Pb and Cd binding to natural freshwater biofilms developed at different pH: the important role of culture pH

The effects of solution pH on adsorption of trace metals to different types of natural aquatic solid materials have been studied extensively, but few studies have been carried out to investigate the effect of pH at which the solid materials were formed on the adsorption. The purpose of present study is to examine this effect of culture pH on metal adsorption to natural freshwater biofilms. The adsorption of Pb and Cd to biofilms which were developed at different culture pH values (ranging from 6.5 to 9.0) was measured at the same adsorption pH value (6.5). The culture pH had considerable effects on both composition and metal adsorption ability of the biofilms. Higher culture pH usually promoted the accumulation of organic material and Fe oxides in the biofilms. The culture pH also affected the quantity and species of algae in the biofilms. The adsorption of Pb and Cd to the biofilms generally increased with the increase of culture pH. This increase was minor at lower pH range and significant at higher pH range and was more remarkable for Cd adsorption than for Pb adsorption. The notable contribution of organic material to the adsorption at higher culture pH values was also observed. The profound impacts of culture pH on adsorption behavior of biofilms mainly resulted from the variation of total contents of the biofilm components and were also affected by the alteration of composition and properties of the components.     

Photodegradation of the antimicrobial triclocarban in aqueous systems under ultraviolet radiation

This work aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the degradation of the antimicrobial triclocarban (TCC). We investigated the effects of several operational parameters, including solution pH, initial TCC concentration, photocatalyst TiO₂ loading, presence of natural organic matter, and most common anions in surface waters (e.g., bicarbonate, nitrate, and sulfate). The results showed that UV radiation was very effective for TCC photodegradation and that the photolysis followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The TCC photolysis rate was pH dependent and favored at high pH. A higher TCC photolysis rate was observed by direct photolysis than TiO₂ photocatalysis. The presence of the inorganic ions bicarbonate, nitrate, and sulfate hindered TCC photolysis. Negative effects on TCC photolysis were also observed by the addition of humic acid due to competitive UV absorbance. The main degradation products of TCC were tentatively identified by gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer, and a possible degradation pathway of TCC was also proposed.     

Sustainable construction--the role of environmental assessment tools

Construction has been accused of causing environmental problems ranging from excessive consumption of global resources both in terms of construction and building operation to the pollution of the surrounding environment, and research on green building design and using building materials to minimise environmental impact is already underway. However, relying on the design of a project to achieve the goal of sustainable development, or to minimise impacts through appropriate management on site, is not sufficient to handle the current problem. The aim for sustainability assessment goes even further than at the design stage of a project to consider its importance at an early stage, before any detailed design or even before a commitment is made to go ahead with a development. However, little or no concern has been given to the importance of selecting more environmentally friendly designs during the project appraisal stage; the stage when environmental matters are best incorporated. The main objectives of this paper are to examine the development, role and limitations of current environmental building assessment methods in ascertaining building sustainability used in different countries which leads to discuss the concept of developing a. sustainability model for project appraisal based on a multi-dimensional approach, that will allow alternatives to be ranked is discussed in detail in the paper.     

Numerical simulations of heat and moisture transport in thermal protective clothing under flash fire conditions.

A numerical model of heat and moisture transport in thermal protective clothing during exposure to a flash fire was introduced. The model was developed with the assumption that textiles are treated as porous media. The numerical model predictions were compared with experimental data from different fabric systems and configurations. Additionally, with the introduction of a skin model, the parameters that affect the performance of thermal protective clothing were investigated.     

泡沫分离法处理含Cr~(6+)废水

采用间歇式泡沫分离法处理含Cr~(6+)废水,考察了各因素对Cr~(6+)去除效果的影响。通过正交实验分析确定的废水处理最佳工艺条件:废水pH 4.00,气体流量0.90 L/min,阳离子表面活性剂加入量300 mg/L。进水Cr~(6+)质量浓度为10 mg/L时,间歇运行的Cr~(6+)去除率为97.80%,连续运行的Cr~(6+)去除率为95.89%,出水均可达标排放。动力学实验结果表明,泡沫分离法去除Cr~(6+)的过程符合一级动力学的特征。对泡沫分离柱放大后的废水连续流实验分析结果表明,泡沫分离Cr~(6+)的效果比较稳定,但分离设备对废水处理效果有一定的影响。     

Efficient microwave degradation of humic acids in water using persulfate and activated carbon

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Humic acids are complex mixtures of organic molecules of different sizes, molecular weights and functional groups such as phenols, carboxyls, quinones and amino...     

