Properties of Pyrolytic Chars and Activated Carbons Derived from Pilot-Scale Pyrolysis of Used Tires

Abstract

Used tires were pyrolyzed in a pilot-scale quasi-inert rotary kiln. Influences of variables, such as time, temperature, and agent flow, on the activation of obtained char were subsequently investigated in a laboratory-scale fixed bed. Meso-porous pores are found to be dominant in the pore structures of raw char. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surfaces of activated chars increased linearly with carbon burnoff. The carbon burnoff of tire char achieved by carbon dioxide (CO₂) under otherwise identical conditions was on average 75% of that achieved by steam, but their BET surfaces are almost the same. The proper activation greatly improved the aqueous adsorption of raw char, especially for small molecular adsorbates, for example, phenol from 6 to 51 mg/g. With increasing burnoff, phenol adsorption exhibited a first-stage linear increase followed by a rapid drop after 30% burnoff. Similarly, iodine adsorption first increased linearly, but it held as the burnoff exceeded 40%, which implied that the reduction of iodine adsorption due to decreasing micro-pores was partially made up by increasing mesopores. Both raw chars and activated chars showed appreciable adsorption capacity of methylene-blue comparable with that of commercial carbons. Thus, tire-derived activated carbons can be used as an excellent mesoporous adsorbent for larger molecular species.     

臭氧辅助UV/Fenton法处理电镀添加剂生产废水

采用臭氧辅助光芬顿法处理电镀添加剂生产废水,考察双氧水、FeSO₄·7H₂O、pH和反应时间等因素对废水COD和UV₂₅₄去除的影响。实验结果表明,pH=4,臭氧通入量为0.25 g,双氧水的投加量93.3 mL/L,FeSO₄·7H₂O投加量为5.3 g/L,最佳反应时间为30 min,COD和UV₂₅₄去除率分别达到92.64%和87.95%。这表明,臭氧辅助光芬顿法对电镀添加剂生产废水处理效果显著,处理时间大大减少。     

SO2 inhalation causes synaptic injury in rat hippocampus via its derivatives in vivo

SO₂ remains a common air pollutant, almost half of the world’s population uses coal and biomass fuels for domestic energy. Limited evidence suggests that exposure to SO₂ may be associated with neurotoxicity and increased risk of hospitalization and mortality of many brain disorders. However, our understanding of the mechanisms by which SO₂ causes harmful insults on neurons remains elusive. To explore the molecular mechanism of SO₂-induced neurotoxic effects in hippocampal neurons, we evaluated the synaptic plasticity in rat hippocampus after exposure to SO₂ at various concentrations (3.5 and 7 mg m⁻³, 6 h d⁻¹, for 90 d) in vivo, and in primary cultured hippocampal neurons (DIV7 and DIV14) after the treatment of SO₂ derivatives in vitro. The results showed that SYP, PSD-95, NR-2B, p-ERK1/2 and p-CREB were consistently inhibited by SO₂/SO₂ derivatives in more mature hippocampal neurons in vivo and in vitro, while the effects were opposite in young hippocampal neurons. Our results indicated that in young neurons, SO₂ exposure produced neuronal insult is similar to ischemic injury; while in more mature neurons, SO₂ exposure induced synaptic dysfunctions might participate in cognitive impairment. The results implied that SO₂ inhalation could cause different neuronal injury during brain development, and suggested that the molecular mechanisms might be involved in the changes of synaptic plasticity.     

美国某给水厂处理工艺及净水效果

介绍了美国某给水厂的臭氧-生物活性炭深度处理工艺、主要构筑物、设计参数和运行效果。实验结果表明:原水中TSS、BOD5、COD、UV254和浊度平均值分别为18.25 mg/L、5 mg/L、7.34 mg/L、0.08和17.38 NTU,经过系统处理后的出水指标分别为1.33 mg/L、2 mg/L、0 mg/L、0.01和0.86 NTU,相应的平均去除率分别为88%、60%、100%、88%和81%。净水效果明显,五项常规指标均满足我国《生活饮用水卫生标准》(GB5749-2006)使用要求,这种深度处理技术及设计思路值得国内给水处理行业参考借鉴。     

Plasma versus Thermal Effects in Flue Gas NOx Reduction Using Ammonia Radical Injection

Abstract

A plasma-assisted ammonia injection technique was previously demonstrated as having the potential to remove NO_x from combustion flue gases at SCR-comparable levels without the use of catalysts. However, these demonstrations did not prove the advantage of plasma assistance because they did not explicitly account for enhanced radical production by bulk thermal heating. An experiment using hot ammonia injection was performed to separate this thermal effect from the effect of radical production via interaction with a plasma. Under excess air conditions, results show that a thermal effect does provide improved NO_x reduction, but not to the level achieved with the use of a plasma source. However, heating the injection gases provides only a minor improvement in NO_x reduction at NH₃/NO_x ratios and temperatures typical of commercial cold SNCR applications. The plasma effect in ammonia radical injection was also found to be significant, accounting for an additional 15% to 35% of absolute NO_x reduction beyond any thermal benefit at typical excess air conditions. The ammonia radical injection technique continues to show promise as an effective NO_x reduction alternative.     

