Tracing the impact of stack configuration on interface resistances in reverse electrodialysis by in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

• RED performance and stack resistance were studied by EIS and LSV. • Interface resistance were discriminated from Ohmic resistance by EIS. • Impacts of spacer shadow effect and concentration polarization were analyzed. • Ionic short current reduced the power density for more cell pairs. • The results enabled to predict RED performance with different configurations. Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an emerging membrane-based technology for the production of renewable energy from mixing waters with different salinities. Herein, the impact of the stack configuration on the Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances as well as the performance of RED were systematically studied by using in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Three different parameters (membrane type, number of cell pairs and spacer design) were controlled. The Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances were evaluated for RED stacks equipped with two types of commercial membranes (Type I and Type II) supplied by Fujifilm Manufacturing Europe B.V: Type I Fuji membranes displayed higher Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances than Type II membranes, which was mainly attributed to the difference in fixed charge density. The output power of the stack was observed to decrease with the increasing number of cell pairs mainly due to the increase in ionic shortcut currents. With the reduction in spacer thickness from 750 to 200 µm, the permselectivity of membranes in the stack decreased from 0.86 to 0.79 whereas the energy efficiency losses increased from 31% to 49%. Overall, the output of the present study provides a basis for understanding the impact of stack design on internal losses during the scaling-up of RED.     

Improvement of aquaculture water quality by mixed Bacillus and its effects on microbial community structure

Microbial remediation, especially the application of probiotics, has recently gained popularity in improving water quality and maintaining aquatic animal health. The efficacy and mechanism of mixed Bacillus for improvement of water quality and its effects on aquatic microbial community structure remain unknown. To elucidate these issues, we applied two groups of mixed Bacillus (Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtilis (A0?+?BS) and Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus coagulans (A0?+?BC)) to the aquaculture system of Crucian carp. Our results showed that the improvement effect of mixed Bacillus A0?+?BS on water quality was better than that of A0?+?BC, and the NH₄⁺-N, NO₂^?-N, NO₃^?-N, and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations were reduced by 46.3%, 76.3%, 35.6%, and 80.3%, respectively. In addition, both groups of mixed Bacillus increased the diversity of the bacterial community and decreased the diversity of the fungal community. Microbial community analysis showed that mixed Bacillus A0?+?BS increased the relative abundance of bacteria related with nitrogen and phosphorus removal, such as Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Comamonas, and Stenotrophomonas, but decreased the relative abundance of pathogenic bacteria (Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas) and fungi (Epicoccum and Fusarium). Redundancy analysis showed that NH₄⁺-N, NO₂^?-N, and TP were the primary environmental factors affecting the microbial community in aquaculture water. PICRUST analysis indicated that all functional pathways in the A0?+?BS group were richer than those in other groups. These results indicated that mixed Bacillus A0?+?BS addition produced good results in reducing nitrogenous and phosphorus compounds and shaped a favorable microbial community structure to further improve water quality.

Graphical abstract

     

全国光化学监测网络建设面临的问题分析及策略初探

当前中国大气污染形势依然严峻,挥发性有机物作为臭氧的重要前体物之一,对环境空气质量的影响日益突出.建设全国重点区域光化学监测网络,可为全面加强挥发性有机物污染防治工作和有效监测光化学污染提供基础监测平台.笔者通过分析中国光化学监测的现状和面临的挑战,探讨了中国光化学监测网络建设的发展思路,并提出了各层级环境监测单位、科...