Removal of nitrogen from wastewaters by anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) using granules in upflow reactors

Nitrogen pollution of waters has sometimes caused severe eutrophication, leading to the death of fishes and most aquatic life. There is therefore a need for efficient and cost-effective methods to remove nitrogen from ammonium-rich wastewaters. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) is a promising process to remove nitrogen because this process directly oxidizes ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) to dinitrogen gas (N₂) under anoxic condition. Nonetheless, a challenge of this process is that chemolithoautotrophic Anammox bacteria grow slowly at the beginning, thus resulting in low Anammox biomass and instability of reactors. Such issues can be overcome by granulation of the Anammox sludge. Here, we review the characteristics of the Anammox bacteria, and the formation, structure and flotation of Anammox granules under high hydraulic loadings. We also evaluate the performances of full-scale granular Anammox processes. The major points are: 1) Anammox bacteria secrete a large amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), up to 415 mg g^?1 of volatile suspended solids (VSS), containing many hydrophobic functional groups that facilitate biomass granulation. 2) Granulation enhances the sludge settling property and retention time, which contributes to the extremely high nitrogen removal rate of 77 kg m^?3 d^?1 of Anammox upflow reactors. 3) Flotation of Anammox granules frequently occurs under nitrogen removal rate higher than 10 kg m^?3 d^?1, which is mainly due to the overproduction of EPS under high hydraulic conditions.     

Characteristics of volatile compound emission and odor pollution from municipal solid waste treating/disposal facilities of a city in Eastern China

Transfer station, incineration plant, and landfill site made up the major parts of municipal solid waste disposal system of S city in Eastern China. Characteristics of volatile compounds (VCs) and odor pollution of each facility were investigated from a systematic perspective. Also major index related to odor pollution, i.e., species and concentration of VCs, olfactory odor concentration, and theoretic odor concentration, was quantified. Oxygenated compounds and hydrocarbons were the most abundant VCs in the three facilities. Different chemical species were quantified, and the following average concentrations were obtained: transfer station, 54 VCs, 2472.47 μg/m³; incineration plant, 75 VCs, 33,129.25 μg/m³; and landfill site, 71 VCs, 1694.33 μg/m³. Furthermore, the average olfactory odor concentrations were 20,388.80; 50,677.50; and 4951.17, respectively. The highest odor nuisance was detected in the waste tipping port of the incineration plant. A positive correlation between the olfactory and chemical odor concentrations was found with R ² = 0.918 (n = 15, P < 0.01). The result shows odor pollution risk transfer from landfill to incineration plant when adopting thermal technology to deal with the non-source-separated waste. Strong attention thus needs to be paid on the enclosed systems in incineration plant to avoid any accidental odor emission.

     

An investigation of a heat pump system using CO2/propane mixture as a working fluid

In order to decrease the heat rejection pressure of heat pump using pure working fluid, CO₂ or R744, other natural component including hydrocarbons (R290, R600a, R600, R1270, R170, R601) and dimethyl ether (RE170) is added to CO₂, respectively, and then six binary mixtures are achieved. By environmental and thermodynamic comparisons, R290 is selected to be the most appropriate component candidate to mix with CO₂, and meanwhile to weaken the flammability and explosivity for pure R290. Then, the system performances of heat pump using mixture of CO₂ and R290 were experimentally studied when R290 is added to CO₂ with a small fraction, and compared with that of the pure CO₂. The experimental test rig is designed and set up for the transcritical heat pump system. When the refrigerant charge is variable, the heating coefficient performance, optimum heat rejection pressure, compressor power, mass flow rate of refrigerant, and total heat coefficient of gas cooler were researched. The variation ratios of heating coefficient performance and heating capacity with deviation from the optimum refrigerant charge were also investigated. The optimum refrigerant charge of CO₂/R290 is obtained and the research results show that the addition of R290 to CO₂ can efficiently reduce the heat rejection pressure and improve the system performance. The results in the present work could provide useful guidelines for the design and operation of heat pump system using CO₂-based mixture.     

