Effect of combined addition amount of nano zero-valent iron and biochar on methane production by anaerobic digestion of corn straw

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an attractive straw resource treatment technology as it can improve the utilization efficiency of straw resource. Raw straw...     

A joint use of life cycle assessment and emergy analysis for sustainability evaluation of an intensive agro-system in China

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Sustainability assessing on agricultural production systems has developed rapidly over the last two decades, and various models are formulated from...     

Effects of Different Litter Treatments on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Pinus densata in Southeast Tibet,China

Russian Journal of Ecology - The aim of this study is to explore the effects of the litter cover thickness and cleaning methods on seed germination and seedling growth of Pinus densata. The overall...     

不同空间划分方式下袁河流域景观结构对水质的影响

近年来景观结构的水文效应受到关注,研究不同空间划分方式下景观结构对河流营养盐、重金属变化的影响机制对于流域生态保护具有重要意义.本文于2018年7月和2019年1月在袁河干流及支流38个采样点采集水样,测定水体营养盐类污染指标（DO、NO₃^--N、NH₄⁺-N、TP和DOC浓度）和重金属类污染指标（Cr、Mn、Fe、Cu、Zn、As、Cd和Pb浓度）.基于前向变量选择、冗余分析等方法,筛选景观结构指标,量化其在不同尺度下对水体营养盐、重金属变化的影响.结果表明：①农田、斑块密度（PD）、斑块聚集指数（COHESION）及散布与并列指数（IJI）是影响水体营养盐变化的主要指标.林地、建设用地（Res）、平均最近邻体距离（ENN_MN）和最大斑块指数（LPI）的组合是影响重金属变化的主要指标.②在河岸缓冲带与圆形缓冲区划分方式下,景观结构均在100 m尺度对营养盐变化解释能力最强,平均解释率分别为31.5%、24.3%,均在1000 m尺度对重金属变化解释能力最强,平均解释率分别为32.0%、42.6%.③100 m河岸缓冲带和子流域尺度分别是景观结构影响水体营养盐、重金属变化的最佳空间尺度,平均解释率分别为31.5%、42.8%.以上结果表明,针对水体不同的污染类型,采用对应的划分方式及缓冲尺度有助于提高定量分析精度,为流域水环境保护、景观优化与管理提供科学依据.     

喜凉作物生长期对全球变暖停滞响应的时空差异——以中国绿洲为例

基于中国绿洲喜凉作物（chimonophilous crop）分布区39个站点1960~2016年逐日平均气温资料,运用线性趋势法、反距离加权插值（IDW）、Morlet小波、Mann-Kendall检验等方法,研究中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期的时空变化对变暖停滞的响应.结果表明：①变暖停滞期,中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期起、止日及生长期日数以-0.2d/10a、0.33d/10a、0.53d/10a的趋势变化,较1960~2016年起始日提前趋势减缓1.01d/10a,终止日推迟减缓1.28d/10a,生长期日数延长减缓2.3d/10a,对变暖停滞有响应.②中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期起始日对变暖停滞响应的站点有44%,终止日和生长期日数均为49%,主要分布在南疆、柴达木盆地和河西绿洲,其中河西绿洲对变暖停滞响应最明显,南疆次之,柴达木最小,而北疆绿洲不存在滞缓现象,显然空间差异明显.③M-K检验显示,中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期起、止日及生长期日数分别在2001年、1990年和1997年发生突变,起始日晚于变暖停滞起始年份,终止日和生长期日数早于变暖停滞起始年,且分绿洲生长期日数突变年与变暖停滞起始年相接近.④Morlet小波得出变暖停滞期其变化稳定存在2.4~4.3a的震荡周期,表明未来几年中国绿洲喜凉作物气候生长期仍持续延长.     

Acceleration of floc-water separation and floc reduction with magnetic nanoparticles during demulsification of complex waste cutting emulsions

Waste cutting emulsions are difficult to treat efficiently owing to their complex composition and stable emulsified structure. As an important treatment method for emulsions, chemical demulsification is faced with challenges such as low flocs–water separation rates and high sludge production. Hence, in this study, Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were used to enhance chemical demulsification performance for treating waste cutting emulsions under a magnetic field. The addition of MNPs significantly decreased the time required to attain sludge–water separation and sludge compression equilibrium, from 210 to 20 min. In addition, the volume percentage of sludge produced at the equilibrium state was reduced from 45% to 10%. This excellent flocculation–separation performance was stable over a pH range of 3–11. The magnetization of the flocculants and oil droplets to form a flocculant–MNP–oil droplet composite, and the magnetic transfer of the composite were two key processes that enhanced the separation of cutting emulsions. Specifically, the interactions among MNPs, flocculants, and oil droplets were important in the magnetization process, which was controlled by the structures and properties of the three components. Under the magnetic field, the magnetized flocculant–MNP–oil droplet composites were considerably accelerated and separated from water, and the sludge was simultaneously compressed. Thus, this study expands the applicability of magnetic separation techniques in the treatment of complex waste cutting emulsions.     

