Applying a new method for direct collection, volume quantification and determination of N2 emission from water

The emission of N₂ is important to remove excess N from lakes, ponds, and wetlands. To investigate the gas emission from water, Gao et al. (2013) developed a new method using a bubble trap device to collect gas samples from waters. However, the determination accuracy of sampling volume and gas component concentration was still debatable. In this study, the method was optimized for in situ sampling, accurate volume measurement and direct injection to a gas chromatograph for the analysis of N₂ and other gases. By the optimized new method, the recovery rate for N₂ was 100.28% on average; the mean coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.9997; the limit of detection was 0.02%. We further assessed the effects of the new method, bottle full of water, vs. vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods, on variations of N₂ concentration as influenced by sample storage times of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 days at constant temperature of 15°C, using indices of averaged relative peak area (%) in comparison with the averaged relative peak area of each method at 0 day. The indices of the bottle full of water method were the lowest (99.5%-108.5%) compared to the indices of vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods (119%-217%). Meanwhile, the gas chromatograph determination of other gas components (O₂, CH₄, and N₂O) was also accurate. The new method was an alternative way to investigate N₂ released from various kinds of aquatic ecosystems.     

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase transfer protocol for the highly efficient extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous phase

A 1-dodecanethiol-based phase-transfer protocol is developed for the extraction of noble metal ions from aqueous solution to a hydrocarbon phase, which calls for first mixing the aqueous metal ion solution with an ethanolic solution of 1-dodecanethiol, and then extracting the coordination compounds formed between noble metal ions and 1-dodecanethiol into a non-polar organic solvent. A number of characterization techniques, including inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis demonstrate that this protocol could be applied to extract a wide variety of noble metal ions from water to dichloromethane with an efficiency of >96%, and has high selectivity for the separation of the noble metal ions from other transition metals. It is therefore an attractive alternative for the extraction of noble metals from water, soil, or waste printed circuit boards.     

Effect of six kinds of scale inhibitors on calcium carbonate precipitation in high salinity wastewater at high temperatures

Precipitation of calcium carbonate(Ca CO3) scale on heat transfer surfaces is a serious and expensive problem widely occurring in numerous industrial processes. In this study, we compared the scale inhibition effect of six kinds of commercial scale inhibitors and screened out the best one(scale inhibitor SQ-1211) to investigate its scale inhibition performance in highly saline conditions at high temperature through static scale inhibition tests. The influences of scale inhibitor dosage, temperature, heating time and p H on the inhibition efficiency of the optimal scale inhibitor were investigated. The morphologies and crystal structures of the precipitates were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction analysis. Results showed that the scale inhibition efficiency of the optimal scale inhibitor decreased with the increase of the reaction temperature. When the concentration of Ca2+was 1600 mg/L, the scale inhibition rate could reach 90.7% at 80°C at p H 8. The optimal scale inhibitor could effectively retard scaling at high temperature. In the presence of the optimal scale inhibitor, the main crystal structure of Ca CO3 changed from calcite to aragonite.     

Immobilization of lead in anthropogenic contaminated soils using phosphates with/without oxalic acid

Understanding the effects of oxalic acid(OA) on the immobilization of Pb(Ⅱ) in contaminated soils by phosphate materials, has considerable benefits for risk assessment and remediation strategies for the soil. A series of phosphate amendments with/without oxalic acid were applied to two anthropogenic contaminated soils. We investigated the immobilization of Pb(Ⅱ) by KH2PO4, phosphate rock(PR), activated phosphate rock(APR) and synthetic hydroxyapatite(HAP) at different phosphate:Pb(P:Pb) molar ratios(0, 0.6, 2.0 and 4.0) in the presence/absence of 50 mmol oxalic acid/kg soil, respectively. The effects of treatments were evaluated using single extraction with deionized water or Ca Cl2, Community Bureau of Reference(BCR) sequential extraction and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure(TCLP)methods. Our results showed that the concentration of water extractable, exchangeable and TCLP-Pb all decreased with incubation time. The concentration of water-extractable Pb after120 days was reduced by 100% when soils were amended with APR, HAP and HAP + OA, and the TCLP-Pb was 5 mg/L for the red soil at P:Pb molar ratio 4.0. Water-soluble Pb could not be detected and the TCLP-Pb was 5 mg/L at all treatments applied to the yellow-brown soil. BCR results indicated that APR was most effective, although a slight enhancement of water-soluble phosphate was detected at the P:Pb molar ratio 4.0 at the beginning of incubation. Oxalic acid activated phosphates, and so mixing insoluble phosphates with oxalic acid may be a useful strategy to improve their effectiveness in reducing Pb bioavailability.     

Do vehicular emissions dominate the source of C6–C8 aromatics in the megacity Shanghai of eastern China?

The characteristic ratios of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) to i-pentane, the indicator of vehicular emissions, were employed to apportion the vehicular and non-vehicular contributions to reactive species in urban Shanghai. Two kinds of tunnel experiments, one tunnel with more than 90% light duty gasoline vehicles and the other with more than 60% light duty diesel vehicles, were carried out to study the characteristic ratios of vehicle-related emissions from December 2009 to January 2010. Based on the experiments, the characteristic ratios of C6–C8aromatics to i-pentane of vehicular emissions were 0.53 ± 0.08(benzene), 0.70 ± 0.12(toluene),0.41 ± 0.09(m,p-xylenes), 0.16 ± 0.04(o-xylene), 0.023 ± 0.011(styrene), and 0.15 ± 0.02(ethylbenzene), respectively. The source apportionment results showed that around 23.3% of C6–C8 aromatics in urban Shanghai were from vehicular emissions, which meant that the non-vehicular emissions had more importance. These findings suggested that emission control of non-vehicular sources, i.e. industrial emissions, should also receive attention in addition to the control of vehicle-related emissions in Shanghai. The chemical removal of VOCs during the transport from emissions to the receptor site had a large impact on the apportionment results. Generally, the overestimation of vehicular contributions would occur when the VOC reaction rate constant with OH radicals(k OH) was larger than that of the vehicular indicator, while for species with smaller k OH than the vehicular indicator, the vehicular contribution would be underestimated by the method of characteristic ratios.     

