Economics analysis of food waste treatment in China and its influencing factors

• Economics of food waste treatment projects at 29 pilot cities in China was examined. • Roles of location, population size, processing technique, and income were studied. • Economic benefits were limited with a profit to cost ratio of 0.08±0.37. • Service population size affects construction economics significantly (P = 0.016). • Choice of food waste processing technique affects operating economics notably. This study examines the economic benefits of food waste treatment projects in China and factors affecting them. National-level pilot projects for food waste treatment located in 29 cities were selected as samples. The economics of food waste recycling from the investors’ perspective, in terms of investment during the construction phase and cost and benefit during the operation phase, was assessed. Results indicate that the average tonnage investment of food waste treatment projects was RMB 700.0±188.9 thousand yuan, with a profit to cost ratio of 0.08±0.37. This ratio increased to 0.95±0.57 following the application of government subsidies. It highlights the limited economic benefits of food waste treatment facilities, which rely on government subsidies to maintain their operations in China. Further analysis using a multi-factor analysis model revealed that regional location, service population size, processing techniques, and urban income exerted varying impacts on the economy of food waste treatment. Population size exerted the highest impact (P = 0.016) during the construction stage, and processing techniques notably influenced the project economy during the operation stage. The study highlights the need to prioritize service population size and processing techniques during economic decision-making and management of food waste recycling projects. The results of this study can serve as a valuable practical reference for guiding future policies regarding food waste treatment and related planning.     

Mechanisms for simultaneous ozonation of sulfamethoxazole and natural organic matters in secondary effluent from sewage treatment plant

• SMX was mainly degraded by hydrolysis, isoxazole oxidation and double-bond addition. • Isoxazole oxidation and bond addition products were formed by direct ozonation. • Hydroxylated products were produced by indirect oxidation. • NOM mainly affected the degradation of SMX by consuming ^•OH rather than O₃. • Inhibitory effect of NOM on SMX removal was related to the components’ aromaticity. Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is commonly detected in wastewater and cannot be completely decomposed during conventional treatment processes. Ozone (O₃) is often used in water treatment. This study explored the influence of natural organic matters (NOM) in secondary effluent of a sewage treatment plant on the ozonation pathways of SMX. The changes in NOM components during ozonation were also analyzed. SMX was primarily degraded by hydrolysis, isoxazole-ring opening, and double-bond addition, whereas hydroxylation was not the principal route given the low maximum abundances of the hydroxylated products, with m/z of 269 and 287. The hydroxylation process occurred mainly through indirect oxidation because the maximum abundances of the products reduced by about 70% after the radical quencher was added, whereas isoxazole-ring opening and double-bond addition processes mainly depended on direct oxidation, which was unaffected by the quencher. NOM mainly affected the degradation of micropollutants by consuming ^•OH rather than O₃ molecules, resulting in the 63%–85% decrease in indirect oxidation products. The NOM in the effluent were also degraded simultaneously during ozonation, and the components with larger aromaticity were more likely degraded through direct oxidation. The dependences of the three main components of NOM in the effluent on indirect oxidation followed the sequence: humic-like substances>fluvic-like substances>protein-like substances. This study reveals the ozonation mechanism of SMX in secondary effluent and provides a theoretical basis for the control of SMX and its degradation products in actual water treatment.     

Using T-RFLP technology to analyze bacterial diversity in the rhizospheric soils of tea tree at different ages北大核心CSCD

The rhizospheric soils of Tieguanyin at different ages were used as the study materials, and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) was used to analyze the changes in bacterial diversity. The results showed that the number of T-RFs, Simpson index, and Shannon index decreased significantly with the age of the tea tree. Results of correlation analysis showed that 9 T-RFs from the bacterial community were significantly and positively correlated with the age of the tea tree, and included 34 species of microbes belonging to 10 classes. The 34 microbes were divided into 6 types according to their functional attributes, and included pathogenic bacteria, bacteria that improved soil texture or inhibited pathogenic bacteria, and bacteria associated with the carbon, nitrogen, or sulfur cycles, in which the percentage of pathogenic bacteria was 58.82%. Seventeen T-RFs were significantly and negatively correlated with the age of the tea tree, and included 38 species of bacteria belonging to 12 classes. The 38 bacterial species were divided into 5 types according to their functional attributes, and included pathogenic bacteria, bacteria that improved soil quality or inhibited pathogenic bacteria, and bacteria associated with the carbon cycle or nitrogen cycle, in which all the others, barring the pathogenic bacteria, accounted for 78.95% of the bacterial population. In brief, the diversity and function of bacteria in the rhizospheric soil of tea tree changed significantly with the age of the tea tree, which provides a theoretical basis for studying the interactions of bacterial communities. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Soil physicochemical properties of Pinus tabuliformis plantations of different ages in Yanqing,Beijing北大核心CSCD

