Research on transesterification parameters for producing plant sterols with supercritical methanol

The supercritical fluid method, regarded as a type of individual production process in the course of preparing plant sterols, has become a promising technology, which possesses advantages of high conversion rate without any pretreatment and need of a catalyst. This study examined the reaction process of the deodorizer distillate (DOD), which mainly included the direct transesterification of DOD to convert into free sterols. The effects of the ratio of methanol to DOD, reaction temperature and time on transesterification were studied. Furthermore, the interactions between different factors were also assessed using the response surface methodology. The optimal conditions obtained were as follows: reaction temperature 553 K, reaction time 80 min, and CH₃OH: DOD = 25:1 (mass ratio). Under these conditions, 36.42% sterol concentration was obtained, which is significantly higher in comparison with the initial sterols’ concentration in raw material (22.45%).     

灾害条件下多层次应急疏散模型的构建方法研究

人们每天都要面对各种造成严重财产和人身安全损失的重大灾害,如何建立灾害条件下中国人口高密度大范围的应急疏散模型,具有重大的意义。该文基于我国灾害条件下高密度人口的集体疏散模式,按照灾害区域的具体情况和人口分布,以道路实时速度和路面损毁程度所决定的道路阻抗性作为评判道路疏散能力的依据,构建从危险区域的多集结点到安全区域的多安置点的多层次应急疏散模型,确定集体疏散人员的疏散路径、人数和车辆,实现在最短的时间内的受灾群众整体最优疏散,并以山东省德州发生地震作为实验区,采用Google Map API和C#搭建多层次应急疏散平台,验证了多层次应急疏散模型的可行性。     

AHLs群体感应信号分子对硝化污泥附着生长及硝化效果的影响

污水生物脱氮系统中的硝化菌生长慢、易流失,人为添加N-酰基高丝氨酸内酯类(AHLs)群体感应信号分子,可能会强化硝化菌生物膜的形成,从而有助于富集硝化菌,提高硝化效率.本研究以采用低碳氮比(C∶N=8)人工配置废水驯化100 d后的硝化活性污泥为菌源,人为外加2μmol·L-1的AHLs信号分子(C8-HSL或OHHL),分析了两种信号分子对硝化污泥静态附着、氨氮动态降解及微生物生长速率的影响.研究结果表明,信号分子OHHL能快速强化微生物附着生长,且能在一定时间内持续发挥作用,有助于硝化生物膜的形成;而信号分子C8-HSL则能明显提高硝化污泥的氨氮降解速率;两种信号分子都能促进硝化污泥生长,提高微生物生长速率,增强硝化污泥活性,加速硝化污泥生物量累积.人为添加C8-HSL或OHHL信号分子,不仅能保证氨氮降解效率还能降低出水硝氮浓度,减轻氮污染.     

Could wastewater analysis be a useful tool for China? — A review

Analysingwastewater samples is an innovative approach that overcomesmany limitations of traditional surveys to identify and measure a range of chemicals that were consumed by or exposed to people living in a sewer catchment area. First conceptualised in 2001, much progress has been made to make wastewater analysis (WWA) a reliable and robust tool for measuring chemical consumption and/or exposure. At the moment, the most popular application of WWA, sometimes referred as sewage epidemiology, is to monitor the consumption of illicit drugs in communities around the globe, including China. The approach has been largely adopted by lawenforcement agencies as a device tomonitor the temporal and geographical patterns of drug consumption. In the future, themethodology can be extended to other chemicals including biomarkers of population health (e.g. environmental or oxidative stress biomarkers, lifestyle indicators or medications that are taken by different demographic groups) and pollutants that people are exposed to (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated chemicals, and toxic pesticides). The extension of WWA to a huge range of chemicals may give rise to a field called sewage chemical-information mining (SCIM) with unexplored potentials. China has many densely populated cities with thousands of sewage treatment plants which are favourable for applying WWA/SCIM in order to help relevant authorities gather information about illicit drug consumption and population health status. However, there are some prerequisites and uncertainties of the methodology that should be addressed for SCIM to reach its full potential in China.     

