Planning of methane emission control from hoggery using an inexact two-stage optimization model

This study aims to develop an inexact two-stage optimization model to gather manure distributed over the southwest Taiwan and convert it into bioenergy. In the method, local optimization of each hauling zone is performed first using a gray mixed-integer programming model. Then, the hauling zones are prioritized by its performance on four gray scenarios. Although the biogas yield and the manure generation rate are ambiguous, one can easily evaluate his opportunity and risk by gray interval, which is a group of values within the lower and upper bounds. The analyses reveal that the biogas yield dominates the profit in this project, and it leads to the failure of the project when the biogas yield is below the level of 0.2 m³ kg^?1. With the goal of reducing 45% of methane emissions from pig farms, seven hauling zones are required to be developed. The farmers living in these zones from the project get carbon credits ranging from 478 to 3269 ton CO_2eq per year, and the investors own the carbon credits in the range of 3264–11820 ton CO_2eq per year. Through the carbon trading, both the investors and pig farmers are able to make profits by trading their carbon credits.

Implications:Biogas recovered from hoggery can be used as a bioenergy source and mitigate the atmospheric greenhouse effect and global warming. This research develops an inexact two-stage optimization model to evaluate the potential of gathering manure for biogas and converting it into bioenergy. The analyses reveal that the biogas yield dominates the profit in this project, and it leads to the failure of the project when the biogas yield is below the level of 0.2 m³ kg^?1. This study has provided a useful reference for the management of biogas production and carbon trading from hoggery for bioenergy.     

Effects of water-emulsified fuel on a diesel engine generator’s thermal efficiency and exhaust

Water-emulsified diesel has proven itself as a technically sufficient improvement fuel to improve diesel engine fuel combustion emissions and engine performance. However, it has seldom been used in light-duty diesel engines. Therefore, this paper focuses on an investigation into the thermal efficiency and pollution emission analysis of a light-duty diesel engine generator fueled with different water content emulsified diesel fuels (WD, including WD-0, WD-5, WD-10, and WD-15). In this study, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide were analyzed by a vehicle emission gas analyzer, and the particle size and number concentration were measured by an electrical low-pressure impactor. In addition, engine loading and fuel consumption were also measured to calculate the thermal efficiency. Measurement results suggested that water-emulsified diesel was useful to improve the thermal efficiency and the exhaust emission of a diesel engine. Obviously, the thermal efficiency was increased about 1.2 to 19.9%. In addition, water-emulsified diesel leads to a significant reduction of nitric oxide emission (less by about 18.3 to 45.4%). However, the particle number concentration emission might be increased if the loading of the generator becomes lower than or equal to 1800 W. In addition, exhaust particle size distributions were shifted toward larger particles at high loading. The consequence of this research proposed that the water-emulsified diesel was useful to improve the engine performance and some of exhaust emissions, especially the NO emission reduction.

Implications:The accumulated test results provide a good basis to resolve the corresponding pollutants emitted from a light-duty diesel engine generator. By measuring and analyzing transforms of exhaust pollutant from this engine generator, the effects of water-emulsified diesel fuel and loading on emission characteristics might be more clear. Understanding reduction of pollutant emissions during the use of water-emulsified diesel helps improve the effectiveness of the testing program. The analyzed consequences provide useful information to the government for setting policies to curb pollutant emissions from a light-duty diesel engine generator more effectively.     

