Influences of adding easily degradable organic waste on the minimization and humification of organic matter during straw composting

To find a better composting process with low greenhouse gas emission and high humus production, the effect of adding kitchen waste on reduction and humification of organic matter during straw composting was studied. Three processes were compared, consisting of different ratios of straw and kitchen waste (1:2, 1:1, and 2:1). At four time points over a 62-d incubation, the reduction and humification of compost was evaluated by measuring the total mass, carbon content, and humic material content of the compost. Treatment 1 (straw/kitchen waste ratio of 1:2) reduced the total mass of compost the most. Treatment 2 (straw/kitchen waste ratio of 1:1) reduced the total carbon content the most, reflecting the highest emission of greenhouse gas. Treatment 3 produced the most humic acid material and released the lowest amount of carbon. Hence, from the point of view of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing stable organic matter such as humus and humic acid during composting, treatment #3 was optimal. The three treatments resulted in significant differences in microbial biomass and enzyme activity during composting. The highest amount of active microbial biomass was associated with the largest reduction in compost mass (treatment 1). Higher proportions of straw (treatments 2 and 3), which contains more lignin, were associated with greater β-glycosidase activity, which may generate more humus that can improve soil quality. Dehydrogenase activity seemed to be the most important microbial factor in organic carbon catabolism or humification.     

Modeling cold soak evaporative vapor emissions from gasoline-powered automobiles using a newly developed method

ABSTRACT

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) evaporate and vent from a vehicle’s fuel tank to its evaporative control system when the vehicle is both driven and parked. VOCs making it past the control system are emissions. Driving and parking activity, fuel volatility, and temperature strongly affect vapor generation and the effectiveness of control technologies, and the wide variability in these factors and the sensitivity of emissions to these factors make it difficult to estimate evaporative emissions at the macro level. Established modeling methods, such as COPERT and MOVES, estimate evaporative emissions by assuming a constant in-use canister condition and consequently contain critical uncertainty when real conditions deviate from that standard condition. In this study, we have developed a new method to model canister capacity as a representative variable, and estimated emissions for all parking events based on semi-empirical functions derived from real-world activity data and laboratory measurements. As compared to chamber measurements collected during this study, the bias of the MOVES diurnal tank venting simulation ranges from ?100% to 129%, while the bias for our method’s simulation is 1.4% to 8.5%. Our modeling method is compared to the COPERT and MOVES models by estimating evaporative emissions from a Euro-3/4/5 and a Tier 2 vehicle in conditions representative for Chicago, IL, and Guangzhou, China. Estimates using the COPERT and MOVES methods differ from our method by ?56% to 120% and ?100% to 25%, respectively. The study highlights the importance for continued modeling improvement of the anthropogenic evaporative emission inventory and for tightened regulatory standards.

Implications: The COPERT and MOVES methodologies contain large uncertainties for estimating evaporative emissions, while our modeling method is developed based on chamber measurements to estimate evaporative emissions and can properly address those uncertainties. Modeling results suggested an urgent need to complete evaporative emissions inventories and also indicated that tightening evaporative emission standards is urgently needed, especially for warm areas.     

Bioanalytical and instrumental analysis of estrogenic activities in drinking water sources from Yangtze River Delta

The estrogenic activities of source water from Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Taihu Lake and groundwater in Yangtze River Delta in the dry and wet season were determined by use of reporter gene assays based on African green monkey kidney (CV-1) cell lines. Higher estrogenic activities were observed in the dry season, and the estrogenic potentials in water samples from Taihu Lake were greater than other river basins. None of the samples from groundwater showed estrogen receptor (ER) agonist activity. The 17β-Estradiol (E2) equivalents (EEQs) of water samples in the dry season ranged from 9.41 × 10^?1 to 1.20 × 10¹ ng E2 L^?1. In the wet season, EEQs of all the water samples were below the detection limit as 9.00 × 10^?1 ng E2 L^?1 except for one sample from Huaihe River. The highest contribution of E2 was detected in Yangtze River as 99% of estrogenic activity. Nonylphenol (NP, 100% detection rate) and octylphenol (OP, 100% detection rate) might also be responsible for the estrogenic activities in water sources. Potential health risk induced by the estrogenic chemicals in source water may be posed to the residents through water drinking.     

Occurrence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic carbons in sludges from wastewater treatment plants in Guangdong, China

In this study, the occurrence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in six sludge samples collected from Guangdong Province, China. Concentrations of PAHs varying from 2,534.1 to 6,926.6 μg kg^???1 (dry sludge) were observed in three municipal wastewater treatment plants with phenanthrene (Phe), fluoranthene, and pyrene being the main compounds. In addition, 682.6 μg kg^???1 PAHs were detected in one sludge sample from a food processing plant, with fluorene, Phe, and chrysene being the main components. No PAHs were detected in sludge samples obtained from two cosmetic plants. The levels and distributional characteristics of PAHs, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic musks (PMs) from the samples were also compared. The results of this comparison indicated that petrochemical refineries and road traffic played important roles in the PAH loads in sludge, while PMs primarily originated from domestic wastewater and industrial wastewater from cosmetic plants. Finally, the presence of 98.8 μg kg^???1 PCBs in sludge suggested diffusional emission sources from electrical components containing PCBs.     

