A Hydrologic Data Screening Procedure for Exploring Monotonic Trends and Shifts in Rainfall and Runoff Patterns

A thorough understanding of past and present hydrologic responses to changes in precipitation patterns is crucial for predicting future conditions. The main objectives of this study were to determine temporal changes in rainfall‐runoff relationship and to identify significant trends and abrupt shifts in rainfall and runoff time series. Ninety‐year rainfall and runoff time series datasets from the Gasconade and Meramec watersheds in east‐central Missouri were used to develop data screening procedure to assess changes in the rainfall and runoff temporal patterns. A statistically significant change in mean and variance was detected in 1980 in the rainfall and runoff time series within both watersheds. In addition, both the rainfall and runoff time series indicated the presence of nonstationary attributes such as statistically significant monotonic trends and/or change in mean and variance, which should be taken into consideration when using the time series to predict future scenarios. The annual peak runoff and the annual low flow in the Meramec watershed showed significant temporal changes compared to that in the Gasconade watershed. Water loss in both watersheds was found to be significantly increasing which is potentially due to the increase in groundwater pumping for water supply purposes.     

Algal purification of pretreated landfill Leachate

The efficiency of microalgae in removing various pollutants in landfill leachate after pretreatment by free stripping or air stripping was tested by a laboratory batch system. The results showed that Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Scenedesmus sp. had similar removal efficiencies with regard to ammoniacal‐nitrogen, oxidized‐nitrogen, orthophosphate and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The COD removal by algal treatment was better in Junk Bay (JB) leachate than in Gin Drinkers’ Bay (GDB) leachate (14–21% and 0.4–7% respectively). No significant difference (P > 0.05) was found in removing other nutrients including ammoniacal‐nitrogen, oxidized‐nitrogen and orthophosphate between leachate from the two landfills, regardless of the pretreatment used. The removal efficiencies of ammoniacal‐nitrogen and phosphorus were found to be higher in air‐stripped leachate than in free‐stripped one. Removal of ammoniacal‐nitrogen and phosphorus in air‐stripped leachate was 30% and 87% respectively. Poor removal of ammoniacal‐nitrogen was probably due to a deficiency in phosphorus (high N : P ratio) for algal growth in leachate. The two‐stage leachate treatment (ammonia stripping followed by algal purification) resulted in overall reduction of COD (38–51%), ammoniacal‐nitrogen (72–96%) and orthophosphate (79–96%).     

Exploring price effects on the residential water conservation technology diffusion process: a case study of Tianjin city

Reforms of the water pricing management system and the establishment of a flexible water pricing system are significant for cities in northern China to tackle their critical water issues. The WATAP (Water conservation Technology Adoption Processes) model is developed in order to capture the water conservation technology adoption process under different price scenarios with disaggregate water demands down to the end use level. This model is explicitly characterized by the technological selection process under maximum marginal benefit assumption by different categories of households. In particular, when households need to purchase water devices in the provision market with the consideration of complex factors such as the life span, investment and operating costs of the device, as well as the regulated water price by the government. Applied to Tianjin city, four scenarios of water price evolutions for a long-term perspective (from year 2011 to 2030) are considered, including BAU (Business As Usual), SP1 (Scenario of Price increase with constant annual rate), SP2 (Scenario of Price increase every four years) and SP3 (Scenario of Price increase with affordable constraint), considering many factors such as historic trends, affordability and incentives for conservation. Results show that on aggregate 2.3%, 11.0% and 18.2% of fresh water can be saved in the residential sector in scenario SP1, SP2 and SP3, respectively, compared with the BAU scenario in the year 2030. The water price signals can change the market shares of different water appliances, as well as the water end use structure of households, and ultimately improve water use efficiency. TheWATAP model may potentially be a helpful tool to provide insights for policy makers on water conservation technology policy analysis and assessment.     

Removal of phenol by powdered activated carbon adsorption

In this study, the adsorption performance of powdered activated carbon (PAC) on phenol was investigated in aqueous solutions. Batch adsorption studies were performed to evaluate the effects of various experimental parameters like PAC type, PAC dose, initial solution pH, temperature and pre-oxidation on the adsorption of phenol by PAC and establish the adsorption kinetics, thermodynamics and isothermal models. The results indicated that PAC adsorption is an effective method to remove phenol from water, and the effects of all the five factors on adsorption of phenol were significant. The adsorption rate of phenol by PAC was rapid, and more than 80% phenol could be absorbed by PAC within the initial 10 min. The adsorption process can be well described by pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic model with rate constant amounted to 0.0313, 0.0305 and 0.0241 mg·μg ^-1·min ^-1 with coal, coconut shell and bamboo charcoal. The equilibrium data of phenol absorbed onto PAC were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Tempkin adsorption isotherms and Freundlich adsorption isotherm model gave the best correlation with the experimental data. Thermodynamic parameters such as the standard Gibbs free energy (?G^o), enthalpy (?H^o) and entropy (?S^o) obtained in this study indicated that the adsorption of phenol by PAC is spontaneous, exothermic and entropy decreasing.     

Thermal hazard analysis of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) by DSC and GC/MS

Thermal degradation of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). TATP, a potential explosive material, is powerful organic peroxide (OP) that can be synthesized by available chemicals, such as acetone and hydrogen peroxide in the laboratory or industries. The thermokinetic parameters, such as exothermic onset temperature (T₀) and heat of decomposition (ΔH_d), were determined by DSC tests. The gas products from thermal degradation of TATP were identified using GC/MS technique.In this study, H₂O₂ was mixed with propanone (acetone) and H₂SO₄ catalysis that produced TATP. The T₀ of TATP was determined to be 40 °C and E_a was calculated to be 65 kJ/mol. A thermal decomposition peak of H₂O₂ was analyzed by DSC and two thermal decomposition peaks of H₂O₂/propanone were determined. Therefore, H₂O₂/propanone mixture was applied to mix acid that was discovered a thermal decomposition peak (as TATP) in this study. According to risk assessment and analysis methodologies, risk assessment of TATP for the environmental and human safety issue was evaluated as 2-level of hazard probability rating (P) and 6-level of severity of consequences ratings (S). Therefore, the result of risk assessment is 12-point and was evaluated as “Undesirable” that should be enforced the effect of control method to reduce the risk.     

警惕:血吸虫病卷土重来

46年前,伟人毛泽东从《人民日报》上读到江西省余江县消灭了血吸虫病时,浮想联翩,夜不能寐,欣然写下了著名诗词《送瘟神》：“春风杨柳万千条,六亿神州尽舜尧。红雨随心翻作浪,青山着意化为桥。”半个世纪以来,一代又一代党和政府领导人高度重视血吸虫病防治工作,全国已有广东、上海、广西、福建、浙江5个省市消灭了血吸虫病,取得举世     

高压脉冲等离子体降解水中苯酚的实验研究

对高压脉冲放电等离子体技术降解水中有机污染物苯酚进行了实验研究,观察了脉冲成形电容、脉冲峰值电压、脉冲频率、放电电极直径、放电距离、苯酚的人口质量浓度等因素对苯酚降解率的影响;实验结果表明脉冲成形电容有一最佳值;降解率随脉冲峰值电压、脉冲频率增大而升高,随放电电极直径和放电距离的减小而增大,随苯酚人口质量浓度增大而增大。     

白泥海水脱硫示范工程的中试研究

对黄岛发电厂3#机组白泥海水脱硫示范工程进行了中试研究。试验结果表明:以白泥做吸收剂,脱硫效率可达到90%以上,并能产生较好的经济效益,脱硫过程中可以直接消耗白泥,从而达到以废治废的目的。