基于白碳黑的水化硅酸钙制备及其磷回收特性简

以白碳黑、硅灰、硅藻土和硅胶筛选硅质原料,并与钙质原料电石渣制备了水化硅酸钙。借助XRF、BET、FTIR等表征手段,通过多次重复除磷实验,研究了硅质原料特性对水化硅酸钙回收磷性能的影响。结果表明,白碳黑具有极高的反应活性,因此可作为制备具有磷回收特性的水化硅酸钙的硅质原料。结合XRD等表征发现,白碳黑的有效利用率是影响水化硅酸钙回收磷性能的关键,该利用率取决于白碳黑与电石渣的摩尔配比以及水热反应温度。当电石渣与白碳黑的摩尔比为1.6：1,反应温度为170℃时,白碳黑具有最佳的利用效率。该条件制备的水化硅酸钙可作为晶种,在其表面结晶形成羟基磷灰石,从而达到磷回收的目的,磷回收后固体物质中的磷含量为19.05%。     

Toxicity of sediment cores from Yangtze River estuary to zebrafish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Danio rerio</Emphasis>) embryos

Toxicity evaluation is an important segment in sediment quality monitoring in order to protect aquatic organisms and human health. The purpose of this study is to assess the toxicity of sediments from three sediment cores in Yangtze River Estuary, China, using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo tests. Fertilized zebrafish eggs were exposed to both whole sediments and sediment organic extracts prepared from collected sediments, in order to provide a comprehensive and realistic insight into the bioavailable toxicity potential of the sediments. As end points, development parameters (mortality, hatching rate, and abnormality) in the developing embryos were recorded during the 96-h exposure. The results showed that some samples increased mortality, inhibited the hatching of embryos, and induced morphological abnormalities. The embryonic toxicities presented serrated changes and irregular distribution with depth, which may be related to hydrodynamic effect and unstable environmental input. However, lethal and sub-lethal effects were more significant at the sub-surface sediments (10～40 cm), which indicated that the pollution is more serious in recent decades.     

纳米TiO2-石墨烯光催化剂的水热合成及其光催化性能

以钛酸四正丁酯和石墨为原料,通过水热法制备了锐钛矿型为主的纳米TiO2复合光催化剂（纳米TiO2-石墨烯）,并采用XRD,FTIR,FESEM,TEM技术对其进行了表征。通过紫外光照射降解溶液中的罗丹明B（RhB）研究了TiO2-石墨烯的光催化活性,分析了初始罗丹明B质量浓度、催化剂加入量、溶液pH和催化剂使用次数等影响降解效果的因素。实验结果表明：在初始RhB质量浓度为20 mg/L、溶液pH为7.10、催化剂加入量为1.000 g/L的条件下,紫外光照射30 min时,纳米TiO2-石墨烯对RhB的降解率高达98.69%,明显高于纳米TiO2的44.69%;纳米TiO2-石墨烯稳定性较强,可多次重复使用。     

Optimizing Cr(VI) adsorption on activated carbon produced from heavy oil fly ash

In order to explore the beneficial utilization of heavy oil fly ash (HOFA) generated in the power plants, the present study is intended to optimize the chromium(VI) [Cr(VI)] adsorption on activated carbon produced from HOFA. The raw HOFA obtained from a power plant was washed by nitric/hydrochloric acid and activated at 800 °C with a holding time of 60 min to produce fly ash activated carbon (FAC). Phosphoric acid was used as a chemical agent to improve the surface characteristics of the HOFA during the activation process. Batch adsorption experiments were employed to evaluate the effects of different parameters such as initial Cr(VI) concentration, pH, and FAC dose on the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. A total of 17 adsorption experimental runs were carried out employing the detailed conditions followed the response surface methodology based on the Box–Behnken design. The results indicate that developed FAC has the potential for removing Cr(VI) from wastewater. Under the test conditions, a maximum of 91.51 % Cr(VI) removal efficiency was achieved.     

Carbon Sequestration Function of Check-Dams: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau in China

Check-dams are the most common structures for controlling soil erosion in the Loess Plateau. However, the effect of check-dams on carbon sequestration, along with sediment transport and deposition, has not been assessed over large areas. In this study, we evaluated the carbon sequestration function of check-dams in the Loess Plateau. The results indicate that there were approximately 11 000 check-dams distributed in the Loess Plateau, with an estimate of the amount of sediment of 21 × 10⁹ m³ and a soil organic carbon storage amount of 0.945 Pg. Our study reveals that check-dams in the Loess Plateau not only conserve soil and water but also sequester carbon.     

