Using FeGAC/H2O2 process for landfill leachate treatment

Due to the growing concern of highly contaminated landfill leachate problems in Taiwan, an innovative advanced catalytic oxidation (FeGAC/H(2)O(2)) process was developed and employed in this research to treat the landfill leachate from central Taiwan. Experimental results indicated that the FeGAC/H(2)O(2) process could effectively remove organic compounds from landfill leachate. The presence of iron oxide coated granular activated carbon (FeGAC) greatly improved the oxidative ability of H(2)O(2) for the removal of humic acids, fulvic acids and non-humic substance from leachate. For instance, at pH 6, the removal efficiencies of FeGAC/H(2)O(2) and H(2)O(2) processes were 70% and 8%, respectively. FeGAC/H(2)O(2) combined both advantages of FeGAC and H(2)O(2) where FeGAC had good organics adsorption ability and could effectively catalyse the hydrogen peroxide oxidation reaction for organics removal.     

Evaluation of nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate on nitrogen leaching in undisturbed soil columns

The application of nitrogen fertilizers leads to various ecological problems such as nitrate leaching. The use of nitrification inhibitors (NI) as nitrate leaching retardants is a proposal that has been suggested for inclusion in regulations in many countries. In this study, the efficacy of the new NI, 3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate (DMPP), was tested under simulated high-risk leaching situations in two types of undisturbed soil columns. The results showed that the accumulative leaching losses of soil nitrate under treatment of urea with 1.0% DMPP, from columns of silt loam soil and heavy clay soil, were 66.8% and 69.5% lower than those soil columns tested with regular urea application within the 60 days observation, respectively. However, the losses of ammonium leaching were reversely increased 9.7% and 6.7% under the former treatment than the latter one. Application of regular urea with 1.0% DMPP addition can reduce about 59.3%-63.1% of total losses of inorganic nitrogen via leaching. The application of DMPP to urea had stimulated the inhibition effects of DMPP on the ammonium nitrification process in the soil up to 60 days. It is proposed that the DMPP could be used as an effective NI to control inorganic N leaching losses, minimizing the risk of nitrate pollution in shallow groundwater.     

Pressurized CO2/zero valent iron system for nitrate removal

A fluidized zero valent iron (ZVI) reactor pressurized by CO(2) gas for controlling pH was employed for nitrate reduction. The proposed CO(2) pressurized system potentially has advantages of using less CO(2) gas and reaching equilibrium pH faster than CO(2)-bubbled system. However, due to weak acid nature of carbonic acid, system pH gradually increased with increasing oxidation of ZVI and reduction of nitrate. As pH increased with progress of reaction, nitrate removal rate decreased continuously. The results indicate that nitrate removal efficiency increases with increasing initial ZVI dosage but reaches plateau at ZVI doses of higher than 8.25gl(-1), and initial nitrate concentration up to 100mg l(-1) as N has minimal impact on the removal efficiency. Unlike the fluidized system with pH control by strong acid reported in our pervious study, near 100% of nitrogen recovery was observed in the current process, indicating that nitrate reduction by ZVI with different pH controlled mechanisms will have different reaction routes.     

The study on the dechlorination of OCDD with Pd/C catalyst in ethanol-water solution under mild conditions

Dechlorination of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) was carried out in ethanol-water (v/v=1:1) solution of NaOH in the presence of Pd/C catalysts with the use of H(2). The substrate was dechlorinated with Pd/C under mild conditions (atmospheric pressure and <100 degrees C) to give a chlorine-free product, dibenzo-p-dioxin (DD), in high yields. After reaction of 3h at 50 degrees C, 95.9% OCDD was degraded to low dechlorinated congeners and the yield of DD was 77.4%. We have also studied the dechlorination selectivity of chlorine atoms on the different substituted positions and postulated the dechlorination pathway of OCDD. For OCDD, the 2-position has higher reactivity than 1-position, but the difference is very small. From the distribution statistics of the intermediates during the reaction, we postulate that the steric effect plays an important role during the reaction and affect the dechlorination pathway of OCDD.     

Influence of the DMPP (3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate) on nitrogen transformation and leaching in multi-layer soil columns

The application of nitrogen fertilizers leads to various ecological problems such as nitrate leaching. The use of nitrification inhibitors as nitrate leaching retardants is a proposal that has been suggested for inclusion in regulations in many countries. In this study, using a multi-layer soil column device, the influence of new nitrification inhibitor DMPP (3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate) was studied for understanding the nitrogen vertical transformation and lowering the nitrate leaching at different soil profile depths. The results indicated that, within 60 d of experiment, the regular urea added 1.0% DMPP can effectively inhibit the ammonium oxidation in the soil, and improve the ammonium concentration in soil solution over the 20cm depths of soil profile, while decline the concentrations of nitrate and nitrite. No obvious difference was found on ammonium concentrations in soil solution collected from deep profile under 20cm depths between regular urea and the urea added 1.0% DMPP. There was also no significant difference for the nitrate, ammonium and nitrite concentrations in the soil solution under 40cm depths of soil profile with the increasing nitrogen application level, among the treatments of urea added 1.0% DMPP within 60 d. It is proposed that DMPP could be used as an effective nitrification inhibitor in some region to control ammonium oxidation and decline the ion-nitrogen leaching, minimizing the shallow groundwater pollution risk and being beneficial for the ecological environment.     