Applying a new method for direct collection,volume quantification and determination of N2 emission from water

The emission of N2 is important to remove excess N from lakes, ponds, and wetlands. To investigate the gas emission from water, Gao et al.(2013) developed a new method using a bubble trap device to collect gas samples from waters. However, the determination accuracy of sampling volume and gas component concentration was still debatable. In this study, the method was optimized for in situ sampling, accurate volume measurement and direct injection to a gas chromatograph for the analysis of N2 and other gases. By the optimized new method, the recovery rate for N2 was 100.28% on average; the mean coefficient of determination(R2) was 0.9997; the limit of detection was 0.02%. We further assessed the effects of the new method, bottle full of water, vs. vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods, on variations of N2 concentration as influenced by sample storage times of 1,2, 3, 5, and 7 days at constant temperature of 15°C, using indices of averaged relative peak area(%) in comparison with the averaged relative peak area of each method at 0 day.The indices of the bottle full of water method were the lowest(99.5%–108.5%) compared to the indices of vacuum bag and vacuum vial methods(119%–217%). Meanwhile, the gas chromatograph determination of other gas components(O2, CH4, and N2O) was also accurate. The new method was an alternative way to investigate N2 released from various kinds of aquatic ecosystems.     

Piriformospora indica confers cadmium tolerance in Nicotiana tabacum

Piriformospora indica, a root-colonizing endophytic fungus of Sebacinales, promotes plant growth and confers resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses. In order to confirm the influence of P. indica on growth, proline, malondialdehyde (MDA), chlorophyll, and cadmium (Cd) amounts in Nicotiana tabacum under Cd stress, hydroponics, pot and field trials were conducted. The results showed that P. indica can store Cd in plant roots and reduce leaf Cd content, reduce the concentration of MDA, and increase the proline and chlorophyll content and the activities of catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase under hydroponic Cd stress. RT-PCR analysis showed that the relative expression level of genes Gsh2, TaPCS1, oas1, GPX, and Hsp70 in colonized plants was 4.3, 1.4, 2.9, 1.7, and 6.9 fold higher than in un-colonized plants respectively. Cd exposure significantly reduced un-colonized plants'' agronomic traits compared to P. indica-colonized ones. Our results suggested that P. indica can sequester Cd in roots, so that much less cadmium was transported to leaves, and the increased concentrations of antioxidant enzymes, pigments and proline contents, as well as the higher expression of stress-related phytochelatin biosynthesis genes in P. indica-inoculated plants, may also serve to protect N. tabacum plants against oxidative damage, enhancing Cd tolerance.     

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.     

Excretion of manure-borne estrogens and androgens and their potential risk estimation in the Yangtze River Basin

The Yangtze River is the longest river in China, and the river basin spans one fifth of the area of the whole country. Based on statistical data, the excretion of manure-borne steroid hormones, including steroid estrogens(SEs) and steroid androgens(SAs), in 10 provinces of China within the region has been estimated. The potential environmental and ecological risk of manure-borne steroid estrogens to the surface water in this region was also assessed. The manure-borne SE and SA excretions in the 10 provinces and municipalities vary in the order: Sichuan Hunan Hubei Yunnan Jiangsu Anhui Jiangxi Chongqing Qinghai Shanghai. The highest increase of manure-borne SEs(1434.3 kg)and SAs(408.5 kg) was found in Hunan and Hubei provinces, respectively, and the total excretion in 2013 was 65% more than 15 years earlier in these two provinces. However, the emissions in Anhui and Shanghai decreased in this 15 year period of time. Swine urine,chicken feces, cattle urine, and laying hen feces were considered the dominant sources of manure-borne E1, βE2, αE2, and SAs, respectively. Although Jiangsu province did not have the largest excretion of manure-borne SEs, it had the highest level of predicted17β-estradiol equivalency(EEQs) value of 16.65 ng/L in surface water because of the limited surface water resources. According to the lowest observable effect level of 10 ng/L for17β-estradiol, the manure-borne SEs in Jiangsu province might potentially pose ecological risk to its wild aquatic organisms.     

Effect of aeration rate on composting of penicillin mycelial dreg

Pilot scale experiments with forced aeration were conducted to estimate effects of aeration rates on the performance of composting penicillin mycelial dreg using sewage sludge as inoculation. Three aeration rates of 0.15, 0.50 and 0.90 L/(min·kg) organic matter(OM) were examined. The principal physicochemical parameters were monitored during the 32 day composting period. Results showed that the higher aeration rate of 0.90 L/(min·kg) did not corresponded to a longer thermophilic duration and higher rates of OM degradation;but the lower aeration rate of 0.15 L/(min·kg) did induce an accumulation of NH+4-N contents due to the inhibition of nitrification. On the other hand, aeration rate has little effect on degradation of penicillin. The results show that the longest phase of thermophilic temperatures ≥ 55°C, the maximum NO-3-N content and seed germination, and the minimum C/N ratio were obtained with 0.50 L/(min·kg) OM. Therefore, aeration rates of0.50 L/(min·kg) OM can be recommended for composting penicillin mycelial dreg.