石化企业储罐大呼吸损耗影响因素的分析

储罐是石化行业挥发性有机物(VOCs)无组织排放源的重要组成部分。采用美国环保署推荐的储罐VOCs排放量计算公式,以云南某炼化企业的典型热渣油立式固定顶罐以及北京某石化企业的汽油外浮顶罐和甲苯内浮顶罐为基准案例进行储罐大呼吸损耗量的计算,考察了其影响因素,总结出影响储罐大呼吸损耗的关键参数,并有针对性地提出降耗措施。结果表明:影响固定顶罐大呼吸损耗的关键参数为气相分子摩尔质量、日平均液体表面温度和年周转量;影响外浮顶罐大呼吸损耗的首要关键参数为罐壁黏附系数,其次为年周转量和有机液体的密度;影响内浮顶罐大呼吸损耗的首要关键参数为罐壁黏附系数,其次为年周转量和固定顶支撑柱数量。     

岩体裂隙面形貌特征对其渗流特性的影响研究∗

岩体裂隙面的形貌特征直接影响其渗流特性,为了分析二者的相关关系,采用劈裂法制备了单裂隙砂岩试样,进行了裂隙面扫描分析和渗流试验,基于分形维数在定量表达不规则曲线形貌特征方面的优势,提出了考虑裂隙面形貌各向异性特征的分形维数计算方法。研究结果表明:(1)基于矩阵理论的裂隙面综合分形维数,相当于用矩阵网格去覆盖整个裂隙面,可以较好地反映裂隙面的整体形貌特征;(2)裂隙面的形貌特征对其渗流特性影响显著,随着裂隙面综合分形维数逐渐增大,裂隙岩体的渗透系数逐渐减小,而且侧向应力越大,渗透系数的减小趋势越明显;(3)分析建立了裂隙岩样渗透系数kf与裂隙面综合分形维数■的相关关系,验证分析表明,该公式计算得到的裂隙岩样渗透系数与试验结果吻合较好。相关研究成果可为裂隙岩体渗流特性分析提供参考。     

Changes of Land Use and of Ecosystem Service Values in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

Agricultural activities, especially reclamation, are considered major threats to the wetland ecosystems in Sanjiang Plain, the largest concentrated area of the freshwater wetlands in China. In the past decades, the area of the cultivated land and its grain production have been increased at the cost of wetlands shrinkage. The large-scale land reclamation severely affected the ecosystems in this region. However, such effects at the regional scale are seldom evaluated quantitatively. We used three datasets of LANDSAT MSS and/or TM imagery to estimate the area changes and the transition of land use types from 1980 to 2000. We also valued changes in ecosystem services delivered by each land category using value coefficients published by Costanza et al. [Nature 387, 1997, 253–260]. Sensitivity analysis suggested that these estimates were relatively robust. Finally, the contribution of various ecosystem functions was ranked to the overall value of the ecosystem services in this study. According to our estimates, the total annual ecosystem service values in Sanjiang Plain have declined by about 40% between 1980 and 2000 ($156284–182572.18 million in total over 20 years). This substantial decline is largely attributed to the 53.4% loss of wetlands. For individual ecosystem functions, waste treatment, water supply and disturbance regulation account for more than 60% to the total ecological values. During those two decades, the contribution of disturbance regulation, cultural and recreation decreased, while the contribution of water regulation, nutrient cycling, food production, raw materials and climate regulation increased during the same period. We also put forward a few proposals concerning the future land use policy formulation and sustainable ecosystems. They are adjusting the ‘food first’ agricultural policy, establishing more nature reserves for wetlands, creating systems for the rational use of water, harnessing the degraded cultivated land and encouraging eco-tourism.     