Experimental Study of the Criteria of Flow Laminarization in Two-Dimensional Dense Gas Plumes

Laminarization of flow in a two-dimensional dense gas plume was experimentally investigated in this study. The plume was created by releasing CO₂ through a ground-level line source into a simulated turbulent boundary layer over an aerodynamically rough surface in a meteorological wind tunnel. The bulk Richardson number (Ri_*), based on negative plume buoyancy, plume thickness, and friction velocity, was varied over a wide range so that the effects of stable stratification on plume laminarization could be observed. A variety of ambient wind speeds as well as three different sizes of roughness arrays were used so that possible effects of roughness Reynolds number (Re_*) on plume laminarization could also be identified. Both flow visualization methods and quantitative measurements of velocity and intermittency of turbulence were used to provide quantitative assessments of plume laminarization.Flow visualization provided an overall picture of how the plume was affected by the negative buoyancy. With increasing Ri_*, both the plume depth and the vertical mixing were significantly suppressed, while upstream propagation of the plume from the source was enhanced. The most important feature of the flow revealed by visualization was the laminarization of flow in the lower part of the plume, which appeared to be closely related to both Ri_* and Re_*.Measurements within the simulated dense gas plumes revealed the influence of the stable stratification on mean velocity and turbulence intensity profiles. Both the mean velocity and turbulence intensity were significantly reduced near the surface; and these reductions systematically depended on Ri_*. The roughness Reynolds number also had considerable influence on the mean flow and turbulence structure of the dense gas plumes.An intermittency analysis technique was developed and applied to the digitized instantaneous velocity signals. It not only confirmed the general flow picture within the dense plume indicated by the flow visualization, but also clearly demonstrated the changes of flow regime with variations in Ri_* and Re_*. Most importantly, based on this intermittency analysis, simple criteria for characterizing different flow regimes are formulated; these may be useful in predicting when plume laminarization might occur.     

Improve Compliance with Limited Resources by a Three-Group Inspection Regime

Frequent monitoring and relatively high fines are usually necessary to bring about improvements in environmental quality, but more challenging for many countries with limited human, material, and financial resources is to put them into practice. This paper developed a three-group model of a state-dependent enforcement in a repeated game to improve the policy implementation under limited inspection capacities. A certain number of firms are grouped (group 1, group 2, group 3) for different supervision intensity (e.g., the order of inspection probability corresponding to each group is p ₁?<?p ₂?<?p ₃) based on their environmental performance. The optimal policy parameters, such as inspection probability of each group and the probability that a firm found in compliance is moved to a better reputation group, were obtained as the basis for regulator’s policy making. Numerical simulations indicated that the three-group inspection regime can significantly increase compliance rate as compared with static enforcement with the same monitoring probability. Among the number of firms in each group under steady state conditions, group 2 had the most, group 1 was the second, and group 3 had the smallest. Analysis and prediction of a three-group reputation example provided a good experiment for the model. The results give a practical reference for the policy makers with inspection capacity constraints to achieve higher compliance rate.     

春季广州城区空气中VOCs来源解析

2013年4月在广州市区对大气中挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)进行了观测,对其变化特征和来源进行了分析。结果表明,观测期间测得的VOC总平均混合比为41.35×10~(-9),表现为烷烃芳香烃烯烃炔烃;利用PMF解析出观测时段内影响广州市区的9个VOCs主要来源,各源占比情况依次为:LPG排放老化VOC汽油挥发石化、未知源汽油车排放油漆溶剂柴油车排放天然源;与机动车相关和工业相关的来源分别占到了大气VOCs的46.8%和21.0%。