Towards a Symbiosis: Urban Development and Environmental Quality in the Taipei Metropolitan Region

Environmental quality in urban areas has become an increasingly important topic in Taiwan. Previous research involving the interrelationshipsbetween urban development and environmental quality have rarely emphasized the symbiosis between urban areas and the natural environment. In recent years, the discipline of ecological economics has applied ecological energetic analysis to evaluate the contribution of the natural environment to an urban system. In addition, system simulation also plays a prominent role in assessing the dynamic interrelations between humans, economics and ecological systems. On the basis of an ecological economics perspective, this paper establishes indices of environmental quality and develops an ecological system model to simulate the interrelationshipsbetween urban developmentand environmentalquality of the Taipei metropolitan region. Furthermore, this paper not only proposes future development alternatives and strategies, but also initiates scenarios of the Taipei metropolitan region for policy simulation. According to those results, future development in the Taipei metropolitan region should adjust the interface and mechanism between man and nature for sustainable development.     

水泥窑协同处置村镇生活垃圾

针对位于新型干法水泥厂附近且生活垃圾收运较为困难的村镇,提出了一种利用新型干法水泥窑协同处置垃圾的简易模式。实验将预处理后的村镇生活垃圾定量喂入水泥窑系统中,并对比了掺烧20、50和80 t村镇生活垃圾前后,水泥熟料品质、窑系统工况以及污染物排放的情况。结果表明:实验期间在80 t范围内,生活垃圾的掺烧使水泥熟料抗压强度最多降低3 MPa,但仍符合国家标准;对水泥窑衬结皮和窑工况稳定性基本没有影响;同时对水泥窑系统污染物排放量无负面影响,烟气中二恶英的含量为0.004 0 ng TEQ/m3,远远低于国家标准。     

水功能区划在流域排污权初始分配中的应用——以沙颖河流域为例

排污权交易是治理环境污染问题的有效手段,排污权初始分配则是排污权交易制度实施的基础,在流域水功能区划基础上研究排污权初始分配问题,将有助于流域排污权交易制度的有效实施.结合我国现行行政特征和流域水功能区划成果,以行政单元作为排污权初始分配主体开展排污权初始分配研究.选取沙颍河流域为例,根据淮河水利委员会制定的沙颍河流域水功能区划及COD、氨氮限排总量要求,以COD、氨氮作为排污权初始分配的客体,通过等比例削减方法对沙颍河流域内的行政单元进行了排污权初始分配,得到了流域内各行政单元的COD、氨氮初始排放权,并将分配结果与区域社会经济发展水平等进行了比较研究,研究认为将水功能区划应用于排污权初始分配研究是一种有效的尝试.在此基础上探讨了关于排污权初始分配的政策可行性、初始分配的方法及地方政府定位等几方面问题,目的在于为将来的排污权分配研究工作提供一些思考和建议.     

细菌SOD对微生物紫外光辐射损伤的恢复作用

将培养至对数中期的大肠杆菌、钝齿棒杆菌和啤酒酵母等３种微生物的细胞适度稀释液，分别涂布于培养皿上使受紫外光照射，在细胞受辐射后死亡率大于９０％时停止照射，立即加入一定剂量的细菌超氧化物岐化酶（ＳＯＤ），以观察ＳＯＤ对微生物活力的恢复效应．结果表明，ＳＯＤ可使受辐照的细胞存活率显著提高，且量效关系明显，而照前添加ＳＯＤ则无上述效应．检测表明，紫外光照射可引发细菌的超弱发光，且该种超弱发光可因氧气的充入而瞬间增强，鲁米诺也能增强这种超弱发光，加入甘露醇对发光无影响．当紫外光照射后加入ＳＯＤ能使发光强度大为减弱，表明此种超弱发光与的活动有关，并对ＳＯＤ拮抗紫外线杀菌的机理作了讨论．     

Sorption and desorption of Cu and Cd by macroalgae and microalgae

The sorption and desorption of Cu and Cd by two species of brown macroalgae and five species of microalgae were studied. The two brown macroalgae, Laminaria japonica and Sargassum kjellmanianum, were found to have high capacities at pHs between 4.0 and 5.0 while for microalgae, optimum pH lay at 6.7. The presence of other cations in solution was found to reduce the sorption of the target cation, suggesting a competition for sorption sites on organisms. Sorption isotherms obeyed the Freundlich equation, suggesting involvement of a multiplicity of mechanisms and sorption sites. For the microalgae tested, Spirulina platensis had the highest capacity for Cd, followed by Nannochloropsis oculata, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Platymonas cordifolia and Chaetoceros minutissimus. The reversibility of metal sorption by macroalgae was examined and the results show that both HCl and EDTA solutions were very effective in desorbing sorbed metal ions from macroalgae, with up to 99.5% of metals being recovered. The regenerated biomass showed undiminished sorption performance for the two metals studied, suggesting the potential of such material for use in water and wastewater treatment.     

Disinfection and removal of human pathogenic bacteria in arctic waste stabilization ponds

Wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) are commonly used to treat municipal wastewater in Arctic Canada. The biological treatment in the WSPs is strongly influenced by climatic conditions. Currently, there is limited information about the removal of fecal and pathogenic bacteria during the short cool summer treatment season. With relevance to public health, the objectives of this paper were to determine if treatment in arctic WSPs resulted in the disinfection (i.e., removal of fecal indicator bacteria, Escherichia coli) and removal of selected human bacterial pathogens from the treated effluent. The treatment performance, with focus on microbial removal, was assessed for the one-cell WSP in Pond Inlet (Nunavut [NU]) and two-cell WSP in Clyde River (NU) over three consecutive (2012–2014) summer treatment seasons (late June-early September). The WSPs provided a primary disinfection treatment of the wastewater with a 2–3 Log removal of generic indicator E. coli. The bacterial pathogens Salmonella spp., pathogenic E. coli, and Listeria monocytogenes, but not Campylobacter spp. and Helicobacter pylori, were detected in the untreated and treated wastewater, indicating that human pathogens were not reliably removed. Seasonal and annual variations in temperature significantly (p < 0.05) affected the disinfection efficiency. Improved disinfection and pathogen removal was observed for the two-cell system in Clyde River as compared to the one-cell system in Pond Inlet. A quantitative microbial risk assessment should be performed to determine if the release of low levels of human pathogens into the arctic environment poses a human health risk.     

