Air quality and health benefits from potential coal power plant closures in Texas

As power production from renewable energy and natural gas grows, closures of some coal-fired power plants in Texas become increasingly likely. In this study, the potential effects of such closures on air quality and human health were analyzed by linking a regional photochemical model with a health impacts assessment tool. The impacts varied significantly across 13 of the state’s largest coal-fired power plants, sometimes by more than an order of magnitude, even after normalizing by generation. While some power plants had negligible impacts on concentrations at important monitors, average impacts up to 0.5 parts per billion (ppb) and 0.2 µg/m³ and maximum impacts up to 3.3 ppb and 0.9 µg/m³ were seen for ozone and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), respectively. Individual power plants impacted average visibility by up to 0.25 deciviews in Class I Areas. Health impacts arose mostly from PM_2.5 and were an order of magnitude higher for plants that lack scrubbers for SO₂. Rankings of health impacts were largely consistent across the base model results and two reduced form models. Carbon dioxide emissions were relatively uniform, ranging from 1.00 to 1.26 short tons/MWh, and can be monetized based on a social cost of carbon. Despite all of these unpaid externalities, estimated direct costs of each power plant exceeded wholesale power prices in 2016.

Implications: While their CO₂ emission rates are fairly similar, sharply different NO_x and SO₂ emission rates and spatial factors cause coal-fired power plants to vary by an order of magnitude in their impacts on ozone, particulate matter, and associated health and visibility outcomes. On a monetized basis, the air pollution health impacts often exceed the value of the electricity generated and are of similar magnitude to climate impacts. This suggests that both air pollution and climate should be considered if externalities are used to inform decision making about power-plant dispatch and retirement.     

医疗废物中有机质的热解动力学研究

在空气气氛下,对医疗废物中几种有代表性的有机质进行非等温热解实验。分析实验结果发现,热解失重曲线与N2气氛下不同,出现多个DTG峰。利用Freeman Carroll法求出了各有机质的表观动力学参数,并建立了能较好反映各物料失重过程的表观多步反应动力学模型。针对混合物料无法直接求出表观动力学参数,建立了多组分反应动力学模型。     

医疗废物中有机质的热解动力学研究

在空气气氛下，对医疗废物中几种有代表性的有机质进行非等温热解实验。分析实验结果发现，热解失重曲线与N2气氛下不同，出现多个DTG峰。利用Freeman—CarroⅡ法求出了各有机质的表观动力学参数，并建立了能较好反映各物料失重过程的表观多步反应动力学模型。针对混合物料无法直接求出表观动力学参数，建立了多组分反应动力学模型。     

菌丝体表面分子印迹壳聚糖吸附剂对Cr3+的吸附性能研究

菌丝体表面分子印迹吸附剂所保留的印迹对过渡金属离子有着良好的吸附作用,以Cr3 作为吸附离子,系统研究了该吸附剂的吸附特性和影响因素.结果表明:吸附剂对Cr3 的饱和吸附容量可达60 mg/g;其吸附行为满足Langmuir方程式.初始浓度为200 mg/L时,最佳吸附pH在3～4,吸附容量可达到50 mg/g左右,离子强度对吸附没有影响,用0.5 mol/L硝酸或硫酸解吸Cr3 ,解吸率在90%以上.     

磷酸钕共沉淀选择性分离富集-原子吸收测定环境水样中痕量铅

研究提出了用磷酸钕(NdPO4)作为共沉淀捕集剂分离富集环境水样中的痕量Pb2 ,用火焰原子吸收光谱(FAAS)测定的方法.共沉淀受pH、NdCl3和H3PO4溶液用量的影响.结果显示,在溶液pH为3.2时,20 mL水样中加入5 mg/L NdCl3 2 mL、0.5 mol/L H3PO4 3 mL条件下,铅的加标回收率为96.6%～104.2%,方法的检测限为5.7×10-3 mg/L,水体中常见碱金属、碱土金属离子及阴离子在一定范围内不影响测定.     

