Anthropogenic metal cycles in China

The flows and stocks of seven important industrial metals were characterized for mainland China for several years in the dynamically changing decade of 1994–2004. One-year snapshot cycles are provided for chromium, nickel, and silver. For copper, zinc, lead, and iron, multiple-year cycles have been completed; they demonstrate that the flows of these metals into use in China doubled between 2000 and 2004. Although the Chinese per capita flows from production to disposal are mostly shown to be below the global average rate, they are increasing or are expected to increase dramatically. The metal resource efficiency is evaluated for several indicators of material flow analysis; these metrics for China are also below the global average values. The research quantitatively illustrates that China’s metal cycles may pose significant resource and environmental challenges in terms of their magnitudes and potential for growth.     

浅谈资源型城市可持续发展 ──以大庆为例阐述战略规划和环境政策制定的依据和原则

文章分析了资源型城市制定可持续发展战略和环境政策的依据和原则,以大庆开发建设多年来的成功经验和失败教训为例,阐释了资源型城市充分利用资源、资金、文化、人才的重要性和必要性,及对生态环境和人文环境充分保护的紧迫性。进而说明:充分利用好城市的各种资源,充分保护好城市的生态环境和人文环境,及早发展替代产业完成城市转型是资源型城市可持续发展的必由之路。     

Influence of complex reagents on removal of chromium(VI) by zero-valent iron

The removal of Cr(VI) by zero-valent iron (Fe(0)) and the effect of three complex reagents, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), NaF and 1,10-phenanthroline, on this reaction were investigated using batch reactors at pH values of 4, 5 and 6. The results indicate that the removal of Cr(VI) by Fe(0) is slow at pH 5.0 and that three complex reagents play different roles in the reaction. EDTA and NaF significantly enhance the reaction rate. The zero-order rate constants at pH 5.0 were 5.44 microM min(-1) in the presence of 4mM EDTA and 0.99 micrM min(-1) in the presence of 8 mM NaF, respectively, whereas that of control was only 0.33 micrM min(-1), even at pH=4.0. This enhancement is attributed to the formation of complex compounds between EDTA/NaF and reaction products, such as Cr(III) and Fe(III), which eliminate the precipitates of Cr(III), Fe(III) hydroxides and Cr(x)Fe(1-)(x)(OH)(3) and thus reduce surface passivation of Fe(0). In contrast, 1,10-phenanthroline, a complex reagent for Fe(II), dramatically decreases Cr(VI) reduction by Fe(0). At pH=4.0, the zero-order rate constant in the presence of 1mM of 1,10-phenanthroline was 0.02 micrM min(-1), decreasing by 99.7% and 93.9%, respectively, compared with the results in the presence and absence of EDTA. The results suggest that a pathway of the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) by Fe(0) may involve dissolution of Fe(0) to produce Fe(II), followed by reduction of Cr(VI) by Fe(II), rather than the direct reaction between Cr(VI) and Fe(0), in which Fe(0) transfers electrons to Cr(VI).     

Numerical Investigation of the Effects of Boundary-Layer Evolution on the Predictions of Ozone and the Efficacy of Emission Control Options in the Northeastern United States

This paper examines the effects of two different planetary boundary-layer (PBL) parameterization schemes – Blackadar and Gayno–Seaman – on the predicted ozone (O₃) concentration fields using the MM5 (Version 3.3) meteorological model and the MODELS-3 photochemical model. The meteorological fields obtained from the two boundary-layer schemes have been used to drive the photochemical model to simulate O₃ concentrations in the northeastern United States for a three-day O₃ episodic period. In addition to large differences in the predicted O₃ levels at individual grid cells, the simulated daily maximum 1-h O₃ concentrations appear at different regions of the modeling domain in these simulations, due to the differences in the vertical exchange formulations in these two PBL schemes. Using process analysis, we compared the differences between the different simulations in terms of the relative importance of chemical and physical processes to O₃ formation and destruction over the diurnal cycle. Finally, examination of the photochemical model's response to reductions in emissions reveals that the choice of equally valid boundary-layer parameterizations can significantly influence the efficacy of emission control strategies.     

Numerical Investigation of Boundary-Layer Evolution and Nocturnal Low-Level Jets: Local versus Non-Local PBL Schemes

Numerical simulations of the evolution of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and nocturnal low-level jets (LLJ) have been carried out using MM5 (version 3.3) with four-dimensional data assimilation (FDDA) for a high pollution episode in the northeastern United States during July 15–20, 1999. In this paper, we assess the impact of different parameterizations on the PBL evolution with two schemes: the Blackadar PBL, a hybrid local (stable regime) and non-local (convective regime) mixing scheme; and the Gayno–Seaman PBL, a turbulent kinetic energy (TKE)-based eddy diffusion scheme. No FDDA was applied within the PBL to evaluate the ability of the two schemes to reproduce the PBL structure and its temporal variation. The restriction of the application of FDDA to the atmosphere above the PBL or the lowest 8 model levels, whichever is higher, has significantly improved the predicted strength and timing of the LLJ during the night. A systematic analysis of the PBL evolution has been performed for the primary meteorological fields (temperature, specific humidity, horizontal winds) and for the derived parameters such as the PBL height, virtual potential temperature, relative humidity, and cloud cover fraction. There are substantial differences between the PBL structures and evolutions simulated by these two different schemes. The model results were compared with independent observations (that were not used in FDDA) measured by aircraft, RASS and wind profiler, lidar, and tethered balloon platforms during the summer of 1999 as part of the NorthEast Oxidant and Particle Study (NE-OPS). The observations tend to support the non-local mixing mechanism better than the layer-to-layer eddy diffusion in the convective PBL.     

