Crystal seed-enhanced ammonia nitrogen and phosphate recovery from landfill leachate using struvite precipitation technique

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Nitrogen and phosphorous are limiting and crucial elements for all living organisms. The recovery of nitrogen and phosphorous as struvite gained...     

Regression models for some solute distribution equilibria in the terrestrial environment

Sorption coefficients (K_p) of several organochlorine insecticides (OCs) in volcanic ash silt from Central Java are presented.

Selected experimental and estimated octanol‐water partition coefficient (P) values are used to study log‐log regressions with K_p data collected from the literature (PAHs, chlorophenols, phenylureas, chloro‐s‐triazines, carbamates and organophosphorus insecticides) and those of the OCs determined in the present study. Leaching distances and bioactivities in soil are correlated with the K_p values of the pesticides, and with the organic matter and the water content of the soil.     

Three-phase partitioning for the separation of proteins,enzymes, biopolymers,oils and pigments: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Modern biomass and organic waste are becoming major, carbon-neutral sources of fine chemicals, biomolecules and fuels to replace fossil fuel products. As a...     

The impact of semiconductor, electronics and optoelectronic industries on downstream perfluorinated chemical contamination in Taiwanese rivers

This study provides the first evidence on the influence of the semiconductor and electronics industries on perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) contamination in receiving rivers. We have quantified ten PFCs, including perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFASs: PFBS, PFHxS, PFOS) and perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs: PFHxA, PFHpA, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnA, PFDoA) in semiconductor, electronic, and optoelectronic industrial wastewaters and their receiving water bodies (Taiwan's Keya, Touchien, and Xiaoli rivers). PFOS was found to be the major constituent in semiconductor wastewaters (up to 0.13 mg/L). However, different PFC distributions were found in electronics plant wastewaters; PFOA was the most significant PFC, contributing on average 72% to the effluent water samples, followed by PFOS (16%) and PFDA (9%). The distribution of PFCs in the receiving rivers was greatly impacted by industrial sources. PFOS, PFOA and PFDA were predominant and prevalent in all the river samples, with PFOS detected at the highest concentrations (up to 5.4 μg/L).     

Novel bacterial consortia isolated from plastic garbage processing areas demonstrated enhanced degradation for low density polyethylene

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aimed to formulate novel microbial consortia isolated from plastic garbage processing areas and thereby devise an eco-friendly approach for...     

Simulation of Combined Best Management Practices and Low Impact Development for Sustainable Stormwater Management1

Damodaram, Chandana, Marcio H. Giacomoni, C. Prakash Khedun, Hillary Holmes, Andrea Ryan, William Saour, and Emily M. Zechman, 2010. Simulation of Combined Best Management Practices and Low Impact Development for Sustainable Stormwater Management. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1-12. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00462.x Abstract: Urbanization causes increased stormwater runoff volumes, leading to erosion, flooding, and the degradation of instream ecosystem health. Although Best Management Practices (BMPs) are used widely as a means for controlling flood runoff events, Low Impact Development (LID) options have been proposed as an alternative approach to better mimic the natural flow regime by using decentralized designs to control stormwater runoff at the source, rather than at a centralized location in the watershed. For highly urbanized areas, LID practices such as rainwater harvesting, green roofs, and permeable pavements can be used to retrofit existing infrastructure and reduce runoff volumes and peak flows. This paper describes a modeling approach to incorporate these LID practices in an existing hydrologic model to estimate the effects of LID choices on streamflow. The modeling approach has been applied to a watershed located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, to predict the stormwater reductions resulting from retrofitting existing infrastructure with LID technologies. Results demonstrate that use of these LID practices yield significant stormwater control for small events and less control for flood events. A combined BMP-LID approach is tested for runoff control for both flood and frequent rainfall events.     