Soil physicochemical properties are important parameters to characterize soil quality. To evaluate the effects of different stand ages from young to mature on the soil physicochemical properties of Pinus tabulaeformis plantations, four different aged P. tabulaeformis plantations (14, 28, 36, and 51-year old) were investigated in Yanqing district, Beijing, China. Soil samples were collected at depths of 0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm, to analyze the effect of soil depth on soil physicochemical indexes. With increasing soil depth, the soil moisture content, water holding capacity, and porosity decreased gradually, but pH value increased. There was no significant difference in soil bulk density (BD) between different soil depths. Organic matter (OM), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) content also decreased gradually with increasing soil depth, but there was no uniform change in electrical conductivity (EC). With the growth and development of P. tabulaeformis plantations, the soil moisture content, water holding capacity, and porosity of the same depth increased gradually, but pH value decreased. The difference in BD between different ages was not significant. The OM, N, and P content showed an increasing trend with increasing stand age. The K content in 14 a and 28 a plantations was significantly higher than that in 36 a and 51 a plantations. EC was the highest in 51 a plantations. The correlation analysis showed that there was a significant negative correlation between BD and water characteristics, porosity. There was a significant positive correlation between OM and N, P. The negative correlation between OM and pH reached a significant level at P < 0.01. OM was negatively correlated with BD, total potassium (TK, P < 0.05) and available potassium (AK, P > 0.05). Therefore, the soil physicochemical properties of P. tabulaeformis plantations improved with increasing stand age. Our results provide a theoretical basis for the management of P. tabulaeformis plantations in Beijing, such as thinning, fertilization management, and mixed forest forestation. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Numerical simulation and optimization study of the wind flow through a porous fence

Three turbulence closure models (RNG k-ε, SST k-ω and RSM) were used to investigate the flow characteristics around a two-dimensional isolated porous fence. The comparison between the numerical results and the experimental measurements indicated that RSM model shows a better performance than the other two models. The aim of this paper is to accurately and efficiently determine the optimum porosity that attain the best shelter effect of the wind fence in the near wake region (0–4h_b) and in the far wake region (4h_b–10h_b) respectively, where h_b is the height of the fence. The gradient algorithm was adopted as the optimization algorithm and the RSM model was used to model turbulent features of the flow. The shelter effect was parameterized by the peak velocity ratio involving velocity and turbulence. The objective was to reduce the peak velocity ratio in the near or far wake region by changing the design variable porosity (?) of the fence, which ranged between 2 and 60%. The results revealed that a porosity of 10.2% was found as the optimum value giving rise to the best shelter effect in the near wake region, and ? = 22.1% was determined in the case of the far wake region. In addition, based on the proposed optimization method, it is found that the recirculating bubble behind the fence can only be detected when ? < 29.9%.     

面向人体暴露评价的植物中抗生素分析进展

抗生素通过动物粪便或生物固体的施用、再生水灌溉进入农业土壤后可以被蔬菜和粮食作物吸收,从而造成人体的被动暴露。为了评估抗生素对人体暴露的健康风险,需要基于植物样品,发展灵敏、稳定且针对性强的分析方法。本文综述了植物样品中抗生素残留分析的研究进展,重点介绍了样品提取、净化等前处理方法及其仪器分析方法,并对植物样品中抗生素分析的研究方向进行了展望。     

Investigation of phosphate adsorption from an aqueous solution using spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst containing lanthanum

A spent fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst containing lanthanum (La) was used as a novel adsorbent for phosphorus (P) in simulated wastewater. The experiments were conducted in a batch system to optimize the operation variables, including pH, calcination temperature, shaking time, solid-liquid ratio, and reaction temperature under three initial P-concentrations (C₀ = 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 mg/L). Orthogonal analysis was used to determine that the initial P-concentration was the most important parameter for P removal. The P-removal rate exceeded 99% and the spent FCC catalyst was more suitable for use in low P-concentration wastewater (C₀ <5.0 mg/L). Isotherms, thermodynamics and dynamics of adsorption are used to analyze the mechanism of phosphorus removal. The results show that the adsorption is an endothermic reaction with high affinity and poor reversibility, which indicates a low risk of second releasing of phosphate. Moreover, chemical and physical adsorption coexist in this adsorption process with LaPO₄ and KH₂PO₄ formed on the spent FCC catalyst as the adsorption product. These results demonstrate that the spent FCC catalyst containing La is a potential adsorbent for P-removal from wastewater, which allows recycling of the spent FCC catalyst to improve the quality of water body.

