Increasing collaboration between China and India in the environmental sciences to foster global sustainability

As the two largest countries by population, China and India have pervasive effects on the ecosphere. Because of their human population size and long international boundary, they share biodiversity and the threats to it, as well as crops, pests and diseases. We ranked the two countries on a variety of environmental challenges and solutions, illustrating quantitatively their environmental footprint and the parallels between them regarding the threats to their human populations and biodiversity. Yet we show that China and India continue to have few co-authorships in environmental publications, even as their major funding for scientific research has expanded. An agenda for collaboration between China and India can start with the shared Himalaya, linking the countries’ scientists and institutions. A broader agenda can then be framed around environmental challenges that have regional patterns. Coordinated and collaborative research has the potential to improve the two countries’ environmental performance, with implications for global sustainability.     

Derivation of synthetic fuel from waste plastic: investigation of engine operating characteristics on DI diesel engine

The utilization of plastic in day to day life is ever-increasing and has generated a large amount of plastic garbage that needs proper disposal to save the environment from harmful pollution. The plastic waste management becomes a pressing concern in the present scenario in developing countries like India. This research article evaluates the potential of synthetic fuel (SF) derived from waste plastics collected from the local shops. In this current investigation, the SF blends are tested in a direct injection diesel engine to analyze the performance and emission characteristics of the engine. Three different blends were made namely SF20, SF40, and SF60 on a volumetric basis and the tests were carried out. From the experimental results, it was found that brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of the fuel blends was reduced as compared with neat diesel operation regardless of loads whereas SF20 showed a similar trend as that of diesel operation. The analysis of the emission characteristics revealed that the SF20 blends reduced dangerous smoke and carbon monoxide emission as compared with other test fuels. From the overall results, SF20 showed superior performance and emission aspects as compared with other SF blends whereas the engine operated smoothly up to 60% of SF blending at all loading conditions.

     

Knowledge spillovers and subsequent innovation in green energy: the role of public R&D

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Long-term study of heavy metal pollution in the northern Hangzhou Bay of China: temporal and spatial distribution,contamination evaluation,and potential ecological risk

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Coastal ecosystem is vulnerable to heavy metal contamination. The northern Hangzhou Bay is under intensifying impact of anthropogenic activities. To...     

曝气-絮凝处理垃圾渗滤液研究

通过现场处理 ,对垃圾渗滤液的曝气 -絮凝处理进行了研究。结果表明该方法对渗滤液的色度、COD、总磷去除率达 80 %以上 ,对氨氮去除率达 60 %以上。在此基础上提出了最优综合控制指标     

Hepatotoxicity of graphene oxide in Wistar rats

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Graphene oxide (GO) has a multitude of applications in areas of nanomedicine, electronics, textile, water purification, and catalysis among others. GO...     

曝气策略对膜面剪切力的影响机制及其优化

曝气冲刷是浸没式MBR工艺不同于常规活性污泥法工艺的关键特征,然而现行规范的曝气系统设计与运行比较粗放,缺乏气泡尺寸模拟优化方法。以可直接观测的工程规模 (500 m³·d⁻¹) 膜生物反应器为研究对象,对穿孔管角度进行了优化研究,并用群体平衡模型(Population Balance Model,PBM)模型模拟污泥混合液不同粘度下的内部气泡分布情况。结果表明：穿孔管角度垂直向下、60°、45°、30°、垂直向上在膜面产生的平均剪切力分别为1.74、1.46、1.19、1.38、1.67 Pa,这表明曝气角度最优为垂直向下。0.3%、0.5%和0.8%浓度的羧甲基纤维素钠(Carboxymethyl cellulose, CMC)下产生的平均剪切力分别是1.51、1.92、2.24 Pa,气泡直径逐渐增大。且气泡尺寸越大、流速越大,分布越均匀。基于0.3%、0.5% CMC的速度实验结果与 PBM模拟结果基本吻合。该研究结果可为MBR技术的工艺优化和系统控制方法提升提供参考。     

Numerical modeling of changes in groundwater storage and nitrate load in the unconfined aquifer near a river receiving reclaimed water

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Reclaimed water (RW) has been widely used as an alternative water resource to recharge rivers in mega-city Beijing. At the same time, the RW also...     

DSCAM-AS1 promotes cervical carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion via sponging miR-338-3p

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Deregulated lncRNA DSCAM-AS1 expression was found in several tumors. However, mechanism and functional role of DSCAM-AS1 in cervical carcinoma remain...     

A PCE groundwater plume discharging to a river: influence of the streambed and near-river zone on contaminant distributions

An investigation of a tetrachloroethene (PCE) groundwater plume originating at a dry cleaning facility on a sand aquifer and discharging to a river showed that the near-river zone strongly modified the distribution, concentration, and composition of the plume prior to discharging into the surface water. The plume, streambed concentration, and hydrogeology were extensively characterized using the Waterloo profiler, mini-profiler, conventional and driveable multilevel samplers (MLS), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys, streambed temperature mapping (to identify discharge zones), drivepoint piezometers, and soil coring and testing. The plume observed in the shallow streambed deposits was significantly different from what would have been predicted based on the characteristics of the upgradient plume. Spatial and temporal variations in the plume entering the near-river zone contributed to the complex contaminant distribution observed in the streambed where concentrations varied by factors of 100 to 5000 over lateral distances of less than 1 to 3.5 m. Low hydraulic conductivity semi-confining deposits and geological heterogeneities at depth below the streambed controlled the pattern of groundwater discharge through the streambed and influenced where the plume discharged into the river (even causing the plume to spread out over the full width of the streambed at some locations). The most important effect of the near-river zone on the plume was the extensive anaerobic biodegradation that occurred in the top 2.5 m of the streambed, even though essentially no biodegradation of the PCE plume was observed in the upgradient aquifer. Approximately 54% of the area of the plume in the streambed consisted solely of PCE transformation products, primarily cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cDCE) and vinyl chloride (VC). High concentrations in the interstitial water of the streambed did not correspond to high groundwater-discharge zones, but instead occurred in low discharge zones and are likely sorbed or retarded remnants of past high-concentration plume discharges. The high-concentration areas (up to 5529 microg/l of total volatile organics) in the streambed are of ecological concern and represent potential adverse exposure locations for benthic and hyporheic zone aquatic life, but the effect of these exposures on the overall health of the river has yet to be determined. Even if the upgradient source of PCE is remediated and additional PCE is prevented from reaching the streambed, the high-concentration deposits in the streambed will likely take decades to hundreds of years to flush completely clean under natural conditions because these areas have low vertical groundwater flow velocities and high retardation factors. Despite high concentrations of contaminants in the streambed, PCE was detected in the surface water only rarely due to rapid dilution in the river and no cDCE or VC was detected. Neither the sampling of surface water nor the sampling of the groundwater from the aquifer immediately adjacent to the river gave an accurate indication of the high concentrations of PCE biodegradation products present in the streambed. Sampling of the interstitial water of the shallow streambed deposits is necessary to accurately characterize the nature of plumes discharging to rivers.