Multi-year lactation and its consequences in Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii)

In most mammals, females pay for reproduction by dramatically increasing net energy intake from conception to mid- or late lactation. To do this, they time their reproductive events in relation to environmental cycles so that periods of peak food availability coincide with peak demand or are used to build energy stores. This timing is not possible in species with slow development in which lactation is prolonged over a multi-year period with fluctuating food availability. Here, mothers are expected to sustain a stable but generally lower level of nutrient transfer. In a sample of over 1,050 complete follow days of eight mother–infant pairs collected over 7 years, we document maternal effort for wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) over their average 6.5-year lactation period. As predicted, maternal feeding time was independent of the age of her growing offspring, indicating a stable sustained “plateau” effort of ≤ 25 % above baseline level, instead of a short peak lactation as seen in seasonal breeders. Infant orangutans started to regularly supplement milk with self-harvested food when they were 1–1.5 years old, indicating milk intake was insufficient from this age onwards, even though maternal effort did not decrease. We expect the same regulation of sustained maternal effort in other large and large-brained mammals with slow infant development. We also predict that mother–infant conflict over suckling may show another peak at the onset of the milk?+?solid food phase, in addition to the well-known conflict around the endpoint of lactation (weaning), which is reached after a long and gradual increase in solid food intake by the infant.     

Effects of interpolation and data resolution on methane emission estimates from rice paddies

Rice paddies are an important source of the greenhouse gas methane (CH₄). Global methane emission estimates are highly uncertain and do not account for effects of interpolation or data resolution errors. This paper determines such scaling effects for the influence of soil properties on calculated CH₄ emissions for the island of Java, Indonesia. The effects of different interpolation techniques, variograms and neighbor optimization were tested for soil properties by cross-validation. Interpolated organic carbon values were not significantly different from the original soil samples, in contrast to interpolated soil iron contents. Interpolation of soil properties coupled to a process-based model on CH₄emissions led to a significant change in distribution of calculated CH₄ emissions, i.e., the variance decreased. Effects of data resolution were examined by interpolating soil properties to derive data at different data resolutions and then calculating CH₄ emissions by applying the process-based model at these resolutions. The soil properties did not differ significantly for different data resolutions, in contrast to calculated CH₄ emissions. These scaling effects were caused by the combination of interpolation and a non-linear model. Real scaling effects may even be larger because small-scale variability was not accounted for. Scaling effects, including those caused by small-scale variability, have to be considered to achieve unbiased and less uncertain global CH₄emissions estimates from rice paddies.     

Nitrogen management in landfill leachate: Application of SHARON,ANAMMOX and combined SHARON–ANAMMOX process

In today’s context of waste management, landfilling of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is considered to be one of the standard practices worldwide. Leachate generated from municipal landfills has become a great threat to the surroundings as it contains high concentration of organics, ammonia and other toxic pollutants. Emphasis has to be placed on the removal of ammonia nitrogen in particular, derived from the nitrogen content of the MSW and it is a long term pollution problem in landfills which determines when the landfill can be considered stable. Several biological processes are available for the removal of ammonia but novel processes such as the Single Reactor System for High Activity Ammonia Removal over Nitrite (SHARON) and Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation (ANAMMOX) process have great potential and several advantages over conventional processes. The combined SHARON–ANAMMOX process for municipal landfill leachate treatment is a new, innovative and significant approach that requires more research to identify and solve critical issues. This review addresses the operational parameters, microbiology, biochemistry and application of both the processes to remove ammonia from leachate.     

Degradation profile of azoxystrobin in Andisol soil: laboratory incubation

The fate of azoxystrobin in soil under the effect of different temperature is of interest because application directions specify soil-surface treatments for number of agricultural pests. Temperature is an important factor governing the rate of degradation in soil pore. The purpose of this investigation was to understand better the effect of temperature on the degradation of azoxystrobin in Japanese Andisol soil. This was done through laboratory incubation of soil at three different temperatures (5 °C, 20 °C, 35 °C). First-order kinetics could be used to describe degradation of azoxystrobin under controlled condition of temperature (r² ? 94). The results showed that, during the 120-day incubation period for azoxystrobin, 64%, 70%, and 78% of applied azoxystrobin were degraded at 5 °C, 20 °C, and 35 °C, respectively. By using the Arrhenius equation, the activation energy of degradation of azoxystrobin fungicide was calculated (7.48 ± 1.74 kJ mol^?1) in soils, which confirm that temperature had a significant influence on the degradation rate. Q₁₀ value of 1.11, for azoxystrobin, indicated that the response of fungicide dissipation to temperature was large. For azoxystrobin, there was a much larger difference in dissipation rates at 5 °C and 35 °C, indicating that biological and/or chemical degradation of azoxystrobin may have nearly reached its optimum at 35 °C.