Ecological Survey of Coastal I Water Adjacent to Nuclear Power I Plants in Taiwan

A total of six nuclear reactors installed in three power plants, two along the northern and one along the southern coasts of Taiwan, started their operations one after another since October 1977. Owing to the large quantities of cooling water intake into and discharge from the plants, some environmental factors such as water temperature, chlorine, environmental radioactivity and nearshore currents may be significantly changed. Variations of these abiotic environmental factors may influence the biological activities in the ecosystem, particularly doing some kinds of damage to marine biological resources. Therefore, the possible environmental impact upon the biological systems including the fishery resources along the northern and southern coasts of Taiwan should be studied before and during the plant operation.

We have started the long-term programmes of biological, chemical and hydro-graphical surveys of the nuclear power plant sites on both northern (since July 1974) and southern (since July 1979) coasts of Taiwan. the survey items include ocean currents, physical and chemical properties of sea water, primary productivity, specific compositions and interspecific relationships among phyto- and zooplankton, algae, invertebrates, corals, and fishes; and radionuclides in water and biological specimens, and fishery statistics. in general, except for a few events, the operations of the six units of nuclear power plants have not produced detectable effects on the marine ecosystem. Radio activity levels and radionuclides in water and the biological specimens remained the same as background levels throughout the survey period. However, the events of coral bleaching and fish body anomalies caused by thermal discharges were observed respectively along the outlets of third and second Nuclear Power Plants. the purposes of this paper are to report and evaluate these two events during the operations of nuclear power plants in Taiwan.     

PDMDAAC改性膨润土对石油类污染物脱附行为的研究

石油类污染是水体环境主要的污染源之一,并且石油是不可再生资源,用吸附法处理含有石油类污染的废水有较好的处理效果.膨润土是一种优良的吸附剂,对其进行改性能提高其吸附石油类污染物的性能.改性膨润土在在含油废水处理方面得到广泛的应用,但其对石油类污染物脱附行为的研究还较少.本实验考察了搅拌时间、搅拌速度、pH、温度和盐度的变化对饱和吸附含油废水的聚二甲基二烯丙基氯化铵(PDMDAAC)改性膨润土脱附行为的影响,并通过正交实验优化了最佳脱附条件:搅拌时间为25 min,搅拌速度为200 r/min,pH为3,温度为35℃,在此条件下,脱附率可达92.05%.在最佳脱附条件下使其再生,并和原土进行了比较,通过脱附动力学研究了其脱附的过程.结果表明,饱和吸附含油废水的PDMDAAC改性膨润土在最优条件下,脱附率可达92.05%,可以用来回收石油;再生得到的改性膨润土用于处理含油废水,去除率在82.84%左右,可以重复使用来处理含油废水;准二级脱附动力学能较好地描述脱附过程.旨在探索改性膨润土的吸附及脱附的规律, 为膨润土用于含油废水处理奠定基础.     

Bio-drying and size sorting of municipal solid waste with high water content for improving energy recovery

Bio-drying can enhance the sortability and heating value of municipal solid waste (MSW), consequently improving energy recovery. Bio-drying followed by size sorting was adopted for MSW with high water content to improve its combustibility and reduce potential environmental pollution during the follow-up incineration. The effects of bio-drying and waste particle size on heating values, acid gas and heavy metal emission potential were investigated. The results show that, the water content of MSW decreased from 73.0% to 48.3% after bio-drying, whereas its lower heating value (LHV) increased by 157%. The heavy metal concentrations increased by around 60% due to the loss of dry materials mainly resulting from biodegradation of food residues. The bio-dried waste fractions with particle size higher than 45 mm were mainly composed of plastics and papers, and were preferable for the production of refuse derived fuel (RDF) in view of higher LHV as well as lower heavy metal concentration and emission. However, due to the higher chlorine content and HCl emission potential, attention should be paid to acid gas and dioxin pollution control. Although LHVs of the waste fractions with size <45 mm increased by around 2× after bio-drying, they were still below the quality standards for RDF and much higher heavy metal pollution potential was observed. Different incineration strategies could be adopted for different particle size fractions of MSW, regarding to their combustibility and pollution property.     

Greenhouse gas emissions from MSW incineration in China: Impacts of waste characteristics and energy recovery

Determination of the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted during municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is complex because both contributions and savings of GHGs exist in the process. To identify the critical factors influencing GHG emissions from MSWI in China, a GHG accounting model was established and applied to six Chinese cities located in different regions. The results showed that MSWI in most of the cities was the source of GHGs, with emissions of 25–207 kg CO₂-eq t^?1 rw. Within all process stages, the emission of fossil CO₂ from the combustion of MSW was the main contributor (111–254 kg CO₂-eq t^?1 rw), while the substitution of electricity reduced the GHG emissions by 150–247 kg CO₂-eq t^?1 rw. By affecting the fossil carbon content and the lower heating value of the waste, the contents of plastic and food waste in the MSW were the critical factors influencing GHG emissions of MSWI. Decreasing food waste content in MSW by half will significantly reduce the GHG emissions from MSWI, and such a reduction will convert MSWI in Urumqi and Tianjin from GHG sources to GHG sinks. Comparison of the GHG emissions in the six Chinese cities with those in European countries revealed that higher energy recovery efficiency in Europe induced much greater reductions in GHG emissions. Recovering the excess heat after generation of electricity would be a good measure to convert MSWI in all the six cities evaluated herein into sinks of GHGs.     