环境介质中药物和个人护理品的潜在风险研究进展

药物和个人护理品(PPCPs)在环境介质中的残留物作为一种新型污染物在环境介质中的转归,逐渐成为环境工作者和公众密切关注的焦点.这些物质特殊的物化特性及其被大量使用的现状,给生态环境和人类健康带来一定的潜在风险.由PPCPs使用所引发的风险问题正在成为当前学术界所面临的研究方向之一.欧洲和美国已经开始了对PPCPs的风险评估研究,中国研究者仅对某些药物的分析检测方法进行了初步探索,对PPCPs的潜在风险研究还呈空白.从PPCPs的物化特性及其对环境介质的影响入手,对其潜在风险进行了分析,并介绍了目前国外PPCPs风险研究进展,以期为中国开展PPCPs的风险评估提供参考.     

Fenton组合工艺处理焦化厂生化出水的应用研究

比较了Fenton氧化、Fenton氧化+活性炭及Fenton氧化+生物活性炭工艺对焦化厂生化出水的处理效果.结果表明,Fe2+、H2O2的投加量分别为56、27.2 mg/L时,Fenton氧化工艺对水样的UV254、颜色度(VIS380)、COD和总氰均有较好的去除效果;Fenton氧化+活性炭工艺在有效去除UV254、VIS380、COD和总氰的同时,能强化活性炭的吸附效果,并能显著提高水样的生化性能;Fenton氧化+生物活性炭工艺能有效去除UVM254,VIS380、COD与总氰,使出水达到<污水综合排放标准>(GB 8978-1996)一级标准.     

2008年云南滇东北电线覆冰的气象条件

通过对2008年1-2月云南滇东北电线覆冰(雨凇)气象条件的分析,得到:①2008年云南滇东北雨凇持续时间是有气象记录以来最长是的一年,所造成的电线覆冰灾害非常严重的;②雨凇持续时间与ENSO有密切对应关系;③2008年滇东北电线覆冰期间昆明准静止锋异常活跃,是最重要的影响天气系统;④2008年滇东北的电线覆冰是在气温偏低、降水偏小、风速不大(或静风)及空气较为潮湿的气象条件下发生的.电线覆冰的厚度与气温成显著负相关,与风速成显著正相关.     

Differences in plant species diversity between conifer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus tabulaeformis</Emphasis>) plantations and natural forests in middle of the Loess plateau

We compared differences in plant species diversity between conifer (Pinus tabulaeformis) plantations and natural secondary forests in the middle of the Loess plateau. The goal of the study was to examine the differences in the effect of stand development on species diversity and in species responses to changes between forest types and between forest layers. To clarify the effects of differences in forest management, we emphasized the functional types of plant species occurring in each forest type. The result as follow: (1) The H′ and S of tree layer were significantly lower in natural conifer forest than old conifer and secondary forest, but were not different compared with mid aged conifer forest. The H′ and S of shrub layer were significantly lower in mid aged conifer forest compared with other forest types. The H′ of herb layer showed no significant differences in the four forest types. The evenness index (J′) of tree layer of mid aged conifer forest was lower than other forest communities and its J′ of shrub layer was highest although its richness of shrub layer was lower than in the other forest types. (2) The analysis of β diversity index also indicated large differences between conifer plantations and natural forests. Although the tree layer species were similar in old plantation and natural conifer forests, they differed greatly between the natural conifer and secondary forests. The natural conifer and secondary forest species composition in shrub layer differed significantly from those in plantation and secondary plots. Tree species were significantly less common in plantations than in abandoned coppice forests. Species composition in the herb layer of different forest types was similar. (3) The management of P. tabulaeformis plantations alters plant species composition considerably; the number of sub tall-tree species is increased in old aged conifer forest, especially species dispersed by animals. Plantation management appears to affect ecological processes through seed dispersal. From the perspective of management, the change in the structure and composition of the canopy in plantations could affect the behavior of dispersers and regeneration.