漳河上游流域沉积物中磷的空间分布特征及其影响因素

漳河上游地区众多的水利工程改变了流域水循环,同时也影响了河流泥沙和生源物质的循环过程。为揭示人类活动干扰下的沉积物中磷的赋存特征,采用改进后的连续化学萃取法分析了漳河上游沉积物中总磷(TP)和磷形态的空间分布特征及其影响因素。研究结果表明,漳河上游沉积物中的TP含量为405.94~899.98 mg/kg,低于我国其他主要河流,接近我国东部平原湖泊含量水平。漳河上游的TP富集指数(PEI)均值为1.15,表明漳河上游富营养化风险较高。可交换态磷(Ex-P)、铁锰螯合态磷(BD-P)、铁铝氧化态磷(NaOH-P)、钙结合态磷(HCl-P)分别占沉积物中TP含量的1.13%、33.96%、12.99%、35.05%。BD-P和HCl-P是沉积物中主要的磷形态,Ex-P的含量最低,NaOH-P的含量波动最大。漳河上游沉积物中,生物可利用磷(BAP)的含量约占TP含量的38.36%~52.04%,其中,清漳干流的BAP含量明显低于其他河段。清漳源头的水土流失及浊漳河的磷输入对漳河上游BAP含量的贡献较大。统计分析显示,漳河上游表层沉积物中,TP和磷形态的空间分布无显著差异,表明以水利工程建设为代表的强烈人类活动对漳河上游沉积物中磷的空间分布的影响不显著。相关性分析和冗余分析表明,沉积物中的NaOH-P含量与沉积物中黏土和粉土的占比有较高的相关性,BD-P和NaOH-P是控制沉积物中BAP构成的重要因素,Fe含量是沉积物中TP含量的主控因子。     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments from drinking water sources of Taihu Lake, China: sources, partitioning and toxicological risk

Sources, partitioning and toxicological risk of 15 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments from drinking water sources of Taihu Lake, with an area of 2428 km(2) located in the most developed and populated area of China, were studied, and the results were compared with those in other lakes of China and the USA. Concentrations of the 15 PAHs in sediments ranged from 436.6 to 1334.9 ng g(-1) (dw). Gasoline combustion, coal combustion, diesel combustion from shipping and spillage of petroleum were apportioned to be the main sources of PAHs in this area by principal component analysis, which contributed 35.19%, 26.43%, 25.41% and 12.97% to the PAH sources estimated by further multiple linear regression. Levels of PAHs in sediments were negatively correlated with contents of clay and fine silt (<16 μm), while positively with contents of medium silt, coarse silt and sand (>16 μm). Humin with size larger than 16 μm contained the largest part of the burden of PAHs in sediments, but the specific partitioning domain (bound humic acid, lipid or insoluble residue) depended on properties of organic matter reflected by optical absorbance at 465 and 665 nm. Total toxic benzo[a]pyrene equivalent (TEQ(carc)) of the carcinogenic PAHs in sediments varied from 31.8 to 209.3 ngTEQ(carc) g(-1). Benzo[a]pyrene and dibenzo[a,h]anthracene contributed 45.36 and 25.31% to total TEQ(carc), posing high toxicological risk to this area.     

电磁辐射污染及防护探索

电子设备、仪器的广泛使用产生的电磁辐射已成为当今的重要污染之一。电磁辐射分为天然和人为两种,严重危害和影响着人类的生活和生产。人们要重视电磁辐射,从行政、科学技术、个人生活方面加强对电磁辐射的防范。     

Thermal cracking of waste printed wiring boards for mechanical recycling by using residual steam preprocessing

Mechanical waste-processing methods, which combine crushing and separation processes for the recovery of valuable materials, have been widely applied in waste printed wiring board (PWB) treatment. However, both the high impact toughness and the tensile and flexural strengths of whole PWB with a laminated structure result in great energy consumption and severe abrasion of the cutters during multi-level crushing. In addition, the high temperatures occurring in continual crushing probably cause the decomposition of the polymer matrix. A thermal-crack method using residual steam as the heating medium has been developed to pre-treat waste PWBs. This treatment reduces the mechanical strength in order to improve the recovery rate of valuable materials in subsequent mechanical recycling. The changes of the PWBs’ macro-mechanical properties were studied to evaluate thermal expansion impacts associated with changes in temperature, and the dynamic dislocation micro-structures were observed to identify the fracture mechanism. The results showed that thermal cracking with steam at the temperature of 500 K can effectively attenuate the mechanical properties of waste PWBs, by reducing the impact, tensile and flexural strengths respectively, by 59.2%, 49.3% and 51.4%, compared to untreated PWB. Thermal expansion can also facilitate the separation of copper from glass fiber by reducing peel resistance by 95.4% at 500 K. It was revealed that the flexural fracture was a transverse cracking caused by concentrated stress when the heating temperature was less than 500 K, and shifted to a vertical cracking after exceeding 500 K.     

Dissimilatory reduction of FeIII (EDTA) with microorganisms in the system of nitric oxide removal from the flue gas by metal chelate absorption

In the system of nitric oxide removal from the flue gas by metal chelate absorption, it is an obstacle that ferrous absorbents are easily oxidized by oxygen in the flue gas to ferric counterparts, which are not capable of binding NO. By adding iron metal or electrochemical method, Fe^Ⅲ (EDTA) can be reduced to Fe^Ⅱ(EDTA).However, there are various drawbacks associated with these techniques. The dissimilatory reduction of Fe^Ⅲ(EDTA) with microorganisms in the system of nitric oxide removal by metal chelate absorption was investigated. Ammonium salt instead of nitrate was used as the nitrogen source, as nitrates inhibited the reduction of Fe^Ⅲ due to the competition between the two electron acceptors. Supplemental glucose and lactate stimulated the formation of Fe^Ⅱ more than ethanol as the carbon sources. The microorganisms cultured at 50~C were not very sensitive to the other experimental temperature, the reduction percentage of Fe^Ⅲ varied little with the temperature range of 30-50℃.Concentrated Na2 CO3 solution was added to adjust the solution pH to an optimal pH range of 6-7. The overall results revealed that the dissimilatory ferric reducing microorganisms present in the mix-culture are probably neutrophilic, moderately thermophiUc Fe^Ⅲ reducers.