Solid waste characterization,quantification and management practices in developing countries. A case study: Nablus district – Palestine

Solid waste management (SWM) is one of the most challenging issues faced by developing countries that suffer from serious pollution problems caused by the generation of large waste quantities. This paper presents the case study of SWM in the Nablus district – Palestine. Surveys for household residents' and SWM program operators, field investigations, on-site waste measurements and characterizations were conducted. Per capita waste generation rates varied between different localities although trends were similar. Overall, the majority of waste was organic (65.1% by weight), suggesting a strong resource recovery potential in terms of animal feed or compost. Recyclable waste (plastic, paper and card) made up 16.7% by weight the waste composition suggesting an incentive to introduce source separation. Household attitudes complemented the waste characterization study, revealing the main problems faced. SWM operators quoted on the current status, highlighting problems with disposing in unsanitary landfills, ineffective solid waste fees system, increasing solid waste quantities and lacking equipment and experienced personnel. To enhance sustainable SWM, public awareness, funding, expertise, equipment and facilities and other provisions currently lacking or inappropriate must be provided.     

Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 9. Six cases and a review of the literature

Six prenatally diagnosed cases of trisomy 9 are reported and 22 previously reported cases are reviewed; the difficulty of genetic counselling for such cases and the variation in the percentage of trisomic cells in different tissues, thus making accurate diagnosis of trisomy 9 difficult, are emphasized. In addition to karyotyping results, ultrasound findings are important in achieving diagnoses. Finally, a course of action when prenatal trisomy 9 is detected is proposed.     

Bromeliad-living spiders improve host plant nutrition and growth

Although bromeliads are believed to obtain nutrients from debris deposited by animals in their rosettes, there is little evidence to support this assumption. Using stable isotope methods, we found that the Neotropical jumping spider Psecas chapoda (Salticidae), which lives strictly associated with the terrestrial bromeliad Bromelia balansae, contributed 18% of the total nitrogen of its host plant in a greenhouse experiment. In a one-year field experiment, plants with spiders produced leaves 15% longer than plants from which the spiders were excluded. This is the first study to show nutrient provisioning in a spider-plant system. Because several animal species live strictly associated with bromeliad rosettes, this type of facultative mutualism involving the Bromeliaceae may be more common than previously thought.     

邯钢焦化厂1#～4#焦炉烟尘治理

介绍了邯钢焦化厂1^#～4^#焦炉采用布袋式除尘的烟尘治理方案,装煤和出焦除尘工艺流程及部分改进措施。     

Loss of pesticides from agricultural fields in SE Norway--runoff through surface and drainage water

Loss of two pesticides with different mobility characteristics, bentazone (Koc approximately 34) and propiconazole (Koc approximately 1800), were studied at three agricultural fields (Askim, Bj?rnebekk and Syverud) in SE Norway. A conservative tracer (Br) was used to follow the flow of water. The loss of pesticides varied among the fields, depending on hydrological characteristics and soil properties. The loss of pesticides was higher from two artificially levelled silty clay loam soils with poor aggregate stability (Askim and Bj?rnebekk) compared to a loam/silt loam soil with increased content of organic carbon and better aggregate stability (Syverud). The total accumulated loss was <0.5% from all fields. The highest pesticide concentrations were measured at the first runoff episode after application for both the mobile (bentazone) and less mobile pesticide (propiconazole) in the surface runoff. In the drainage water, the peak for the less mobile pesticide coincided with the Br tracer, while the peak for mobile pesticide appeared earlier than the Br tracer. Rapid movement of water, particles and pesticides through soils indicate flow through macropores. Larger proportions (in percent of total applied) of both the mobile and the strongly sorbed pesticides were lost through the drainage as compared to the loss through surface runoff at Askim. Here, it is suggested that macropore flow contribute to the increased loss of pesticides through the drainage. At Syverud, high infiltration capacity reduces the amount of water available for surface runoff, and somewhat higher loss of the mobile pesticide was registered in the drainage compared to the surface runoff. For the strongly sorbed pesticide, however, propiconazole was neither detected in surface nor in drainage water at Syverud. Generally, there was a higher percentage loss of the mobile compared to the strongly sorbed pesticide in both surface and drainage water, which is in agreement with the pesticides mobility characteristics in soil. An exception was, however, the erodible soil Bj?rnebekk, where a higher fraction of propiconazole was lost in the surface runoff compared to bentazone. Large amounts of sediment transport from the Bj?rnebekk field probably contributed to enhanced transport of the strongly sorbed pesticide.     

Single and joint effects of acetochlor and urea on earthworm Esisenia foelide populations in phaiozem

Much attention is paid to soil health and environmental safety. Earthworms are an important indicator of soil ecosystem health and safety. Ecological toxicity of acetochlor and excessive urea, in both their single and joint effects, on earthworm Esisenia foelide was thus studied using the soil-culture method. Acetochlor had an enhanced toxicity from low concentration to high concentration. The mortality of earthworms after a 6-day exposure was changed from 0 to 86.7%, and the weight change rate ranged from 7.86 to -30.43%, when the concentration of acetochlor was increased from 164 to 730 mg kg(-1). Urea expressed its positive and beneficial effects on earthworms when its concentration was lower than 500 mg kg(-1). Strongly toxic effects took place when the concentration of urea was higher than 1000 mg kg(-1). The mortality of earthworms exposed to urea reached 100% when its concentration was more than 1500 mg kg(-1). When the concentration of urea was lower than 500 mg kg(-1), there were antagonistic effects between the two agrochemicals on earthworms; when the concentration of urea was higher than 500 mg kg(-1), joint toxic effects of acetochlor and excessive urea on earthworms were synergic. In any case, excessive urea application is very harmful to the health of soil ecosystems.