Chlorobenzenes removal from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash by surfactant-assisted column flotation

The organic contaminants in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash, including chlorinated aromatic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, have high toxicity and a potential negative impact on the environment. An effective and low energy consumption technique to remove the organic contaminants from MSWI fly ash is required urgently. Organic contaminants, such as chlorobenzenes (CBzs), in MSWI fly ash are known to become enriched in the unburnt carbon (UC) fraction. It is proposed that removal of UC from fly ash will result in the effective removal of most organic micropollutants. In this research, we use a technique of surfactant-assisted column flotation to decontaminate MSWI fly ash by removal of the CBzs-enriched UC from MSWI fly ash. We find that 39.8% of CBzs can be removed from fresh MSWI fly ash with 61.7% UC removal efficiency, whereas only 33.2% of CBzs can be removed from weathered MSWI fly ash with a low UC removal efficiency of 33.7%. By adding a mixture of two kinds of surfactants: sorbitan mono-oleate and polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan mono-oleate to the weathered fly ash, 47.0% of CBzs were removed at the hydrophile lipophile balance value of 13.5, while the UC removal efficiency increased to 49.0%. The results show that surfactants can enhance CBzs and UC removal efficiencies during the column flotation process. Higher CBzs and UC removal efficiencies can be expected by further optimizing the conditions of surfactant-assisted column flotation.     

Decomposition of dichloromethane and in situ alkali absorption of resulting halogenated products by a packed-bed non-thermal plasma reactor

For an effective decomposition and removal of organic halogenated compounds, a packed-bed non-thermal plasma reactor with in situ absorption of the resulting halogenated products by alkaline sorbent incorporated was proposed. In the plasma reactor, α-Al₂O₃ particles of 1 and 3 mm (mean particle diameter) were packed as solid dielectric medium to enhance the plasma power density in the reactor. Further, alkaline sorbent of Ca(OH)₂ was doped onto the surface of α-Al₂O₃ particles, in order to remove halogenated products by in situ absorption with Ca(OH)₂. A high-voltage and high-frequency pulsed power of −15 to 15 kV and 1 kHz was applied to the wire electrode of the plasma reactor by means of a DC power source. In the present study, as the sample of an organic halogenated compound that is most popularly used, we selected dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂), and 500 ppm of the initial concentration of CH₂Cl₂ was fed into the reactor accompanied by air at a fixed flow rate of 500 × 10⁻⁶ m³ min⁻¹ at room temperature. As a result, it was recognized that the amount of CH₂Cl₂ decomposed by non-thermal plasma in an α-Al₂O₃ particle bed increased with an increase in plasma input power. The ratio of decomposition of CH₂Cl₂ was almost 100% at 13 kV of electric power and 1 kHz frequency, and CO₂, CH₃Cl, COCl₂, HCl, and Cl₂ were observed as the major reaction products. On the other hand, when CH₂Cl₂ was introduced into the plasma reactor where α-Al₂O₃ particles doped with Ca(OH)₂ were packed, the ratio of decomposition of CH₂Cl₂ became higher, compared to the case that α-Al₂O₃ particles were not doped with Ca(OH)₂. Moreover, there were no halogenated by-product gases detected in the outlet gas from the reactor. As the solid reaction products, CaClOH and Ca(ClO)₂·4H₂O were detected on Ca(OH)₂ by X-ray diffraction. From these findings, it was recognized that CH₂Cl₂ was decomposed more effectively without producing unwanted harmful halogenated by-products in the proposed non-thermal plasma reactor where α-Al₂O₃ particles doped with Ca(OH)₂ sorbent were packed.     

Spatial and seasonal variation and sources of deposition fluxes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Shanghai

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Spatial and temporal variations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) deposition fluxes and sources may significantly facilitate risk evaluation...     

The simultaneous removal of ammonium and manganese from surface water by MeOx: Side effect of ammonium presence on manganese removal

Manganese and ammonium pollution in surface water sources has become a serious issue.In this study, a pilot-scale filtration system was used to investigate the effect of ammonium on manganese removal during the simultaneous removal of ammonium and manganese from surface water using a manganese co-oxide filter film(MeO_x ). The results showed that the manganese removal efficiency of MeO_x in the absence of ammonium was high and stable, and the removal efficiency could reach 70% even at 5.5 °C. When the influent ammonium concentration was lower than 0.7 mg/L, ammonium and manganese could be removed simultaneously. However, at an ammonium concentration of 1.5 mg/L, the manganese removal efficiency of the filter gradually decreased with time(from 96% to 46.20%). Nevertheless, there was no impact of manganese on ammonium removal. The mechanism by which ammonium negatively affected manganese removal was investigated, demonstrating that ammonium affected manganese removal mainly through two possible mechanisms. On one hand, the decreased p H caused by ammonium oxidation was unfavorable for the oxidation of manganese by MeO_x ; on the other hand, the presence of ammonium slowed the growth of new MeO_x and retarded the increase in the specific surface area of the Me Ox-coated sand, and induced changes in the morphology and crystal structure of Me Ox. Consequently, the manganese removal efficiency of the filter decreased when ammonium was present in the inlet water.