Experimental study on static and dynamic mechanical properties of phosphogypsum

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Phosphogypsum (PG) is a solid waste product of the wet-process phosphoric acid industry that accumulates in large amounts on the ground, forming PG...     

Delayed association of acute particulate matter 2.5 air pollution exposure with loss of complexity in cardiac rhythm dynamics: insight from detrended fluctuation analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - There is a delayed (lag 1 to 2 days) correlation between acute PM 2.5 (particulate matter <?2.5 μm in aerodynamic...     

Salinity and nutrient modulate soil bacterial communities in the coastal wetland of the Yellow River Delta,China

The Yellow River Delta is the largest and youngest estuarine and coastal wetland in China and is experiencing the most active interactions of seawater and freshwater in the world. Bacteria played multifaceted influence on soil biogeochemical processes, and it was necessary to investigate the intermodulation between the soil factors and bacterial communities. Soil samples were collected at sites with different salinity degree, vegetations, and interference. The sequences of bacilli were tested using 16S rRNA sequencing method and operational taxonomic units were classified with 97% similarity. The soil was highly salinized and oligotrophic, and the wetland was nitrogen-restricted. Redundancy analysis suggested that factors related with seawater erosion were principal to drive the changes of soil bacterial communities and then the nutrient level and human disturbance. A broader implication was that, in the early succession stages of the coastal ecosystem, seawater erosion was the key driver of the variations of marine oligotrophic bacterial communities, while the increasing nutrient availability may enhance in the abundance of the riverine copiotrophs in the late stages. This study provided new insights on the characteristics of soil bacterial communities in estuarine and coastal wetlands.

     

Uptake and distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cultivated plants around an E-waste disposal site in Southern China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air, soil, and cultivated plants at e-waste disposal sites in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, were determined...     

Using a process-based model to understand dynamics of Chinese agricultural and water technology development from 8000 bc to 1911 ad

Advancements in technology are inextricably bound to our society and the natural environment. However, how the development process of a technology system interacts with both remains unclear. We propose a process model to understand the complex dynamics among technology, society, and the environment via seven interactive elements: technologies, actors, receiving bodies, natural contexts, social contexts, temporal–spatial contexts, and outcomes. The model was applied to agricultural and water technology development in China from 8000 bc to 1911 ad. Our findings show that these elements did not play equally important roles in different periods of the development in ancient China, with social contexts most dominating during the earlier periods and both social and environmental concerns arising towards the later periods. The proposed model, by identifying the elements in the technology development that should be strengthened, can act as an analysis device to assist in reconfiguring a more sustainable socio-technological system.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01424-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Indoor and outdoor air quality investigation at schools in Hong Kong

Five classrooms in Hong Kong (HK), air-conditioned or ceiling fans ventilated, were chosen for investigation of indoor and outdoor air quality. Parameters such as temperature, relative humidity (RH), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), respirable particulate matter (PM10), formaldehyde (HCHO), and total bacteria counts were monitored indoors and outdoors simultaneously. The average respirable particulate matter concentrations were higher than the HK Objective, and the maximum indoor PM10 level exceeded 1000 microg/m3. Indoor CO2 concentrations often exceeded 1000 microl/l in air-conditioning and ceiling fan classrooms, indicating inadequate ventilation. Maximum indoor CO2 level reached 5900 microl/l during class at the classroom with cooling tower ventilation. Increasing the rate of ventilation or implementation of breaks between classes is recommended to alleviate the high CO2 level. Other pollution parameters measured in this study complied with the standards. The two most important classroom air quality problems in Hong Kong were PM10 and CO2 levels.     

Comparison of particulate mass, chemical species for urban, suburban and rural areas in central Taiwan, Taichung

Aerosol samples for PM2.5, PM(2.5-10) and TSP were collected from June to September 1998 and from February to March 1999 in central Taiwan. Ion chromatography was used to analyze the acidic anions: sulfate, nitrate and chloride in the Universal samples. The ratios of fine particle concentrations to coarse particle concentrations displayed that the fine particle concentrations are almost greater than that of coarse particle concentrations in Taichung area. The average concentrations of PM2.5, PM(2.5-10) and TSP in urban sites are higher than in suburban and rural sites at both daytime and night-time. Chloride dominated in the coarse mode in daytime and in fine mode in night-time. Nitrate can be found in both the coarse and fine modes. Sulfate dominated in fine mode in both daytime and night-time.     

