Cesium migration in saturated silica sand and Hanford sediments as impacted by ionic strength

Large amounts of 137Cs have been accidentally released to the subsurface from the Hanford nuclear site in the state of Washington, USA. The cesium-containing liquids varied in ionic strengths, and often had high electrolyte contents, mainly in the form of NaNO3 and NaOH, reaching concentrations up to several moles per liter. In this study, we investigated the effect of ionic strengths on Cs migration through two types of porous media: silica sand and Hanford sediments. Cesium sorption and transport was studied in 1, 10, 100, and 1000 mM NaCl electrolyte solutions at pH 10. Sorption isotherms were constructed from batch equilibrium experiments and the batch-derived sorption parameters were compared with column breakthrough curves. Column transport experiments were analyzed with a two-site equilibrium-nonequilibrium model. Cesium sorption to the silica sand in batch experiments showed a linear sorption isotherm for all ionic strengths, which matched well with the results from the column experiments at 100 and 1000 mM ionic strength; however, the column experiments at 1 and 10 mM ionic strength indicated a nonlinear sorption behavior of Cs to the silica sand. Transport through silica sand occurred under one-site sorption and equilibrium conditions. Cesium sorption to Hanford sediments in both batch and column experiments was best described with a nonlinear Freundlich isotherm. The column experiments indicated that Cs transport in Hanford sediments occurred under two-site equilibrium and nonequilibrium sorption. The effect of ionic strength on Cs transport was much more pronounced in Hanford sediments than in silica sands. Effective retardation factors of Cs during transport through Hanford sediments were reduced by a factor of 10 when the ionic strength increased from 100 to 1000 mM; for silica sand, the effective retardation was reduced by a factor of 10 when ionic strength increased from 1 to 1000 mM. A two order of magnitude change in ionic strength was needed in the silica sand to observe the same change in Cs retardation as in Hanford sediments.     

Seasonal variation in the composition and concentration of butyltin compounds in marine fish of Taiwan

For the first time, strong evidence is presented to demonstrate that the accumulations of butyltin compounds (BTs) exhibit seasonal variations with respect to their compositions and concentrations in marine fishes. Measurements were made on the benthic ponyfish Leiogenathus splendens and lizardfish Trachinocephalus myops inhabiting the west coast of Taiwan. In the whole body samples of the ponyfish, BT concentrations ranged from 236 to 2501 ng/g wet wt, with those in winter considerably higher than in the other seasons (p < 0.05 ). In a similar vein, proportions of mono- (MBT), di- (DBT) and tributyltin (TBT) differed significantly (p < 0.001) depending upon the season, with TBT (75 and 50%) dominant in winter and spring and DBT (37 and 57%) and MBT (42 and 24%) dominant in summer and autumn, respectively. In the lizardfish, the concentrations of BTs were one to two orders of magnitude higher in the liver than in the muscle, i.e. 3058-11,473 vs. 36-159 ng/g wet wt, respectively. Concentrations of MBT, DBT and TBT in the muscle ranged, respectively, from 5 to 14, 8 to 35 and 23 to 110 ng/g wet wt, with the major compound being TBT (57-69%) in all seasons. However, in the liver, DBT concentrations, ranging from 992 to 7797 ng/g wet wt, differed seasonally with a descending order of autumn>summer>spring (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, TBT (41%) was predominant in spring, whereas DBT (50 and 68%) was most heavily concentrated in summer and autumn (p < 0.001). Seasonally mediated physiological changes, such as dilution due to growth and metabolic compensation, may play important roles in forming different BT accumulation patterns among seasons and organisms.     

生物活性炭法深度处理纺织废水二级出水中生物活性的研究

采用上流式曝气生物活性炭法处理碱减量印染废水二级生物处理出水,利用TTC-脱氢酶活性(DHA)法监测反应器内DHA生物活性分布.研究发现反应器内生物炭表面附着生物膜活性较高,特别是反应器上部生物碳粒同样具有较高的DHA活性,这与反应器运行一年多能够保持对COD、色度和UV等较高去除率有一定关系.还研究了活性炭吸附、反应器反冲洗对DHA活性的影响.本研究为曝气生物活性炭法有效去除印染碱减量废水中难降解有机物提供了一定的理论依据.     

Effects of butachlor on microbial populations and enzyme activities in paddy soil

This paper reports the influences of the herbicide butachlor (n-butoxymethlchloro -2', 6'-diethylacetnilide) on microbial populations, respiration, nitrogen fixation and nitrification, and on the activities of dehydrogenase and hydrogen peroxidase in paddy soil. The results showed that the number of actinomycetes declined significantly after the application of butachlor at different concentrations ranging from 5.5 microg g(-1) to 22.0 microg g(-1) dried soil, while that of bacteria and fungi increased. Fungi were easily affected by butachlor compared to the bacteria. The growth of fungi was retarded by butachlor at higher concentrations. Butachlor however, stimulated the growth of anaerobic hydrolytic fermentative bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and denitrifying bacteria. The increased concentration of butachlor applied resulted in the higher number of SRB. Butachlor inhibited the growth of hydrogen-producing acetogenic bacteria. The effect of butachlor varied on methane-producing bacteria (MPB) at different concentrations. Butachlor at the concentration of 1.0 microg g(-1) dried soil or less than this concentration accelerated the growth of MPB, while at 22.0 microg g(-1) dried soil showed an inhibition. Butachlor enhanced the activity of dehydrogenase at increasing concentrations. The soil dehydrogenase showed the highest activity on the 16th day after application of 22.0 microg g(-1) dried soil of butachlor. The hydrogen peroxidase could be stimulated by butachlor. The soil respiration was depressed during the period from several days to more than 20 days, depending on concentrations of butachlor applied. Both the nitrogen fixation and nitrification were stimulated in the beginning but reduced greatly afterwards in paddy soil.     