The fate and risk of selected pharmaceutical and personal care products in wastewater treatment plants and a pilot-scale multistage constructed wetland system

The removal of 12 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in two full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and a tertiary treatment system was studied. The ecological risks of effluents from both secondary and tertiary treatment systems as well as excess sludge were evaluated. Primary treatment and ultraviolet light disinfection showed limited ability to remove most selected PPCPs. The combination of an anaerobic process and triple-oxidation ditches can eliminate DEET better than the anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process. Adsorption to sludge played a key role in the removal of triclocarban. Multistage constructed wetlands as a tertiary treatment efficiently removed caffeine and ibuprofen from wastewater and could decrease the risk of partial selected PPCPs. Selected PPCPs residues in excess sludge generally produced higher risks to the ecological environment than effluents from WWTPs.     

Adsorption of multi-heavy metals Zn and Cu onto surficial sediments: modeling and adsorption capacity analysis

Improved multiple regression adsorption models (IMRAMs) was developed to estimate the adsorption capacity of the components [Fe oxides (Fe), Mn oxides (Mn), organic materials (OMs), residuals] in surficial sediments for multi-heavy metal Zn and Cu. IMRAM is an improved version over MRAM, which introduces a computer program in the model developing process. As MRAM, Zn(Cu) IMRAM, and Cu(Zn) IMRAM again confirmed that there is significant interaction effects that control the adsorption of compounded Zn and Cu, which was neglected by additional adsorption model. The verification experiment shows that the relative deviation of the IMRAMs is less than 13 %. It is revealed by the IMRAMs that Mn, which has the greatest adsorption capability for compounded Zn and Cu (54.889 and 161.180 mg/l, respectively), follows by interference adsorption capacity of Fe/Mn (?1.072 and ?24.591 mg/l respectively). Zn and Cu influence each other through different mechanisms. When Zn is the adsorbate, compounded Cu mainly affects the adsorption capacities of Fe/Mn and Fe/Mn/OMs; while when Cu is the adsorbate, compounded Zn mainly exerts its effect on Mn, Fe/Mn, and Mn/OMs. It also shows that the compounded Zn or Cu weakened the interference adsorption of Fe/Mn, and meanwhile, strengthened the interference adsorption of Mn/OMs.     

The influences of pH and ionic strength on the sorption of tylosin on goethite

As one of the widely used antibiotics in the world, the environmental risks of tylosin (TYL) received more and more attention. In order to assess its environmental fate and ecological effects accurately, it is necessary to understand the sorption properties of TYL on the soils/sediments. The sorption of TYL on goethite at different pH and ionic strength conditions were measured through a series of batch experiments and the sorption data of TYL were fitted by Freundlich and dual-mode sorption models. It was obvious that sorption was strongly dependent on pH and ionic strength. Sorption capacity of TYL increased as the pH increased and ionic strength decreased. The pH and ionic strength-dependent trends might be related with complexation between cationic/neutral TYL species and goethite. The sorption affinity of TYL on goethite decreased as ionic strength increased, which only occurred at higher TYL concentrations, suggested that inner complex might have dominated process at low concentrations and outer complex might occur at higher concentrations of TYL. Spectroscopic evidence indicated that tricarbonylamide and hydroxyl functional groups of TYL might be accounted for the sorption on mineral surfaces. The experimental data of TYL sorption could be fitted by surface complexation model (FITEQL), indicating that ≡FeOH with TYL interaction could be reasonably represented as a complex formation of a monoacid with discrete sites on goethite. The sorption mechanism of TYL might be related with surface complexation, electrostatic repulsion, and H-bounding on goethite. It should be noticed that the heterogeneous of sorption affinity of TYL on goethite at various environment to assess its environment risk.