature, and reaction duration). The results showed that adding Pb onto Fe benefited the dechlorination of HCB and the bimetal with 1.4% Pb content performed best. The degradation rate decreased regularly as the initial pH value of the aqueous increased from 1.9 to 11.1 except for pH 7.0 where the fastest dechlorination rate emerged. The dechlorination could be enhanced by increasing the amount of Pb/Fe or the reaction temperature. The dechlorination ratio of HCB within 15 min increased from 24.3% to 81.3% when Pb/Fe amount increased from 0.1 g to 0.8 g. The dechlorination followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the dechlorination rate constants were 0.0027, 0.0064, 0.0157, and 0.0321 min^?1 at 25, 50, 70, and 85 °C, respectively, and the activation energy (E_a) of the dechlorination by Pb/Fe was 37.86 kJ mol^?1.     

The effects of residual tetracycline on soil enzymatic activities and plant growth

A pot trial was carried out to investigate the adverse effects of tetracycline (TC) on soil microbial communities, microbial activities, and the growth of ryegrass (Lolium perenne L). The results showed that the presence of TC significantly disturbed the structure of microbial communities and inhibited soil microbial activities in terms of urease, acid phosphatase and dehydrogenase (p < 0.05). Plant biomass was adversely influenced by TC, especially the roots with a reduction of 40% when compared with the control. Furthermore, TC decreased the assimilation of phosphorus by the plant although the concentration of phosphorus was increased by 20% due to decreased plant biomass. TC seemed to increase the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (by 20%) in soil. The findings implied that the agricultural use of animal manure or fishpond sediment containing considerable amounts of antibiotics may give rise to ecological risks.