填闲作物防治菜田土壤硝酸盐污染的研究进展

探讨了通过调整蔬菜生产的轮作结构 ,运用生物修复的原理 ,引入适宜的深根系填闲作物对深层土壤硝酸盐吸收利用 ,以避免硝酸盐进一步淋失 ,提高氮素的利用率的可行性。填闲作物应选择生长迅速、生物量大、氮素累积能力强的作物 ,在考虑填闲作物防治硝酸盐淋溶的同时 ,要兼顾其经济利用价值 ,并指出结合深根系的填闲作物进行合理轮作是蔬菜安全生产及可持续发展的途径之一     

Photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes by nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanocatalysts

This study examined the photocatalytic degradation of three azo dyes, acid orange 7 (AO7), procion red MX-5B (MX-5B) and reactive black 5 (RB5) using a new type of nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanocrystals. These newly developed doped titania nanocatalysts demonstrated high reactivity under visible light (lambda>390 nm), allowing more efficient usage of solar light. The doped titania were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Experiments were conducted to compare the photocatalytic activities of nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanocatalysts and commercially available Degussa P25 powder using both UV illumination and solar light. It is shown that nitrogen-doped TiO2 after calcination had the highest photocatalytic activity among all three catalysts tested, with 95% of AO7 decolorized in 1 h under UV illumination. The doped TiO2 also exhibited substantial photocatalytic activity under direct sunlight irradiation, with 70% of the dye color removed in 1h and complete decolorization within 3 h. Degussa P25 did not cause detectable dye decolorization under identical experimental conditions using solar light. The decrease of total organic carbon (TOC) and evolution of inorganic sulfate (SO4(2-)) ions in dye solutions were measured to monitor the dye mineralization process.     

汽车尾气催化转化器模型研究进展

本文主要介绍汽车尾气催化转化器模型的研究进展 ,包括反应器内气体流动特性、单通道反应器内的传递现象和反应动力学、通道间的热传递和反应行为的模拟 ;并指出认识反应器内的各种特性和规律对设计汽车尾气催化转化器的必要性和意义     

Characterization of metal adsorption kinetic properties in batch and fixed-bed reactors

Copper adsorption kinetic properties in batch and fixed-bed reactors were studied in this paper. The isothermal adsorption experiments showed that the copper adsorption capacity of a granular activated carbon (Filtrasorb 200) increased when ionic strength was higher. The presence of EDTA diminished the adsorption. An intraparticle diffusion model and a fixed-bed model were successfully used to describe the batch kinetic and fixed-bed operation behaviors. The kinetics became faster when the solution pH was not controlled, implying that the surface precipitation caused some metal uptake. The external mass transfer coefficient, the diffusivity and the dispersion coefficient were obtained from the modeling. It was found that both external mass transfer and dispersion coefficients increased when the flow rate was higher. Finally effects of kinetic parameters on simulation of fixed-bed operation were conducted.     

Biohydrogen production in continuous-flow reactor using mixed microbial culture.

The goal of the proposed project was to develop an anaerobic fermentation process that converts negative-value organic wastes into hydrogen-rich gas in a continuous-flow reactor under different operating conditions, such as hydraulic retention time (HRT), heat treatment, pH, and substrates. A series of batch tests were also conducted in parallel to the continuous study to evaluate the hydrogen conversion efficiency of two different organic substrates, namely sucrose and starch. A heat shock (at 90 degrees C for 15 minutes) was applied to the sludge in an external heating chamber known as a sludge activation chamber, as a method to impose a selection pressure to eliminate non-spore-forming, hydrogen-consuming bacteria and to activate spore germination. The experimental results showed that the heat activation of biomass enhanced hydrogen production by selecting for hydrogen-producing, spore-forming bacteria. The batch feeding at a shorter HRT of 20 hours (or higher organic loading rate) favored hydrogen production, whereas, at a longer HRT of 30 hours, methane was detected in the gas phase. The major organic acids of hydrogen fermentation were acetate, butyrate, and propionate. Up to 23.1% of influent chemical oxygen demand was consumed in biomass synthesis. Batch tests showed that the hydrogen-production potential of starch was lower than sucrose, and better conversion efficiency from starch was obtained at a lower pH of 4.5. However, addition of sucrose to starch improved the overall hydrogen-production potential and hydrogen-production rate. This study showed that sustainable biohydrogen production from carbohydrate-rich substrates is possible through heat activation of settled sludge.     

有机粘土矿物对水中低浓度菲的吸附性能和机理

分别选用十六烷三甲基溴化铵(HDTMA-Br)、四甲基溴化铵(TMA-Br)、聚乙二醇(PEG)表面活性剂改性天然粘土矿物,研究其对水中低浓度多环芳烃类难降解有机物菲的吸附性能和机理,并讨论了有机粘土的用量对吸附菲的性能的影响,验证了有机粘土矿物吸附菲后的稳定性.3种有机粘土矿物对菲的吸附等温线均呈中凹型,表现为分配系数(Kp)逐渐增大,表明吸附是分配作用和溶剂化效应共同作用的结果.根据Kp及土样有机碳含量(foc)所得的经有机碳归一化的分配系数(Koc)基本为常数,远远高于天然土壤/沉积物的Koc.在相同实验条件下,3种有机粘土矿物中HDTMA改性粘土矿物对菲的吸附性能最强,PEG改性粘土矿物次之,TMA改性粘土矿物最差.