纳米ZnO/PS薄膜的制备及光降解性能

利用纳米ZnO与聚苯乙烯(PS)高速共混法制备了一种在紫外光下具有自降解性能的复合薄膜.分析表明,经过KH570处理的纳米ZnO与PS通过化学键的方式桥联在一起.TG分析表明,复合薄膜的耐热性较PS有所提高;SEM图像显示0.5 wt％ ZnO在PS薄膜表面分布均匀,经过UV照射后薄膜表面出现光腐蚀现象.复合薄膜紫外光自降解实验表明:0.5 wt％ ZnO/PS薄膜在15W的紫外灯照射下,15d的自降解率为3.715％.     

Occurrence, possible sources, and temporal trends of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in water and sediment from the lower Yangtze River basin, Jiangsu and Shanghai areas of Eastern China

The concentrations, compositional profiles, and possible sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) in water column and surface sediment samples from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River were investigated, and the potential risks posed by these chemicals were evaluated. Concentrations of the 17 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/PCDF in the water and sediment samples ranged from 0.45 to 10.0 pg TEQ/L (mean 2.34 pg TEQ/L) and from 0.31 to 51 pg TEQ/g dw (mean 5.25 pg TEQ/g dw), respectively. Water and sediments from the Nanjing–Nantong sections of the Yangtze River were found to have elevated PCDD/PCDF levels, and the PCDD/PCDF TEQ concentrations in 13 sediment samples exceeded the probable effect levels (PEL), above which adverse biological effects are likely. Multivariate statistical analysis indicated that the principal PCDD/PCDF contamination source for the water and sediment was the production and use of pentachlorophenol (PCP) or sodium pentachlorophenate (PCP-Na). PCDD/PCDF concentrations were stable over time near the Yangtze River Estuary but had increased sharply in recent decades in the Nanjing–Nantong section, which will have been related to the growth in industrial activities and other anthropogenic PCDD/PCDF sources. Total organic carbon (TOC) and PCDD/PCDF concentrations correlated significantly (R?=?0.474, P?<?0.01), suggesting that TOC plays an important role in the transport and re-distribution of PCDD/PCDF in the Yangtze River basin.     

PRB强化垂直流人工湿地系统处理煤矿废水

针对常规人工湿地系统处理高浊含氮磷的有机煤矿废水不佳的问题,采用PRB与人工湿地耦合的方法,进行砂箱模拟实验研究。实验结果表明,由无烟煤、钢渣及沸石构建的PRB强化垂直流人工湿地系统对NH4+-N、PO34--P、Mn2+、COD、SS的去除率分别达到88.84%、96.08%、98.98%、85.78%和94.00%,与常规人工湿地相比,具有处理效率高、水力负荷大、占地面积小等特点,更便于运行管理。     

超滤膜深度处理染整废水的膜污染机理

实验采用不同规格和材料的超滤膜进行染整二级尾水分离实验,对超滤膜污染机理及影响因素进行了分析。实验采用红外光谱分析了聚醚(PES)膜、聚砜(PSF)膜和聚醚酰亚胺(PEI)膜3种超滤膜材料,对比了污染前后膜面的接触角以及不同切割分子量对膜通量及出水水质的影响,并利用线性化的Herman堵塞模型拟合了不同分子量超滤膜的堵塞模型,初步探讨了超滤膜的污染机理。实验结果表明,膜材料表面亲水性基团的多少与初始膜通量大小成正比,出水COD值随超滤膜切割分子量减小而减小。切割分子量同为2 000 Da的3种超滤膜中,PES膜的处理效果最佳,出水COD平均值为47.81 mg/L;PEI膜通量最高,平衡通量可达50 L/(m2.h);切割分子量为1 000、10 000的超滤膜堵塞机理符合滤饼过滤模型,100 000的超滤膜堵塞机理更接近于完全堵塞模型;1 000的聚醚砜材质膜(PES)更适合此类废水的深度处理。     

Factors influencing on the bioaccessibility of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in size-specific dust from air conditioner filters

Size-specific concentrations and bioaccessibility of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in dust from air conditioner filters were measured, and the factors influencing the PBDE bioaccessibility were determined. Generally, the PBDE concentrations increased with decreasing dust particle size, and BDE209 (deca-BDE) was generally the predominant congener. The bioaccessibility ranged from 20.3% to 50.8% for tri- to hepta-BDEs, and from 5.1% to 13.9% for BDE209 in dust fractions of varied particle size. The bioaccessibility of most PBDE congeners decreased with increasing dust particle size. The way of being of PBDE (adsorbed to dust surface or incorporated into polymers) in dust significantly influenced the bioaccessibility. There was a significant negative correlation between the tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility and organic matter (OM) contents in dust. Furthermore, tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility increased with increasing polarity of OMs, while with decreasing aromaticity of OMs. The tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility significantly positively correlated with the surface areas and pore volumes of dust. Using multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that the OM contents and pore volumes of dust were the most important factors to influence the tri- to hepta-BDE bioaccessibility and they could be used to estimate the bioaccessibility of tri- to hepta-BDEs according to the following equation: bioaccessibility (%) = 45.05 − 0.49 × OM% + 1.79 × pore volume. However, BDE209 bioaccessibility did not correlate to any of these factors.