Mobility and sulfidization of heavy metals in sediments of a shallow eutrophic lake,Lake Taihu,China

The technique of DGT (diffusive gradients in thin films) using three diffusive gel thicknesses was applied to estimate the mobility and bioavailability of heavy metals in sediments and porewater of Lake Taihu, China. The DGT results showed significantly positive correlations between Co, Pb, Cd and Mn, and Ni and Fe concentrations in porewater. Cu and Zn showed a significantly negative correlation with Mn, due to Cu combination with carbonates and Zn derived from agricultural pollution, respectively. The rank order of average concentrations of Co, Ni and Cd at each station was DGT_1.92 > DGT_0.78 > DGT_0.39, suggesting stronger resupply from sediments to porewater when using thicker diffusive gels. Comparing centrifugation and DGT measurements, Co, Ni and Cd are highly labile; Mn and Fe are moderately labile; and Cu, Zn and Pb are slightly labile. The variations of AVS concentrations in sediment cores indicate that metal sulfides in deeper layers are easily diffused into surface sediments.     

Structure and function of rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil microbial community respond differently to elevated ozone in field-planted wheat

To assess the responses of the soil microbial community to chronic ozone (O₃), wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum Linn.) were planted in the field and exposed to elevated O₃ (eO₃) concentration. Three treatments were employed: (1) Control treatment (CK), AOT40 = 0; (2) O₃-1, AOT40 = 1.59 ppm•h; (3) O₃-2, AOT40 = 9.17 ppm•h. Soil samples were collected for the assessment of microbial biomass C, community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs), and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs). EO₃ concentration significantly reduced soil microbial carbon and changed microbial CLPPs in rhizosphere soil, but not in non-rhizosphere soil. The results of the PLFAs showed that eO₃ concentrations had significant effects on soil community structure in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils. The relative abundances of fungal and actinomycetous indicator PLFAs decreased in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils, while those of bacterial PLFAs increased. Thus the results proved that eO₃ concentration significantly changed the soil microbial community function and composition, which would influence the soil nutrient supply and carbon dynamics under O₃ exposure.     

Effect of AlCl3 concentration on nanoparticle removal by coagulation

In recent years, engineered nanoparticles, as a new group of contaminants emerging in natural water, have been given more attention. In order to understand the behavior of nanoparticles in the conventional water treatment process, three kinds of nanoparticle suspensions, namely multi-walled carbon nanotube-humic acid (MWCNT-HA), multi-walled carbon nanotube-N,N-dimethylformamide (MWCNT-DMF) and nanoTiO₂-humic acid (TiO₂-HA) were employed to investigate their coagulation removal efficiencies with varying aluminum chloride (AlCl₃) concentrations. Results showed that nanoparticle removal rate curves had a reverse “U” shape with increasing concentration of aluminum ion (Al^3 +). More than 90% of nanoparticles could be effectively removed by an appropriate Al^3 + concentration. At higher Al^3 + concentration, nanoparticles would be restabilized. The hydrodynamic particle size of nanoparticles was found to be the crucial factor influencing the effective concentration range (ECR) of Al^3 + for nanoparticle removal. The ECR of Al^3 + followed the order MWCNT-DMF > MWCNT-HA > TiO₂-HA, which is the reverse of the nanoparticle size trend. At a given concentration, smaller nanoparticles carry more surface charges, and thus consume more coagulants for neutralization. Therefore, over-saturation occurred at relatively higher Al^3 + concentration and a wider ECR was obtained. The ECR became broader with increasing pH because of the smaller hydrodynamic particle size of nanoparticles at higher pH values. A high ionic strength of NaCl can also widen the ECR due to its strong potential to compress the electric double layer. It was concluded that it is important to adjust the dose of Al^3 + in the ECR for nanoparticle removal in water treatment.     

肇庆市市区与风景区空气质量对比分析

分析了肇庆市2013年七星岩风景区和市区的空气质量。监测结果表明,七星岩与市区的各类大气污染物呈现类似的月际变化规律,普遍呈夏季污染较轻但秋冬季污染较严重的态势。七星岩的臭氧浓度显著高于市区,PM10与PM2.5浓度略高于市区,与市区相比,大多数月份七星岩具有较低的SO2、NOx与CO浓度,表明七星岩的空气一次污染较轻,但二次污染严重。七星岩风景区空气质量差于市区,大量天然源VOC叠加少量人为排放的气态污染物生成较多二次污染物是导致自然风景区空气质量差于市区的重要原因。