Mechanism of decolorization and degradation of CI Direct Red 23 by ozonation combined with sonolysis

The decolorization and degradation of CI Direct Red 23, which is suspected to be carcinogenic, were investigated using ozonation combined with sonolysis. The results showed that the combination of ozonation and sonolysis was a highly effective way to remove color from waste water. The operational parameters, namely concentration of the dye, pH, ozone dose and ultrasonic density, were investigated during the process. The decolorization of the dye followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Increasing the initial concentration of Direct Red 23 led to a decreasing rate constant. The optimum pH for the reaction was 8.0, and both lower and higher pH decreased the removal rate. The effect of the ozone dose on the dye decolorization was much greater than that of the sonolysis density. Intermediates such as naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid, 1-naphthol, urea and acetamide were detected by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in the absence of pH buffer, while nitrate and sulfate ions and formic, acetic and oxalic acids were detected by ion chromatography. A tentative degradation pathway was proposed without any further quantitative analyses. During the degradation, all nitrogen atoms and phenyl groups of Direct Red 23 were degraded into urea, nitrate ion, nitrogen and formic, acetic and oxalic acids, etc.     

In situ studies on the distribution patterns and dynamics of microcystins in a biomanipulation fish--bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis)

The distribution and dynamics of microcystins in various organs of the phytoplanktivorous bighead carp were studied monthly in Lake Taihu, which is dominated by toxic cyanobacteria. There was a good agreement between LC-MS and HPLC-UV determinations. Average recoveries of spiked fish samples were 63% for MC-RR and 71% for MC-LR. The highest MC contents in intestine, liver, kidney and spleen were 85.67, 2.83, 1.70 and 1.57 microg g-1 DW, respectively. MCs were much higher in mid-gut walls (1.22 microg g-1 DW) than in hind- and fore-gut walls (0.31 and 0.18 microg g-1 DW, respectively), suggesting the importance of mid-gut wall as major site for MC absorption. A cysteine conjugate of MC-LR was detected frequently in kidney. Among the muscle samples analyzed, 25% were above the provisional tolerable daily intake level by WHO. Bighead is strongly resistant to microcystins and can be used as biomanipulation fish to counteract cyanotoxin contamination in eutrophic waters.     

Photoelectrocatalytic degradation of pentachlorophenol in aqueous solution using a TiO2 nanotube film electrode

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube film electrodes are fabricated by the anodic oxidation method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that these tubes were well aligned and organized into high-density uniform arrays. XRD analysis showed the TiO2 nanotubes to be in the anatase crystal form. The TiO2 nanotube film electrode exhibited increased photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) capability compared to a traditional TiO2 film electrode fabricated using the anodizing method for pentachlorophenol (PCP) degradation in aqueous solution. The bias potential, pH value, and electrolyte concentration were shown to be important factors influencing the degradation of PCP by the PEC method using the TiO2 nanotube film electrode as the working electrode.     

Non-aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments near the Pearl River estuary in the South China Sea

Surface sediment samples at 4 sites along an offshore transect from outer continental shelf off the Pearl River estuary to the shelf slope region of the northern South China Sea, have been analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), solvent extractable organic matter (EOM) and non-aromatic hydrocarbons. TOC, TN and EOM show distinct spatial variations. Their highest values are all recorded at the shelf slope region. EOM varies from 18.70-38.58 microgg(-1) dry sediment and accounts for 0.20-0.72% of the TOC contents. The non-aromatic hydrocarbons are an important fraction of EOM. Their contents range from 3.43-7.06 microgg(-1) dry sediment. n-Alkanes with carbon number ranging from 15-38 are identified. They derive from both biogenic and petrogenic sources in different proportions. Results of isoprenoid hydrocarbons, hopanes and steranes also suggest possible petroleum contamination.     

Biohydrogen production through fermentation using liquid swine manure as substrate

In this paper, continuous production of hydrogen through fermentation with liquid swine manure as substrate was researched using a semi-continuously fed fermenter (8 L in total volume and 4 L in working volume). The pH and temperature for the fermenter were controlled at 5.3 +/- 0.1 and 35 +/- 1 degrees C, respectively, throughout the experiment. Three hydraulic retention times (16, 20, and 24 h) were investigated for their impact on the efficiency and performance of the fermenter in terms of hydrogen yields. The results indicate that hydraulic retention time (HRT) has a strong influence on the fermenter performance. An increasing HRT would increase the variation in hydrogen concentration in the offgas. To produce hydrogen with a fairly consistent concentration, the HRT of the fermenter should not exceed 16 h, which, however, did not appear to be short enough to control methanogenesis because the offgas still contained about 5% methane. When methane content in the offgas exceeded 2%, an inverse linear relationship between hydrogen and methane was observed with a correlation coefficient of 0.9699. To increase hydrogen content in the offgas, methane production has to be limited to below 2%. Also, keeping oxygen content in the fermenter below 1.5% would increase the hydrogen concentration to over 15%. The product to substrate ratio was found to be around 50% for the fermenter system studied, evidenced by the observation that for every 6 liters of manure fermented, 3 liters of pure hydrogen were produced, which was significant and encouraging.