The Natural Vegetation Responses to the Groundwater Change Resulting from Ecological Water Conveyances to the Lower Tarim River

This paper takes the ecological water conveyance project (EWCP) that transfers water from the Bosten Lake, to Daxihaizi Reservoir, and finally to the Taitema Lake as a case study to analyze the dynamic change of the groundwater depth, the vegetation responses to the elevation of the groundwater depth as well as the relationship between the groundwater depth and the natural vegetation. The results from many years’ monitoring in field indicate: (1) the groundwater depth has been elevating gradually with the increase in the times of watering and the elevation range has been expanding continuously in the lower reaches of Tarim River. Correspondingly, the natural vegetation has a favorable response to the elevation of the groundwater depth. The change of the natural vegetation has accordance with that of the groundwater depth. Such facts not only show that groundwater is a key factor to the growth of the native vegetation but also prove it is feasible that the degraded ecosystem can be restored and protected by the EWCP; (2) the results of analysis of the spatial-temporal response of the natural vegetation to watering reveals that the beneficial influence of the EWCP on the ecosystem in the lower Tarim River is a long-term process; (3) in terms of the function and structure of ecosystem after watering in the lower reaches of Tarim River, the EWCP does not still reach the goal of ecological restoration at a large spatial scale at present. Based on such monitoring results, some countermeasures and suggestions for the future restoration strategy are proposed so as to provide a theoretical basis for restoring and protecting the ecosystem in Tarim River, and meanwhile it can also provide some scientific references for implementing the similar ecological projects in other areas.     

小浪底水库对河道水质净化能力的影响

依据《地表水环境质量标准》(GB3838-2002),采用单因子评价方法,分别对小浪底水库建成前3年和建成后4年的河道水质进行评价,结果表明,小浪底水库建成后,在库首断面水质持续恶化的情况下,小浪底坝下水质状况却明显好转,说明小浪底水库库水对原水污染物有较强的净化能力,从而使下游河段水质得到改善。     

石灰石中微量杂质对其脱硫活性的影响研究

石灰石的活性对湿法烟气脱硫工艺具有重要意义。采用间歇式硫酸消溶的方法,分别研究了石灰石中各微量杂质浓度对石灰石活性的影响,就其影响结果及其影响机理进行了理论分析,并用拟合曲线的方法预测各种杂质成分的影响程度。结果表明,二氧化硅和氧化铁的含量在一定范围内能提高石灰石的活性,超过此范围将使其活性降低,而氧化镁的存在能大幅提高石灰石的活性,氧化铝对石灰石活性影响不大。     

水体沉积物中有效砷的测试新方法研究

一种氧化铁/醋酸纤维素复合膜(FeO/CAM)被用于太湖沉积物中砷的生物有效性评估.结果发现,在水介质中,FeO/CAM对沉积物中砷的富集量随土水比增加而呈乘幂函数减少,在土水质量比为0.025(即1:40)之后趋于某一平台值;在土水比为0.025并得到充分振荡的条件下,沉积物中释放的有效砷被FeO/CAM富集至膜中,并随时间增加而增加,至24 h后逐渐趋于平衡,这一过程恰当地模拟了生物对砷的吸收.因此,FeO/CAM可以用于有效砷的体外测试.利用FeO/CAM对12个总砷含量为6.4～34.6 mg·kg-1的太湖沉积物样品中的有效砷进行了测定.结果发现,FeO/CAM提取的有效砷含量与磷酸盐缓冲液提取的有效砷含量之间显著相关.太湖沉积物中的有效砷含量与总砷、总磷、有机质和吸附磷含量以及磷吸附饱和度显著相关,说明沉积物理化属性对有效砷含量有重要影响.FeO/CAM克服了化学试剂提取过程中引起的非有效态砷释放的根本缺陷,因此,FeO/CAM方法在沉积物有效砷含量的测定时比化学试剂提取法可能更准确.     

Mapping the cost risk of agricultural residue supply for energy application in rural China

This research aims to shed light on the interaction mechanism of cost risks for biomass material supply in power generation, especially for biomass-coal dual-fuel systems. Firstly, a game model is established to analyze interactions among factors including unit procurement cost, unit transportation cost, basic price and coal price for crop residue collection. Secondly, a Monte Carlo simulation is implemented to compare the profit increase under material competition with that under price alliance. The methodology is illustrated with a case study in a biomass power plant in Shandong Province, China. It shows that developing a price alliance will benefit both the allied enterprises and the local collection area in most circumstances. Thirdly, a risk tolerance area approach is applied in mapping the cost risk and in explaining the risky circumstances of the case study.