华中地区某污水处理厂低碳运行措施及效果

以华中地区某污水处理厂 (设计规模：25×10⁴ m³·d⁻¹) 为例,分析城镇污水处理厂的节能降碳的有效措施。该厂在2021年底实施了系列节能高效运行和工艺优化创新措施,取得显著降碳效果。措施包括：采用节能高效设备、生化池按需曝气、光伏发电等节约电耗措施,以及强化生物除磷、优化化学除磷、多点配水节约碳源、智能加药等。对比分析该污水处理厂2022年的运行数据与2019—2021年的数据。年平均吨水电耗、吨水消耗碳源、吨水消耗除磷剂分别由0.192 kW·h·m⁻³、5.010 mg·L⁻¹ 、4.199 mg·L⁻¹降至0.161 kW·h·m⁻³、0 mg·L⁻¹、2.980 mg·L⁻¹。污水处理厂年消耗电费、药费等直接运行成本节约39.6%, 间接碳排放强度减少20.3%。相关举措可为类似污水处理厂的从运行管理角度实现减污降碳协同增效提供参考。     

基于藻细胞形态和光合特征的水源地藻类种群时空分布机制及预警防控

为明晰藻细胞最基本属性细胞形态在藻种时空分布与竞争演替中扮演的角色,选择来自蓝藻、绿藻等藻门的45个具有不同细胞形态特征的常见藻种,通过实验室分析藻细胞形态特征参数与光合特征间相关关系,并基于于桥水库藻类种群监测数据探究藻类形态时空分布的驱动因素。研究发现,反映藻细胞光合作用过程中捕光潜力的细胞投影面积 (CPA) 是影响藻种光合特性的关键形态学参数;通过构建CPA与光系统II中调节性能量耗散量子产量 (Y(NPQ))、光响应曲线初始斜率 (α) 、最大电子传递速率 (ETRmax) 等光合参数建的关系模型,发现CPA与Y(NPQ)呈现强正相关关系 (R² = 0.31±0.01,p < 0.001) ,Y(NPQ)是影响藻类种群时空分布的关键参数。于桥水库中藻类种群的综合Y(NPQ)具有显著季节性,由春季到夏季逐渐降低,夏季藻类综合Y(NPQ)最低 (0.057±0.075) ,秋冬季呈现增加趋势,冬季藻类综合Y(NPQ)最高 (0.072±0.062) 。此外,藻类种群综合Y(NPQ)随水深增加呈降低趋势,Y(NPQ)是影响藻类形态空间分布的重要因素。基于于桥水库数据制定了以水体Y(NPQ)为核心的有害藻类预警防控体系,以期为实现针对水源地不同形态有害藻类的预警提供参考。     

An intelligent emissions controller for fuel lean gas reburn in coal-fired power plants

The application of artificial intelligence techniques for performance optimization of the fuel lean gas reburn (FLGR) system is investigated. A multilayer, feedforward artificial neural network is applied to model static nonlinear relationships between the distribution of injected natural gas into the upper region of the furnace of a coal-fired boiler and the corresponding oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions exiting the furnace. Based on this model, optimal distributions of injected gas are determined such that the largest NOx reduction is achieved for each value of total injected gas. This optimization is accomplished through the development of a new optimization method based on neural networks. This new optimal control algorithm, which can be used as an alternative generic tool for solving multidimensional nonlinear constrained optimization problems, is described and its results are successfully validated against an off-the-shelf tool for solving mathematical programming problems. Encouraging results obtained using plant data from one of Commonwealth Edison's coal-fired electric power plants demonstrate the feasibility of the overall approach. Preliminary results show that the use of this intelligent controller will also enable the determination of the most cost-effective operating conditions of the FLGR system by considering, along with the optimal distribution of the injected gas, the cost differential between natural gas and coal and the open-market price of NOx emission credits. Further study, however, is necessary, including the construction of a more comprehensive database, needed to develop high-fidelity process models and to add carbon monoxide (CO) emissions to the model of the gas reburn system.