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Industrial land expansion in rural China threatens environmental securities

• China’s rural industrial land (RIL) area quadrupled from 1990 to 2015. • RIL expansion cost 9% of China’s crop production and threatened human/ecosystem safety. • The underprivileged population bears a disproportionally large share of the risks. China’s rural industrialization has been a major driver for its rapid economic growth during the recent decades, but its myriad environmental risks are yet to be fully understood. Based on a comprehensive national land-use data set, our study shows that the area of China’s rural industrial land (RIL) quadrupled during 1990–2015, reaching 39000 km² in 2015, comparable to urbanization in magnitude but with a much greater degree of landscape fragmentation which implies stronger ecological and environmental impacts. About 91% of the protected areas in the central China were within 50 km from rural industrial land, thus exposed to industrial disturbances. Accelerated rural industrial land expansion, particularly in regions under high geo-hazard risks, led to dramatically increased environmental risks, threatening the safety and health of both rural industrial workers and residents. Moreover, negative effects from rural industrial land expansion could partially offset the crop production growth in recent decades. The underprivileged rural population in the west bears a disproportionally large share of the increased environmental risks. China urgently needs to design and implement sustainable policies to restrict and reshape its rural industrialization. This study aims to inspire policy makers and researchers to rethink the current model of industrial expansion and improve rural industrial land planning, which is important for achieving the sustainable development goals of China.     

剧毒卡尔藻对海洋生物毒性及机制的初步研究

剧毒卡尔藻(Karlodinium veneficum)是一种有毒甲藻,近年在我国沿海已经爆发过藻华,值得关注。本文研究了剧毒卡尔藻对不同粒径、不同营养级的几种海洋生物褶皱臂尾轮虫(Brachionus plicatilis)、卤虫(Artemia salina)、黑褐新糠虾(Neomysis awatschensis)、中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)存活及摄食的影响。研究发现:该藻对轮虫、卤虫存活影响较大,对黑褐新糠虾存活的影响较小,对中华哲水蚤存活几乎无影响。48 h,对轮虫的半数致死密度LC503400 cells/mL;96 h对卤虫的半数致死密度为LC504800 cells/mL;对黑褐新糠虾的半数致死密度为LC5089000 cells/mL;在89000 cells/mL的藻密度下,中华哲水蚤存活率约为80%。该藻不同组分对实验生物的影响是不同的,细胞破碎液对轮虫、黑褐新糠虾的影响最大;细胞外液对卤虫的影响最大。该藻对生物的摄食影响则发现,24 h内,轮虫、卤虫、中华哲水蚤均摄食该藻,且3种生物的摄食率随着藻密度增高而增加。可见,剧毒卡尔藻对不同生物的影响不同,其现场藻密度一般可达到104cells/mL,对轮虫、卤虫存活影响很大;该藻对生物有不同的致毒机制和致毒途径。结果表明:该藻藻华爆发,可能会对浮游生态系统产生较大影响;研究有害藻对不同粒径、不同营养级生物的影响,才可以更全面的反映出它对生态系统的危害。     

催化氧化技术在橡胶废气处理中的应用

采用催化氧化技术处理热塑性丁苯橡胶( SBS)生产装置D线后处理单元废气,废气的非甲烷总烃去除率和环己烷去除率均达到98％以上,非甲烷总烃质量浓度达到DB11/447-2007《炼油与石油化学工业大气污染物排放标准》的要求(小于100 mg/m3).对SBS生产装置凝聚单元进行两釜流程改三釜流程后,催化氧化反应器入口非甲烷总烃质量浓度由( 3.84～5.82)×103 mg/m3降至( 2.48～2.63)×103 mg/m3,反应器出口非甲烷总烃质量浓度均小于50 mg/m3.凝聚单元改造并采用催化氧化技术处理废气后,每年节约费用约80万元.