室内霉菌污染原因及其控制对策

通过对建筑墙体内湿气迁移过程的研究，详细分析了霉菌污染产生的原因。通过夏、冬两季平均气候条件下沿墙厚度温度、相对湿度分布和湿积累量的具体计算，得出墙内的相对湿度将达到或超过70％，有时甚至处于饱和状态，从而为霉菌的生长提供了有利条件。基于分析结果，提出了对于室内霉菌污染的控制对策。     

固相微萃取-毛细管气相色谱法测定水中的低分子醛、酮、醇

固相微萃取是一种快速、简便、集萃取浓缩于一体的样品前处理技术,具有分析快速、灵敏度高、无需有机溶剂的优点.用固相微萃取-毛细管气相色谱分析水中甲醇、丙酮、异丙醇、乙醇、乙腈、丙烯腈,检出限可达0.003～0.03 mg/L.     

交联菌丝体吸附剂的制备及其对Cr^3＋的吸附特性

深入研究了交联菌丝体吸附剂的制备工艺及其对Cr^3＋的吸附特性。交联菌丝体吸附剂制备工艺简单，但在制备过程中，活化剂NaOH和交联剂的用量对吸附特性影响较大。与纯菌丝体吸附剂相比，交联菌丝体吸附剂表观吸附容量提高48％，达到49．83mg／g（pH=2．53，水溶液中的Cr^3＋浓度为600mg／L），同时其机械强度明显增强。交联菌丝体吸附剂对Cr^3＋的吸附特点是将沉淀法与吸附法相结合，将沉淀与吸附两过程合二为一，从而简化了处理工艺，降低了处理成本。     

Evaluation of PCDD/Fs patterns emitted from incinerator via direct ambient sampling and indirect serum levels assessment of Taiwanese

The aim of this study was to evaluate the PCDD/Fs patterns in ambient air based on data information emitted from incinerator generated from ambient air measurements and those in serum. Four circular zones, namely A, B, C, and D, were identified based on simulated ambient annual average PCDD/Fs concentrations, from a selected municipal waste incinerator. Sixteen ambient samples were taken from the 4 circular zones across 4-seasons. Eighty-nine volunteers were recruited according to the demographic distribution within each zone. PCDD/Fs profiles were documented both for air and serum samples collected. Comparing to the congener patterns from ambient air and serum samples, we found that OCDD, OCDF, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF were the predominant groups among 17 congeners from both the ambient air and serum sample. And, factor analysis showed the distribution patterns of PCDD/Fs from ambient air and serum samples are almost identical across different zones, except for congener patterns of serum samples from residents in zone C. In addition, the average PCDD/Fs level significantly reduced for about 10 folds than those of the other three seasons when the incinerator was shut down in one of sampling periods. We might conclude that ambient air exposure was the most important contributor to PCDD/Fs levels in ambient air but not the single in serum. Therefore, another or more powerful source, such as occupational exposure, dietary intake or the consumption of local food, should be further investigated at the same time.     

Determination of PAH sources in dated sediments from Green Bay, Wisconsin, by a chemical mass balance model

Six sediment cores were collected from Green Bay, Wisconsin, in order to identify possible sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by a chemical mass balance (CMB) model. The cores which were obtained in 1995 had total PAH concentrations between 8.04 and 0.460 ppm. 210Pb and 137Cs dating was used to determine historical trends of PAH inputs, and elemental carbon particle analysis was done to characterize particles from combustion of coal, wood and petroleum. The results show that coke burning, highway dust, and wood burning are likely sources of PAHs to Green Bay. The contribution of coke oven emissions (CB) for the Green Bay cores is in the range of 5 to 90%. The overall highway dust (HWY) contribution is between 5 and 70%. There is a maximum (approximately 67%) contribution of HWY around 1988 which is in agreement with the historical US petroleum consumption. The wood burning (WB) contribution is between 1 to 30%, except in core GB-A where a maximum (approximately 50%) is found around 1994. The average relative errors of measurement for x2 equal to the number of degrees of freedom, are 52.5, 56.2, 36.2, 52.3, and 42.8 (df = 3) for the Green Bay cores A, B, C, E, and F, respectively. The sums of the contribution factors are less than one, indicating gain of inert biological or other bulk material between source and receptor. The results of carbon particles for Green Bay core D show that coal, oil, and wood burning are consistent with the CMB modeling results.