Bioassay: A useful tool for evaluating reclaimed water safety

Wastewater reclamation and reuse has been proved to be an effective way to relieve the fresh water crisis. However, toxic contaminants remaining in reclaimed water could lead to potential risk for reuse, and the conventional water quality standards have difficulty guaranteeing the safety of reclaimed water. Bioassays can vividly reflect the integrated biological effects of multiple toxic substances in water as a whole, and could be a powerful tool for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water. Therefore, in this study, the advantages and disadvantages of using bioassays for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water were compared with those of conventional water quality standards. Although bioassays have been widely used to describe the toxic effects of reclaimed water and treatment efficiency of reclamation techniques, a single bioassay cannot reflect the complex toxicity of reclaimed water, and a battery of bioassays involving multiple biological effects or in vitro tests with specific toxicity mechanisms would be recommended. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the safety of reclaimed water based on bioassay results, various methods including potential toxicology, the toxicity unit classification system, and a potential eco-toxic effects probe are summarized as well. Especially, some integrated ranking methods based on a bioassay battery involving multiple toxicity effects are recommended as useful tools for evaluating the safety of reclaimed water, which will benefit the promotion and guarantee the rapid development of the reclamation and reuse of wastewater.     

Role of glycine on sulfuric acid-ammonia clusters formation: Transporter or participator

Glycine(Gly) is ubiquitous in the atmosphere and plays a vital role in new particle formation(NPF).However,the potential mechanism of its on sulfuric acid(SA)-ammonia(A)clusters formation under various atmospheric conditions is still ambiguous.Herein,a(Gly)_x·(SA)_y·(A)_z(z≤x+y≤3) multicomponent system was investigated by using density functional theory(DFT) combined with Atmospheric Cluster Dynamics Code(ACDC) at different temperatures and precursor concentrations.The results show that Gly,with one carboxyl(-COOH) and one amine(-NH_2) group,can interact strongly with SA and A in two directions through hydrogen bonds or proton transfer.Within the relevant range of atmospheric concentrations,Gly can enhance the formation rate of SA-A-based clusters,especially at low temperature,low [SA],and median [A].The enhancement(R) of Gly on NPF can be up to 340 at T=218.15 K,[SA]=10~4,[A]=10~9,and [Gly]=10~7 molecules/cm~3.In addition,the main growth paths of clusters show that Gly molecules participate into cluster formation in the initial stage and eventually leave the cluster by evaporation in subsequent cluster growth at low [Gly],it acts as an important "transporter" to connect the smaller and larger cluster.With the increase of [Gly],it acts as a "participator" directly participating in NPF.     

Influence of floc dynamic protection layer on alleviating ultrafiltration membrane fouling induced by humic substances

Cake layer formation is inevitable over time for ultrafiltration (UF) membrane-based drinking water treatment. Although the cake layer is always considered to cause membrane fouling, it can also act as a “dynamic protection layer”, as it further adsorbs pollutants and dramatically reduces their chance of getting to the membrane surface. Here, the UF membrane fouling performance was investigated with pre-deposited loose flocs in the presence of humic acid (HA). The results showed that the floc dynamic protection layer played an important role in removing HA. The higher the solution pH, the more negative the floc charge, resulting in lower HA removal efficiency due to the electrostatic repulsion and large pore size of the floc layer. With decreasing solution pH, a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer was formed, and more HA molecules were adsorbed. The potential reasons were ascribed to the smaller floc size, greater positive charge, and higher roughness of the floc layer. However, similar membrane fouling performance was also observed for the negative and positive floc dynamic protection layers due to their strong looseness characteristics. In addition, the molecular weight (MW) distribution of HA also played an important role in UF membrane fouling behavior. For the small MW HA molecules, the chance of forming a loose cake layer was high with a negatively charged floc dynamic protection layer, while for the large MW HA molecules it was high with a positively charged floc dynamic protection layer. As a result, slight UF membrane fouling was induced.     

Influence of environmental factors on arsenic accumulation and biotransformation using the aquatic plant species Hydrilla verticillata

Hydrilla verticillata(waterthyme) has been successfully used for phytoremediation in arsenic(As) contaminated water.To evaluate the effects of environmental factors on phytoremediation,this study conducted a series of orthogonal design experiments to determine optimal conditions,including phosphorus(P),nitrogen(N),and arsenate(As(Ⅴ))concentrations and initial pH levels,for As accumulation and biotransformation using this aquatic plant species,while also analyzing As species transformation in culture media after 96-hr exposure.Analysis of variance and the signal-to-noise ratio were used to identify both the effects of these environmental factors and their optimal conditions for this purpose.Results indicated that both N and P significantly impacted accumulation,and N was essential in As species transformation.High N and intermediate P levels were critical to As accumulation and biotransformation by H.verticillata,while high N and low P levels were beneficial to As species transformation in culture media.The highest total arsenic accumulation was(197.2±17.4) μg/g dry weight when As(V) was at level 3(375μg/L),N at level 2(4 mg/L),P at level 1(0.02 mg/L),and pH at level 2(7).Although H.verticillata is highly efficient in removing As(Ⅴ) from aquatic environments,its use could be potentially harmful to both humans and the natural environment due to its release of highly toxic arsenite.For cost-effective and ecofriendly phytoremediation of As-contaminated water,both N and P are helpful in regulating As accumulation and transformation in plants.